by Kim Faulks
“Amaris!” Parry screamed. “No!”
But he was so far away…fading fast under a cloak of darkness.
I shuddered with the cold…desperate for the heat of this world—desperate for the fire and the flame.
“She’s done,” the woman snarled.
My body pulsed with the throb, and the bitter sting of the cold followed, spreading out along my veins.
“Kill them and then get to Slaven,” she growled. “But first, take care of him.”
The scuff of boots echoed.
“No…no…don’t you do this!” The mortal screamed.
So cold…so very cold.
It’s okay, Kalliste whispered. Time to let me go…
The gnash of teeth swallowed the mortal’s howl of terror.
Kalliste’s face slipped through my fingers and bled into the dark.
The crack of a machine gun followed with a deafening boom. The air shook. Dust fell into my eyes. A shudder raced, tearing through my middle.
“Amaris,” Parry called as bright lights danced across my eyes. “Jesus fucking Christ! Amaris…Amaris!”
Hands pulled me, lifting, holding.
But it was all too late.
It wasn’t Kalliste I was to let go of.
She was the one that had to let go of me.
17
Bastian
I sucked in a hard breath and stilled at the doorway. “She’s in there…you sure?”
Wild eyes stared back at me. Ezre nodded and then hunkered down on all fours before he moved inside.
I took a step, and then stilled. “Wait,” I muttered and turned my head toward the hallway. An icy breeze whispered, something cruel was coming…something that felt like dread and tasted like blood. “Something’s wrong.”
Pain impaled my chest, tearing through flesh and bone to find the muscle underneath.
“Guardian?”
My fingers slipped from the doorway as my knees buckled. I hit the ground hard, falling to my knees. Lips parted, but there was no sound, no air…no nothing. I lifted my head as an unseen blade drove deep.
Stars danced in my eyes as I clawed my shirt. A scream tore free, strange and feral, and a metallic taste followed.
“What the fuck is happening?” Stone’s roar invaded. Strong hands gripped me, tearing my fist from my chest. Dark eyes closed in, shining with panic. “There’s nothing there!”
But there was…so cold…teeth chattered….there was flesh…there was bone…there was ice. I swung my fist, hit something hard and warm, and muscle flexed under my hold. Fabric ripped, giving way.
My pulse was a drum inside my damn head. Flooding my veins with the bitter icy sting. My blood…
Heartsblood.
Her Heartsblood.
“Amaris.” Her name roared to the surface and a stab of agony followed, tearing along my veins.
“What about her?” Stone yanked me close.
“I gotta go.” I shoved from the ground and stumbled for the exit. “Something’s wrong…”
But even as I spoke the words I knew I’d never make it. Her life’s blood throbbed, roaring with life. She was fighting…fighting whatever this was—but she was losing.
My Dragon shivered with the bitter sting of cold. Fire met ice, melting into one…and it was my immortal flame that won, stealing the pain, warming…swallowing.
That was all she needed…more fire…more heat. I wrenched my head high. “Can you feel her? Can you feel her fire?”
His gaze narrowed. “It’s complicated. I can feel the Gate, feel the power around this place. Feel the drive to protect the true line.”
“Then you need to narrow in on that. You and Ezre, you need to find her. If we don’t, she’s going to die.”
He gave a slow nod. Ezre gave a snarl and moved closer. His gaze slipped to a place on the wall behind me. Heat…cold…I searched for the power, searched for the blood and the connection we now shared.
The Catalyst roared to the surface, leaving the dark depths behind. Flames danced from his gills with every breath.
Save her. He shuddered with the promise. Save her.
Light bounced off violet scales, mingling with the Hellfire around our heart. I followed that connection, followed that heat, one to him…and the other to her. Cool morphed into cold, and the closer I came the colder the connection became.
“Can’t feel her, Guardian. Too damn cold. Can’t feel her fire,” Stone growled.
“Just keep trying,” I snarled and lifted my hand to the wall.
I had to melt the way…just a little.
Easy, whispered the Catalyst. Too much too soon could kill her. Warm slowly, remember?
I nodded, opening myself up to his power. Don’t lose her, the words echoed in the darkness of my mind. Please don’t lose her.
Inch by inch the bitter cold warmed. I followed that line, melting hoarfrost into water, getting closer and closer until I touched her spirit.
God have mercy!
I yanked the connection free and stumbled, shoving away from the wall.
“She’s…she’s frozen.” Stone yanked his gaze to mine. “She’s frozen all the way through.”
I tried to swallow. Tried to shake off that feeling. But the cold was racing, stealing the heat from my Dragon like a ravenous beast. I couldn’t stop it, couldn’t even save myself. And instead of diving, instead of running, the Catalyst opened his wings.
Power raced, shredding my mind and stealing my breath. He was in the driver’s seat, owning it all.
I spread my fingers wide, holding on to this world, and yelled. “Now. Give her everything you have now!”
The air hummed with power. Cracks raced along the wall and still it was building…building…building. Savage snarls echoed around me, but I was too far gone, leaving this hallway and this building for the connection we now shared.
