Fire Master Rising

by Jami Brumfield

  Rebecca shrugged as a way to cover her grimace. She didn’t like letting the wolf out outside of the full moon unless it was necessary to defend her people. It hurt to transform, even part of the way, but this was a special circumstance. ‘Are you game?’ Rebecca asked the wolf whose only answer was a snarl as she took control. Rebecca felt her mouth, teeth and fingernails lengthen. Fur grew on her face and hands, and her eyes turned violet. She didn’t turn all the way so the pain was bearable, but constant, and she was able to keep herself from crying out despite the distorted shape her body took on. Even on a full moon, Rebecca changed alone to keep anyone from thinking she was weak when she screamed in agony from the change.

  Gabriel closed his eyes, and focused all the love and compassion he could muster toward Rebecca. She felt his comfort, and silently thanked him as Siren took center stage.

  “I assume I’m talking to the alpha, excuse me, Siren?” Josephine asked.

  “You assume correctly.” It was odd hearing Siren’s voice outside of her mind, and from her lips. She sounded different, older.

  “Thank you.” Josephine offered a tight nod. “Since you are one of the only living witnesses to what happened the night of the massacre, we’d like you to tell us what you remember.”

  “Since my pack, my people, and my host were butchered that night I remember everything. The problem is, whoever attacked us was very strategic about the matter. Tomas was drugged, and I was paralyzed, unable to defend my people.”

  “I understand it was very traumatic, but please tell us what you remember.”

  “It was a typical night. Tomas and his enforcers were having a meeting at a campsite not far from the compound. Wolves from all over the state were coming in because the full moon was arriving in a few days, and everyone was to run with the pack to welcome our newest member, Rebecca,” Siren began.

  “We heard the screams first, the calls for help came after. It was odd since most of the wolves had settled in for the night. At first we wondered if the screams were from some teenagers messing around in the woods. It was the heavy scent of blood on the wind that had us rushing back to the complex.”

  “Please, go on.”

  “Tomas tried to transform into the wolf, but something was wrong. There was some kind of magical potion running through our veins, weakening us, making it impossible to transform.” Siren turned to Violet, “whoever attacked us was very intelligent. They weakened us by killing off our betas, and then, one by one, they killed off the enforcers until only Tomas remained. By this time, I was unconscious. My guess is he was killed horribly after looking at the photos of the body. I woke up in the mind of Rebecca, the only living member of the pack.”

  “Do you remember anything about the attack?”

  “There were many of them. At least a dozen or so, maybe more. They were strong which meant they weren’t human, and they had a scent of death on them, which is why vampires are the logical assumption.”

  “Vampires are not the only supernaturals that smell of death,” Josephine pointed out.

  “No, but they are the only enemies of the werewolves that do.” Siren didn’t hesitate with her answer.

  “Is there anything else you can remember?”

  “They wore identical clothes, almost like a uniform. Dressed in black from head to toe; long duster jackets with black nylon-like masks hiding their identities. They were also sword masters, every one of them could sever a head from the shoulders with one slice of the knife.”

  “Is it possible that these were paid assassins?”

  “Without a doubt. I don’t know of any supernaturals in Arizona that have their abilities. However, I’ve lived many centuries, and I’ve never met assassins that dressed like that, and handled swords with such expertise. The closest beings I could compare them to were ninjas, only they weren’t any ninjas I’ve met before, and I have no doubt they were vampires because of their scent.”

  “What motive do you think Violet could have for doing something like this?”

  “Objection, speculation.” The snake chimed in with his suave demeanor and voice.

  “Your honor, Siren may be able to shed some light onto why this happened.”

  “We all understand what she is saying is speculation, but I’d like to hear what Siren thinks could have motivated such a terrible attack.”

  Siren shook her head. “Truthfully, I’m at a loss. It’s no secret we are in a stalemate in a never ending war between our races, but seriously, I never would’ve seen that coming. Maybe in the middle ages, even the dark ages, but we are more civilized now. We need to be to blend in with the humans. This act of war jeopardized us all.”

  “Thank you, Siren. No further questions.”

  Silvio stood up, and slowly made his way to the center of the room. He buttoned the top button of his suit jacket and smiled, pausing for dramatic effect. “Siren, did you see Violet among the attackers?”

  “I told you they were masked assailants.”

  “Can you identify a vampire from her ranks that was among the attackers?”

  “Are you deaf? I told you they were masked.”

  He smiled, knowing he won the first battle. “No further questions.”

  It took a few moments, and a lot of pain, but Rebecca morphed back into human form. She saw the story Siren shared with the group in vivid color in her mind. The brutality of the killing was horrendous. Tears pricked the back of her eyes, and she wondered if she’d ever get those images out of her mind. Probably not. How someone could kill so many people without a hint of hesitation was unbelievable to her. Her heart broke, and wept at the same time. She excused herself from the floor, and wanted to run into the bathroom to cry, only she knew she couldn’t. She had to remain strong. She took her place beside Savannah and Gabriel, and breathed a sigh of relief when his love for her flooded through her body, and gave her the light of hope. Whatever had happened to her pack before, she’d make sure it never happened again. ‘I promise you, Siren.’ She whispered to her wolf, and for a moment they bonded over the sadness and loss. Then Siren curled up into the corner of her psyche, and proceeded to watch the rest of the trial unfold. To Siren’s way of thinking, Violet was guilty.

