Force of Fire

by Ali Vali

  “Their employee review must be something you don’t want to flunk,” she said as she inched up so she could just see over the edge.

  The place was quiet, with only a few scattered workmen pulling weeds and cutting grass. She didn’t see anyone who might’ve been guarding someone or anyone who appeared to be working in any other than a menial sense. It was midday, though, so whoever lived here might be inside or in an office somewhere nearby. She did a quick survey and saw the shrubs that hid some outbuildings to her left and the trees beyond them.

  “As long as there’s no monkeys, I should be fine,” she said, starting to move along the edge so she could climb up beyond the shrubs. She’d sit in some high branches until dark and then move in. These people certainly wouldn’t expect her to rise from the grave they’d dumped her into.

  She’d made it into the tree when she heard the helicopter in the distance. It was a big corporate-appearing craft that usually had plenty of space for passengers and could travel longer distances than the average one. Maybe if she spotted a logo on the side or some name she could follow up on, she could figure out not only who but maybe where the hell she was. The people working in the yard all stopped and stared at the ground as if they didn’t want to get caught staring at whoever might get off. It was bizarre, and she’d encountered some strange things in her life.

  She glanced around for a road out of wherever she was, but the house and the rest of the buildings seemed to be surrounded by vegetation, and she didn’t see a vehicle anywhere. “Great,” she whispered as she realized that returning to civilization would be harder and longer than she planned.

  Only one thing brightened her mood. The people who were staring down at the ground couldn’t all live here. If they came and went every day, she doubted that they did so on the beast landing in the big clearing on the side of the main house.

  When she saw the smallish man she now knew was Alejandro Garza step off the helicopter and head inside, she decided not to wait. She had to find a way out that didn’t include hacking her way through the vegetation that would just get thicker farther down this plateau, so she sat and waited for the best opportunity to come along. She needed him to walk close to where she was, so she held her breath, patient.

  “Tell her I’ll be home in three days,” the man said, sounding agitated. “I don’t give a shit,” Garza’s guard said even more loudly. He stared at the phone after he finished the call and peered up when he must have heard the whooshing noise of her body coming off the branch.

  They both hit the ground hard when she landed on him, and she wrapped her arm around his neck, grabbing her own wrist for more leverage. He flailed his arms back, trying to knock her off, but if he did she was going over the side again, and that wasn’t happening. His hits were growing softer and slower, so she squeezed even more, and in a few more long minutes, he finally went limp. She was no killer, but she dragged him to the side and pushed him off, not wanting to raise an alarm if he was found.

  She very carefully took the back off his satellite phone and glanced inside to make sure Garza wasn’t the kind of person who kept more than an eye on his people. Aishe worked for the elders, but she was also trained in electronics, so it was easy for her to spot the small piece that didn’t belong. The guard’s boss was listening in on his conversations and keeping track of where he was.

  She took it out and placed it on the branch of one of the hedges before she accessed the GPS on the device to locate the coordinates of where she was standing. She couldn’t possibly memorize all the numbers on the screen, so she texted them to the only number she thought was safe before she headed into the trees. She had to be far enough away before she made the call she was desperate to make.

  “When I come back we’ll see how well you recover from a bullet to the forehead,” she said as she started a slow but steady jog.

  * * *

  The airstrip where the group with Piper and Kendal landed was remote, but a group stood on the tarmac to meet them with enough vehicles to take them all to the house Kendal had arranged. Piper glanced out at the horizon and could tell they were in a higher elevation. The heavy cloud cover hid most of the view, but a few peaks showed through.

  “Where are we exactly?” Piper asked.

  “About twelve miles from where the ruins are, and six miles from the house. It’s remote, but I wanted to be close enough to walk in once we’re settled.” Kendal held Hali on her shoulder and placed her hand on her back as she descended the stairs. “I’m sure they haven’t given up the search, so I want to see who’s actually on the ground that’s not a grunt.” She nodded to the man who stood at the bottom of the steps with an AK-47 strapped to his back.

  “Who are these guys?” Piper asked, looping her fingers into the back of Kendal’s pants.

  “They work for my friend Rueben Margoles. He’s the one I called about Aishe, and I trust that they’re working for us and not anyone in the Order or in the Clan, for that matter. Someone from the main compound shared with these people who we are so they could find us. That makes me not trust anything that’s coming from anyone except Rolla.”

  “How about everyone else?” she asked as they started down, since their fellow passengers were ready to get off. “We’ve got a few elders with us.”

  “I sincerely doubt Bruik or anyone else with us would have put us in any kind of danger. After talking to Oscar, it sounds like his father and the rest of the Order knew we existed but not really what we are.” Kendal kissed the side of her head and smiled. “For now, I’d like to keep it that way.”

  “There’s that and the fact that I’d like to keep them from finding out the truth of that dig. Oscar seems to be on the right track.”

  “About Oscar,” Kendal said, stopping before they reached the bottom of the steps.

  “I’m not, and I won’t let anyone else, share anything with him until we know for sure he is who he is,” she said and winked. “I’m not some military genius, but Pops taught me not to be overenthusiastic about giving anyone an edge.”

