Wreathed in Flame (Faith of the Fallen Book 3)

by Cassandra Sky West

  “Savanna…” How did she tell her that the thought of feeding on them turned her stomach?

  “You’re not a monster Alexi, you aren’t. Help them.”

  Savanna’s earnest tone seeped through the shame she felt. Reluctantly she nodded. Alexi knelt down next to Caitlin. Her fear rolled off of her, even in sleep.

  “It’s okay, Alexi, trust me.” Savanna squeezed her shoulder.

  Alexi pressed her lips to the woman’s neck, her fangs sliced through skin and her hot blood rushed into her mouth, along with Catiline's essence and pain. Alexi willed her heart to calm. The fear, terror, horror, and pain of losing her friend flooded across the link. She let it flow through her and focused on calming her thoughts. After a few moments, Caitlin’s heart slowed and her breathing deepened.

  Alexi broke contact. With a lick the wound closed. She couldn’t lie to herself. The pleasure of feeding was primal. She knew if she looked in a mirror her eyes would be sparkling.

  Monster.

  “I’ll run to the store and get lots of juice. I recall you doing that for me once.” Alexi sighed. How could Savanna be so in control and calm, as if she weren’t standing next to a monster? Her demeanor was infectious, and Alexi let her shoulders relax ever so slightly.

  “Okay, who’s next?”

  A half hour later Alexi was on her bike and heading for Bremerton. Unfortunately, she had to take the long way around. Having fed on four people before leaving allowed her some speed. Her reflexes were sharpest after a meal. She hated leaving Savanna in a lurch to explain to them what happened and to look after Tink, but she needed to know her daughter was okay.

  She had pushed meeting her parents and daughter back, over and over again. She could have driven out here whenever she wanted. Without her memories, though, it had been easy to let it go. Pure rage had exploded in her at the thought of Rayburn touching her daughter. Even thinking of it now… it almost made her want to kill him again.

  She weaved around a large tanker, gunned the engine past him, before turning off on her exit. The road flew by as she maneuvered the racing bike from lane to lane.

  While she’d never been to the house, she’d memorized the address. Now that she found herself outside of it, Alexi didn’t know what to do. The little two story home sat on its own lot, with two trees, one much older than the other, a mowed lawn and two American flags hanging from the second floor.

  The sun peeked up behind her, casting pink rays in the dawn sky. The birds were waking up and showering the world in their song. It was all so peaceful, she hated to ruin it, but she had to know the truth.

  Savanna placed the bottles of orange juice on the table, along with donuts and cookies. She nodded to herself. It would be enough. Tink had been a great help watching over the girls as they slept while she ran to the store. Thankfully, she had plenty of money now. Which, in itself, felt strange.

  “Thank you again, Savanna Grace, for saving me. I don’t know if I would’ve survived, if you hadn’t healed me.” The little blue faerie wrapped her waist in a tight hug. Savanna wasn’t exactly tall and Tink only came up to her shoulders.

  “You helped us last year. It seemed the least I could do. What will you do now?”

  Tink smiled. Her infectious positive attitude radiated off her like heat. “I don’t know, but I do know I will be all right. I can survive here for a time, perhaps you can help me return to my realm with your magic?”

  “I’ve never tried anything like that before,” Savanna said hesitantly.

  “It’s no different than summoning something. You open a portal and the thing you want goes through. However, we can speak of this later, your friends are waking.”

  Caitlin opened her eyes first. Fear, terror, and ultimately sadness filled them. Savanna knelt next to her with a bottle of juice before she could ask for it.

  “Savanna?” she whispered.

  “It’s okay, don’t try to talk. You, Marta, Bethany, and Keisha are here, and you’re all okay.” She tried to comfort her friend with those words. They sounded hollow, even to her.

