Kougar, Savanna - Kandy Apple and Her Hellhounds (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Savanna Kougar

  Screams of horror ricocheted throughout the warehouse, as did the sound of racing, tromping feet. Those who could escaped out the doors, deserting Nigel.

  “Daughter of Affrony, if you wish the presence of your sister, you will come to us now and surrender.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four:

  Hellhounds, We Have a Problem

  Zin, in tandem with Zol, unhinged his jaw and dropped the chameleon agent at Hades’ princely shod feet. Their prey rolled back and forth in agony, his skin red hot. During their zealous mauling, he’d been tasting fiery lava, not blood, and had been induced to constantly change into what he could not, a hellhound.

  “You think you got one fuckin’ over on me, don’t you?” the agent hollered, hoarse with all the flames he’d been forced to consume. “You think I don’t know what you are, shit-tasting, god-deformed cur beasts straight out of the Earth’s asshole.” In a vain attempt to put out his smoking body parts, he slapped at his thigh. The plumes continued rising vigorously.

  “As I observe.” Hades deigned to glower. “My hellhounds were exceptionally effective in getting several over on you. Yes, I quite observe you’re still blowing smoke in the manner of a six-pack a day smoker from, precisely, seven successful punctures of your demon-spawned, lab-bred, stench-repulsive flesh.”

  Zin and Zol sat as one beast, and cocked their heads at Hades.

  “O strike Mt. Olympus, was I incorrect in how I phrased my analogy?” Hades inquired of them.

  Looking straight ahead, he and Zol posed alertly. That wasn’t a trail they were going to hunt down.

  “Never mind.” Hades gestured a grand dismissal. “The point of Justice’s sword has pierced the tenderest portion of your rear anatomy. Or, shall I say, you’re here, odious creature from Jekyll Island. Indeed, my hellhounds have triumphed in their mission while you have failed your assignment.”

  “You puffed up, mother fucking, has-been excuse for a god, that’s the Island of Dr. Moreau.” The agent coughed, spewing out bits of blaze and ash.

  Black lightning bolts leapt from Hades eyes. He struck the incinerating force in front the agent’s eyes, a hair’s breadth away. “No. I quite meant my little twist. It appears the torment of my hellhounds has addled your ability to comprehend the subtleties of thought.”

  Vomiting an untidy pile of tar, the agent rolled on his back and glared up at Hades. “Your time is over, Lord of the Underworld.” He managed a sneer. “Do you really believe bringing me here stops the power of those I serve?”

  “Do continue.” Hades stroked his beard, his manner ominous.

  “I won’t be here long. The new international order of gods, the real gods…” The agent snapped his mouth shut, his expression revealing he’d said too much.

  “In the meantime, before your real gods arrive, do enjoy the torturous accommodations I have prepared for you.” With a flip of his hand, Hades sent the chameleon agent to his evil-guy imprisonment.

  With their mission completed, Zin initiated their transition to human form. Seeing Hades close his eyes and journey his presence elsewhere, they waited. Impatience seized them as never before. They wanted their one witch.

  Gazing at them, once again, Hades smiled fondly. “I have placed the chameleon blood drinker in a dream inducement chamber with two intentions. He will relive being at your un-tender mercies. As well, I wish to learn more about his international order of gods.”

  “Wise, indeed,” he and Zol answered together.

  Now free to observe their Kandace, Zin spoke what they viewed. Our witch has discovered her lounge.

  “Ah, either your carnal pleasures have increased greatly, Zindale and Zolivar.” Hades’ midnight eyes cosmically twinkled. “Or, my hellhounds have found their one witch.”

  “Our one witch,” he and Zol chorused.

  “I would not normally delay your departure, as you know. However, the Dr. Moreau creature you delivered brings forth a matter I had planned to illuminate. Innocence, the innocent human is valued less and less during the end of this tumultuous epoch. Those of demonic mind, these false gods who would seize Mother Earth’s abundance, despise them and have recently turned the tide in their favor.”

  “Evil has become a growth industry, of late, by our observation.” Zol spoke for them both.

