by Kim Faulks
“Oh, please. Don’t rush on my account. If I’d known I was getting a show I would’ve brought popcorn.”
I wrenched my head toward the doorway. Stone stood there, arms crossed, eyes glinting with the kind of hunger I saw on the nights we went out to kill.
A growl slipped from Bastian’s lips as he shifted his body, shielding me from Stone’s view. But I caught the smirk from the smug bastard.
“Don’t hide her modesty on my account,” the Cursed muttered. “I think I’ve enjoyed seeing a totally new side to the Hellhound Princess.”
“What the fuck do you want, Stone?” Bastian snarled and adjusted his jeans before bending low long enough to grasp my jeans from the ground.
“I came because I was concerned. Kane mentioned something quite disturbing. Hellhounds are being murdered…”
I fumbled with my clothes, fighting with my panties and then my jeans. Fuck modesty. I gripped my blade, shoved from the desk and yanked the waist of my jeans high. “You think I don’t know that? I was the one who found him.”
“Not just Motor, Amaris.” Stone glanced toward the open door to Motor’s apartment. “There are others. And not just murdered…disappeared.”
The flare of fire across my chest stung. I sucked in a hard breath and felt the burn down to my marrow. A hiss slipped from my lips as I bent for my boots. “Missing?”
“Missing as in gone.”
I yanked my head upwards. “I know what missing means.”
But that burn…that burn continued to grow. Unseen claws raked my body, tearing me from the inside out. I slapped a hand to the desk as the room spun.
“Amaris?”
Bastian’s voice crowded my head, but I couldn't reply…I couldn’t do anything as lightning ripped through my mind. A scream shattered the room as my legs gave way.
“Amaris!” Stone yelled.
But they were gone, swallowed by the blinding crack of light. I slapped my hands to my head. My screams rebounded, consuming, swallowing.
Hands touched me, pulling me from the floor. I was cocooned, held, carried. I threw a hand out, grasping something…someone as the unmerciful agony found substance, and through the pain an image consumed me…fire…flames and a gate…Hell’s Gate. “Something's wrong.”
“No shit. You’re screaming like a damn banshee,” Stone growled in my ear.
I wrenched open my eyes to stare at my hand, and his fisted shirt in my grip. Danger, howled in his eyes…but he wasn’t the one I needed.
I wrenched my head right to find fear in violet flames. “The Gate,” I whispered to Bastian, and dropped my hand from Stone’s shirt. “Get me to the gate.”
There were no questions, and no delay as the agony consumed me once more. I closed my eyes and screamed, and on the cusp of the sound came a howl…a howl of rage…a howl of torture.
Hands slipped from around my back and under my knees. A grunt, followed by a moan. Something heavy hit the ground, cruel sounds tore free, low and haunting.
“Guardian!” Stone howled.
The darkened garage was alight as I cracked open my eyes. A hunkered shape moved, shaking and shuddering, black on black.
“Help her,” snarled the Cursed and found my gaze.
Black on black moved as the hulking beast shuddered and tried to climb to its feet. The Guardian’s arms went around me, as Stone’s hands slipped free.
“Stone?” Bastian held me closer. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Gate,” I moaned as the agony softened. “Get me to the damn gate.”
We were moving, rocking and rolling. I turned my face toward him, fingers dug into hard muscles. The smell of sex and sweat still on his skin. “The back door. Just get me there…I can do the rest.”
Bastian took one look over his shoulder before he found my gaze. “What about him?”
I shook my head as instinct roared. “He’ll find his own way. Hurry.”
We left the grease and the smothering stench of rotting blood behind as he braced me against his body and shoved the door. The pain ebbed, moving deeper now, finding a nerve that ran along my center. “I’m okay…I can walk.”
He eased my legs lower, bare feet hit the warm concrete, and that current of energy speared through my feet and raced into my body. I lifted a shaking hand, finding my blade, and dragged the weapon free.
