Hellcats: Anthology

by Kate Pickford

  It was a perfect plan.

  It couldn’t fail.

  But as Kai di’s body slammed into Hahen, then bounced off and crashed into the water, as his nose filled with freezing liquid, the warrior knew he had misjudged his enemy once again.

  Hahen, like most rat spirits, was not fond of cats. The creatures always blamed his kind for the ridiculous miscommunication that had happened on the morning of the fabled Empyreal Zodiac race. The cats insisted that the first rat had cheated and forever denied the felines their rightful place on the great wheel of the zodiac.

  But even his dislike for cats was not so strong that he’d allow such a tiny specimen to drown in the gazing pool.

  “I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” Hahen chastised the flailing creature, “but this is not the way to a long and healthy life, my little friend.”

  Kai di slashed at Hahen with his claws. He wouldn’t be taken alive by this hideous beast. But even as he swiped at the creature, he was secretly grateful for the way Hahen lifted him out of the water. He’d been on the verge of drowning, he knew. If he’d died, his chance to exact vengeance and justice for his family would have died with him.

  “Do not think this changes anything, rat!” Kai di called out. “My claws will find your heart! I will taste your blood!”

  To the warrior’s dismay, Hahen chuckled and rubbed him between his ears. “Yes, yes, I know. You’re so upset. Meow, meow, meow to you, too. Would you like some milk?”

  “Put me down, you vile creature!” Kai di shouted at the top of his lungs. “I will not be denied my righteous vengeance. My ancestors are watching!”

  “You’re a feisty one.” Hahen chuckled. “You talk so much. Are you part Siamese? Such a fierce warrior you are!”

  Kai di had to admit that his imprisonment wasn’t as terrible as he’d feared it would be. Hahen had not tried to eat him, though the tiny kitten warrior only grudgingly took food from the vile spirit’s paw.

  Even a fierce warrior had to eat to keep his strength up in the camp of his enemy.

  I must rest so I’ll be fresh when it’s time to strike, Kai di thought as he nestled in the blanket at the foot of Hahen’s bed. His green eyes narrowed hatefully at his captor.

  Someday, Kai di would find this creature’s weakness. It might not happen tomorrow, especially if fish was on the menu. It might not even happen in the next week because all the signs Kai di saw from his windowsill perch pointed toward a very rainy few days coming up. It might not be next month, because winter was on its way, and Kai di would prefer not to sail back across the sea with the wind’s icy teeth gnawing on him.

  He resigned himself to the fact that he might be here a while.

  But, eventually, Kai di swore to his ancestors, he would have his vengeance.

  Gage Lee is a long-time fan of wuxia, cultivation, fantasy, and science fiction stories. The School of Swords and Serpents combines all his favorite genres, along with a healthy helping of seasoning from his years as an avid gamer.

  Want to dig deeper into the world of Hahen and the School of Swords and Serpents? Visit Gage Lee’s author site at geni.us/cattales for free fiction and info on his other books!

  Bewitched Warrior Cats

  By Efthalia

  Hexed by a witch a hundred years ago, Ginger, Sassy and Minnie must spend their cat days on Santorini, until Fate throws a vampire in their path. With such a small window of opportunity, will they be able to break the curse?

  “Come on, girls. They’re on the move.” Ginger meowed, standing on four legs and wagging her amber tail to Sassy and Minnie. “Keep up.”

  Santorini in Greece brought in a bevy of tourists every year. She couldn’t believe their luck when they happened to spot Xen Lyson, vampire and head of the Phi Athanatoi, having a leisurely evening drink at a bar with a beautiful woman.

  “I don’t see how they are going to help us?” Sassy meowed back as they began to trail behind the couple holding hands ahead of them. “They’re oblivious to everyone around them.”

