by Kim Faulks
The beast lowered his head to nudge Oryn’s arm.
He understood.
And somewhere in the tunnel an unmerciful howl tore free. Oryn flinched, Amaris met the Hound’s gaze as he glanced to the doorway.
“Amaris!” Parry yelled from outside the room. “There’s been an attack topside.”
I moved closer as she turned. There was a hardness in her eyes. She knew what she was demanding, and she knew the pain it’d cause…to deny a beast of an innate instinct was a cruel fate.
I took one look at the Princess and her protector and turned away. The Hound would stay there, of that I was sure. He’d endure whatever came his way, no matter the cost.
The old man was waiting, holding out a pair of boots. “We need to hurry…the attack—it’s not all.”
Amaris grasped the boots from his hand and slipped her foot inside. “What?”
“The Cursed at the gate, he’s fighting a damn demon.”
“That’s me.” I took a step away and felt a savage tug inside my heart. “Just be careful up there.”
Bodies crammed the tunnel…her men waited, dressed to the nines with automatic weapons and cross-bows. “We’ve been fighting these bastards for years.” She snarled and wrenched her blade free. “It’s you that needs to be careful, Guardian.”
And then she was gone, striding away without a backwards glance, with the blade aglow in her hand. I swallowed that ache and turned to the maelstrom of panicked shifters.
I couldn’t help them, couldn’t ease their fear, couldn’t defend the tunnel from Blaze’s men…but I could get reinforcements, and my family was coming.
All I had to do was close the damn Gate, and find the bitch that crawled through.
I kept to the outside and skimmed the wall, heading back to the sigil’s marker. The ache in my chest flared with the power of this place.
Please be enough, I growled and stepped close to the stone wall. Heat flared, sending a lick of fire along my veins. I pushed my hand into the wall and felt resistance. More, I urged as the Catalyst shifted inside my mind.
Power hummed as my fingers slipped through. I followed, stepping through the obsidian wall to the outside tunnel. The gnash of teeth was savage. A whimper, and a shriek followed, one steeped in pain. I shoved forward…
Catalyst…I need you.
And down in my soul my Dragon answered the call.
Energy raced along my spine, mounting and building like the destructive wave of a tsunami. Obsidian walls hummed with power—mine and Stone’s—as I rounded the edge of the tunnel and stumbled into Armageddon.
The beast was halfway through, arms flailing as it fought for a hold on the shattered gate. The Demon wrenched its head up, haunting red eyes fixed on me, and hissed.
Rows of razored teeth glistened against its crimson skin. Jesus. I cocked a fist, took one look at the Cursed as he limped, and then lunged.
Muscles tightened, tendons strained as I drove my fist into the Demon’s face. Its bald head cracked backwards, teeth splintered to embed between the knuckles of my fist.
I wrenched my hand backwards, and shook, casting the enamel shards from my flesh.
“You okay?” I growled and moved toward the Cursed.
The beast snuffled, snarled…and that was all the answer I needed. My body shuddered, shoulders stung, and that cruel burn raced all the way down my spine. The Catalyst was close to the surface, wanting flesh and blood, wanting to spread his wings wide. But I couldn’t let him take the lead, not down here…not confined within these stony walls.
“On three,” I snarled. “One…two…”
The damn Hellhound lunged too soon, but he was too heavy, hitting the Demon low. I growled, dropped my shoulder, and drove my body forward to slam into the infernal beast. Teeth savaged, pain flared but I was past the emotion, past the point of caring.
Fingers found flesh, nails bore into skin. I clenched my fist around its neck and cocked my fist as the Demon latched onto the Cursed’s leg. The Hound’s scream was unmerciful. Razors carved through inky fur to find bone.
I unleashed a blow, catching the Demon’s cheek as the beast reached for the Hound. The infernal beast pulled backwards, sliding its body back into Hell, and dragged Stone with him.
The Hound’s piercing howl rebounded against the walls. Panic mounted, racking my pulse as the Demon jerked and pulled the Hound through the crack in the Gate.
