Battle With Fire

by Breene, K. F.

  The shadows lengthened across the cracked pavement and crawled up the walls of the cemetery. Smokey waited in his usual spot, watching the goings-on in the street. His gaze swung right, and he tensed. Confused, he looked at me.

  The door opened in the house next door. Mikey stepped out and closed it behind him, his shirt freshly pressed, his jeans new, and a great-smelling aftershave wafting toward me. He glanced my way and scowled so hard I nearly warned him that his face would get stuck like that. Though I didn’t want to give him ideas.

  “When are you moving?” I asked as Smokey went back to watching something down the street.

  “Fuck you,” Mikey spat, leaning against his freshly replaced railing. A gold watch glittered on his wrist—a Rolex.

  “Millionaires do not live in this neighborhood, Mikey. You’re in the wrong place.”

  “You’re a millionaire and you’re still here,” he said.

  “No, my boyfriend is a millionaire. He doesn’t live here.”

  He pointed at me with perfectly clipped and buffed nails. “I’m still not talking to you. You’re dead to me.”

  “Why are you blaming me? The Red Prophet told you to invest in those stocks, not me.”

  “I bet she told you I’d have the cops swarming all over me, didn’t she?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I bet she told you that I’d spend a month worried I’d go to prison for a white-collar crime. Do you know what they do to guys like me who get pinched for white-collar shit?”

  “Nothing, because you’d beat them senseless if they tried.”

  He huffed and looked over at Smokey, who had taken the whole thing much better. He’d endured the investigation into insider trading with few words and a habitually pale face. But they’d made it, just as the Red Prophet had said they would, and now they were filthy rich. The guys who were actually guilty of insider trading were currently awaiting trial.

  “Where’d she go, anyway?” Mikey asked. “She brought the heat on me and then disappeared, is that it?”

  I shrugged, watching the quiet street. It had been three months now since the battle, but no one had heard from her. Romulus was still looking, as a matter of fact. He didn’t like that she’d been missing for so long. Karen refused to use her Sight to track her down.

  “It was hell, but…I guess I should at least say thanks, know what I’m saying?” He scratched his head. “I don’t like talking about it, because it’s nobody’s business, but I heard Smokey tell you, so I’ll just say it…” He rolled his shoulders. “I’m set for life. I don’t never have to work again. If I have kids, they probably won’t have to work, neither. Though they will, because they need to learn that life ain’t easy. But still…” He turned his face away and then put his hands on his hips. “I should at least say thanks, you know?”

  “If I ever see her, I’ll tell her to stop by. If you’re gone by then, I’ll tell her for you, how’s that?”

  He nodded and leaned against the railing. “What’s your plan?”

  “I don’t know.” The words rode a sigh. “Probably go meet my dad tomorrow.”

  He pointed downward and lifted his eyebrows.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  He nodded. “I liked that guy better than the fanged fuckers. He seemed more like one of us. More down to earth, you know?”

  A slight figure sauntered into view, all hips and breasts, even with her dainty frame. I squinted at the sky, the last of the sun’s rays finally disappearing. That was why Smokey was confused, most likely. A vampire, walking in the failing sun.

  “Did you turn back into a human or something?” I asked Ja as she stopped in front of my house.

  “At my age, the dying sun is merely an aggravation.”

  She was aiming for dramatics, then.

  She was wasting her efforts on me.

  “Fuck that.” Mikey jogged down his stairs and started away. “See ya around, Reagan,” he called.

  I crossed a heavy boot over my leather-clad knee as Ja approached, not bothering to get up. “To what do I owe the annoyance?”

  “You won, as I knew you would.”

  “I thought you were supposed to be on my side when that happened?”

  “I was on your side. Delayed in the Underworld, but on your side.”

  “Hmm.” I chuckled. “You tried to mess with Darius, then me, and you helped my father…but you were somehow on my side?”

  She fixed her long blond hair, a change since I’d seen her last. “You know enough about vampire politics not to equate…my information gathering with sides. I helped your father contact you, that is all. I would’ve done more to protect you had I not been the subject of…scrutiny in the Underworld.”

