Authors: Gail Koger
energy bolt.
It hit the dragon. With a squall of pain, the Hasai fell from the sky and crashed
into the far end of the arena, just missing the bleachers.
“Oh, my God!” I frantically scanned the area for my baby.
“Xero!”
Xero appeared by our feet.
“Me did good.”
Fabian scooped her up and cradled her against his chest in relief.
“You were
awesome.”
“You’re such a good baby,”
I added, petting her head.
Its great wings flapping, the remaining dragon flew over the grandstands.
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Rossi’s fans hollered, “Burn ‘em. Burn ‘em. Burn ‘em.”
“Lovely.”
Xero squirmed in Fabian’s arms.
“Grams needs me.”
He put her on the ground. Poof! Xero vanished.
Smoke seeping from between its teeth, the dragon hovered above us. With a
rumbling hiss, its claws reached for me.
I swung Excalibur at the Hasai, catching it across the snout. It jerked its head back
with a bellow of pain.
Rossi screamed, “Kill her!”
The dragon rumbled deep in its great chest and blasted me with white-hot flames.
I barely got my shield up in time. “Fabian!”
My hunter summoned Excalibur and scrambled up the Hasai’s back. The dragon’s
head whipped around and its teeth snapped together, missing him by inches.
Rossi shouted, “Up, Beelzebub!”
The Hasai launched itself into the air.
Fabian hung on for dear life as the dragon dipped and dived steeply, trying to
knock him off. He locked an arm around one of the spines and hacked at the left wing.
Bleeding badly, the dragon bellowed and spiraled down.
The minute the Hasai landed, Fabian drove Excalibur into the base of its neck.
The Hasai gave a single violent shudder and crumbled into dust.
Holding Excalibur over his head, Fabian let out a triumphant yell.
Rossi appeared in front of me. “This isn’t a fairy tale, and you don’t get to live
happily ever after.” He gestured.
My shield and sword vanished. “Oh crap.”
With an evil grin, Rossi swung his bloodstained sword at my neck.
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Instinctively, I summoned the only weapon I had left. My family’s magical shovel.
I blocked the blow and kicked him in the groin.
Howling like a little girl, he crumpled to the ground, holding his man parts.
I bashed Rossi in the face with my trusty shovel.
Crunch!
His head snapped back, and blood gushed from his broken nose.
Roaring in anger, Rossi transformed into a demon with Medusa-like snakes
squirming about his head.
“I knew we should have brought some holy water.”
Fabian stepped in front of me. “You want a fight, Rossi? You’ve got one.”
The demon Rossi gave a rumbling laugh, and a magical bolt shot from his clawed
hand. It struck Fabian in the chest, slamming him back against the sand.
“And the noble knight meets a tragic end.” Rossi raised his sword.
A bucket and Rossi’s medallion appeared at my feet.
“Holy water,”
Grams said.
I threw the water on Rossi.
Screaming in agony, Rossi reverted back to his human form. Huge blisters erupted
on his badly burned skin.
I held out the medallion. “You wanted a face-to-face meeting with Lucifer. You’ve
got it.
Geengun tham sevill smeed
.”
The ground cracked opened beneath Rossi’s feet, and he fell into the portal.
The wails of the damned and the stench of sulfur filled the air.
Before I could close the entrance, Rossi’s head popped up, and he levitated out of
the hole. “Well, shit.”
“Die, you bastard.” Fabian threw his knife at Rossi, hitting him dead center in the
chest.
Vibrating with rage, Rossi removed it and hissed, “You first.” Bolts of energy
crackled wildly around him.
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“Running is good.” I tried to pull Fabian away from the sorcerer.
“A Dragos never runs.”
“The last time you refused to do the smart thing, you ended up with boobs and a
butt like a Buick.”
My lover glared at me.
“Just saying.”
Without warning, a ghoul’s bony hand shot from the swirling hellhole and
wrapped around Rossi’s ankle. The rotting creature climbed up the sorcerer’s leg.
Rossi unleashed a flurry of magical bolts at the ghoul, incinerating it.
