Pisces

by Kim Faulks

  “You smell that?” He turned and caught my gaze.

  I nodded, reached for the blade at my hip and turned back to the two doors. I did. The heady scent of fresh blood was sickening. The sigil brightened, illuminating slick drops on the floor.

  I turned my head, catching the open tailgate of the wagon. The trail carried across the grease stained concrete floor.

  Blood glistened, smearing as I stepped through the mess and neared the office. The place was a mess, paper everywhere, even the chair was overturned, plastic legs stuck up in the air.

  “Jesus, looks like they didn’t find what they were after.”

  I stifled a grin. “No. That’s normal. Let’s just say cleanliness isn’t Motor’s priority.”

  I made for the door to his apartment and shoved through. “If you’re asleep in the nude, Motor, I’m shooting you in the fucking ass.”

  The place was in darkness. I skimmed the wall, searching for the switch. The faint click threw a dull yellow glow through the mess of a lounge.

  For a second my body moved on its own, striding into the destruction.

  “Amaris…stop.”

  The Guardian’s warning growl consumed the room, stilling me cold. I blinked, finding the splash of black across the wall. My fingers were slick…I glanced down to the mess on my fingers—and then lifted my head.

  The dull yellow bulb buzzed overhead, and then brightened.

  I found the body in the center of the room.

  My legs shuddered, knees buckled. Hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me against his chest.

  “I got you,” he breathed into my ear.

  I didn’t want his kindness.

  I didn’t fucking deserve it.

  I shoved, breaking his hold and crumpled to the floor. The old green chair was overturned, guns were scattered amongst the mess.

  I stared at the end of the sawn-off and then wrenched my gaze higher to stare into lifeless eyes.

  A whimper ripped free. The sound was feral and wounded, not me…the whisper echoed. Not any of this. All a dream. All a nightmare.

  “Amaris,” Bastian moaned and the scuff of his boots echoed.

  “Don’t…don’t you come near me,” someone else snarled—someone unhinged…someone dangerous.

  My fingers trembled, finding air and then fur. Blood matted the thick black strands together…he was cold…so damn cold, and hard. I snatched my fingers away and clenched a fist.

  He tried to shift…tried to bring his hound to the surface.

  But something had gone wrong…very wrong.

  Half hound, half—I tried to swallow—I didn’t know what that was.

  Pale skin, fangs…not thick like a hound, but thin with needle points. His black eyes were unnatural, opened wide like his mouth. There was no pupil, no nothing—bottomless, that was all they were, void of the man I once knew.

  Not a hound. The words stuck on repeat…not a hound…not a hound…not a…

  His barrel-chest was sliced from sternum to navel, soft innards spilled out, blackened and rotting, coated in inky blood.

  A pathetic sound wrenched free.

  His arms were a mess of shredded flesh. Pale tendons stripped—but it was his hands that stilled me…his poor hands. Fingers broken, bent unnaturally. His palm was punctured with thick nails all the way through flesh and bone to the linoleum. He couldn’t move, couldn’t go anywhere. “They nailed him…they nailed him to the floor.”

  “Sonofabitch.”

  The way he said the word. I yanked my gaze high finding something savage and raw. “You knew.” I shoved against the floor, and wobbled. “You fucking knew.”

  “Not this…never this. But something similar. They’re called the Lowest Kynd. Shadistin newborn Vampires. They attacked my home, attacked my family—one of them attacked a Hellhound in the street last night. I…tried to save her…tried to—”

  “The blood…the blood on your clothes,” I snarled and took a step toward him. He flinched with words, still there was no denying—it was written on his face. “You knew these things were in my city and you said nothing?”

  The flames in his eyes hardened to stone. “I saw one…it could be a coincidence, could be nothing.”

  “So a newborn Vamp killed one of my people last night, and then came here to get a drop on the toughest sonofabitch I know. Is that what you’re telling me, Guardian? Is that your coincidence?”

  Be careful of the cold. Be careful of the cold. They see you…they see everyone, watching you in the dark. Hungry…hungry…hungry. Those words haunted me…terrorized me. They took me back to that cavern…and back to the cold.

