Of Flame and Fury: A Weird Girls Novel (Weird Girls Flame Book 3)

by Cecy Robson

  Gemini’s neck cracks as he turns it from side to side. “You ready, love?”

  I nod. Celia is alive.

  That doesn’t mean Johnny gets to live.

  Chapter Thirty

  Johnny doesn’t hesitate. He sets his Nytes loose. He lost his chance at Celia, and now he must answer to us.

  The bulls launch forward, each pound of their hooves against the pavers surging their turbulent fire. Gemini dives for me, yanking me out of the way. His twin leaps over the charging bulls, growling as he guns for Johnny.

  The bulls are gargantuan in size and unspeakably fast. Both qualities work against them. Their size and weight drive them to the far end of the stables, their hooves raising sparks as they slap them against the stone flooring to attempt to slow down.

  The orange bull bumps into the red when it tries to turn. The red retaliates, biting off his brethren’s ear and spitting it on the ground. The orange roars at the red, spitting fire at him until they remember us. They scuff at the ground, snorting with rage and assembling to barrage us.

  Everything happens at once. The leopard, the one that prowls on and protects Johnny’s back, leaps from his skin and slams into Gemini’s twin as he reaches Johnny. The beasts tumble away, their powerful jaws snapping and their claws raking the other’s skin.

  Johnny swipes the jug, grabs tight to the painting, and bolts toward the rear exit. At the sound of snapping bone, he tumbles to the ground, clasping the sweep of his neck and howling in pain from the injury the wolf inflicts to his leopard.

  As one of the tats lining his skin, Johnny felt the initial impact. It’s not enough to cripple him, but it does slow him down. He crawls ahead, dragging his jug and painting with him.

  Panic spreads along Johnny’s features when he realizes the bulls haven’t killed us yet. I want to take Johnny out, now, but I can’t spare the moment. I don’t know what these bulls are capable of, and I don’t want us to die trying to kill Johnny.

  Gemini nudges me aside. “I’ll lead the bulls out and away from you.”

  The bulls take off at high velocity, the temperature that rises from my core forcing Gemini to give me ample space. “You can’t fight something with flames without me,” I tell him. “And you can’t herd them out alone.”

  As if sprayed by fuel, the blustering flames immersing the bulls shoot upward, hammering the vaulted ceiling and eating through the wood. I lash out, spinning my hands and projecting my swirling white fire into a sphere.

  My quick reaction barely saves me. The orange bull tucks his head and rams me, knocking me to the ground, the tip of one fiery horn scraping my protective fire just below my chin.

  The bull bellows, orange flames spilling from his mouth. The fire shield I manifest guards me against the bull’s flame, but not the entirety of his crushing impact. I’m pinned by his massive size, his nasty breath spreading steam across my face.

  Damn it. How many of these things can land on top of me in one night?

  My amplifying heat burrows me into the ground, cracking the pavers and disintegrating them to form a nice cushy bed for me and the nine hundred pounds of bovine straddling me.

  The bull hammers his head, smashing his horns repeatedly and trying to break through my shield. I push my hands up, screaming from the effort it takes to maintain my protection and manipulate my power to keep some distance between us.

  White flames spread farther past my head and feet. The effort of my will augmenting my heat to disastrous levels. In one mighty jolt, I toss the bull up and through the roof. I roll away and into an empty stall, but it’s not far enough. The bull crash lands back like a meteor, the collision taking out a wall and the stall I’m hiding in.

  The stall and the pieces of wood I’m buried in are ablaze. I curse, groaning from the jolt. Sparky kept our fire going, the lively heat and flames dissolving the chunks of roof raining down. I force myself up on my hands and knees and drag myself from the deathtrap.

  A sinister neigh has me moving faster. I poke my head out of the demolished stall. Johnny’s armored Pegasus is awake, he lifts his head from the canvas, his demonic horse sounds becoming increasingly agitated.

  Johnny sits on the floor, his legs parted, sorting through the shattered jug pieces. The roof is engulfed and the air thick with smoke and unfathomable heat. And there’s Johnny, feverishly licking fragments of broken glass.

