Firestorm (Smoke & Ashes Book 1)

by D. N. Hoxa

  “Yep. That’s what nocturnal bitches who summon evil spirits do—not good things.” I grabbed one of her feathers in my hand and analyzed it. It was so soft, like it was made of silk. The colors were beautiful—indigos and deep greens and purples mixed together.

  “I’m telling you, something’s wrong. Nobody feels like this—not even him.” Feather Girl pointed at Abraham.

  “Why? How exactly do I feel to you?” he asked, suddenly curious. At least he wasn’t sneaking looks Chelsea’s way when he thought I wasn’t looking. Yeah, he had a thing for my best friend, and I couldn’t wait to get rid of him because of it.

  “Like nothing. Not even like human. Like whatever you are slips right past my radar,” Feather Girl said.

  “Calm down,” Lexar said. “Try to make sense of what you’re thinking. Try to pick the strongest signal you’re getting. Can you do that?”

  Feather Girl didn’t like that one bit. She hated Lexar’s guts, and I didn’t even know why at this point. Was it just because she was afraid of him? Or did she know something else?

  Still, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, focusing on her thoughts. I stood up, the feather still in my hand. The suspense was killing me.

  “Anything?” I asked Lexar again, and he only shook his head. Great. Even Alifair wasn’t going to be able to find the were-cheetahs—his subjects. How in the world were we going to do it?

  But it did remind me of something else.

  “Why do you think that guy wants to speak to my dad?” It was a bit odd. Everybody wanted direct contact with the Fallen. They were like gods among the paranormals because paranormals existed because of the Fallen. Normally, nobody got to meet them—unless they were connected to them by blood. Or the Fallen needed something from them, like my father had needed Joleen to watch after me. Every other time, if something needed to be said, the Fallen did it with their champions—the hellhounds.

  “The same reason everyone wants to speak to the Fallen—to ask for power. More power,” Lexar said, like he’d been in this situation a thousand times already, while I had never heard of something like it before.

  “I thought the living weren’t allowed in Hell,” said Abraham. “How is the lion alpha going to meet with your father?”

  “He will come up here for the meeting,” said Lexar reluctantly. The suspicion in his pitch-black eyes was evident every time he looked at Abraham.

  And now Abraham looked the same. “The Fallen can’t come to the earthly plane, either.”

  “Sure, they can. Just not often. And not for long,” I informed him. Why else did he think that paranormals were so afraid of the Fallen? If they’d have had to wait until death to meet them, nobody here would have given a shit about them. No, the idea that one of the actual fallen angels could show up at people’s doors at any time was what kept everyone in check. And as fucked up as it sounded, I was glad for it. Without fear, there would be no telling what paranormals could do—to humans, to each other, to the entire world. The greed for power wasn’t only a human trait.

  If I’d cut Abraham’s cheek with a knife, no blood would have come out of him. “Let me guess—you didn’t know that.” And it scared him shitless.

  “No, I didn’t. Everything we’re taught says that the Fallen aren’t allowed here, not for any reason.” Uh-oh. Seemed like somebody had been lied to by his angelic parents.

  “How do you think we were made?” I asked, pointing my thumb between Lexar and myself. “You do know how babies are made, right?”

  Abraham’s cheeks were trying to impersonate a tomato. He kept his mouth shut.

  “And how do you think they brought magic to the world in the first place?” Feather Girl asked, and she did have a point.

  “Focus,” Lexar reminded her. “Focus while there’s still a signal.”

  “It’s not working,” Feather Girl mumbled, but she still closed her eyes.

  “So, what’s it like in New York? Where do you live? How do you manage your, erm…work?” Chelsea asked Abraham.

  He had no trouble answering her. “I live in an apartment, actually. Right next to my brother. We don’t manage the work—we only do it. Our parents do the managing. They’re connected to the police and other people who keep an eye on the streets. When we find someone causing trouble, we…eliminate them.”

  Just a fancy word for murder. Which was exactly what I did, too.

