Hell's Belle

by Marie Castle

  My first ward fizzled out. I took another step back. The second ward dropped. Titus’s smile grew. The fear on my face was real. This was going to be close. If I was wrong, I was dead. I stepped again, this time sideways. The cold water was rising, pulling stronger as the storm flooded in. Nearly waist-deep now, I fought to keep my footing. Any deeper and I wouldn’t be able to fight the current. I took another step, careful to stay parallel with the bank, putting distance between myself and the dead man. My third ward popped and disappeared.

  Thunder pealed loud overhead. Lightning cracked close by, and I barely heard Titus say, “So, the only question now is how to best amuse ourselves. Nicodemus doesn’t care what condition he receives you in…alive…dead…sane.” He paused. “So long as he has a taste.” With each word, he came farther into the water. “And it may be hours before my nesreterka finish your friends. My brother’s not the only one who’s hungry.” A long, black tongue swept across purple lips and broken teeth. “So how best to spend our time, hmm?” As Titus spoke, he waved his magical sword like a baton. I had to hide my smile as the growing embers behind him flowed back and forth, following his unintended conducting.

  I held my last ward with will alone…waiting. I should’ve known he’d want to talk. They always wanted to talk. I inched away. The ring of embers was almost to the water’s edge.

  “You know,” I said, “I don’t remember receiving an invitation to this party. Could you have the wrong girl? You were chasing a blonde, remember?” I took another half-step. “Completely understandable—I hear they’re more fun.”

  “No, we have the right girl.” Titus stepped closer, the water now nearly to his knees. “Nicodemus wants you, Cate Delacy. It was my good fortune that your people grabbed my brother’s vessel. Two birds with one stone, eh?”

  His use of my name made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “I’m really not one for travel. Why should I go?” My voice trembled. Shivering, I wiped the now pouring rain from my eyes before wrapping my arm around myself. I wasn’t exactly faking. This damn creek was getting colder by the minute. Without my fire to warm me, I was chilled to the marrow.

  Titus took another step forward. A new light entered his eyes and his demeanor did an about-face. “Come,” he said almost gently, holding out a hand. “We’ll join my brothers and servants. You’ll be a queen amongst our people.”

  As if. I’d been trying to cut the man to bits only minutes before. Now he thought I’d go with him willingly? We women really needed to do something about this rumor that double X chromosomes engineered fickleness. It obviously led to some sort of male-induced insanity.

  My fourth ward dropped.

  With that last shred of protection gone, I began to shiver uncontrollably. Strange, the water had been warm this time last year. No doubt the evil man standing only six feet away, nearly to his waist in water, had something to do with the unusual temperature.

  As he edged forward, I gathered all my courage, standing my ground.

  Five feet. Four.

  Too close. Too close. I took a deep breath, sliding one foot back. “These nesreterka, they’re your pets?”

  At my change of subject, Titus’s expression was puzzled, but his weapon began to decrease in size. Since it was a metaphysical rather than physical appendage, the miraculous shrinkage likely had more to do with my helpless posture than our frigid bath.

  “Mindless creatures from the Illtrath plane. They live only to breed and hunt. They do as they’re told, nothing more.” Titus’s eyes said, unlike some. He took another step forward. A red wave slowly crested behind him, the embers plopping one by one into the water.

  I blinked more rain from my eyes and dropped my sword into the creek with a splash. “I ask because I always wanted a pet, but it took years before my mom would get me one.” I lowered my voice to the sexy drawl I’d used more than once to mesmerize. Becca wasn’t the only one who could use her mouth to good advantage. More plops blended in with the sound of heavy rainfall as wave after wave of embers flowed into the water. Goddess bless. There were so many. Hundreds more than I’d anticipated. There would be some explaining to do when this was over.

  I began to discreetly inch away from Titus and toward the bank. “Have you ever watched that movie, Gremlins?” I knew Titus wouldn’t have, but I needed to temporarily distract him. Having him search Peter Traylor’s stolen memories should do it. Titus stood completely still, listening. I spoke slowly, keeping my eyes locked with his.

  Four feet. Nearly five.

