The potent carnal deliciousness of Zol and Zin filled her nostrils, as did whiffs of purple sage. Kandace let her thoughts wander, knowing she needed an emotional respite from pondering about her Enduoir mother.
Given everything on her witchy plate, she figured it was best to let things settle, anyway. Kandace also ignored the whirlwind of events that had occurred since re-stealing her friend’s painting. Still, the images cascaded randomly.
Suddenly restless, she wriggled back and forth, feeling sinuous as a cat on the satin-slick sheet. As soon as she stopped moving curiosity pounced on her. What were Zin and Zol doing?
If she could observe them now, what a test of her powers. Oh, in her usual circumstances, she could scry with a mirror, peer into her favorite crystal ball, or even twitch her nose to get a look at someone and what they were up to.
However, they weren’t hellhounds on a mission.
Would Hades even allow it?
Impatiently rolling on her tummy, she leaned on her elbows. Kandace smacked the bed with her shins as she enjoyed doing, and tried to talk herself out of it. She had no clue if there were dangers involved.
Could she accidently harm Zol and Zin?
Still…why not dip a toe in the magickal waters? Who knew, the opposite could be true and, maybe, she could assist them. Besides, curiosity relentlessly clawed at her belly.
Grabbing a smaller pillow, she flipped onto her back and clutched it to her stomach. The first test would be passing her sight through the shimmery curtains above her, her hellhounds’ two layers of protection. Shutting her eyes Kandace imagined Zin and Zol being in her presence.
Immersing herself in every detail of their appearance and in how they made her feel, she gently arrowed her mind force. It took some serious concentration, but finally her awareness popped above the protective fields, and she soared beyond their home, into the nighttime sky.
The dark before the dawn, she spoke inside her mind.
With her being saturated by the vibration of her hellhounds, Kandace mentally asked about their current location as if they conversed. Quicker than she could think, she zipped somewhere, as if she belly-surfaced atop a high velocity wind.
Halting rapidly, she took a moment to rally her magickal forces. Kandace realized she hovered above the ground and mind-gazed downward.
Spotlighted by the parking lot’s pole light, Harley motorcycles gleamed. Staring at several rows of the mechanical horses waiting obediently for their riders, she saw them. Hellhounds.
Goddess!
Two black brute beasts she could never have conjured up in her imagination launched forward. So perfectly did they mirror each other, they appeared to be one demonic canine monster. Dragon-like scales blazed along their backs.
Seeing their four neon red eyes sent a shockwave through her system. Their eyes were as enormous as headlights on a car, and Kandace swore she witnessed the eternal fires of damnation rage in their depths.
Too staggered to shiver, her gaze shot toward whoever they soared through the air to attack. Believing it to be the bear-colossal biker with his ruthless looking gang, she mentally jerked back as they landed on the smallish man who had been approaching the bikers with a slow stilted gait.
Paralyzed with fear, no one in the big tough biker gang moved. Kandace understood. Immobile herself, her etheric heart in her throat, she watched the hellbeasts separate from each other.
Resembling a cross between hunks of fiery lava and gargantuan Rottweiler dogs, they took turns grabbing, then shaking their prey mercilessly. In a futile attempt to escape, he flailed like an animated mannequin.
It didn’t take Kandace long to conclude the man dressed in a now shredded skeleton costume wasn’t exactly human. He couldn’t be. Repeatedly, he burst into flame. The really weird part, he showed no evidence of being in pain.
Toying with him, Zol and Zin tossed him back and forth. To her amazement, Mr. Strange Bad Guy wasn’t impaled on their dagger-like fangs. As their giant jaws snapped around his fire-smoldering body, sparks of their molten saliva flew, but somehow didn’t touch the bikers.
Kandace did a double take when Zin engulfed his prey’s head, picking it up like a basketball. How she knew it was him, well, she simply did. Stunned to her core, she watched her hellhound mouth the head inside his flame-slavering jowls.
Seconds later, even though he couldn’t see, strange bad guy aimed his palms, shooting what appeared to be ice bolts. He fired the spike shapes at both hellhounds with evil-ninja speed. From what Kandace observed, the bolts steamed into non-existence, harmless.
