Sevan: Zodiac Dragon Guardians, Book XI

by Faulks, Kim

  But the man below me just smiled. “Oh, don’t worry your little head about your kin, Guardian. They’re going to be busy for quite some time.”

  The Dragon wrenched his gaze to the male once more and took a step closer, until Amaris cried out and slammed a hand across his chest, blocking him from going any further. “What the fuck did you do, Blaze?”

  That’s who he was...memories slipped in through the cracks.

  You belong to me, Kalliste. You will do what I tell you.

  You don’t want to know what I’ll do to you if you don’t.

  I’m afraid your sister is dead.

  You can’t escape me. You can’t escape from your fate.

  “Let’s just say I’ve organized a little welcome party for them,” he smirked as he answered.

  Hate rolled through me, soaking my hair, making me tremble.

  The air thrummed with power, cold, savage power.

  The power of a Hound.

  The power of a Queen.

  The Cursed whimpered with the blast of power, and Kane lowered his head, shaking and shuddering like a whipped dog. But he wasn’t my dog...he was my Hound. I looked to the whip in Blaze’s hand.

  It was my whip, and he was using them just as he was using me. Screams echoed outside, terrible, unmerciful screams. A shadow snaked through the barrier and leaked into the void, finding me in the center.

  Death waited out there.

  Death and destruction.

  And in the distance, a hunger raced through the city streets. A dark, powerful hunger. I left the war, turning all my focus on that hulking beast who headed my way, and felt my heart speed.

  It was him…

  I lowered my gaze, taking in the Cursed.

  It was him.

  It was Sevan.

  10

  Artemas

  I punched bare heels into the sharp rocks under my feet and climbed. Flashes of fire flared in the darkness in the distance, burning with howls of rage, and the scent of searing flesh followed.

  Hungry, ravenous almost. I could scent the Dragons’ rage. They wanted to destroy.

  But they weren’t why I was here and my gaze was drawn to that towering black house carved into the side of the mountain. And the pulse of the lash raged, filling me like I’d been nothing more than a void before the call. Now there was only this hunger...this need.

  Faster. Faster...FASTER…

  A fireball of flames burst through the trees up ahead as I pumped my arms, only this time, the hunger was closer, this time, the shadows of giant beasts came with the flames. Half-breed Vampires swarmed through the trees by the hundreds in front of me, but they weren’t interested in me...only in the taint of power in the air. I dragged in that scent and swallowed the taste of blood.

  “Joslyn, NO!” screamed a male.

  Red eyes filled my head, and a name that resonated from deep in my soul, Zadoc.

  The ratta-tat-tat of automatic gunfire followed.

  “Gunny! Gunny, on YOUR SIX!”

  I slowed with the name, sucked in a hard breath. Gunny. The name hit me hard. The image of a woman in a hospital bed floated to the surface. She had a hard stare, and a strong hold. “I don’t need your fucking sympathy, Senator.”

  Her leg.

  Her leg was gone.

  Still she wanted to fight...I lifted my head to the battle that raged on top of the mountain. The boom of a shotgun answered, and a scream followed, low and guttural, and female.

  Gunny, the name filled me.

  It looked like she was still fighting...unlike Cekresy. My own kin’s cries filled me, calling me as she struggled under the weight of the Cursed lash. I turned away from the Dragons and cut across the drive.

  The black steel gate was open, the top buckled beyond repair. Bodies littered the gravel, half-breed Vampires and Hellhounds. I lowered my gaze, taking in the darkened eyes. Their flames were snuffed out, necks torn open and gaping, and a flare of guilt ripped razor-sharp nails along my soul.

  Come to me. Come to me now. The power of the lash dragged my gaze to the busted-open door of the house. Blood smeared the doorframe. That sweet metallic scent compelled me more than the cries of battle ever could.

  But there was something else waiting for me in there, something other than the heady tang of fresh-spilled blood. There was a woman...and not just any woman.

  There was the Queen.

