Fire in Her Blood

by Rachel Graves

  “That was what the proposal made it look like.” He gestured to the couch, and I followed him there. “But I’m not here so you can help me with my work.”

  “No, you’re here to help me with mine,” I said, sitting down across from him.

  “Yours will probably be much more interesting.”

  “Oh interesting I have down, productive or satisfying, not so much.” I took a deep breath and tried to decide where to begin. I decided to start slow. “First question, how could you hurt a vampire enough that he couldn’t play piano?”

  He favored me with a look of shock. “You don’t want to know the number of extraordinarily gruesome answers there are to that question.”

  “Give me the least gruesome,” I declared.

  “How old is this vampire?”

  “Not old, he’s the one from your office the other night.”

  “Oh, that wouldn’t be hard at all. Burn his hands.”

  “Burn?” I asked surprised by how simple it was.

  “We can’t heal burns, not as such, and he’s too young to know you can cut the skin off and grow new.”

  “You skin yourself alive?” I asked shocked.

  “Not for fun, but if you have to, yes.”

  “Okay, next question.” I paused giving myself a minute to think. I found Vianne repulsive, but that didn’t mean I wanted her dead. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure mentioning her transgressions to Jakob meant she would be soon. Still, I needed advice on what to do with the abusive, law breaking vampire.

  “Don’t hesitate, just ask.” Jakob interrupted my thoughts and everything spilled out at once.

  “Vianne turned Chris. He’s seventeen. She knew it, so apparently laws don’t matter to her. She’s sick and twisted, and decidedly less than sane, how do I deal with that?”

  “You don’t, I do.”

  “Because I asked?” I said quietly, feeling somewhere between annoyed and guilty. Vianne was my problem as a cop. He shouldn’t get to step in and take care of it. But, deep down, I had to admit I liked the idea of him solving this problem for me.

  “Because I already planned to, with the vampire from the hospital.”

  “Really? You guys are hanging out together?” That explained how Amadeus knew what kind of a car Jakob drove, but it made his harsh words about Jakob all the more cruel.

  “I wouldn’t say that but I agreed to be his second when he goes after her. If he fails, I’ll take care of it.”

  “Just like that?”

  “It would already be done if he didn’t have to work.”

  “Interesting,” I proclaimed. “So what happens to all of her family when you two are done?”

  “Family?”

  “Those boys, I mean they’re not boys, but they look like it. She has five of them practically calling her mommy.”

  “They won’t survive.”

  “Isn’t that a bit harsh? I mean sure they’re in love with someone who’s crazy, but does that get you a death sentence?”

  “In our world…” He let his voice trail off.

  “Actually, don’t tell me,” I decided. “I don’t want to know. I’ll be content to wonder how anyone can sleep with someone who is clearly insane.”

  He blushed.

  “What?” I asked. He opened his mouth to reply but didn’t say anything. “Uh-huh, one of the twenty?”

  “Not one I’m anxious to discuss,” he said with a nod.

  “Was she any good?” I asked, putting my hand on his knee.

  “She was…” He looked down at my hand than back at my face. “Are you sure you want to know about this?”

  “I’m curious.”

  “I always thought her madness was feigned.”

  “Good though? Better than me?” I asked, moving closer to him.

  “No one has ever been better than you,” he replied. It was the right answer. I slid over to him and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. I straddled him and brushed the fabric down his shoulders, kissing him the whole time. He was wearing an undershirt, and I took it off too, moving my hands underneath the cotton, following them with kisses until his upper body was naked. I kept kissing while my fingers worked at his belt, my hand moving as my mouth found his nipple. I teased it with my tongue, caressing it gently into hardness and then nipping it softly until he moaned. The ruby tips fascinated me, so dark against his pale skin, but the hardness between his legs was even more fascinating.