  That had another meaning, but I didn’t much care what it meant. “Fine. What do you want?”

  “You will need strong allies when you take your place within the Dark Kingdom. I am here to remind you that none are stronger than me.” She held out her hands. “I have a long history in the Underworld. I would be an incredible asset.”

  “Maybe. And if my father gives me a job, my first order of business will be to make Darius an ambassador so that he can deal with you.”

  “Remember who helped you,” she said softly.

  I laughed. “Remember who helped you.”

  She opened her mouth to reply, but instead I tossed my hand. Air gathered and fire coalesced. In a moment, she went tumbling down the street in a ball of flame. It wouldn’t kill her, but it would certainly ruin her day.

  “How’s that for dramatic?” I murmured as Smokey grinned and gave me a thumbs-up from across the street. Too bad he wasn’t magical, or he could visit me in the Underworld.

  I squinted at him and half wondered if he’d want to become a vampire. Or a shifter. Either could be arranged…

  A lime-green Lamborghini revved as it rolled down the street, cutting into my thoughts. The timing of Ja’s visit wasn’t lost on me. Darius pulled up to the curb in front of my house and got out, his hair styled just so, his suit like a coat of paint, and his whole person incredibly mouth-watering. I smiled like a dummy as he fixed his cuff link and then closed the car door. He nodded a hello to Smokey before coming around the car.

  “Hello, mon ange,” he greeted me, walking up the steps. “How is your evening so far?”

  “I got a visit from Ja a few moments ago. I sent her up the street in a ball of fire.”

  He glanced in the right direction before taking the seat next to me. “Dare I ask what she wanted?”

  “A strong connection in the Underworld.” I shared the gist of the conversation with him.

  “She is disheveled, it would seem. Some things haven’t gone her way. She’s trying to gauge what options are available to her. This meeting with Vlad couldn’t come at a better time.”

  A wave of butterflies overtook my stomach. “I won’t let him hurt you, you know that.”

  “I am hoping it won’t come to that. He has made no actions against me. He has kept his distance, like he did before all of this started.”

  “But, like…if it does come to that, I will not stand aside while you two brawl. He won’t be allowed to hurt you.”

  Darius reached for my hand. “I understand.”

  A crummy older Honda puttered up the street. It pulled in front of Darius’s car. The sound of an old handbrake being applied preceded Vlad exiting the car. He nodded to Smokey before coming around the hood to the sidewalk.

  “You don’t match,” I called, still holding Darius’s hand. “That incredibly expensive suit does not match that car.”

  Vlad didn’t glance at his wheels, but instead stopped at the bottom of my porch steps. “May I come up?”

  “Sure, yeah.” I motioned him on.

  “I like to blend into neighborhoods like this,” he said, stopping near the banister. “It annoys me when I walk out to discover my car has been boosted.”

  “No one would steal your car in this neighborhood,” I replied.

  Vlad looked
at me before turning to the rest of the street. “No, likely not.”

  I stood and opened the front door. I’d taken the ward down for this meeting.

  Darius waited as I entered, gesturing Vlad in after me.

  “Please,” Vlad said, repeating the gesture. “I insist.”

  I took a seat at the kitchen table. Darius had mentioned beforehand that we’d keep this meeting casual. Vlad took the chair opposite me, and Darius set about collecting drinks.

  “Congratulations,” Vlad said to me, his perfect smile matching his perfect face. Though, unlike Michael, Vlad at least had a whole lot of menace just below the surface. “You achieved your goal. Your method was unorthodox, but the end result is all that matters.”

  “Yeah. Maybe I’ll nearly die the next time I need something, too.” I leaned back. “Sucks you didn’t think of it.”

  “Indeed,” Vlad said.

  Darius delivered a cognac for himself and Vlad and then set a whiskey in front of me. He took his chair and then my hand.

  “Ja visited us in the shifter compound. I’m sure you’ve heard,” Darius started.

