Firestorm (Smoke & Ashes Book 1)

by D. N. Hoxa

  “Respect is mutual, asshole.”

  Shadows all around us. People were moving, and most of them were dressed in suits, like the guards we’d seen outside. A few of them were upstairs, too, and they were all looking at us. So, people had been eavesdropping on our conversation.

  “You’ve got a mouth on you,” the alpha said.

  “I’ve got a lot of things on me, actually. Would you like to see?”

  “Tell your men to retreat,” Lexar said before he could answer. “There won’t be a fight here tonight.”

  “They bit my friend,” I insisted. “They bit her and turned her against her will. That’s against the law.”

  “And he knows it,” Lexar reminded me. But it just didn’t look like it. It didn’t look like Alifair gave a shit.

  But whatever Alifair was thinking, it calmed him down. I saw it in the way his eyes changed, and when he raised his hand up, all the people who’d surrounded us, possibly over thirty, began to retreat. The music of the party never stopped, and none of the guests came close to the stairway, though most of them could probably hear everything.

  Lexar sat back down. I closed my eyes, only because I needed a second to get a grip on the phoenix. She was going mental inside me, demanding I take off my bracelet and let her rip this asshole apart.

  Stand down, I told her, and once I felt like I could keep her down, I looked at Alifair again. This time, I found him staring at Lexar.

  “I don’t know where the were-cheetahs are. They might be my responsibility as a pack, but pack members are the responsibility of their alpha. Only he can account for the biting of the human,” Alifair said to Lexar.

  “Good. Then find out where they are and we will handle it,” Lexar said without hesitation.

  “I will find them, but I am under no obligation to tell you about it,” Alifair said.

  God, how I wanted to jump over the table and kick him in the head.

  “What the hell do you think the Fallen will say when they find out a human has been bitten?” Because they would have something to say. I’d make sure of it, if I had to.

  “The alpha of the cheetah pack knows the consequences. He will accept them.”

  “And what will they say when they find out that the entire pack—your responsibility—has disappeared into thin air and you don’t know shit about it?” Alifair lowered his head. I could hear his teeth clenching all the way across the table. “Hey! I’m talking to you!” If he was mad, good. So was I.

  When he grabbed the table and stood up, the glass cracked in several places. He looked bigger somehow. Wider, and possibly taller, too. I was half his size, but that didn’t mean I was afraid. On the contrary. I was excited. I’d wanted to rip his face off since he made it clear how little he cared that Chelsea was bitten. My hands were on fire before I made it to my feet. Lexar’s lightning struck somewhere over our heads—a warning.

  “Tell us what you want, Michael,” Lexar said. “Before this gets out of hand.”

  “You don’t know when to keep your mouth shut, do you,” Alifair said to me, and it wasn’t a question.

  “And you don’t know when to open yours.”

  “Just because your father is—”

  “This has nothing to do with my father. He isn’t here, is he? C’mon, what are you waiting for?” If my father was the only reason he wasn’t attacking me, he could cut the bullshit and just go for it.

  But that wasn’t it.

  Lexar had been right all along, and I saw it the second Alifair sighed, lowering his head. The magic in the air lowered as if by a switch. I hadn’t noticed but were-lions were surrounding us again. If I wasn’t mistaken, the music was lower, too, and not as many people were talking on the other side of the stairway.

  “A meeting,” Alifair finally said.

  When he sat down, he didn’t bother to tell his people to retreat. I doubted he was afraid of us, but he didn’t want to take any chances because this was his party, after all.

  “With the Fallen,” Lexar said. He didn’t sit down again, and neither did I. My hands were still on fire, and my attention was on the people around me, too. Would they attack if I let my guard down?

  Better not find out.

  “With your father.” Alifair looked directly at me.

  So, he did want something from me. He had all along, ever since he came to introduce himself at that restaurant a few months ago. And right now, it didn’t even feel good to be right.