  “Clarice…” she said her eyes watered and she buried her face in Savanna’s shoulder. The witch didn’t know what to do, so she pushed herself onto the couch and let the woman cry against her. She knew a little of what she felt. The pure horror of seeing and hearing someone being eaten alive by werewolves gave her nightmares still. The poor women in New Orleans had suffered the same fate as Clarice. Her and Victor never spoke of it but she knew it was painful for him. At the time, she couldn’t forget it, but she did move past it. Other than Victor, all the werewolves she had ever met were terrible people. Not unlike the vampires.

  After a few minutes, Caitlin pulled back, sniffling as she wiped her nose with offered tissue.

  “What happened? I thought we were just healing your friend, then those things came in and Clarice…” She stopped as her jaw started to tremble. Marta, Bethany, and Keisha awoke one at a time. The five of them made their way to the couch, each nursing a bottle of orange juice and some donuts.

  “Werewolves exist, like vampires, and trolls. Along with other terrible things. Alexi is one of the few examples of a supernatural creature that isn’t trying to kill you.” She let out a breath, feeling much older than she actually was.

  “Witches… the ones like my mother, use human sacrifice to summon demons. Other witches will use blood to control and manipulate people. This world isn’t a safe place. I’m so sorry I dragged you into it. I’m sorry about Clarice. If I could take it back, I would.” She pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes, trying so hard not to cry. She wanted to be strong and in control just like Alexi…but she couldn’t. The tears leaked out and before she knew it all of them were hugging and crying. Tink sat a few feet away watching with subdued interest when one of the girls pulled her into the huddle.

  “We went through something together, all of us,” Caitlin said after a long minute of tears. “I don’t know if I imagine this feeling or if it’s real, but there’s a bond here. Between all of us. T…Tink, we healed you with our blood, our friend died saving you. That makes you our responsibility… to make sure she didn’t die in vain.” They all nodded in agreement.

  “I don’t know what to say,” the faerie whispered, “but if I can help you in anyway… I will.” Another round of tears followed as they all hugged.

  Savanna smiled through the tears. A link certainly existed, she hadn’t noticed until Caitlin mentioned it, but it was real. A blood bond, formed by the ritual, and one that often bound a coven together. An expanding awareness enveloped her as they held each other alternating between laughing and crying and rejoicing in their survival.

  I have a coven.

  The door buzzed, spoiling the moment. They all laughed as they broke apart. Savanna stretched as she stood and walked to the door. She opened the door without looking, knowing that whatever she faced couldn’t hurt her.

  “John?” she said amazed that the Detective could even walk.

  “Savanna, Alexi’s in trouble,” he said as he stormed in. He didn’t bat an eye at the gaggle of women, or the blue fae.

  “She’s fine, John. Or at least, as fine as she can ever be. Rayburn said something about kidnapping her daughter. She went home to find out if he was telling the truth.”

  He paced back and forth from one side of the condo to the other. Savanna followed his movements. No limp, no stagger, no sign of pain. She checked the clock on the wall, less than eight hours passed since he nearly died.

  “John, stop for a second.” She held her hands up to his chest as he paced. His breathing came in rapid puffs, sweat glistened on his skin, his eyes were clearly filled with concern.

  “John, why don’t you just call her?” Savanna asked.

  “Call her?” He looked at her blankly. His eyes were almost… vacant.

  Oh, no.

  “Yes, John,” she said in the same patient voice she would direct to a child. “Call Alexi with your cell phone.”


  “Right!” He let out an explosive breath. “Of course. I can call her. It’s just… she’s not here with me. She should be here with me…”

  “I know. It’s okay. Call her, and we’ll see her again soon,” Savanna said.

  John pulled out his phone, and Savanna sighed. She hadn’t realized what Alexi had done until now. Her friend felt so much guilt over every life she took, every time she had to feed. Now she would add the guilt of turning her boyfriend into a thrall.

  Alexi circled her parents’ home. No one inside was awake yet. She could hear the heartbeats and slow breathing of two people. There should be three.

  Part of her hoped she just couldn’t hear her little girl’s quiet breaths. She was so small, after all.

  Standing in the back yard, Alexi saw what she dreaded. There was a window, wide open—pink curtains rustling in the breeze. She smelled the scent of bubblegum shampoo. But no heartbeat. No breathing. The room was empty. Rayburn hadn’t been lying.

