The Fire Salamander Chronicles Series: Books 1 - 3: The Fire Salamander Chronicles Series Boxset Book 1

by N M Thorn

  Aidan sighed and scratched his head. “Both?”

  Uri laughed. “Aidan McGrath is jealous,” he said, shaking his head. “I never thought that I’d see the day… You’re a bad boy, Aidan. Falling for your student?”

  “Ugh, Uri,” muttered Aidan, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m not jealous or falling or anything else. I feel responsible for Tessa. She has no one to take care of her except me.”

  “You know that she has her uncle, right?”

  “The uncle that is under his wife’s heel? The wife who can’t stand Tessa and did everything to get her out of her house and her husband’s life. That uncle?” asked Aidan, anger and bitterness in him bubbling up to the surface. “Why do you think Tessa moved back into her mother’s condo as soon as she hit her eighteen’s birthday?”

  “Hey, Aidan, calm down,” said Uri, raising his hand up. “I know that her situation is a bit too close to home for you, but I don’t think Tessa is in any trouble right now.”

  “Uri, I don’t like this Fire Salamander. You know how dangerous his natural state can be to humans. And Tessa is human,” said Aidan, squeezing the demitasse in his hand.

  “Are you sure, she is human?”

  Aidan thought for a moment and shook his head. “No, I’m not sure. She seems to be human. I can’t sense any magic in her, yet her aura has a hardly noticeable trace of some kind of energy that I can’t recognize. Anyway, it’s neither here nor there… The Fire Salamander could be dangerous for her. Period.”

  “You want me to check his background?” asked Uri and Aidan nodded. “Already did. I have to tell you—he has been around this city for over a year. If you couldn’t sense his presence, it means he’s in complete control of his power. I don’t think you need to worry about the safety of any humans next to him.”

  “What else did you find out?”

  “Not much,” said Uri, taking another sip of his coffee. “His name is Alexander Burns, but he introduced himself as Zane Burns. There is very little information on him in the system. Slightly over a year ago, he didn’t exist. No credit cards, no utility bills on his name, not even a library card. Nothing. I don’t think he’s in some kind of witness protection program. So, my best guess, he’s working for some government agency—FBI, CIA, NSA… Whatever letters of the alphabet you like. Take your pick.”

  “Why would you think he works for the government?” asked Aidan, troubled. “I have never heard of any creature of magic working with any governments. He could be anything, a conman, using fake documents and Zane Burns could be just one of his aliases.”

  “I don’t think so,” objected Uri. “When he was in the school, I scanned him with my light and there was no darkness in this man. I couldn’t see any evil in him.”

  Aidan fell silent. He knew that if Uri couldn’t see any darkness in the Fire Salamander, the man couldn’t be evil. But for whatever reason, he couldn’t accept it. “He told me that he was just twenty-eight,” said Aidan finally. “Where was he for the other twenty-seven years, before he got here? Can you find that out?”

  “Very young for a Fire Salamander,” muttered Uri. “If I’m right and he works for one of the government agencies undercover, it’ll be very hard to find out anything.”

  “You have my permission to use any of my connections,” said Aidan, rising. “I want to know everything there is to know about this man.”

  “Fine,” said Uri. He gulped the rest of his coffee and got up. “But wouldn’t it be easier just to ask him a few questions? You told me that he answered every single question you asked him, and you didn’t detect any lies. Think about it, Aidan. With his Fire power, he could be a welcome ally in your war. Don’t make an enemy out of him.”

  Aidan nodded, and Uri waved his hand, instantly vanishing from the balcony.

  Questions? Well, and questions I shall ask, thought Aidan as he walked out of the balcony, leaving the unfinished demitasse with coffee on the table.

  Chapter 9

  ~ Tessa ~

  It was a relatively quiet day for a busy dental practice. After the unfortunate events of the last evening, Dr. Davis took a few days off to recover. As a result, all her patients were rescheduled for the next week. Tessa stared at the computer screen, checking the schedule of Dr. West. He had a cancelation and the next patient didn’t arrive yet. All rooms were prepared, the instruments were sterilized, and the office was breathing with cleanliness.