  A gangly girl filled my mind with striking red hair and piercing dark eyes, and her howls echoed from the depths of my memories. “Don’t just stand there! KILL THEM!” she screamed, and clutched her mother’s crumbled body on the floor, dragging the woman’s corpse across her legs.

  The Queen. The Queen.

  A tremor cut through me, and fire laid a path, tearing across my chest to plunge into the muscle of my heart. I stumbled under the weight of it and wrenched a hand to my chest. Blood coated my fingers, black blood...a betrayer’s blood.

  In a blink, the blood was gone, leaving curled black claws in its wake. I sucked in a breath and stumbled forward. The pain cut deeper, tearing apart flesh and muscle, until it felt like my chest was cracked open, and the savage, raw tremors of a pulse echoed in the air.

  A snarl ripped through the air to my right. Amber flames flickered in the dark as the Hellhound stumbled forward, his hands bloody...his neck a mess. “Help me,” he lifted a mangled hand toward me.

  And on a jagged breath, his knees buckled, crashing him to the ground. Still, the Hound wrenched his gaze to mine, and with a terrified whimper, I watched his Hellhound fire die.

  Darkness replaced the red. I saw myself in the mirrored reflection as his skin turned pale and his thick Hellhound fangs thinned. The low, guttural snarl turned into a high-pitched hiss, like a sleeping serpent curled in his belly had just woken.

  “Don’t,” I growled as he shoved a mangled hand against the ground and pushed to stand.

  I turned toward him and lifted a hand. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Still, the half-breed creature shoved forward, stumbling, to right himself at the last second. I lunged forward, meeting the creature head-on, because there was nothing inside me now, no hope, no compassion. There was only hate and rage.

  Only blood-lust and terror, and it met the Vampire with fists and fury, grasping the thing by the neck.

  Stones skidded under my feet as I charged forward, sinking my claws into the ripped flesh in the crook of his neck and clenching.

  A cry tore from his lips, half-Hellhound and half incensed beast. Nails carved through flesh as a spear of agony ripped through my heart. “No!” I roared. “I will not have this!”

  “Kill me…” the whispered plea filled the air.

  I stilled my hand, the tips of my claws embedded in his throat. Dark eyes glinted with barely-controlled rage. His lips moved, the sound more of a hiss… “Killlll meeeee nooowww.”

  I wrenched him close, tearing my claws from his neck. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand to see the pain and the terror. I wound an arm around his shoulders, fingers splayed against his cheek, and then wrenched.

  The sickening snap was instant. His eyes widened, like pools of midnight glass. His knees buckled once more, until he was limp in my arms. I lowered his body to the ground, looked once more in his eyes, and then drew back my hand.

  A broken neck wasn’t going to end him. Not for good, and not the way he wanted.

  Fingers poised, my tapered claws designed to carve and cut, I drove my fist toward his chest with all the strength I had, until the skin split and I drove all the way inside.

  The warm organ gave a shudder and then a pulse, a flicker of a life that fought so hard to return, until, with one vile clench, I tore the organ free.

  Drops of blood splattered the pebbles beside him. His body jerked and then shuddered. The muscles of his face went slack, sliding his cheeks to the side. There was nothing left of him now, nothing that whispered of the Hound he once was.

  War cries echoed in the distance.
Terrifying roars mingled with the howl of a Wolf. I dropped the crushed organ and pushed to stand. One final look, and I turned away.

  The male trapped behind the wall inside my head beat his fist bloody. He lunged, screaming for all he was worth. But I couldn’t hear the screams now, only the slaughter. Only the war.

  I stumbled for the open doorway as the lash gave a thud. My knees trembled with the pulse, buckling as I hit the doorframe. Black blood smeared from my fingers to spread along the wood.

  But there was that power that gripped me tighter. The call of a Queen, desperate and urgent, whispering things I thought I’d never hear again. I command you...come to me, and only to me. Hear my words, Hound. Forsake all others.

  My knees stopped shaking, that sound was all I heard. Like a scent once I locked on, it was impossible for me to forget. I shoved from the doorway and stumbled to the stairs, drawn by something bigger than I’d ever been.

