Inferno: Hell Kat, #2

By Vivi Anna

The toughest, smartest, leather-clad hell-raiser ever to walk the post-Apocalyptic Earth is always on the prowl for adventure. But now Kat is chasing something very different - and far more dangerous. She's caught a killer virus and only one man has the cure - a scientist called Onyx who dwells in the deadly city of Inferno. If she's going to make it there alive, she'll need the help of Hades—the only man who’s ever touched her soul.

But he won't help her for free - he wants her body and her heart, and he's not going to settle for anything less than a lifetime of all that and more. Because once they enter the Inferno, they may never come out again.

Warning: contains scorching hot love scenes

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vivi Anna
• Release date: Feb 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497775411

Vivi Anna

A BAD GIRL at heart, Vivi Anna likes to burn up the pages with her original unique brand of fantasy fiction. Whether it's in ancient Egypt, or in an apocalyptic future, Vivi always writes fast paced action-adventure with strong independent women that can kick some butt, and dark delicious heroes to kill for. Once shot at while repossessing a car, Vivi decided that maybe her life needed a change. The first time she picked up a pen and put words to paper, she knew she had found her heart. Within two paragraphs, she realised she could write about getting into all sorts of trouble without suffering the consequences. When Vivi isn't writing, you can find her causing a ruckus at downtown bistros, flea markets, or playgrounds.

Book preview

Chapter Two

The moment Kat opened her eyes, she knew it was late in the afternoon, possibly nearing dinner time. After several months of keenly observing the rise and fall of the sun, she knew when to stay asleep in the safety of the indoors. On one occasion, she’d made the mistake of stepping outside too soon and paid for it. The brutal rays of the unforgiving sun gave her a sunburn that lasted a month.

Sun glare had been brutal before, especially out on the outer rims and in the Wastelands, but now with the Dark Dweller virus encompassing her body, the sun was like acid to her retinas. She had to wear her tinted goggles even at sunset.

Tossing back the bed covers, Kat yawned lazily. Hades had been right about his bed and the room. She slept peacefully. A rare occurrence and one she hadn’t experienced since she left him all those months ago sated from sex in her rundown hovel.

Dangling her legs over the mattress, she stood and stretched. Her back was sore from the long ride north. During the day, she camped, hiding out in her flimsy nylon tent. However, at night, she drove her bike until the sun would start to pinken the sky. Her night vision was superior, and she never feared going off the road or running into anything. And if she did run into anything, be it human or beast, she came well prepared. She never went anywhere without her sawed-off shotgun, knives strapped to her legs, or the throwing stars attached to her belt.

And if that didn’t work, because of the virus invading her system, she possessed the inhuman strength to rip a man’s arm off without blinking.

Straightening, Kat looked around the room. It was small and meager, with only a bed, and a small table beside it. She scanned the surface of the table and noticed a small lantern and a book. Interest cocked her brow and she reached for the suede covered thick volume. She never imagined Hades as a reader. The title read Dracula by Bram Stoker. As she thumbed through the worn aged pages, a floral aroma floated from between the sheets of paper. A gift from the woman.

Kat set the book down and wondered how serious the relationship was with this other woman. Before she had fallen asleep, Kat had smelled the mattress and the covers. If Hades was sleeping with her, it wasn’t in his bed. Ethically she knew she had no claim on him. Leaving him had revoked any entitlement to him.

But she never professed to have any ethics anyway. Hades was hers. He belonged to her, and if he forced the issue, she would grudgingly admit to belonging to him. She wouldn’t be leaving this place without him.

Damn anyone that got in her way.

Stifling a shiver, Kat picked up her jacket from the floor where she had tossed it earlier and slipped it on. She wished she would’ve heeded Nemo’s advice and packed heavier clothing. She’d forgotten that there were four actual seasons up North. Winter did follow autumn. In the outer rims, it was one season. Summer. Dry, hot, and miserable. Three things a person could depend on 365 days of the year.

Zipping up her leather, she paused. A melodious voice sounded through the closed bedroom door. Hades had company, and Kat didn’t have to guess who that person could be.

After running a hand through her hair and patting down the pieces that she was certain stuck up in haphazard directions, Kat reached for the door and opened it. Her eyes met Hades’ as she stepped over the threshold and into the kitchen. They were having dinner it looked like. Or had just finished, as both their plates had only bits and crumbs left. Kat took a quick intake of air. Smelled like stew and fresh baked bread. Who knew that Hades could cook?

I would think that— the woman’s voice halted mid sentence.

Kat turned and met the woman’s gaze. She sat in the exact spot that Kat predicted, chestnut brown hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, slim hands resting primly on the table, and her doe-brown eyes wide with shock.

Hades pushed back his chair, but didn’t stand. How did you sleep?

Good. Your bed’s comfy. She smiled.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kat saw the woman bristle. She obviously hit a sore spot. The woman wanted to be in Hades bed, but so far, it seemed he had avoided her advances. Good, she wouldn’t have to beat the woman up. Sometimes, Kat liked taking the diplomatic way out of things. So far, that had happened only once, but she had held out that one day another situation would arise.

Like this one.

Mary, this is Kat. He gaze stayed on Kat. An old friend.

Oh. Mary brought her hands down off the table, and blinked several times. Kat thought it looked like she was about to cry. Nice to meet you, Kat. Are you here for a visit?

Pulling out the third chair, Kat sat and reached for Hades’ near empty plate. There was still a small piece of bread on it. She picked it up and popped it into her mouth. Then she looked at Mary and smiled. Something like that, she said between chews.

