by Vera Sparks
I shuddered at the sight, the sudden memory of Alex’s fangs ripping into my throat flashing through my mind and prickling my skin.
The couple looked relaxed, and I wondered briefly what she was. Could vamps feed off other species?
I glimpsed her pentagram necklace and sighed. A witch, that made it understandable. They were practically human.
The way he fed, it was sultry, and she giggled as he kissed her neck and pulled back, leaving only the two pinpricks as evidence of his work.
Nothing like the gruesome tear I’d felt.
I touched my neck as I watched them resume their flirtation and banter as if he’d done nothing wrong.
Alex had been wounded though, and blood was what he’d needed to save himself. To heal.
“I’m sorry.”
I jumped and pulled my hand down as Alex appeared by my side.
“For what?” I gave him an innocent smile, but his blue eyes were sad and knowing.
“Feeding can be something… arousing and sweet, and then it can be terrifying and bloody,” he murmured as his eyes moved to the couple.
“I know,” I swallowed as I looked away.
“You never should have had to experience it, especially like that.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I stated, but not just to remind him. I needed to remind myself as the fear rose up. I couldn’t hold it against him.
It was like finding an injured wild animal and then wondering why it attacked you when you tried to help it. It was instinct, a survival instinct. Something primal and a core part of them.
Alex sighed but didn’t say anything as Danny and Jeremy joined us. But I could see that he still couldn’t forgive himself for it. I’m not sure he ever could. And for some reason, that made it easier for me to forgive him. Another step towards it at least.
“Well, we’re in,” Danny murmured as he clasped his hands together. I could tell he was on edge here, in this situation. Hell, we all were.
Jeremy started off, and we hurried after him.
He walked stiffly, as if he was forcing himself to not just flit ahead and start abusing Philip. His pace was jarred, and I clenched my hands. I hoped we weren’t about to start something big, something that would get them hurt, or worse.
Jeremy stared down the bouncer who gave him a confused look as he stepped aside.
“They’re with me,” Jeremy snapped as the bouncer went to halt Danny and Alex.
The man shot Jeremy a look but allowed them all past.
I drifted after them, unseen to the burly bouncer.
The basement was dank and dreary like usual, and I ignored the rooms we passed despite the sounds I heard. The shuffling of cash and bagged goods, the mutters of men, and the snickers of some vampire in another room as he discussed something with his companions. The bloody room had been cleaned already, which I was grateful for, but I was still curious as to what had happened. I’d probably never know.
We reached the office, and the door swung open to reveal Philip and three guards.
We were already out-powered. Great. Four vampires against three vampires and a ghost Elemental. Two of those vampires were still considered young too.
“Jeremy,” Philip smiled, but it faltered as he looked past him at Alex and Danny. “Why’d you bring your friends?”
“We’ve informed Walter the Area Enforcer we’re here should you decide to attempt to harm us in any way,” Jeremy said upfront, his voice hitched as he tried to remain calm.
“Walter,” Philip’s eyes narrowed as he rested his hands on his desk. “Now why would you need to do that?”
“Because I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me,” Jeremy growled.
“Of course, anything,” Philip waved his hand, but the flicker in his eye, the way his mouth curved upwards. He already knew why we were here.
That bastard.
“Did you kill Alena?” Jeremy’s voice was cold and hard.
“Well, that’s quite an accusation to make,” Philip arched his eyebrows.
“It wasn’t an accusation, it was a question,” Alex stepped forward, and I caught myself at his suddenly sinister air. Even Philip leaned back in his chair at Alex’s deadly look.
Alena had worked for him. And he felt somewhat responsible, I could see it now.
Just like he did for me.
“Well, to be honest, I can’t believe it took you this long to figure it out,” Philip smirked, a twisted, horrid expression that lit up his green eyes.
Jeremy snarled as he stepped forward, but a guard stopped him by moving in front of him.
“Why?” Jeremy growled through his teeth.