  Wait a minute…

  “Why aren’t there any of your kind here, in Philly?” I was pretty sure that I knew about every kind of paranormal that lived here—and Nephilim were not one of them. I had no clue they even existed in real life until I met Abraham.

  The question surprised him. He looked up at me, brows raised, a bit confused. “Because we’re not needed here. You’re here.”

  I laughed a bit because it almost sounded like he knew me. Like he had known me for a long time. Even Lexar thought it was odd. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, a brand new murderous look in his eyes.

  “What do you mean, I’m here? What exactly do you know about me?”

  “We know you watch after the city for infernals,” Abraham said, a bit uncertain about his words for once.

  “How do you know that? Who else knows that?” Lexar asked before I could.

  “Because we keep an eye on every place in the world where infernals live. My parents told me about Sapphire two years ago, but they probably knew before. There haven’t been any Nephilim in Philadelphia in almost a decade,” Abraham informed me.

  And just like that, I realized that even in the times I’d thought I was perfectly safe from the prying eyes of the world, I hadn’t been. Delicious food for my paranoia.

  “Hold on a minute. How do you keep an eye on me? Are you spying on me right now?” The need to go to the window and look outside at the street had never been greater.

  “I’m not sure. Like I said, we don’t manage the work, but no. They don’t spy on you every second. They only check every once in a while, I would imagine,” Abraham said, and to him, that wasn’t a big deal at all.

  “Who are your parents?” Lexar asked him. “What are their names?”

  “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,” Abraham said, his hands together in front of him, fingers intertwined, and I could have sworn he was a nervous mess from how tightly he was holding onto himself.

  “Sure, you can. If you keep an eye on us, it’s only fair we keep an eye on you.” I was going to find out everything there was to find out about the Nephilim. And also give my father a piece of my mind for never mentioning them to me before. Because he knew. There wasn’t anything that went on around here that he didn’t know—and descendants of angels? That was no small deal.

  “Not us—just you,” Abraham corrected, giving Lexar a pointed look, possibly because he could feel how badly Lexar wanted to grab him by the throat already.

  “If you don’t tell me—”

  A knock on the door cut me off. My entire body froze for a second, and it wasn’t just me. Everyone was paralyzed as we looked at the door behind us.

  What the fuck? I didn’t really get any visitors. Unless it was my neighbor—the sea witch. I looked at Feather Girl.

  “Witch,” she mouthed, then flinched. “I think.”

  I didn’t need to ask if it was the nocturnal one we were looking for. If it had been her, she’d have said bitch.

  “Don’t move,” I whispered to the others and slowly went to the door.

  “Who is it?” I called because my door didn’t have a peephole in it. Too bad.

  “It’s Elyssa Masters.”

  Shocked didn’t even begin to describe me right now.

  “Just a second!” I turned around and waved my hands at the others. “Go hide in my room. Quick!” I whispered as quietly as I could, and they all stood up at the same time, rushing for the hallway.

  It was the witch from the Alliance, the one with the tight curls that refused to loosen up, even when she moved. What the hell coul
d she be doing here?

  I didn’t think she was there to attack me or anything, but even if she did, her magic couldn’t do much to my fire. I didn’t feel threatened, but I was very curious.

  So, I opened the door.

  One look at her face and I knew she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to. She looked behind her at the hallway the same way she’d looked back at the Alliance buildings before showing me the picture of the symbol.

  “Hi,” I said with the best smile I could muster. “Hi, Elyssa. What a surprise.”

  “May I come in?” She didn’t let me answer. She moved to the side and slipped into my apartment, completely panicked.

  “Are you alone? I thought I heard footsteps,” the witch said, looking around my living room, leaning her head back to see down the hallway. Her hair hadn’t changed a bit. Her curls were still as rigid, and I don’t even know why it bothered me.

  “Yep. Just the TV.” And, sure enough, the TV was on, the movie paused with Margot Robbie’s face frozen mid-sentence. She still looked perfect, even with her mouth half open like that. “So, what brings you to my apartment, Elyssa?”

