His eyes glowed amber, and I stabbed a third time.
“Get. Off. Of. Me!”
The vampire was jerked aside and thrown into Sanborn Place’s brick exterior. I climbed to my feet to see Declan pick him back up before slamming the vampire’s body down onto the pavement.
Concrete cracked.
“That wasn’t me!” I said as Ripped Jeans suddenly came out of nowhere with a left hook aimed at my face.
I dodged, but not fast enough. Pain bloomed across my face, and a turbulent rage rolled through me.
Fire broke out over my skin. I peeled my leather jacket off and saw horror fill Ripped Jeans’s face as flames danced over every inch of my exposed flesh.
I directed my fire behind him, building a wall of flames and boxing him in.
He stared around with a wild look in his eyes. “What the fuck are you?”
“I’m Aria. It’s nice to meet you. I have a few questions, and you’re going to answer them.” I advanced.
He backed away, but there was nowhere for him to go.
“There are several ways a vampire can die. You can rip out their heart. Stab them in the heart with silver. Decapitate them. Or my personal favorite, light them on fire and watch them dissolve into ash. It’s pretty gruesome but, effective.”
“Honey—” Declan stood and wiped his bloody hands onto his jeans.
Mr. Suit lay unmoving on the ground, his chest ripped open, and his heart lying in the dirt beside him.
“Mmhmm?”
“Just finish him.”
I mock scowled. “Are you sure? I had questions. But if you think it’d be better to—”
“I’ll answer. Ask away. I’m happy to help.”
I turned back to Ripped Jeans with a smile.
He flinched.
Point one to Aria.
“Who’s your employer?”
“I don’t know. Riggs got the call and payment was deposited into our accounts. We never met the guy.”
“Riggs?”
He waved toward his dead friend. Ah, Mr. Suit.
Alright, then. “After you captured us, where were you told to take us?”
“Not both of you. Orders were to sit on the building until a woman matching your description arrived. We were to apprehend you alive, and then call for the drop off point. There was no mention of a guy.”
“What happened here before we arrived?”
Ripped Jeans shook his head. “Dunno. It’s been quiet the last few hours.”
Well, that told me one thing. Whatever happened to Inarus and the rest of the crew happened during daylight hours.
Vampires didn’t come out during the day. At least not if they could help it. There was a reason that legend said vampires couldn’t go out in the sun, and they were almost right about why.
If a vampire was fewer than five undead years, they could manage direct sun exposure for anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour.
Any older than five undead years, and they could only manage a matter of minutes.
It had to do with the lack of water content in a vampire’s body after the change. Sun exposure caused severe dehydration at an accelerated rate.
Too long, and the vampire would dry out to a husk and shortly after that, their body would decompose and turn to ash.
There was no coming back after that.
Ripped Jeans didn’t strike me as newly made, so he wouldn’t linger outside until the sun had set.
“Was anyone assigned to look out for me before you arrived?”
He shook his head. “Nah. This was a two-man job. Just me and Riggs.”
I considered that.
Declan growled beside me, and Ripped Jeans tried to take another step back before the heat of the flames caused him to jump forward.
“You’re not playing bait.”
I glared at him. “I—”
“No. There is no way I’m letting you—”
My vision turned red. “You’re not letting me do anything. I don’t need your permission. I’m a grown a—”
“Err … sorry to interrupt, but can I go now?”
I whirled on Ripped Jeans.
“No!”
“I can see you two could use some privacy. Maybe it would be best if—”
“She said, NO!” Declan roared at the vampire. Actually roared.
I couldn’t help the snicker that escaped me.
“What’s so damn funny?” Declan asked.
“Absolutely nothing.” I turned back to Ripped Jeans. “You’re going to help me. We’re going to pretend like you’re actually good at your job, and you’re going to deliver me to the drop.”
Declan growled beside me. I ignored it, but it looked like Ripped Jeans was having a hard time with it, so I pulled on my fire and tightened the surrounding walls.
“Okay. Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Glad we got that settled. Come on, honey, you can lurk in the shadows and be all scary while I play bait.”
12
I tried sending Declan to the Compound with the others while Ripped Jeans and I figured out who wanted me delivered, but he wasn’t having it.
Not that I’d expected him to go along with the idea.
Instead we had a cozy car ride from Sanborn Place with three unconscious shifters in the back seat and our new vampire friend wedged between Declan and I in the front.
Declan drove.
I kept an eye on our new friend while playing with a ball of fire the size of a grapefruit the entire way.
Ripped Jeans proved he wasn’t a complete idiot.
He sulked in silence, made no threatening gestures, and kept his mouth firmly closed and fangs hidden away.
The level of stillness a vampire could achieve gave me the heebie jeebies. But I was grateful he didn’t decide to force our hand by attacking.
We needed this lead.
Brock met us at the Compound gates with a group of men. They carted out our injured with instructions to have the workers taken straight to Annabeth and Frankie and that Declan wanted an update as soon as the Pack Healers knew anything.