“Why?” Philip gave him a dubious look and rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. “I was the laughing stock of Portland! My prodigy was gallivanting around with a human, playing human with his little bar, and turning his back on the business he was created for. I turned you to help run this business as my heir. And you threw it away for a bloody human?!” Philip laughed stupidly as he threw his arms up dramatically.
Jeremy looked ready to launch at him, but he restrained himself, somehow, to my disbelief.
“And then, I found out you intended to ask for her hand. You, a bloody vampire, marrying a human? Do you know what that would do to my name? It’s not even legalized, the marriage between vampires or with any other race.”
Philip was right, vampires didn’t have marriage rights yet. But it was the gesture and meaning to them that mattered anyway. The distressed and broken expression Jeremy wore confirmed that.
“And to top it off, she worked for him,” Philip pointed an accusing finger at Alex. “The vampire who so rudely fucked up my fighting ring. I had a good thing going there, and you just ruined it, and what, for one murdered girl and a werewolf?” Philip smirked. “That’s right, I knew all about Deon’s little serial side gig. I let it slide, he was a good soldier, always did as he was told. Always brought me what was promised.”
I gritted my teeth as Millie’s sweet face popped into my head. The small, lost, ghost girl I’d found in the park at the mall. Held here in this realm because some sick vampire took a trophy of his kill—her hair. We’d found him and killed him.
And Philip had known all along.
“And you think Walter can stop me?” Philip scoffed as he straightened himself, his white suit practically glowing.
“You wouldn’t dare go against an Area Enforcer,” Danny finally spoke.
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, my dear child,” Philip turned up his nose at him. “I’ll kill you all and he’ll let it slide, I know how to get to him,” Philip’s eyes flashed dangerously.
I sucked in a breath as the uneasiness was replaced with anger and hatred for this foul, arrogant vampire.
I allowed myself to become visible, smiling as all the guards and even Philip himself widened their eyes in shock. Expecting a jump from a vampire would’ve been asking too much.
“What the hell? What are you?” Philip muttered.
“Try to hurt them and I’ll set this place alight,” I said as I raised my hand, willing the flames forth.
The ball of fire burst to life in my hands and I relaxed in relief. I was still learning this whole fire thing.
“An Elemental,” Philip growled. “So you bought some more insurance along.”
“You’ll pay for what you did,” Jeremy’s voice was deadly as he tried to edge around the guard.
All it took was the flick of Philip’s head, and the guard grabbed him with a swiftness that I almost missed.
“I never should have turned you, kill him,” Philip’s venomous voice rang out in the shocked room.
I let the flames hurl forth, ignoring Alex’s shout at me.
My friends wouldn’t die tonight, I’d make sure of that.
Jeremy was dropped as his attacker burst into flames, screaming and slapping at his skin and clothes.
Philip attempted to flit away but Alex slammed him hard into the w
all and I glowered as his arm ignited.
Alex pulled back quickly at the sight of it, and I willed it to engulf that wretched vampire. Philip’s shrieks were what I wanted. He deserved to pay for all his crimes. For Alena. For Millie. For Percy.
Jeremy watched in satisfaction as his sire crumpled to the floor, spasming and screaming as the flames licked the carpet and table.
The two remaining guards were frozen in place, probably from fear of being lit up like their comrade.
I shuddered as the shrieks died down, and watched quietly as Philip burst into ash, leaving a dusty pile on the carpet in his wake.
“Jesus,” Danny muttered.
I felt Alex’s eyes boring into me. Was he pissed at what I’d done? Or was it because I had done it? That I’d had the stomach to set them on fire? And that I didn’t flinch or turn away?
Because, even though I knew what I did was not quite right, it felt right. There was one less monster in the world tonight.
Alex was beside me instantly as he glanced at the two remaining guards.
“You two got anything to say?” Jeremy turned on them.
“No,” one of them shook his head vigorously as he stared at me.
“Philip was an old vampire, his methods of dealing with things were no longer commonplace,” the other vampire chose his words carefully.
