Page 2 of Pisces Rising

Two

Aries raced over the rugged terrain, crushing Pisces' small form against his unyielding body. Not a word passed between them as he fled with single-minded intensity, putting distance between them and the monstrous scorpion.

Pisces stayed silent, fearing that she’d just made a horrible decision by letting this horned man whisk her into the unknown. She should have dove into the ocean before ever letting him get close, but now she was trapped in his grip.

The sky was still dark and lit with stars when Aries finally slowed his relentless pace, coming to a halt in a remote valley with a shadowy ravine. The horns on his head had receded, but the fire inside him hadn’t. He dropped Pisces onto her feet with little care, the impact making her legs buckle. Before she could crumple, his iron grip seized her shoulders, holding her upright through sheer force. Furious at being handled so carelessly, she shrugged him off, and to her surprise, he let her go with a disdainful smirk. With a huff, she brushed the matted hair from her face. “Do you mind?” she spat, trying to gain her composure.

Aries stared at her.

"What was that thing?" Pisces managed, her voice trembling as she stared up at Aries’ harsh features. “I’ve seen it before.”

His chiseled jaw clenched, a muscle twitching with barely restrained rage. “You don’t remember?”

“No,” she said, wishing he’d soften just for a moment and show her a shred of kindness. The look he gave made her shrink back. “I don’t remember,” she insisted. “What was it?”

"Scorpio," he growled, the menacing syllables dripping with undisguised loathing. "A coward who'll stop at nothing to see your light extinguished."

Her blood ran cold at his words, a chill creeping down her spine. Scorpio, Aries...Pisces...she had fallen from the stars and was now being hunted. Tears threatened to cloud her eyes, but she willed them back, wondering why Aries would treat her so harshly while claiming to save her.

Pulled from her thoughts by Aries’ scorching intensity and the looming threat standing right before her, she asked, "But why? What did I do?"

His obsidian eyes bore into her with unsettling focus. "If you remember nothing, then you know nothing of your true self, starfish," he stated flatly. With one sudden movement, he snatched her arm and wrenched her body closer until his heat enveloped her. "You are Pisces—one of the immortal Zodiac, the mother of all Zodiacs, born to rule cosmic fires brighter than a thousand suns. And I don’t for one second believe you’ve forgotten that."

His words terrified and thrilled her equally, but she was grateful for the crucial piece of a puzzle she’d have to put together. With his body so close to hers, she couldn’t think. “Do we have to keep doing this?” she asked, attempting to pull out of his grasp but remained helplessly trapped.

"Scorpio covets that power, your birthright," Aries continued in a voice edged with bitterness. "He came to strip you of it—to kill you—out of petty hunger to claim supremacy."

Bile rose in Pisces’ throat, and she stilled as the brutal reality sank in. This Scorpio craved her power and total obliteration. But why? What gave her more power over him?

As if sensing her questions, Aries leaned down until his face filled her vision, his piercing gaze stripping her bare. "Do not mistake his actions as your deserving, little starfish," he growled in a low, dangerous tone. "The fault lies with his boundless weakness and greed."

With a contemptuous shove, he released her. Pisces stumbled, struggling to regain her balance, as Aries turned away. His posture was rigid as he scanned their surroundings with feral intensity.

Confused and frustrated, Pisces let out a growl that sounded more like a kitten than a celestial queen. With his back to her, she glared, wishing her eyes could burn a hole right through him. Why was he treating her this way? Pisces focused and tried to read his energy. The anger was there, crackling just beneath the surface, only he seemed more subdued, more in control. Maybe now was a good time to run. With his attention on the surrounding mountains, she could try. But he was surely faster. He would catch her, claim her, and never let her escape his sweltering grip again.

She was also far too tired to try and outrun a horned god from the stars. Instead, she let out a yawn, eyed the flowing stream nearby, and shuffled toward it, staying low.

Suddenly, a whispery warning of "Neither friend nor foe" gusted through her mind. She glanced back at the formidable figure standing sentry—her self-appointed guardian, her potential jailer. Uncertainty churned within her. “Neither friend nor foe,” it said again.

Pisces stilled, the water seeping through her fingers as the words blew past her. Neither friend nor foe. What did that mean? It would have been nice to know before she’d fallen into his clutches. “Wonderful,” she said to herself.

“Who are you talking to?” Aries’ deep voice startled her, and she quickly stood and turned simultaneously. Her feet tangled, and Aries’ hands sprung out, catching her before she could tumble back into the creek.

“Nothing,” she said, trying to squirm free. “I mean, I wasn’t talking to anyone.”

He eyed her for a moment. "We need to keep moving," he said, staring back at the sky before scooping her off the ground.

“I can walk,” she protested, borrowing his anger to fuel her own.

His eyes narrowed on her. “We don’t need to walk, starfish. We need to run.” Pisces gave up the fight with a resigned sigh and let Aries carry her.

One thing was clear—Aries stood on the side of dominance, but as her protector or her enemy, she didn’t know. The only thing she did know was that she had no power to defy the searing orbit of his smothering intensity under the present circumstances.

Chapter

Three

The night of cosmic chaos was over when Aries finally stopped at a small cave tucked into a mountain so Pisces could rest. The dawn light filtered into the cave. Aries carried her into the darkness and unceremoniously dumped her onto the hard ground. She collapsed in an undignified heap, too drained to protest his rough handling, but she did save some burning thoughts she planned to hurl at him later.