  She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes that were analyzing everything around her. When she saw the black stain on the floor in front of the window, her brows shot up.

  “What happened there?”

  “I, uh…” I scratched my cheek for a second. “I killed a werewolf, actually.” I shrugged. There was no point in lying, really.

  “Oh.” She pulled her lips inside her mouth and met my eyes. “Well, I’m sorry to come here uninvited, but I didn’t want to talk to you over the phone,” she started, pulling at her fingers. “We’ve gotten some news that we think is somehow connected to the nocturnal witch, and I thought it would be wise to tell you about it.”

  Very, very wise. I stepped closer to her. “What news?”

  “The police have been getting some weird calls—unexplained noises going on all around the city. People claiming that they see lights outside their windows, shooting at the sky, then disappearing into thin air. Some even reported witnessing people turning into animals.”

  What the… “When was this? Where was it?”

  Elyssa shook her head. “I don’t know—I didn’t get the details, but it’s been going on since last night,” she said. “I read about dybbuks, and they have the power to disrupt the magical balance on Earth, so I thought…”

  “The bitch,” I whispered. It had to be the bitch. “Was anybody hurt? Did anybody die?”

  “Not that I know of, no.” Thank God. “But it’s going to happen soon. If shifters are being seen around the city by humans, it means they’re losing their control, and it’s only a matter of time before it gets worse.”

  On that, we agreed. “Thank you for telling me,” I said to Elyssa. The list of why that bitch needed to die yesterday kept on growing. It pissed my phoenix off, too, and when she was pissed off, she was especially stubborn.

  “We found an address, too,” she whispered, like she was afraid someone would hear her.

  I almost hugged her. “Where?”

  “I don’t know yet—I’m waiting to find out, but I can tell you when I do. The Alliance has already been there. They’ve taken everything she had.”

  Damn it. “And they didn’t find anything that would lead us to her?”

  Elyssa shook her head. “Nothing so far. She was very careful. They will still probably share everything with you once they go over them, but I doubt they’ll find anything useful.”

  I nodded. “Can you call me once you have the address? I still want to go see the place myself.”

  “Of course,” she said. “I’ll do anything I can to help.”

  That made me a bit curious.

  “Why? I mean, I’m not complaining, but why? The Alliance obviously doesn’t know you’re here.”

  Her chin actually quivered. “I helped her. I helped with her research, I showed her where everything was—I feel responsible for it.”

  Ah. Guilt—a very powerful motivator. “We’re going to find her, Elyssa.” I’d told her this when I met her two days ago, too. “It might take a little while, but we’ll find her. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Yes, of course. Just…dybbuks are…I don’t…” Wow, she couldn’t even finish her sentences anymore. Her eyes were glossy, too. I put my hand on her shoulder despite myself.

  “It’s fine. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know that she was going to summon an evil spirit. This is not your fault.”

  She pressed her hand to her chest and tried to smile. “Just that all those humans—they must have been terrified!”

  “And they’ll forget all about it in no time. Right now, I just need you to keep calm and call me when you have that address, okay?”

  “Okay,” she breathed, and with her head down, she walked to the door and out of it. I couldn’t look away for a while.

  “What the hell is going on?” Feather Girl whispered, and when I turned around, I found all the others already in the living room. Judging by the look on their faces, it was safe to assume they’d heard my conversation with Elyssa. And they didn’t like it any more than I did. Especially Lexar.

  “It’ll be fine,” he whispered. “Once we find her, everything will go back to normal.”

  I hoped to God he was right.

  21

  Trying to tell Chelsea that she wasn’t coming with was worse than dealing with my phoenix. She wouldn’t hear it. Suck it up, she told me. I’m going whether you like it or not.

