Free An Apocalyptic Need by Sam Cheever

her petticoat around Cari’s ribs to hold the bandage in place. Grimm averted his gaze from the slender length of Cari’s form, his imagination filling in the round fullness of pale breasts and the soft roundness of perky buttocks. Despite his determined avoidance of the sight, his mouth was dry and his cock stiff with knowledge that heaven lay only inches away…if only he could look at her without feeling like a cad.
    “So, no guide magics?”
    Grimm frowned, feeling the weight of his estrangement from the Authority more deeply than ever before. “No.”
    Scarlett nodded. She moved to a tall cabinet beside the room’s only door. Dragging the wardrobe doors open, she reached inside and pulled out a pale yellow dress. “This will serve her better than that ruined gown.” Scarlett eyed the tattered fabric pooled on the floor. “It’s a pity though. I can tell it was beautiful.”
    Grimm stared at the tattered gown as his jeans tightened over his groin like a clamp. He’d probably dream about that gown for the rest of his life. “Yeah.”
    “So.” She extended her hand toward Grimm. “Here. Just promise me you’ll bring it back.”
    He looked down at her open hand and lifted an eyebrow in surprise. “A Sorceri guide coin?” The two inch diameter coin was engraved with the Latin words, dimicare et vincere locant —Locate and Conquer—the Sorceri maxim. The words encircled a column which was meant to illustrate the Sorceri’s guide. Grimm took the coin from her and turned it over, curious since he’d never actually seen one. The other side bore a likeness of the Huntsman’s odd little face and the date the Authority were formed—1695, a few years after the Salem Witch Trials began.
    “The portal will take you to the island. This will get you into his lair.”
    Grimm was touched beyond words. “You don’t even know us.”
    She shrugged, grinning. “Let’s just say it’s been a while since I’ve seen one of my own kind.” She glanced at Cari. “I’ve missed polite company.”
    Grimm pulled the woman into an impulsive hug, drawing a surprised gasp and a chuckle from her. “Thank you. I promise we’ll bring this back to you and, once my business is done, I’ll come back for a visit.” His smile was genuine.
    Her cheeks pinkening with embarrassment, Scarlett poked him on the chest. “I’ll hold you to that, hunter.”
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    Grimm stood at the base of the volcano, his gaze sliding up a column of smoke that rose from the fiery opening into the sky. Cari’s head moved on his chest, her breath wafting softly across his chin. She moaned, her feverish brow glossed with sweat. She hadn’t regained consciousness since Scarlett had given her a glass of water dosed with laudanum.
    She was in such obvious pain, Grimm would give almost anything to be able to ease it. Unfortunately he was going to have to make it a hell of a lot worse first.
    He glanced at the soft, appealing face resting against his shoulder and sighed. “I’m sorry, captain. Hopefully you’ll at least sleep through this.”
    Grimm tightened his hand around the coin Scarlett had given him, envisioning the Healer’s skybound lair. The first wave of energy felt like a punch in the gut. Grimm gritted his teeth and held on tight to Cari as his breath suctioned out of his lungs and knives of pain slashed through him.
    Grimm’s skin prickled, then rose in bubbles as the energy crawled through him. The world spun in a cylinder of smoke and fire, pulling him off the ground. Grimm closed his eyes and threw back his head, a deep howl of agony throbbing in his throat as his very essence was dragged from his pores. Every atom of energy inside him ripped free and joined the spiraling cylinder that pulled him and Cari toward the sky.
    She fought against him, her skin moving over her bones in rolling waves. Her mouth opened and her throat contracted in a scream he couldn’t hear for the roaring in his ears. Grimm’s limbs