  Tessa leaned back in the chair and allowed herself to relax for a few minutes. Her thoughts slowly traveled to the dojang. Between everything that happened there yesterday, she didn’t get a chance to talk to Aidan. In her mind, she re-played the sparring session between Aidan and that new guy, Zane, wondering what came over him. In all the years she knew Aidan, she never saw him so aggressive and merciless in sparring. Especially not with new people. She remembered the look of pain on Zane’s face when Aidan got him in the kneebar. Zane seemed like a nice guy and she couldn’t understand what Aidan had against him.

  The door into the office opened and a tall man walked inside. He was dressed in black jeans and a grungy Metallica t-shirt. With his shoulder-length dark hair and dark overgrown stubble, he looked like a biker. Even though he was inside the office, he didn’t take his dark sunglasses off.

  The man stopped at the front desk counter and smiled, demonstrating his perfectly healthy dental anatomy. Tessa threw a quick look at his sparkling teeth, asking herself why this man would need services of a prosthodontist. Claudia, the patient coordinator, got up to greet him. The man came prepared. He had all the new patient’s forms filled online and Claudia opened his file on her computer screen to review them.

  Since there was no need to make him wait, Tessa checked his name in his file and invited him in. “Please come in, Mr. Vargas,” she said, opening the door for him. “Second room on your left.”

  Once she seated Mr. Vargas, Tessa walked out of the room and checked the long hallway, searching for Dr. West. She found him in his office at the far end of the hallway. He was sitting at his desk, looking at the x-rays of one of his patients. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t notice Tessa’s arrival and she had to touch his shoulder to get his attention. Ryan turned around and looked at her, his eyes lingering on the fresh scar on her lips.

  “Tessa, what happened?” he asked with concern. “Don’t you know, we’re in the business of fixing teeth in this office, not breaking them.”

  “Speak for yourself, Ryan,” she replied, chuckling. “I’m in the business of getting new business for your office—hence, breaking teeth.”

  “You’re such a troublemaker, Tessa,” said Ryan, rising. “Do I need to check yours?”

  “Nope, I’m fine,” she answered, heading toward the door. “Your new patient, Mr. Vargas, is ready for you in room two. By the way, he looks like he just jumped off his bike and I couldn’t get him to take his shades off. Have fun with this jackass.”

  Ryan just shook his head and followed her through the hallway. He entered the room and approached Mr. Vargas, introducing himself. Not without amusement, Tessa registered that the patient still didn’t take his sunglasses off. Ryan put his mask and gloves on, grabbed the explorer and mirror off the tray and sat down next to the patient.

  “Okay, Mr. Vargas, let’s see what’s going on with your teeth,” he said, readjusting the unit light. “But before we start, may I ask you to take your sunglasses off?”

  Mr. Vargas pursed his lips, but pulled his sunglasses off, carefully hooking them to his jean pocket. Tessa glanced at his face and started to understand why he didn’t want to take his glasses off. His eyelids were red and puffy, and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, like he didn’t sleep all night. He caught her gaze and his lips stretched in a cold smile, making him look like an alligator.

  “Allergies,” he explained with a half-shrug. “Bright light bothers me.”

  For whatever reason, Tessa didn’t believe one word this guy was saying. There was something bone-chil
lingly unsettling about this man. Standing next to him was like standing next to an open freezer.

  “Just bear with me, Mr. Vargas,” mumbled Ryan, leaning slightly closer to him. “I’ll try to do the exam as fast as I can. And then you can put your sunglasses back on. Open, please…”

  Mr. Vargas opened wide, showing off his flawless set of choppers. For a moment Ryan stared at his patient’s teeth, his eyebrows slowly rising. Then he blinked a couple of times and proceeded with the exam. Still uncomfortable in the presence of this man, Tessa watched Ryan working without taking her eyes off.

  The soft ding of the intercom system made Tessa flinch and turn around. She got up and picked up the phone. Claudia was letting her know that Dr. West had an emergency patient, and she already seated him in room one. By the time Tessa hung up the phone and turned around, Ryan was done with the initial exam.

  “Well, Mr. Vargas, I can’t see anything wrong with your teeth. As a matter of fact, the only place I saw teeth as perfect as yours was in the book of dental anatomy,” he said, chuckling. He put away the tools and took his gloves off. “I’m going to let Tessa take a full set of x-rays and if everything checks out, we can schedule you for a prophylactic cleaning.”

