Page 20 of The Flame

“Wow!” Viper yelled.

Captain nodded as did all the Lords.

The President of the Lords Of Fire MC had now truly earned that name.

Chapter Eleven

Rissa finally stepped forward with two of her council and walked over to TankaTae. She knelt beside the demon-coyote or rather— what was left of him. “Now, you know the pain you gave Kimle.”

“Why didn’t you finish the curse?” TankaTae asked her. “You needed to finish and kill me.”

“I don’t have to do anything except watch you suffer.” Her gaze seemed to still be full of the same fire she had just wielded at him. “This is righteous somehow.”

TankaTae screamed at her, “End this agony! End me and be done with it.”

“How does it feel, Tanka? To know there will be no mercy for you. You never showed anyone else mercy, so why should others show you any? Remember our testing time? You left Amil hanging over the river of killer fish when you cut his line. His screams still haunt my dreams. And Lisset, you left her in the dirt all beaten up because she was winning and you couldn’t stand it. A mere girl beating the great TankaTae? But she was always worth more than you because she put her whole heart into whatever she did. You cheated and took whatever you could and never looked back. I don’t know when you took in the demon but you should have known better. Not even he could save you in the end. In fact, he’s the one who caused you to fall down into that dark hole... so far, that you can never climb back up.”

“End me, woman.” Tanka snarled. “I don’t need a fucking sermon, God damnit! Just release me from this mortal life.”

“No Tanka, I cannot release you from your pain, that would release the demon and he would just infect someone else, maybe Milo or Griffen or one of the others. I may have been just a babe when I met you and your filth and I did not know what evil lurked inside you. But I am a child no more...I will wait and watch until I know in my heart the demon is dead inside of you.”

Men poured out of the clubhouse and spread around the area. They had weapons in their hands as they protectively circled Rissa and her council. They all saw the red eyes looking back.

None of the Weres made a move toward them. They all just stood there waiting and watching.

Luther watched one of them in particular, the one he wanted dead in fact. Milo, the slimy bastard that had made Amira’s life hell. He then saw something come into Milo’s eyes. Something he didn’t like. He raised his hands and fire glowed on his palms.

Milo stared at him and his fire as he began backing up slowly.

His father, Griffen noticed his retreat. “Stay right where you are, you little fucking coward.” Griffen snarled under his breath.

His words were little more than a whisper but Milo heard them and turned his head to glare at his father.

“You got us into this mess,” Griffen said. “If we’re going down, so are you.”

“Your own greed brought you here old man. Admit that much is true if you can.” Milo growled back.

Just then, a soft light began to glow in the middle of where everyone stood.

They all stared at it.

The glow grew brighter and a man walked out of the light to step over to Rissa. He placed his hand on her shoulder and his words were spoken in the same language as the women had chanted the curse in.

Rissa looked up at him and smiled. “Kimle, it is very good to see you again, even if it is from beyond the grave.”

The old man nodded. “You found him, after all this time you found him.”

“Yes, I did, or rather he found me,” Rissa acknowledged. “And I used your own curse to bring him down.”

“There are three of you?” Kimle asked. “You brought the curse back?”

Rissa nodded. “Yes, Shaman. My own daughter had been blessed with the blue hair and then her daughter has also been blessed. I taught my daughter the old ways and now, we will teach her daughter the same. The old ways will not be forgotten.”

“Three?” Kimle exclaimed. “Three Shamans in the same century?” He looked bewildered.

Nodding, Rissa smiled. “I believe it was the will of the Maiden. She knew this challenge would come someday. How else can I explain their existence...” Her voice fell away.

Amira and Winsome stared at her, then looked at each other.

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