Corvus Bound to the Broken God

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

The Mountain

“What’s taking so long, Freya? We needed you here two hours ago. Or did the Monster on the Mountain get you?”

“Monster?” That was a hell of a thing to say to me on a deserted mountain road in the middle of nowhere. And Matthew wasn’t the type to make jokes.

“Some stupid local legend, apparently. But seriously, Freya, where the hell are you?”

“I think I made a wrong turn somewhere,” I answered, gripping the phone with my shoulder. “Was your ride up just as treacherous? I haven’t seen another car, or a road sign, in ages.” And yet, I was certain I was going the right way.

“We found a huge issue with the proposal, and basically, unless you’ve got some miracle up your sleeve, this whole pitch is a bust. All those man-hours and overtime our firm invested in this project down the drain. You know everyone will blame you.”

My muscles locked for a second before panic dumped electricity through my veins.

It took all my focus not to drive off the edge of the road.

How did he find the problem when I only noticed it a few hours ago?

Did he or Cassandra have someone else working on the proposal secretly? My first major project?

His annoyance ratcheted up my self-recrimination, topping off the usual self-doubt I dragged around with me into a delightful sundae of self-loathing.

The road wasn’t helping. I navigated yet another hairpin turn, slowing down to a crawl when the tarmac disappeared around another bend.

The barrier keeping me from the edge of the cliff looked flimsy, and my headlights barely made a dent in the darkness.

“Listen, Matthew, I discovered the problem on the plane. I haven’t sent the specs yet, there wasn’t enough time, since I was working the entire flight, but I figured it all out. We’re going to win this bid, and this building will be one of a kind, at least until someone copies it.”

I chuckled, hoping he’d interpret my bravado for the confidence my project actually deserved.

The solution I worked out would make this building even better than I had dreamed, making all the hard work, the decade of study, and the grunt work, which others took credit for, the years of saving each penny, worth every miserable moment.

His lack of response worried me.

“Matthew?” Silence. I glanced at the screen. Call Failed. No service.

Shit.

When the road widened enough that a truck had room to pass me, I pulled over and tried to access the directions on my phone, but it showed only a single dot in an empty field of nothingness.

Next, I tried the navigation system that came with the rental car.

When the screen stayed frozen, I put my head back and closed my eyes, picturing the map I had looked at this morning.

I checked off the major highways and the subsequent turns, remembering the arc it made before climbing up the mountain.

Okay, Freya, you can do this. Directions had always come easily.

I would simply drive until the next road sign before deciding if I needed to turn back and try a different route.

Worst case, I’d double back to where there was a cell signal, pull up the directions on my phone, and start over. I blew out a big breath.

Treating it like any other problem I needed to work with a cool head, I eased off the brakes and continued up the mountain.

If the number of switchbacks was anything to go by, then I was definitely on the right road.

I remembered the tightly curving lines indicating a slow final twenty miles.

With half a tank of gas, I could easily go another twenty miles before turning back. No problem.

They would all wait for me. What choice did they have?

I had the edited presentation on my laptop.

Maybe it was a good thing I hadn’t sent the updated files before leaving the airport, although Cassandra, my boss, would be livid.

She hated having to wait, never mind anything that made her look less than perfect.

She’d be furious under the cool facade no one could ruffle.

The only part that gave her away was the glint of menace in her eyes.

And Matthew, normally my cheerleader, didn’t sound happy either.

The forest reached out over my head, claw-shaped branches doing their best to convince me to turn back.

The trees were so overgrown, I only caught glimpses of the sky to my left whenever I veered close to the edge of the mountain..

Deep breath in. Hold it. Let it out. What kind of monster had he been talking about anyway?

No, I couldn’t think like that. Once those thoughts grabbed hold, well, that way madness lies.

The clock said eleven thirty-three. The lane markings had worn off a few miles back, and the road was getting rapidly worse. I had to cross to the opposite lane to avoid a few potholes. Good thing there weren’t any other cars on the road.

Three other firms had been invited to this meeting.

We would be doing our presentation last, which helped take the edge off my anxiety.

No one would be pitching until tomorrow.

And if we had to, we would stay up all night.

We’d done it before. Actually, I had stayed up plenty of nights before a critical presentation and then handed it off for my bosses to bring over the finish line.

But this would be my first time speaking and presenting my own work, my original design.

I smiled out at the darkness, a thrill running through me.

My first major project, a modern-day palace perched on the edge of a cliff face, presented a unique set of problems along with the financial resources required to overcome them.

While I had borrowed inspiration from other buildings (of course, I had), there was enough novelty in the design to call it innovative and a breakthrough, to launch me out of the category of aspiring young architects.

To make my name mean something in this competitive field.

It was still way too early to begin spending the money, but I couldn’t wait to get out of my apartment, the dark, dingy, lonely place always intended to be a temporary placeholder.

It was cheap, which was the only good thing that could be said about it, but the landlord was a creep.

I needed light, lots of windows and plants, a view, if I could have everything.

I had been eyeing the available condos lately, and one in particular had jumped out.

Focus, Freya, first things first. Win the bid, then shop for an apartment.

I swerved to avoid a huge hole, big chunks sunken in the asphalt, followed by a long rut missing from the road, as if a giant had scooped out a fifteen-foot trench.

This couldn’t be right. I eased my foot off the gas, looking for a place wide enough to turn around.

There, just up the way, was what looked like a decent shoulder before the narrow road disappeared around another turn.

And why did we have to fly all the way out to Tennessee instead of holding our presentations in the comfort of a luxury Manhattan suite like usual?

It was not as if we didn’t already have the site plans and the full scope of the build's difficulties. Then again, I’d better get used to it, since I would be coming here a lot once we got the project moving.

I spun the wheel wide to the right, slowly making a seven-point turn, facing the car back toward civilization.

I let out a deep breath. Despite making me later than I already was, I would drive all the way back to the airport if I had to and get a better car, not the cheapest rent-a-wreck like this one.

Eavesdropping on my traitorous thoughts, the car jerked, emitted a loud, grating noise, and stopped.

Several indicator lights flashed on the dashboard before everything went black.

No, no, no. This could not be happening.

I stormed out of the car, cell phone in hand.

Though it was incapable of making calls at the moment, at least the flashlight still worked.

Maybe it was only a flat tire. I could totally handle a flat tire.

Except all the tires looked fine. I had gone off the road a bit on the completion of my turn, but nothing looked wrong.

Then I noticed the hundred-foot drop a few feet from where I stood and almost screamed.

I inched away from the edge, thankful I hadn’t accidentally driven off it in the darkness.

But I had other problems. Engine troubles, especially in the middle of a pitch-black night, perched on the edge of a mountain cliff, were beyond me.

I sat back into the car and pushed the button.

It tried to start, really it did, but the engine wouldn’t turn over.

Well, Freya, better get walking. Good thing I had worn my old Chucks for the flight, heels in my overnight bag, ready for the morning.

I considered my options. Should I take my luggage and slow myself down, or just grab the essentials and come back for the rest?

I couldn’t leave my laptop, no matter how bulky. It held the keys to everything.

So, with my purse and computer bag slung over my shoulder, I headed back down the mountain road. At least it was downhill.

The layer of high clouds moved swiftly across the sky, blocking the moon from time to time, giving me just enough light to see. I was able to avoid the potholes and stayed far away from the outer edge of the road, the drop-off frightening even out of sight.

The creepy feeling that had flirted with my senses earlier descended in full force now that I was so exposed. What kind of animals lived out here? Were the big predators, like the wolves and bears, nocturnal? A sinister call sounded from high above me, and I ducked instinctively.

Only an owl. No monsters. Yet.