The steel came alive, glowing with the power that raced through my veins. It was all I had of my mother…and all we had left of her line. The steel never buckled as it carved an opening through the brick wall.
Bastian held my arm, holding me against him as I surged forward. The heavy thud of his steps was all I could hear, and that sound carried me through this place into the world below.
The air grew brighter, soft red danced against obsidian black. I dragged in the heat and raced forward. The ambient glow grew, spreading along the walls to lick the ceiling. It was here… “The gate. It’s the gate.”
The tunnel speared ahead, shadows ebbed with the glow of the lava. I stared at the massive tunnel—the Dragon’s breath—and glanced to the smaller one that speared off to the right. Between the two there was a round marker...the Gate of Hell. I stumbled forward and felt the hunger grow.
Runes were carved into the rock face, both protecting Hell…and this world. I stared at the gate a million times. I hated it, loved it, wanted to destroy it, and couldn’t stop touching it.
It was why my family was here…to protect—to enforce. My blood hummed, sending sparks of energy through my arm as I stepped close. Heat and air rushed from the Dragon’s Breath scattering my hair.
My feet moved on their own, skimming the hard stony ground as I neared.
“What the Hell is that?” Bastian snarled behind me.
My breath caught as I stared at the gate. The smooth surface was cracked…no, more than cracked—it was shattered. A growl filled the cavern behind me.
I didn’t have to turn my head to know who it was.
“Easy,” I murmured and turned to Stone. Gone was the cocky smile, and the perfect body…the beast hunkered on rear legs…bigger than any Wolf…bigger than any Hound.
Four.
The word whispered through my mind. He was the fourth to fall. The fourth level of Hell to crumble, and now he was here—forced to roam the Human world. Forced to protect the one thing that divided this world from Hell…
I turned to the shattered portal and then dropped my gaze. Blood glistened against the ground, and…something else. I took a step, and then knelt. The strand was on the ground, caught by the shard of obsidian stone. I grasped the long blonde strand and lifted my hand.
Stone snarled behind me. I grasped my blade, lifting the weapon higher. The sigil glowed, finding an imprint in the stone. The perfect outline of a hand.
Bastian lunged forward and grasped my fingers, lifting the blonde strand higher. He yanked it from my fingers as the dark, foreboding energy of Hell called.
Fingers trembled as I reached for the ruined gate. That dark throb of power surged, finding my mother’s blood in my veins…
“Can’t control it,” I murmured as my hound lowered her head and shoved against the confines of this human body. “My hound. The call…it’s too strong.”
13
Bastian
The strand of hair danced with the blazing gust, and that feral feeling in my gut took hold. I tried to swallow…tried to think…
Amaris shook her head and skimmed the cracks in the stone. “Can’t happen. For someone to break through they’d have to be…”
I lifted my gaze to the obsidian stone and stared at the markings carved into it. “Powerful, right? They’d have to be goddamn powerful.”
There was only one I knew…only one who knew magic strong enough to break the seal to Hell…
The Huntress.
I tried to think, tried to remember Eva’s words after finding the shriveled body…fragments of memories skimmed across my mind. Snatches of conversation…filled my head.
Doesn’t remember? I stared at the hair in my fingers and the fractured Gate. If Eva didn’t remember killing the Huntress, then what the hell happened?
“Oryn…and my people. I have to make sure they’re safe.”
I flinched with the pain in her voice and reached for her arm. “I’ve got you.”
But the damn stubborn woman shook her head and tore away as she lunged for a smaller tunnel. She was all force, all power, unflinching and immovable. Still my heart raced as I watched her stumble, fall, and then shove to her feet. Heavy panting breaths echoed in the tunnel behind me. I turned to find the ruling black beast. The Cursed was bigger than any normal Hellhound. Inky eyes burned with the fires of Hell…I stared into the yellow-orange hue and remembered his true name.
Four.
The fourth Hound to fall, and the fourth in the line of Seven. The stronger the Hound the deeper the flame… I stepped closer to the beast and searched those infernal eyes for a flicker of recognition.