  “Don’t be fooled.” Ginger snapped. She and her feline friends had a story to tell but they weren’t going to divulge anything in their cursed cat bodies. They were female warriors who fought and eliminated any threat to innocent humans. They’d seen their unearthly share of beasts but when they stepped into a demon skirmish one hundred years ago, they had no idea that there would be a witch with a love interest for one of the monsters they’d laid waste to. The witch retaliated when Ginger took the demon’s head, and Sassy and Minnie had carried out the same fate to his demon team. She cast a spell dooming them to live out their days in feline form. They had all but lost hope of ever being the warriors they once were, until this moment, and Ginger wasn’t going to waste it.

  “I don’t know about you two but I’m definitely not going to watch them do the horizontal dance.” Minnie meowed.

  “Really Minnie, that’s what you’re thinking?”

  “Well come on Ginger, look at him, he’s drool-worthy and the woman is sexy as hell.”

  “Seriously, you two need this curse broken way more than me. This one-hundred-year dry spell has gotten to both of you.”

  “Like, it hasn’t affected you?” Sassy meowed trying to keep up.

  “My priority has always been to break this cat curse.” She had tried over the years to get other Phi Athanatoi members to see past their cat appearance, but none had the gumption to work it out, or see past the hex. Even when they dropped their little fangs and their claws elongated to longer than normal lengths. The only thing they got was “the cats of Santorini are strange.” Right now Ginger hoped that the head vampire would see what the others failed to perceive. He was after all thousands of years old and had a plethora of contacts who could help with their plight. “If we can manage to get him to pay a little attention, he may be able to see through this hocus-pocus.”

  “And when has that worked before?” Sassy threw at Ginger.

  She let out a hiss. “It’s our only chance. He knows we went missing here and he knows there was a witch involved. You’ve heard the others talk about it over the years.”

  “I’m not sure that your idea of our little fang and claw display will convince him of anything. I think we are long forgotten.” Minnie’s melancholy rang clear.

  Ginger paused when Xen and the woman stopped at a shop. “I’m not giving up hope.” She was tired of fighting demons in this body, she wanted her vampiric form back so she could kick some serious demon ass, just like she was sired to do.

  Carissa had a sneaky suspicion that they were being pursued. So much for their quiet honeymoon on Santorini. At least their big fat Greek supernatural wedding had gone to plan.

  “Xen, have you noticed that there are three cats following us?”

  “I think you’ve had too much to drink, koukla.” He accentuated the Greek endearment that meant doll.

  “I’m telling you there are cats following us.”

  “Carissa, look around, there are cats everywhere here on Santorini.”

  She rolled her eyes. He had a point there were fluffy furballs all over the island, but she knew the three that were cowering away when she turned to look at them again were definitely following them. Carissa had picked up a unique energy from them, she could see an unusual black-and-blue vibrating aura wrapped around each of the cats.

  “Their aura is different.”

  Xen stopped and turned to her. “How do you mean?”

  “Humans, animals, plants, and all unearthly creatures give off different energy.”

  “I know that, but what is distinctive about those three as opposed…” He turned and pointed to a few cats up ahead of them. “… to those.”

  “The ones following us have a distorted aura of some blue but mostly black. All the others have a simple blue aura. It is as if they are marred from the inside.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. “I have a hunch, but we need to test it.”

  “Bring on the hunch.” She sai
d, turning to look at the three stalkers in question. They had sat down and pretended to look uninterested. Carissa knew they were no ordinary cats. The question running rabid in her mind was, what are they?

  Xen closed his hand around Carissa’s and pulled her back into the direction of their hotel. She took two steps jumping forward in some hip hop move to keep up with his long strides. “You know my legs aren’t as long as yours.”

  “Sorry koukla, but we need to make sure your feline friends aren’t a foe.”

  Carissa looked over her shoulder. “What makes you think it’s me they want to follow?”

  “Educated guess. Have you masked your gifts?”

  “Yes.” Carissa was a demi-god and the daughter of Ares. She had powers. Powers that she could now control. There wasn’t a thread loose. She had spoken a spell her father—Ares had taught her, when they landed in Santorini. “They look like harmless pussies.”

