“I have a theory,” Terin stated, panic driving her tone up an octave.
“That Rowan din’t bring them here fer a snack, but tah build his pack?” I ventured, brogue thickening as my stress-level rose. My stare swiveled at the snapping jaws creeping ever closer. Hellhound mythology foretold that new pups didn’t complete their transformation until they fed. Judging by the looks in the gleaming red pits of their eyes, they were starved for phase two.
“I think that’s a safe assumption.” Flicking her head to the side, Terin’s hair ignited into a mass of blazing whips … one of which lashed through my shirt, branding an angry red line into my skin. The pups surrounding us yipped their pleasure at the enticing aroma of my cooked flesh. “Ideas for an exit strategy would be eagerly received right about now. “
“I could easily whisk us out of here before one claw swipes our way.” Catching Terin’s wrist was like gripping a hot radiator. Still, I gritted through the pain and pulled her in close behind me.
“I feel a big but coming on.”
“But, if we leave, these mutts will break out and feast on the town. I’m guessin’ yar hero instincts could ne’er allow such a thing.”
“Ugh, friggin’ conscience,” she grumbled. “Okay, then, Plan B.”
Heat rolled off of her, the magnitude of it calling forth my own fire. Fingers of flame curled across our arms and shoulders, forcing the horde back a few stunned steps.
Slowly, Terin turned her face to mine. Intermingling waves of blue, yellow, and orange shimmered over her skin. No longer was she a girl on fire. Now, she was the flame. Little more than hints of her features could be made out from within the crackling blaze that consumed her.
“How much heat can you take?” she asked in way of warning.
“Never tested it,” I admitted, focused on the hound fumbling with the locked backdoor. One arm dangling by little more than tendons, his good hand slapped and pawed in search of the sweet click of that lock.
Terin’s gaze followed mine, her surging red flames licking ever higher. “Then, I suggest you run … or brace yourself.”
In place of an answer, I grasped her hand harder still. My skin cracked to arid embers at the scorching contact.
A brief nod of acknowledgement and Terin’s head fell back. Unfurrowing her fiery wings, she stretched them out in a wide arch behind her. With a roar tearing from her throat, she unleashed holy hell on the unsuspecting coffee shop.
The ravenous appetite of her inferno consumed us all in the fat belly of her geyser. Streamers of red and orange licked and bit over flesh and furniture alike. The stifling stench of burnt hair filled the smoky air. Tortured yelps and howls bellowed their grief to the moon. Ceiling rafters cracked, kindling rained down.
With each breath, I inhaled flames that stabbed into my esophagus and scorched me from the inside out. Throat charred raw, my lungs ached with each expansion. Head spinning, control over my own fire falling me under her blaze, my fingers slipped from her wrist. The floor rose to meet me, my knees slamming into smoldering embers. Vision blurred with tears from the thick smoke, I toppled sideways. My skull found the ground with a muted thump.
Terin’s face swam before me, every inch of her painted the pallet of sunrise on a cloudless day.
“Caleb?” she ventured, her voice a muted murmur that echoed down to me. Rolling on to my back, I gaped up at her. She reigned over me as the all-powerful goddess she was. Fire, her willing servant, licked over her curves in a promise of submission. “I can’t stop. Not yet. Please, hold on just a little longer.”
Air leaving my lungs in agonizing, labored pants, my head lolled to the side. Through a haze of detachment I watched Terin turn her back to me and unleash a second wave of her flaming fury. The shop brightened to a blinding eclipse. Granting my cracked and blistered lids mercy, I let them slide closed and welcomed the spiral that whisked me into nothingness.
There, in the abyss, heaven awaited.
The sun’s rays were softened by a light Caribbean breeze.
Guitar on my lap, I strummed a soothing melody only to be distracted by the tempting view of the landscape. Celeste sat opposite me, a small campfire crackling between us. Eyes closed, her head tipped back, the gentle wind tossing her hair back from her face.
Pressing my palm to the strings, I paused. No notes strung together could ever hope to capture the radiance that emanated from her and her beautifully pure soul. She owned my heart from the moment I admitted my feelings by uttering those three powerful little words that could change fate and start wars. I wanted nothing more from the future than a blissful, mundane existence filled with Sunday mornings tangled up in the sheets.