  “I’d have to disagree with you on that genius thing. Had my pharaoh known you, I’d have been knocked down the ranks faster than I could ride.” Kendal winked back. “Right now all I want to know is what they hope to accomplish by going this route. Dragons sound cool in theory, but having a sky full of them doesn’t seem to me like a good idea.”

  “That’s one reason I’m glad Gran is now on the job.”

  “I’m thrilled that they’ll be with us no matter what, but what do you mean?” Kendal’s brows came together as if she was confused.

  “She’s an excellent history professor, so no more of the cryptic shit we have to deal with from all the people who left breadcrumbs, like you said. She’s a great historian as well as teacher, so if we need to refer to something a thousand years from now, I promise you she’ll have a complete report with plenty of backup research,” she said and laughed.

  “Welcome, Ms. Richoux,” the man said, standing up straighter once they were on the ground. “My name is Miguel Korbe, and Rueben wanted you to know he’ll be here in two days. Your family will be safe until then. You have my word.”

  “Thank you,” Kendal said, handing the baby to her when she started to fuss. “I want people posted around the house around the clock. I don’t care about the cost.”

  “No worries. Rueben took care of everything. He said he’s worked with you before, so he’ll know what you expect.”

  She listened to the conversation and took a few deep breaths as Hali curled up against her. Something right at the edges of her mind wanted to come into the forefront, but it lingered just out of reach. “Hon,” she said to Kendal and regained her balance when Kendal put her arms around her.

  “I’ll talk to you later,” Kendal said to Miguel and led her to the first car. “Molly,” Kendal said to her grandparents as they came down next. “You and Mac take the next car, and we’ll meet you at the house.”

  “Everything okay?” Molly asked,
sounding concerned, as if she was tuned into Piper’s distress.

  “It will be,” Kendal said with a smile. “We need some privacy and some quiet.”

  They rode to the house along a winding road that seemed to follow a steady ascending incline that eventually put them in the cloud bank. After about half an hour their driver took a dirt road to the right, and she put her hand on Hali’s legs as they endured the ruts that made their SUV rock through the thick mud. Finally, in about three more miles, the beautiful estate came into view.

  “If it’s not too remote for you, I thought this might be a good place for us when we want to spend some time alone,” Kendal said, and she leaned more heavily against her.

  “It looks wonderful.” And it did. From what she could see, the house overlooked a thick area of trees and seemed to be more than big enough for everyone with them.

  “Just breathe, my love, and try to figure it out.”

  “How do you always know?” She closed her eyes and for some reason started crying. Nothing in her life had made sense until Kendal had come along and really seen her for who she was and what she believed in. “I’m so lucky.”

  The baby started crying, and the sound only made her cry harder, but Kendal never left her. “Close your eyes, my love, and think about anything but what’s going on. Can you do that for me right now?”

  Kendal reached over her and released Hali from her car seat and held her until she calmed enough to doze off. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with me,” she said and leaned against Kendal like she couldn’t sit up on her own. “I’ve never been weepy.”

  “Do you remember that you had a baby just recently?” Kendal said with no condescension in her tone. “I’m not making light of that fact, but immortal or no, your body can’t be completely back to normal.”

  “Thanks for finding an excuse for me, baby,” she said, and kissed Kendal’s chin.

  “I’m in love with you, so it’s not finding an excuse. We’re a team now, and I need you to know that I’m going to take care of you first, no matter what’s happening in the world.” Their nanny came to the door and held her arms out for the baby, and Kendal handed her over. “She should be good for another hour, so call if you need us before then.”

  “Are we going somewhere?” What Kendal had said about the baby was true, but she didn’t want Kendal wasting time worrying about her either.

  “For a walk to the backyard,” Kendal said, kissing her before getting out and coming around the car and lifting her out. “The rental agent promised something I want to check out.”

  She put her arms around Kendal’s neck and rested her head on her shoulder. She’d never daydreamed of the person she’d end up with, and now she was glad. Kendal had so far exceeded any hidden expectation she’d even thought of having and seemed to always go out of her way to show her how loved she was. It was time to start doing something in return before Kendal felt neglected.

  When Kendal walked longer than she’d expected, Piper opened her eyes and noticed they’d gone downhill a little until the house was out of view over the slope. The stand of trees they seemed to be headed to had some kind of structure under it, but they were still too far away to see what it was.

  She bit down on Kendal’s neck when she saw that a swing wasn’t on the large frame but actually a hanging bed secluded in the trees yet still with a great view of the valley in front of them. Kendal gently put her down and took time to pull her shoes off before joining her on the other side.

  “Places like this always remind me of the world’s agelessness. When you’re some place like New York, London, or even New Orleans, in a way, you’re surrounded in the fast-paced merry-go-round the world has become, but here life is rooted someplace in the past, and they’re not interested in changing anything about it.”

  “I can see why Rawney’s mother chose this place to take care of Aphrodite’s children. Time wouldn’t touch them,” she said, a sense of tiredness almost swamping her. “The only thing they had to fear was men’s ambitions.”