  Her phone rang.

  Alexi fumbled for her phone, irrationally worried that the sound would wake her parents. There was no way to deal with them right now. They didn’t even know Sydney was gone yet. She couldn’t imagine the weight of that realization hitting them on top of Alexi returning… and possibly having to come to terms with the supernatural world.

  “John?” Alexi recognized his number on her ancient flip phone. “What’s happened? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Are you okay? Where are you?”

  “Rayburn said someone kidnapped Sydney. I’m at my parents’ house right now.”

  “Thank heavens. I’m just—I’m just so glad you’re okay.”

  “John, I didn’t even think you’d be up and around yet. You just—”

  “Can I come see you?”

  Alexi’s mind raced, putting a plan together. “Yes, actually. Come meet me here at my parents’ house. They don’t know Sydney is gone, yet. I’m going to need your help with them. Bring your badge, okay?”

  “Of course, mist—” He paused. “Of course, I’ll be there right away.”

  Alexi waited a few moments after she snapped the phone closed, and then she evaluated the house in front of her. Scaling the wall up to the second-storey window wasn’t a problem. And if the neighbors saw her, that would just add some force to the lies John was going to have to tell.

  She slid in through the open window.

  She didn’t know what a little girls room should look like, but this certainly fit the bill.

  Pink drapes were pulled sideways to frame an open window. They were on the second floor. Whoever took her must have come and gone through the window. There were posters on the wall—unicorns and superheroes. On the dresser was a mixture of toy ponies and army action figures.

  She closed her eyes, steadied her breathing and focused on what she smelled. Bubble gum shampoo. Sydney for sure. She moved past that smell. Her nose crinkled involuntary as she smelled something familiar. Beer, cigarettes. Old sweat. Dog.

  Not Rayburn, though. She knew his smell, and this wasn’t it. The cigarettes she smelled in the room were acrid, not sweet, and the beer didn’t match the hops smell of the one on Rayburn. The unmistakable smell of wolf came through strong. It could have been one of his pack she hadn’t met but… it didn’t smell right.

  The wolf’s smell mingled with another one… a human man.

  By the time John arrived, Alexi had almost exhausted all of her patience. His car rolled up to park behind her bike, and she crossed the street to him. By some stroke of luck, her parents weren’t early risers. They slept still, inside the house.

  John got out of the car. He didn’t look like anything had happened to him at all—no limp, no wince of pain. Alexi could hardly believe he’d been half-dead only hours before.

  “Listen,” she said, sparing no time for greeting. “My parents are going to wake up and find out Sydney is gone, and then they’re going to call the police. I need you to get to them first. Tell them someone called in a tip, or whatever. Open a fake investigation, take statements, examine the crime scene—do whatever you have to do, to keep them and the police out of it. I don’t need anyone else stumbling onto whoever took Sydney. I have enough blood on my hands as it is.”

  “Where are you going?” There was an odd, plaintive note in his voice.

  “I’m going to head back to Savanna and Tink, and see if I can come up with a plan.” A surge of fresh rage rolled through Alexi. “Whoever took my daughter is going to wish they’d never been born.”

  “Alexi?” Savanna stood up as Alexi came through the door. “Are you okay? Where’s John?”

  Alexi ran her fingers through her hair, wishing she had more to go on. “I left him at my parents’ house—he’s going to try to calm them down, but I need to figure out what happened to Sydney. All I know is—”

  All of the sudden, Savanna’s phone started to ring. And then Alexi’s. And then the phones of the rest of the women in the room. The other witches were resting on the couch, sipping orange juice and generally looking exhausted. They sat up and looked around as their phones started to ring. Only Tink, sitting on the loveseat, seemed unperturbed.

  Alexi fished her phone out of her pocket. She thought it must be John, but she didn’t recognize the number.

  Flipping it open, she put it to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Alexi Creed, a pleasure to hear your voice again, my dear, even if you don’t remember mine.”

