Iron Serpent Chronicles

I smiled as the haughty look dissolved from the lovely Kiema's face. I'd been expecting an old, bent woman for the price my parents were giving the Feuers for my healing. Someone who knew what she was doing. Someone who wouldn't fail. Not some woman who looked barely old enough to have a driver's license. And especially not someone with a body I wanted in my bed. Had it not been for the torture ricocheting through my body, I'd have been more than happy to inspect her more thoroughly.I clenched my back teeth as my bones rippled and shifted. It felt like something was trying to escape my skin. From witch doctors to cutting edge medicine, my parents and I had been left to flounder for answers for something no one could explain. A line of sweat beaded on my top lip as my body fought an unknown war. As the recognizable torture rolled through me, I saw Kiema's gaze land on my trembling body. Fascinating. Most couldn't tell when I was having an episode - as my mother liked to call

And somehow her father thought she was nothing but a puppet. I mirrored her stance as I studied the woman who held my future in her petite hands.Without her high heels, she was average height, average build, a little curvier than I preferred my women, but, fuck, were all her curves were in the right places. Her skin, its honey brown tone at odds with the seemingly almost new-baby surface, had my fingers itching to trace it. Jet black hair and almost silver-gray eyes completed the picture.There wasn't too much resemblance between her and her parents, though. Other than height and mother's and daughter's hair color, there wasn't too much that had been passed down from the older generation. All for the better, in my opinion.She made a noise deep in her throat, pulling my attention back to her face.We'll see who is playing by whose rules, sweetheart.She opened her mouth. I held up a hand. "You can save your breath, Kiema. Your man down at the patrol desk gave me the lay o

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" The words whispered through my pain-wracked mind, even though I'm pretty sure I wasn't the one who said them. Hell, I was having a hard time focusing on anything outside of my own body. Over the last couple of months, the pain had been building, but this was something I hadn't been prepared for. The pain was incandescent as it washed in and through my body like a nuclear bomb. As I felt my stomach bunch up with the need to vomit, a chilling sensation washed through me. Like a cool breeze swirling through the trees on a bright Fall morning.The cessation of pain was so unexpected, I felt tears build behind my eyes. Fuck. I was almost afraid to trust it. To believe that my pain could just be swept away with a light wind. I pulled a deep breath in through my nose, slowly - so slowly - filling my lungs. When I was able to exhale without pain, I felt like crying like a newborn baby thrust into the cold, hard world. For the first time since this stupid il

I raced after the woman who'd settled the torture of my body with one touch. My shoes slammed against the floor in a sharp drum beat that matched my pounding heart. "Kiema! Wait!" I almost shot past the door she'd escaped through. The sounds of violent retching reached my ears, pulled me to an abrupt halt. She was hunched over the toilet. Her hair had fallen from her messy topknot. Now it hung around her head, a dark curtain shielding her face. I winced in sympathy as her rib cage expanded and contracted heavily. Heavy splattering followed the guttural groans. Let it out, sweetheart. Stepping around her bowed form, I pulled open drawers. One after the other until they all stood open like the gaping mouths of dazzled spectators. On the wall, a rack held a huge collection of matching towels. Sitting on the top of the mound, I found the smallest washrag known to mankind. Shaking my head, I turned on the faucet, and shoved the rag under the cold water. Barely wringing

I was stuck. My body was full of cement, and I was stuck at the bottom of a well. Opening my eyes, I could see a wavery slice of light, but it was so far away. My mind reeled as I tried to make sense of what was happening to me. I remembered the ritual. That was normal.Wait. Something about the ritual had gone wrong. Horribly wrong. A zing of electricity flashed through my tired and aching body. Tasting the coppery flavor of fear, my mind cleared in an instant.I'd touched him. Without precaution. Without ritual. Without safeguards in place. And the biggest issue of all: the fucker had magic of his own.I was so screwed. So freaking screwed.Damn it! I'd known this was going to be a big, fat failure. From the changed duration of the ritual, to him not playing by the rules. Hell, he hadn't even known what was going to happen. How the fuck did Mother and Father think this was going to be okay?They might have broken their golden goose. A harsh bark of laug