Zol charged forward, chomping down on their victim’s biker-booted legs. Icy blasts glanced off him as he planted his humongous front paws and jerked backwards.
Their prey writhed his torso and lower half like a snake while Zin and Zol circled, tugging on him. Reminding Kandace of dogs who had their favorite knotted rope, they pulled on his body as if they wanted to split him apart.
As she emerged from her state of shock, she sensed the human creature’s demonic heritage, and knew her hellhounds acted on their innate natures, punishing someone they considered to be evil.
Kandace took a glimpse inside the bear biker’s mind. He lived the experience as a lucid nightmare. More of Zin and Zol’s doing, they’d used their supernatural ability as hellhounds to place the entire gang in a theta sleep state.
Seconds later, as if on cue, Kandace felt a cyclonic force gather around her. Whipped backwards, she lay blinking on the bed.
“Hades summons,” she heard Zol and Zin whisper inside her.
So, they knew about her presence, but what else had she expected? Staring at the high ceiling, Kandace realized the light of dawn filtered through what appeared to be crystalline frosted strands resembling a lattice. “Wowie, powie,” she murmured.
Entranced, she gazed for long moments, then turned on her side. Determined to etch what she’d witnessed inside her memory banks, Kandace carefully reviewed the whole beyond-unbelievable scene with her hellhounds.
She hadn’t known what to expect. She’d had little time to even consider it. Zin and Zol had swept her off her red-stiletto feet. Yet, even with the popular lore, she most certainly hadn’t come close to imagining their overpowering, fire-spewing, hellish ferocity.
Figuring a shower might clear her head for whatever bolted from the blue next, Kandace rose upward, and glanced around. If the room had appeared impressive last night, this morning the lavish style of the furnishings caused her to linger and admire them before scooting off the bed.
Her hellhounds certainly knew how to live well, as the saying went. Heaving out a long breath, she walked toward an oddly glistening arch that reminded of her a scene out of the Arabian Nights.
Intentionally, she kept her thoughts at bay as she stared. There was too much to prepare for and her emotions were on the edge of fragile.
Lightly running her fingertips on the arch’s surface, Kandace watched the silvery blue shadows dance within. With her stomach tightening in anticipation, she stepped inside.
Kandace halted in her tracks. “Okay then, this looks like it was designed by the gods.”
Drawing in quick breaths, she entered. Long in length, with a vaulted ceiling, the facility, it couldn’t be called a bathroom, was composed of silvery pearl stone. Right off, Kandace noticed several different types of bathing areas, or pools.
“Not very volcanic looking,” she muttered in an attempt to put herself on some kind of emotional footing. Because what she saw around her tripped her out like crazy.
As her head swivelled, she spotted what might be a shower stall. Tentatively, Kandace moved toward the large rounded structure. Peeking within, she stepped inside, fast. “Holy moly, I refuse to be amazed and surprised.”
Chapter Twenty-Three:
Evil Souls Must Be Caught
She refused as rich shades of pink shone around her, subtly altering color with her every movement. No, it wasn’t a mere shower stall. Zol and Zin hadn’t bee
n kidding. She stood within an overwhelmingly beautiful lounge. Designed to enchant a woman, every curve sumptuously flowed.
“Phantasmagorical,” she whispered.
Almost spooked, Kandace reached out and touched the wall with one fingertip. As she slipped her finger downward, the sunset-pink surface glowed. Similar to abalone shell, embedded rainbows also appeared.
Feeling charmed and floaty, Kandace moved toward a semi-circular area that featured an elegant, gold-colored showerhead. She stepped within the spacious area, but saw not one turn-on handle. “What now?”
Before her, a medallion-looking emblem materialized. Since the only thing she understood was the hot and cold symbols, Kandace held her breath, and pressed her finger between the two.
As the water sprayed, she leapt out of the way. The lovely shower splashed onto her feet, nice and warm. Seeing no shampoo, Kandace swept her hair up, intending to keep it as dry as possible. Easing beneath the rain-scented water, she slowly rotated, and soon smiled with pleasure.
