A Ritual of Fire

by J. L. Hendricks

  Part of me didn’t see the point of the phone call, other than it was protocol. Still while we had the ability to go above and beyond the rules that constrained normal FBI agents thanks to our status as “didn’t technically exist,” it was often better to play by the rules. It made it easier to ask for forgiveness later.

  I was hoping I might find out something useful, but previous experience made me think it would be pointless. I had spent a considerable amount of time looking over past case files dealing with the paranormal. Most of them are unsolved. In fact, cold case investigations were how I started with the FBI.

  Let me just say that when you’re a vampire and you decide to play by the rules and grow a conscious, well, that opens a lot of doors for you.

  “Fine, how about I drive while you phone in an update?” Alyson looked over at me and batted her eyes in a way that would have made my heart beat if it was still alive.

  Alyson was truly beautiful, and I often thought she didn’t even realize how attractive she was. Her brown hair was lustrous with red and gold highlights, a feature she showed off with her height. At just over six feet, she was quite tall for a woman. Combined with long, luscious black lashes and a natural beauty that didn’t need a dollop of make-up, and you might begin to understand my attraction.

  That wasn’t all. She had the most intoxicating scent I’ve ever come across, something I especially appreciate as a vampire, and that’s saying a lot with my many years and breadth of experience. Her natural scent reminded me of a winter wonderland. It was a cross between a wintergreen aroma mixed with snow and the smell of freshness in the open air.

  Many of those qualities came from what Alyson was, something that very few people knew. Only a handful at the Bureau knew she was a shifter, and even less knew she was the rarest of shifters, a dragon. If she shifted, you were in serious trouble, and not just because of the power that a dragon had.

  No, it was because dragons were supposed to be extinct, and because of that, no one could know what she really was. Keeping her secret was important not only to her, but to the Bureau and to me. After all, if someone found out, the hunters would descend on her en masse.

  To help keep her secret, her file was altered to say she was a saber-toothed tiger shifter. As no one wanted to see one of those shift, considering the bloody mess that usually followed, no one questioned her when she refused to shift in front of them.

  Still, none of that meant she was a decent driver since she was easily distracted. I tried to drive whenever possible, but she made a good point. Time could be of the essence now that death magic was involved.

  “Just be careful and pay attention to the other drivers, please.” I handed her the keys. “I mean it.” I stared at her for a long moment. “This is your one shot at this.”

  “Vlad, just because I almost hit a curb once doesn’t mean I’m a bad driver.” She put her hands on her hips. “And it was your fault if you remember correctly.”

  I hated when she brought up the one time I lost control around her. It hadn’t really been fair since we’d both been shot a few times trying to take out a house full of machinegun-toting gremlins, and I needed blood to heal.

  “You were bleeding, and I was hurt,” I pointed out. “How else was I to react? I told you, let me drink from you once and my desire for you will dissipate. It doesn’t hurt, I promise.” I gave her a wry grin. “You might even like it.”

  “I told you, no way, Jose. You aren’t sucking my neck for any reason. I’m not going to be one of your floozies.”

  “If you say so.” I dropped the keys into her hand. “Either way, I don’t have time to indulge you now.” I pulled out my phone and showed it to her. “Have to make a call. You understand.”

  She glowered at me as I slid into the passenger seat, intent on ignoring her mostly because I knew it would annoy her. Ah, the small pleasures of life.

  Though she didn’t know it, I’d been assigned to follow her from the shadows and make sure her true identity was kept secret. With any luck, she wouldn’t find out.

  If she knew I’d watched her fight off a wolf shifter who had gone rogue, she’d flip her lid. He had attacked a small village of cat shifters and killed several of the elders. I’d almost stepped in to help, but she hadn’t needed it. Alyson grabbed him by the snout and threw him over her shoulder before breaking his neck, all without shifting.