“What you’re essentially saying, is that you didn’t agree with his methods?” Danny offered, and the vampire nodded.
“Good, because as you heard, I’m his heir, and with him dead, this place is mine,” Jeremy said slowly, as if the realization was only just setting in. “Get someone to clean this mess up,” he waved at the two piles of ashes marring the floor.
The second, calmer vampire, nodded and flitted out, and we all just looked at each other, the situation slowly dawning on us.
“You, please leave,” Jeremy said to the remaining vamp, who nodded and was gone in a split second.
“Damn, I can’t believe you did that,” Danny murmured as he slowly turned to face me.
His face was hard and concerned as he watched me carefully.
“They would’ve hurt you. All of you,” I mumbled, hating how my hands began to shake. I’d just killed them. And I hadn’t even thought about it.
I stumbled to the chair before Philip’s desk and slumped into it as Alex knelt down beside me.
“Are you okay?” he murmured as his blue eyes searched mine.
“I don’t know,” I muttered as I hung my head in my hands.
“You probably did just save our lives,” Danny noted.
“Yeah, but what do we tell Walter?” Jeremy asked, and I groaned.
Why hadn’t I thought this out?
“We tell him the truth, Philip was going to kill us, starting with his own prodigy. We happened to have an Elemental with us who intervened, and things just got out of hand,” Alex said as he squeezed my knee reassuringly.
“If Philip was telling the truth, and he had a way to get to Walter, he might be relieved that he’s off the table now,” Danny said.
“Are you really going to take over this place?” Alex turned his eyes to Jeremy.
“Well, Alena didn’t want me in this life. But this life was what got her killed. If I can help instigate a change, slowly make this a more, well, legitimate business, then maybe I can try to make it her legacy,” he murmured slowly as he glared at Philip’s ashes.
“You’ll need help with that. Being such a young vampire, whether or not you’re Philip’s heir, many of his men might remain only loyal to him and try to run you out, overthrow you, or even kill you,” Alex explained.
“I know,” he answered quietly.
“I’ll help where I can, but I suggest getting Walter involved. He’s old, but he knows that times need to change to make us less of a target for the human population,” Alex said.
“Of course.”
“I’ll make the call now,” Alex stood up as the first vamp returned with a dustpan to clean up the ashes.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear gently and gave me a soft smile.
“I’ll be right back, everything will be okay.”
For some reason, those words relieved me. I barely knew anything about vampire politics and business in the grand scheme of things, and I trusted him to handle the situation.
“You all right?” Danny asked as he moved to lean against the desk before me and ducking his head as he spoke.
“I just set two vampires on fire,” I sighed. I felt drained, emotionally and physically.
“Yeah, it was kinda cool,” Danny gave me a lopsided grin.
I managed a snort of laughter at this and Jeremy joined him.
“I need to tell you thanks too, I’d be dead if you hadn’t set Nathan on fire,” Jeremy said as he slid down the desk to sit on the floor. I could see the cogs in his mind working hard, making sense of all this and the position he was now in.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered.
“For saving me?” he raised and eyebrow with a smirk.
“For getting you in your new position,” I clarified.
“Don’t sweat it. I’ll do my best, at least I can turn to you guys when I need advice or something, I hope,” he said as he glanced between Danny and I. Alex was out in the hall on the phone, his muffled voice just audible.
“Of course,” I nodded as I watched the vamp finish sweeping up the ash. The carpet was still smeared with it; it’d need a proper vacuum and clean to handle that.
“Thanks, you can leave us now, John,” Jeremy nodded.
The vampire shot him a look, as if confused to hear his actual name. He was the one who’d disagreed with Philip’s methods. Or, at least, that was what he’d said.
“You’ve always been good to me, despite how Philip treated me,” Jeremy gave him a smile and John relaxed. I took the moment to actually look at him. He was bulky and bald, his brown eyes dark in the dull lighting, and his biker attire was pretty standard for the gang.
