Firebug

by Lish McBride

  “Just remember,” Alistair whispered off to my left. “Try not to kill too many of my future employees. A kingdom without serfs is pure nonsense.”

  “Hard to argue with that,” I mumbled.

  “Ava, my darling,” Venus called out. Her voice was clarion. It trumpeted over the hush of the woods, and it was obvious how much she was enjoying herself. Owen offered her his arm and she took it. Queen and king of Crazytown. This was how Venus had fun.

  Personally, I prefer board games.

  I stepped closer, my few visible reinforcements doing the same. We were fully in the clearing now, only twenty or so feet between us and my least favorite creatures on the planet. But also closer to my very favorite person in the entire universe. Cade had looked up when Venus said my name, but his face was in shadow so I couldn’t tell how he was doing. Ryan was turned enough toward the firelight that I could see that his eyes, those same sweet hazel orbs that used to be all for me, that I now wanted to poke out, were for Venus. His hands hovered around her, hungry to touch, but waiting for permission. Watching me, Venus reached out and stroked his cheek. Ryan shuddered slightly, his body on bliss overload.

  My heart wrenched. I couldn’t tell what I was more disgusted at—Ryan or the fact that seeing him was upsetting me. I let my anger burn away the residuals of any other feeling for him. No more pity, love, jealousy, nothing. Just anger. Just hate. It was all he deserved.

  Venus looked at my reinforcements, and I could see some genuinely amused surprise there. “I thought you’d bring more friends to the party,” she said.

  “Less is more,” I said. “Wouldn’t want to be gaudy, would we?” I crossed my arms. “Besides, this is supposed to be a friendly trade-off, right?” My tone was flat and dry. Yeah, right. Still, I had to try to get her hostage clear. Maybe that would make me feel less emotional about it—if Cade were simply a hostage. “So how about you send Cade over and once I make sure he’s okay, I’ll come to you.”

  Venus trailed a hand down Ryan’s cheek. “What, you don’t want your little friend anymore? I thought he was part of the deal.”

  It was all I could do to keep from gritting my teeth. “He was never mine, Venus. He was always yours. Let’s get this over with.”

  Venus’s grin was a flash in the firelight. “Come, now, Ava. I didn’t fall off the turnip truck this morning.” I had a sudden image of Venus, her hair done up and full of diamonds, her white leather smudged and dirty from sitting on bags of turnips in the back of a rusted-out pickup. It was an image I’d definitely have to save for later.

  “Fine,” I said, walking forward, my arms held out, wrists together, like I was waiting to be trussed up. “I’ll go first.” I stopped halfway between Venus and my team. “This is what you wanted. I’m offering myself up to your mercy. So here’s the part where you live up to your promise and fulfill your end of the deal. Hand them over. Let them walk away unharmed, and it will all be over.”

  Venus stared at me for a few quiet breaths. The bonfires crackled, but that was the only other noise. She cocked her head, then signaled Owen curtly with one hand. “I truly thought you’d put up more of a fight, Ava. I believe I’m a little disappointed in you.”

  I gave a one-shouldered shrug as Owen grabbed my wrists. “I know when I’m beat, Venus.” I could tell they weren’t quite buying this but didn’t know what to make of it either. I wasn’t struggling. My arms were still while Owen strapped cuffs on each one, wards branded into the leather. A similar cuff would go around my neck and waist. They’d all be linked in the back by a chain. The contraption was meant to restrict my spark. The rest of me wasn’t considered that dangerous.

  While the cuffs were on, I wouldn’t be able to light so much as a candle without a match.

  Owen was almost finished binding me now, and I could tell that, the further into it he got, the more confused and worried Venus was becoming. She didn’t understand what game I was playing and it was getting to her. Good.

  Soon I was bound and trussed like a Thanksgiving turkey, and probably less dangerous than one. I’d only pissed Venus off enough to get bound like this a few times. It’s terribly disorienting—like how I imagine phantom-limb syndrome would feel. I think my spark is there, but when I actually try to wiggle it—nothing.

  I let Owen lead me to Venus. She snapped her fingers, and a flunky hoisted Cade to a standing position. He was bleeding and wobbly on his feet. Even in the light of the bonfire I could see he had one hell of a shiner, but all in all he looked intact.

