Dire Blood by S. M. Reine

Author:S. M. Reine [Reine, S. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: C429, Extratorrents, Kat
Publisher: Red Iris Books
Published: 2012-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Something was chewing on James’s leg. For a moment, he thought it was a dream—just another torturous part of his lurking subconscious. But then the teeth penetrated his calf, and he jerked awake to see a rat the size of dog hunched over him.

He kicked it off with a shout. Its teeth ripped free, taking an inch of skin with it.

The rat tumbled end-over-end into the wall. As soon as it hit, it sprung to its feet and bared its teeth in a hiss. Its tongue looked like a black slug trapped inside its dripping maw.

It lunged again. James tried to deliver a swift kick to its skull, but it was ready the second time—much too smart for any average alley-lurking rodent. Its mouth snapped closed on his toes and scraped when he jerked free.

He jumped to his feet, and it snapped at his heels as he scrambled to the other side of the narrow alley. There wasn’t far to run—the end was boarded up, and there were six feet of refuse between him and the exit.

James’s gaze fell on a broken bone jutting out of a pile of waste. It was the femur of an animal that had to be as big as a horse.

He jerked it out of the pile.

The rat jumped, and he swung the bone like a baseball bat. The bone connected with a meaty thud, like punching his fist into a wall. The rat fell. James didn’t wait for it to recover. He struck again and again.

Only when it was pulverized—skull flattened, cheek split, nostrils dribbling with ichor—did he drop the bone and fling off a thumb-sized maggot that had been inching toward his elbow.

God, he hurt. The alley was shaded from the worst of the ambient light of Hell’s deserts, but his skin was still drying, still flaking. Every breath dragged sandpaper down his throat. Every blink ached. And he felt so heavy, too sluggish to move. If he hadn’t taken on some of Elise’s strength as a kopis, he wasn’t sure he would have been able to move in Hell at all.

The half-filled water bottle was on the ground nearby. He picked it up, tried to wipe ichor off of the side, but only smeared it. He allowed himself a sip.

The hinges of a door squealed, and James ducked behind the refuse.

A demon lurched out of the apothecary shop. It was a tall, hunched creature with curling horns that spiraled all the way to its fanged mouth. It didn’t seem to have any interest in Hell’s current fashions, so instead of wearing leather or human-like garments, it had a tattered shroud that swathed its entire body.

Such an outfit would have concealed James more than adequately. With a pinch of glamor, he might even pass for a demon.

His hand fell on the broken femur again.

The demon lurched down the alley, muttering under its breath in the infernal tongue. It left the door ajar. James slipped inside the apothecary shop.

Inside, the room was lit by a single oil lamp that stained the walls and smelled like melted fat.

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