blood and magic 02 - kissed by fire

by Danielle Annett

  Military forces failed, ill-equipped to fight an enemy they knew nothing about. A thin agreement was made for the sake of all species involved a handful of months later, and all parties stepped back in an attempt at peace. All sides had suffered casualties and while humans had the numbers, they’d lack the strength. Shortly after our democracy fell and six years later, we’d failed to recover.

  The Human and Paranormal Enforcement Division was on the scene. They were the closest thing we had to a police system, but it didn’t seem like they were doing much. One vehicle, a lifted Ford truck, was off to the side of the road with little more than a scratch. In the middle of the street rested a small white car of some sort. I could barely tell that it had been a car to begin with. It looked more like a crushed tin can on wheels. Well, two wheels to be exact. The other two were farther down the road, having come off during the collision. It didn’t look like anyone had died. As I neared the crash to pass on my way, I could see a woman wildly yelling at the HPED men, her arms frantically waving in the air as she gave her story. The truck driver was sitting in the front seat of his car, head in his hands. Yup, it’d been his fault. Lucky bastard just happened to be driving a tank instead of a normal-sized car. Maybe it was time to trade in my Civic for something bigger.

  As quickly as the thought came, I brushed it away. No way was I trading in my baby. I’d spent over a year customizing it to withstand virtually any threat. Reinforcing the undercarriage, installing bulletproof glass, and strengthening the frame were only a few things among the many customizations I’d meticulously overseen.

  Arriving at the nearby Rocket Bakery, the door chimed as I walked in.

  “What the hell took you so long?” Mel asked, practically steamrolling me as she pulled me into her embrace. This was weird. We’d never hugged it out before. My arms stayed stiff at my sides, and when Melody pulled away, a frown marred her near perfect features. She had her raven-colored hair in waves around her shoulders and sported another flashy schoolgirl outfit complete with a red plaid mini skirt and a black button-up top that was barely buttoned.

  “What the hell are you wearing I think is a better question,” I said, eyebrow raised. Whatever type of women Ryan was bringing home these days had me seriously questioning his taste and Mel’s sanity.

  She frowned. “Ignore the outfit and just come sit down. You’ve had me worried sick.”

  “I didn’t know harpies worried. And seriously, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do. You look like a schoolgirl stripper recently released from prison.” Melody stuck her tongue out at me. “Why are you wearing this crap?”

  “That idiot keeps bringing home these schoolgirl wannabes. I swear I don’t know why I even bother. I look ridiculous.”

  I smothered a laugh when she glared daggers at me. “Not ridiculous at all,” I chimed in. “But maybe don’t be so obvious.”

  “If it was so obvious, you’d think he’d have noticed by now.”

  “Give him time. He’ll figure it out.”

  Melody huffed out a breath and I had to hide my smile. Ryan was our entirely human neighbor, and the poor idiot probably didn’t even realize that her constant meddling and torture of his life was her way of flirting.

  Melody regularly raided Ryan’s apartment, stealing his food or rearranging his furniture, hiding his keys—anything to get a rise out of him, and boy did it work. When I’d still lived in my apartment, I could hear the two of them yelling at one another through the apartment walls without even trying.

  Damn, I’d been staying in the Compound too long.

  “So, how did you end up bonded to Declan?”

  I sighed heavily and ran my hands through my hair. I may as well start at the beginning.

  “Mike left me Sanborn Place,” I told her. “I feel like he saw more in me that I ever did and with him gone, I wanted to do things right. I went right to work. I called old clients so they knew Sanborn Place was still in business.” Looking back, maybe I shouldn't have rushed in to it so quickly. Maybe then I wouldn’t be in this mess. “I got my first gig the other day.”

  “How does a job wind up with you mate bonded?”

  I bit my lip. “The guy had some creature eating his goats. It ended up being a chupacabra.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re kidding?” I shook my head. I wished I was.

  “No, it was the real deal. The bastard was damn near impossible to kill so I called for backup. James came with a carful of shifters and Declan happened to be one of them. Things got hairy and I ended up half dead by the time the chupacabra finally went down.”

  “The Alpha mate claimed you to save your life?” she guessed. I nodded and in her eyes I saw understanding.

  “Makes sense,” she said.

  “How the hell does any of that make sense to you?” My voice rose. I didn’t want her to understand why he’d done it. I wanted her to be angry with me at the sheer audacity of him claiming me without my permission. She shrugged her shoulders.

  “Well, I’d hate to find out that you were dead so I guess this is the lesser of two evils.” I lowered my head to the table. The surface was cool against my forehead. Why was everyone on his side?

  “I don’t want to be claimed. I want a way out of this.” I raised my head to peer up at her, resting my chin in my hands.

  Mel’s eyes grew soft. Sympathy was not a look I was familiar with receiving, and it made me uncomfortable.

  “There isn’t anything you can do,” she said, shaking her head. “At least as far as I know. I’ll keep searching for you. I have some friends who may have an idea but as far as I know, the only way to break a mate bond is through death and even then…” She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

  “What’s that supposed to mean Mel?” She turned away, her eyes scanning the room for a moment.