  That was the day she earned my respect. Ever since then I had thought about her more than I probably should have. The more I saw of her strength and willingness to help others, the more attracted to her I became, an attraction that went beyond her looks or her intoxicating scent.

  Once she was in the car, I pulled myself out of my memories and dialed command. It rang and rang, with no answer. Hanging up, I gave it another try to be sure, only to have the same empty ringing.

  “Odd, no one is answering my call.” I turned in my seat to look at Alyson. “Have you ever had your calls ignored when you were in the field?”

  She scrunched up her forehead, which only made her more look desirable. “No, I don’t think so. They might have let it ring a few times, but my calls have never gone unanswered. Are you sure you dialed the correct number?”

  “Of course I am. It’s saved to my contacts. I’ll give it one last try.” I did. It continued to ring with no answer, not even an answering machine or service.

  “Something’s not right. I think we should head back to base and make sure everything’s fine.” I took a deep breath even though I didn’t need air and tried to calm myself. It was probably nothing, but with death magic, one could never be too careful. After all, whoever was pulling these crimes had to know the FBI would eventually be involved. Maybe they were mopping up loose ends.

  “I wouldn’t worry. They have a squad of wolf shifters and vampires who are always onsite. It should be just fine.” Alyson was always very confident in our security forces back at base. She was probably right but still …

  “Turn right at the next light. It will get us back onto the freeway.”

  “I do know how to get back. You can relax. Everything’s fi…”

  Before she could finish her sentence, something slammed into our car, throwing us into a sideways skid as an explosion of heat and sound blew the trunk open. The shriek of metal filled my ears as the car lurched up onto its front wheels, bumper skidding across the street as gravity fought against the force of the explosion.

  “Hold on!” Alyson cried, bracing herself against the steering wheel as we slammed back down on the ground.

  The shock of the impact ripped through me as Alyson stomped on the gas, sending us lurching forward in a spray of sparks and smoke. She turned the steering wheel from the left to the right in long arcs, trying to use the front wheel drive to our advantage and keep us from going into a deadly tumble as another explosion slammed into the asphalt to our right.

  The vehicle went into a skid as the force of the explosion practically spun us around. The smell of burning tar filled my nose moments before the airbags deployed. The sound of it nearly shattered my too-sensitive hearing as the cushion slammed me backward into the seat.

  “Flames and cauldrons!” Alyson cursed, tearing the airbag free with a swipe of her arm as she tried to maneuver us away. Another explosion rocked through the vehicle, and as Alyson tried to turn away from it while engaging the gas, another explosive slammed into us, flipping us over onto the driver’s side while we careened down the highway, scraping along the asphalt in a shower of sparks.

  To make matters worse, fire was making its way inside of the vehicle through the back seat from whatever had hit our trunk. Damn.

  We needed to get out of here now. Or at least, I did. Alyson was fireproof, even in her human form, one of the many benefits of being a dragon shifter. Unfortunately, vampires were extra susceptible to fire. If I was caught in the flames, I wouldn’t even have time to blink before it was all over.

  “Alyson, the car is on fire,” I cried right before the sound o
f metal digging into stone filled my ears. I swung my head around and saw Alyson’s face was contorted in effort. She’d thrust her left arm out through the shattered window and into the asphalt itself. Her hand had shifted into a dragon’s claw, those razor-sharp talons dragging along the pavement and slowing us down.

  “Almost…there.” Alyson’s brow knit in grim determination as she dug in deeper, scales shifting up her forearm but stopping before the elbow..

  I had never seen her partially shifted. Didn’t even realize she could do something like that. The control she must have had was crazy. Still, I knew she wouldn’t be able to stop us in time for it to matter, and while she was fireproof, I doubted she was explosion proof too. If this car went up, she might not make it.

  That wasn’t something I was okay with. “Alyson, shift and get out. You can survive if you shift.”

  “No,” she insisted through gritted teeth. “We both make it out alive.”

