A Ritual of Fire

by J. L. Hendricks

  “You’re welcome.”

  What else could I say to a vampire who had thanked me for giving him a flask full of blood? The worst part was I couldn't even be mad at him for needing blood right now since it wasn’t his fault. He had fed before coming to work, which should have been more than enough. How was he to know we were going to be blown up?

  All of these crime scenes and not once had anything happened to us. All I could think about was the asphodel. The perps must have realized they had left a trace of it behind and now they wanted to clean up after themselves. That clean-up included us.

  “We’ve got to get going, Vlad. Now.” We had at best an hour before the sun came up, and despite his quirks, I didn’t want to watch my partner and friend die today.

  “I don’t sense anyone near. Do you know this area? Are there any houses or offices close by?” His words made me smile. While it seemed like Vlad had been everywhere, the high desert outside of Los Angeles was one of those rare places he hadn’t visited.

  “We are in between Palmdale and Santa Clarita,” I explained. “There will be some abandoned buildings along the highway if we want to try and travel parallel to route 14. I don’t recommend it though. Whoever is after us will be watching the highway.”

  I knew of a few places off the beaten path that might be better. They weren’t the type of places vampires frequented or FBI agents for that matter, not unless we were arresting people. That very fact gave us the best chance of escape and survival.

  Vlad scanned our surroundings, no doubt trying to see if he could sense anyone, friend or foe, nearby. “What do you suggest?”

  “I know of a place. It’s dangerous but close enough we might be able to make it in time. They hate outsiders, and I may have arrested a couple of their crew a few years back. So, I doubt they will be very welcoming.” I shrugged. “But honestly, I’ll take my chances with a few human criminals who may or may not remember me over letting you burn.”

  “Of course, that also means they will be hostile to anyone searching for us.” Vlad nodded, and I had to agree, there was a small silver lining. “And I agree. Not burning would definitely be optimal.” He looked at me then. “Will you be safe while I sleep?”

  Vlad’s words made me bristle. He was always trying to protect me. What he needed to remember was I could easily take out an entire building if I shifted and used my dragon fire.

  “I’ll be fine—”

  “Why don’t you shift and take us somewhere else, safer?” Vlad gave me a hopeful look.

  “Vlad, you know why I can’t do that. If someone sees me flying, my secret would be out, and my life will be over. It’s a last resort option. If we don’t get to shelter in time, I will shift and fly us to Vasquez Rocks. There are a few caves we can hide out in while you sleep the day away, but until that happens, we’re going to hoof it.”

  Even if no one saw us, hiding in a tourist destination was far from ideal. You never knew when a large tour group would show up. The last thing we needed was someone trying to force us out of a cave during the light of day or worse, trying to wake up a vampire before sunset.

  “Come on. If we jog we’ll probably make it in about a half-hour. Follow me.” I began a light pace as I got my bearings.

  While I didn’t have anything broken, my legs hurt and the arm I had used to stop the car was sore. Both of us had been beaten up pretty good from the crash and the explosion.

  It took us a bit more than thirty minutes to arrive at our destination. It was a shoddy looking bar, a real dive, way off the highway. In fact, a good part of the way we had been going along a dirt road instead of pavement. Since it was so early in the morning, the place was closed. From my investigation before, I knew they always left a side door unlocked in case one of their crew needed to get in. No need to keep it locked tight when everyone knew a biker gang owned the place.

  “Wait. You want to hide out inside of a biker bar? Are you crazy? Even if they leave me alone to sleep, you will be seen as a target. It’s too dangerous.” Vlad’s caution over the idea was why I hadn’t told him where we were headed. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission after all.

  “These guys aren’t so bad. After we busted them for illegal weapons, their club president decided they needed to switch gears. Most of them actually have real jobs now. The place will be empty for the majority of the day. Trust me.”

  I walked over to the side door. When I pulled on it, it was locked. “Strange.”

