by Evi Asher
She moved with speed Archer hadn’t suspected she possessed, and before he could stop her, she had a hand clamped around Jasmine’s wrist.
The fallen angel flinched, and Zane stepped back as the smell of burning skin filled reception.
Archer held his ground. “Let her go, Scarlet, before you do something you can’t control.”
“Like set her on fire.” Scarlet was furious, her eyes glowing with emotion.
“Yes, like that,” he agreed, treating her like someone intoxicated, and in a way, she was. She was intoxicated on power, and she was angry.
“I’ve had enough of all of this—angels threatening my life left and right and then trying to take me like some type of possession.” She squeezed Jasmine’s wrist tighter. “Listen well, bitch… I’ve looked after myself my whole life. No one has ever owned me, and I’m not going to change that trend to suit you. So go deep-fry your feathers, or I’ll do it for you.” She let go of Jasmine’s wrist and shoved her back.
The fallen angel stumbled, but caught her balance.
“This is not over,” she promised Scarlet and Archer.
“Run along, before I turn you into cocoa marshmallow,” Scarlet sneered.
Jasmine ducked into the freight elevator and hit the button, her face pale. She slammed the grating down, and the elevator disappeared down the shaft as they watched.
Chapter Nine
Slow applause started behind them, and Scarlet spun around, looking for someone else to blister with her anger.
“That was impressive. I’m glad to see Jasmine had some of her feathers plucked.” Poe was standing just inside reception. He’d come in from the tunnels, and must have made it just in time to witness Scarlet’s temper tantrum. “Or was that deep fried” he smiled. “Fierce, and I like a fierce woman.” He gave Scarlet an up-and-down look that had Archer stepping forward.
“Calm down, puppy. Just looking, I won’t touch your precious project.”
The word project sent Scarlet’s temper spiking for a second time in a matter of moments. “I want some answers now.” She clenched her hands into fists at her side. They felt sun-burnt and hot, her palms itching as if she’d had them in scalding water too long. “Project—explain why you used that word.”
Archer gapped as if words wouldn’t pass his lips, and Zane made a show of shrugging to indicate he didn’t know.
Scarlet’s eyes found Poe, and he shrugged.
“The puppy—when he was a puppy—had a dream, or vision, about a pyro…you.” Poe gestured at her.
“Me, specifically?” She turned her gaze to Archer.
He shook his head. “No. I never saw her face, but I felt her flames.” He shuddered, as if the vision still caused him pain of some kind.
“And you know it was a she?”
“Yes, I do,” Archer answered.
Scarlet put her hands on her hips. “Tell me about this vision.”
He ran his hand through his hair, and Scarlet could see he was having an inner debate to decide if he was going to tell them.
Poe stood with a smile on his lips, as if he was enjoying watching Archer squirm. “Yes, Archer, tell us all.”
Archer looked at Poe as if he wanted to strangle the vampire.
“Come.” He didn’t look behind him as he led the way to the common sitting room. He walked into the room, passing the couches, and began to pace in front of the shuttered windows.
Scarlet followed him into the room and looked around. She hadn’t been in here yet, and it was surprising how nicely it was decorated, but then her room was beautiful, too. Someone had expensive taste.
This room was modern, but at the same time, it had a classic elegance. The couches looked comfortable, the dark fabric that covered them looked like suede and, there was a mock fire place, ultra-modern with glass panels, and a burning log separating the room into two spaces. One was just a sitting area with a few couches and an arm chair, but in the other was a flat screen T.V, overstuffed couches and a shelf filled with DVDs.
Archer had moved into the section with couches arranged to face each other, so Scarlet went and sat on one. She gave Poe a look that promised pain when he tried to sit down next to her.
He just gave her a naughty grin, and moved to the other couch as Zane came in and sat down on the arm chair.
Poe reclined on the couch his arms stretched over the back. “Who is watching the reception?”