  Like a snake charmer, I played my pipes for the cobra. “Well, I finally got a pet one year…a birthday gift. But unlike a gremlin, its rule wasn’t about when you fed it…only how much.” Water rushed against the back of my legs with an ever-increasing force, and I had to fight to remain standing. It was hard to keep my voice low and steady when my teeth wanted to chatter. “You see, the boralis are a lot like fire. They tend to grow and spread if you give them too much, and they’re very fond of biting the hand that feeds them.”

  I saw the moment he realized what I was talking about. Even in the seven levels of Hell, those little buggers were well-known. Titus’s eyes widened in rage, magic flashing outward. I pushed diagonally, riding with the current toward the creek bank. My feet slipped. I gasped a breath before going under. Cold magic hissed through the air where only seconds before my head had been. I opened my eyes, peering through the murky water, and kicked my feet. It wasn’t so deep that I had to swim, but underwater seemed the safest route.

  Black-magic hissed and crackled in the water close on my left, and I veered right, heading downstream as miniature pulsating red lights streaked past me. I winced but kept moving as a few took little nips out of my skin. I’d intentionally bottled my magic away, keeping the wards from touching my skin, funneling everything through my sword to keep as much residue as possible off myself and prevent such love bites. Before my sparring with Brittan, I’d spent a good hour taking the hottest shower I could manage to sweat out every bit of magical residue created by last night’s confrontation with Luke. Either I’d missed some, or sparks from our dueling swords had landed on me.

  I came up quickly, gasped in one breath, then ducked back down, trying to ignore the icy water pricking my skin like razor-thin needles. As soon as the last boralis flitted by, I turned, staring at the school now circling Titus. Distracted from chasing me, he peppered the rising water with black-magic. That might’ve worked if he’d thrown the orbs farther out to lead them away. Instead, he was tossing the magic at the fish nipping at his heels. It was like pouring buckets of dead, chopped-up fish into a sea of sharks…without having the luxury of a titanium cage between yourself and the hungry jaws.

  Titus was merely whetting their appetites.

  With the storm’s fury, the light had dimmed. From underneath the murky water I could only distinguish ripples as each blast hit. But I knew what he was doing because with every strike the magical piranha fed, increasing their glow. Although the embryos/embers had moved earlier, they hadn’t fully hatched until being submersed. They’d been weak then—another reason they hadn’t bothered me as I swam through. But Titus was giving them the power they needed to mature. In essence, he was giving them everything they needed to eat him alive…or, in the case of our unwelcome visitor’s walking corpse, to eat him…dead. And this time, he’d stay that way.

  I gasped another breath then sank again, edging on my butt through the water to a fallen oak whose roots hung over the creek, never taking my eyes off Titus. If I stood, I was an easy target. One blast, even a graze, could be fatal. The blow might not kill me, but for my pets that was like blood in the water. Protecting myself with magic would have the same result, and I didn’t feel like being their aperitif. I made it to the oak and lifted myself from the water. I lay under the roots, using them to slide on my back up the muddy bank.

  Once hatched, the boralis would never leave the water. As long as I stayed beyond their jumping range and Titus’s line of sigh
t, I’d be okay. I breathed deeply but quietly, watching. If at the very beginning Titus had simply stopped and walked away, he might have made it out. Now, the fish spun around him with such force that he couldn’t retreat. But Titus had bigger worries than what was in the water. The whirlpool of magic eaters circling him had never been my intention. Neither was ending up in the creek. That had been a frightening but fortuitous accident.

  Titus’s fate had been sealed with the one and only blow I’d landed. His expression changed as that realization finally bit him. The human body is made up of over ninety percent water. Even decomposing bodies were still mostly H2O. The embers I’d placed on Titus’s back had burrowed into the cut and hatched. They were now eating him from the inside out. I’d intended it as a distraction, a means to siphon off some of his magic until the others could help capture him. I’d only limited my own magical expenditures in the event I cut myself. I hadn’t expected embers to fly every time our blades touched.