  ***

  Hunter

  HUNTER COULD FEEL THE PAIN from Rebecca, and her struggle to remain stoic and strong. His heart wept for her. Being empathic had its advantages, but in this case, his empathy, and his strong connection to his older sister was a hindrance. He wished he could do something for her other than reduce her pain by taking some of it onto himself. Tears stung his eyes and threatened to fall. Freya looked at him, and laced her fingers into his hand, somehow giving him strength. He didn’t know what Rebecca saw that made her feel such agony, but since becoming a witch, he’d seen into the looking glass, and knew it was probably horrible.

  When Rebecca’s pain turned into the need for vengeance, and the anger took hold, he felt the blood boil in his veins, and the heat rise within him. It was the same feeling he felt when fire was developing in his mind. If he closed his eyes, he had no doubt he’d be able to create a fireball. It was his own excitement that pushed down the rage flaring in his body taking control of his powers. It was his happiness over his return of powers that kept him from lighting up right there.

  He really needed to learn how to sever his powers from his emotions. But one thing he could do, thanks to Natalia’s tutelage, was block the empathic link. He slid down the brick wall between him and Rebecca in his mind to cut off her flow of emotions into his person, and turned his attention back to the trial. Everything he’d seen so far was circumstantial. If they were going to persecute someone for genocide he would have thought there would’ve been more solid evidence. He only hoped Josephine was just warming up.

  “I’d like to call River Black to the stand.” Josephine drew attention back to the trial.

  River glanced at Gabe, who nodded. River scrambled up to the stand, and was quickly sworn in.

  “River, I underst
and you and your sister Willow were at the compound when the attack happened.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Can you tell me what you remember?”

  River squirmed in his seat for a moment. “When the killers came, we were told to go to the safe room in the cellar.”

  “I understand, but can you tell me anything about the assassins?”

  “Siren summed it up pretty much. The people dressed in black attacked with swords. Wolves’ heads were severed from their shoulders. It was way scarier than any horror film I’ve seen.”

  “Do you remember anything about the killers that might be helpful?”

  He glanced over at Violet. “I was told they were vampires, but I don’t know.”

  “Anything else?”

  “They wouldn’t stop their attack. While the wolves hesitated, they took them down. It didn’t matter if they killed women, men, or children.” Tears moistened his eyes. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help defend our people.” He started to cry, and Gabriel jumped up to help his brother.

  Rebecca held him back. They needed to finish the questioning.

  “Willow and I wanted to be there, but we aren’t wolves yet. There was no way we would’ve survived against the killers.” He wiped his tears with the back of his sleeve.

  “I know this is difficult, River, but in our questioning, you mentioned something important about a tattoo on one of the killer’s hands.”

  River nodded. “The cobweb centered around a crescent moon.”

  “Do you know of anyone else that has that same tattoo?”

  River nodded, and pointed his finger at Violet. “The vampire queen has that same tattoo on her neck.”

  “Just because my nest all possess that tattoo doesn’t mean I ordered the assassination,” Violet insisted as she pulled her black hair forward to cover the damning mark.

  “No further questions. Thank you, River.” Josephine rested her questioning.

  “I’m going to ask you the same question, River.” Silvio stood. “Can you identify any of the killers’ faces?”

  “No, like Siren said, they were wearing masks.”

  “Did you see any other recognizable marks?”

  “No, it all happened so fast.”

  “Thank you, no further questions.”

  The questioning went the same for Willow who had even less information to share with the court.

  “I’d like to call Tabitha Martine.” Josephine’s stern voice echoed through the quiet room.

  A woman who couldn’t be more than four feet tall walked up to the front of the room, and took the hot seat. She had short, brown hair and twinkling, blue eyes. Her very essence was magical, only Hunter had never met her at any witch meeting, not that he’d gone to a lot of them, but still.

  “Hello, Tabitha. Please state the nature of your relationship with Violet.”

  Tabitha smiled, menace in her eyes. “I was Violet’s servant.”

  “And as a servant, you were privy to a lot of information others may not have had?”

  “Objection, leading,” Silvio interjected.

  Josephine didn’t wait for Francesco to answer. She waved her hand in the air like one would do when shooing away a fly and said, “Let me rephrase. Were you privy to special conversations that your master had with others that were meant to be kept secret?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have any of those conversations centered around the wolf pack?”

  “Many.”

  “Any that were about annihilating the local pack?”

  “Of course.”

  The crowd gasped at the last answer.

  “The vampires and werewolves have hated each other for centuries. It’s no surprise they would talk about doing away with one another. I’m sure if you asked Siren this question, she would’ve said that same conversation happened in the wolf camp,” Tabitha added.

  The crowd eased up, and so did she. She reminded Hunter of the girl who always wanted to please everyone. It would make sense a servant would have that personality trait.

  “How about conversations around full moon gatherings?”