  The sing-song voice on the other end sent shivers of dread down her spine. Like Savanna, she remembered everything now. Something to do with feeding on Warren, she supposed. In the background, she could hear wind blowing and… singing.

  Alexi jerked around, her body acting of its own accord. She headed right for the door. Savanna seized her shoulder but she shrugged her off. She railed against the magic that controlled her. Her head buzzed and ached. She pressed back against it, but her powers to resist did nothing to stop it.

  Suddenly, Tink was in front of her. Alexi drew her hand back to bat the little faerie aside, but Tink only smiled, raising her delicate hands. Her golden eyes danced with light bright enough to make Alexi blink… then the magic compulsion vanished. She could act on her own.

  Anger welled up in her. “You’re going to pay for this,” she snarled into the phone. “Where is my daughter?”

  The singing in the background stopped. Alexi glanced at Tink and smiled, mouthing, Thank you. The blue faerie beamed back.

  “I see Rayburn’s failure is complete. He didn’t even manage to kill Tink?” Shaughn sounded as interested in her death as if he were asking about the weather.

  “No, he didn’t and he’s dead, which is where you’re going to be if you don’t return my daughter,” she said coldly into the phone.

  “Now, now, little vampire, be nice. We do have sweet Sydney, and unless you want her to return with us to serve as one of Tamlin's handmaidens for the next thousand years… you will shut up and listen,” only at the end did his voice rise.

  Alexi forced her eyes closed, took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. When she calmed down enough, she walked over to the wall and leaned her head against it. Savanna came to stand next to her.

  “Okay, what do you want?”

  “Believe me when I say, I have no interest in harming Sydney. Please express our remorse to Tink. We couldn’t have her running off to tell Dominus of our plans. He’s always been far too sympathetic to your kind to understand.”

  “I’m sure all will be forgiven,” Alexi grated. “Why don’t you come tell her in person? She would be more than happy to hug it out.”

  “Quite, I’m sure. Nevertheless, I’m truly sorry one of our kind had to be sacrificed, but great things require sacrifice.” The way he said the last word sent a chill down her spine.

  “Get on with it already,” she spat.

  “We’re on top of the large mountain to the south. I expect you here before the apex of the full moon tomorrow night. If not… well,
we return home and take little Sydney with us.”

  Alexi’s eyes narrowed and rage swept up in her. It took all her willpower not to scream into the phone.

  “I’ll. Be. There. And you’ll wish you hadn’t invited me.”

  The line went dead.

  “Why do they want to meet on Mount Rainier?” Alexi asked aloud. She turned to the others and noticed Tink lowering her head.

  “Do you know what’s going on, Tink?” Savanna asked.

  “I do.”

  “Can you explain?” Alexi asked when no answer seemed forthcoming.

  Tink opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. Alexi never noticed that her lips were a much darker shade of blue, as the skin around her eyes, like make-up.

  Tink finally nodded, and spoke, “Your world is about to end.”

  Savanna blinked several times, processing what the faerie had just said. Confusion sprung up in the room. Tink’s declaration of the end of the world rattled around for a few seconds before everyone started talking at once.

  “Can you be more specific?” Savanna asked. “It’s not that we don’t believe you but we’ve been through the ‘end of the world’ twice now.”

  “I need a moment to decide on how to best tell you,” Tink replied. She started fidgeting with her hands. If Savanna didn’t know better she would think the faerie nervous. Could fae get nervous?

  “What I’m about to tell you is common knowledge for us, but I fear some of it might be forbidden for you to know. There could be ramifications.” Tink let the threat land.

  Alexi chuckled, “Tink, honey, you know who you’re talking to right?”

  Tink gave them a tight smile. “I can’t relay to you the importance of this event without context. It’s going to sound like it’s not relevant, but I promise it is. The story starts many thousands of years ago. The Earth was one land and we covered all of it. One large island playground for us. The fae were spread out to the four corners. No kingdoms, no King, no Queen. Dominus was more of a moderator than a leader. He is the oldest and wisest of us.” She smiled dreamily as she spoke, as if she were remembering fond things.