  Taking his pants off was tricky. I had to stop kissing to get him completely naked. We laughed at my troubles getting them over his shoes, until he finally stopped and stripped for me. He was prefect, a statue brought to life standing beside my couch. So very blond, with a trail of curls spreading from his belly button down his hard flat stomach, I brushed them with my cheek, not letting him sit back down. They were so soft, crushing under my kisses no matter how gentle I made them. There was another part of him though, a part that was strong enough for my mouth. I concentrated my efforts there and was rewarded with deeper moans and a hint of that wonderful language he spoke only when we were intimate.

  I put my hands on his hips and moved him down to the couch, wanting him desperately. He resisted me for a second, always the gentlemen, always worried about my pleasure, but what I wanted meant he had to sit. I straddled him again, my body wet and hungry for him. As we kissed, our chests pressed together. His hand danced down my body, his fingers finding that spot on me that was so sensitive and hard. He rubbed me there, tiny circles driving any rational thought out of my mind and I took him inside myself. We moved together in a rhythm so instinctive it was almost animalistic. I let myself go, gave into the feeling and rough suggestions tore from my mouth. He listened to my words and gave me what I begged for.

  Almost immediately it was there, that feeling of pressure and sweet agony. I needed him more, deeper inside me, harder, faster, there would never be enough of him and still his fingers kept moving, kept teasing me there. I arched my back and rode him, pressing my legs together over his, driving his body inside me. The passion was too much for me and I realized I’d stopped breathing with the pleasure. It didn’t stop me though, I rode him as ecstasy poured through my muscles, finally shattering me as my body erupted in climax. He came a minute later, his hands gripping my ass, lifting me off the couch as he drove his body into my own. He screamed my name while it was all I could do to fill my lungs with air. We finished that way, sweating and panting, his head between my breasts, our arms wrapped tightly around each other. I was exhausted, completely spent and completely satisfied.

  “You’re better than any of them ever were,” he whispered, kissing me softly before turning to look up at me. I reached down and kissed him back, my tongue exploring the cool delight of his mouth.

  “Thank you for giving me the chance to be one of them,” I said softly.

  “I’d like you to be the only one,” he replied. His eyes were serious, too serious for the moment.

  “I thought I was,” I teased. His look changed completely and I laughed. I ended my laugh with kisses, leaning him back against the couch cushions. I leaned too far, and my legs protested. “How are we going to get upstairs?”

  “I assumed we’d walk.”

  “I don’t think my legs have much strength left.” I tried to unfold myself from around him.

  “Don’t,” he whispered, and a second later we were off the couch. Flying with Jakob was an amazing experience. One minute you were a normal, earth bound object, the next gravity didn’t apply to you. He was holding me as if we were dancing, our bodies stretched out long and pressed against each other as we glided on air. The room moved away from us until we were over the stairs. Then when we were over the bed we moved down, landing with the gentlest of motions.

  “I love flying with you.” I laughed.

  “And yet you fear heights.”

  “I’m a woman; we’re allowed to be contrary.”

  “Indeed you are, and you’re a thousand times more wonderful because of it.” He ki
ssed me then rolled to the side, hugging me close as I snuggled against him. His body wasn’t sure we were done with the crazy fun sex part of the evening. I snuggled up closer.

  I loved him more than I’d ever loved another person. He made me feel things I’d never expected to feel, and not just the sappy card shop sentiments. I’d never been so jealous of other women before, never been so protective or needy. My time with him seemed different, stolen from some better place where even if things didn’t make sense people handled them like grownups without shouting or cursing. Jakob never played any of the manipulative games my husband had forced me to master before he died. And while Greg’s death had been a devastating loss, it was because he’d done everything and suddenly I had to think for myself. I feared losing Jakob for entirely more selfish reasons, he made everything brighter; he made the world seem like a different place, one I liked a lot better.

  But his world was darker. That wonderful black and white clarity, good guys versus bad guys, only came when you had some very bad guys. I remembered the werewolf I’d seen that afternoon and shivered. Any other girl would run screaming from the things I saw every day. Hell, my boyfriend had flown me up to my bed, that would induce fits in most women. What did it mean that I thought it was wonderful? What did it say that I didn’t mind how his body was always cool to the touch, always just about room temperature? He wasn’t human, he wasn’t even close. The words Amadeus had said about him came back to haunt me.

