by Faulks, Kim
My heart leaped with the words. My sister? I pushed forward on the ball of my foot, striding forward until I saw the bastard, and he saw me. “You fucking hurt her…and I swear…”
“Hurt?” Blaze murmured, and shook his head. “You confuse me. I’d not hurt plan B…or C, for that matter.”
Plan B…
Plan C…
Amaris and Oryn. My blood ran cold with the thought. “I’ll go,” I stopped beside the Hellhound. “Don’t hurt them…I’ll go.”
But Sevan lunged, grasping Blaze around the neck with massive hands. “What’s to say anything you say is the fucking truth?”
Vampires snarled all around us, the sound was like thunder.
But Blaze never fought back, never even raised his fist. He just stood there, rage echoing in his eyes as he forced out choked words. “You’ll…have…to…trust…me…won’t…you?”
Sevan sucked in a hard breath, his curled lips revealing lengthening fangs. He was going to kill Blaze…going to rip him apart. What then? What about Amaris and Oryn then?
Panic filled me, making my voice tremble as I gave a command. “Sevan, you will release him now.”
The Hellhound’s heavy breaths filled my ears. He cut his gaze toward me. Red flames were turned almost magenta. I knew what was coming, what was pushing its way to the surface of his soul…it was Hell.
My world hovered on the precipice for the next few seconds. It’d either end in blood and loss…or it’d end in survival. Please, I let the word echo through my eyes, desperate for him to understand.
And in the moment between one heartbeat and the next, the darkness slipped from the magenta, leaving the burning crimson flames in his eyes. He shoved Blaze backwards, making the weak bastard stumble and catch his breath.
I’d never had a man rise to my defense like that before.
Never had a man ready to tear apart this world to protect me.
But I knew in that moment, Sevan would. He’d obey. He’d protect.
He’d fall.
My stomach clenched as the sickening scent of old blood flanked every side of us. The Vampires moved aside, leaving three Hellhound guards to stride from their midst.
“Take them,” Blaze snapped, reaching up to rub his throat.
But Sevan never moved, just stared at the gutless bastard, letting him fully understand it was me who’d saved his life. The guards rushed in, grasping Sevan by an arm. Metal shackles slapped around his wrist with a snap.
“You think these will stop me if I wanted to get to you?” Sevan growled, never once taking his gaze away from Blaze.
But the piece of shit never answered. His eyes sparkled as they cuffed Sevan’s other hand and shoved him forward.
My heart lurched as he stumbled forward. Then they were on top of him, throwing him to the ground. One Hound cocked his fist and unlashed a brutal blow against his cheek.
“Stop!” I screamed, and stabbed my gaze at the smug bastard.
Blaze smiled as the fist came again…and again, pummeling Sevan until the sickening squelch of blood followed. I stumbled forward, hate and power were poison in my veins. But I was hopeless to fight, not while he had my sisters.
The blows stopped, the three of them were breathing hard with the effort as they stepped away from Sevan. His blood looked black under the moonlight. I couldn’t take my eyes from him as he swallowed and slowly licked his split lips.
One of the Hounds turned to look at me. He stepped forward, and it was then that Sevan growled a warning, one that chilled me to the bone.
“Seems our Cursed has taken a liking to you.” Blaze stepped closer and reached out, brushing strands of hair from my face. “Pity.”
One of the guards strode forward, dragged his foot backwards as the steel shackles clamped down on my wrist, and then swung.
The blow hit Sevan with a brutal thud.
“Get away from him!” I screamed at the guard. “Get the fuck away from him now!”
Steel bit down on my wrists, grinding against bone and the sharp flare of pain cut through me as Blaze chuckled.
One more sickening blow had my Hound moaning and doubling over. He tried to fight, tried to get to his feet as the guard yanked on my cuffs.
A cry of agony tore from my lips as he pulled me forward.
And the night was filled with heavy blows of boots on flesh…and cruel glee.
I turned my head as they kicked and punched the one man ready to die for me, and stared into the eyes of my enemy.
