Blood Flame

by Caris Roane

  Vaughn snorted, but lowered his voice. “And you’ve just named two of the most corrupt bureaucrats Five Bridges has on its payroll. You’re right. This vampire has clout of some kind, maybe the backing of one of the cartels. But listen, I’ve got to go. Easton is out here and he’s about to go ballistic because I’m on the phone. I’m here if you need me. You know that, right?”

  “I do.”

  “And when all this is over, we’ll grab a beer. In the meantime, stay alive for fuck’s sake. Crescent needs you.”

  Connor ended the call, a pit between his brows. “A dark witch. Jesus.”

  Iris moved close to him once more. “What do you think an attack on Gary and his club means, because for the life of me, I don’t get it. If Big Nuts was to be believed, the same man paid Gary to set us up.”

  “Big Nuts wasn’t exactly known for his discretion. The killer probably wanted that loose end tied up.”

  “Maybe. But why kill off everyone else in the club?”

  Connor shrugged. “The same reason he tortured Jason and Sadie. He could have killed them outright. Instead, his sick mind needed to hurt them, which means we’re looking at a sadist, probably a pair of them.”

  He watched a shudder pass through Iris. “You’re probably right, and if any place is designed to breed the criminally insane, Five Bridges is that place.”

  Connor nodded. “But why you and me? We’d never even met until last night.”

  Iris tilted her head. “I think we need to start back at the top, at Sentinel. We know those two were romantically involved, but what else do we know about them?”

  “I’ve already told you my connection to Jason. He was with me at that tragic shooting. And you knew Sadie at the Tribunal. But did you work on any cases with her?”

  “Let me think.” She closed her eyes, and he let her be. When she opened them, her eyes were narrowed. “Only one time that I can recall. Donaldson had asked me to close a file on a missing woman, and I’d been in pretty close contact with the husband, Evan Pierce. His wife, Heather, had been abducted at a Christmas Party. This was nine years ago, maybe longer. Anyway, I was able to make excellent progress, then suddenly I was shut down. Sadie was the one who delivered Donaldson’s orders. But that’s the only encounter I had with her.”

  “Was she working for Donaldson back then as his assistant?”

  “You know, I think she was a temp at the time. She’d been filling in that night because Donaldson’s assistant was out sick. And he’s had the same one from the time I came on board.”

  Connor thought this through. “And what about this man, Evan, who lost his wife. Did you ever speak with him again?”

  “I went to see him in Phoenix to tell him that the case had been shut down. He’d been very accepting at that point. He knew enough about Five Bridges to understand the chances of getting his wife out alive and unharmed were slim. But are you thinking he’s involved somehow?”

  Connor shook his head. “Just trying to piece things together.”

  “Well, Evan is human, not altered. He wouldn’t be any kind of threat here in our world.”

  “No, he wouldn’t.”

  Iris shook her head slowly. “I hated that case. Evan was so in love with his wife. It reminded me of all that I’d lost.”

  “Did you ever find out what happened to his wife?”

  Her phone rang and she lifted finger. “I should take this.” With the phone still on speaker, she answered the call. “Meldeere.”

  A woman’s voice came on the line. “Iris?”

  Iris’s lips curved. “That’s me.”

  “Oh, thank God, you’re okay.”

  “Hi, Faith. I am. Thanks.”

  “How you holdin’ up, sweetheart? We all saw the news footage that a Crescent BP officer got you off the bridge before it blew.”

  “He did.”

  “I wish you’d called in to let us know you were all right, but I’m sure you were pretty shaken up.”

  “Horribly. But is that why you’ve called? I mean if it is, that’s fine and it really is wonderful to hear your voice.”

  “Actually,” Connor heard Faith sigh. “Donaldson came down here a couple of minutes ago. He scowled the whole time. He said he didn’t care that you almost died, he needed you on another assignment. Pronto.”

  Another set-up. Shit. Adrenaline flooded Connor’s heart and veins. He moved close to Iris, sliding his arm around her waist. Now that he knew it was possible they were dealing with a pair of homicidal maniacs, Connor didn’t want Iris anywhere near them.