  “What troubles you so, meine leibchen?” Jakob was calling me sweetheart. It gave me butterflies to hear his voice sound so sweet, could that same sweet voice belong to a cruel monster?

  “I was talking to this vampire…” I let my voice trail off. Jakob’s face was filled with concern. “Are you a monster?” I finished too quickly.

  “I’d prefer for you not to think of me so,” he said softly.

  “I don’t. But this vampire, he tells me that’s a problem.”

  “Ah.” He sounded pensive. “I don’t suppose it would help my case if I asked you who this man was?”

  “Not if he ended up dead tomorrow night.” I knew better than to name Amadeus to him, especially since they were planning to take Vianne on together. “I think of you as a man, not a monster. The flying, the mist, all of that comes second to the way your eyes light up when you do something new or the way you watch cooking shows.”

  “And that’s why I love you.”

  “But…am I wrong? Should I be worried?” I leaned back against him. The love we made was so sweet it made me forget everything else in the world. I’d never questioned the feeling of safety and bliss I found in his arms. “Do you really kill every other vampire named Jacob that you find?”

  He sighed. “There have only been two. The first one left, the second was,” he paused, searching for the word, “morally bankrupt. I could not let him continue to exist.”

  “This vampire made it sound like a lot more than twice.”

  “I am more and more interested in knowing his name.”

  “No doubt.” I turned in his arms and kissed him. His kiss was gentle and soft. He’d never been anything but kind and protective of me. The rest of the world could see him as the devil himself, but it wouldn’t change the way he treated me. “I’ve decided. I officially don’t give a damn what everyone else thinks of you. You can be a monster to them; you’ll still be the man I love to me.”

  “I’m very glad to hear it,” he said. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I craned my neck to keep kissing him, and a moment later his body responded. He slid into me almost by accident, our bodies joining as a natural progression of our closeness. This time our love was sweet and close, when my body blossomed beneath him I called out “I love you” instead of some more feverous passionate thing. When I looked into his eyes, I knew it had been the right thing to say.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Dream with me tonight?” I asked as he slipped out of bed to get dressed a few minutes later.

  “Of course, I might be late though, I have this project…”

  “A project that’s taking more and more of your time lately,” I teased well aware the project hadn’t shown up until I’d mentioned my birthday.

  “What dreams should I bring you?”

  “Anything that doesn’t involve werewolves,” I said rolling onto my back. “I ran into one today. They still paralyze me.”

  “You have every right to be cautious.”

  I laughed. “I appreciate the thought my love, but I’m not cautious, I’m phobic. I need to handle it; I just don’t want to handle it tonight. I’d much rather dream about unicorns and rainbows.”

  “Unicorns and rainbows it is.” He kissed me softly. “Sleep well my darling, Mallory.”

  I was asleep before he left the apartment.

  ****

  “You ever see a unicorn, Danny?” I asked when I sat down across from my partner the next morning. I practically floated on the bliss of great sex and wonderful dreams.

  “Just in pictures,” he said. “You look entirely too happy.”

  “Tomorrow’s my birthday, I’m in love with a wonderful man, and I’ve got a great job with a great partner, what isn’t there to be happy about?”

  “There was another arson,” Danny said, bluntly.

  “Way to kill the mood, partner.”

  “I’m sorry. We were sharing a mood?”

  “Well, we weren’t sharing it per se…” I looked down at my desk. “All right, let’s go to the crime scene already.”

  ****

  E was already there, getting details from a fire crew. Rather than ask them to repeat themselves I asked her.

  “What happened?”

  “Same thing that’s happened with every arson since I got back into town: magical fire starts in the middle of the night, burns out of control until around dawn, leaves behind a cry for help.”