14
Artemas
Metal sank fangs into my wrists as I stumbled forward in the dark. Darkened shapes were a blur. I blinked the slow drip of blood from my eye and focused on her as she moved ahead of me.
Think. A flare of agony came with the words, but I pushed it deep. I had to find a way out of this…for her, at least. Her damn sisters. I wasn’t counting on that. The last I knew of Amaris, she’d been with Bastian.
So what in the Hell did that mean?
Were the Dragons gone? Had they turned tail and run? No, no fucking way. I knew them better than that…or I thought I did.
No matter what, I knew Gunny, and Alpha…and Ace. They were Marines through and through, they wouldn’t leave someone behind, especially not two someones. They had to be out there, somewhere.
Regrouping.
Finding another way through the fucking legion of Vampires.
“Move.” The Hound punched my shoulder, driving me forward.
I swallowed the snarl in the back of my throat and kept walking, watching her being dragged forward next to Blaze. I’d underestimated him and labelled him wrong. He wasn’t a damn Hound.
He was a fucking cockroach.
A survivor, harboring disease.
My body shook with rage, but I kept my eyes down and clambered one step at a time as we made our way down the mountain.
“Want to tell me where the hell you’re taking us?” I turned my head, catching the blur of the Hound’s movement behind me.
“Just keep walking.”
I tried to remember the layout of this place. The lava river cut through the middle of the city underground. Boom! I lifted my head to the spurting red lava. The place was a damn volcano, driving heat and fear into the air.
The people were dying down there…they’d run if they were smart, leave this place behind. Just like I had. The earth trembled under my feet, cracks widened between the trees, and the crash of falling timber followed.
The Dragons.
My heart thundered. Where the fuck were they? The guard walking with Kalliste grabbed her arm, guiding her to the right, and her voice filled my ears. “Tell me where the hell they are!” She stopped moving, standing still while the rest of the pack strode past.
Blaze never stopped, just kept walking. I walked a little faster, striding out to get to her. She turned her head, finding me, until one of the guards pushed her from behind, tearing her gaze from mine.
My heart lunged with the need. Lash or not, the woman commanded me. The Queen of the Hellhound line. My one last fight. She stumbled hard, almost falling.
“Hey!” I focused on the sonovabitch who’d pushed her. “Touch her again, and I’ll tear your fucking arm off.”
He smiled a cruel smile, and hopelessness moved in.
“Take these cuffs off and let’s see you smile then.”
And in an instant, the cockiness died.
Still, the magic was lost as she strode forward, following Blaze, still ahead of me. I tried to think, and not about her, tried to figure out the end game. I had to keep him busy, keep him pissed off, keep him trying to make the lash claim my Hound.
The angrier he became, the more mistakes he’d make.
I only needed one, one moment to take that bastard down and get her away…and her sisters. I pushed harder, stepping down the embankment to the worn track that ran along the side of the mountain.
A truck was parked in the middle of the washed-out ruts in the dirt road. The cabin of t
he truck was closed, the back wide open. I shuffled past and glanced over my shoulder. It was empty. But it hadn’t been. The stench of pure evil still wafted from the confined space. Blood…hate. Vampire.
That’s how they were here, shipping in like fucking cattle. If they were here, that meant that Austine was here too. Eva filled my mind as I climbed once more, heading to the open mouth of a cavern.
Princess Eva, who was now Queen of the Shadistin line.
I shuddered as I stepped to the opening, and it wasn’t because of the cold. Footsteps and the clink of chains echoed. I breathed in the stench of the undead and felt the shadows ripple all around me.
They moved, and it felt like the cavern moved with them. Fear plunged deep. I couldn’t stop staring, finding them crawling across the ceiling and along the ground. I’d counted them in the thousands out there…and I was wrong.
There were tens of thousands, slithering out of the crevices of the cavern as we went deeper into the dark. Flames in the Hound’s eyes brightened the space just enough for me to see…for me to truly witness how hopeless this fight had become.