Neon red blazed against the Cursed’s neck as a collar of markings came to life.
The curse…
I wrenched my head to the infernal sight of Hell. Dark eyes widened, the Hound clawed and thrashed, trying desperately to drag itself free.
And the closer he came to the infernal bowels of existence, the brighter the collar burned. He’d die in there…he’d burn alive. Fingers sank into his fur as I grasped the Hound’s leg and jerked.
“Get the fuck off him!”
My body hit the beast in the nose, lips split, teeth were all I saw. I dragged my fist backward and unleashed again. The thing hissed and snarled. Its hold on the Hound slipped and that was all I needed.
Scales raced along my skin as the Catalyst took hold, giving me just enough power to turn nails into claws. Webbing grew between my fingers, but it was the long, thin talons I needed.
I tightened my fingers and stabbed. Pointed talons pierced soft flesh, driving through the Demon’s eye. Blood seeped as I yanked my hand free and went for the Hound.
The Demon dropped its hold and clawed its eyes, falling back into the blazing inferno. And through the six-foot flames came the dark silhouette of male. He strode forward. Hungry pale eyes blazing with need.
My stomach tightened. Heart slammed against my chest.
It couldn’t be…
Powerful strides gripped me harder than a Demon’s hold ever could.
No…
His eyes were fixed on me, lips curled into a vicious smile as he left the flames of Hell behind. The hard brunt of a head tore me from the sight. The Hound snarled, wide inky eyes swallowing me into his fear.
But I didn’t need the Hound’s as I turned back to the male heading toward the gate. Ground eating strides picked up pace as he lunged into a run…
“Get the fuck back now!” I screamed and stumbled back from the Gate.
Fire lashed my throat, burning and searing. I stared at the male through the opened crack in Hell’s Gate and unleashed my rage. The inferno spilled from my lips. Violet flames lashed the obsidian stone.
“Bastian!”
Rage came from inside the Gate, rage and hate…three thousand years’ worth.
Stone hissed and sizzled as I opened myself up to the Catalyst. I gave him everything, all the hate, all the hurt and the rage.
And underneath, it all came down to one thing…
Love.
Dark eyes filled my mind. Icy hair, piercing eyes. The sting of her tail, just as cruel as the sting of her words. She loved like she hated—with everything she was.
And she loved her family…just as we loved her.
Xael’s face filled my mind. Flames reached deeper, burned harder to lash the stone. The walls shivered and cracked, symbols flattened as liquified shards blended into one and closed the cracks in the wall.
The Hound shuddered, shook, and then collapsed against the ground as the obsidian stony wall hardened, closing off the Underworld from this realm.
“The sigils,” Stone gasped.
I glanced to the male as black fur sank into pale flesh. He lifted a paw, claws raked the air. “Get me closer.”
I stumbled for the male, grasping him under the arms, and heaved. A groan tore from his lips, mingling with a whimper as I dragged him closer. Black claws drew back, morphing into perfect manicured nails.
He pressed his palm to the gate and closed his eyes. Thick red markings around his throat came to life. The burns darkened and thickened, like a collar. The stony wall came alive, burning the same red marks across the stone as the slam of somethi
ng heavy came from the other side.
Sigils blazed with the same markings as before. Stone wrenched his palm from the wall and stumbled backwards. I caught the brother as his knee buckled and eased him to the ground. The heavy thud came from the other side of the Gate and amongst the boom I could’ve sworn I heard the scream of my name. I stared at the hardening stone. “Will it hold?”
“It did for the last three thousand years,” he growled and closed his eyes. “You’re cool and all…I really like you…but can you not cup my damn chest?”
I wrenched my hand away from his bare skin and stared at the buck-naked male. “Asshole,” I snarled.
His smirk quickly turned into a grimace as he grasped his arm. The flesh was shredded all the way to the bone. Frayed nerves shivered and then moved, knitting together as I stared. “Will you heal?”