  Ryan pushed the button, setting the chair in an upright position, but Mr. Vargas held Ryan’s hand, already a familiar frosty smile lingering on his face. “Are you s-s-s-sure that you checked all my teeth, Dr. West?” he asked, his voice sounding deeper with an added light hiss. “Pleas-s-s-s-e take a look again… I don’t want you to mis-s-s-s anything…”

  Something is not right. A thought flashed in Tessa’s mind as she bolted toward the chair. Only two-three steps were separating her from Ryan, but she wasn’t fast enough. Mr. Vargas opened his mouth again. His normal teeth were gone, replaced by a set of sharp fangs. His every tooth was elongated and shaped into a sharp point, a thin web of saliva stretching between his unnaturally wide-open jaws.

  Ryan gasped and started to back away, but the man’s hand struck forward with a blurring speed, seizing his neck. The man was moving so fast that he was leaving a motion trail in his wake. In one lightning motion, he pulled Ryan closer, lifting him off the floor as if the two-hundred-pound dentist weighed nothing. He forced Ryan’s head to the side, exposing his jugular and sank his terrifying set of fangs into his neck.

  The raiser-sharp fangs easily penetrated his skin and a thick stream of blood, spilled down Ryan’s neck, dripping on Mr. Vargas’ shirt, but he didn’t seem to care. His eyes were half-closed as he sucked the blood like it was his morning protein shake, his blood-stained lips smacking.

  The thick copper smell drifted in the air and Tessa froze for a quick moment, fighting nausea. She came back to her senses a split-second later and grabbed Ryan’s shoulders trying to tear him away from Mr. Vargas’ grip. The man growled like a wild animal, a low sound rumbling in his throat as he continued sucking the blood.

  Tessa snapped her arm back and punched Mr. Vargas in the side of his head. The man lifted his eyes and his bloodstained lips stretched into a carnivorous smirk over Ryan’s neck. It seemed that Tessa’s punch didn’t leave a lasting impression on him.

  “Can’t say no to dessert,” he hissed. His free arm flew forward and wrapped around Tessa’s waist. He pulled her to his side, without stopping what he was doing, and Tessa couldn’t understand how he managed it, but she was almost completely immobilized by his hold. As she was helplessly struggling against the man’s deadly grip, her eyes fell on Ryan’s face and silent tears burnt behind her eyes. Ryan was losing too much blood. His face was drained of color, his body feeble and limp.

  He is killing Ryan, thought Tessa in despair, everything inside her crumbling into dust and ashes. Ryan is dying… no… “Help!” she yelled, putting whatever strength she had left in this desperate cry. “Help!”

  The door flew open like someone kicked it with their foot and with a loud bang hit the wall. Tessa moaned, lifting her eyes, struggling to see over Mr. Vargas’ shoulder and her mouth fell open. In the doorway she saw Zane. He was breathing hard and his eyes were glowing red. He didn’t run into the room but stopped at the door and waved his hand, muttering something under his breath. Tessa couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the room got flooded with a soft yellow light and the habitual white noise of the city that was coming through the window got muffled.

  Before Mr. Vargas got a chance to react, Zane crossed the distance between them and seized his long hair, wringing it around his wrist. He yanked his head back roughly, forcing him to release Ryan’s neck. The man dropped both Tessa and Ryan and roared, frustration making his fingers curl into claws. Tessa fell on the floor and huddled to the wall, shaking. She watched Zane punching out Mr. Vargas and quickly shoving Ryan’s body closer to Tessa.

  “Apply pressure to the wound,” he said, his voice a low growl. “See if you can stop the bleeding.”

  Zane’s glowing eyes swept from her to Ryan and he shook his head. Tessa could swear that he whispered the word “humans” as he spun around, switching his attention back to Mr. Vargas. The man was back on his feet, his shoulders hunched, and his arms outstretched forward giving him the resemblance of a predator, ready to attack. His upper lip was curved into a feral snarl exposing his horrendous fangs and his bloodshot eyes narrowed into angry slits.

  “Ignius!” shouted Zane. He made a circular motion with his hand, pointing at Mr. Vargas.

