PodCastle 639: Kiki Hernández Beats the DevilAuthor:
Samantha MillsNarrator:
Sandra EspinozaHost:
Setsu UzumeAudio Producer:
Peter BehraveshPreviously published by
Translunar Travelers Lounge.
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Show NotesRated PG-13.The destinies of two women — one, a soldier; the other, a princess — become intertwined in C. L. Clark’s debut, The Unbroken. This is a story about war, betrayal, intrigue, and some truly sexy fight scenes in a desert kingdom inspired by North Africa. The cover art was released on io9 in July. Check out this incredible debut by PodCastle‘s co-editor!You can pre-order The Unbroken by C. L. Clark now!
Kiki Hernández, rock legend of the Southwest, had seven devils on her tail.
They scurried through the roadside scrub, not even trying to sneak. She could hear their scrabble-claws and clacker-tails, their dripping maws and teeth. If they were trying to round her up for a crossroad deal-making, they were going about it all wrong.
That’s what happened when devils got hungry. They made mistakes.
Kiki hummed as she walked, watching eddies of dust form tornadoes on the road ahead. It was a swagger of a walk, born of a perfect record: Kiki 72, Devils 0. She would have been bored, if she hadn’t been so eager for an encore.
“Come on out!” she hollered.
They tumbled forth in a gray-green tangle of many-jointed limbs, an acrid smell preceding them: sulphur and grave dirt and candy apples stuffed with razorblades. Their voices tangled like a nest of snakes: Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you vengeful? Are you sad?
For a moment she felt it—the thirst like three weeks eating salted pork, the grief that could only end in retaliation—and then Kiki popped open her molded-plastic carrying case and pulled out her guitar: Mona Lisa.
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