by Ophelia Bell
Before Llyr could press again with angry demands, I shifted, caught one of the violent currents and let it carry me up into the sky. The fucker could follow if he wanted, but I was done talking about it. There was nothing I could do except make sure Deva stayed adequately distracted by the other guys so that her attention was diverted from our link to each other. As long as she didn’t examine it too closely, as long as I kept my distance, she’d be safe.
But if there was a chance we could fight back like my grandmother suggested, and these rogue fate hounds were the way to do it, I had to see that through.
Despite the agitation that lingered after my confrontation with Llyr, I pushed on. I flew in a criss-crossing pattern across the city, my eyes peeled for sight of our hounds, but grew frustrated at the lack of any sign of them at all. But a little later I caught another violet streak far below near the beach and banked on the breeze, angling down again toward it. The creature was trotting down the Santa Monica pier amid the crowd of tourists and locals, all completely oblivious to its presence.
My adrenaline spiked when I saw a familiar thread of violet energy like the trail of soul-bleed that had flowed from Keagan before. It was the wrong color, but the right quality of magic and trailed faintly off in the direction of my house.
But as I grew closer none of the pieces of information made sense. The hound was right there, yet the magic didn’t flow to it. It seemed the hound was sniffing out the magic but wasn’t linked to it. I kept flying, tracking it with my predator’s eye.
In my periphery I caught the shape of an enormous pelican and knew that Llyr kept pace, still as intent on the mission as I was despite our confrontation. He picked up speed with a few heavy flaps of his wings and arced upward, surging ahead above the colorful lights of the park rides and the enormous Ferris wheel to try to outpace the hound we tracked.
I flew past the hound as Llyr circled around and finally caught sight of the person standing at the very end of the pier on the fishing deck amid the scents of seawater and bait. It was a middle-aged man in a suit, well-put-together yet haggard and exhausted. His jacket hung open and his tie was half undone, his shirttails hanging out. He stared off into the blood-red sunset, rubbing at his chest the way I’d seen Rohan and Bodhi both do repeatedly today, but until we’d cast the spell to allow us to see the hounds I hadn’t realized that what they were doing was worrying at the wounds on their souls. But the bleeding trail of his soul’s essence still clearly aimed north in the direction where I believed it should have originated: at my house.
If the victim was here, then the other end of that trail had to be the hound that bit him. So why was this other hound tracking the man? I wished I had Rohan on hand to shift and clothe himself to talk to the guy. I didn’t have the ability to conjure clothes the way a dragon could, and it’d be pretty damn crazy to wander up to the man stark naked and try to have a conversation.
I circled around and Llyr took the initiative once more. He coasted down and landed on the end of the pier near one of the fishermen who cheerfully tossed him a small fish which he gulped down like he loved nothing more than begging morsels where he could get them.
When the hound came into view, it broke into a trot, then a run, its teeth bared and eyes leaving glowing trails of violet as it blurred down the pier straight at the soul-bitten man. I let out a screech of alarm and Llyr squawked, lifting off with a flap of huge wings and soaring in an arc over the water, before aiming downward directly at the hound.
Before either of us could reach it, the hound launched itself at the man, landing on his back and burying its teeth into the side of his neck. The man lurched, his eyes going wide and his hands flying to his neck, but he couldn’t grab the incorporeal beast, couldn’t fight it off as it tore out his throat and raked its sharp claws down his back.
The man didn’t have time to cry out before the beast had rendered him mute, and as he fell unconscious he toppled over the railing, his body plummeting down into the dark, chilly ocean with barely a splash. The row of fishermen began to yell and point, someone running off to get help. Just before the man hit the water with the hound still clinging to him, the hound disappeared, popping back into view at the edge of the pier, staring down into the water with a look of smug satisfaction.
Beside the hound a figure appeared, a majestic though somewhat androgynous woman in a flowing violet gown. The denizens of the pier seemed oblivious to her, still focused on the body that had disappeared beneath the waves. I floated down to land atop a piling just beneath the pier only a few yards away, still within earshot. The corpse of the victim was all but invisible in the shadows beneath the pier, the glowing trail of his soul essence slowly fading to nothing.
In a chilly, emotionless voice, I heard the woman say, “Good puppy. Now we just need to find the strays who are trying to match this filthy bloodline with their soul mates. Nobody gets to play Fate but me.”
Coming Soon
FOOL’S FOLLY
(A Reverse Harem Romance)
Is one piece of the puzzle enough?
Deva Rainsong has uncovered a single piece of the mystery that surrounds her nature. Will it be enough to satisfy her, or will she push to reveal the secrets of all five men who have captured her heart and might just hold the key to completing her soul?
COMING DECEMBER 2018
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About Ophelia Bell
Ophelia Bell loves a good bad-boy and especially strong women in her stories. Women who aren’t apologetic about enjoying sex and bad boys who don’t mind being with a woman who’s in charge, at least on the surface, because pretty much anything goes in the bedroom.
Ophelia grew up on a rural farm in North Carolina and now lives in Los Angeles with her own tattooed bad-boy husband and six attention-whoring cats.
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Also by OPHELIA BELL
Sleeping Dragons Series
Animus
Tabula Rasa
Gemini
Shadows
Nexus
Ascend
Rising Dragons Series
Night Fire
Breath of Destiny
Breath of Memory
Breath of Innocence
Breath of Desire
Breath of Love
Breath of Flame and Shadow
Breath of Fate
Sisters of Flame
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Dragon’s Melody (a standalone dragon novel)
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Immortal Dragons Series
Dragon Betrayed
Dragon Blues
Dragon Void
Dragon Splendor
Dragon Rebel
Dragon Guardian
Dragon Blessed
Dragon Equinox
Dragon Avenged
Immortal Dragons: The First Four Box Set
Black Mountain Bears
Clawed
Bitten
Nailed
Stonetree Trilogy
Standalone Erotic Tales
After You
Out of the Cold
Fate’s Fools
Copyright © 2018 Ophelia Bell
Cover Art Designed by Mayhem
Photograph Copyright © DepositPhotos.com and Period Images
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in review.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are use
d only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.
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Published by Animus Press
UNITED STATES
Created with Vellum