My Dragon dragged in a breath and shoved closer to the surface. “You know who I am?”
The beast curled his black lips, baring white teeth, and still my Dragon carved through the still waters of my mind. Flames flared, turning yellow into amber. “Yeah, you know me. You’re here to guard the Gate, right?”
I glanced to the stone, to where the imprint of a hand glowed only seconds before, and found the beast’s gaze. “So do what you were made to do. Anything comes out of that stone, attack to kill.” The beast sniffed the air and let loose a snarl. “Watch your back, Stone. But more importantly watch that damn gate.”
The Hound seemed to understand, shifting his focus to the darkness behind me and took a step. I turned, finding the darkness glowing with the brilliant light of her blade.
“Hurry,” Amaris snapped. “Can’t hold the damn thing forever.”
And through the glare came the familiar roar of voices. I made for the opening as the Hellhound behind me lunged.
“Oryn first,” Amaris breathed and stumbled through. I blinked into the glare, waiting for my eyes to adjust, and stared at utter chaos. Babies screamed, men were panicked, screaming orders from one side of the underground tunnel to the other.
Amaris charged into the terror. She was hit from the side by a frantic mother, then knocked from the front. One hand went wide as her knee buckled and she was swallowed by the fray.
Like hell. I surged forward, shoving bodies from my path, and reached into the chaos. Energy called to energy. I would know her touch amongst an endless crowd.
Fingers entwined and heat traveled. I wanted to be alone…with her. I wanted to continue what we started…my heart sped at the thought. I could still taste her on my tongue; still feel her power in my veins. Still feel her fire.
But more than anything, I wanted her safe. And now it wasn’t just her. It was my family…my brothers, and my niece. Thorn was safe now, but still the thought of her vulnerable filled me.
Rage swelled inside as I dragged Amaris from the stampede. Fear glinted in her eyes, weakening the heat of rage.
“Stay behind me,” I snarled and turned to the masses.
“My baby! Please keep her safe.”
“Weapons! We need more weapons.”
“Blaze is coming! He’s coming for us all!”
Their panic invaded as I pushed through the crowd. A hard jab of an elbow turned into a stomp on my toes. The Catalyst snarled and bared his teeth. Hunger and hate rose to the surface. I clenched my jaw and shoved forward. They’re her people, remember…no eating of the innocents.
My Dragon hissed and then pulled away sinking into the undertow. There was no middle line with him…always the sinner or the Kane, and I was torn between the two.
I carved through barging bodies and piercing screams to the smaller tunnel before I was hit from the side.
“Watch it,” the old Hellhound male snarled and wrenched his gaze toward me.
“Parry!” Amaris lunged from behind me.
Relief exploded in his tired eyes as he grasped her arm and yanked her close. “Goddamnit kid, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
She gripped his arm, panic mounting in her voice. “The tunnel, are we under attack?”
“No. I keep trying to tell them, this is the safest place they could be, but do you think they’ll listen to an old fool like me? There’s been two deaths, Amaris. They’re saying Blaze, but I dunno. One had his damn throat ripped out, and the other… Hell, I don’t even know what that was.”
“Four.” Her voice trembled. “Four deaths. One from the other night when Bastian left, and today… Parry, it’s Motor. He’s dead.”
The old man stiffened, and then stilled. There was a second before he spoke. “How?”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand it myself. He’s been bitten by a Vampire…but he’d shifted before they…before they sliced him open.”
“Mother have mercy,” Parry murmured, before he wrenched his gaze to me. “And you… Guardian, you have something to add to this?”
I had a lot to add, but first we needed help…hard and fast. “I do. But first I need to get a message to a Marine.”
“A Marine…a Human Marine?” He snarled and stepped close. “What good is a damn Human going to be?”
I smothered the smirk. “Oh, he won’t come alone. You can bet your ass on that.”
He ground his jaw as he stared into my eyes. “He’ll bring your kin?”
“He’ll being more than my kin, Parry. He’ll bring utter fucking destruction.”