  “Done,” Lexar said, just before I could say fuck you. He wasn’t going to get any favors from me. The asshole could hear me when I said a human was bitten by a shifter, and he couldn’t even be bothered to pretend to care.

  “Leave your number. I will call you with the location,” Alifair said, a small smile touching his lips. He’d gotten exactly what he wanted.

  “Sassy,” Lexar said, grabbing me by the arm.

  My fire died on my skin instantly. It was over. I didn’t want it to be. My phoenix didn’t want it to be over. I wanted a fight so badly, my blood was boiling.

  But I didn’t need a fight. Not right now.

  After the hunt. After we figured out what Chelsea would do now that she was a shifter. After Lexar was gone, back to the Underworld. I could pay this guy another visit, and we could chat.

  I turned around and walked away, ignoring the people who were staring at me. I pretended the crowd wasn’t there, even though I could feel everybody’s eyes on my back as I made my way out.

  This had been enough party for me for at least another decade.

  19

  Have I ever mentioned that Lexar pissed me off?

  Because he really pissed me off, especially when he thought I was in need of a lecture. Like right now.

  “The plan was to not piss him off,” he reminded me when I parked the car in front of his apartment building and we got out. “It took you exactly fifteen seconds to start—I counted.”

  “Good for you.”

  “All you had to do was keep calm, Princess, but you can’t be bothered to think before you act, can you?” And he grinned, like he was showing me.

  “Yep. Not at all.” I walked inside the building and up the stairs, trying my best to ignore him. I was tired, irritated, and I needed to see that Chelsea was okay.

  I thought he was going to let it go at that, but no. I was dead wrong.

  “You almost got them killed in there, you know? All those shifters. I thought you cared about that shit.”

  I breathed in deeply. Arguing now was completely pointless. “And I really thought you didn’t, Nevermore. I’ll tell you what—next time your daddy—or mine—tells you to work with me on a mission, just tell them to piss off so I don’t have to, okay? You and I are not alike. We don’t do things the same way. It’s only a matter of time before this ends like last time.” Meaning us, bloody and torn and almost dead.

  When we were at the door, Lexar stepped in front of me, blocking my way. This guy.

  He looked down at me like he was trying to figure something out, something that bothered him a lot. “You do know I’m joking, right?”

  I blinked. “About what?”

  “About Alifair. He got what he deserved. And we are not going to end up like last time, Sassy Pants.”

  Oh, boy. My lips opened, but no words came out. Just like before, I had no idea what to say to him when he spoke to me like that. Like normal. Fuck, I couldn’t handle normal with Lexar.

  “No—because I’m going to kill you within the first minute this time,” I blurted and pushed him to the side so I could get into the apartment.

  “Sassy, wait—”

  Too late. I opened the door and stepped inside. I didn’t care what he wanted to say to me. I just wanted him to continue being an asshole, so I could be an asshole back. That was perfectly within my zone of comfort, not this bullshit.

  We are not going to end up like last time. What the hell did that even mean?

  “What happened to you?”

  The s
ound of Feather Girl’s voice pulled me out of my trance, and only then did I realize that I was inside, staring at her, not really seeing anything.

  “Michael fucking Alifair happened,” I mumbled. “Where’s Chelsea?”

  “Bathroom. What did Michael fucking Alifair do? Did you kill him?” She looked down at me. “You don’t have any blood on you. That’s a first. And why don’t you have the stilettos on?”

  Ah, yes. I’d been too angry to change into my jeans in the car, so I’d just put my hoodie back on and kept my Docs.

  “I took them off after the party,” I lied. “And no, he’s alive for now. Where’s Abraham?”

  “It’s still Abrah,” the guy said, coming out of the hallway, so silently I had no chance of hearing him until he spoke. He had a bright smile on his face, much brighter than yesterday.

  And why was he coming from the hallway when Chelsea was in the bathroom?

  I squinted my eyes at him. “Why are you smiling like that?”

  Feather Girl and Lexar turned to him, too. “I’m not smiling like that. I’m just smiling. You should try it sometimes. Smiling relaxes the soul.”