  What the hell? Is it even a real word? thought Tessa as a circle, blazing with smoldering flames erupted around Mr. Vargas. The man shrieked—his voice suddenly high-pitched—and jumped up on top of the dental chair, crouching there and ready to launch at any moment. His narrowed eyes were following the flow of the fire with unmistakable fear.

  Zane turned back to Tessa and squatted next to her. He tapped her shoulder gently. With an effort, she tore her eyes off the dancing flames and stared at him, speechless.

  “Call an ambulance,” he ordered, rising. “Dr. West needs medical attention.”

  He walked to the opposite wall and took off a picture in a wooden frame, smashing it against the table. The glass shattered, and the frame broke into four pieces. He picked up one of the longer pieces of the frame and squeezed it in his hand like it was a knife. In no rush, he walked through the fiery circle. Tessa gasped—not only was he not burnt by the fire, the flames wrapped around his body, licking and kissing him like he was their lover.

  As soon as Zane passed inside the circle, Mr. Vargas screamed and pounced at him. Zane didn’t blink an eye. His arm shot forward, and he caught Mr. Vargas’ neck, stopping him in midair. With one move, Zane flung the man back on the chair and forcefully drove the piece of the frame into his chest, piercing his heart. Mr. Vargas cried out, grabbing the piece of wood with both hands. He pulled the wood out and fell back, motionless.

  Tessa couldn’t see every little detail through the wall of fire, but everything she saw was enough to raise multiple questions. Zane was in good shape, but he was short. How could he hold a man twice his size in the air with one hand? And didn’t he just kill him? As far as she knew, a wooden stake through the heart was considered a fatal wound. She got up, gently lowering the unconscious Ryan to the floor and stepped closer to the fire circle, ignoring the scorching heat.

  Zane was standing over the body of Mr. Vargas, shaking his head in disbelief. To her horror, Tessa noticed that even though there was a giant black hole in Mr. Vargas’s chest, he wasn’t dead. Slowly he was rising, pressing his hand to the hole. And his wound wasn’t bleeding.

  “Hell’s bells,” muttered Zane, scratching his head. “I was so hoping that you were just a vampire…”

  Vampire? With everything that happened in the last few minutes, Tessa felt shocked and confused.

  In the meantime, Zane reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a Swiss army knife. Mr. Vargas barked laughing.

  “Really? A tiny Swiss army knife?” he spat between the wild bursts of laughter. “What are you going to do with th
at, MacGyver?”

  Zane didn’t answer, but a crooked smirk appeared on his face. He held the knife in his hand and whispered a single word Tessa couldn’t recognize. The knife started to grow, expending into a long sword. The weapon looked like a medieval sword and was blazing with smoldering flames.

  Mr. Vargas hissed and shifted away from him, hitting the dental chair with his back. Surrounded by fire, he had nowhere to run. With one fluid motion of his arm, Zane swung the sword and ran it through Mr. Vargas’ neck, instantly decapitating him. The head rolled over his shoulders, hitting the floor with a dull thud. The body stayed in place for a few more seconds, the dead fingers grasping at the air. Zane pushed the body down next to the head and put the tip of his flaming blade to Mr. Vargas’ chest.

  “Ignius Amplio,” he muttered, and a steady stream of fire escaped his sword, setting Mr. Vargas’ body ablaze. In a matter of a few seconds, the body was gone like it was never there. Zane said another word that sounded like gibberish to Tessa and his sword turned back into a tiny Swiss army knife. He put the knife back into his jean pocket and finally looked up.

  “Tessa, did you call 911?” he asked calmly as if he didn’t kill and burn into ashes a man (or whatever Mr. Vargas was—a vampire?) just a second ago.

  Tessa swallowed and nodded. Her throat felt uncharacteristically dry and she couldn’t bring herself to say a word.

  “Okay,” said Zane, “I need to leave now. Let me get rid of all this fire.”

  He approached the fiery circle and put his hand directly into the flames. He didn’t say anything, but the flames slowly subsided and finally disappeared. He approached Tessa and halted a few steps away, scratching his head. Then he sighed and looked at her.

  “I’m sure that after everything you just witnessed, you probably have a few questions,” he said evenly.

  “No shit, Sherlock,” croaked Tessa, her speech finally coming back to her. “You’re goddamn right, I have a few questions.”