Blaze of Honor (RBMC: South Australia Book 1)

by Khloe Wren

  By the time Howard Carter cracked open the tomb in 1922, all six of us were no more than spirits, our bodies having long since wasted away. Atum, the creator of all the gods, had been there waiting for us when we’d slipped out the door and floated high above the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. He took us to America and using his own abilities, created corporeal forms for us. He also gave us all new, modern names. I went from Ra to Raymond, Sobek to Beckett, Geb to Gerald, Heh to Haizam, Horus to Herschel, Atum to Aaron. Maat refused to let anyone name him, he chose to be called Seth. Aaron kept us together to begin with, teaching us all we needed to know to live in the new world. Over the years, we all eventually went our separate ways. There were times I missed those early days, when the six of us were all together and could relax without fear of exposing ourselves.

  As much as we no longer lived in close proximity, that wasn’t to say we didn’t run into each other. I wasn’t the only one of my brothers who’d ended up joining the Royal Bastards MC. I’d run into Croc (Beckett), Stone (Gerald) and Falcon (Herschel) over the past few years at various club runs. However, I hadn’t seen Haizam in over twenty years, and it’d been even longer since I’d seen Seth. He was the youngest and most troubled of all of us, so when he moved to live in the Australian desert, Aaron followed him so he could watch over him. I hadn’t “seen” Aaron in a long time either, but he did call on occasion. Generally, when he did call, it led to me adding a job to my special forces unit’s list.

  “Fires, brother. That’s what’s happening Down Under. A whole lot of fires.”

  Even though Aaron wasn’t technically our brother, we all called him that. He was more father than sibling, but since we all looked close to the same age, we’d decided early on to call him brother, not father.

  “I’ve been watching the news. None are near you as far as I’ve heard. Has that changed?”

  I always keep an eye on the news coming out of Australia, but recently I’d been paying even closer attention as more and more fires burned down the eastern side of the country. I’d already decided if they spread anywhere near where Aaron or Seth lived, I’d head over to help keep them safe.

  “So far South Australia is still clear. That’s not why I’m calling. The fires burning down the east coast are not all from natural causes. There is something darker going on with them. It is highly unusual to have fires of this magnitude before summer has fully hit.”

  Closing my door, I moved to sit at my desk and boot up my laptop so I could check the news sites for any new information on the fires. I’d already been researching them and had learned a few things about why Australia’s fire season was starting early this year.

  “It might be early in the season, but the drought Australia has suffered has so much fuel ready to burn. I wouldn’t have thought the timing alone would be enough to have you concerned about supernatural involvement.”

  “You’re right, and that’s why the fires have taken off like they have. But their ignition source is what is strange. Since I could feel the supernatural undercurrent, I went to take a look at where these blazes started and most of them appear to have been started by a ring of lightning.”

  I frowned.

  “A ring of lightning?”

  “That’s right. There are cracks through the earth that indicate several lightning strikes hit in a circle at the points of ignition.”

  Chills raced down my spine as Aaron spoke. There was nothing normal about what he described.

  “I’ve never even heard of anything like that before. I can check the files at work, but I doubt I’ll find anything. I would have been involved in dealing with it if anything had happened here in the US like that. Have you heard of it occurring anywhere else?”

  “No. Outside of the realm of fiction, I’ve never seen it. Nor can I think of how it could be man-made. I would appreciate it if you could come over and help me work out what’s going on. I believe we’re going to need your abilities to help solve this.”

  I rapped my fingers on my desk a couple of times while I thought.

  “Might need Stone, too. Maybe Falcon. Have you contacted any of the others yet?”

  Stone had an affinity to earth while Falcon’s was with air.

  “Not yet. You’re the first I’ve called, but I had intended to call in both Stone and Falcon to see if they’d join us.”

  “Okay, make the calls and I’ll put this through work to get the paperwork for all three of us to enter Australia legally. I’ll let you know when it’s all clear for us to head over.”

  “Shall do. Let me know if you have trouble and I’ll fire up a portal to get you all over here.”

  “Sounds good, brother. Talk to you soon.”

  Aaron was scary powerful. While my brothers and I were human infused with the spirit of a god, Aaron was Atum in human form. And as far as I knew, he’d kept every one of his god powers. I doubt anyone would ever know the full extent of them. Being able to open up a portal that would allow us to travel between Australia and the US in seconds was just the tip of iceberg.

  Going into my phone, I pulled up my boss’s contact details and hit call. The sooner I got this ball rolling, the sooner I could go deal with it and return. I had a feeling the shit Nycto had just started with Andrés was only going to get worse, and I wanted to be around to guard his back when it did.

  Somewhere in rural New South Wales, Australia

  Brianna

  With a groan, I pushed myself up off the ground. I hurt all over, like I’d been run over by a truck. Or maybe a train. My head throbbed but I ignored the pain and forced my eyes to open so I could take in my surroundings. Once again, I had no clue where I was. This shit was getting old, fast. Crawling over to a tree, I used it to pull myself up to my feet. Then I leaned against the trunk for a minute, waiting for the increase of the pounding in my head from my moving to begin to ease. The smoke filling the air was getting thicker by the moment and clogged my lungs, making each breath a struggle. I knew I couldn’t wait here for long. I needed to run, to get away from the approaching fire.