  A grin broke out over Xen’s lips.

  Carissa let go of his hand and slapped him on the arm. “What is it with men and pussy jokes.”

  He shrugged his shoulders casually. “It’s a guy thing.”

  “More like a vampire thing.”

  “I can show you how much of a vampire thing it is once we get rid of your three friends.”

  “I have a sneaky suspicion that it’s not me they want.”

  A scowl formed on Xen’s brow. “Pick up your pace, let’s see if they increase the speed of their pursuit.”

  “Xen, the cats are following no matter how fast you walk.”

  He stopped and picked her up. “Then this might change things.” They moved at Xen’s vampiric speed. He darted through a few empty streets.

  Carissa turned and looked back. The cats were keeping up. “I told you those animals are not normal,” she shouted.

  Xen took a left then a right and stopped short.

  Carissa watched as they came slewing, sliding, and scrambling past and then they dug their claws into the hard-paved walkways, bringing all three to a skidding halt.

  Xen put her down and she took a step forward.

  The felines hissed at them and dropped what looked like fangs.

  “Are you seeing this.”

  “Yes, koukla.”

  “Are those?”

  “Yes, koukla, they are.”

  Carissa dropped into a crouch. “We mean you no harm.”

  They moved towards her.

  Xen crouched down next to her.

  “Are these vampire cats?”

  “Vampires yes, cats not really.”

  “They’re trapped,” Carissa added.

  The ginger cat let out a loud hiss and went to Carissa, rubbing her chin in her open hands.

  “If I’m not mistaken. They might be the three Phi that went missing one hundred years ago on this island. No one has been able to locate them because we were looking for them in their vampire form. I think we need a sorceress.”

  They hissed and stepped back at the mention of a witch.

  “Looks like they just told us that, that’s what happened to them… some serious abracadabra.” Carissa theorized.

  Xen studied them. “Ginger, Sassy, Minnie?” He asked.

  The three cats moved closer to Xen.

  Carissa didn’t need any more convincing. She rose to her height. “Kirke.” She summoned.

  The air shimmered and a second later their friend appeared. She looked at Carissa, then Xen, and the cats then back to Carissa.

  “You called me because you want to adopt some cats?” Kirke did a double-take. “Those aren’t regular cats.”

  “We know that.” Carissa rolled her eyes at her witchy friend. “We want to know if you can release them from whatever spell has been put on them.”

  On cue Ginger, Sassy, and Minnie dropped their fangs.

  Kirke crossed her arms. “Now there’s something you don’t see every day.”

  Carissa knew that spells were a delicate thing and it wasn’t always possible to undo the hex of a previous witch but there were ways around incantations and at times they could be reversed. “Can you help them?”

  “It depends on the strength of the magic.” Kirke bent down and coaxed the cats to her. They hissed first before trusting to go to her. She looked up to Xen. “Do you have somewhere more private?”

  “We can take you back to our hotel.”

  “Where?”

  “Andronis Boutique Hotel.”

  “Good taste Vampire.”

  “Hate to say it Kirke, it’s one of his.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” She scooped up Ginger and passed her to Carissa. Then did the same with the other two cats. “Hold on.”

  They dematerialised from where they were and materialised in Carissa and Xen’s room.

  “You know, I’m not even going to ask how you knew how to zap us at the right spot.”

  “Witches don’t give away secrets.”

  “True, but glad we have each other’s backs,” Carissa said.

  They each placed the cats on the floor.

  “Is there anything else that we need witch?”

  Kirke waved a hand at Xen to signify nothing. “I’ll start with a small incantation.” Soft words flowed in a chant. She repeated it several times.

  Their witchy friend not only possessed the power of illusion but also of metamorphosis. Her hands darted out and the cats started to screech and edge backwards. In seconds they were wrapped in a cocoon. She spoke the Greek words koukoúli megalýtero several times and the cocoons started to grow in size. When they were life-size they stopped growing and so had Kirke’s chant.