  What a load of crap.

  I stepped closer to him. “If you’re into something here that I don’t know about, I swear to God, I—”

  “Sassy, for fuck’s sake. Give the guy a break. He saved your best friend, remember?”

  And there she was. Chelsea, rushing down the hallway to come to Abraham’s aid. Oh, I did not like this at all.

  And—check this out—she was smiling, too. A lot of soul relaxing going on here today. Too much for my taste.

  “That’s okay. Your suspicion is valid. I wouldn’t have trusted me, either, in your position,” Abraham said. “No hard feelings.” Such a good guy.

  “He didn’t save you. Lexar did,” I reminded Chelsea, and went for the kitchen. I needed something to eat. Or drink. Or anything to do other than feel so confused all the damn time. Confusion gave power to my phoenix. Every emotion I had no good hold over gave power to the firebird, and it really was a torture to hear her cries, to feel her urge, her desire to take over my body and make it her own.

  “You know what I mean,” Chelsea said and came after me, standing right behind the open fridge door. The empty fridge door. Shit, there was nothing to eat there. Why didn’t they make spells to conjure food out of thin air? “What happened? Spill it.”

  Slamming the fridge door closed, I went to the couch and practically fell on it. “I’m discombobulated,” I shouted, hoping to let some steam out.

  Feather Girl looked at Lexar, her thumb pointing at me. “Is she okay?”

  He only shrugged.

  “It’s probably just a song,” Chelsea said, pushing my legs off the couch so she could sit.

  “Of course, it’s a song—and the song is right.” I had no idea what the hell to even think yet.

  “What happened? How was the party? Did you find the were-cheetahs?” Chelsea asked.

  “The party was wack. The master alpha doesn’t give a shit that you were bitten. And, no, he has no clue where the cheetahs are.”

  “But Alifair is going to find them,” Lexar said, taking off his jacket, then unbuttoning his shirt—only at the top. My eyes moved to the floor. “We just need to be patient, and once we find them, we find the witch.”

  “Because they’re working for her,” Feather Girl said in wonder. “Why? What’s in it for them?”

  It was something I’d been wondering about, too.

  “Money is a possibility.” People did crazy things for money.

  “Power is another. Whatever the witch promised them, it’s better than what they have now,” Lexar said.

  “Which isn’t a lot.” The were-cheetahs weren’t exactly known for their power and wealth.

  “So, what now? We just wait?” Feather Girl asked.

  I couldn’t just wait. This place was too small, for one. And it had no food or furniture. I needed to get back to my place—and keep focus on the phoenix while I was at it. Because her claws were making a bloody mess of my insides.

  I jumped to my feet. “No. Now we go back to my apartment, and we wait there.”

  “All of us?” Abraham said, as a way to remind me that he needed to be there, too. For Chelsea. Needless to say, I didn’t like that one bit.

  “Yes, all of us. Get your things. I’m going to change, and I’ll wait for you outside.”

  With the plastic bag containing my jeans in hand, I made my way to the bathroom. Two minutes later, I walked out of the apartment, hoping Lexar wouldn’t follow me because I didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. I just needed to focus on keeping my phoenix back and my thoughts in order.

  A decision away, I reminded myself. All I had to do was decide to be patient and in control. That’s what my mother said to me once, what my asshole father reminded me of in that meeting in Hell.

  I didn’t remember much of her, but I did remember this. The best advice I’d ever been given. She said, we’re only a decision away from our goals, Sassy. All you have to do is decide to put in the effort and do the work. This world is no place for lazy people.

  Those words stayed with me, even when almost everything else blurred out of focus. Even though she’d told me that when I was only ten years old and too afraid to sign my name for a math competition in school. I was afraid that I was going to fail, that I wasn’t good enough, and that everybody would then laugh at me. They hadn’t—I’d won because I’d decided that I was going to, and I’d done everything I had to do to win. This was what kept me from losing my shit still, even in the worst of times.

  So, for now, I focused on those words and put everything else on the back burner.