Brock lingered beside the driver’s-side door and eyed the Vampire seated between us.
“Anything I should know?”
I shook my head. “Nope. We’re just having a date night.” I smiled.
Declan growled and said something to Brock that I couldn’t hear before we pulled away and headed for the drop point.
We’d just made it off Pack land when Declan said, “This is not a date.” His tone was gravelly, and dark shadows played across his face.
“Why not? I like these kinds of dates.” In a twisted sort of way, I did. This, I could get behind. It was my normal. I didn’t do fancy dinners or movies. They were pretentious. If I wanted to get to know someone, I wanted to see them in their element, behaving how they did every single day.
This was my element. Maybe Declan would see me in all my glory and head for the hills.
I eyed him warily. Probably not.
The reasonable part of me wished he would. Being with me could only end in misery. I was enough of a mess before, even more so now that dear old Mom was back in the picture.
Declan was a shifter. My mother would always try to crush the Pack. She wanted humans back on top of the food chain, and she didn’t care how she got there or who was hurt in the process.
If he were smart, he would leave me.
I really hoped he wasn’t smart.
The drop point was located in Airway Heights across from the Maverick gas station just off the highway.
We pulled up to an abandoned warehouse and parked.
“Make the call.” I nudged him with my elbow and snuffed out my fire.
Ripped Jeans pulled out his phone and dialed.
“I got the girl.”
“No, he can’t talk.”
“Because he’s dead, that’s why.”
“Alright. Alright. See you in thirty.”
He hung up the phone and shoved it in his pocket.
/> “Well?” I said.
In a very human gesture, he shrugged his shoulders. “Well what?”
“What did they say?”
He glowered at me, and red tinged his irises. “I don’t know why you’re asking me. Ask him. He heard it all.”
I flicked my gaze toward Declan, who nodded.
I glared. “Would someone please explain to the one person without super hearing powers what the hell the bad guys said?”
Ripped Jeans snickered.
“Screw you both. Let’s get this show on the road.”
We’d agreed on the ride over that Declan would find a dark spot to hide in, so he loped off to go make himself invisible.
Ripped Jeans found a rock to sit on and made himself look bored. I didn’t think he had to try very hard. I lay in the dirt, feigning unconsciousness.
“Did it have to be in the dirt with all the bugs,” I whispered. “There was a nice grassy spot—”
He hissed, “Shut up. Someone’s coming.”
I clamped my lips shut, closed my eyes, and prayed the vampire didn’t screw me over. We’d threatened death and dismemberment, but Ripped Jeans seemed like the type to hold a grudge. Here’s to hoping he valued his life more than his pride.
A vehicle rumbled in the distance, growing closer.
Headlights shined over my body, and I forced myself to remain still.
Someone got out of a car. A door closed. Then another. At least two people approached.
I held my breath.
“I delivered the girl. I want my money.”
“Is she alive?”
Was that worry I heard in the man’s voice?
“She’s alive. Drugged. Now, my money.”
Something was thrown, and Ripped Jeans caught it. I heard the distinct sound of a zipper. He was probably looking inside a bag to make sure he got whatever he was promised.
“Nice doing business with you.”
Air whooshed around me.
Sonovabitch. He was gone. He’d left, just like that.
I ground my teeth together and waited to see what these two would do.
“Come on. Grab the girl, and let’s go before anyone comes by.”
Invisible hands lifted my body off the ground.
Shit.
Psykers.
My eyes snapped opened. I tried to move, but my body was held immobile in the air.
My body followed the two men back to a car. I had to break out of this.
I called my fire to me. It responded in a rush of heat through my bloodstream, but nothing else happened.
Shit.
I took a breath. Come on, Aria. Get it together.
I didn’t know where Declan was, but I knew he wouldn’t let these two take off with me. I trusted in that and called on the violent telekinetic power inside of me. The one I did my best to ignore.
I still didn’t know how to control it, but today it snapped through me like a lightning strike. The air crackled around me and the two men whirled to stare at my body, still hovering off the ground.
“What the—”
I hammered through their telekinetic hold. One man staggered back, clutching his head as my body crashed to the pavement.
Hurts doesn’t it?
I had first hand experience with my own telekinetic hold being broken. The backlash was brutal.
I jumped to my feet and pulled my daggers from my sides. Flames rolled across my body and covered my blades.
“Hi.”
Both men backed away slowly with their hands raised.
“We don’t want any trouble. We just want to talk.”
I quirked a brow. “You have a really strange way of showing it. You had me kidnapped. Is that supposed to endear you to me?”
One of the men seemed to gather himself. He took a step forward. “I’m Jason Hoang. This is Emerson Suede.” He indicated the man standing beside him.
“We don’t mean you any harm. We tried to get in touch with you through the proper channels, but we were stonewalled.”
I folded my arms over my chest, careful to keep from pricking my jacket with my blades. “And what channels would those be?”
Jason ticked them off one by one. “We attempted your former residence and were told by a Harpy that you had moved to the Compound.”