Taking a step forward, Kandace bent over and smoothed her palms up each of her legs. She removed the minimal growth of hair as she’d done since her teenage years.
A few times she’d forgotten to change the command, and had stroked her hands into her hair, the result being a couple of bald areas. At the time, she’d come up with the excuse Super Glue had accidently gotten on her scalp, and she’d shaved the spot.
Wanting to luxuriate, Kandace didn’t hold onto her hair as she raised upwards. The sparkling water sluiced over her, that is, until she heard her apartment phone ring inside her head.
She’d linked her mind to keep track of any calls instead of using a cell phone. Every time she’d tried using the darn things, she’d gotten dizzy, once to the point of passing out.
Merri, she answered mentally, knowing it was her sister, Meredith.
“Kandy, oh God, I’m frightened. Someone is following me.”
The sheer panic in her sister’s voice had Kandace striding out of the shower and grabbing a towel. Following you. Where are you?
“I’m in my car, close to the gallery. I tried losing them like you showed me. But, they’re fucking evil, Kandy, I know it. They’ve been following me since I left home.”
Drive toward the police station. I’m on my way.
“Where are you?” Merri squeaked in that way she did whenever fear had a hold on her. “I know you’re not at the apartment.”
I got lucky.
“No!” her sister screamed. Kandace heard a terrifying screech of brakes.
Merri!
Her sister’s cell hit something hard, the sound explosive. “Let go! Let go of me! I’m not going anywhere with you. Shit, help!”
Honing in on Meredith’s exact location, Kandace prepared to transport herself there somehow. Even if it would be agonizing to get through the protective fields of her hellhounds. Unless she did, though, she couldn’t save her sister with her most potent powers.
Oh, Goddess, clothes…Kandace raced toward the bedroom.
“Kandace,” a man’s menacing voice spoke on her sister’s cell.
Who is this? Where’s my sister? Madly, Kandace rushed inside a walk-in closet.
“You’re a clever little thief. But, not clever enough. You want your precious sister back? Bring the painting.”
“Kandy, it’s Nigel,” her sister screeched, interrupting.
“Yes, it’s Nigel. I am certain you know the location of my warehouse.”
Which warehouse? Kandace demanded as she speed-flipped through a section of shirts.
“I’m told you’ll know. Before I crate up your pretty blonde sister and ship her to a sex slave auction, I suggest you—”
Yeah, yeah, bring the painting. Who told you I’ll know? But Kandace knew. Over-Voice woman. The Quevj.
“Let’s say I have ‘friends’ in the highest occult places.”
Harm one hair—
“The painting, now.”
The cell phone crackled, and died.
Spotting a pile of neatly folded T-shirts, Kandace jerked one free and threw it over her head. Yes! it was down past her knees.
Focus on Merri, focus on Merri, Kandace chanted. Conjuring plasma knives, she tossed them against the shimmery fields with her force. She studied the impact points, seeking any weakness. No penetrating glitter.
How in the name of everything Good and Right was she getting to her sister? If ever she needed her so-far unknown powers, it was now.
“If in doubt, look about, and every time, use the power of rhyme,” she murmured the phrase she’d emblazoned into her very being.
“Surface now like the moon’s high tide,
“my hidden, most-needed power,
“Through this protection I must glide
“to save my sister this current hour.”
Kandace twitched her nose, closed her eyes and emptied her mind. A buzzing sizzle like she’d never known quickly trembled her entire body. The vibration increased until she lifted off the floor, her feet dangling in the air.
Higher, she commanded. Beyond the roof I must leap like fire.
Energy jolted through her veins, and Kandace saw only a glimmering veil of light. Her frequencies pulsed at such a rapid rate, she watched her flesh dissolve into a ghostly appearance. With the remains of her body threatening to fly apart, atom by atom, Kandace streamed upwards. She might as well have been transformed into ectoplasm.
Even though something gripped her particles, not wanting to let go, she met no serious resistance, and shot through the protective barriers like a geyser.
Sliding into the crystalline ceiling easily, Kandace emerged outside and soared. Bathed by the sun-risen radiance of the sky, her body reformed, returning to flesh.