  “A few times, it seems.” Vlad took a sip of his beverage. “She is going to be a problem.”

  “Agreed. She filled me in on the part you played, regarding how I was made.”

  “Yes, I heard. I did not bring my pistols, sadly. How do you plan to settle this?”

  Darius’s eyes glittered. Vlad was clearly making a joke, but the sentiment didn’t reach his cold, calculating eyes.

  “Why did you never tell me?”

  Vlad sat back, studying Darius. “You are a changed vampire since Reagan. Dare I say a changed man? You would not have treated the matter with such indifference back in the day. For a long time, that woman was a sticking point for you. You were not rational about it.”

  Darius slowly took a sip. “It is true, then? You orchestrated everything?”

  “No, as a matter of fact. I did not plant her. My driver would have run her over had I not stopped him. No offense, old friend, but she was a nobody.”

  Darius didn’t comment.

  “That was the first time you came to my notice,” Vlad said. “Quite gallant. Large for the time, strong frame, ease of movement… I looked into you then. You know what I saw.”

  Darius inclined his head. Vlad would’ve seen his fortune, basically. His land. All of his assets. He also would’ve figured out that a man so adept in keeping his fortune had a keen business sense and intelligent mind.

  “I did coax her toward you and seed her foolish notions about vampires, of course,” Vlad said.

  “Were you fucking her?” Darius asked, and a flash of cold washed through me. I wasn’t even sure what had caused that emotion. I guess I just hadn’t expected Darius to ask. Maybe I hadn’t expected him to care?

  Maybe I’d hoped he wouldn’t…

  As if hearing my thoughts, he stroked his thumb across my skin.

  I merely want everything out in the open, he thought.

  “No, I was not,” Vlad said. “In those days, I would’ve tied blood with sex. I couldn’t take her blood, for obvious reasons.” Namely, it would have given her a different “vampire” to fear. “I doubt I could’ve seduced her, anyway. She was quite religious. Fanatically so.”

  “Of course,” Darius said, his thumb still stroking my skin. “Reagan was amazed you went through the effort.”

  Vlad slid his gaze to me. “Yes. Times have changed.”

  “That’s what I told her. Have you experienced what the Underworld has to offer?”

  “Will we race to sire a brood?” Vlad asked with the briefest of smiles.

  Cold ran through me for a different reason, and then sparklers flared in my stomach. This time, Darius’s grip on my hand tightened.

  “No,” Darius replied. “We are in no hurry. Reagan needs to decide what she’d like to do in the present before we look to the future.”

  “But it’s in your plans?” Vlad asked.

  Darius looked at me, his beautiful eyes soft and bright. “Yes, someday. If Reagan wishes it.”

  I did wish it, but…not yet. Darius had his finger on the pulse of the situation. I needed to settle down and live my own life for a while. Only when that was going steadily could I think of creating another. I was thankful he understood.

  That didn’t mean we needed to wait forever for…well, forever. Emery had wasted no time proposing, and he and Penny had wasted no time in tying the knot. I’d honestly expected Darius to ask when we were in Rome. It had been plenty romantic.

  “Speaking of the present,” Vlad said, thankfully changing the subject, “I hear Roger is a lot more amenable to vampire activities in the Brink.” Just like that, I knew they’d put the issue about Darius’s making behind them. It was a small thing, obviously, in the face of much bigger issues, like Ja and the changing of the worlds. I was happy it had proven so anticlimactic.

  I did wonder why Darius had wanted to have their meeting here, though. That seemed odd.

  “Yes. I’d hoped to get your help there.” He turned to me. “Reagan, this will be vampire politics. You are welcome to stay if you want or—”

  “Nope.” I let go of his hand and pushed my chair back. “I’ll make myself scarce.”

  Darius and Vlad both stood when I did, gentlemen from a different era. Vlad would keep up the manners even if he was plotting to kill me, I knew. Which I definitely doubted, given my new standing.

  I tried not to smile. But honestly, it was seriously cool.

