Fire Cursed Trilogy Box Set

by J. E. Taylor

  The ground started to shake underneath us, and Kylee sprinted toward the dim yellow light. I followed, with the tremble of the earth below my feet and my heart pounding with the same velocity, I really didn’t know if either of us would make the safety of what I assumed was an alcove.

  The tunnel lit up from behind us. Kylee turned and grabbed me, then slammed me back first against the wall. She dropped her bag between us and pressed against the wall next to me. The fear in her eyes had me holding my breath. I didn’t dare move.

  Within a blink, a silver bullet of a train passed by within inches of us. The force of it pushed me harder against the wall. My heart thundered as loud as the howl of the train cars passing.

  Vertigo gripped me as I stared ahead at the endless progression of silver and slot, silver and slot, silver and slot, barely making out the connections between the subway cars, forcing the wave of dizziness away. If I passed out now, I was a dead girl.

  The roar continued. Then the train in front of us passed, but a train going the other way still lumbered in the other direction.

  Kylee picked up her bag with a shaking hand and glanced at her watch again before continuing in the same direction we had been going. She took a few steps and then stopped. She turned towards the tracks and leaned forward, vomiting on the ground.

  She wiped her mouth and stood, and then started walking like nothing had just happened. I sidestepped the splatters and followed without comment. My stomach was still in my throat, and the adrenaline was still pounding my veins. I was sure as soon as all this was over, I would probably do the same.

  But for now, my entire form was a live wire as deadly as the third rail. The power snaked along with the adrenaline, warming me into a tacky sweat. I itched to take my glove off, and that feeling of being electrified increased.

  Kylee stopped and pressed us into a tiny alcove. We faced each other as she held up her hand, showing me her watch. We were so close. Close enough that it could possibly be around the next bend.

  “Stay here while I check it out,” she said, low enough for me to catch sound, but not pick up her words.

  If I wasn’t psychic, I wouldn’t have had a clue of what she was saying, but I heard her in my head as if we were in a quiet library and she was shouting. I nodded and she handed me her bag. I faced the direction she headed. It was increasingly lighter, and Kylee disappeared.

  I almost stepped out to follow her, but a train barreled towards me. I shrank into the alcove. I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind, ignoring the people on the train. My mind finally found what I needed to loosen the knots in my back.

  Stay cool, just stay cool. Kylee’s internal mantra continued for the length of the subway cars.

  It was easier to deal with in the alcove as it had been plastered to the wall, but my heart still jumped with tension. As soon as the train disappeared again, I poked my head out in time to see Kylee doing the same in the dim light. Instead of staying put, I trotted up to where she had been hiding.

  The closer I got to the corner, the more my hands itched. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and I knew without looking, that the breach was on the other side of the corner.

  Kylee pressed her lips together, her eyes blazing before her hands started moving a mile a minute. I stared at them, trying to figure out just what in the world she was trying to say.

  I told you to stay! Her voice barreled in my head.

  I pointed to the alcove she had just been in. For some reason, I kept quiet. Maybe it was the air surrounding us. The stale, dusty, electrified air in the tunnel was better than that of the station, but it still had a greasy, uneasy stench that I would forever recall with the terror of a train blowing so close that a stray eyebrow hair could be ripped off.

  I closed my eyes and let the hum of the third rail fade. That’s when the air surrounding us turned sinister, like evil had a particular smell beyond brimstone. I took her hand and glanced at the dots. Us and the breach. All that stood between us was the bend in the tunnel.

  I peeled my gloves off and shoved them in my back pocket, then fisted my hands so they wouldn’t spark. Nerves stung my skin, prickling against me as if I had walked into a wall of a thousand needles.

  I needed to release this before it turned on me. Instead of being patient, I ran towards the corner.

  “Keep watch for a train,” I said, and my voice echoed on the walls.

  I took the corner too fast and skidded to a stop at the sight before me. A handful of demons were crawling through the breach. More ran down the train tracks. One to the side turned to me with wide eyes. She was striking, and something made me hesitate. While the rest of the escaped crew took the tunnel to my right, she dodged down the left tunnel alone.

  I raised my hands, undecided whether to blow both tunnels and eliminate all the demons or take out the breach and only concentrate on the path where a majority were going.

  “I’ve got that one,” Kylee said, making the decision for me. She took off, following our lone demon.

  I inhaled deep, concentrating on all the power inside me, coiling it, letting it feed off itself until I thought my entire form would burst wide from the strain. I aimed my clenched fists, palms toward the breach and the opening where the majority were fleeing.

  I opened both hands.

  A massive flamethrower would have looked like a little lighter in comparison to the angel fire that leapt from my palms. Screams filled the tunnel as I pushed the power, incinerating the creatures in my path to dust. I walked forward, moving my right palm to join my left, concentrating on closing the breach. I vibrated with the power, focusing all my energy as the breach started to mend. It looked like a giant needle doing ancient stitchwork while blasting everything behind it.

  The right tunnel matched the left in its endless blackness since my blast had turned it to ash, but the opening where three tracks converged was lit up like a bright, sunny summer day. I screamed, pushing myself harder, willing the breach to mend faster.