  The car was slowing down as she continued to tear up the blacktop, even as the flames started to consume the back seats. Metal tore away from the frame on Alyson’s side and for a moment, I was certain that this was it, that the rest of the door would tear free and pull Alyson under the vehicle with it. To my surprise, though, all of a sudden, we jerked to a stop as the front end crashed into something.

  3

  Vlad

  “What? What did we hit?” I put my hand to my head and pulled it away with something sticky. Blood was flowing down the side of my face. This wasn’t good, especially if the car was still on fire.

  I whirled around and saw flames were no longer climbing over the back of the car. In fact, most of the back of the car was gone. Good, that’d buy us time to get out.

  As blood trickled into my eyes from a cut on my forehead, I quickly surveyed the scene. Somehow, the airbag that should have saved me was a mass of torn fabric, and there was a dent in the dash. I must have hit my head when we crashed into whatever had stopped us.

  “We hit a telephone pole, which was good because not only did it stop us, it tore away the flaming half of the car.” Alyson looked at me as I hung in the seatbelt above her. Like mine, her airbag was also a torn-up mess. Her hand had already shifted back to smooth human flesh. “Are you all right? You’re bleeding.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” It wasn’t even much of a lie. I wasn’t feeling any pain, too much adrenaline was flooding through my system. “What about you?”

  “I’m sore but fine. Let me get up before you release your belt buckle. I don’t need you falling on top of me in here.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and stood on shaky legs. “We need to get you out of here. Dawn is nearing, and we’re still a long way from base.”

  She sucked in a couple raspy breaths, making me wonder how hurt she was. It was hard to tell with a shifter so powerful. If I had tried what she had, well, I don’t think I would have had an arm afterward.

  “Okay, just tell me what you want me to do, Alyson,” I said, reaching for my seatbelt. Part of me was surprised it was strong enough to keep me suspended.

  “Slowly release your belt, and I’ll help you keep your head upright.” She put her hands on my shoulder in an effort to hold me up as I unbuckled the seatbelt to escape from the death trap. “How did anyone know we were going back to base? Were we just in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

  Alyson breathed heavily as I let my legs fall to the side of the car and stood up straight. “I don’t know what just happened. All I know is someone attacked us with either a small rocket or missile or something. That first explosion was pretty large. The others though, they weren’t as big. Speaking of which, I can smell gas.” I inhaled again, and this time, I nearly panicked. “And smoke. I think there’s still fire under the car. We need to get out of this metal box before it explodes.” Fear surging through my veins, I kicked out the front windshield and scrambled through.

  “Right behind you.” Alyson was close on my heels. While she wouldn’t burn, if the gas tank exploded, the shrapnel could be deadly.

  “There.” I pointed to a stand of trees just a few hundred feet away. “Let’s go.”.”

  We both ran, well, quickly hobbled to the trees as the car exploded. Immense heat rolled our way, flinging scattered pieces of steel, glass, and plastic in every direction. I braced myself, throwing one arm up as I tried to keep the shockwave from flinging me from my feet. If I’d been human, I’d have landed on my butt, but us vampires, well, we’re a bit tougher. Even still, the force made my gut swim, and if it hadn’t been for Alyson bracing herself against me, I’d have probably landed on my back anyway.

  As I stared at the remnants of the car, and watched the pre-dawn sky light up like the Fourth of July with all of the metal raining down and bits of fire billowing out, I couldn’t help but think we were lucky. If we’d been normal agents, we’d have been dead four times over.

  “Do you see anyone?” Alyson asked. Although still better than a human’s, in her human form, her vision wasn’t quite as good as mine.

  She had been holding me up against the tree and her question made me realize how close we were. The smell of her blood, combined with my injuries started to trigger the primal, dark side of me, and before I knew what was happening, my fangs began to elongate.