  “Right now I want you to think only about the rows and rows of coffee plants that terrace the mountainside, or let your mind wander. I’ll be here right next to you, no matter what you want to do.”

  She closed her eyes again and was right back there with Rawney’s mother and the steps she’d taken to do the goddess’s bidding, as well as the reward she’d received for her devotion. This time, though, it was like she was invisible and all her vision concentrated on was the spell and the aftermath when the sisters had lost their lives.

  Tomorrow would have to be soon enough, but they needed to walk in that place where all this had started and find something that would give them everything they wanted. For them it was for peace and to find their traitors, and for Aphrodite it was to not have any more of the dragons she’d brought into this world slaughtered for no reason.

  “If what I see is true, these people won’t go so quietly and meekly and fall in line. They have too much at stake.”

  “I know, but then, so do we.” Kendal held her tighter and smiled. “How would you like to take a walk with me in the morning?”

  “Do you want to head to the site?”

  “I’m taking only a few people with us, but I’d like to look around and see what’s happening.”

  “Then we’ll worry about that in the morning, but right now you should worry about trying to keep your pants on.”

  “Really?” Kendal said and laughed. “I’m beginning to think you’ve developed a taste for love outdoors.”

  “It’s more a taste for love with you, and I don’t care where we are. So don’t make me have to get rough with you.”

  * * *

  Piper went back inside to feed the baby and sit with her grandmother once they’d spent a few hours together, so Kendal changed and joined Morgaine and Charlie in the yard to do some drill work. The movements, which came as naturally as breathing, helped clear her mind. She had been on so many of these missions on behalf of the Clan, but something about this one seemed different.

  The danger or the unknown didn’t bother her, but she was edgy, which came out in the speed of her blade. Once she’d knocked Morgaine’s sword out of her hand for the third time, Morgaine made a rude movement with her hand. “Are you trying to show me up or just being overenthusiastic?” Morgaine asked.

  “Sorry. I’m not in total control today,” she said, opening and closing her free hand.

  “Something wrong?” Charlie asked.

  “Nothing I can narrow down. Something about all this doesn’t seem right, and it may have to do with the gods.”

  “Knowing they really do exist does make you think differently about devotion, but I can’t say I’m sorry. Without Aphrodite and her like, neither of us would have a beautiful child.” Morgaine rested her hand on her shoulder and smiled. “When we were young and prayed because that’s what the world around us expected of us, we never imagined having those prayers answered so personally.”

  “I never spent much effort on the gods, but in my time the priests and the pharaohs loved and worshipped plenty of them. I guess I’m making up for it now.” She closed her eyes and cocked her head, trying to concentrate on something that seemed to be on the wind. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, so let’s call it for the day, and we’ll start out early in the morning.”

  Charlie and Morgaine watched her go, but she glanced back only once as she headed down the incline past where she and Piper had spent the morning. The music she heard almost sounded like it was in her head, but from the edge where the slope became much steeper, she saw her.

  “Do you doubt me now?” Aphrodite asked as she sat on the bench that appeared to be translucent and didn’t glance at her when she stepped closer. “You know that I love not only you but Piper as well. I’d never do anything to bring either of you harm.”

  “I know that, and please don’t take what I said to mean that I doubt you.” Since the goddess hadn’t asked her to sit, she knelt by her side. “I
don’t think this life I’ve lived would have been possible without you and the others like you. The magic that keeps us alive springs from somewhere in your heart.”

  “You’ve never been a great believer in the mystical, Asra, so don’t go changing something so fundamental about yourself.” Aphrodite caressed her cheek. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you did.”

  “My feelings come from somewhere I’m not sure of, and this has never happened to me before.” She had no reason to be dishonest, and maybe Aphrodite would have some insight into what came next.

  “You’ve never been truly in love, and you’ve never had a family before. Not that you have more to lose, but you have more to think about.” Aphrodite moved over to make room for her, so she joined her on the bench. “I wish I could take credit for you, Asra, but no one in my family can. Through the years I’ve kept you in my sights because, while you serve faithfully, you’re not like the rest of your kind.”

  “How so?” Like a quick flash of rapid-fire pictures, all the times Aphrodite had come to her in every lifetime went through her mind.

  “They have kept history for the sake of history, but you have truly lived it. You have enjoyed all the days you’ve been given, and very seldom did you ever feel despair. Your wonder and adventurous soul have been the well from which you’ve found your strength.” Aphrodite’s hand was smooth and soft, as if she’d never done anything strenuous in her long life. “Because of that, I know my children will be safe with you.”

  “Can I ask why dragons, of all things?”

  The goddess laughed and kissed her cheek. “Until you come to see one, I can’t really answer that question in a way you’ll understand.” Aphrodite rubbed her hands together, then raised them, palms out. Her hands glowed, and streams of light started to flow out before them. They swirled until they formed a dragon. “I wanted to create something that was a symbol of my love.”

  The beast was huge and intimidating, but after one glance in its yellow-tinted eye, Kendal knew this was no savage animal. It clearly felt as strongly and loved as much as she did. “I understand why you did it, but you have to know they won’t survive now. The world won’t take the time to see what you just showed me. They’ll destroy them before they realize the truth of them.”