  Of course, I didn’t like it. She was in no condition to come with us to find the nocturnal bitch. But Abraham insisted that he needed to be there, too, and once he did, there was no talking Chelsea out of it. I understood why she wanted to stick to him, I really did. She hadn’t even thought about the fact that she was a shifter at all. She was terrified of it, and she was going to take as long as she could to try to accept this whole thing. She didn’t want to shift, and I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t want her to shift, either, but we were going to potentially find the bitch, and if we did, there was a good chance we’d be dealing with the same evil spirit as before.

  But tell that to Chelsea.

  I watched Lexar get on his bike and put his helmet on, his eyes on me. He wasn’t comfortable with this. He didn’t like it that we were going with. If it were up to him, he’d be going there alone, but no way in hell would I let that happen. And I couldn’t stop Abraham. Or Feather Girl. Yes, she wanted to be there, too. Everybody wanted to be the one to kill the nocturnal bitch. I wondered if she knew how many fans she had.

  Next to me, Abraham looked down at the ground, trying to pretend he wasn’t there. We were still waiting for Chelsea and Feather Girl to come downstairs. They were the only ones who hadn’t been ready to leave when I got the text message from Elyssa Masters.

  True to her word, she’d sent me an address. I doubted she was messing with us. What would be the point? She wanted the bitch dead, that much was obvious. Plus, I had double-checked the perimeter around my apartment to make sure I wasn’t being spied on, and so far, so good.

  Now, if the girls could just get down here so we could be on our way…

  “Why are you really here, Abraham?” I asked, half curious, half needing a distraction from my own thoughts.

  “I told you why I’m here,” he said, hands tucked in his pocket, looking at the entrance of the building.

  “I mean the real reason. If your parents are so confident in my ability to keep this city safe, why send you here?” And I still hadn’t gotten over the fact that I’d been spied on, even before he got here. By his parents and apparently the entire Nephilim race.

  “Because of my visions,” he said. I’d almost forgotten about those. “We’re not dealing with just infernals here this time. There’s something more to it.”

  “And they thought you alone would be enough?” My way of asking if more of his kind were here with us. I wouldn’t put it past them to be
hiding somewhere close by.

  He smiled then, showing me all his perfectly white teeth. “I’m not alone. You’re here, and so is Lexar. And Annabelle.”

  I almost asked who Annabelle was.

  “But you didn’t know they would be here, did you.” It wasn’t a question. His parents had only been keeping tabs on me, according to him. “You thought I’d be alone.”

  “I came here to assess the situation. I assessed it. There was no need for backup. Nobody else is with me, Sassy,” he said, smiling like he was trying to comfort me. “I’m alone.”

  “I don’t trust you, Abraham. I know you’re not telling me something, and when I find out what it is, you better hope it doesn’t piss me off.” Because he wasn’t going to like what happened.

  “That’s okay. I don’t trust you, either. You’re the daughter of a Fallen—the reason why evil exists in this world. But working together right now is practical. Simple logic. You don’t need to trust me. Just trust that I want that witch gone just as much as you do.”

  “And what happens next?” Lexar called from his bike. He was maybe five feet away from us, but he still heard us perfectly. We weren’t whispering. “When we kill the witch, what happens then?”

  “Then I go back home,” Abraham said, and I could have sworn his eye twitched just a bit when he said it. I was right not to trust the guy, but he was also right about it being practical to work together.

  I wasn’t sure exactly how good he was in a fight, but I could trust that light of his to be a powerful tool when dealing with the nocturnal bitch. If he could take her sight away, even for a moment, it would be enough.

  Luckily, the girls came rushing out of the building a moment later, and we finally got in the car. Lexar would follow us on his bike. It was going to take us a little while to get there. The address Elyssa sent to us was in Fox Chase, near a nursing center, and according to Google, the bitch’s house sat across the road from a woods. The tension in the car kept growing with every minute as I drove, with Feather Girl riding shotgun, and Abraham and Chelsea in the back. If my rearview mirror was showing me the truth, they were sitting far too close to one another. Just another reason why killing the bitch had to be done: Abraham needed to get back where he came from.