More hands rose up and grabbed Rossi, yanking him down. His shriek of horror
was cut off abruptly as the ground sealed.
I yelled triumphantly, “Who said we don’t get to live happily ever after?”
“Happily ever after is what I do best.” Fabian swept me into his arms and gave me
a long voracious kiss.
Serafina snapped,
“Why are you celebrating?”
“Uh, Rossi has been defeated,”
I answered.
“Has he?”
I exchanged puzzled glances with Fabian. “Didn’t we kick his ass?”
Fabian nodded. “We did, but he does have artifacts that—”
The Hasais’ thunderous roars reverberated through my skull. I winced. Mind links
could be a bitch. I looked at Fabian. “You heard that?”
“Yes.”
“
We still have four dragons to kill,”
Serafina spat.
“I thought if we killed Rossi, the spell would be broken.”
“You didn’t kill him.”
Okay, valid point.
“But I sent him to purgatory. That should have done the trick.”
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“He lives. The dragons live.”
“How utterly wonderful,” I groaned.
Fabian picked up Excalibur. “Where are you, Nonna?”
“The Superstition Mountains,”
Serafina responded.
Of course they just had to pick one of the most dangerous locations on the planet.
“You couldn’t find a better place to corral the dragons?”
“It’s isolated, few humans dare enter the preserve, and the caverns are big enough to
contain the dragons,”
Grams answered.
Yippee.
Serafina stated,
“Xero will fetch you.”
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Chapter Fourteen
One minute we were standing in the Renaissance Festival arena, the next Xero, in
her enormous white demon form, grabbed us. A tumbling orange vortex opened
beneath us, and we were suddenly hurtling through purgatory. All nine of them. The
screams of the damned seemed to go on forever. Intense heat and cold buffeted us.
Demons, ghouls, and hell spawn of every sort gave chase.
I buried my face in Xero’s fur and screeched,
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God. They’re
going to catch us.”
Fabian shouted,
“Where’s my sword?”
“No need sword. Can’t hurt us,”
Xero said.
A scaly head with glowing yellow eyes and eight-inch fangs snapped at me. Its
breath stunk of rotted meat.
I shrieked,
“Can’t hurt us? Another two inches, and it would have bitten my arm off!”
A ghoul grabbed Fabian’s leg. He kicked it away.
“Get us out of here. They can hurt
us.”
Another ghoul seized Xero’s foot and started gnawing on it.
With a furious cry, Xero hurled us out of the vortex.
We flew across the cactus-strewn desert and crashed into a stony, horseshoe-
shaped ridge.
The rising sun seeped over the mountains, turning the morning sky crimson.
God, I hoped that wasn’t an omen. I plucked a prickly pear out of my butt.
“Ouch!” I just had to land on a friggin’ cactus. My gaze narrowed on Xero.
“We’re never
doing that again. Do you hear me?”
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Xero cringed.
“Me sorry.”
Something moved in her stomach.
“Shit. What is that? Did you pick up a hitchhiker?”
“I was hungry.”
Xero burped loudly and spat out a rotting skull.
“Ghouls taste
nasty.”
I could only imagine.
Fabian sat up and shook his head to clear it. “What happened?”
“We just took a ride through the nine purgatories.”
“That explains the smell.”
We did reek of sulfur.
My mate gave Xero the stink eye and helped me up.
Xero morphed into her cute puppy form.
“You mad?”
“No, sweetie. It’s just… Uh, humans aren’t built to travel through the purgatories.”
“Grams needed help. Said bring you fast. Took shortcut.”
One very scary shortcut. I sucked in a startled breath as screams of the long dead
echoed through my mind.
My mate wrapped a comforting arm around me. “You okay?”
I shuddered. “Hundreds died in this place.”
“The ridge was used as the Aztecs’ sacrificial platform. They tore out their victims’
still-beating hearts and offered them to the Sun God.”
Evil resonated from the mountain. “Those monsters deliberately bound their souls
to this place,” I said.
Fabian stroked my back. “It’s okay. My cousin, Zelda, freed their souls. All you’re
sensing is the residual terror of those who died.”