  Faith continued, “We’ve got an incident in Crescent that Donaldson wants you to check out. It’s in the central section and pretty far from that mess down in Rotten Row. Have you been following those killings?”

  “I have.”

  “Brutal.”

  “Yeah, they are. So what’s the incident?”

  “Right. Four or more vampires out near Tonopah Bridge. Looks like a drug deal gone bad, or something. But that’s all the info I have. I don’t know if they’re dead, or hopped up on flame, or what. FYI, the canal over there has been breached and there’s water flowing beneath the bridge on the ditch side, not sure how much though.”

  Iris’s brown eyes were wide, and he could see her pulse beating fast in her throat. “Got it. I’ll head out there in the next few minutes. Was there anything else?”

  “No, but call me when you’ve assessed the situation.”

  “Donaldson’s orders?”

  “No. Those are mine.” She lowered her voice. “I just don’t want you getting killed because our prick-of-a-boss has taken some kind of pay-off. But that’s all I’m going to say.”

  Iris smiled and Connor could feel some of the tension leave her body. “You’re the best, Faith. Later.”

  Tonopah Bridge.

  The moment she ended the call, Connor dropped down in the nearest chair. Their enemy was bringing them back full circle in a way, to one of the crimes that had wrecked him as a man. He hadn’t been out to Tonopah Bridge in a long time.

  Iris moved close. “What’s going on?”

  “That bastard is fucking with me. He knows too damn much about my life.”

  Iris pulled a chair close. “Is Tonopah where that pregnant woman died? The one with a gun strapped to her wrist?”

  “Yes.”

  Connor leaned forward, clasping his hands between his knees, his forearms on his thighs. He didn’t want to talk about it again. But the memory rose up like a dragon, blasting him once more. He would never forget her lovely green eyes, watching him as he approached. They’d been panicked at first, then resolution had come over her face.

  Iris spoke quietly. “Tell me what happened.”

  He decided to launch in. “About nine, nine-and-a-half years ago, I’d been on the job awhile, but it had been a hellish night. Two of the officers I worked with had been shot and killed. We’d had so many runners out, so many gun battles, that when I took this call about a runner not far from Tonopah Bridge, I was in a bad way. One of the men we lost was a good friend.

  “When I saw the runner, I was pissed. She was heading up the wash, loaded with drugs. Worse, I could see she had a gun in her hand. I yelled for her to stop or I’d shoot. She did stop and sat in the dirt waiting. She looked resigned, then she said to me, ‘The baby stopped moving.’

  “I saw then she was pregnant. The next thing I knew she was lifting her arm and the pistol flashed in front of me. On instinct, I fired, shot her in the chest.”

  “Did she get a shot off? Were you hurt?”

  He shook his head. “She couldn’t. It wasn’t a real gun and they’d taped it to her wrist.”

  “Oh, God. She’d wanted to die.”

  He nodded. “She was so thin.” He touched his neck. “She had the blood flame rash on her neck. She was emaciated, strung out, bruised all to hell. She was un-altered, one of the reasons she was so weak. She’d been badly used.”

  “And she was sure her baby had died.”<
br />
  “Yes.”

  He hadn’t spoken of the incident in years. The pain came rushing back, the horror that he’d killed a woman enslaved in his world through no fault of her own.

  “Did you ever find out who she was?”

  He shook his head. “I did what investigating I could, but it always ended a level or two up the food chain, then got canned. I knew not to push. Besides, this woman was one of thousands I’d seen from the time I started working Border Patrol. But she was the only one I killed because of a set-up and a death wish.”

  Iris had gotten very quiet. He glanced up at her. “What?”

  “All the flame drugs are hard on fetuses.”

  Back in his human life, he remembered the fuss women would pay to either expectant mothers or infants. It seemed to hurt Iris deeply that the woman had lost her child in utero. But then, he’d come to know Iris as a sensitive, caring woman.