  Hellfire burned inside me, that feeble touch whispering of dark truths.

  Easy, the word echoed across my mind. I turned inward and took the first step, climbing to my own destruction.

  Easy, the man behind the wall murmured. He wasn’t screaming now, only terrifyingly still hands raised against the wall, eyes wide with horror. There was a shake of his head, like he could see into the future, and how this all played out before it even began.

  The familiar face of a woman filled my mind, wide brown eyes, hand clasped around a microphone as she stood high on the stage, with blood soaking her shirt across her chest.

  Didn’t save her.

  His words rumbled as I took a step, and then another, and lifted my head to the landing.

  “Give her back to me!” roared a woman. “I will fucking kill you!”

  “Easy!” a male urged, the sound of his voice faintly familiar.

  But the howls and snarls of my kin echoed inside me. Grunts were beaten only by their whimpers. The stench of burning fur and flesh followed. The scent was a bitter tang in the back of my throat as I gripped the bannister and rose, taking the last two steps at once.

  They never heard me, never felt me, as the power of the Cursed lash gave a snap in the air. My footsteps were silent on the cold marble floor. I drew in the stink of this place. The foulness seeped into its core. It wasn’t the mountain...it was the man.

  His face returned to me as I stepped quietly, heading into the doorway of the room. Men crowded the space, fighters that smothered the fetid smell of rot with smoke and heat, and the biting smell of sulphur.

  They smelled like home.

  A growl slipped from the closet one. He was older, armed to the teeth with guns and ammunition. He lifted a sawed-off shotgun as I neared, the hot muzzle aimed at my head. Until I lifted my gaze and met his.

  Lips curled, the low warning was met with a taste of my own. His eyes widened and then he slowly lowered the weapon. He couldn’t have killed me even if he’d wanted to, none of them could.

  If the last thousand years had taught me anything, It was that I was a hard bastard to kill.

  But I could break.

  And I could fall.

  I could tear apart this divide and start a reign of power not even the Guardians were prepared for. The old Hellhound stepped aside, as the male in front of him turned and looked at me.

  “Fuck me,” he whispered, and flattened his spine against the wall.

  No one wanted to touch me, not a brush of the arm or a fist around the throat. One by one, they shuffled from the doorway, stumbling backwards with midnight eyes shining with fire.

  A male stood inside the entrance, his shirt in tatters, blood smeared across his skin. He smelled of Hellhound and blood. But it wasn’t his blood...and he wasn’t a Hellhound.

  He lowered his head. I could feel the tension grow. But it wasn’t him I cared about. It was her. The one who raced through my veins and stamped her mark on my soul.

  Kill them all! she raged inside my head. But this was no child’s demand, no fragile rage. Long red hair lashed the air around her. Her arms were stretched wide, jutting perfect breasts against her blouse.

  She looked just like her mother.

  Her eyes were closed, lips mashed tight, her perfect features twisted in agony. I tore my gaze from her as the male in front of me stepped aside. A growl vibrated through my chest, a warning for all to hear.

  “Senator?” the male whispered, brows rising. The slow exhale of breath sped my pulse.

  I didn’t see him anymore. I didn’t care. One by one, they looked at me, the Dragon, and then the Princess that reeked of gunpowder and revenge. I knew the moment the Cursed saw me.

  I felt the turn of their heads, felt their rage and their hopelessness.

  “No...please, for the love of Hell...no.” Stone whispered.

  But there was no Hell to save us. No Hell to care. I stepped closer and the bodies in front of me parted like a flame-filled sea.

  “Yes!” roared the male standing beside the floating Queen.

  His eyes sparked, faint yellow flames dancing in the dark. He was barely a Hound, with a flicker of Hell. How could someone so weak hold so much power?

  “Come to me!” he commanded, and I wanted to rip the words from his mouth.

  I wanted to smash his teeth. I wanted to turn my head and take a cold, hard look at my kin, the ones he’d made bow down before him.

  A single golden strand whipped the air from the lash in his hand, the end snapping with a crack!