  “Indeed, Zolivar and Zindale, the end of the Piscean age is a tsunami upon us. The element of water collides with the quantum-speed winds of the Aquarian age as they arrive. Thus, a darkness of insanity now blankets the Upperworld. Simultaneously, the star-bright, miraculous mind of humanity emerges.”

  Zin matched his twin’s swivelling head. Hades paced with a regal stride, as he was wont to do whenever pondering.

  “Of late,” he continued, “the fragile barrier of several dimensions have been cracked open like the shell of an egg. Incorporeal hellions have been loosed to brutally attack all innocents on Earth.”

  “Innocence is being slaughtered,” Zin concluded, speaking to let Hades know they understood. He gazed at Zol, knowing they needed to commune.

  Our Kandace needs us. Her sister has been abducted, Zol telepathed.

  Yes, I am sensing Over-Voice woman, her race’s enemy.

  Kandace, darling, wait! Zin mind-shouted with Zol. Hades will return us soon.

  I have to rescue Merri, their Kandy answered.

  Our triad of power, he and Zol desperately reminded.

  I can’t wait.

  Zin faced Hades. “Our witch confronts a terrible enemy.”

  Shutting his eyes, Hades used their link to glimpse Kandace. “Quite fiercely determined, your witch. She reminds me of my Persephone when she decides upon a desire. I do believe your sylph beauty is about to overcome your protection fields with her magick. No great wonder, since I see she is from Enduoir and possesses an exceptionally powerful heritage.”

  One glance at Hades’ perturbed expression had Zin clenching his hands into fists, as did Zol.

  “Hellhounds, we have a problem. I cannot launch you to the surface yet. One of those confounded electronic search grids is sweeping for your energy signatures, and has been programmed to locate the missing agent through you.”

  Sharply pivoting from them, Hades strode toward his throne. Carved by the Underworld god’s lightning from onyx, the throne resembled a grove of twining tree trunks. Ensconcing himself, Hades prepared to use his god force, enhanced by the stone and the design. “Do not despair, Zindale and Zolivar. I will misdirect the beams while altering them to ignore your signatures.”

  Agony as Zin had never felt, even during their savage training sessions, paralyzed him and Zol. Blades of pain raced up and down their bodies, so intense they lost the ability to communicate mind-to-mind. Their one witch needed them.

  Still, Zin knew they both witnessed their darling Kandy summon forth a new power. Her body de-materialized and as mere gleaming strands, she surged beyond their protective shields. In awe, he watched her flow like a water sprite above their home. She shifted to flesh, then cast her powers, spinning a portal into existence.

  Locking his mind’s eye on her, as he knew Zol did, Zin followed their witch as she streaked toward her destination. She emerged inside a building and stepped behind an alabaster statue.

  Zin reeled, taking several steps backward. Flicking his glance to Zol, he made certain his twin stood beside him. They stared at each other. “Flash bang.”

  “Yes,” Zol agreed, “we were energy-slammed by sorceresses.”

  “There are thirteen Quevj sorceresses.” Hades rose from his throne. “They conjured a sphere from the planetary web around your witch and her sister. They have densely woven it as do the Celtic goddesses.”

  “The knots of mist are encircling the entire building,” Zin realized.

  “The Quevj believe it to be impenetrable,” Zol continued.

  In alignment, Zin felt his and Zol’s heart sink. “During our lessons, no solution for penetration was presented.”

  Our precious Kandy Apple, we must rea
ch her. They mind-spoke together, once more in complete communication.

  “I have altered the electronic grid, my hellhounds. However, to transport you to your witch’s location will not serve you in rescuing your Kandace and her sister. I shall have to muse on how to place you inside the sphere. Meanwhile…” Hades swept his arm toward them.

  He and Zol glanced downward. Hades had attired them with a body hugging material referred to as dolphin skin because of the coloring and texture. Much superior to the strength of steel, the diver-like suits were also ultra lightweight and could be manipulated to different states by mere intention.

  Becoming mostly invisible could be useful. Zol experimented, disappearing his arm for an instant.

  We could be talking heads. Zin raised his leg, vanishing it briefly.

  The Quevj, he and Zol thought simultaneously. Our Kandace did not say the race name of her enemy for a good reason.