  The ground trembled, and the light increased. I moved forward, hoping I wasn’t going to pick the wrong track. I prayed the oncoming train wouldn’t come between me and the breach because I was sure the entire thing would turn to dust the way those beings had.

  If I stopped now, the breach would double or triple in size like the one at my mother’s cottage had. I couldn’t risk it. I had to keep going, and I couldn’t check to see how close the train was.

  My brain registered a triangle-cut patch of gravel big enough for a person to safely stand on right smack in front of the breach. If I could get there before the train made minced meat out of me, I’d be able to close the breach. If not, then the passengers would have one hell of a view and know there were things in this world that didn’t belong here.

  I got over the maze of rails and stepped close enough to see inside. To see what hell looked like from the outside. Beings were strapped in various forms of torture, but no one was there to do the vital deed. The stench of brimstone overshadowed the awful smell of the subway tunnel.

  My internal alarms were going haywire. I couldn’t save those poor lost souls. Deep down, I knew they had to have done something bad to land in hell, but seeing them strapped to those tables with all the sharp instruments of torture laid out next to them… My stomach tightened.

  I could not save them.

  I could not lose my nerves.

  I could not lose focus.

  If I didn’t close this portal, who knew what would escape. Neither of us knew what or how many had already escaped. I refocused my efforts, and being this close to the portal made it much easier to mend the rip.

  Movement to my left pulled my attention away from the open gate. Kylee came around the bend, huffing as if she had just finished a marathon. She stopped short, and her eyes widened.

  I turned back to the portal in time to see an arm reach through the fire. Whatever it was grabbed my arm. Its charred hand hurt against my skin. I tried to pull away, but it was strong
enough to pull my arm through the breach. My fire sputtered with shock, but then flared brighter. I pulled so my hand was in the tunnel again. I sent a bullet of flame into the portal, turning everything in that room to ash including the rest of the body that had a grip on me. The remainder of the charred arm fell on the ground next to me, and I renewed my quest to close this god-forsaken breach.

  The minute the breach blinked out of existence, I stopped the flames. The fact that I could gave me hope. My legs wobbled, and I leaned against the wall, out of breath. My arm was scalded where that thing had grabbed me, but I would live.

  Kylee crossed the rest of the distance and leaned beside me while I pulled my gloves back on.

  A pair of trains barreled through the opening, making us both jump. I started to laugh as the wind whipped our hair around in the small alcove.

  “Did you catch that one?” I asked after the trains passed and nodded toward the tunnel that she had chased the demon down.

  “No. She got away.” Her voice remained strained. “By the way, you are a hell of a sight to behold.” She huffed a laugh. “I’ve never seen wings of fire before.”

  I remembered the reflection in the cottage. It was scary as hell. “I’m just glad I closed the portal before those trains passed. That would have been really hard to explain if someone had seen me.”

  She glanced down at the burn on my arm. “I’m glad whatever grabbed you wasn’t at full strength, because I wouldn’t be happy jumping into hell to save you. And a chase through the underworld isn’t on my to-do list.”

  “You’ve been there?”

  She nodded. “I was one of Lucifer’s pets before my brother and I escaped.” She shrugged. “I don’t know how far the next subway platform is in either of these tunnels, so did you want to head back the way we came or white-knuckle it down one of these offshoots?”

  I hoped like hell there wasn’t a subway platform near this intersection, or otherwise I had toasted a whole lot of people when I took out those demons. My dread was more acute than my curiosity.

  Either way we went would be white knuckling it.

  “The beast you know…” I shrugged, pointing the way we’d come.

  “Yeah, at least we’ll know when we get to that middle path where we’ll be safe until we get to the platform.”

  We started the dangerous trek back to civilization.

  Chapter 13

  We collapsed in the seats on the plane, exhausted. Levi glanced up from his station on the floor with a curious glance before he lay back down. I was glad we didn’t have him with us today. I couldn’t see trying to get him to stay flush against the wall, and he could have seen the trains as play things. His true form was big enough to take one of the cars in his mouth like a chew toy.

  His tail thumped on the ground.

  “You would have done that, wouldn’t you?” I teased him, and his tail thumped again. He probably would have been able to catch the escaped demon, but I had a feeling he would have gone for volume. I wouldn’t have been able to toast all those demons in the right tunnel with him chasing them.

  His tail thumped twice more.

  Kylee was leaning back in the seat with her eyes closed. Her chest still labored with each breath.

  I cleared my throat, and she glanced over at me.

  “I hope none of the other breaches are underground,” she said.

  “I hope we never have to take a subway. That place smelled worse than hell did.”

  She broke out in a smile.

  Josh, our friendly pilot, boarded the plane. He looked more refreshed than I felt.

  “Texas next, right?” he asked as he looked at the itinerary.

  “Yes, please,” Kylee said.

  He smiled and secured the door before he took the pilot seat.

  I pulled my phone from my bag and sighed at the powerless device, then plugged the charger into an outlet and waited until I could turn it on. By the time it had enough juice, we were taxiing down the runway.