  “Fuck.” He whimpers when he cuts his tongue. He stretches, reaching for a larger piece. He’s crying, and it’s hard to understand him, but I get enough. “I’m coming, baby. It’s okay. Daddy will be with you soon.”

  He stumbles to his feet and to the canvas, hovering over the painting as he opens his mouth wide. Blood from his tongue drips onto the Pegasus. The horse neighs, opening his mouth to take more of Johnny. Johnny smacks the horse in the head, adjusting his chin so no more than necessary falls to the creature.

  My head spins from the rush of magic seeping into the air. The Pegasus’s eyes turn a sadistic red, greedily gobbling the meal “Daddy” offers him.

  The canvas shakes back and forth as the Pegasus rises, his size growing with each lurch to free himself. Johnny falls on his ass, ignoring the stall that catches fire beside him and sucking down on the broken glass stained with blood and dirt like a famished hound would scraps of food.

  “More,” Johnny rasps. He wipes the mucous dribbling from his mouth. “Please, just a little more.”

  The orange bull shakes his head, rising from the crater his body made. I grip a section of wall that remains to steady myself and contort my fire into a giant fist. With a triumphant scream, I punch the bull in the head.

  I’m starting to learn triumphant screams never work in my favor. All it does is piss the bull off. He flings his front hooves over the side of the hole and starts to climb out.

  “He doesn’t like you,” Johnny tells me. The Pegasus trots toward him, permitting Johnny to yank on his wings to help him rise. “I hope he kills you and that your stupid sister dies when she finds your remains.”

  I fire at the bull again, knocking him back in the hole. “Fuck you, Johnny.”

  Johnny ignores me and climbs onto the Pegasus, smacking at the creature when he tries to chew the glass. “No, you dumb fuck. It’s mine. It’s always mine.”

  My flame funnels out and toward Johnny. The bull bounds out of the hole and takes the hit. The strike sends him soaring into the rear exit, the force breaking the doors wide open.

  Johnny kicks at the horse. The Pegasus flaps its powerful wings, increasing the flames. Hellish inferno or not, this Pegasus is ready to fly.

  Screw this.

  I force my feet to move and race after the horse when it bounds toward the exit. The orange bull rears back, forcing me to retreat.

  Gemini’s wolf leaps over me and the bull, swerving around a section of ceiling that falls. The wolf smashes into the Pegasus and tips the large Nyte over. Johnny is initially pinned but pushes his foot free of the Pegasus and scrambles to his feet, running away.

  The twin gives chase, tackling Johnny.

  Johnny screams when the twin clenches his jaw over Johnny’s leg, keeping him put. The Pegasus flips to his feet, kicking the twin through a burning wall.

  Gemini’s twin angles back, latching onto the Pegasus’s neck before Johnny can mount him.

  Another section of roof falls. This time, it has nothing to do with the hellfire the stable has become. Gemini adjusts the support beam in his grip and smashes the engine red bull across the face when he charges. The strike crushes the creature’s mouth, preventing the lava he spews from reaching Gemini.

  Burns covers Gemini’s shoulders and arms, and blisters the size of quarters run along his hands and wrists. Despite the obvious pain and lack of healing by his wolf, his strength remains. Using the beam again, he bashes the orange bull trailing me.

  The jolt snaps the bull’s neck, twisting his head so it faces up. Gemini may not possess the ability to conjure fire, but he has heart. Sometimes, that�
��s all you need.

  Gemini swings the beam, catching the other bull on the side. “Taran,” he snarls. “Are you all right?”

  “Always,” I reply to my beloved. But not really.

  The orange bull bowls me over, hitting the shield I manage to cast. He jumps up and down, using his brute strength to beat against my protective force. I grunt and curse. This shield is smaller and thinner. It limits the bull’s imposing weight, but it’s still imposing. Each bounce against my body is like a punch in the gut, and I am done taking beatings.

  Gemini calls to me, but he can’t reach me. Not when he’s fighting the blazing red bull. He improvises, catapulting the raging Nyte straight into Johnny.

  Johnny grunts. “Get off me. Get the fuck off me,” he orders, his voice shrilled.