  Perhaps, we must not think it when we activate our triad of power. Zol anxiously glanced at Hades, who still rubbed his beard. Deep in his musings, pulses of bluish light crackled around the Underworld god’s head.

  The name must remain unsaid until our witch summons forth her power to defeat the sorceresses.

  As they waited, Zin volcanically boiled inside. Like Zol, he raged to destroy anyone or anything that stood between him and their Kandace.

  Hades whirled toward them, a triumphant expression on his face. Both he and Zol panted mentally, ferocious to protect their witch as he approached.

  “Our brother Being, the Sun, dissolves mist. I shall make an appeal for his sacred intervention. Be patient, Zindale and Zolivar.” Hades scrutinized them, furrowing his impressive brow. “That won’t do, will it?”

  Halting, Hades faced them squarely. His obsidian gaze glinted a stern warning. “Remember, you must wait for the sorcery to be broken in its entirety before you enter the building. Promise, my hellhounds.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five:

  Charcoal-Briquette Them Later

  Standing in a parking area with Zin, Zol swept his gaze over the sphere. Even with their supernatural sight, neither one of them could see the warehouse. Around them, Nigel’s henchmen, the ones that had escaped, whined like terrorized pups, and walked around in aimless circles.

  Inside the abomination of sorcery, he and Zin could hear the pitiful wails of those still trapped. Resembling a colossal dirty snowball, the sphere buzzed with inharmonious tones that operated like an electronic pest control device to keep other humans away.

  “Don’t go in.” A man halted in front of them. With his gaze glassy, unfocused, he repeated, “Don’t go in.”

  Sensing the man had returned to his good side, Zin lightly touched his shoulder and pulsed a healing frequency through him. He used another vibe to send the man on his way, then gazed skyward. “The sun is brighter in intensity.”

  “Yes, I see the flare’s plasma outline.”

  “It forms, gradually shooting from the surface. I am barely restraining my savage nature, brother.” Zin shaded his eyes as the sunflare streaked in slow motion toward the sphere.

  “I could chew through a dinosaur graveyard to reach our witch.” With impatience gnawing at him, Zol watched the laser-like flare’s progress.

  “I am imagining Hades’ leash. We must mind-view our Kandace before charging to her aid.”

  “Yes—”

  Hideous screeches rent the air, coming from within the sphere. Minuscule rips appeared, and swarms of unearthly stinging insects poured out in every direction. Vanishing quickly in the daylight, they endangered no one.

  Several of the zombified fell to their knees and prayed fervently. Zol grabbed Zin’s arm and felt his twin grab him.

  They held each other back, watching the sunflare enlarge and spike downward through the Earth’s atmosphere. The sphere vibrated as if it was about to explode. Worm-like creatures slithered through the widening splits. Wriggling, the giants oozed over the surface, and became a grayish squirming mass.

  “God, oh God, I’ll never sin again.” A din of pleading prayers surrounded Zol and Zin.

  Soon, another sign of the hellacious battle manifested. Hordes of black rats with wings spiraled from the top of the sphere. Their bodies shone as if soaked in blood.

  Wham flash! He and Zin thought together.

  Sol’s flare struck, penetrating the sphere. For a split second the blinding illumination spread outward. Zol watched the spell-cast structure dissipate as if it had never existed, the mist knots heating to etheric steam.

  Kandace! He and Zin mind-shouted together. Even though they brutally ached to charge inside the warehouse, they mind-focused on their witch, wanting to know which superior action to take.

  Over-gazing, as they called it, he and Zin zoomed in on their Kandy Apple. Flame bolts shot from her fingertips, intercepting a hail of incoming energy bullets meant to stun and weaken her into submission. The sorceresses fired their wands from every direction, the barrage constant and unending.

  Their Kandace stood beside the shipping crate where her sister had been trapped. Still shooting blaze-flares with one hand, they watched her lean down and flatten her palm on the bubble shield she’d conjured to protect her sister. With her force nearly exhausted, she created an escape portal that tunneled beyond the warehouse’s nearest wall.

  “Run!” she yelled. “Merri, run!”

  Her sister hesitated. As one, Zol and Zin yanked Merri through the portal with their power. Sailing her through the ethers, they set her down beside her car, now being searched by a policewoman.