Relief flooded me. “Good. Wait a minute. What are Aztecs doing in Arizona?”
“Montezuma sent them here to hide his gold from Cortez.”
“Are you talking about the Seven Cities of Gold?”
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“I am.”
Was Fabian pulling my leg? “Did you find it?”
“We did,” Fabian said grimly.
“And you’re what? A zillionaire now?”
Fabian nipped my nose. “The gold is cursed. We left it where we found it.”
“Smart move.” Unease knotted my stomach.
“Grams, you do know this is sacred
grounds?”
“I’m well aware of that fact,”
Grams snapped.
Crap. That hadn’t come out right.
“I’m not trying to piss you off, but the last time I
checked, the Apache Thunder God had claimed the Superstition Mountains as his territory.”
“Asmoday ate him last year,”
Fabian informed me.
“Oh, lucky us.”
Now I felt stupid.
“Well then, I guess the only thing we have to worry
about are the dragons.”
Xero yipped and danced around.
“Me eat dragons.”
“Your tummy isn’t big enough, sweetie.”
“Is too.”
The stony, horseshoe-shaped ridge began to glow a hellish orange.
“That can’t be good.” I summoned my sword.
Presto! Heavy gold shields appeared on our left arms.
Her voice full of urgency, Serafina cried,
“Get ready. Our containment field is failing.”
Fabian tensed and raised Excalibur.
The ridge pulsated and bowed outward.
“Shit! It’s going to blow.” I grabbed Xero, and we retreated to a safe distance.
Fabian pushed us under an overhang of rock.
Boom!
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Boulders and rocky debris rained down, smashing the cacti and mesquite trees
into itty-bitty pieces.
A Hasai stuck its head out of the gaping hole and bellowed its defiance.
“Time to kill the bloody bastards,” Fabian said, his voice low and lethal.
“A man after my own heart.” I stepped to where the dragon could see me and
yelled, “Is that the best you’ve got?”
A thick stream of fire shot from the dragon, golden and greedy and unbelievably
hot. It raced along the desert floor, eating its way toward me.
Ducking behind my shield, I chanted, “
Transferam nec facile utaiunt
.”
Whoosh!
The flames blew back and engulfed the Hasai. It disintegrated into ash.
Another dragon crawled out of the hole, and another and another. Their amber
gaze fixed on me and as one, they roared in fury.
“I think I pissed them off.”
Fabian chuckled. “Tesoro, you could piss off the Pope. It seems that talent now
extends to demons, dragons, and things that go bump in the night.”
“Good, then they’ll think twice about messing with the Judge again. ‘Cause now
they know I can send them back to hell.”
“You are definitely one of a kind.” Fabian gave me a smooch. “And you’re all
mine.”
“You’re such a sweet talker.” A sudden feeling of impending doom slammed into
me. Something bad was heading our way. “Does it strike you as a bit odd that the
dragons aren’t attacking?”
“It does.” Fabian mentally scanned the area. “I’m not sensing any more hostiles.”
“It’s almost like they are waiting for Rossi. There’s no way that fucktard could
escape from purgatory, is there?”
Fabian shrugged. “He’s stolen a slew of magical artifacts that can be used to
escape from all nine levels.”
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“Now you decide to tell me?”
“I tried to before, but I was interrupted.”
“Uh-huh. So every time I send him to the underworld, the bastard can come
back?”
“Unless we can find a way to strip his magic or kill him.”
Grams appeared beside me.
I raised an eyebrow in concern. She was beat all to hell, and her caftan was a
charred mess.
She raised a finger. “Not a word.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Serafina popped in. She reminded me of a crispy-fried crow.
Fabian’s worried gaze surveyed her. “Are you okay, Nonna?”
“I live. It is enough,” Serafina rasped.
“Ah, would you like a healing potion? I held out the bottle.
She eyed the bottle like it was a nasty bug. “You made it?”
“I did.”
Grams plucked the bottle out of my hand and swallowed half of its contents. Her
injuries vanished. She handed it to Serafina. “I taught my granddaughter potion
making.”
“Take the damn potion, Nonna. You need to be in fighting shape,” Fabian