  When his phone rang, he wasn’t surprised. He reached across the table and drew it close. It was the station.

  He kept it on speaker. “Connor.”

  “You in one piece?” Lily’s voice again.

  “I am, but let me spare you. Easton needs me out at Tonopah Bridge, right?

  “How the hell did you know that?”

  “I’m becoming clairvoyant.” He heard her laugh, but before she could say anything else, he asked. “What are the details?”

  “A bunch of vampires are out there, partying with some flame. Easton wants you to check it out, subdue them if you can.”

  “Is the canal water still flowing down there?”

  “So you knew that as well, huh? But, yeah. They blew enough of a hole to set the water flowing beneath the bridge. That’s all I know. Did Vaughn reach you?”

  “Yep. But listen, Lily, would you tell Easton something for me?”

  “Sure.”

  “Tell him to go fuck himself.”

  Lily didn’t say anything for a moment. “You sure that’s what you want me to do?”

  “Oh, yeah. Tell him to go fuck himself and that after I take this call, I’m turning in my badge.”

  “It’s about time. I’m hanging up now because I intend to deliver this message personally.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Iris dressed slowly and with great care. She put her hair in a ponytail, donned a pair of black jeans, a reinforced belt, and a hot pink t-shirt because she was pissed. Both their bosses were happy to sell them down the river.

  Fine. Whatever.

  And Connor had been right to resign. She was thinking about doing the same.

  She checked her Sig then clipped on her holster. Her nerves were jumping by the time she met Connor in the dining area.

  Damn, but he looked good. The size of his muscles stood out along with his tattoos. He was in full warrior mode with his fighting energy pulsing through the room.

  He hadn’t changed his clothes since he was basically in uniform already with a black tank, leathers, and heavy boots. He’d pulled the top half of his hair back in a leather strap, the rest of his dark wavy hair touching his shoulders.

  He clipped on his Glock and his short-sword, the length more like a long dagger. But the width gave it a deadly weight. The handle and cross-guard were both silver, the sheath a tooled black leather. It was a beautiful, frightening weapon. She hoped he wouldn’t have to use it tonight.

  As she moved toward him, he nodded. “You don’t have to go. In fact, I wish you would stay here and let me deal with this monster.”

  “I’d like nothing better but my witch instincts are shouting at me. I need to go, so I’m going.”

  He nodded again. “And we’re going to do everything we can to survive.”

  She drew a deep breath as she watched him buckle on his wrist guards, also in black leather and also heavily reinforced with steel. “I need to show you something before we leave.”

  “Lead the way.”

  She headed toward the open French doors and waved for him to join her.

  Once standing in the middle of the grass, she looked up and swept her hand in a path over the night sky. “What do you see?”

  Connor came up behind her and settled a hand on her left hip. She loved the contact, despite the battle they were headed into.

  “I’m not sure what I’m looking at. Do you mean the spell?”

  “Yes.”

  “Huh. I’m seeing a silver pattern that wasn’t there before. What is it?”

  “It’s you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She turned to face him. “I mean that it showed up after we made love.” She wondered how she could explain this. “Earlier, I called to you, remember?”

  “Yes. I’d just seen the footage of Rotten Row.”

  “Right.” She flipped her wrist skyward once more. “This is what I wanted to show you. Can you think back to what it felt like right after you fed from me?”

  He smiled. “I was pumped.”

  “Well, this is the result.”

  He looked up again and she watched his gaze search through the spell, following the intricate silver lines from the tree to the house then back. “It is me, isn’t it?”

  “Very much so.”

  “What the hell does it mean? I’m not a wizard. I don’t have those powers.”

  “But you have something similar when you’re with me, almost like a mirror. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. This is about us, what we seem to have created together. And no, I don’t have an explanation or even a thought about what it could mean, the ramifications or potential.

  “What I do know is that when we were escaping Gary’s club, we had excellent rapport.”

  “I would agree. Are you suggesting all of this could translate into something in the field?”

  “I think so. I just don’t know what it would look like or how we’d do it.”