“Philip was a pretentious prick, I’m glad he’s gone,” John muttered as he stood up straight, carefully holding the bag of ashes and dustpan. “It’d be good to have a change in leadership around here. Many of the men will fight you though, they like the current structure and ways. But Philip was always a cruel, hard man,” John said.
“Yeah, well, you’re welcome to help me get this place in a more…honorable state,” Jeremy said.
“Honorable,” John gave a short, sharp laugh. “I doubt we can do that. But we can maybe try to change the reputation and dark ways. Starting with the trafficking,” John nodded.
“Right,” Jeremy sighed, as if he’d forgotten about all the underground workings of the business.
“What about the cage fights?” I muttered.
“They’re the big business here in the warehouse. Apart from the narcotics,” John stated.
“Narcotics will be something we’ll work on. As for the cage fights, removing them would cause too much of an uproar, but we can at least set new rules. Such as all applicants must be willing participants, not forced into it,” Jeremy mused.
As much as I hated the cage fights, it was something difficult to remove. From what I knew, they’d been around for as long as I’d been alive, hell, probably before my parents were born, and werewolves and vampires alike enjoyed the chance to test their strength and go against the other race.
But at least there’d hopefully be no more forced fighters, like Percy.
Percy.
My mind wandered back to that damned ‘wolf, his delicious smile and sweet eyes. I wanted to fix things with him, but I also had to fix things with Alex.
And then what? I had two men who wanted me, more or less. A choice I had to make.
Ugh. I ran my hand down my face in an effort to clear my head. I couldn’t do this right now. It was all too confusing and hard.
“Well, Philip’s dead. It doesn’t begin to help us with our loss, but it’s a start,” Alex said as he strode back into th
e room.
“Yeah,” Danny nodded solemnly. “And we won’t make it in vain either. We’ll keep her memory alive by fixing this place up, changing what it represents.”
Right. The representation of a dark gang who trafficked all sorts of goods and forced kidnapped ‘wolves to fight and were killers. A complete overhaul was needed in my opinion, and the warehouse torn down.
“Let’s get you home,” Alex murmured as he appeared by my side and helped me to my feet. I gave him an appreciative look as I regained my footing.
“I guess we have many things to discuss,” Jeremy said as he looked to John for support.
“Well, we better find a way to inform the Black Dogs of the leadership change that won’t cause them all to turn on you,” John let out his breath at the difficult task ahead of them.
A task I wanted to know about later. Right now, I wanted to go home. I’d played my part and wielding my fire had drained me, quite a lot surprisingly.
“I’ll head back to the office and inform Janet and Catherine of everything,” Danny said, waiting for Alex’s approval before he flitted off.
“Walter is sending someone around to help you out, to make sure the changeover runs smoothly, and no one tries to off you. Philip played a hard game, and he’s pleased with the new structure of things,” Alex said carefully. I got the hint though. Walter wanted Philip dead but wouldn’t do it himself due to his position and Philip’s position in the vampire community. But now that he’d been rid of his influence, he’d help where he could. Now that whatever Philip had on him had died with him.
I allowed Alex to lead me out of the office and I gave Jeremy a wave. He nodded in thanks and waved his hand in return.
“Can I just chill at yours for a bit? Rose and Shane are at mine and I wouldn’t mind just resting,” I groaned as I remembered my guests. As much as I loved them, I just wanted to have some quiet time after everything. I was relieved that Philip was gone, but distressed that I’d done it. Was this my new thing? Setting vamps on fire?
“Of course,” Alex didn’t even hesitate as he guided me up the stairs.
I grumbled about the crowd but he simply lifted me up and flitted me through it. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he held me bridal style and drew in the scent of his cologne. I was surprised he even wore it. Being in his arms relaxed me, and I closed my eyes as the air rushed by. I wondered if we’d flit all the way back to his place, but I took the moment to appreciate his body against mine. The sturdiness of him under his suit, the way he held me close.