Zane sat and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he tracked Archer’s pacing. “It’s being manned by the answering machine.”
They waited in silence after that in order for Archer to compose his thoughts and start to talk.
Archer spoke and Scarlet sat straighter. This was somehow connected to her, and she wanted to know what was going on. “I was young.”
Her life was a madhouse at the moment. She kept expecting men in white coats with a straight jacket to come and fetch her, so she was hoping that this would give at least one piece of the puzzle.
“Still considered a cub—nineteen years old, it was a long time ago…”
He seemed to be stalling, and Scarlet wasn’t going to let him get away with it for long.
Poe must have had the same thought because he said, “Get to the vision, would you.”
Archer stopped and glared at Poe for a moment. “Shut up Poe, or get out.”
Poe raised his hands in surrender, then put his index finger to his lips.
“Good.” Archer started pacing again. “I was nineteen, I was trying to find The Accord with my beast.” He glanced at Scarlet and offered an explanation. “It’s a process, a mental and spiritual journey that every Lycan and Therin born must take.”
“Born?” Scarlet tilted her head.
“Both of my parents were Lycan, so I was born with my beast.”
Scarlet’s brow creased in a small frown. “But I thought you got attacked by a werewolf to become one.”
“Yes, that is possible, and it’s how the majority of Lycans are created, but there are pure Lycans who are born, and there are pure Therins who are born.”
Scarlett sat forward. “What about bitten Lycans and Therins—do they have to do the whole Accord thing?”
“No, a created Lycan or Therin has to reach The Truce.” he explained. “It’s a far more violent connection, because it’s unnatural.”
“This is all fascinating, but can we get back to the vision?” Poe asked with a yawn.
Archer glared at him, but when he spoke again, he spoke of the vision. “I was running in the forest on a full moon. I’d run all night communing with my beast reaching The Accord, and near dawn I collapsed, exhausted, in the hollow of an old lightning struck tree. I curled up there, convinced it was a good place to sleep off the fatigue.
Scarlet watched Archer closely, and she could see in her mind’s eye the images he was creating with his words.
“I slept deeply, and I dreamt,” he continued in a hushed voice. “She was calling me, calling for help, and I had to reach her. Her voice lured me like a siren’s call. The need to reach her was so overpowering that I couldn’t do anything but run, so that is what I did.” His voice fell to a quiet hush.
“I ran in my dream, like I’d never run before, and my speed and agility increased exponentially as I ran farther.”
“The moon was full, fat and bright.” Archer looked up as if he was back in his dream world, seeing the full moon again. “Igniting the air that was moved by my speeding form, but without warning, the moon dulled compared to the flames in the clearing ahead of me.” His head snapped forward, and his eyes glowed with something that made Scarlet shiver.
“They were brighter than the sun” Archer stared into space as if he was seeing the flames, experiencing it all again.
Scarlet moved to the edge of her chair, almost scared to breathe in case she broke the spell of his words.
“I stopped, shielding my eyes, but I couldn’t stand still long. I had to move forward, her cries for help were still calling
me, and I was incapable of ignoring them.” His voice stayed hushed but intense.
“Her hand reached through the flames, and she called me by my name, pleading for me to help her. I reached for her, but as my fingers touched hers, her fingers turned to ash and sifted to the ground, not touched by the blast of wind the fire created.” Archer’s voice dropped lower, agony aching through his tone as he spoke. “I woke with her voice still in my ears and the need to find her riding me hard. I searched that forest for two days, and in the end, I had to give up and admit it had only been a vision. The woman wasn’t real.” His blue eyes lifted and locked on Scarlet.
“But I know this—she was a pyro who died in her own flames, and I will do anything to stop something like that from happening again.”
There was silence in the room. No one knew what to say to that. Zane was the one who broke the silence. “Damn, Archer, that must have been a seriously intense vision.”
Archer nodded, not answering, his eyes still locked on Scarlet. “Can you understand now why you are going to get my help, whether you want it or not?