  The flunky shoved him over to Lock. Cade stumbled, then stopped halfway. “Go,” I told him firmly. I could tell he didn’t want to, but Cade trusted me. He hesitated only a short minute before moving over to the relative safety of my team.

  Venus held a hand up, and Ryan practically tripped over himself to nuzzle up against it. The sight was absolutely pathetic. “You sure you don’t want this one?”

  “I’d rather eat glass, thanks.” I said. “But if you’re dead set on discussing it…” I trailed off like I might be interested. With the exception of vengeance, I no longer had any interest in Ryan, but I was interested in stalling. I was waiting for a sign. I just had to hope that the negotiation game was intriguing enough to her to keep her busy.

  Somewhere, in the depths of the woods, it sounded like a woman screamed. My arms broke out in goose bumps as I recognized Ezra’s call. Venus’s crew were all looking around, trying to pinpoint the sound and figure out what it was. Before they knew what was happening, I threw myself into Owen, my shoulder leading the assault. I barreled into him, and he never had time to react. He crumpled into himself with a whoosh, his oxygen spent, before we both tumbled to the ground. There was a dull crack as his head struck a rock. His eyes glazed. I scrambled to my feet and was just looking up when Bianca dropped the caul.

  There was a blink where nobody stirred. The world held its breath, and we all hung there, suspended, completely at her will. And then everything moved at once.

  The world became very jumbled. Everything came in strange, surreal flashes. I felt like someone had spiked my drink and then pushed me into a room lit only by a strobe light. This was partially due to the fires, but mostly due to Alistair’s lightning.

  Alistair stood his ground as his lightning crashed around him. Rain poured from clouds, instantly drenching us all. Wind whipped around us, bringing its own unique howl. It was disorienting. Small factions that were tussling began to slip and slide in the mud. People who got too close to Alistair instantly regretted it.

  Alistair’s main job, however, was neutralizing Owen. It would take a lot to get flame going in this madness. Sure, it negated me as well, but that was okay. That part of me had already been taken out of the equation. But I could still fight.

  The ground rumbled under my feet. At first I thought it was thunder, but then I saw Parkin, or the rhinoceros formerly known as Parkin, come stampeding past. He bowled over several of Venus’s lackeys before sliding into a turn and hitting a tree sidelong. The tree toppled over, breaking up more fights as people scurried away. Parkin shook his head, his dull gray hide catching the light. It was like watching a giant pinball.

  And the hares. They were everywhere. I don’t think they were much bigger than normal hares, but it didn’t seem to matter. They fought like furry land piranhas. They ran in small schools, leaping as one onto an assailant, and I watched as each person went down in a fuzzy wave of death.

  A man came running toward me, his face twisted into a grimace. Before I could blink, he was knocked down by a bear. The creature was an odd color—I could tell that even in the low light. Oddly, I felt no fear as I watched it roar into my assailant’s face. I peered closely at it and saw the swirl and grain of wood. When I found Duncan in the fray, I understood. As I watched he flung his carvings into the air. They expanded, quickly unfolding so that by the time they hit the ground, they were real—life-size.

  I’d known what Duncan could do. I’d seen him bring his carvings to life sev
eral times over the years. But I hadn’t known he could make them bigger. The possibilities of that gift were staggering. No wonder they’d wanted him to head the Coterie. Duncan was the only golem maker I’d ever met, and he was obviously damn powerful. A wooden lumberjack went by, his ax cleaving chunks out of people as he moved.

  I suddenly understood why Venus was so attracted to firebugs. We’d be especially good at protecting her from someone who threw deadly wooden golems at her. Someone like Duncan. If he could do this, what would stop him from making something that shot big wooden stakes? They didn’t make a ward to stop that. She must have been dreading this confrontation ever since she took over the Coterie in his stead. It had probably never occurred to her that she hadn’t won out over him—that he’d stepped down. Not desiring power wouldn’t make sense to a mind like Venus’s.

  It was then that I realized I couldn’t see Venus anywhere. I laced my way through the tumult, searching this way and that. Everyone seemed too busy to notice the girl in chains.

  Eventually, Venus found me. I felt someone grab me from behind. Strong arms wrapped around me and hauled me to a stop. Underneath various new and strange smells—probably Venus’s perfume—was a smell I recognized. Ryan.