  20

  Going back to my apartment was the right call. We could actually all sit down at once—I had two couches plus the chairs from the dining table. And my fridge was full. The milk had spoiled, but everything else was intact.

  The only thing I didn’t like about my apartment was the burnt hardwood floor in front of the living room window. That’s where I’d burned the werewolf from the inside out. It took me and Chelsea half an hour to clean up the mess—her blood and the ashes. We had to dispose of a few remaining bones, too, but Lexar was kind enough to take the garbage bag out and make sure nobody found it. I didn’t even ask how he’d done it, but I trusted him. He wasn’t one to do things halfway.

  I slept on my bed all alone that night. Chelsea insisted that she sleep in my guest room that she claimed was hers, and of course Feather Girl had wanted to room with her, not me. Abraham took the other guest room, so Lexar was left to sleep on the couch.

  It all worked out, except when I woke up in the morning, it was weird as fuck to have so many people around. I’d never made as many pancakes at once before, and we devoured them within minutes.

  The day stretched. Books kept me company while we waited for a call from Michael Alifair or for Feather Girl to get a signal from the nocturnal bitch. The hours dragged on forever, and I couldn’t focus on the story I was reading, though it was good. Good enough to keep me up all night, any other time. I was just going to have to re-read it when all of this was over.

  Everybody was on edge. We couldn’t find anything to say to one another, not in front of everyone like that, so we all just kept our mouths shut for the most part. But by evening, we were all somewhat comfortable. Except Lexar. He’d gone out twice to go look for Joey, the bar manager, but hadn’t found him. At this point we were both sure that he was either dead or hiding somewhere else.

  While in my apartment, Lexar still looked like he was sitting on needles, and I could feel his eyes on my face all the fucking time. It’s like he couldn’t find anything else more interesting to look at—and the TV was on, a movie with Margot Robbie in it. Seriously, that woman is perfection in the flesh. Even I got distracted from my book when she came on, but not Lexar. Whatever was on his mind, it wasn’t anything nice.

  “Anything?” I asked Lexar for probab
ly the hundredth time, and he looked at the phone on his lap. It was very obvious that it wasn’t ringing, but still. It didn’t hurt to check.

  “No,” he said, and to his credit, he hadn’t rolled his eyes once at my request, which meant he was just as nervous as I was. Just how long was Alifair was going to take to find the were-cheetahs?

  And who was to say that when we found them, the nocturnal bitch would even be with them?

  “What the fuck,” Feather Girl whispered. I only heard it because I was sitting right next to her, book in hand.

  “What?”

  She touched her chest, looking down at her lap, confused.

  “It’s the bitch,” she said. Chelsea paused the movie instantly.

  “Where? Where is she? Can you feel her?” My heart was already beating a thousand miles per minute. At this point I needed to find that woman, before my phoenix tore me apart and set the world on fire looking for her.

  “Yeah, but it’s…it’s different,” Feather Girl said, squeezing her eyes shut. “She’s everywhere.”

  “What do you mean, everywhere?” How can one person be everywhere?

  “I don’t know, Sassy. I’m telling you, it feels like she’s all over. In every direction. Everywhere.”

  “Are you sure you know what you’re feeling?” Lexar asked her, and she gritted her teeth.

  “Yes. I know what I’m feeling. This is how I found her the first time, remember? I can feel her, but she’s…” Her voice trailed off.

  “Everywhere,” I concluded and fell back on the couch with a sigh. How much more complicated did things need to get before we even saw the end?

  “Maybe your focus isn’t right,” Abraham offered, looking at Feather Girl like a concerned parent. “Maybe you need to tune out everything else. Have you tried that?”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” Feather Girl said, then turned to me. Panic leaked out of her voice—and feathers leaked out of her body, too. Three of them had sprouted right out the side of her neck in the past minute. It was still as mesmerizing to watch, and she was too distracted to get rid of them, so they just fell to the floor. “She’s doing something. I don’t know what she’s doing—but it’s something, and it’s not good.”