My Dragon plunged, carving through the frozen thread to her spirit. Icicles moved on to consume the thaw he left behind, but the deeper he moved, the more he could feel.
Beasts…hungry, savage…infernal.
Stone gave a whimper as he reached for that connection and then pulled away…there were more connections…more threads…seven of them.
Fire raced along two…but the others were quiet and still. I searched for life, and the strands hummed. One…two…three and four were blazing with yellow flames…but five and six warmed, the power tender, careful.
I wanted to grasp those connections. I wanted to draw what little warmth they’d give. I turned to the last one…the seventh, and felt a shiver. Dark power raced along this thread…dark power that hunted, searching for a flicker of life.
“No!” The Hellhound roared. “Don’t touch that. Don’t ever touch that thread.”
The Catalyst pulled away, instead turning to the one place where all those threads combined. There was a spark of life…one tiny flicker of a flame fighting.
But the ice crept closer, and in the end it would win—if we didn’t do something now.
“Get the fuck away from her,” I growled.
Heat rushed and the frigid touch warmed and then crystallized.
Shards of ice melted and then hardened. Power hummed, warming the shards once more, and this time it took longer to freeze.
“It’s working.” I focused on that tiny flame fighting for life. “It’s working.”
The Catalyst drove massive wings through the water and let out a screech.
“Jesus,” Stone howled and gripped his ears.
But there was no stopping my Dragon’s power. There was no stopping the rush. He was the raging sea trapped inside one flicker of a violet flame.
And he gave that flame to her.
Purple blended with amber, reaching higher, consuming the cold one a painful inch at a time. My hand shuddered against the wall, and those cracks raced, spearing across the ceiling.
Life hummed along that line. Life and love…and with the warm perfection came the roar of hate. Violet and amber
darkened to black…
The throb of her heart echoed, resounding harder and stronger with that midnight flame. She was hungry and angry…
I lingered, breathing life into that rage, giving her all I had. I felt her chest rise with a breath. Her energy felt different now…harder, colder…
“Guardian,” Stone growled and I could tell he felt the difference as well. “What have we done?”
Her hound rose along that connection. Shaking off the shackles as she hunted. I eased away from that connection now…leaving her to find that venomous desire for retribution.
Life ebbed, and then slowed through that vein of heartsblood we now shared. I pulled away from the connection and slumped against the wall.
“Goddess above,” Ezre muttered and shook his head.
The brother looked blood-sickened, swaying on his feet. I glanced to Stone who stared at me with a mixture of fear and awe. “Guardian, remind me to never piss you off, right? Just when I get mouthy, just a gentle reminder…okay?”
I nodded and leaned my head against the wall as a thud echoed from above. I glanced to the ceiling and swallowed hard. “You sure she’s up there?”
“Sure as I’ll ever be,” Ezre growled and shuddered.
I shoved against the wall and felt the room sway. “Then let’s end this and be done with it.”
“Jesus, you can hardly walk,” growled Stone.
I stumbled, hit the wall, and shook my head. “Can’t, gotta find her before the others get here.”
I caught the flare of his eyes, and for the first time, the cockiness was gone from his tone. “They really that bad?”
I stilled, craned my head and hoped he understood the weight in these words. “They’re worse…far, far worse.”
He swallowed hard and then shoved himself to stand. Dust and filth hung from his once perfect shirt. He didn’t understand, not yet—but he would soon.
Stories about us had been handed down from generation to generation. Some were the truth, some were not. But it wasn’t just my family now…Eva’s pale eyes filled my mind, and the black spectral hound of death that was the tiny, strange shifter, Odessa.
And that wasn’t even the worse of them.
Xael.
My damn knees trembled. The Gate came to life in my mind and I was seized by the memory of that creature as he stepped from the flames of Hell. “Back at the Gate, did you see anything? Through the flames, I mean. Did you see someone?”
“You mean when I was fighting the damn Demon and dying? Sorry, I didn’t stop and take notes.”
I nodded and exhaled. I liked Stone, even if he was a smug bastard.
“Guardian?” Stone murmured, drawing my gaze.
Something dark had slipped into the hallway, something feral, something unhinged. I swallowed my own fear and leashed the beast.
Xael could never know.
Not from an innocent slip of the tongue, not from calculated blackmail.
If she did…
It’d be the end of us all.
18
Amaris
“Jesus…Jesus…what the Hell happened?”
Parry's panic crowded in. Hard hands gripped my arms, curling my shoulders to crush me against him. Please, I whispered. Come back…
But she was gone, leaving behind a whisper of the Hound she’d once been. I tried to swallow, tried to think.
“You’re scaring the shit outta me, kid. Talk to me.”
My lips parted, thoughts slow as torchlight filled the garage. Muffled voices stained with fear filled my ears. But I couldn’t catch the words, couldn’t find the answers.
A shudder raced, shaking my bones, jarring my teeth. Calloused hands rubbed the skin on my arms. “Stone cold,” the old man muttered.
I lifted my gaze to find his in the dark. “She’s gone, Parry. My Hound. She’s gone.”