  If there was one in the city, and one here to kill Motor…then there were more.

  My top lip curled, and a sickening growl slid free. This man was no savior, no Guardian. He brought nothing but lies and deceit. My hound lunged to the surface, snarling and savage, her fangs glinting white.

  I knew what that endless black pit was now—wrath. “I’m going to ask you one last time, Guardian. What are you doing in my city?”

  He shook his head and moved backwards as I stalked forward.

  The growl welled in my chest, and raced along the back of my throat.

  “You call me a liar, and yet you’re the one hiding things,” he snapped. “Like Blaze Trigg. Tell me what you know, Amaris. We can help each other.”

  I shook my head, unable to stop the hunter. “I know he’s already dead, and I know I’ll be the one who kills him.”

  He sidestepped the overturned seat, and kicked a gun across the floor. “Why Amaris…why will he die?”

  The spill was too much, lapping the edges, overflowing with need. The need to hurt. The need to rage. The need for the truth. “Because. He. Has. My. Sister!”

  12

  Amaris

  Bastian stilled. His eyes widened, chest rose with a breath and there it stayed.

  I could see it in his eyes, all the little pieces slipping into place. “The woman I saw…staring out the window. That’s your sister?”

  My body shook. I wanted to hurt…wanted to kill, but the pain…it brought me undone.

  “And that’s why you killed Heron,” he murmured, and that stony gaze softened. He took a step closer. “You can talk to me. I’m not the enemy here, Amaris. I promise.”

  Tears blurred his face and like a shattered vessel I broke and the words poured out. “He sold her…like she was nothing more than a piece of meat. I hate him for that.” I bared my teeth. “I wish I could kill him again. I would…I’d make him scream. I’d make him bleed. I’d make him long for death all over again. No one takes my sisters from me. No one…”

  He took another step, cautious this time. But there wasn’t fear in his eyes—it was something else…something that tasted like tears of longing—something that tasted of danger. “The night I was bitten I came here looking for someone…the dark mage who stole my kin.”

  My pulse boomed inside my head, drowning out his voice. I was drawn to his lips, to the taste of those words.

  “Zadoc has a child…two to be exact, but one is so very special—the first of her kind. You see, his human mate gave birth to twins, one a Wolf…and the other…a Dragon.”

  A Dragon?

  A…Guardian child?

  That didn’t happen…that couldn’t happen.

  “The hospital was attacked, the babies were stolen, and my brother’s mate left to die. We had to find them…had to get them back before it was too late. But no matter how hard we looked, the Huntress was gone. We were sure the bitch was being protected. I was sure she was being protected. So we came to demand counsel with the pack leaders. We wanted to make sure they understood who they were helping, and how far we’d go to protect what is ours.”

  Their blood…their kin. I swallowed, finding his gaze. I knew the fire in his eyes now. I now knew what stoked the flames…love…loyalty.

  “I was to meet with your father at some abandoned warehouse, but I was early.” His voice s
oftened as he moved closer. It was the kind of softness that came with bad news. “I saw him outside in the dark. He didn’t even know I was there. He was talking with the man I met today, the one you hate so very much.”

  His name was poison on my lips. “Blaze Trigg.”

  He nodded. “Yes, but they weren’t alone. There was someone else with them, someone who stood in the shadows. I couldn’t see him, and I couldn’t smell him—but, right now, I’d bet my life it was that spineless piece of shit, Austine…the Prince to the Shadistin Clan.”

  And that cold pit of stomach whispered this is the truth. “What does he want?”

  “I don’t know…but there’s something else you need to know. Austine’s sister, Eva—the new Queen of the Shadistin Vampires—was sold when she was a child to the Original Vampire, Acheron.”

  The floor seemed to drop out from underneath me. Sold. Just like Kalliste. “And this Original Vampire?”

  “Was the one who was protecting the Huntress, the one who stole my brother’s daughter and the one who made a new alliance…with a certain Hellhound King, and disgraced Vampire Prince.”