“It’s not time yet, Cal.” Celeste’s sweet trill snapped me from reverie. Palm trees swayed behind her in trepidation of the low-hanging storm clouds rolling in. Curling her knees under her, she graced me with a warm smile tinged by sadness. “Our aisle to that fated ever after will be painted with blood and lined with bones. There will be time for soulful serenades and stolen glances when the last of the hell-fires have been snuffed out.” Toes wriggling in the sand, she rose to her feet and closed the distance between us. Positioning a foot on either side of my hips, she sank onto my lap with a seductive little wiggle. Lips teasing over mine, her voice dropped to a throaty whisper. “We could ascend together and rule our kingdom side-by-side, or spend eternity rotting in a cozy little tomb for two. Whichever way the pendulum falls, fate has aligned our destinies and entwined our hearts. But for now, my succulent Irishman,” hand brushing the nape of my neck, she weaved her fingers into my hair and wrenched my head back with enough force to toe the line between pleasure and pain, “I need you to wake up!”
Chapter Three
A light mist caressed my skin, soothing every crack and blister. Cradled in a lush mattress of grass, its earthy aroma eased my scorched lungs with each inhale. A breeze as delicate as an angel’s breath softened the sun’s beaming rays.
Forcing my heavy lids open, I squinted into the light, blinking hard to focus. Palm trees swayed overhead, blurring the lines between dream and reality. Rolling onto my hip, I groaned at the bark of protest the movement garnered from every inch of my body. Cliffs covered with lush emerald foliage horseshoed the landscape. In the center a white foam waterfall flowed from the rock, bubbling into an otherwise still pond.
A red-haired form crouched ankle deep in the water. Pulling off the remaining rags of her singed and tattered sweater, Terin knotted it around her waist and adjusted the straps of her flesh-colored tank top. Hearing me rustle and moan behind her, she glanced over her alabaster shoulder in my direction, scoffing at the confused scowl etched into my features.
“This is not the Conduit you’re looking for,” she taunted, waving her hand in Jedi mind-trick fashion.
“What?” I eloquently rasped, pushing myself up on one elbow.
She twisted her hair up in a messy bun, then secured it in place with a hair tie on her wrist. “You were saying our girl’s name in your sleep. I wager seeing me when you woke up is a bit of a disappointment.”
Taking in the paradise surrounding us with a sweeping gaze, I shook my head. “After that blaze I’m happy tah see anyone. I didn’t think I was makin’ it out of yar wicked bonfire alive.”
Dropping her hands, Terin’s stare fixed on the bright blooms of wildflowers in the distance, melancholy stealing over her features. “You’re the first person that has ever survived.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke. Words of any kind were drowned out by the ghostly yelps of the pack and the rank smell of their burning flesh that would undoubtedly haunt us both forever.
I pushed myself up to sitting, and pebbles dug into my palms. Tucking one knee under me, I took a few calming breaths to steady the spinning world.
“Ya’ve done that before,” I ventured tentatively, the tone more of a statement than a question.
Her chin dipped in a brief nod. Wetting her lips, she forced her trembling hands ont
o her hips. “When I first met Celeste, I envied her. Her calling made this powerful, skilled warrior. Mine made me the secret weapon—the nuclear bomb you drop when all else fails. I don’t get to select who lives and dies when I unleash. I exterminate, denying myself any explanation or apology. Because if I question it, for even a moment …” Trailing off, she bit the inside of her cheek and blinked back a wash of tears.
“What I saw back there, what you did, ya’r a—”
“Monster?” she interjected.
Pursing my lips, I corrected, “A force of nature. We wouldn’t have made it out of there otherwise, and those hounds would’ve feasted on the entire town usin’ the coffee shop as their den.”
Eyebrows disappearing into her hairline, Terin plopped down in the grass beside me. “Caffeinated hellbeasts? Espressos between slaughters, and they would’ve been a global epidemic in a week.”
We both managed tight, titters of laughter that rang hollow.