Painful at first, the scalding sensations soon lessened. Kandace gave her body a cursory glance and gulped in breaths. Okay, the T-shirt survived, and still hung around her. Soaking in the tangerine rays of light, she prepared herself for the battle ahead.
Kandace, darling, wait! Zin and Zol called out to her telepathically. Hades will return us soon.
I have to rescue Merri.
Our triad of power, they echoed.
I can’t wait.
Before gravity could do its thing, Kandace pictured Meredith as she’d done hundreds of times when they’d played hide and seek as kids. No matter where Merri chose to hide, she’d never been able to escape Kandy’s magickal detection.
Seeing Merri’s location before her mind’s eye, she watched as her sister was roughly hauled out of a black limousine by two hulking roid-heads. Her wrists had been bound behind her back, and she’d been blindfolded. Still, Meredith struggled to escape, her blonde hair whipping back and forth furiously.
Kandace surged inside the etheric tunnel toward her sister, but moved slowly waiting to view which warehouse she’d been taken to. The instant she saw Meredith shoved through a side door, she let go, flying through the portal she’d created.
As she hurtled through the ethers, Kandace directed the tunnel to penetrate the high loft she knew about from previous investigations. Dissipating the portal’s entrance, she saw that the collection of large statues were still stored there, most of them draped.
Stealthily, she crept behind a marble statue larger than she was. An instinctive move, Kandace also wanted moments to ponder on a strategy. She knew precisely where Merri had been placed, inside an overseas shipping crate in the docking area. For now, thank the Goddess, her sister wasn’t in any immediate danger.
All too aware of the Quevj’s trap, Kandace concentrated on summoning forth the power she’d been warned not to use until this confrontation with her race’s enemy. The trick was to loose it at the right instant, and not let her force rise too swiftly.
“Knock, knock,” she called out, “I’m here. Do you want your painting?”
“You couldn’t have brought it here, bitch, as fast as you arrived,” Nigel nastily roared.
“No, but free my sister an
d I’ll tell you where it is.”
“No matter, alien witch, I’ll have my new friends do their brand of water-boarding.”
“Gurgle, gurgle,” Kandace taunted. Kneeling, she touched her palm to the loft floor and suffused it with her force.
“Daughter of Affrony, your destiny awaits. Come forth. You belong to us.”
Not one centimeter of the warehouse had been left untouched by the ring of Over-Voice woman’s words.
Destiny, smestiny, all I want is my sister back.
Hearing the pound of boots at the far end of the loft where the elevator was located, Kandace rose upwards and opened her hand. “Fire at will, stun don’t kill.”
Spheres of yellow blazing light the size of golf balls flew from her palm and swarmed like bees toward Nigel’s squad of goons.
“What the fuck!” was repeated several times, followed by the loud slumping thud of bodies.
Listening to Nigel shout orders, Kandace raised her arms in invitation to the Source of All. She clasped her hands, shaping them into a wand’s point of contact, and whispered, “O fog of doom and gloom, your presence is sought, make this place a shrouded tomb, for those whose evil souls must be caught.”
Tendrils of mist swirled around her. Pale at first, it darkened and thickened in no time.
Clear as if she’d had her crystal ball, Kandace mind-watched the thirteen Quevj sorceresses. In a power circle, they stood on the ground floor of the warehouse, near the center.
Kandace guessed the Quevj were about six foot tall, given the size of the shipping crates in the background. Attired in voluminous robes that appeared to be more shadow than actual fabric, the sorceresses almost looked like specters.
One rail thin arm protruded as they raised their wands with the precision of a drill team. Kandace stared at the serpentine strands of dark hair framing their gaunt features. Instead of skin, their faces reminded her of tanned deer hides.
With their ultra shiny wands sparking, they attempted to counter her impromptu spell casting. To no avail.
The fog spread, sinuously moving like a clan of giant serpents. Covering everything, it rolled menacingly, a monstrous black specter from the bowels of hell.
Kougar, Savanna - Kandy Apple and Her Hellhounds (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 13