  The bull digs his hooves into the damaged floor and rises, accelerating at full speed to resume his onslaught. Gemini kicks at a spigot with his heel and dodges out of the way. The water that streams free blinds the bull with steam, giving Gemini the opportunity to lay another impressive strike.

  My man is kicking ass. Meanwhile, here I lay like a trampoline. Black smoke billows from the bull’s nostrils, moistening his snout, as saliva pools around his mouth. The body fluids build, dropping to sizzle over my face.

  This is straight-up bullshit right here. I don’t remember Wonder Woman having to put up with snot or body fluids belonging to flaming farm animals.

  The bull snorts, his frustration with not immediately impaling me and calling it a day elongating his flaming horns into that of a buck. He swerves them from side to side, using them like a pair of scythes.

  Gemini brings down the beam harder upon his prey. He’s inflicting damage but failing to squelch its fire even with the water from the pipe.

  The bull shakes his twisted neck back into place and charges. The end of the beam smokes as Gemini repositions into a batter’s stance. The bull is faster this time. Gemini barely has time to swing when the bull collides into him, sending them both through the last remaining stalls.

  Shit.

  My fire is effective, but so is the fire surrounding these Nytes. I need to think, and I would if this asshole would quit trying to suffocate me.

  A long black stripe runs along his underbelly. I hadn’t noticed it before. I do now. It draws my attention to the vulnerable spots his raging heat can only mildly protect. Unlike the Pegasus Johnny was hard at work at, this Nyte doesn’t have armor to spare it.

  I grit my teeth when the weight of the bull grows more severe. This thing is growing, taking up more space along my shield.

  Power. Give me power.

  Lightning crackles across my skin and beneath my flame. Sparky quivers. That’s right, baby. Let’s show Johnny Boy what we’re all about.

  “Power,” I insist, building on the words as my skin bristles. “Give me power.”

  Snap.

  Crackle.

  Boom.

  Rows of lightning bolts eject across my body, puncturing through the underbelly of the Nyte. His fire swells in his anger and pain, but it doesn’t hold. He falls to his side, writhing as I scramble to my feet.

  The deafening clatter behind me obliterates the chaos of splintering wood. I straighten, trying to breathe through the dense and sweltering air. Gemini is in the throes of battle, taking on the other Nyte as his twin dominates the Pegasus.

  The winged Nyte may have been swathed in armor, but it wasn’t strong enough given Johnny’s weakening state. Gemini’s twin bites through the thinner layers at the Pegasus’s throat. I think our wolf has him until the Nyte kicks free and dashes from the building. The twin flips over, shaking off his injuries and jets after the Pegasus.

  Flames eat through the stable, spreading like a hungry monster from one side to the other as the night air forces its way through the mutilated walls. The breeze should be cold, bordering on freezing, but as it pushes through the blistering temperature, it’s more irritating than soothing.

  My hands are out and on the offense. I hustle toward Johnny, stopping when the orange bull blocks my path. Gemini is at my back. His weapon is gone, and his skin is raw with burns. The bull he fought looks as good as new. My bull isn’t far behind. He shakes off the lightning bolts like pine needles and snorts in challenge.

  What remains of the building are mere moments from falling apart, and the Nytes aren’t letting us go. I can survive the wash of fire. Gemini can’t, not in his state. He won’t run or try to escape without me, and I can’t drop my fire without being burned.

  Johnny glares at us from across the way. “I’ll kill you,” he says. He’s shaking and crying, but it’s the hatred lining his features that keeps him standing. “I may be dead, but so are you.”

  I adjust my weight, readying my lightning to jolt these bulls so we can run. But as pain shoots up through my leg and the feel of hot fluid spills from my heel, I realize where I am.

  My magic never completely stays with me, it comes from the environment, from the air that passes along green fields and clears the dank city alleys, from the creatures who stalk in the night in search of their next meal, to infants sleeping against their mother who may never know freaks like me exist. Johnny forgot that little tidbit of knowledge. I’m about to remind him.

  I slide my finger over my bleeding heel, careful to draw back enough fire to avoid vaporizing this valuable tool.

  The circling bulls train their eyes on us. I keep them in my sights, too, even as I speak to Johnny. “What do you know?” I say. “We might not be so dead after all.”