  My knees shuddered. The room spun. In my city, using my sister…terrorizing my people. The smell of rotting vampire blood. My knees trembled, locking…unlocking. He was a blur, moving in close to wrap his arms around me. “If my father wasn’t already dead.”

  “I’d kill the sonofabitch myself,” Bastian snarled and those flames burned brighter. “I swear to you I’m not the enemy. Amaris I…”

  I lifted my head as he curled his body, and all I could see were those lips. Fire raged as the sigil across my heart flared to life. His shirt brightened, a slow throb ebbed and grew like a nebula of fire across his chest.

  “You can trust me,” he murmured and lowered his head. “I owe you my life.”

  There was a tremble of will…not his—mine.

  I waited for instinct to whisper, that’s what they all say. But all I heard was that thunder…and all I felt was that need. Heat raced as his lips met mine, so soft, so tender, tightening places that made me feel weak…places that made me feel like a woman.

  Power surged, tearing through his chest. His hands slipped to my waist and lifted. My legs opened and wrapped around his waist. Motion rocked, and the room blurred.

  Tears slipped down my cheeks.

  “Look at me,” he whispered. “That’s it, right here.”

  And I was consumed by the violet flames that licked blood red.

  Violet and violent.

  Mine, whispered that rush inside my head as my hands slipped to the open collar of his shirt…Stone’s shirt. My lips curled as I fisted the fabric and yanked. Buttons tore free, smacking my chest and clattered free as we stepped from the apartment and into the mess of an office.

  The overturned chair shifted. Papers skimmed across the desk and floated to the floor. My fingers ached, fabric tore. His body was under my fingers, smooth, hard…flexing with the motion as he lowered me to the desk.

  I wrenched my gaze high. “You lied to me. You left me.”

  Desire ignited as my hound shivered, slipping so close now. Flames mingled in his obsidian eyes…his…mine. I tore his shirt wide and dragged him close. His lips were soft against mine, warm and yielding. Teeth grazed, blood bloomed against my tongue and the hunter in me howled.

  “Don’t ever do that again,” I growled into his mouth. “Ever.”

  Something dangerous slipped in between us. Power collided with power…Hellhound…Dragon.

  Bleed for me…the need roared. His hands were under me, over me, sliding under my shirt to cup my breast.

  Bleed for me.

  His head dipped, and my fingers skimmed, spreading wide as I cupped his chest. His nipple hardened, sliding between my fingers. He yanked my bra, wrenching me forward. Lips met flesh, teeth grazed. My nipple hardened inside his mouth. Warmth spread, sending a shiver down my spine.

  The muscles of his neck tightened, tendons wound tight as I gripped his neck. He was more than flesh, more than bone…he was mine.

  Mine. “Harder,” I snarled.

  Fingers bruised, teeth made me shiver and still it wasn’t enough. I wanted to be bitten, be marked. I wanted his touch on my body and my body on his mind.

  I wanted his imprint…deep inside.

  His jaw muscles clenched under my fingers as I gripped his throat, holding him right where I wanted. He lifted his eyes as his tongue worked the dusky pink flesh—our gazes collided. Power raced, carving through my body to well between my thighs. I slipped one hand between us. His stomach muscles trembled until I skimmed denim…and the cold teeth of his zipper.

  Palm cupped, fingers curled finding the thick outline of his cock.

  “Ever,” I murmured again. “Don’t you ever leave me again.”

  His lips trembled, spine curled, urging me to reach lower.

  I gripped his neck with one hand and his cock with the other.

  Mine. I squeezed. His throat worked under one grip, his length swelled under the other. Guardian or not…he belonged to me. His hands worked my button, fingers slipped inside to skim the top of my panties, spreading my zipper wide.

  I dragged my hand higher to work the button of those perfect jeans. Metal slipped under my fingers, zipper opened as he gripped my waist, slipping his thumb under the waist of my panties.

  I clenched my ass, sliding my hand around the back of his neck and lifted my hips from the desk. Pens clattered, something hit the ground with a thud. But I was past caring, past anything but this moment…and this desire.

