Read Online Marked: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Thrice Cursed Mage Book 2) by J. A. Cipriano - Free Book Online
Authors: J. A. Cipriano
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Fantasy, Crime, Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Genre Fiction, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, supernatural, dark fantasy, Vampires, Murder, Ghosts, Psychics, Thrillers & Suspense, Werewolves & Shifters, Witches & Wizards, organized crime, Vigilante Justice, Kidnapping, Heist
Ads: Link
sight of us as we zoomed out from cover because it began to rise, presumably to get into position to blow us to Kingdome Come.
“Brake!” I called when the concrete embankment was only a few feet away. In front of us, I could see a bald man in a suit already starting to bring the Browning M2 up.
Ricky braked. I went flying through the air like a goddamned missile, which was the whole idea. I curled my right hand into fist and a lance of agony exploded down my side. Blood began to pour from my wounded arm, but I ignored it as I reared back and called upon all my rage and desperation.
“Ignis!” I cried with everything inside me. My tattoos came to life in an explosion of scarlet star fire, spilling crimson light all around me as flame the color of Hell itself filled my hand. I slammed my hellfire wreathed fist into the side of the helicopter’s cockpit, which was pretty much when I realized punching a helicopter in the face six stories in the air was probably not my smartest move, and I should have just blasted it from the roof with my demon fire.
My world was suddenly enveloped in a burning fireball of doom that flung me backward in a flurry of busted glass and sheared off metal. The smell of burning flesh and hair filled my nose as I threw my other arm up in a vain attempt to shield myself with my trench coat from the chunks of flaming debris raining down all around me. Something struck my lower abdomen hard enough to drive the breath from my lungs, and everything went white with pain.
I slammed backward onto the roof of the parking garage so hard everything inside me seemed to break. My vision went dark and hazy around the edge. As I laid there struggling to breathe or even roll myself into a fetal position, a hunk of flaming metal the size of a chest freezer fell on top of me.
Chapter 8
My eyes snapped open, and I surged upward, instinctively throwing my arms up to defend against an attack that wasn’t there. I found myself naked in a bathtub full of ice and in more pain than I could have imagined. The bottom of the tub, along with the surrounding bathroom was splattered with blood, and not just a little blood, but a whole lot of blood.
I reached down, intending to shove my hands through the ice and feel for my kidneys to make sure they, along with all my other important organs, were still there, but pain so acute I could barely breathe past it exploded along the length of my right arm.
A scream of agony I couldn’t contain tore from my throat, and the handle on the door of the pay-by-the-hour motel jiggled with way too much feeling. I wasn’t sure who was out there or how I’d gotten into my current predicament, but there was no way I was going to lay here and let someone come carve out my organs or slice off my arm.
I ground my teeth together and used up pretty much all my manliness points to pull myself out of the ice-filled tub. I landed hard on the cheap, stained linoleum and tried to make my body move. My abdomen screamed at me to stop torturing it, but I ignored it as best I could. I stifled a cry, pushing down the fire roiling in my guts, and grabbed onto the toilet with my left hand. My muscles corded as I pushed myself into a semi-sitting position. Pale light spilled from my right arm, causing me to suck in a sharp breath. My arm was on fire. Figuratively, not literally.
In fact, my demonic arm throbbed so badly, I was pretty sure I was dead, only that’d likely hurt less. That’s when I remembered it had been carved like a Thanksgiving turkey. I hazarded a glance at my arm as the smell of burning flesh filled my nose. It looked like someone had used an honest to God office stapler to staple the cut in my arm closed before wrapping it in duct tape. Blood oozed out from the wound anyway, dripping down my wrist and spattering the floor with thin, steaming droplets.
“I need to stop winding up in situations like this,” I muttered, trying to figure out what had happened because the last
“Brake!” I called when the concrete embankment was only a few feet away. In front of us, I could see a bald man in a suit already starting to bring the Browning M2 up.
Ricky braked. I went flying through the air like a goddamned missile, which was the whole idea. I curled my right hand into fist and a lance of agony exploded down my side. Blood began to pour from my wounded arm, but I ignored it as I reared back and called upon all my rage and desperation.
“Ignis!” I cried with everything inside me. My tattoos came to life in an explosion of scarlet star fire, spilling crimson light all around me as flame the color of Hell itself filled my hand. I slammed my hellfire wreathed fist into the side of the helicopter’s cockpit, which was pretty much when I realized punching a helicopter in the face six stories in the air was probably not my smartest move, and I should have just blasted it from the roof with my demon fire.
My world was suddenly enveloped in a burning fireball of doom that flung me backward in a flurry of busted glass and sheared off metal. The smell of burning flesh and hair filled my nose as I threw my other arm up in a vain attempt to shield myself with my trench coat from the chunks of flaming debris raining down all around me. Something struck my lower abdomen hard enough to drive the breath from my lungs, and everything went white with pain.
I slammed backward onto the roof of the parking garage so hard everything inside me seemed to break. My vision went dark and hazy around the edge. As I laid there struggling to breathe or even roll myself into a fetal position, a hunk of flaming metal the size of a chest freezer fell on top of me.
Chapter 8
My eyes snapped open, and I surged upward, instinctively throwing my arms up to defend against an attack that wasn’t there. I found myself naked in a bathtub full of ice and in more pain than I could have imagined. The bottom of the tub, along with the surrounding bathroom was splattered with blood, and not just a little blood, but a whole lot of blood.
I reached down, intending to shove my hands through the ice and feel for my kidneys to make sure they, along with all my other important organs, were still there, but pain so acute I could barely breathe past it exploded along the length of my right arm.
A scream of agony I couldn’t contain tore from my throat, and the handle on the door of the pay-by-the-hour motel jiggled with way too much feeling. I wasn’t sure who was out there or how I’d gotten into my current predicament, but there was no way I was going to lay here and let someone come carve out my organs or slice off my arm.
I ground my teeth together and used up pretty much all my manliness points to pull myself out of the ice-filled tub. I landed hard on the cheap, stained linoleum and tried to make my body move. My abdomen screamed at me to stop torturing it, but I ignored it as best I could. I stifled a cry, pushing down the fire roiling in my guts, and grabbed onto the toilet with my left hand. My muscles corded as I pushed myself into a semi-sitting position. Pale light spilled from my right arm, causing me to suck in a sharp breath. My arm was on fire. Figuratively, not literally.
In fact, my demonic arm throbbed so badly, I was pretty sure I was dead, only that’d likely hurt less. That’s when I remembered it had been carved like a Thanksgiving turkey. I hazarded a glance at my arm as the smell of burning flesh filled my nose. It looked like someone had used an honest to God office stapler to staple the cut in my arm closed before wrapping it in duct tape. Blood oozed out from the wound anyway, dripping down my wrist and spattering the floor with thin, steaming droplets.
“I need to stop winding up in situations like this,” I muttered, trying to figure out what had happened because the last
Similar Books