  Titus’s mouth opened in a silent scream, his face contorted in horror rather than pain. He dropped to his knees, everything but his head underwater. At this point, I could’ve left. Titus wouldn’t be getting up. The fish would finish the job, and this creek was just a spillover from a neighbor’s much larger pond, so the boralis could only go so far upstream before they’d have to turn and flow into our pond. But I continued to watch as I dragged my reclining body farther up the bank. It was a horrible way to go but no less than he deserved.

  A tear that had nothing to do with the slowing rain fell. Peter Traylor had been dead for months. His family would never get his body back, but I’d make sure someone told them that he was gone. Peter’s family shouldn’t have to spend their entire lives wondering if he would ever walk in the door.

  My grandmother had once told me that boralis meant water-fire. That was why, of all creatures, I’d picked them to keep as pets. That was also what the fish resembled as they fed. Baby fires, seeded in the gel I’d rubbed on my sword hours before, born as my flames sparked against Titus’s magic, now a blazing water cyclone.

  As the water rose, Titus sank lower. Being a malicious spirit residing within a dead body, he couldn’t receive the sweet mercy of a quick death. His essence would live on until every last bit of dark magic was consumed. That would take days, maybe longer. I made no effort to move until his soulless, horrified eyes sank into the frothing, darkened water.

  For the first time since landing in the water, the chill in my bones had nothing to do with my wet clothes.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I’ll take you through the looking glass. That is, if you don’t mind that the glass is black and that it’ll dump you out into the middle of hellhound central. ’Cause if you’re okay with that, I’d be happy to punch your ticket.”

  —Cate Delacy

  “CATE?”

  I was still half-under the oak’s tangled roots, hidden in the sweeping shadow of Spanish moss, when Jacq came for me. I turned my weak head to see her look at the school of teeming fish and the red blood washing onto the creek’s sandy shore. My voice caught her just as she set to dive in. “If I have to jump back in that water and save your ass from my man-eating guppies, I’m going to be really pissed.”

  I sat up, groaning as my sore abdomen, sore arms and sore everything else protested. The little prick had certainly given me a run for my money. Jacq hopped over tree roots and rocks, skidding to a stop by my side. She practically yanked me to my feet before pulling me into a tight embrace, her magic roaming my body, searching for injuries.

  For a moment I gloried in her heat, my body feeling warm for the first time in what felt like hours. Then I pushed away, looking down in shame. “I’m getting mud and river gunk all over you.” I brushed at a clump of mud that sat where my head had rested against her navy shirt but stopped as my dirty hands simply spread more.

  Body shaking with relieved laugher, Jacq pulled me in for another hug. Maybe I had gone crazy because the situation seemed funny to me too, but I was too sore to laugh.

  “Forget the clothes. They can be replaced.”

  I breathed in her tantalizing scent, doubly nice after the smell of Titus’s decay. This time I didn’t push her away. Jacq was toasty warm, and the sensation of our bodies pressed tight was wonderful. I burrowed closer, tucking my head under her chin. I untucked her shirt, pushing my cold hands against her warm sides. Jacq jumped, and I risked a laugh. The ache across my ribs was worth it. “Sorry, couldn’t resist,” I murmured, smiling against her neck. For this, I’d dry clean her entire closet.

  Jacq spoke softly into my hair, her voice husky with emotion, “What happened? You were supposed to distract him, not drown him.” Her words teased, but her body was stiff.

  Acting on instinct, I grasped her tighter, pushing my body against hers, reminding her that I was very much still alive, even as I smiled and teased back. “What can I say? I’m an overachiever.” Jacq laughed softly, but then my smile slipped. Wellsy knew a great deal about our family. Nicodemus wanted me, which meant that information had been compromised. Biting the bullet, I quietly added, “He was as much here for me as he was for Brittan. It was kill him or let him take me.”

  Jacq stiffened. I ran my dirty hands up the planes of her back, rubbing at the muscles I knew were as tired as my own. I pulled back. “There’s more, but we’ll get to it later. Come on, we’d better get back.” I pulled my boots off and poured the water out.