  “I wondered, actually,” Darius said before I could get away, “if you’d do me the honor of putting on one of the dresses upstairs and getting ready for dinner? I have a very important meeting to attend, and I’d hoped for your company.”

  I paused at the edge of the kitchen. It wasn’t like him not to warn me about that kind of thing. Then again, he might’ve been worried this evening would go horribly wrong with Vlad. It was always hard to tell with him.

  “Yeah, sure,” I replied.

  Reagan, Vlad thought, and I paused again. They couldn’t have said all of this before I left the table? I know if you’d asked, Lucifer would’ve delivered me to you. I can only assume that would’ve been to kill me, which we both know is in your power.

  I nodded, waiting for more.

  He gave me a slight bow. There was a time when you might’ve leaned on that power, out of spite. Maybe for a joke. There was a time Darius would’ve demanded it. I am in your debt. Darius will know what to do with that information, if you don’t.

  I stared, wide-eyed and mute. I hadn’t expected that admission, even if we both knew it was true. Since when were vampires so forthcoming in putting themselves at someone’s mercy?

  When that someone was connected to Lucifer, maybe. This was probably Vlad’s way of sucking up.

  I inclined my head instead of bowing, and headed upstairs.

  Three dresses awaited me, although I had no idea when they’d been put there or by whom. Then again, I was getting used to that sort of thing.

  “Hello—”

  I sent a burst of air and slammed Marie to the wall. She grinned mischievously and waited for me to release her.

  That explained how the dresses had gotten in here.

  “So powerful,” she purred, slinking closer. “Darius is a lucky vampire.”

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, turning back to the dresses.

  She gave the answer I was expecting. “I will help you get ready. How are these selections? I have others in the car, if you’d prefer.”

  She must’ve snuck in the back while we were talking to Vlad. Darius was being very sneaky. This dinner had to have be important.

  I shrugged and crossed the room to my chair. “Don’t care.”

  She selected a frosty-blue number with sparkly strips across the neck that looked like diamonds. It had a plunging neckline and a swooping back. The bottom would hit the floor but not impede my steps. It would make me look graceful and g
orgeous, glamorous and elegant.

  It would also put my knockers on display. You’re welcome, Darius.

  Marie left the room and returned with a high chair and standing lights. I sat dutifully and let her work her magic on my face and hair. There was no point in resisting. Besides, I’d rather save myself the trouble.

  That done, I undressed myself, because she could get handsy, and accepted barely there lingerie. The dress skimmed down my skin like a waterfall and clung to all the right places. She attempted to offer me very pointy shoes, and I pushed for flats instead. She relented because she probably knew my next suggestion would be boots. This wasn’t our first rodeo.

  Darius waited in the living room, another book in hand. Action adventure this time. He closed it when I walked in, his eyes taking me in.

  “Beautiful,” he said. He stood gracefully and dropped the book to the coffee table. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” I said, smiling. Vlad had clearly left.

  His lips curved up at the corners as he drifted closer, his suit and poise and movements blending together to create an impression of elegance.

  “Shall we?” He held out his arm, and I took it.

  “Dare I ask where we’re going?”

  He opened the door when we reached it, stood aside for me to pass through, and then closed it behind him. Apparently Marie would see herself out.

  “You can ask, if you’d like.” He held out his arm again, and I noticed his Lamborghini was gone, replaced with a black sedan with a grumpy driver in the front.

  “But you won’t be filling me in.” I waved to Smokey as Darius opened the door. “You are very predictable.”

  “I enjoy surprising you.”

  “Do I need to be on my best behavior?” I asked as I got in. He closed the door and crossed to the other side.

  “No, not for this.”

  Moss’s hard gaze appeared in the rearview mirror, trained on me, but his brows lowered when I noticed him. Without a word, he looked back down and we were on our way.

  I expected to head downtown or to the airport. That was where Darius usually took me for one of these things. This time, though, Moss drove to the highway heading away from town.

  “Why bring Moss if we’re driving?” I asked. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, his surly silence really complements any long and tedious car journey, but usually you take a faster mode of transportation.”