Pisces

by Kim Faulks

  His grip tightened, squeezing until her flesh dimpled under his grasp. I wanted to close my ears to the sickening sound as the Cursed became the creatures they were born to be.

  “They say only the death of a Queen will summon the most powerful of the Cursed…the one they call Sevan. I missed the opportunity before…when Heron killed your mother. But I won’t miss this one now.”

  The sickening snap of bone filled the room.

  Kalliste’s eyes widened for a second before she fell.

  “No!” My scream was fire…and flames as the room erupted with a deafening boom.

  My sister’s knees buckled, and then she fell as Blaze lifted the seven-lashed whip and screamed. “Sevan, I summon you now!”

  Epilogue

  Artemas Roth

  The sleek black limousine pulled out of the traffic and headed north. I pressed my spine against the seat, taking solace in the quiet.

  The phone buzzed in my pocket. I speared my fingers under my jacket and pulled the menace free. Regan…the name was alight in red. I pressed the button answering the call. “Regan.”

  “We’re close, eta twenty minutes. I want you to know, Senator that we’re going to need containment here…a compound, big enough…big enough to contain her.”

  “I understand, one will be ready. Make sure…the Hellhound Queen…make sure she’s unharmed.”

  There was a second of silence before she answered. “I will…I’ll call you after it's done.”

  She ended the call and for a second I waited, listening to nothing as the tinted window rolled down. “We’re almost there, Senator.”

  I nodded, and then stilled.

  The sudden lash of pain was quick and brutal. The phone slipped from my hand to fall to the floor.

  “Senator?”

  I lifted my head, catching his gaze in the rearview mirror as the vicious strike came again. I lunged forward, landing on the floor as my spine bowed and my joints popped.

  The car swerved, casting rocks against the underbelly.

  I felt every blow, heard every sound…as the sting cut through skin and flesh. The car braked, stopping hard, forcing nails into the soft carpet.

  Fire raced…fire, flames, and fear, turning nails into claws. “No!”

  The door was yanked open, brown eyes closed in. “Senator…Senator, are you all right?”

  I couldn’t answer, couldn’t speak as the agony came again, cutting me open…bleeding me dry. I lifted my head, finding not my driver…but the rearview mirror.

  Blue flames were etched in dark eyes.

  I knew those flames…hated those flames.

  They were hunger and hate…and the infernal blaze of all seven kingdoms of Hell.