  “Kneel!” the male pointed to the floor before him.

  My lips curled as I looked at him. Thick, broad shoulders, heavyset jaw, muscles bulging. Blaze Trigg. His name echoed from the abyss inside my mind.

  “Artemas,” the Dragon begged as I passed. “Artemas...no.”

  Screams echoed from outside the house, and the crack of gunfire came closer...and closer.

  “Stop!” The Hellhound Princess commanded. Amaris. I remembered her name now. “I command you to stop. I command you to fight. I command you!”

  My steps stilled, flames danced from the tips of my fingers. It was all I could feel now. All that welled inside.

  Hell.

  Darkness.

  Betrayal.

  A shudder coursed through me as I stared into the Princess’s eyes.

  “Get behind me,” the Dragon murmured.

  “Bastian!” Came a scream from outside the house. Footsteps thundered below me.

  “Come now!” Blaze roared, his face turning red.

  My feet moved on their own. My gaze riveted by that single lash whipping through the air. I could almost feel it around my neck. Almost feel that sting of power. I took a step, crossing the room until I stopped at the edge of her power.

  “Artemas?” came a growl behind me.

  I never turned...never met Gunny’s gaze, only raised my hand, and pushed against the pressure.

  “Senator, no!” the Marine howled as I stepped through.

  Power hit me like a blow, and I stumbled under the weight. But it was the power I wanted, the power I craved. I drew it in, swallowed it whole.

  Around me the air grew warmer, until there was no barrier at all. The Queen dropped from the air, her feet touching the ground. But her eyes were closed, as the kiss of pink danced across her lips.

  In an instant, she opened her eyes, and the red flames burned in the darkness. She was fire. She was Hell. Her eyes widened, lips parted as that last golden lash sliced through the air and wrapped around my neck.

  “YES!” Blaze howled, and stumbled toward me as the lash slipped free and slowly hit the floor.

  I sucked in the power, dragged it down to the pit of my being.

  “No!” the Hellhound lifted the lash in his hand and shook with rage.

  The single strand lay dormant in his hand. It wouldn’t rise. It wouldn’t strangle my neck in its hold. It wouldn’t do a damn thing, useless and meek and mild.

  “I command you!” The piece of shit screamed as I turned my head and met the Queen’s ga
ze.

  “You are mine,” I whispered, and took a step toward her…“And I am yours.” My knees hit the floor, agony tearing into my thighs. “My Queen. Do with me what you will.”

  The floor gave a rumble. Hellhounds and Vampire beasts roared. I jerked my gaze behind me to the wide-eyed faces filled with shock and anger.

  “You,” Gunny stepped forward, the gun in her hand lowering at her side. “You knew...you knew all along.”

  There was no answer, not from the beast, or the man behind the wall. He sank to his knees, body aching, muscles tensed, ready to fight. I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could speak, the floor gave one more tremble...and cracks raced across it.

  “Everybody out!” The command cut through the wall of muscle at the Marine’s back.

  Fire and sulphur were bitter and cruel in the back of my throat.

  “We have to go.” An old hag yanked Trigg’s arm.

  My kin yanked against the lash, driving their hands against the stony floor as they fought for control. Without me, the lash was useless. Without me, the Hellhound had no power. Without me...he had nothing at all.

  And as the cracks widened, I felt the floor give way. Screams filled the room around me. I lifted my gaze as stone shattered, sending columns crashing to the ground.

  Chaos filled the room, and amidst it, the Princess stumbled backwards, into the arms of the bastard who’d hurt her...the one she hated more than anyone.

  The one she’d commanded me to kill.

  I clenched my jaw and lunged, driving my feet against the slick floor as the building gave a tiny tremble...and then began to fall to the ground.

  11

  Kalliste

  A hand wrapped around my wrist, a savage snarl sounded in my ears. “Come to me!” Blaze yanked me as he stumbled and the floor cracked wide open.

  In that moment, all the rage and the terror came flooding back…Your sister is dead. You’re going to be a good Princess and give it all to me.

  The words rang inside my head as the floor underneath me shook.