  “I’ll have a drink now, vampire.”

  Xen sped to the mini bar, grabbed some water and made it back in the room before Carissa could ask her question. He handed a bottle of water to Kirke.

  “I take it this is going to take some time?” Carissa asked.

  “The next two hours are going to be painful. I suggest you both go out.”

  Carissa shot a glance at Xen. We’re staying right? She sent her question to his mind.

  Indeed we are. He sent back. They had their own private channel for communication through their bond.

  “We’re not moving,” Xen said to Kirke. “There is no telling how they will react when the hex is broken completely.”

  Carissa moved over to her friend. “He has a point.”

  Xen took a few strides over to the couch. “Then let’s get comfortable.”

  Both women followed suit.

  “What’s their story anyway?”

  “They are part of the Phi Athanatoi and went MIA about one hundred years ago.

  Kirke let out a long whistle. “You might want to drag out your swords.”

  “I’m ready.” Xen gave them that devastating smile that had its own zip code.

  Carissa threw her hands up in the air and made her way to the cupboard to retrieve her sword. “Great just what we need. A real cat fight.”

  Pain seared through every fibre of Ginger’s body. Torture was an understatement. She was sure the witch had tricked them. Her paws scratched at the hard-shelled pupa that her feline body was now enclosed in. Why would Xen allow a witch to do this to them? He was supposed to protect his Phi even if they were cursed to be cats. Her nose flared and whiskers shook. Her claws lengthened and she scratched at the surface, never wavering from her goal to break free. Her moves became frantic and her pulse raced. Small tremors galloped through her body and down her tail, she opened her mouth and hissed and screeched clawing and clawing. She could hear Sassy and Minnie doing the same and howling for help. This was on her, she had wanted to follow Xen, but she’d been wrong. This would be their end. Maybe the vampire thought they were too much of an anomaly and needed to be disposed of. Just like demons. Pain stabbed her in the chest and her stomach turned to stone. Her scratches and shrieks deafened even her. Dizziness clouded her brain and eyes, she would die as a cat trapped in a cocoon, she was ready to give up. Bones cracked and lengthened
, her skin stretched and tightened, she roared in agony. Her heartbeat sped up and her blinking became rapid before her eyes fluttered and closed.

  Loud screeches followed by screams sounded in the room. Carissa was quick to act. “Philaso,” she uttered the Ancient Greek spell to conceal the room. She gave herself a mental fist pump for not taking Kirke’s advice to leave. After all she was the one that summoned her here to help.

  Kirke turned to Xen, “How did they come to be on this island?”

  “You know we have people stationed everywhere but these three women opted to assist in taking care of a demon problem here. They were tasked to eliminate them when one of the portals from Hades’ realm opened, and a group of demons scoured through the island feasting on innocent humans. I have always assumed that it was a witch that helped them get through. There had been communication that they were in a middle of conflict and then…” Xen snapped his fingers. “… nothing, radio silence. I turned every stone of this island and found no trace of them. Not even those three cats.” He pointed to the cocoons. “Why and how they appeared now, is beyond me?”

  “Didn’t anyone report any strange furry incidents?” Carissa asked.

  “Yes, many said that there was something strange about the cats on this island but there was nothing specific. I never had reason to call for further investigation.”

  “But hadn’t the Lykae or vampire Phi picked a scent up?”

  “I suppose they didn’t pick up anything different for the same reasons I didn’t, I only realized when you said their aura is peculiar. They smell mostly like cats and tuna.”

  “Tuna?”

  “Yes, tuna.”

  Carissa pinched her nose.

  “Exactly, koukla.” He ran a hand through his hair. I should have tried harder to find them. He spoke the words to her mind.

  You couldn’t have guessed or known that they had a spell cast over them. She said back to him.