  “Did the two of you form a bond?”

  I nodded. “He says we did. I can feel him, feel what he’s feeling. It’s weird. I don’t like it.”

  “Look, shifters mate for life. Their beasts don’t take that bond lightly. Often, when one individual dies, their mate follows shortly after. The bond is that strong.”

  Great, just great. Not only was I bonded, my life was also tied to his. Just what I needed, more complications.

  My conversation with Melody hadn’t gone as planned and I was in serious need of food therapy.

  Mel was nice enough to drop me off downtown. I had her let me out on Walnut Street. She’d offered to stick around and grab a bit with me but really, I just wanted to be alone. The day was nearing its end, the sun having set close to an hour ago. I walked one block before taking a left on 2nd Avenue. The streets were silent, the sound of the wind the only thing I could hear in the distance. I hunched my shoulders against the cold and was about to head into Frank’s Diner when a flash of red caught my attention. I paused by the diner’s entrance, the smell of bacon and waffles tempting me to ignore what I’d seen. Breakfast for dinner was my favorite meal of the day. My hand was poised above the door handle when I realized that the flash of red had belonged to a familiar figure.

  Irina crossed the adjacent street, dressed in black leggings and a light-grey sweater. I watched her turn down a darkened alley, and before I realized what I was doing, I began following her, my need for diner fare entirely forgotten. Her steps were silent, but her attention was focused on where she was going instead of on who may have been following her, and I kept pace without being noticed. I followed her down several streets, ducking behind dumpsters and into alcoves to avoid being seen. After four blocks, she stopped and scanned her surroundings and I held my breath, waiting for the moment I’d be caught.

  It never came, and after one last cursory look behind her, I watched Irina head up a set of brick steps leading into a two-story townhouse. When the door closed behind her, I jogged forward for a closer look. Inarus had claimed that she’d been the one behind Daniel’s death, and if that were true, we had a score to settle.

  There was little cove
r by the home so I moved to go to the side of the house, hoping that it would at the very least place me in the shadows. Sleet and slush crunched beneath my boots as I followed the perimeter of the house until I came to a main floor window. I peered inside; the sheer draperies blocked most of my vision, but I was able to make out a figure with red hair. When the figure moved into an adjoining room, I lurked further around the perimeter until I came to another window, this one without any window coverings. Irina entered the room and took a seat with her back to the window. I couldn’t see her face, but a man stood to her right, facing her as he spoke adamantly, his hands waving through the air in his enthusiasm. I watched in silence, crouching low in an effort to remain unseen. The wind whipped my hair in my face and the cool temperatures made my breath fog up the glass in front of me. I had to fight to urge to wipe at it. A cramp started forming in my right leg as snow began to flurry from the skies. Just my luck. Weather had been fickle these past few days. It would snow now, followed shortly after by bouts of rain, and in the end we’d be left with slush and a wet cold that imparted a bone-deep chill. I could already feel moisture seeping into to the soles of my feet, and the flurries of snow making their way down the back of my neck and into the collar of my shirt weren’t helping.

  I tried adjusting my stance to get rid of the cramp when my boot slipped on the pavement, sending me crashing toward the ground. I caught myself with my hands, and wet gravel bit into my palms. Damn ice. I bit my tongue to keep from cursing but realized my mistake too late as the metallic tang of blood filled my mouth. Shit.

  Vampires were like bloodhounds. Even a drop of blood called to them, and I wasn’t that far away from one, possibly two. If my fall hadn’t alerted them to my presence, the scent of my blood certainly would, and no vampire would walk away from freshly spilled blood.

  As expected, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the darkened streets. I scurried to stand and make a quick getaway, but I wasn't quick enough. I’d barely taken three steps when I felt someone yank me back by my braid. Urgh, I really needed to reconsider cutting my hair. Vanity was so not worth this.

  “Who do we have here?” a malicious voice asked in my ear, his grip firm as he jerked my head further back.

  “Your worst nightmare,” I said, twisting around and plunging one of my daggers deep into my assailant’s chest. My line wasn’t very original, but it had the desired effect. He released me almost immediately and stared down at the dagger. I took two steps away from him and scanned the street for Irina. She had to be out here somewhere.

  She’d made a slower exit from the house; her cloak was pulled up to cover her features, and her back faced me as she made her retreat in the opposite direction, her steps even and measured.

  “Tsk, tsk, that wasn’t very smart of you,” the vampire before me said. He could think what he liked. He wasn't much of a threat. I dismissed him with little more than a glance, just long enough to see the blood dribbling from the wound I’d inflicted. It was the same deep purple that all of the undead shared once they passed their first year of undead life. The bleeding was slow, the wound already knitting itself back together.

  I called out to Irina. “I know who you are,” I said. “I’m sure Rebecka will be quite curious as to why one of her inner circle is meeting in secret behind her back.” I didn’t bother raising my voice. She’d be able to hear a pin drop with her enhanced vampiric hearing.

  The man hissed in front of me and Irina froze. My words had certainly grabbed her attention.