He closed his eyes and nodded. “Yeah. But I need to get topside. Ezre is coming with a clean set of clothes.”
“Good.” I moved away, and shoved upwards until he lunged and caught my arm.
“Not so fast, Guardian.”
He took one look at the Gate and turned careful eyes on me. “I think it’s about time you told me what broke through the gate in the first place.”
I took a breath as the walls closed in. “If I do you have to promise me one thing.”
“Terms? Interesting…spill.”
“First I tell you, and then we hunt the bitch down.”
14
Amaris
“What do you mean they saw them?”
“Said there was a whole team, five, maybe seven,” Renold muttered.
My mind was racing…why? Why make a mistake now? Was this retribution from Heron? “Seven of them…where?”
There was no answer, only silence before I jerked my gaze toward Renold’s. I saw him then, saw him for the boy he’d barely left behind. “Spill.”
He flinched and answered. “Motor’s place.”
I clenched my jaw. Goddamn bastards. Goddamn filthy fucking bastards. They couldn’t leave him alone, could they? Even in death they wanted to tear him apart. “What did they do?
“The scout never said. Didn’t get close enough. Saw it was them and hightailed it back here.”
“So they’re not attacking the tunnel,” Parry snarled. “I told ‘em. The shields have held for hundreds of years. They’re not gonna fall now.”
I tried to plan…tried to think, about anything other than their fucking stench tainting Motor’s place. His body surged to the surface. Eyes wide, fangs still glistening as though he was still screaming.
The office consumed my mind, papers scattered under my hands, heavy breaths in my ear. My heart sped with the rush. I closed my eyes and tried to shove the memory from my mind. “How long ago?”
“An hour, hour and a half tops.”
I jerked my head toward Parry. “So they could still be there.”
He shook his head, but I could still see the answer in his eyes. He didn’t have to speak, didn’t have to say a damn word, but he did. “Amaris, no.”
But there was no turning back now. Not once the ember turned into a flame. “I’m going. I’m not going to stand by, not while they…they desecrate his home—not while they desecrate him.”
I turned back, grasping the old Glock and shoving it into the waistband of my jeans. Movement followed, boots scraped on stone as I grasped a bottle of gasoline and heaved it from the bench.
I’d been consumed with the damn chaos of my people, trying to calm those still alive while I waited to return and bury my friend. But if Blaze’s men were there…if they stayed, then I couldn’t stay here a second longer.
I’d return to the garage and burn the whole place down, with them in it. Parry’s words came back to me…the ones spoken in private…the ones he didn’t want me to hear. We need her to be on the edge…we need her to be what she was born to be.
And this was me being what I was born to be.
Kalliste was the crown.
Oryn…sweet, sweet Oryn was the shield—protecting, loving.
Light blazed to life from my hip, drawing my focus. I gripped the hilt of my blade and dragged the weapon free. And I was the blade. Double-edged. Savage and unfeeling. One which would cut, and bleed.
And now they were coming after what was mine again.
But there was no Heron to lie anymore.
There was no father to trust.
Purpose raced through my veins.
For those I loved I’d become what I was born to be.
“If you want to stay, Parry, then stay.”
“Don’t be daft girl, you’re like my blood.” The old man sidled up to me and reached across the table to grasp a sawn-off shotgun and a box of shells. “I think it’s about time we had a final showdown with this sonofabitch. Let’s go get your sister back.”
A tremble raced through my chest. And that broken bird called hope surged higher. Fractured wings flapped as he closed his hand over mine. “I got your back, love. I got you.”
And once again it was down to this. I felt old. More than old…I felt tired. I heaved the gasoline and made for the tunnel that would take us topside. My men fell in behind—guns were racked, shells and magazines were stowed in waistbands and pockets.