“Yes…” Scarlet cleared her throat. “I understand.”
“Good.” Archer relaxed and moved to sit on the couch near Scarlet.
“It’s your turn to divvy some info, Poe. What did you find out?”
Poe raised his brow. “We finally get to hear the story of your vision, and now you want to ruin it by getting all anticlimactic?”
“We need the information you got, so stop being evasive and give it up,” Archer grumbled.
“First, let me say, any debt I owed you is paid, in fact you owe me now.” Poe stood and unbuttoned the front of his shirt then parted the halves.
Scarlet gasped. His sculpted chest was covered in bite marks. “What happened to you?”
Poe nodded and flashed a smile. “Blood is currency in the vampire court. My blood is of the purest, therefore the most valuable.”
Scarlet opened her mouth to ask why Poe’s blood was so pure.
“Poe is the crown prince of the Vampires.” Zane supplied.
Scarlet closed her mouth as Poe buttoned up his shirt again and sat.
“Consider it a debt owed.” Archer gritted his teeth in guilt.
“As you saw, the information I got was costly, even if it was vague and—in my opinion—useless.”
“Can the death sentence be lifted?” Scarlet asked.
“The answer on that is unclear.” Poe held up his hand as they all started to question him at once. “Everyone tells me that it can’t be lifted. That there is no power save that of the hidden God that can lift it—that’s the useless part—but…” he paused with a small smile. “I think I’ve found a way for you to at least try and get it lifted in another way. I had a conversation,” Poe stressed the word, “With one of our court seers.”
“How can we try and get it lifted?” Archer asked.
Scarlet could feel the tension coming off him in waves.
“The Unnamed Oracle.” Poe closed his lips as if waiting for a reaction, and he got one so strong, Scarlet was startled by its intensity.
“You’ve gone insane, right?” Archer shot to his feet. “All the blood you drink has made you nuts.”
Poe took the storm of Archer’s anger without flinching. “My sanguine addiction aside, it’s the only other way.”
“Completely, fucking insane. No one that tries to find the Unnamed Oracle makes it back alive.”
Scarlet watched the scene with wide eyes. She was starting to detest being the newbie in this group of Eternals.
“I’ve got the map—stole it, actually. So, I’m in deep shit when I go back to court and my father gets hold of me.” Poe got up and walked to the back of the room, then returned with a rolled parchment, which he tossed at Zane. “Can you make a copy of that, please?”
“You really do want to piss your father off, don’t you?” Zane shook his head.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Poe said with a naughty glint in his eye. “Am I not supposed to copy an ancient secret map? My bad.”
Zane shook his head again and got up to go make a Photostat of the map. “If I get implicated, they’ll make me get a suntan, you know that, right?”
“You never saw the map, Zane, Poe never brought it here. We will all vow it,” Archer assured him.
Zane sighed and left the room.
“This is a suicide mission,” Archer said.
“Yes, but think how much fun you’ll have before you die. How long did you think you could keep the pyro hidden here?” Poe arched a brow. “Before they find a powerful witch to reverse our protection, or Scarlet burns the place down while we’re sleeping?”
Archer turned his face to Scarlet. “He has a point.” He stood and looked at his wristwatch. “You have an hour to pack, Belan, then we get going.”
“We are going to look for this nameless oracle?”
“Unnamed Oracle, and yes, we are. I’ve never been one to wait for the fight come to me.”
Scarlet rose to her feet and started to walk out before turning to both men, “Did it occur to anyone to ask me my opinion? I’m not a child, and I’m no one’s property.”
She understood why Archer felt compelled to help her, even though she wasn’t the pyro in his vision, and she thought he was being a bit over enthusiastic. It still grated her that no one had even asked her opinion. Not that she could voice much of one. She was like a baby in their world, still needing to learn a lot.