  My bare cheeks hit the desk. He skimmed his hand along my thigh, and then all the way down my leg to grip my boot. One yank and it hit the ground. His touch was there, dancing calloused fingers along my shin to push the inside of my knee. My legs widened under his force. I shoved the waist of his jeans low to find bare hips, until it caught on the hard swell of his length.

  The corner of his reddened lips curled as he dropped to one knee. My thumb brushed his jaw, nails scratched the bristle to skim the smooth flesh of his cheek. My jeans slipped to the floor along with my other boot. I speared nails through his hair as he lowered his head.

  His fingers danced around my waist to knead the soft flesh of my ass. I dropped a hand to the edge of the desk, balancing, as he slipped his hands under and then lifted.

  Lips met the dark thatch of hair, and his tongue pushed inside. My hand on the desk trembled as he moved lower. The muscles of his chest quaked as he lifted one leg higher.

  Warm breath skimmed my thigh. Goosebumps raced. He dipped lower, finding that tender nub with his tongue. Soft circles brought me undone. I clenched my ass, driving my body against his mouth.

  Fingers spread against the curve of his skull. A small sound echoed, like a scuff of a shoe, but I was consumed by this man, by his mouth, by his tongue. I closed my eyes, arching my spine.

  He circled soft and slow, and then dipped lower forcing his tongue inside. Fingers followed, easing in before he dragged them free. I ached with need as he worked my body all over again…up and down…in and out.

  My hand tightened around his head as I curled my hips, and dipped low. The slow grind dragged his stubble across tender flesh. Heat lashed deep, hard and slow with a throb all its own.

  The tension built, spearing an ache through the juncture of my thighs. “I want you…now.”

  His lips glistened as he moved in. Tongue met tongue, salt and slick in my mouth as I reached for him. I closed my hand around his girth. The head twitched, releasing a bead of moisture. I wanted more, more in my mouth—more between my thighs.

  “Amaris.” He shuddered with the whisper of my name.

  I liked that.

  Fist closed hard, sliding high all the way to his body and then down again, slower this time, taking my time.

  “I can’t,” he murmured, and closed his eyes.

  “Then find a damn way,” I snarled and shoved from the edge of the desk.

  My hands danced
down strong thighs and then upwards. I gripped his cock and traced the length with my tongue before moving to take him in my mouth.

  He slapped his hand to the desk…and held on. My hand worked him, hard, and then slow. Tight circles with my tongue around the ridge of his head.

  The thick vein pulsed under my grip. He was close, hard turned feather light, easing away. He opened his eyes, and bent, gripping my arm to lift me high.

  His body forced my legs apart. My ass barely hit the desk before he thrust. Hands gripped my thighs, lifting as he leaned forward. His cock pushed against my opening. One small move was all it’d take and he’d be inside…

  He stilled.

  But there were no second thoughts in his eyes…

  Only desire, only want.

  He pressed in slow, pushing me wider, forcing me to inhale. Slow…so slow. My body responded, stretching as he eased out, and then thrust home once more.

  Momentum took me, stealing everything in this world, but his body inside mine as he withdrew and then thrust his hips.

  “Never,” he murmured, curling his hips with the hard brunt. “Ever…again.”

  And that hunger returned, this time with a vengeance. He clenched my ass; fingers were cruel, bruising as he curled his body. Low, slow thrusts turned hard, and brutal. He was an animal driving harder, and harder until every vicious brunt was a jolt through my body.

  A savage snarl slipped from my lips…my hound was hunting, but this time I was neither predator, nor prey. This time I was both.

  His grunt was primal and fierce. His chest was alight with the flames of my sigil. I felt the burn, swallowed the fire…and it tore through my body like a blazing inferno.

  A cry wrenched from my lips as Bastian gripped my hips, dragged me close, and held me there. There was no grunt of release, no cry of pleasure…only a deep shudder that raced from his body and into mine.

  I tried to suck in a breath. Tried to find my thoughts. Tried to feel anything but the burn to his flame.

  His grip loosened, fingers spread wide. One slid to the small of my back, the other to my thigh. “Don’t leave, not yet.”