  “I know you were behind Daniel’s death, and that you're working to ruin the Coven-Pack treaty.”

  She turned, her eyes a malicious red as they honed in on me.

  “You don’t know what you're talking about,” she said. Her lips pulled back, exposing her fangs. Guess I’d struck a chord.

  “Oh, I do, and I’m sure when I tell Rebecka all about it, she’ll be so disappointed with you.” I tsked. “I wonder what she’ll do to you when she finds out.”

  She turned to the man. “Kill her.”

  Why did everyone always want to kill me? I gritted my teeth and planted my feet firmly on the pavement.

  “With pleasure.”

  Well, this would be fun. He lunged for my throat, his fangs fully extended. With little more than a thought, I called fire, and just as his hands touched my throat, flames erupted over my body. He didn’t even have time to react. A howl of pain pierced the night and he fell back, the flames quickly engulfing him. He rolled across the pavement, screaming out for Irina to help him, but all she did was look on in disgust.

  A minute ticked by before he stopped moving. Neither Irina nor I made any move to aid him. The screams died down as well, and before long, a black corpse rested between us, the skin breaking off in large, flaking pieces before turning to ash that seemed to melt into the snow.

  “That was too easy,” Irina’s eyes were blood red and I could see her cold calculation at work.

  “Why did you do it?” I asked.

  “Why are you asking me? You seem to know so much already.”

  Yeah, I knew what Inarus had told me, but I wanted her to admit it before I killed her. I needed to know without a shadow of a doubt that she’d been the culprit, because after I took her down, I’d have hell to pay with the Coven. It’d all be worth it, though.

  “Did you enjoy the visit from my associate the other day?” she asked.

  Visit? What visit? That was when I realized what she was talking about. That bitch.

  “That was your doing?” I’d suspected that she’d been behind the rogue after my conversation with Inarus, but hadn’t really believed her capable of it. Irina was old, but I hadn’t thought her old enough to turn someone.

  “Yes, my first. He was lovely, wasn’t he?”

  “You threw him away.”

  She smirked.

  “I thought your kind valued its young more than that.”

  She rolled her eyes, unfazed. “I have little use for a child. He had a purpose and he failed. There is not much more to it.” She sneered her words, as though the loss of a life was of no consequence to her. She really was a cold-hearted bitch.

  “Why do all of this? You’re in the Coven’s inner circle. You have power and status. Why try to destroy the treaty between the Pack and the Coven? Why try to kill me?”

  “Stupid girl. The Coven and the Pack are mortal enemies. There never should have been a treaty. They are nothing more than vicious beasts that need to be collared. We should rule; we do not share power or territory. Rebecka knows better, yet she made an alliance with those savages, and for what? The greater good? But for who? Certainly not for our own kind. No, she was foolish, and I am simply correcting her mistake.”

  “Behind her back. Do you really think you’ll get away with it?”

  “When the shifters are crushed, the Coven will side with me and Rebecka’s opinions will no longer matter. We need a strong leader, not one who believes in peace with the enemy.”

  “That won’t ever happen. The Pack is on to you. They know someone is just trying to insight a war between the two factions. Rebecka is aware as well. Both sides are taking precautions. Your plan won’t ever work.”

  “Oh, it will. You just won’t live long enough to see it.” At her final word, I felt a crushing weight slam into my skull, knocking me to the side and onto the pavement.

  “I hit her, Mistress, I hit her!” a voice said giddily behind me.

  Fuck, that hurt.

  “Well hit her again and make sure she doesn’t get up.”

  I heard her footsteps begin to retreat and tried to call my fire, but my head was swimming. A booted foot came within my view, and the shadow of a man cast over me.

  “I’m sorry, miss. Must do what Mistress says.”

  I tried to focus on the man before me—a blood servant if I was guessing right. Someone Irina had fed from often enough that he’d become bonded to her. Eager to do her bidding and unable to ignore a command. I struggl
ed into a sitting position. I had to do something. I needed my fire, but I was seeing stars. I tried anyway. Flames flickered on the tips of my fingers but were extinguished in less than a second. Come on, Aria. Focus.

  I pushed harder but watched in horror as he moved to strike again. I raised my hands above my head. Burn, you bastard. Burn. It wasn’t working.

  Before he struck, a crash sounded and I watched through hazy vision as the man’s body was slammed into the wall of the house, whatever object he’d used to hit me with falling from his fingers as unconsciousness stole him.

  “Aria, are you okay?” Inarus’s voice met my ears, and for once I was happy to hear it.

  “Irina…getting…away,” I coughed out.

  “I know. You can’t worry about that, though. We need to get you some help.” He lifted me in his arms and, before I could take my next breath, ported us from the street.

  I found myself in a sterile-looking room with a row of hospital beds lining the wall and a fully stocked medicine cupboard to my right. That was all I saw before the dizziness in my head roared and unconsciousness took me under.

  You’d think that I’d have been used to waking up in strange places. As my eyes adjusted to the light in the room, it didn’t take long to realize that Inarus was with me and that the two of us were not alone.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  “Like I just got hit in the head by a sledgehammer.”