His hands stilled, but those eyes were careful. There was no flinch, nothing but the catch of a breath, and with a slow exhale he spoke. “She’s never gone, Amaris. She’s you. You’re living, right? You’re breathing. You’re alive, so she’s alive.”
I tried to swallow those words and stop from reaching out for her in the dark. All I felt was the darkness…all I felt was the cold. “They knew, Parry. Knew everything. Knew I’d find Motor, knew I’d react like that. Knew I’d come in alone.” I closed my eyes. “They knew it all.”
“That’s true. It’s all true. You walked straight into their hands.”
I winced with his words. So matter of fact. There were no punches pulled today.
“But there’s one damn thing they never counted on.”
I opened my eyes and lifted my gaze.
“They never counted on you surviving.”
My world stilled. A savage glint echoed in his gaze. I inhaled just to test his words. I survived…barely. But I survived. The Guardian brushed against my mind. I still felt the heat he left behind…and the others—the Cursed. They risked their lives, consuming the cold to keep me alive. “No, they didn’t, and they talked, Parry. When they thought I was dying they talked. She said…get back to Slaven.”
“Then, that’s where we go.” He shifted, reaching forward to lift my knee. My leg trembled, and then buckled. He clutched my heel with one hand and slipped my boot on with the other. “And we give these sonsofbitches something they never expected.”
I could almost believe him; almost believe this was the truth. That old gnawing feeling took hold.
Trust him, just like I trusted our father.
But Parry wasn’t Heron—he wasn’t anything like him.
He shoved against the ground, moaning and groaning, and then snarled when one of the other men neared to help him from the ground. “Don’t you dare. The day I can’t get these old bones up from the floor will be the day I don’t move from the damn floor.”
And it was as though everything was normal once more.
He stood, waited, and I followed, balancing on the balls of my feet before I shoved to stand. My legs trembled, body felt alien. I reached for the ache and pressed the heel of my hand against the bone.
“You solid?”
I took a step and felt the blood rush. “Yeah, I’m solid.”
“Put a light to that,” Parry growled, and one of the men rushed forward.
The strike of the match was the perfect background track as I followed Parry from the garage. An ache speared across my chest, slow and tender. I glanced over my shoulder at the garage and that hurt bloomed.
I’d loved this place. Loved this man, and now he was gone. “It won’t be for nothing, Motor. I promise you that.”
Bodies littered the front of the garage. I stepped over arms and legs and then through the blown in roller door. Shredded metal gaped like teeth from the blast. They risked it all to save me.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
Parry stilled at the words and then nodded. “Me too, kid. Me too. But we’re not going to sit back and wait for them to attack again. We go in there, with everything we have and we bury the fuckers.”
I lengthened my stride as the cold lash of rage took hold. Bury them. That sounded good, that sounded very good. The bitch came to life in my mind. There’d be no burying her. Not until I tore her apart.
A low snarl slipped through my mind, something feral and savage. I turned inward and reached out in the dark. Come to me.
The sudden inhale echoed. She took a slow step and then another, moving into focus. She was my Hound. Inky black fur, strong muscles. I stared as she edged out of the shadows, black lips curled, white fangs showing.
But there were no flames in her eyes. There was nothing but dark pools of ink devouring light in their intensity. Her ears were flattened, hackles stood on end.
What’s wrong with you?
Her nostrils flared as she scented the air.
You know me…
“Amaris, you coming?” Parry called, urging me forward.
I gave a nod and headed for the open passenger do
or.
“Everything okay?” He asked as I yanked open the door and slipped inside.
“Sure.” The word slipped free, but inside my Hound stared at me through the eyes of a stranger.
The four-wheel drive started and lunged forward. I eased against the seat and stared across the void of my mind at someone I didn’t know.
There was no consoling, no hand held out in the dark. I reached for my chest and probed the torn shirt. The blade had done a lot more damage than pierce my heart. It severed my sigil.
My hand went to my hip. “My blade.”
He leaned to the side and dragged it from his belt. “I found it cast aside, thought you might want it back.”
But as I reached for the hilt there was no flare of life. The steel was cold to my touch, the handle lifeless. Parry turned his head as he swung the wheel and stared at the blade.
Without the power of my line I was nothing.
Not a warrior. Not a Princess.
Not even the blood of my blood.
I dropped the blade to the floor and turned to stare at the blurred city streets. I could fight. I could do that…and I could kill. I held onto that as the car raced through the city streets and headed for the mountains.
What was my life worth with no bloodline…and no power?
It was worth another…it was worth as many as I could take down.
The faint tendrils of power licked from the inky blackness. But this was no amber flame, this was no golden flare of heat.
This power was midnight.
This power was rage.
My Hound stepped closer. Her ears rose, nose scented the wind, and this time there was no wariness, or a snarl of a stranger. This time there was acceptance. “Parry.”
“Yeah?”
“What happens when your Hellfire changes color?”
He glanced toward me in the dark, careful words now. “Depends what color it is.”
I met his gaze in the glow of the dashboard lights. “What if it was black?”
He licked his lips and turned his focus to the road. There was no reassurance, and no answer. And in the silence I understood the ways a person can die and still be alive. Tears blurred his face. “Parry…”