  “Oh, yes. It’s no secret the pack gathers to welcome their newest members into the fold for the first full moon. Everyone knew that Rebecca was being made, and Violet was not happy about the news. No one knew they still had powers, but Violet worried the transformation would unlock any dormant powers in Rebecca’s blood. She is both a Matthews and a Winters, after all.”

  “So there was specific talk about doing away with them all that full moon.”

  This time Tabitha had the good sense to pause, and everyone in the room hung on the silence. She glanced nervously at Violet who nodded her head. “Yes.”

  “And did you hear how that plan was to happen?”

  Silence.

  “I will remind you we have telepaths here to insure honesty. If you lie, you know the punishment.”

  Tabitha sighed. “Yes.”

  “And? Was their mention of poisoning?”

  “Yes.”

  “Calling in assassins to keep their hands clean?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think Violet did this?”

  “Objection!”

  “No. I know she wasn’t involved in this occurrence. I know because she insisted they stop the conversation. Insisted that if anything happened to the pack she’d find out who did it and make them pay. She knows the rules, and she doesn’t want--”

  “Just answer the question, Tabitha.” Francesco interrupted her.

  “No. No, I don’t think she did this. I know she didn’t.”

  “No further questions.”

  Tabitha nodded, and hurried from the hot seat back to her spot in the crowd.

  The rest of the day moved along at the same pace. Every piece of evidence brought forth was circumstantial, but it was damaging.

  “I’m going to call a break for lunch,” Francesco announced after the fourth witness stepped down from the hot seat.

  ***

  Savannah

  LUCKY MOVED FROM HIS PERCH on the back wall. Savannah had been watching him the entire trial. Rebecca had convinced her last night to let him go, and she planned to do that as quickly as possible, especially now that Violet looked extremely guilty, and the trial was winding up quickly. If Violet was found guilty, Celestia would seize the throne, and her fate would be sealed. If she was the queen, Savannah would have no escape from her marriage to Viktor. If he was going to give her a real commitment, she didn’t think she wanted out either. Lucky needed to know there was no future for them. When the recess was called, the leprechaun, Amelia, approached Lucky, and reached him before Savannah.

  She decided to listen in on the conversation while she waited for them to finish talking.

  “I hear you left the Protectors.” Amelia flipped her red braid behind her shoulder, and pulled out her gold coin.

  “I did.”

  Amelia started rolling the coin between her knuckles. “Can you tell me why?”

  “Because it’s a corrupt organization, but you know that, don’t you Amelia?” He uncrossed his arms from his chest, and stood with his feet parted, planted firmly to the ground, his knees slightly bent. It was the only indication he was preparing for a possible confrontation, and she only recognized the warning stance because she had trained with him.

  “I don’t know what you’re referring to, Lucien.”

  “Oh, I think you do, but now is not the time to discuss this. Too many curious ears.” He allowed his eyes to bounce around the room.

  Just then, Tabitha came rushing past, and knocked into Amelia with a frantic pace. The coin she was balancing between her knuckles fell and rolled to Savannah’s feet.

  Savannah knelt to pick it up, and when she did, a vision took her mind. Suddenly, she was like a fly on the wall watching a conversation between Abigail, Francesco, and Josephine. It was heated, and their voices were rising in octaves with each new stat
ement.

  “We can’t let Tomas have the Winters girl,” Francesco hissed angrily. “It will destroy all of our plans.”

  “We can’t really change that now, can we? The council has voted. Rebecca will be made into a werewolf in hopes that her power unlocks with the transformation.” Abigail’s whisper was heated.

  “Tomas can’t have that amount of power,” Josephine chimed in.

  “Not with him bordering on insanity,” Abigail agreed. “But what can we do?”

  “Kill him,” Francesco said, no remorse in his voice.

  “Kill him?” Abigail laughed. “That’s an impossible feat. His wolves will die to protect him.”

  “Then we’ll have to kill them all, and I know just the way to do it,” Francesco snapped as he picked up the phone.

  “Stop talking nonsense, Francesco.” Amelia shook her head.

  “What you’re proposing is genocide,” Josephine warned. “It will shake the powers of this town to the core.”

  “Maybe a little shaking is what we need,” Francesco’s deep voice boomed. “Yes, we need your help.” He spoke into the phone.

  “Are you okay, Savannah?” Grandmother Catherine approached Savannah with concern creasing her forehead.

  Savannah snapped out of the vision in her mind and stepped back. Hunter steadied her before she lost her footing. Somehow, her whole family was there surrounding her, and Amelia had turned a furious gaze toward her. “Yes.” She felt stiff from the shock of the vision, but handed the coin back to Abigail. “I think you dropped this.”

  “You look like you’re going to be sick, dear.” Abigail smiled politely as she took her coin.

  Savannah nodded. “That’s because I’ve heard some terrible things today.” She needed time to process what she saw. Violet wasn’t guilty. Or maybe she was, but someone had to know what she saw, and that someone couldn’t be the people she saw in her vision.

  “Yes, a trial for mass murder is difficult for everyone,” Francesco agreed as he approached the group. “We’d like to think we’re more civilized than that anymore.”