Sparks danced in the old man’s eyes. No matter how beaten he’d been, he still had fight left in him, and I realized I liked the pain in the ass. He wrenched his head right and bellowed. “Runner!”
A young male stepped close, glanced at me before he settled on Parry. “The Guardian here is going to give you a message. You get to the Cursed’s bar, you hear me? Ring the number he gives you and give whoever answers the message.” Parry yanked his gaze to me. “This message going to get to whoever needs it?”
“Oh yeah,” I murmured envisioning the hate lingering under the surface. “His name is Alpha.”
Parry gave a nod as the young male Hellhound stopped a kid. He lifted a hand and motioned a scribble in the air. The kid stared at his face and then nodded, and reached for a tie around his neck.
The kid’s lips moved as he tore a slip of paper from his notepad and shoved it toward Runner. “He says we owe him a new notepad,” the young male muttered.
“We’ll buy him a dozen if we live through this damn attack,” Parry snapped and nodded to the mute kid. “Write, Guardian, and then give it to Runner here. He’ll get your message to where you want it to go. Fastest damn Hound I ever saw.”
My heart sped with the words as I grasped the paper and pencil and hurried to scribble the brother’s number. It’d taken mere months for the steel-jawed sonofabitch to become one of the damn family.
I printed his number and then the message before I folded the paper in half. “Guard it with not just your life, kid…but all our lives, you understand me?”
The young Hellhound held my gaze and nodded. I let the paper go, nodded and watched him turn and lunge into the crowd.
“He’ll make it,” Parry muttered. “Don’t you worry about that…he’ll make it.”
The band around my chest tightened as his words hit home…reinforcements were on the way.
“Oryn.” Amaris scanned the faces. “Where is she?”
“She’s safe,” Parry mumbled as she glanced down the smaller tunnel.
“Then where the hell is she?”
“Amaris!” yelled the old man as she strode into the darkness. “Just…don’t react.”
But his words had little impact as the woman shoved through the panicked crowd to find her sister.
“Best get in there, Guardian,” he muttered and shook his head. “I
think Imma sit this one out.”
I shoved forward to catch up. Blaze’s name swirled around the cavern like a damn tornado, but it was no Hellhound that infected Motor—no, it was a damn Vampire.
Amaris turned left and disappeared into the room I found days ago. Torches lit the space, leaving orange flames to lap stony walls.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
I winced at the sound of her voice and stepped into the room behind her. The savage snarl rose in octaves. Fangs gnashed as the Cursed moved into the center of the room.
“Amaris.” Oryn neared the shifted Hound, her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know what happened. One minute he was okay, and then he collapsed howling in pain.” She lifted a hand to the Hound’s flank. “Don’t send him away…please.”
“I’m not going to send him away, Oryn,” Amaris growled and stepped closer.
Three other males in the room cringed with the movement, standing frozen against the far wall. The beast snarled with the movement until Amaris turned her head and seized him with her gaze. “You know who I am, right?”
Black lips slid over white fangs.
“Better,” the woman warned. “He’s shifted because someone’s shattered the Gate and broken through.”
“‘No,” Oryn whispered. “That can’t happen.”
“Can’t…I don’t think that word belongs here anymore,” Amaris snarled and stepped closer to the Hound. “Does it, Kane? Stone is out there,” she spoke to the massive beast. “And the others are coming, aren’t they? Ezre, RyKor…you can feel them…they’re hunting…” She lifted her head. “But I’m commanding you to leave them. I’m commanding you here and now to break that need. You’re to stay here, do you understand me? You’re to stay right here and protect my sister.”
“Amaris. No, he can’t do that.” Oryn shook her head and fisted the thick inky coat. “It’ll cause him pain.”
There was silence as the young Princess finally understood what her sister was asking the Cursed Hound. The hard snuffle cast strands of her auburn hair into the air.
“Today and every day until this is over she is the gate, Kane. You understand me?” Amaris growled.