  Again.

  I wasn’t sure how long I’d been stuck in this horrible cycle, but I was positive it had been more than a few days, as this was the third time I’d woken in the bush like this. But that was all I knew. I only had brief moments of lucidity where I knew who I was, what I was doing. Then, whatever it was that had taken over my mind that day would possess me again and leave me with no memory of what I have done, or is done to me. When the spirit takes me over, I’m merely a passenger along for the ride and I hate it. I’m filthy, hungry, tired and so bloody confused. I just wanted to go home and sleep for a week, then wake up to realize all this had been nothing more than a really strange nightmare.

  A crash from my left pulled me from my wishful thinking and had me instinctively moving in that direction. With no clue where I was, I had no idea which way would lead to safety. If that noise was an animal fleeing the flames, it would guide me in the right direction. At least that was my hope.

  The crackling of the flames devouring the bush grew louder behind me and my heart pounded as the threat grew closer. Continuing to ignore the pain in my head, I sped up, jogging through the bush and trees of what I was guessing to be a national park somewhere. The plants looked like what was near my home in Drake. Was I still in New South Wales? I was certain I was still in Australia.

  Through the smoke, the silhouette of a house rose up. A big, stone homestead-type dwelling. So, I wasn’t in a national park, but on a farm. I sped up again, hoping the house had a cellar of some kind I could hide in until the flames passed over. I’d made it to the lush, well cared for lawn surrounding the front of the home when I heard a string of curse words in a familiar voice, but with my head pounding like it was, I couldn’t quite place who it was. When I then heard a car door slam and an engine roaring to life, I sprinted toward the vehicle, hoping to catch the driver before he left, hoping whoever it was would see me and take me out of this mess.

  I�
�d made it to the gravel driveway and was running up the middle of it when the car took off, rocks flying up behind the spinning wheels. I froze in shock for a moment as I realized the car was coming straight for me and was not going to stop. As I jumped to the side, out of the path of the vehicle, I glanced back. In my shock at seeing my father’s face twisted in murderous fury toward me, I didn’t pay attention to how I landed. My elbow screamed in pain as it hit the hard earth when my body landed in a heap. Without trying to rise, I watched the car tear out of the drive and down the road away from me. Why would he hate me so much? A flare of pain tore across my mind, delivering flashes of memory—of the dead woman hanging in his workshop, of the lightning taking me. The spirit possessing my body and mind, revealing its focus on serving vengeance on my father for his crimes, before it took me over completely.

  Rage at all the murders my father must have committed to have collected all the IDs I’d found in his workshop heated my blood. When the reality that he’d just attempted to mow me down with a car hit me, my rage grew to more than I could contain within me and the clouds over my head gathered and sparked with impending lightning as I screamed out my fury.

  Ignoring the pain in my elbow and head, I rose to my feet and went to brush off the dirt and leaves from my clothes but stopped. There wasn’t any point. I was a mess. My shirt even had some char marks on it, as though I’d gotten too close to a fire — or lightning — at some point, and my jeans were filthy from sleeping on the ground. That increased my anger. I hated being unable to remember what I’d done these past days, or maybe even weeks. Hated being so far from home and being forced to constantly run for my life from fires.

  My thoughts were clearing, some memories returning. Like the fact that every time I’d woken up to discover myself in bushland, it was to thick smoke in the air and fire nearby. Then, as I tried to get away from the fire, I’d inevitably stumble across my father. Then things would get foggy, the spirit obviously taking over again.

  Lightning lit up the sky above me and the thunder shook the ground, making me jump.

  “Oh, fuck. Not again!”

  Flashes of memory flickered through my mind as I sprinted for the thicker bush, away from the homestead. It was lightning that took me each time. It caged me and then I was gone. I saw a large bush with a hollow underneath up ahead and rushed to reach the safety it would provide but I never made it.

  My body locked up, stopping me mid-stride as once again the lightning came down, caging me in. I screamed out in frustration and tried to physically break free from whatever was holding me, but I couldn’t move at all.

  Chapter Two

  Adelaide Airport, South Australia

  Spark

  Naturally, work hadn’t had an issue with me heading over to Australia to help investigate and deal with what Aaron had brought to my attention. They’d quickly gotten all the paperwork in place for me and my brothers to legally do whatever we’d need to in order to deal with the situation. I’d also spoken to Nycto and had his permission to take leave away from the club. He’d assumed I was heading over as a firefighter, and I didn’t bother correcting him. He knew I worked for the military and he knew I had “a thing” for fire. There had been times over the past few years where I’d contemplated explaining my reality to him, and if I stayed in the club for too much longer, I knew I’d have to reveal the reason as to why I wasn’t aging. But that was a worry for another day.

  After collecting my checked bag, I headed to the exit out of the Adelaide airport. With my bag slung over my shoulder, I made my way to the pick-up line, where Aaron had told me he’d meet me. A glance up and down the line of vehicles had me realizing I had no damn idea what he drove.

  “Hey! Spark!”