We’d be able to kill a hundred, maybe even a thousand…
Maybe even a few thousand of the fuckers with Xael on our side. But this many? I limped forward and swallowed the rising bitter taste of fear in the back of my throat. I hadn’t crumbled, not even when my compound was invaded and I thought Gunny and the squad were gone. I’d been solid, planning our next attack.
But here and now?
This was different.
“Move,” the bastard Hound punched my back.
Pain flared through my side as I stumbled forward.
“Don’t you hurt him,” Kalliste snapped behind me.
Jesus, her voice was a neon fucking beam in the dark. My Hound rushed to the surface, dragging in deep breaths just to draw a little more of her scent into him—and into me.
I didn’t want her in there, not in my lungs or under my skin. I didn’t want her inside my head, dragging my focus from planning a way out of this mess.
This wasn’t part of the deal.
I came here to save her life. I came here to right a wrong I’d run from my entire life.
But I didn’t come here for her. Not her as the woman, not her and the fire in her belly. Not her with her hopes and dreams and desperation to find her sisters. I came to save the Queen.
Just a little longer and I’d be done. I lifted my head to the bastard limping in front of me. Kill him. The need pulsed inside me like a secret on repeat. I focused on him as we snaked our way deeper into the cavern and stopped at the entrance to a tunnel.
“In there.” Blaze jerked his head toward a barricaded entrance.
One shove from behind me, and I stumbled toward the bars. No, I jerked my gaze toward her and clenched my fist, ready to unlash Hell. But the guard was pushing her toward the same barricaded section of the tunnel.
She jerked her gaze toward me, watching as I stepped to the open door and then stepped inside. Empty boxes were smashed on the ground at the back of the cell. Hinges squealed as Kalliste stepped through the open gate and stopped beside me.
“I’ll be back for you.” Blaze stepped closer, hate burning red as he stared at me.
“I’ll be waiting.” I muttered.
One glance at Kalliste and he was gone, limping a little less now.
The cell door slammed closed with a thunk. A Hound twisted a key in the lock and turned to leave us behind.
“Hey!” I lunged forward, grasping the bars. “We need water.”
Blaze stopped walking and turned his head, giving the Hound a small nod before striding away. A bottle was thrown toward us. I thrust my hand through the bars, catching the container as it hit. Cold water sloshed as I squeezed the sides and dragged it through the bars.
They left us, disappearing through the dark. Shadows moved as the horde of Vampires followed.
“Where are they going?” Her panicked words were whispered behind me.
I turned, unscrewing the top, to hand her the bottle. “I don’t know. Wherever it is, it’s not going to be good.”
She took several gulps, swiped a bead of water from her lips, and held out the bottle. I took it, just a sip, enough to wet my lips, and screwed the cap back on. Who knew how long we’d be in here?
Power raced through me, catching my breath. I took a step closer to the bars as hungry, savage energy of my line filled the space. They stumbled forward, tethered to one another by the lash around their necks.
Movement came behind me as Kalliste stumbled close. She gripped the bars beside me, watching as Stone and Ezre led the others. They turned their heads as they neared. Hope raged.
“Don’t let them…win.” Stone growled.
“Move!” The guard holding the lash strode forward and lashed out, cracking the Hound across the face.
Stone stumbled with the blow, wincing as he tried to straighten. But there was no escaping the power of the Cursed lash, no tearing away from the sting or the energy that hummed through my veins.
I felt his pain…his hopelessness…his fear. We were tethered by something more than magic—we were joined by blood.
I gripped the bars and leaned close as the guard punched out, once more driving his fist into Stone’s back. “I said, fucking move.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I made sure the guard heard me as he passed. “And I’m going to enjoy it very much.”
Amber flames danced in his eyes as he looked my way. But there was fear, too, enough to make him lower his fist as Stone stumbled past.
“Stay strong,” I called into the dark.
“He’ll break the seal without you,” Kalliste murmured and turned her head. “Won’t he?”
I found her gaze. “He can try.”
“And if he does?”