  I figured I might as well knock. I hadn’t been lying when I told Vlad these guys had mostly gone legit.

  To my surprise, a woman I didn’t recognize opened the door. “Can I help you?”

  I put on my best, most persuasive smile. “Yes, we were in a car accident a few miles back. Your bar is the first place we’ve come to. Can we come in? Maybe call someone to come and get us? For some reason, my phone isn’t working.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Sorry, we’re closed.” She moved to shut the door in my face.

  “Please.” Vlad took over, flashing his million-watt smile, and I swear the woman melted. “We’re hungry and tired. My friend hurt her leg in the accident. We just need a place to stay while we wait for a ride. I promise we won’t be any trouble.”

  “Of course. You must be so tired and thirsty. Please come in.” The woman ignored me entirely and, heck, she almost closed the door on me. All her attention was focused on Vlad the entire time.

  Vampires had a way with human women. I have never seen one turn him down for anything. While it annoyed me at times, it could also be helpful.

  Vlad never took his eyes off the woman as he asked her, “Could you please help me and my friend and get us some water? Alyson? Do you want anything else?”

  “Yes, I’m hungry,” I nodded as I looked to our new host. “Do you have anything to eat?”

  She completely ignored me and continued to stare into Vlad’s eyes. “I’m Patricia. What’s your name?” She actually flung her blonde hair over her shoulder. The woman wasn’t very tall, but she was kind of pretty in a skanky way. I didn’t realize daisy dukes were still in fashion complimented by her barely-there tank top that left nothing to the imagination.

  “I am Vlad, and this is my friend, Alyson.” He gestured to me but she continued to stare longingly at my partner.

  “Hi, Patricia?” I resisted the urge to wave my hand in front of her face or snap my fingers in her ear. “I could use some water and anything you have to eat. If it’s any trouble, we can pay.” I really was hungry and thirsty. Getting blown up really does take a lot out of a person, even a paranormal one.

  “There are some peanuts on the bar. A fridge underneath has some cold water bottles, help yourself.” Her tone was distracted, almost dismissive, as she took Vlad’s hand and led him to a booth in a corner.

  I tried my best not to listen to their conversation while I searched the bar for the water and anything they had to eat besides peanuts. Under the bar was the mini-fridge Patricia had mentioned and in that, I found the water bottles. I drained one bottle immediately before grabbing another.

  The run must have dehydrated me more than I realized. I was fireproof, not fatigue proof. I was still thirsty and plenty hungry. Now that we were inside, and Vlad had done his vampire thing on our host, I was a lot less concerned about him, and a lot more concerned about myself. After all, I’d have to stay here while he slept.

  Worse, after all the effort, I was starving. All I could think about was a ham and cheese omelet with bacon and hash browns. I wondered if they had a kitchen. I wasn’t above making my own meal while the chick flirted with my partner.

  I could hear them both laughing and talking about her. Vlad was good at making women feel comfortable, even in awkward situations. However, it was time for him to sleep. We were cutting it close as it was.

  I walked over to their table and handed Vlad a water bottle. He didn’t really drink water, but we had to keep up appearances. “Hey, how are you feeling? You were pretty shaken
up by that crash. Maybe you should lie down and get some rest?”

  “Yeah, I probably should. Patricia, do you have a room I could sleep in for a little while?” Vlad smiled at the woman who was under his thrall. “It must be dark as I have a medical condition that makes me very sensitive to sunlight.”

  “Of course. I could keep you company, if you like.” She actually fluttered her eyelashes at him.

  Vlad licked his lips and looked between me and Patricia. “Thank you for the offer, but something tells me I wouldn’t be able to sleep with a woman like you in the room with me.”

  She tried to act coy by looking down and putting a hand over her mouth, but I knew better. “Of course. You should sleep. The only quiet room without a window is the storeroom. I’m here to stock the shelves before the guys show up, so I’ll grab what I need and you can sleep in there.”