“Don’t be a drama queen, Scarlet,” Poe said, “we have your best interests at heart.”
“Do you have a heart, Poe? I mean one that beats,” she spat, and then turned and left the room.
“Ouch, you wound me, pyro…you wound me deep.”
The sound of a snort came from the hallway, and Poe grinned.
“Why do you keep taunting her?” Archer asked.
Poe shrugged. “She intrigues me.” He turned his eyes to the door. “I’d like to get to know her better.”
“Lose that idea in a hurry.” Archer’s voice was low, a growl.
Poe’s head snapped back so he could raise an eyebrow in question.
“My beast says she’s my She,” Archer admitted with a resigned look on his face.
“No, that’s not possible, she’s not Lycan. Hell, she’s not a Thrope at all.”
“I’m the choir, bro, doesn’t change the fact that my beast is adamant.” Archer sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees.
“Fair enough. I’ll keep my hands off, then, but what are you going to do about it?”
Archer lifted a hand to run it through his hair, and breathed out a sigh. “I don’t know.”
“You are going to have to do something.”
“I know that, Poe.” Archer clenched his teeth. “I don’t want to get romantic with someone who’s not even the same breed as I am. No matter how tempting.” The last was said in a mutter below his breath.
Poe gave him a knowing smile. “She’s hot. Even hotter all cleaned up. Let me know if you decide not to go for it.” He stood. “Because I will.”
Poe’s words sent Archer’s beast roaring to the font and he felt his fangs shoot in and his claws start to curl, but Archer fought it back. “Damn it, Poe, stop provoking my beast,” Archer half lisped.
Poe laughed and left the room.
Chapter Ten
Their departure from the building that housed Outsiders Inc. was an exercise in cloak and dagger. Scarlet half expected the theme music for Mission Impossible to start playing from hidden loud speakers.
As soon as she was packed, Archer bundled her down a passage, hidden behind an elaborate panel contraption that made her think of ancient haunted mansion.
The difference was that this one used retina scans and voice recognition to open, not hidden catches or bricks you had to depress in a specific order.
It seemed that the preternatural men she was stuck with were also geeks at heart.
They led her down the well-
lit corridor and down several flights of stairs until they emerged in a closed-in underground parking garage.
Archer took her small bag from her and opened the trunk of a dark SUV. There was several military-type duffel bags in the trunk, and Scarlet’s little bag looked out of place.
“What is in those? We aren’t transporting dead bodies around, are we?”
Archer raised his brow and answered with a shrug of his big shoulders. “Weapons and supplies—we’ll re-evaluate the need to cart corpses around in the duffels later.”
“Ha ha, funny.” She kept her expression blank so her sarcasm would be clear.
“Who said I was joking?”
She wasn’t going to touch that. Instead, she looked around trying to find something familiar. “This isn’t the same parking garage we came in earlier.”
“No, it isn’t.” He slammed the lid down on the SUV, moved around to the passenger side, and opened the door in one smooth motion. “Let’s get going.”
Scarlet slipped past him to get into the SUV and tried not to breathe in that delicious scent that came off his skin. She needed to stay focused, and a lung-full of essence-of-Archer wasn’t going to help her keep a clear head.
He closed the door while Scarlet busied herself with putting on her seat belt. She looked up as he turned the key in the ignition.
“Where are we going?”
He looked over to her as he shifted the SUV into reverse then pulled out the parking bay. “West.”
“Wow.” Scarlet dropped her head back on the headrest, and turned her face to him, rolling her eyes.
“What?” He pulled forward and drove out the underground parking garage after stopping for another retinal scan on the way out.
“You need to look up the word taciturn.” Scarlet shrugged and looked out the window, wanting to memorize the route they were taking. They had not come in this way, since they were in a different parking garage, but then again, she’d been asleep, so she couldn’t be sure.
Duh, like I didn’t know that already. Points for being the queen of the obvious, the annoying inner Scarlet pointed out.