That’d be Melody, my Harpy friend and former neighbor. I really should give her a call and see how she was doing.
“We then tried to call through the Compound’s public assistance number. We called eleven times, and each time were told you were unavailable.”
Well, there had been a lot going on these past few months.
“We then tried to get ahold of you through Sanborn Place but were repeatedly told that you were out of the office and then that the office was closed for repairs.”
Okay. So maybe these two had done everything in their power to get ahold of me, but that still didn’t give them a free pass on having me kidnapped.
“Don’t you think hiring vampire thugs to kidnap and drug me was a little overkill?”
Jason frowned. “We gave him no such instructions.”
I almost believed him. Jason had that friendly, boy-next-door demeanor that made you want to trust him.
Emerson jumped in. “Look. We hired the vamps to track you down, tell you that you were needed, and convince you to meet us here at all costs while ensuring your safety. We didn’t say anything about kidnapping or drugging you.”
Well, that was reassuring at least. Assuming what they said was true.
At that moment, Declan decided to come out of the shadows and make himself known.
Both men froze like a deer caught in headlights and eyed Declan’s approach with open apprehension.
“Well, now that everyone is here. Why don’t we get to the meat and potatoes of it all? What do you two want?”
13
“We need protection.” Emerson said.
I hadn’t paid him as much attention as I had Jason, but now that Declan stood beside me, I gave each of the men a good once over.
Emerson Suede wore ripped jeans and a faded blue cotton shirt. His shoulder-length blond hair was pulled back at his nape, making his face more angular. Sharper. But there was something relaxed about his stance.
He didn’t seem worried.
And that had me worried.
Jason Hoang was dressed similarly. Ripped jeans and a simple cotton shirt, but his dark, almost black, hair was shaved on both sides, leaving the top longer. He had almond-shaped eyes and a full mouth.
He was of Asian descent but probably mixed with European blood somewhere in his line, since his Asian features were less severe.
Neither man looked threatening. But at least one was a psyker. Likely both of them. I’d be an idiot to let my guard down around either of them.
“And who exactly is it that you’re wanting me to protect you from?” If this was a gig, then they should have gone through Sanborn Place. Clients didn’t get to pick which merc took on the gig. They submitted the job, and someone was assigned. Granted, now we were down to just Inarus and I, but the system was still the same. And lately Inarus had been the one taking the bulk of the case load.
“Viola Reynolds.”
But that one name had my attention.
Emerson shifted from foot to foot. “Look. Can we go inside? It’s not safe standing out in the open like this.”
I didn’t like the idea of going anywhere with the two of them, but if they really were hiding from my mother, or the HAC for that matter, I’d be antsy standing out in the open too.
I nodded, and Declan and I followed them toward the building.
Every one of my senses was on high alert, and I still hadn’t called my fire back, but I did sheathe both my blades.
Jason was a telekinetic. That’d been easy enough to figure out, since the blowback from breaking his telekinetic hold had left him staggering.
I wondered what Emerson was, though.
Once inside, my eyes
tried to adjust to the dark.
Jason flipped a switch on the wall, illuminating the large room.
Workbenches were scattered throughout the room. Rusted old tools and dirt-coated debris littered the floor. This was probably an old metal foundry from the looks of it.
I walked over to one of the tables, Declan at my side, and jumped up to sit on its surface. A fine layer of grime stained my palms where I’d touched the table.
I wiped it on my jeans and managed to leave a dark streak along my thigh. Wonderful.
Declan leaned on the table beside me. Agitation radiated from him and through our bond.
I rolled my neck and tried to push his emotions out of me.
Jason and Emerson leaned against a table across from us, both careful not to touch the grime-covered surface.
“So why do you need protection from Viola?” We might as well dive right in.
Declan’s shoulder brushed against me. I pulled my fire back. It wouldn’t help my position if I burned my back up.
“We see the writing on the wall, and we don’t like where things are going for our people.”
I drummed my fingers along the table’s smooth surface and made a smiley face in the gunk. “Who are your people, exactly?” Psykers weren’t organized. We weren’t like a Shifter Pack or a Vampire Seethe. We were loners. We blended in seamlessly with humanity, so there had never been any reason to separate ourselves. We also had no way to distinguish each other from the crowd without a blatant use of power.
“PsyShade needs a way out.”
My eyebrows rose. “PsyShade, as in the elite group of assassins who work for the HAC? Is that the PsyShade you’re referring to here? Because last I heard, you all were sitting pretty comfortably as underlings for the HAC. Why do you all of a sudden want out now?”
“It’s complicated.”
Oh, I bet it is. I laughed. A full on belly laugh that had me leaning forward in hysterics.
“You mean to—” I couldn’t get the words out. I laughed harder.
“Aria?” Declan’s voice was hesitant.
I snorted. “This is so rich.” I wiped tears from my eyes. “You want my help?”
“We do,” Jason answered. “We don’t have a lot of options. If we did, we wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to secure a meeting with you.”
Consumed by Fire Page 7