  Jacq grabbed my hand, helping me over the mass of roots, stones and mud. I didn’t let go when we reached smoother ground, carrying my boots in my other hand. Only once did I look over my shoulder at the creek turning black with the setting sun. The glance wasn’t necessary. The memory of Titus’s face—the face that had once belonged to Peter Traylor—as he sank beneath the waters would be etched into my mind until my last breath. And that was how it was supposed to be.

  The day I stopped caring was the day I’d lay my sword down for good.

  Jacq squeezed my hand. Could she feel my turmoil over what I’d done? “Risa was hit by the sorcerer’s last volley,” she said. I’d nearly forgotten my question as to how the others fared. “Her back was turned, and we weren’t expecting…” Jacq’s voice trailed off. Her set jaw said she blamed herself, though I knew she had been responsible for protecting Becca, not Risa. This time, I was the one squeezing her hand. “She’s shifted to heal, but Mynx says the magic’s poison is seeping into her system.”

  At her words, I hurried my steps over the soft pine needles. I could see light from the clearing ahead. “And the nesreterka?” At Jacq’s puzzled look, I explained. “The raptors.” Rain, now just a drizzle, fell on our heads. I could feel the cool liquid washing trails of mud down the back of my cargo pants, but I didn’t feel the chill thanks to the continuous heat streaking from Jacq’s hand up my arm and throughout my body.

  “Subdued. Mynx said you wanted to wait before taking the heads and hearts?” Jacq’s face was in profile, but the question was clear.

  “Yes. Serena may be able to read their minds to determine Nicodemus’s location. That was my backup plan, and it looks like we’re going to need it.” I didn’t say any more as we entered the open meadow and saw the destruction. It was an instinctual decision to spare the raptors. One I didn’t regret when I saw the three carcasses laid out, back-to-back, in a triangular, defensive position.

  As if reading my thoughts, Jacq explained, “Near the end the sorcerer’s hold slipped and they retreated to that position.”

  As we passed one, I quickly kneeled, running my hand over the surprisingly soft skin. I could feel the creature’s ribs. They’d been starved nearly to death. As promised, everything vital was still intact, but the raptors didn’t react to my touch. I looked up.

  Jacq shook her head. “Stunned only, but this time we took no chances. I hit them with enough magic to keep them out for half a day.”

  I knew she was thinking of the hellhound attack and the close call that could’ve cost me my life.
Before kneeling, I’d noted Mynx’s green wards circling the bodies. They allowed us to enter but kept the animals contained. Assured that the raptors wouldn’t awaken any time soon, I moved to where a white and black striped tiger lay panting in a patch of tall grass dotted with yellow daisies. It was strange to see the tiny beautiful flowers surrounding the large dangerous animal. Rom and Mynx knelt by her side while Fera stood a few steps back, sword still drawn.

  “If that weapon’s for the sorcerer, you can put it away. He’s not coming back.”

  “All the same. I’ll keep an eye on your menagerie over there.” Fera tilted her head toward the raptors.

  I simply nodded, adding my voice to Mynx’s healing chant. I didn’t need my powers to see the long black burn streaking from the tiger’s right furred shoulder all the way down her muscular back. The burn, in itself, would be painful and damaging, but the tainted magic had to be excruciating…and if not treated quickly… I shook my head, not wanting to consider the possibilities.

  Kneeling, I placed one hand on her neck, the other on her side. Just before I left my body, it occurred to me that someone was missing. “Where’s Becca?” Under my hand, Risa’s damp fur rose and fell as she took short, pained breaths.

  Fists clenched at his sides, Rom answered, “She went to call the Clan for more help.” I just nodded. Becca was right…almost. We would need help, more even than Grey could provide, but that was a talk for later.

  I swiftly rose into the mind’s eye, surveying the damage. I tried to keep the worry off my face. This was worse than I’d expected. Hurrying, I said, “Romulus Legion, do you give me leave to work the magical arts on your sister of the blood, knowing that it must be done to keep her from falling into the endless sleep?” My voice echoed like a phantom between the physical and metaphysical planes. Of course, I could’ve just said, “Can I zap your sister till she gets better?” That would’ve been my preference, but Weres responded best to formality, sugar, and piss-covered walls. And I was fresh out of the last two.