  He held out his arm to her, and with his free hand gestured to his foot. “Hop on. It’s time we head over to Tonopah Bridge and find out.”

  She didn’t hesitate, but stepped up onto his booted foot. Balancing both of hers on just his right foot this time, she then slung an arm around his neck.

  The moment he pulled her against his waist, he took off nearly as fast as when the bridge had exploded. What amazed her was how comfortable she’d grown with levitation and flight in what was a very brief twenty-four hour period.

  He flew higher as well so she had a unique, bird’s eye view of Five Bridges. In the protected areas, street lamps illuminated every row of houses, all the corner stores, gas stations and shopping centers. But soon the land gave way to pits of darkness. The edges of their world, in the middle of north Phoenix, was lit with giant moving spotlights all around the perimeter of the five territories. These lights helped the citizens of Five Bridges to know exactly where the U.S. Border was.

  The National Guard had troops stationed on permanent assignment to keep the alter species contained. It didn’t mean they couldn’t get out, but it was getting harder to escape. Elaborate tunnels had become the main exit points.

  As a TPS officer, she was fortunate to have a passport and could come and go on stated business. Ironically, she rarely desired to leave Five Bridges. Her home, her life, was here.

  The trip across Elegance took less than a minute since Connor was a quick flyer. He chose to make another pass over Sentinel Bridge. A construction crew must have worked through the day using human labor because she could smell the asphalt being laid right now. “That was fast.”

  “Lots of drug money combined with motivation. Works miracles every time.”

  Passing into Crescent, however, jump-started her adrenaline. Her vision sharpened, and her muscles had started their own flex-and-release right alongside Connor’s.

  “How far out?”

  “About fifteen seconds.”

  They passed over a grocery store parking lot filled with vehicles. She had the odd thought that while some of these vampires might be headed in to buy bread, milk and vegetables, sh
e was hoping her man didn’t have to use his sword tonight.

  She shifted her gaze away from the life she didn’t have and engaged the life before her. The canal appeared, crisscrossed by several smaller bridges. He flew above the water then began to slow.

  What Iris saw first was an inky witch spell that blotted out the stars and covered the canal as well as the bridge. She could see what looked like a growing stream running in a broad ditch that ran beneath Tonopah Bridge alongside the canal. She realized the ditch had once been part of a run-off landscaping provision for the heavy monsoon months. Her world had simply blasted out a few hundred extra yards which meant the water was rising fast.

  Beside the growing stream, several vampires had gathered around a fire they’d built. They were laughing, a couple of them shouting. No doubt they’d been drinking heavily and she suspected were already high on one of the many flame drugs.

  “Is that a spell?” Connor asked quietly, drawing her gaze back to the bridge.

  “Yes, it is. But I don’t know all that it’s hiding.”

  Some of the black smoke on the bridge dissipated suddenly, enough to reveal a lean figure, dressed all in black. He stood balanced on the bridge railing, legs spread wide, his leather duster flapping in the light breeze.

  He held a sword in his hand similar to the one Connor owned.

  Connor flew slowly in the direction of the vampire and as he did, Iris focused on the spell. It was evil in nature, a conjuring of one of the dark witches. Her heart hammered in her chest.

  “This is oppressive,” Connor murmured.

  “It is. But keep going.”

  “I am. We need to face our enemy.”

  Iris swallowed hard as the distance to the bridge shrank. Evil surrounded them now.

  But when Connor was only thirty feet from the bridge, the spell shrouding the vampire’s face, dissipated.

  Iris stiffened in his arms. “Oh, my god, I know him.”

  “You do?”

  “It’s Evan. Evan Pierce. Connor, I think I understand the connection and it all makes sense now. The woman you shot and killed had to be Evan’s wife, Heather.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Connor halted midair, fifteen feet away from the man he’d seen at Gary’s club. His eyes were green and glinting with a terrible light, something that went beyond a sole need for revenge. Evan was enjoying himself, the control he had over them both right now, and that he’d surprised them.