  I turned toward the sound of Aaron’s deep voice and with a nod, headed in his direction. Like all of us, he didn’t age, so he looked exactly the same as he had when I’d last seen him. When I reached him, he pulled me in a for a quick back-slapping hug before moving to open the rear of his SUV.

  “Toss your bags in and then we’ll get going. Stone got in yesterday and is waiting for us back at the house.”

  After I put my bag into the rear, I turned and ran straight into him, making him laugh.

  “Other side, brother. Not sure I’m ready for you to be driving my vehicle yet. I think we’ll wait for the jet lag to pass before I let you do that.”

  “Fuck off. We don’t even get jet lag. And I’m sure it took you more than a minute to change ingrained habits when you moved over here.”

  With a wink and a laugh, he moved toward the driver’s side door, and shaking my head, I followed his lead, heading to the opposite side. It did feel damn strange getting into the left side of the car and not having the steering wheel there.

  Within half an hour we were out of the city and heading through what I guessed must be the Adelaide Hills. The further out we got, the more spaced out the houses became. Everywhere I looked I could see greenery, trees and shrubbery. There was so much nature, I couldn’t stop taking it all in.

  “How far out do you live?”

  “We’ve got another hour or so. My place is in Eden Valley, in the Barossa Valley, which is north-east from the city.”

  “And what do you fill your time with living out there? There can’t possibly be enough supernatural stuff going on around here to keep you busy enough to not get bored.”

  We’d all worked hard in the past and invested our money wisely so didn’t have to worry about money anymore, but we all had jobs because we hated being bored.

  He shrugged a shoulder. “I dabble in a few things. I bought a vineyard a while back, so I’ve been toying with distilling various liquors. I think I’ve mastered the process behind gin, so am now working on cognac. It fills my days when I’m not working on researching or chasing supernatural things.”

  I chuckled. “Didn’t want to make wine?”

  He shrugged. “Plenty of winemakers in the Barossa. I wanted something more challenging.”

  “Fair enough. So, what’s the plan for once we get to your place? There haven’t been any fires started near you while I was traveling, have there?”

  “No, the fires are moving down the east coast. I suspect, given enough time, they’ll head this way.”

  I frowned. In my research I’d looked at weather patterns and that’s not how the natural elements would move them. Generally speaking, the weather came from the west and moved over to the east. Not from north to south.

  “Why’s that?”

  “While it is technically lightning that’s starting them, it’s not a natural storm front moving over the country that’s the cause. Like I said to you before, this has a supernatural taint to it. My instincts tell me if we can’t stop it, it’ll continue down the east coast, then come west, following the coast around the country.”

  “What’s your instincts telling you is causing it?”

  He shook his head as he turned off the road onto a long dirt driveway, “I’m not sure. I haven’t been able to draw out any visions on who or what is causing the lightning, but those circles are not natural. Once you get settled in, I’ll take you and Stone to look at them.”

  Aaron’s ability with portals would make things a lot easier. We’d be able to travel around as we needed to without leaving a trail behind for anyone to follow and question.

  Brianna

  I’d lost count of how many times the lightning had caged me. I’d lost so much time with each round, I honestly couldn’t say what day of the week it was. Or even the damn month. It was with a sigh that I looked up at the sparking clouds and held my arms out, waiting for it take me. Nothing worked to stop it. I’d tried hiding in all sorts of places, but it always found me. The bright, white lightning streaked down toward me, splitting before it hit me to form the cage with which I was becoming all too familiar.

  Blinking my vision clear, I strode through the circle of flames and headed toward where I could sense Martin was hiding. He’d hurt so many inno
cents with the powers I’d given him to protect Brianna. Twisting powers that should have been something good into evil. Not only that, he’d also not trained Brianna as he was supposed to. She was in no way prepared for her future. He hadn’t trained her mind or physical being. Each time I entered her body, I had to release my hold on her after only a few hours because she wasn’t strong enough to keep up with what I needed from her. It was a complete disgrace and I was angry at myself for the poor choice I’d made for her guardian.

  For all he’d done, he would die. A fitting punishment for his crimes.

  At least Brianna’s soft heart had hardened when she’d found Martin’s disgusting torture room. She’d stopped caring for the man she called her father and wanted vengeance for those he’d hurt. That had opened her up to let me in, to take control and use her for this first stage of my plan. Well, taking her and her sisters when they’d been toddlers and placing them with my chosen guardians had technically been the first step, but really, why get that technical?

  “Martin, when are you going to stop running? I will catch you in the end. The longer you draw this out, the more fires you’re responsible for.” I grinned at the thought. “Perhaps that’s what I should do. Make the world believe you are responsible for lighting all these fires that have destroyed so much. You’ll be hated like so few manage to be. You won’t be able to hide from the masses wanting to serve vigilante justice on you. Especially if I reveal some evidence of your other crimes. After all, it would be the work of a moment for me to lead a human to the remains of the women you’ve taken over the years.”

  Bushes began to move as he came closer, unable to resist the compulsion in my voice.

  “Just leave me alone! You have Brianna. You destroyed everything I had, turned my daughter against me… Isn’t that enough?”