  He said nothing as he held me. Venus paraded into my vision, her head high despite her lessened appearance—she wasn’t looking as untouched and resplendent as before. Mud and blood splattered her outfit. Her hair was undone, loose, her shiny diamond pins long gone, and she had a cut on her temple. It was healing even as I watched, but that didn’t matter. I stared at that cut and felt better. Venus could bleed. Someone had managed to get close to her—to injure her. If that was true, then it wasn’t hopeless. If it can bleed, it can die. Simple as that.

  I kicked out at her and she jumped back, gloating. Child’s play for a vampire, I’m sure. For once she didn’t bother with any grandstanding. There was no evil monologuing or theatrics. She simply hit me. Then she hit me again. My face felt pulpy and raw already, the rain stinging as it hit. Venus might have been able to restrain herself from her usual hoopla, but she couldn’t help toying with me.

  She struck me again, this time in the gut. I collapsed to the ground, wheezing, and Ryan let me fall. My knees hit the ground hard. I gagged, my hands buried in the cold sludge as I tried to breath again. It’s easy, I told my lungs. Expand, contract, repeat. Yeah? they said. If it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?

  A cold hand dug into my hair and yanked me to my feet. There was nothing I could do but shiver as Venus pulled me to her, one arm snaked around my middle, gripping me with all the give of concrete reinforced with rebar, the other hand still fisted in my hair as she yanked my head to the side, exposing my neck.

  Then the tearing sensation of pain. It hurt more than I felt it had a right to.

  My next conscious thought was that someone was breathing too fast. That was followed by the realization that the someone was me. My limbs felt cold and heavy, and I was drenched in sweat. But at least Venus wasn’t holding me anymore.

  Someone was picking me up by the shoulders, though. My head kept lolling around like my neck was all skin and tissue but no bone. Lightning flashed and I saw bare legs next to mine. Whoever held me was naked. He pulled me snug against his frame.

  “Normally I’d at least take you to dinner before a naked cuddle, but needs must and all,” Sid whispered. If I’d had the energy, I would have sobbed with relief. I could just make out Venus in front of me. She was being restrained by something. Ryan was digging at whatever it was, his hands bloody, his whimpering taking on a frantic keening tone.

  Ezra, also completely naked except for the throwing knives in his hands, tackled Ryan to the ground. You would think after years of working with Ezra I’d be used to watching naked guys fight, but really, it never stops being weird.

  Lock dipped one hand into Venus’s pockets while she struggled in vain, and I realized that she was being held by a tree. It wasn’t so much that the limbs were holding her—more like someone had shoved her partially into the trunk itself. As if she’d stood still as the tree grew around her. Even that wouldn’t hold her forever, though. Especially with the transfusion I’d just given her. Lock lifted up a hand in triumph. Whatever he’d been looking for, he’d found it.

  Sid spun me in his arms until I was facing him. He looked down at me with a smile. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  “Perv,” I slurred, but his smile widened.

  “I think she’s okay,” he said. “You found the key?”

  Lock grunted, his hands on my chains. “What makes you say she’s okay?”

  “She just called me a perv.”

  I heard the tiny click of a lock opening, and my chains loosened. “I’m pretty sure she’d do that with her dying breath, so I wouldn’t put too much stock in it.”

  Lock didn’t get any further. Sid shouted something as Lock went down. I was set gently, if hastily, onto the ground as Sid ran over to pull Ryan off my fallen friend. Ryan was fighting like a frenzied, mad thing. Ez, I thought. Where’s Ez?

  Sid had the disadvantage of not actually wanting to hurt Ryan, at least not permanently. Ryan was lucky Sid was dealing with him. He wasn’t nearly as attached to me as the others were and didn’t know what Ryan had been accused of. I was alive enough to enjoy watching Sid move, the tone of his lanky frame, his speed as he dodged, but even I could tell he was pulling his punches. His style was defensive. Then Sid slammed Ryan into a tree. Hard. Maybe Lock and Ezra had been sharing tales after all.

  Leaning against a trunk, I pulled myself up slowly. My limbs felt like dead weight as I stumbled over to her. I was cold and shaky. My brain calmly told me I was probably in shock from blood loss, but I couldn’t really drag up enough energy to care.