  The annoying chick left and came back with a pillow and blanket for Vlad. “Sorry I don’t have anything better, but the floor isn’t too bad.” She shrugged.

  “This is just fine. Thank you, Patricia. Let me know once you are done with the storeroom.” Vlad smiled at the woman before she turned around.

  When Patricia went back into the storeroom, I stared Vlad down. “What was that all about?”

  “Alyson, don’t worry. She’s a means to an end, that’s all. She will help us until we can get in touch with command. Should I need more blood, who would you prefer I take it from? You?”

  I shook my head. Absolutely not.

  “Of course not. Patricia will be more than accommodating for my … needs. This way you don’t have to worry about them anymore.” His smirk told me he knew how much he had affected me.

  Stupid vampire! If we weren’t partners, I might have considered a night with him. But since we were, it wasn’t something I could ever do if I wanted to be able to keep working with him. That sort of complication was the last thing I needed.

  On top of that, I wasn’t the one-night stand kind of woman and Vlad wasn’t the relationship type of man. Ignoring my attraction to him was the best thing for both of us.

  Patricia returned a few minutes later. She walked Vlad to the storeroom and I followed. “Okay, Vlad. The room is all yours. I hope you feel better.”

  I would need to keep an eye on him while he slept. The last thing we needed was a biker going in there and not coming out. When woken abruptly, Vlad had a tendency to attack first, and ask questions after he drank an intruder dry. He was the epitome of a hangry sleeper or maybe it was just self-preservation? Either way, it was always dangerous to wake up a vampire before they were ready.

  I tried to linger behind as Patricia turned toward the main bar to leave, but she gave me the evil eye. “Excuse me, you can just wait in the bar. There is only room for one person to sleep in here.” The jealous vibe she gave off was obvious but if she thought I wanted to sleep with Vlad, she had another thing coming.

  “Don’t worry, I’m just looking for the ladies’ room and maybe a kitchen? Is there somewhere I can make some breakfast for myself?”

  I tried to act like I was just giving myself the nickel tour. I looked into all the open doors as we passed them on the way to the front. This place was really empty. I’m surprised they left Patricia here all alone. Maybe they figured no one would mess with a biker chick?

  “Down the hall to your left is the ladies room,” she said, pointing to help indicate her directions. “Keep going and on your right, you’ll find the kitchen. Since you’re making breakfast, you might as well make enough for me as well. After all, I am letting you hang around until your help arrives. Hey, have you called anyone for help yet?”

  “I was going to wait until you finished helping Vlad,” I smiled as I passed her to head to the ladies’ room. “I’ll call my boss and see if he’s up.”

  “Good luck,” she called out before I entered the ladies room, which left me wondering why I would need luck to call my boss.

  After I cleaned up a bit, I tried calling the office. No answer, just like what had happened to Vlad when he tried before. Something was really off. The FBI operated twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The office never closed. I had heard that even during the Northridge Earthquake, they had forwarded the phones to another location so someone was answering them.

  Sure, I could call the Washington DC branch but they were all humans. None of them knew what was up, as far as I knew, and I was fairly sure my boss wouldn’t like random FBI guys calling him to ask who I was since I didn’t technically exist.

  The only one outside of the paranormal division who knew Vlad and I were on the team was the head honcho himself, Director Moss. Maybe I needed to get his direct line for emergencies like this. It made me wish I hadn’t lost my satellite phone when the car exploded. That’d be able to get through even if the cellphones weren’t working.

  Still mulling over what to do, I tapped out an email on my phone and sent it, but after the last three hadn’t been answered, I didn’t have high hopes.

  Sighing, I made my way to the kitchen. It was in surprisingly good shape for how much of a dive the place looked on the exterior, and sure enough, they had a commercial fridge full of delicious ingredients, including everything I needed for breakfast and more. It was a touch surprising, to be honest.

  Patricia walked in as I considered our options.