A crane swooped overhead, squawking its displeasure to find us occupying its favorite watering hole.
Rocking on my hip, I lightly bumped her elbow with mine. “Aye, but when ya ignited? That was impressive. I’ve never seen anythin’ like that.”
She would have appeared coy with her shoulders curled in, if it wasn’t for the smug smile tugging at her peach lips. “I remember when I first got my call. My knees shook as my guide led me into the Temple of Magi to introduce me to my sensei. He can take the form of a man, you know. And there, on that scorched mosaic tile, I watched him blaze for the first time.” Her face warming in a dream-like trance, her voice lifted to a wistful melody. “He was regal, and scorching. I think that’s as close to ‘celebrity crush’ as I ever got. It was a very confusing time for me.”
This time, the laughter that crinkled the corner of my eyes was genuine. “Can I ask ya somethin’?”
“How not all of our clothes burn off when we ignite?” Her fingertips pinched the sleeve of my soot covered T-shirt riddled with holes, and gave it a tug. “Honestly, I have no idea. I think it has to do with layers. Those directly on our skin are safe because of our chemistry. At least that’s my guess.”
My mouth opened, only to snap shut again. “That wasn’t what I was goin’ tah say, but it’s an excellent question that defies all laws of nature.”
“So do we,” she countered.
“Touché.” Stretching my legs out before me, I leaned back on my palms. “My actual query had tah do with our location. Where exactly we are?”
Terin shifted on her hip, pivoting to face me. “You just now got around to asking? That took a surprisingly long time. You’re a very trusting individual.”
Breathing in the clean, crisp air, I noticed with pleasure that each rise and fall of my chest hurt less than the last. “It’s a right paradise. Had I awoken somewhere where apes ruled the world, or monkeys flew about, it would have been the first sentence I uttered.”
Terin’s face was a question mark of interest.
“Celeste made me watch Planet of the Apes and The Wizard of Oz,” I explained, flicking the hair from my eyes with a toss of my head. “Now every trip tah the zoo I swear I see the primates plottin’.”
Turning her head to scratch her ear, Terin tried to hide a rather obvious laugh. “You are a complex individual, Caleb.”
“Call me Cal,” I suggested, pushing off the ground with a grunt. While my legs wobbled under my weight, I could feel my strength rapidly returning. Turning in a slow circle, I took a guess at the unanswered question, “Rainforests of Brazil?”
“Close.” Standing, she brushed the grass from her bum. “Oahu, Hawaii. Your Titan nature is channeled to the elements. I wanted to find a place that could connect you to them as much as possible to aid your healing. This seemed the perfect spot.”
“It worked wonders.” Peering down at my hands, I turned them over in inspection, flexing and straightening my blemish-free digits.
“Good to know, because I need you at full strength. Side note … we may want to watch the news for sightings of a low flying comet from our flight here.”
“If we can’t live together, we’re going to die alone,” a familiar voice interrupted, erupting into a fit of snorts and giggles.
“Oh! Oh! I’ve got one.” Thick, waxy brush rustled as a figure emerged from the tree line on the opposite side of the pond. Glancing back at his friends, the bushy-haired newcomer adopted a horrible English accent. “If you two are done verbally copulating, we should get a move on.”
“Guys, I think this is it!” Eddie, the makeshift leader of The Dark Army Glee Club, shoved his way passed his friends. “This is the waterfall where Kate and Sawyer …”
Eddie pulled up short. Eyes widening to saucers, he blanched. His pause lasted a nanosecond before he spun on his heel and slapped at his friends to get them to move with frantically flailing arms.
“See ya in another life, brotha!” he shouted over his shoulder as he made a desperate attempt at escape.
“Demon to demon, it’s just embarrassing.” With a sigh, I transported myself directly into his exit path. “Hey ya, boys! Going somewhere?”
Beard Face backhanded Eddie’s arm, his lips forming a downward C. “See? If we could still teleport this wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Shut up!” Eddie—dubbed that because of his uncanny resemblance to Eddie Munster—stabbed his fists down at his sides, his declaration bordering on a whine. “Ix-nay on the eleport-tay.”