  I had over a hundred texts and every one of them was from Alex. I closed my eyes a second before I started reading. What started as apologetic turned into aggravation and then escalated into furious.

  I hadn’t even looked at my phone since I boarded the plane.

  I’m sorry, Alex. My phone died and I didn’t get your texts until now. I had my first subway adventure today and I didn’t screw it up either. I closed the breach, but I really don’t ever want to be in a subway station ever again. I miss you and wish you could have been there with me.

  I pressed send and held my breath. I wasn’t sure what kind of response I would get. When my phone rang, I traded a glance with Kylee and answered it.

  “You’re okay?” Alex’s worry traveled over the phone line like a thick, suffocating blanket.

  “Yes. I am fine. We are on our way to Texas right now.” The plane accelerated and I glanced out the window. “I do like flying though.”

  “Uncle Tom liked to fly,” he said softly. “He used to rent planes over in Wolfeboro and take us flying. It was cool.”

  The tension between my shoulders released, and I closed my eyes and put my feet up on the couch, laying back. “We could get our pilots licenses when I get back.”

  “Really?”

  The hopeful lilt in his voice made me smile. “I think it would be fun.”

  “Totally. But I think we will need our drivers’ licenses first.”

  “Probably.” I wished I could see him.

  He gasped, and my eyes popped open. I stood in his bedroom. He hopped to his feet, wide-eyed, and before my brain could comprehend anything, his arms were around me and his lips were planted on mine.

  I melted into the kiss, savoring it.

  When his hand ran over the burn, I gasped and sat up in the seat on the plane. The transition jarred me. Alex’s voice called from my phone still in my hand. I put it to my ear.

  “What the hell just happened?” I asked softly, hoping not to disturb Kylee.

  “You just projected yourself to me. My dad can do that and so could Tom.” He laughed lightly. “So you don’t really have to stay away the entire time.”

  My head could not wrap around this. It was more bizarre than the time jumps. “I left the plane?”

  “No.” He was still laughing. “You were in both places at the same time.”

  “Stop laughing,” I muttered. I knew there were memories relating to this, but I just didn’t want to open Pandora’s box and pay the price.

  “What were you thinking just before you appeared here?”

  I wiped my hand down my face. “I wished I could see you.”

  “Well, all you need to do is wish again, and you’ll show up. Try it.”

  I closed my eyes and concentrated on wishing to see him again. When I opened my eyes, nothing happened. It was similar to my attempt at making the Gatorade bottle come to me from the rock wall. A big nothing.

  “It’s not working,” I said after a few moments. I had no idea what had triggered it before. Maybe a combination of his emotional state and an unconscious wish to wrap my arms around him. It was much more complex than a simple wish.

  Alex remained quiet for a moment, and all I heard was his breath on the line. “I hope I get to see you again this way. I can’t wait until you close all the breaches. I’m going insane.” His voice was as soft as the clouds looked out the window of the plane.

  It filled me with a sense of foreboding. “You will be fine,” I said and stretched out on the couch again. “I need to go. I’m not sure I can be on the phone while we are up in the air.”

  “Are you on one of the Beaumont jets?”

  “I think so.”

  “Then you can talk while you are flying. At least we always did.” His voice changed, and I knew he was lying on the bed again. “Unless you don’t want to talk to me.”

  “I do, but I am so tired. I’m not sure I can stay awake much longer, and when we land, I’ll have to close another portal.”

  His in
ternal debate on whether to keep me on the phone or let me rest came through the line, and I didn’t interrupt him.

  “I don’t want to be the one that puts you in danger,” he finally said and then sighed heavily. “As much as I’d like to talk to you until the sun rises, I know you need your strength. Just don’t wait so long to tell me you are okay.”

  “I won’t,” I promised. “I love you. I promise I’ll do this as quickly as humanly possible, but you have to promise me not to go crazy in the meantime. Okay?”

  He chuckled softly. “I promise now that I know you are okay. I love you, too. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.” I ended the call.

  Levi came over to me and put his head on my stomach. His soulful eyes read my mood, and he sighed heavily.

  I glanced over at Kylee, her breathing slow and steady as if she were asleep.

  I started petting Levi, imagining fur instead of the leathery quality of his natural form. I yawned and closed my eyes, hoping that our adventure in Texas was less fraught with danger than the New York subway system.

  Chapter 14

  I jolted awake and blinked at my surroundings. I glanced out the window as the forward pull of brakes registered. The green I saw outside the window made me scratch my head. When I thought of Texas, I thought of tumbleweeds and dust storms.

  Kylee stretched in the seat and glanced around. “We’re here already?” she asked through a yawn.

  “I think so,” I said and stumbled to my feet. After relieving myself in the bathroom, I splashed cold water on my cheeks and rinsed my mouth out. I stepped back into the main cabin as Kylee dashed past me.

  I opened my suitcase on the couch and pulled out a change of clothes.

  Josh cleared his throat and I turned. He nodded towards the sweater and jeans in my hands. “You might want to rethink that. It’s supposed to get up to eighty-five today, and it’s humid out there.”