Jewels and Feathers (Race Games 3)

PROLOGUE

Seventy Years Ago

Muni’s eyes were riveted to the large screens in front of her, the magical televisions far more advanced than the ones the humans used. The Race Games was still a new concept, at least in this structure. Before the Race Games, it was simply The Games, a series of competitions meant to test the strength and will of others. Before it was the screaming engines of cars, it was brutal fists and weapons, equally as bloody, and yet somehow crueler. No matter the format of the Games, it was a gory display of desperation, each creature determined to earn honor for their race. Now, the excitement was only heightened with the introduction of the metal machines, the ingenuity each year only growing.

That’s what had attracted Hugin; the technology.

Though the machines were shaped just as the humans made them, all the smooth lines and brutal power this decade brought, each race of creatures were learning to modify them to their advantage. Muni heard the fae had started testing blood fuel. Whose blood, she didn’t know, nor did she desire to find out. She was only there for support, waiting in the stands for the moment Hug, her brother, either won, or crossed the finish line with his feathers tucked between his legs.

As the Crow team was the only team both Hug and Muni identified with, that’s where they were claimed. Really, they didn’t belong in any of the teams, unique as they were. They had the same black feathers as the crows, sure, but they were both ravens through and through. Lucky for Hug, the Crow team hadn’t seemed to care, excited at the prospect of one of Odin’s ravens racing for them.

His teammate a close human friend who had been introduced to the supernatural world years prior, Hug was giving everyone a run for their money. It seemed strange to think that so long ago, battles were fought at the sharp end of an axe and ended with a one-way ticket to Valhalla. Now, this was the battle, here on this racetrack, and Hug was in the lead.

“Keep going, Hug,” Muni breathed, her eyes riveted to the projected screen. “You can do this.”

He wasn’t close enough to hear her, even with his advanced hearing, but as connected as they were, he would hear the words within his mind. They were one and the same, brother and sister, and with that, this race held a bigger risk than anyone knew. Their life force was tied together, just as if Muni was down there racing with him, her life was on the line.

The necromancer team was right behind him, the roar of Hug’s 1957 Chevy Bel Air echoing around the stands as they rounded the corner and gunned it for the finish line. The necromancers were driving a Hornet, fast, but not as fast as a raven with his eyes on the prize. They would never catch them, not by speed alone. Hug had built that engine in the Bel Air himself. No one could beat him.

“Go, Hug!” Muni shouted, screaming with the rest of the people in the stands. Some wore expressions of distaste as Hug raced forward. It wasn’t surprising. After all, most disliked the secrets she and her brother dealt in. Really, if they were honorable people, they wouldn’t have such dirty secrets to worry about, but as the supernatural community knew, finding a good and completely moral creature within them was rare. When you held power in your hands, when some lived multiple human lives, it was difficult to not find yourself deep in the grey area morality.

Muni began to jump up and down as she felt Hug’s excitement in her mind. He was a hundred yards from the finish line, so close, they could both taste it. This was it. Not only would he win the race, he would also walk away with a council seat as his prize. No longer would they be only Odin’s spies. They could forge their own paths.

Her wings flared wide at eighty yards, the excitement too much that she found herself rising into the air for a better view. “Go, Hug, Go!” she screamed, the stands equally filled with shouts for her brother and the necromancer team. The wind rushed by her face, whipping her black hair back and forth.

The Bel Air pulled ahead further, sixty yards left, fifty, forty. This was it. This was the moment.

Something shifted in the air, something that made Muni’s spine tingle in warning. Eyes widening, she shot forward, toward the Bel Air, but she was too far away to do anything. It was forbidden to interfere in the races like that, but Muni didn’t care for rules, not when it came to her brother. The air swirled with untapped energy.

“Hugin!” Muni screamed, such terror in the sound that it silenced the crowd and drew their confused eyes up to her. But she was too late.

The energy shrunk and snapped tight before exploding outward from the Bel Air with a dazzling display of fire. The flames flared yellow, blue, and for the briefest of moment, green. It shouldn’t have been so beautiful, the death of her brother, but it somehow was.

The necromancer team sped passed the flaming ball that was once her brother’s Bel Air, heading for the finish line, but she didn’t care to watch. Her eyes were on the wreckage.

. . .and then she felt the snap in her heart. . .

Muni’s wings crumpled in on themselves and she began to fall like a feathered star.

No one dared to catch the raven as she slammed into the asphalt below. . .