  “Alyson, I think I’ve lost more blood than I can handle right now.” I licked my lips as she stared at my fangs. I knew part of it was the injuries, but part of it had been the crime scene, the sudden rush of adrenaline, and now the closeness of her special blend of blood. All of it was nearly too much.

  “Flames and cauldrons.” Alyson cursed, stepping back from me and running her hand over her face. “You do have a large gash on your head, and while head wounds bleed a lot, you shouldn’t have lost enough to need to feed.” Her jaw set as she looked at me, thoughts swimming through her eyes. “How much of my blood do you need to heal?”

  She took a shuddering breath as she waited for my answer. I couldn’t look her in the eye, no matter how hard I tried. My eyes stayed focused on the ground in front of her.

  “Look, I know you don’t want to give me any.” I shut my eyes, summoning every bit of willpower I had. “Let’s just find a place to hide from the sun.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.” She reached under her suit jacket, pulled out a metal flask, and offered it to me. “Will this be enough?”

  “You brought blood?” I asked, confused.

  “I’ve thought about the perils of partnering with a vampire.” Her eyes flicked from me to the flask and back again. “And I don’t want you drinking from me. Not now, not ever.” She grimaced.

  “Alyson…”

  “Just take a small amount, enough to get you through the day. Hurry, we still have to find you shelter before the sunrise or before whoever attacked us comes looking to make sure we died in the explosion.” She shoved the flask into my hands.

  “Thank you.” I opened the flask and took a whiff. It smelled fresh, and while it wasn’t hers, I could tell it was human. Interesting. “Where did you get it?”

  “Where do you think?” She raised an eyebrow at me. “I requested it.” She shrugged.

  “Oh.” I wasn’t quite sure what I’d expected honestly, but somehow the thought that she’d gotten it through “official” channels irked me. It made me wonder what reasoning she’d given.

  Still, as I turned my gaze back to the flask, I couldn’t really get mad at her. The blood called to me, and as much as I hated to say it, I could smell her scent on the flask.

  Shutting my eyes for a brief moment, I upended the flask and gulped down the blood.

  “Are you all right?” she asked as I licked my lips clean. “Was it enough?”

  “Yes.” I suppressed the part of me that wanted to smirk and focused on the thoughtful smile the better half of me wished to show. “Thanks for thinking of me.”

  “You’re welcome.” She breathed deeply for a moment before clapping me on the shoulder. “Now let’s go.”

  I
tried to catch her eyes, but she avoided my gaze. She was most likely embarrassed. Not wanting her to feel embarrassed over my enjoyment of the blood, I kept it professional.

  “I appreciate what you did, Alyson.” I smiled as best I could even though I was more embarrassed with myself. My partner was carrying around a flask of blood because she was worried she’d have to let me drink from her in a tight spot. Man, what did that say about me? “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said, voice a bit clipped, a bit strained.

  “You know, you’re really amazing,” I added, gesturing down at myself even though she wasn’t looking at me. “I’m already starting to feel my injuries heal.” I touched my forehead, noting how the gash was already stitching itself back together. I’d be back to normal in no time.

  Either way, as she turned to me and gave me a small smile, I knew one thing to be certain. Alyson made me feel alive.

  4

  Alyson

  The way Vlad looked at me made me uncomfortable in a way I didn’t like to admit. I was too busy to have many boyfriends over the years, plus secret identity and all. So, I never imagined I would be so turned on by a vampire. It was not something I was proud of. Vlad was hot, sure. I’d give him that much but the way he looked at me, oh man. I was in trouble.

  “Vlad, we need to find you some shelter and fast.” I took another breath, trying to push away the sudden influx of untoward thoughts. It was not going well. Still, even if I was the kind of girl who could ignore the whole blood drinking thing, fawning over him now wouldn’t get him to safety before the sun came up. No. Now was the time to focus.

  “Thank you. I know helping me in such a way is not a requirement of the job nor is it something you ever wanted to do. Please know how grateful I am.” Vlad bowed his head in thanks to me.