  Venus was a sight. Bands of wood encircled her chest and stomach, but I could hear them creak as she struggled. Lock was distracted, which I’m sure was her aim. If he didn’t get a hold of the tree again soon, she’d be free. What wasn’t covered by bark was an unholy mess of mud, ripped white leather, and blood—mostly mine. It was smeared around her mouth, and some of her hair was sticking to it.

  I was really no match for Venus right then. I knew that. Almost all my energy was being used to keep me vertical. Lock hadn’t removed my chains, so I had no fire, which was probably good. In this state using my fire would probably kill me.

  My best bet would be to sit down and hope one of my friends helped me soon. Logically, I knew that. I wasn’t surprised to see one of my chains in my hands, though. It was a little awkward, but it would do the job.

  “Even unlocked,” she gasped. “You still need help … to get … them off.” Her voice was raspy but satisfied.

  I pushed the length of chain held tight between my fists against Venus’s exposed throat. Her eyes widened. I felt the give as her trachea collapsed. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I just kept pushing, some small strength coming from nowhere. “Hubris,” I said, and I could tell she didn’t get it. So I told her something she would understand. “This is for my mom, and Cade—” My voice gave out. I was so tired. The list was so very long. And really, it all came down to one thing for me, anyway. In my mind, I saw the photo of me, Cade, and Lilia in front of Duncan’s fire pit. How many of those photos would there have been without Venus around to ruin everything? “You took my life from me.” I pushed the chain harder.

  LOCK found me viciously strangling Venus. I didn’t know how long I’d been doing it. The nice thing about vampires? If you don’t burn them to a crisp, if you don’t destroy the heart and remove the head, they just keep coming back to life. Their stupid bodies won’t quit. I’d lost track of how many times I’d killed Venus. Every time her body gave out, I’d slacken my pressure enough to let her throat rebuild, and then I’d begin again.

  Lock pulled me back. Venus was unconscious, but I hadn’t managed to kill her yet this time.

  “We’ll handle this, Aves. We’ve got it.”

  I shook my head, like a terrier
with a tasty soup bone. He pulled me close and whispered in my ear. “Cupcake, you can barely stand. You’ve got nothing left. Let us help.”

  Let us save you from having to do this is what he really meant. Lock had been along with me on so many of my assignments. He’d watched me go through myriad reactions to what I had to do, from the physical to the emotional, and he’d stood by me. He’d picked me up, carried me, and been my friend. My best friend. And he wanted to step in and save me from this stain.

  But this was one I wanted. I’d heard the argument about an eye for an eye making the whole world blind, and in general I believed it. Vengeance purely for the sake of vengeance isn’t a good idea. Anyone who’s read Shakespeare knows that. And, yeah, I wanted revenge. I needed it. But there was more to it. Venus was like a sociopathic kid with a stick. She was poking out a whole lot of eyes. I may have had a lot of anger and disgust directed at myself for what she made me do, but I had even more for Venus. An exponential amount.

  “Please,” I said, and it was a whisper. “I have enough for this. I can do this.”

  “Ava,” he begged.

  I tipped my head against his and squeezed the arm that was around me. Even I could feel how weak that squeeze was. “Lock.” And I felt him sag with defeat under all the argument I put into that one word. I stared at Venus as she coughed up a little blood. Her throat was rebuilding itself again, the fine silver chain of her ward pushed up by the flesh. “You’ll stop me,” I said. “You won’t let me go nova. I know you won’t. Because Cade would never forgive you, and you’d be left alone with Ezra.”

  He laughed, but it sounded painful and wet, like he was trying not to cry. Then he held me away with one hand while he used the other to touch part of the tree. Bark melted back, revealing stained white leather. There was the whisper of a zipper before Venus’s leather jacket fell open. Lock gingerly reached in and pulled out her long silver chain. I could see it glisten in the faint moonlight right before he unceremoniously ripped it from her neck. He handed it to me. Moving quickly but thoroughly, he searched Venus, removing backup wards from an ankle, a wrist, and her waist. Then, with an arm supporting me, he clumsily removed my chains. I heard them hit the ground. I looked around to make sure nothing would interrupt me this time. In the darkness I could barely make out Sid’s shadowed form holding Ryan like a baby. By the way Ryan lay, I could tell he was unconscious. No sign of Ezra. I desperately hoped my friend was okay.