I had no answers, none she’d want to hear, none the whole world would want to hear. An eternity of demons and the demented terrorizing the city streets. Not even the Guardians could protect us from that.
Stay strong. I whispered down that line, and a surge of rage followed. The sting was instant, burning and singeing, tearing through me like an inferno.
We know what’s at stake. Stone’s snarl echoed through my head. Get the Queen out of here. The first seal’s already broken…it’s only a matter of time before they all break.
I flinched, and stumbled away from the bars. Panic moved in, filling every inch of me.
“What is it?” Kalliste stepped closer.
I jerked my gaze to hers and tried to breathe.
“Sevan?”
The shake of my head couldn’t shatter the hold as Stone surged through the connection…an image, a tunnel…Hell’s tunnel. The round seal of protection cracked as a Demon tried to get through.
Stone! A male’s roar filled my head. It took me a second to understand it wasn’t me. Bastian rushed to the surface of my mind. It was a memory…or a flicker of a memory. The seal was shattered, and the beasts of Hell wanted through.
The Dragon bent, picked up a strand of hair, and answered. It’s her…it’s the Huntress…
Stone’s parting gift was wrenched from me. I sucked in hard breaths, and tried to still the shake. “We need to get out of here.” I jerked my gaze toward her. “The seals won’t hold, not against the Huntress.”
“Then we kill the goddamn Huntress.” She shuffled closer and gripped my arm. “You hear me? We get out of here and we tear the bitch apart.”
If Zadoc doesn’t do it for us.
The Dragon had more than enough reasons to want the bitch dead. She’d kept him hostage, tortured him, tortured Joslyn, and when they thought she couldn’t hurt them anymore, the Huntress had done the unthinkable—she’d abducted their babies.
Kalliste was right, there was no way the Huntress was surviving this. “The seals will hold.”
“Not for long,” Blaze stepped out of the darkness. The slow…sliiidde, was followed by a thud. Sliiidde…thud. Sliiidde…thud, and out o
f the bitter cavern behind him came the one bitch I wanted dead.
“You!” Kalliste stepped closer and grasped the bars. “I’ll fucking kill you.”
“You can try,” her voice slurred as she limped.
This bitch had nine fucking lives. Terror slipped through me as she nailed Kalliste with that opaque, oozing fucking eye. She blinked, and one slick, mucoid tear slid down her cheek.
“What do you want from us?” Kalliste strangled the bars. “Where are my sisters?”
The Huntress slowly turned her stare to Blaze.
“I had to get her here somehow, didn’t I?” he muttered with a smirk.
The Hellhound Queen flinched beside me. “You lied to me? You fucking lied?”
“Now, now. That language is unbecoming of a Queen, Kalliste,” he chided.
“You fucking dare lecture me?” Rage slipped into the cell around me. Savage rage, the kind the royal line was known for.
The sting raced across my arms, catching my breath. There was a twitch in the Huntress’s gruesome eye. But it was me she turned to…and it was me she whispered to.
Words filled the darkness, ancient words, powerful words. And I felt the earth beneath me shudder and shake. The Shaman’s face swam to the surface, and a battle raged.
The Huntress’s spell wove around me, pulling my Hound to the surface.
But it was Kalliste who cried out…it was Kalliste who dropped to the ground.
“You’re killing her,” Blaze snapped as the Huntress stepped closer.
“I’m not touching her,” the bitch growled.
“Then why the fuck is she in pain?”
My knees trembled, my muscles twitched. A howl cut through my mind and echoed in the cavern. But it was Kalliste I sought in the cell. It was her I felt to my core.
“The spell will grow on him,” she murmured, staring at me. “His Hound won’t be able to fight the call. He’ll fall,” she whispered. “Or he’ll die.”
She turned then, dragging a foot along the ground behind her, leaving nothing more than the taste of her poisoned words in the air.
My body shuddered before I buckled and hit the ground hard. Pain lashed my knees as I fell forward, clawing the rocks. I shoved forward as an unseen blade carved along my spine.