  Aligning their force, Zol and Zin locked gazes while they observed their precious witch enter her bubble. She needed several moments to summon more of her magick. Vulnerable, alone, she crouched in a fetal position.

  In seconds, he and Zin stood on the loft floor overlooking the dock area. Deciding not to interfere with their witch’s concentration by making their arrival known, he and Zin stealthily moved to the steel pipe railing.

  Around them, the stench of staggering supernatural power hovered like the smoky residue from a fireworks display. Having placed themselves outside the circle of floating sorceresses, they remained free of detection.

  “Daughter of Affrony, do not resist,” the thirteen sorceresses over-voiced as if they spoke through a megaphone. “Your destiny belongs to us. Your destiny is here.”

  Yes, we are here, Zin telepathed to him.

  Yes, we are here. We are her destiny, Zol answered.

  Cackles of triumph echoed off the warehouse walls. All the while, bursts of energy sparked off Kandace’s bubble, each one lessening its strength. “Soon you will become our eternal prisoner. Your powers will serve us in the final defeat of Enduoir Prime.”

  Enraged by the evil sorceresses, he and Zin silently growled from the depths of their beast natures. Realizing they needed their triad of power to defeat the formidable magick of the sorceresses, they waited as Kandace ignored the demise of her bubble and cycloned her energy.

  Preparing to fight as powerfully as she could, their one witch shimmered, then became as brilliant as a diamond. The moment Kandace sucked in the diminished strength of her bubble and flashed upwards, he and Zin launched from the top of the loft’s railing.

  Sacrificing some of their fiery force, they blasted the sorceresses with enough to stun them temporarily. Triad of power! they shouted to Kandace’s mind.

  Hellhounds! My hellhounds. She stretched forth her arms. As they landed, one on each side of her, she seized their hands. Zol. Zin.

  Say “I initiate our triad of power,” Zol instructed. Simultaneously, shrieks of fury grabbed at them like octopus tentacles. The terrible force attempted to bind their bodies and drain their magick.

  “No!” Her denial surged through her voice, a power unto itself. Kandace raised their clasped hands high. “I initiate our triad of power.”

  Clouds of purple billowed forth, luminesced, then they were surrounded.

  Kandace gripped their ha
nds tighter. “By the Goddess, I initiate your defeat. I call upon all that is Good to come against you. I claim all that is mine as the Daughter of Affrony, as an Enduoir witch.”

  Torrential waves of power surged through Zol as their Kandace spoke her heritage into existence. Their purple force shaped itself into a transparent pyramid. Transforming into a sacred geometry conduit, their tenfold force zinged through Zol, and a spin and twining of current possessed each of them.

  “Little servants of Hades, such feeble magick cannot defeat us.” The sorceresses’s combined strength trembled the warehouse, threatening to tear it off its foundation.

  How to royally piss off a hellhound, he and Zin snarled together. Prepare to be burned at the stake by hellfire, alien hags.

  Icy drafts meant to immobilize their volcanic strength buffeted their pyramid. Shearing off the sharp angles, the blasts sliced through the entire warehouse as he and Zin brought forth their volatile energies. They blazed the interior until the thick layers of frost vanished.

  A cacophony of laughter crisscrossed around them like a laser light show. “Pathetic beasts, we merely toy with you. Your efforts are puny. Soon we will feed like vampires on your lava blood. We will consume your life force and know the secrets of Hades.”

  As one, Zol and Zin used their emergency connection to the Lord of the Underworld, relaying the sorceress’s exact words.

  Hades? Kandace sensed their contact.

  Hades desires knowledge of those who would usurp his realm, they explained their duty.

  I understand. These usurpers belong in the Underworld, trapped by their own darkness. Kandace didn’t waste time voicing an incantation of challenge. Within the sanctity of their pyramid, she swiftly telepathed their enemies’ strengths and weakness. Their force must wane before I cast the final spell of defeat, my hellhounds.

  We understand. Shall we act as targets?

  Before Kandace could answer, the arrogant cackles of the sorceresses razored through the air, seeking to penetrate their pyramid like hurled knives.