  I motion to the floor gleaming with broken glass and where traces of Johnny and shifter blood await. Maybe I’m crazy to do this, or maybe I’m more of a genius than I thought. “This yours?” I ask.

  Waiting patiently for an answer has never been my superpower. I bend and swirl my blood and Johnny’s. His eyes fly open. I wink. “Yeah,” I say. “That’s what I thought.”

  I don’t expect the contact of our blood to hurt. I should though. His Fate power and the evil streaming in shifter blood have no business touching me, especially when mixed to perform very heinous things. Like a thorn from a dried rose stem, their magic pokes me, severing my fingertip and forcing more of my blood to trickle from my skin.

  The fresh magic I release swirls around Johnny’s blood yet fails to fully join. My power and Sparky’s repel it, wanting no part of something so vile.

  “But we need it,” I say, my soft voice drifting to just above a whisper. My eyes glaze over when the first droplet takes a lick of Johnny’s blood. I blink several times, suppressing a moan.

  “Taran, your eyes…” Gemini bites out.

  My vision sharpens as it does when my irises bleach from blue to white.

  “I know,” I say. My voice echoes in the distance, no longer a part of me.

  “You don’t,” Gemini says, his tone cutting through the halo forming around my sight. “Taran, they’re glowing…”

  “Are they?” I ask, not really caring.

  “Stop it,” Gemini mutters under his breath.

  “I will. I just need a little bit,” I add, my tone oddly erotic. I push past the sting the merging of powers causes. My magic and the ancient were magic taking residence within my right arm fight me, warning me we may be in over our heads.

  “Since when has that stopped us?” I ask playfully.

  “Taran,” Gemini growls. “What the hell are you doing?”

  My silky voice vanishes, turning dark. “Fighting fire with fire.”

  A wave of flames ripples from my feet and jets out, pushing away the bulls and making them think twice about charging. Johnny startles, jumping back when the crackling flames stop short of his feet, and my magic becomes the weapon I need.

  The blue and white firestorm of flames spin and rise, taking shape and growing in rapid bursts of fire. The long, strong legs are visible first, followed by a massive and imposing back that sprouts an elegant tail.

  The tail bats about when then neck punches throu
gh, and the head grows. My creation shakes its head so the long, pretty mane flutters. The horn, startling and scary, that pokes through her forehead is my favorite part.

  That’s right. When surrounded by bull, be a fucking unicorn.

  Johnny’s Nytes never really possessed minds of their own. All they knew was their mission: to kill and protect their creator. My baby is no exception. She gallops forward, drops her head, and impales the fiery red bull, lifting him high in the air and detonating him with fire of her own.

  She kicks back when the other bull charges, striking the bull in the head and indenting his skull. I help her with a fireball. It blasts the bull’s hindquarters and takes out his legs.

  My unicorn rears, bringing down her front hooves and beating on the bull.

  Be it the power it took to create her or the amount I’ve expended all through the night, my flames sizzle out in a rush, and I’m immediately struck by the intensity of the foreign fire. Gemini clutches me, lifting me and hurtling us through the crumbling stable.

  We land on the cool grass, mere yards away. I can’t stop coughing, clutching my chest, as if it will help ease my screaming lungs. Through the red and orange flames devouring the building, I see her. All blue and white and beautiful flames, my unicorn fights, beating the bull remaining to death. She whinnies, her legs continuing to fight long after the Nyte stops moving.

  Gemini is in bad shape, curling inward and pressing his hand against his chest. I want to hold him and tell him we won, and that it’s over, that he’ll heal. Yet, as I watch the gangly shadow of a man I’ve grown to hate stumble toward the woods, I know I’m wrong, and there’s one more kill to make.

  My steps falter, and I trip over my feet more than once. I’m not in better shape than Johnny, only good enough to mildly keep up. It takes longer to close the distance between us than it feels it should. I think he’s dying. It seems that way when the first traces of light peek through the treetops.

  Johnny clears the wooded path and heads up the incline. I press my hands against my knees to keep up and not fall over. He’s almost to the top of the small hill when he stops and bounds back.