Hawaii got an extra boost of heat as Terin flapped behind us with her fiery wings crackling and blazing their full glory. “Ugh,” she scoffed the second her feet settled into the soil. “I thought there was an actual threat. If I knew it was these twerps, I would have stayed on the other side of the pond and intimated them with menacing glares.”
Shifting his weight from one foot the other, Eddie snorted. “That wouldn’t have worked.”
Terin lifted one brow and fixed him with a glare that could have shriveled his manhood and eviscerated his soul.
Lone Twin leaned in to whisper in Eddie’s ear in a not-so-hushed tone. “That totally works; it made all my outtie parts innies.”
One hand on a neighboring sapling, I crossed my feet at the ankles and gave them my best cavalier smile. “What’s happenin’, lads? Little bit of a holiday in the midst of a new dark force rising?”
Beard Face’s prominent Adam’s apple bobbed in a deep gulp. “We … uh … came here on a Lost tour.”
Retracting her wings with a roll of her shoulders, Terin’s brow puckered. “A lost tour? You came here to get lost? That actually sounds pretty cool, like an adventure in self-discovery.”
“No, not geographically lost.” Lone Twin batted at the air between them, as if that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. “Lost the TV show! We came to see the locations it was filmed at!”
“That’s decidedly less cool.” Terin grimaced.
Before they could answer with what would obviously became a mind-numbingly dull debate, I shoved off the tree and stalked closer to the trio. “A better question still is why one among you is missing, and you picked this exact moment to haunt the same forest the smoke monster did.”
Eddie stabbed a victorious finger in my direction. “You watched it!”
Catching his accusing digit in my fist, I wrenched it back until he whimpered. “Netflix wasn’t even a thing during my last bout as a human. I may have enjoyed the occasional binge for long enough stretches to hate myself. That does not answer the question of your sudden wanderlust.”
“We’re hiding! We’re hiding!” Eddie erupted, only to be shushed by his cohorts. “We bound our powers and we’re hiding!”
Releasing my grip, I let him fall. His knee slammed into the spongy earth. “You know what Rowan has become. Why would you relinquish your greatest weapons with him on the loose?”
Hooking his friend by the elbow, Beard Face hoisted Eddie to his feet. “We did it because Rowan is on the loose.”
“Shhh!” Lone Twin spat, his face flushing a deep magenta.
The other two immediately clamped their mouths shut, their gazes forced to the ground by the visible sorrow that sharpened their features.
Locking stares with Terin, I noticed a twitch of unease beneath her left eye. If I had to guess, I would wager she felt the same foreboding ripple in the air I did.
“Lads,” I pressed, “where’s Red? What happened tah your fourth mate?”
Face crumbling in pain, Lone Twin emitted an inhuman squawk in the back of his throat that he attempted to stifle behind his fist.
Eddie clamped a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder.
Beard Face dragged his palm over the back of his neck, chewing on his words as if fearful of the consequences of unleashing them. “Rowan came to the loft and asked us one question: who else knew about Celeste.”
Terin took a step closer, a bead of sweat trailing down her neck and over her collarbone. “What did you tell him?”
Beard Face wet his parched lips. “Nothing he didn’t already know. The only players in this that didn’t get the bleach brain treatment were Rowan, the Misfits of Mayhem, and us.”
Mention of the misfits injected ice water into my veins. “The misfits are … dead.”
I expected stunned reactions. Their sorrowful nods of acceptance were far more off putting.
“He came after us first,” the solo twin hiccupped, tears streaming from his red-rimmed eyes. “Red answered the door, and Rowan caught us all in a web of his mind control the second the lock clicked. He held Red still and made him look him in the eye while he stalked closer. Claws stretched from Rowan’s fingers, and … hiccup … with one slice he cut Red’s throat to confetti. Blood sprayed the walls, and Red couldn’t even scream. Rowan kept him locked inside himself until he crumbled to the floor.”
“His power was in full force, yet the three of ya made it out alive?” Shifting my weight, I looped my thumbs in my front pockets. “Mercy doesn’t seem like his strong suit in his current state. Why would he let ya go?”
Inferno (The Gryphon Series Book 6) Page 3