  “Whatcha making? It looks like you’re just standing there, not working.” This woman was a piece of work. If she thought she was going to bully me around, she was in for a rude awakening.

  “I just tried calling my office. No one answered, not even a machine. This isn’t right.” I scratched my head and when I pulled my hand back, I noticed some dried blood. Great, all I needed was a head injury at this point.

  “Haven’t you seen the news? The phones are down all over the place.”

  “What? What’s going on? Is that why you said good luck earlier?” I had been completely out of the loop since we started our investigation last night.

  “I’ll turn the TV on to the local news. Bring our breakfast out when you’re done.” She turned on her heels and left me alone in the kitchen with more questions than answers.

  My stomach gurgled its displeasure at waiting any longer for food. “Okay, calm down. I’ll feed you.” Sometimes, my stomach was more beastly than I was.

  I don’t think I had ever cooked breakfast so fast in my life. Once I had two plates ready, I brought them into the bar. It was the least I could do since she was letting us crash here. She annoyed me, sure, but she was helping us out.

  Besides, my bad mood was probably because someone tried to blow up me and my partner. I was tired and sore, but it was nothing a few hours of sleep couldn’t cure. When I woke up, I would probably be in a much better mood.

  Until then, I needed to remember I was an FBI agent, trained to deal with idiots and criminals.

  I took a seat close to the TV screen over the bar displaying the local Channel Seven news. “Hey, can you turn that up?”

  Patricia glanced over at me and turned up the volume with a nearby remote.

  The anchorman paused as a picture of a bunch of downed telephone poles appeared behind him. “Earlier tonight a group claiming to be the People United Against Corporate America eco-terrorist group attacked our telecommunication infrastructure. Authorities have told us they are working on getting services back up, but it could take up to two days to get everything repaired.

  “The Mayor has asked everyone to keep going about business as usual. Don’t let these homegrown terrorists stop business or life. Don’t try to use the phone, unless it’s an emergency. Our local emergency services need any bandwidth we have. We will keep you updated as more details arrive.”

  I ignored the rest of the news report as it moved to other stories that weren’t important to our current situation. Though this terrorist attack was a big problem, it was also something of a relief. Maybe nothing was wrong with our base, and they just couldn’t receive our calls? It also
explained the lack of response to my emails, and made me feel better about the satellite phone.

  The FBI no doubt had their hands full with the terrorist threat and wouldn’t want to deal with us right now. Worse, it meant if we went back in, there was a good chance we’d be pulled off the current case and forced to help with that.

  No. We were under the radar for a reason. The best thing to do would be to continue working this case, especially since someone had tried to blow us up. Then, once we figured it out, we could go help with the terrorist thing. Besides, that wasn’t really my sort of scene anyway. Not unless it was magic-related anyway.

  As I let that realization settle over me, I looked around and sighed. Now, I just had to figure out how to spend the day in a biker bar.

  5

  Alyson

  “Whoa, who do we have here?”

  I woke to find a tall, burly biker putting his arm around my shoulders. I had been sleeping in a back booth of the bar and hadn’t realized it was already past two in the afternoon.

  I rubbed my eyes and looked at the guy before shoving his arm off me. “I’m just passing through. The phones are down and my car’s totaled.”

  “Was that your car I saw about five miles down the road?” The stranger’s bearded face appeared to be smiling, but there was so much bush I couldn’t be sure. This guy looked more like a ZZ Top reject than a biker. How could he ride with that huge beard flapping in his face? Maybe he tucked it in his shirt when he rode?

  “Yup, that was ours. My friend is here too. We tried to call home but can’t get the phones to work. Does yours?” There were at least some phones working, if I believed the news. Maybe ZZ Top’s phone was on a different service and if I tried a different one, it was possible I might get through to command.

  “Nope, phones are all down today. You’re lucky you were so close to us. This is a great place to wait out the apocalypse. We are stocked with plenty of food and drink.” He looked over to the bar where another burly man was watching us.