  “Middle of the night to dawn” I knelt and traced the letters burned into the pavement. We were standing outside a bar that was more of a dive. There wasn’t anything left except for the blackened wooden frame. “Can a vampire be a fire witch?”

  “No. Never happen. Raya doesn’t share.”

  “Huh.” I took a minute to think. Danny didn’t need that long.

  “We were interviewing a vampire yesterday whose lighter had a foot high flame. If he wasn’t a fire witch, what else could do that?”

  “A bunch of things, the fire witch could have been in the other room or walking by on the street. On a bad day I make candles flare from outside a building.”

  “So no connection?” I asked, standing up.

  “Probably not.” E shook her head.

  “Were you downtown yesterday?” Danny asked.

  “Yep, well yesterday afternoon anyway. But it wasn’t me. I’m in Her good graces lately.”

  “Lucky you.” Danny looked down at the concrete. “Any chance whoever did this isn’t and that’s why they need help?”

  “There’s a chance, but if you pissed off your God you’d go to church right? So why wouldn’t they? If you need help, why not go get it?” She shook her head angrily at the situation. “None of this makes any sense.”

  “Any witnesses?” I asked.

  “Most of the bar ran for the hills when the fire started, but a few stuck around. Here’s something I can tell you without witnesses.” She pointed inside to a spot where the charcoal had a greasy sheen to it. “The bartender burned alive, and I’m betting, from the way everything looks, he burned first.”

  “Really?” As far as I could tell it only looked destroyed, there wasn’t any pattern. The death barely even tingled.

  “Sure, started here.” She walked over to the spot she had pointed at and began to trace the fire’s movements. Her eyes lost their focus. “Climbed over the bar, and then traced down his legs. It would have hit the ice there and backed off, not strong enough yet, but when it got to the back of the bar—about here”—she gestured—“it fou
nd the liquor. That would have feed it, made it strong. Then it went after the people. They were already afraid.” Her voice trailed off like she didn’t remember we were there.

  Danny was watching her intently, studying the way her hands were caressing the burnt wood as she stepped through the fires movements. She creeped me out, but the way he was watching her bothered me more.

  “Wow, E, Jakob didn’t tell me you were a freak,” I said, dryly.

  She laughed, completely breaking the mood. “Guess he thought it was obvious. Sorry, I spaced out on you, there’s so much power here. Power and…”

  “And what?” Danny asked.

  “Anger, this fire was about being excluded, being hurt. Magical fires take on the properties of the people who start them. Your witch was pissed.”

  “So if it was someone Vianne was keeping in the basement, we’re looking for an adolescent male who’s angry, yeah that narrows it down.” I shook my head. “Let’s go check out the witnesses, thanks E.”

  “How well do you know her?” Danny asked when we out of earshot.

  “I meet her a couple of weeks ago, she seems all right.” I shrugged. “If you’re looking for insight, you’ll need to talk to Jakob. He’s known her since she was a kid.”

  “I think I’ve got all the insight I need.”

  I meant to ask him more about it, to find out what detective angle he was working, but we got caught up in the interviews. The bar had been a dive, famous for supplying underage kids with liquor. The owner tried to clean up the place, but it still had a reputation for looking the other way when the high school kids came in and asked for a brew. The bartender, the victim, went by the nickname “meat” and had “USDA Prime” tattooed on his arm. He’d been brought in by management six months ago as part of the crack down on kids drinking. I was disappointed his body was already at the morgue. If he was the first to die, there was a chance he saw his attacker, and a chance his spirit was lingering waiting to tell me something.

  We went through the motions of collecting a half dozen identical statements. My favorite morgue doctor asked us to come by tomorrow, after he’d had a chance to work on the body. I agreed, but wasn’t sure how much it would help. The bar burned on a quiet Monday night, no one in particular had walked in or out, nothing for us to go on. Feeling a little daunted, we went back to the SIU and worked on the forms there. I was hip deep in arson reports when my phone rang.