We were a misfit crew, one born not from military perfection…but one born from hate, death…and desperation. I left the panic and the terror of my people behind. I couldn’t help them, not down here—the blade brightened in my hand, lighting the way, another street, another part of the city…
Car doors opened and slammed, and the hungry growls of engines filled the night. Parry climbed into the driver’s side as I yanked open the back door and stowed the gasoline into the back. I yanked the passenger’s door open and climbed inside as the engine of the old Jeep roared to life.
Darkness bled into the light of my sigil as the first cars shot forward, tires screaming like banshees in the dead of the night. Gears clunked into place before we lurched, following them into the empty streets.
Light was fading….and fast. Time slipped through my fingers in the tunnel. Even from behind the towering, abandoned buildings I could see the coming night sky.
Parry handled the wheel with care, scanning the rearview mirror as we followed the others and turned left. Familiar streets blurred. This city was more than fractured, deserted streets. It was life…life abandoned. Life forgotten.
A predatory sound rumbled in the back of my throat. There was no shake of the wheel, no flinch from the old man beside me—there was only a glance, a quiet unspoken desire and a slow nod of the head as we turned and turned again, gaining one more street closer to Motor’s workshop.
15
Bastian
The engine of the Mercedes throbbed as I stood on the pavement and watched his majesty fix the collar on his damn shirt. “You ready to go now, Princess?”
Stone wrenched his head toward me and grinned. But there was a hardness in his eyes, someplace born from pain—someplace that glint just didn’t quite reach.
“Gotta look my best, Guardian,” he snarled and then bent to stare into the side mirror and spear his fingers through his hair.
“Kane…I can’t find him,” said Ezre. “He’s not answering the call.”
Stone straightened, the smirk left behind now. “Then we do this without him.”
I turned from the two Cursed and stared into the darkening city streets. “We don’t have time to waste. Every second that bitch is out there is a fucking second too long.”
“You still haven’t explained who sent her to Hell in the first place,” Stone warned.
But there were no words I could find, no words that could do the past justice. “Eva was being controlled.”
“By Acheron, the Original Vampire…the one damn fucking bloodsucker that fathered all three races.”
I flinched with the skepticism in his tone and jerked my gaze toward the Cursed. “Yes.”
An ache welled in the middle of my damn
chest. I shoved my fist against the muscle and massaged as the memory of that day returned. The hunt still so damn fresh in my memory, as was the aftermath.
“And you’re saying you found her body hours later?”
The trunk of the Merc slammed shut, and the sound carried. I could feel their wariness. Hell it sounded absurd to me. “The more important question is how the hell did she break that seal.”
Stone’s lips curled at one corner. “Exactly. And that all starts with how she got there in the first place, doesn’t it?”
He slipped the sparkling Sig Sauers into each holster strapped across his chest. “You sure you don’t want a gun? I have plenty to choose from.”
I shook my head and stepped away. “I don’t need a damn weapon. I am the damn weapon.”
“Then it’s just us,” Stone muttered and stared at Ezre. “RyKor’s already out there…somewhere.”
Ezre stared at Stone with the cruel gaze of a killer. “It’s what we were cursed to do, wasn’t it?”
Stone stilled and then slowly nodded. His lips curled and for the first time I saw the deep-seated hate that welled inside. “It is.” He shifted his gaze to mine—fear and confusion welled in the inky blackness.
“Don’t hold back on my account.” I reached for the top button of my shirt and worked it free. “I sure as hell won’t be pulling any punches. I want this bitch dead…no, I want her deader than dead. I want her to be fucking ash…nothing more than a bad memory.”
“Then let’s hunt.” Ezre pressed the button and locked the Merc.
He lifted his head, eyes seeking the night sky as he inhaled. Flames ignited in his gaze, slow at first, and then hungry, reaching higher, filling the dark pupils.
Blond hair kicked out behind him as he turned. “I can smell her, like something fetid…something that shouldn’t be here.”
My pulse sped as a growl echoed from the back of his throat. I’d use them to sniff the Huntress out and then she was mine.
Ours, whispered the Catalyst. She’ll be ours.