Mary averted her gaze then looked at Hades and smiled. I’ll be going then. She pushed to a stand. Thank you for dinner, Hades. Once again you managed to make a delicious meal.

Hades stood and accompanied her to the front door. As they walked, Kat noticed that Mary touched his arm and gazed up at him with adoration in her eyes. The girl was smitten, that was obvious. Was Hades? He had better not be.

When he opened the door, Mary glanced past him toward Kat and nodded. Good evening, Kat.

Yeah, right, you too. Kat waved a hand toward her. Hurry up and leave.

Mary reached up on her tiptoes and kissed Hades cheek. Good night.

Night, Mary, Hades said then closed the door after her. When he came back to the table, Kat had commandeered his cup and finished the rest of his tepid tea.

This takes like shit, cold, Kat complained as she set down the cup.

Are you hungry? I made extra. He moved to the counter, and grabbed another plate from the cupboard. He scooped up some stew and slapped it down onto the clay surface.

She’s pretty.

Hades set the plate in front of Kat but avoided her gaze. Yes, she is. He sat down again, and poured more tea into his cup and into the one he grabbed for Kat. You’re not jealous are you?

Hell, no, she remarked as she took a sip of her drink. Got anything stronger than this?

Nodding, Hades turned in his seat and grabbed a bottle from under the counter. Unscrewing the cap, he poured the amber liquid into Kat’s cup, and then added to his own. Whiskey.

Lifting her cup, she tapped his then took a hearty gulp. The spiked tea burned her throat on the way down. If it weren’t for her pride, she would’ve grimaced. But by the smug look on Hades’ face, she must have made some indication that the whiskey was difficult to swallow.

It gets better after a few drinks. Shrugging, he drained his cup.

Kat dug into her food. The spicy flavor exploded in her mouth. She couldn’t remember the last time something tasted so delectable. Maybe it was the fact that Hades had prepared the food, or that his own aroma, the flavor from his fingertips had mixed in with the medley of meat and vegetables. Abruptly, Kat had a violent urge to lean over and lave her tongue over his hands, and suck on his fingers one by one.

Pushing away her plate, Kat sat back in her chair and stared at Hades. Was her reactions to him purely sexual, or did she have other hungers on her mind? Maybe she had made a mistake coming here. The last thing she wanted to do was put Hades at risk to her raging hunger, again.

Over the months, she had learned how to control it. Nemo, the passive and diplomatic leader of the Neried tribe, of all people, had actually helped her with it. He taught her how to reach inside herself and calm the rage. She had spent many nights on the beach on the edge of his village meditating. Searching inside her body for the root of the virus and mentally squeezing it in a tight fist. It worked for the most part.

One horrible night, Nemo found her in her hut breaking apart the wooden furniture with her bare hands and tossing the pieces around in a violent rage. He had promptly shot her with a tranquilizer dart through a wooden blowgun, laid her on her cot and stayed by her side until the storm calmed and eventually vanished.

There had been one other time when she had let the beast loose. But she did so out of self-preservation. The man she had ripped apart deserved his fate. Or so she kept telling herself. He would have raped and murdered Leucothea if she hadn’t have acted. Kat figured she had killed men for less in the past. But somehow tearing that man’s throat out with her bare hands sat differently with her. She had always used weapons to inflict wounds, but now the virus had turned her into an instrument of pain.

I’m going to be leaving tomorrow night.

Why? Hades demanded.

Kat lowered her gaze and fussed with her belt. She couldn’t handle looking at him any longer. Not without wanting to grab him and crush her body to his, to ease the ache between her legs and the one in her heart. "You were right. You have changed. I’ve no right to ask you to come with me."

She stood, but Hades stood, too, and blocked her escape route. He moved into her personal space forcing her to take a distancing step.

You wouldn’t be much help to me anyway, she smirked. Stay here with your pretty girl. Get married, have babies. Make a life. She tried to brush past him, but Hades grabbed her by the upper arms to still her movements.

Leaning down to her mouth, his lips twitched into a smile. Maybe I don’t want her. Maybe what I want is too stupid to know that.

Raising a brow, Kat questioned, Are you calling me stupid?

Shut up, woman, and let me kiss you.

He covered the distance between them in a second and crushed his mouth to hers. Sighing, Kat parted her lips and let him in. With every sweep of his tongue and nip at her bottom lip, she reciprocated in kind. If she could, she would’ve swallowed him whole. He tasted of smoky flavoring, and herbs, and the alcohol they had both consumed. New arousing tastes and old flavors that she fondly remembered about him.

Now that she was here in his arms, her hands fisted in his shirt and her mouth exploring his, she realized how empty she’d been without him. She had spent many months denying it, but the man made her whole. During their last harrowing adventure together, she came to realize that he was the one person she had been searching for without even knowing it. The one that challenged her but accepted her for who she was.

On their last hunt, she had been the closest she’d ever been to love. The kind that was messy and complicated. The kind she didn’t want anything to do with.

Kat pushed him back, but he held on to her arms. It was obvious that he had no intentions of backing off this time. She could hear his heart racing, and smell the arousal floating off him. The blue of his eyes had darkened to slate. A color she knew meant he was hungry for her. Desire hot and hearty rolled over her, drowning her in its intensity.

I won’t let you push me away this time, Kat.

She met his gaze and fell helplessly into his eyes. No, she couldn’t push him away, not this time, not now. Fisting her hands in his shirt, she pulled him close. "Fine, but hang on for a wild