Desert Flame

by Nicole R. Taylor

  “You never know.”

  Knowing he hadn’t earned an explanation yet, Joseph glared at the highway. “As long as Darius is dead at the end of this, I don’t care what else happens.”

  “Those are bold words.”

  “They’re deserved words.” He turned to leave, but Hardy grasped his arm.

  “What did he do to you?”

  Joseph sighed and clenched his jaw. “He prayed on your vulnerabilities and spent the better part of two decades turning you into a literal monster. Isn’t that enough reason?”

  “Perhaps, but after all this time, I’d like to hear about you, Joseph.”

  “I got in his way,” he muttered. “That’s what happened to me.”

  “How?”

  “You really like to torture a bloke, don’t you?”

  “Joseph… Have you ever talked about it?”

  The vampire snorted. Of course, he hadn’t. Who would care about his sob story? Everyone had one and his wasn’t any different, and telling it wouldn’t change his mind about killing Darius.

  “Until recently, I rarely thought about the things that led me here,” Hardy admitted. “I didn’t want to relive it, but ever since I told the Exiles, I feel lighter. More at peace.”

  “That’s you,” Joseph argued. “It’s not me.”

  “It might help.” He shrugged. “I’m not about to tell anyone else about it. You know the kind of man I am.”

  “You’re not going to let it go, are you?”

  “Probably not.”

  Joseph scowled, his head filling with long lost memories he’d done his darnedest to push aside. Four centuries was a long time to dwell on all he’d lost, especially since he’d spent the better part of it hunting the vampire responsible.

  He was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, but that was just his mask. Underneath, he was a pit of darkness and anger. Revenge was the only thing that had helped him cling to his afterlife for as long as he had. He didn’t fear death…he’d welcome it.

  “I was human,” Joseph said sharply. “Darius was trying to infiltrate the English court and I caught him. He was outed, his plans destroyed, and I paid the price.” Joseph hissed and looked away. “He slaughtered my family. My wife, my son, and my baby girl. A baby. After he was done, he turned me into a vampire. I spent decades under his thumb as punishment. Reliving what he did to them. Being tortured and healed over and over. It only stopped because I escaped.” He turned back to Hardy, his eyes black. “So, if you try to stop me from tearing out his cold, dead, black heart, I will tear through you, friend or not.”

  Hardy’s expression didn’t waver. He lifted his hand and placed it on Joseph’s shoulder. “I won’t, but I need answers of my own.” He glanced back at the pub. “And so do they.”

  Joseph let his anger subside, but it didn’t fully recede. After all these years, it never really had.

  “C’mon,” his friend said, “let’s go to my place. I live underground. I think you’ll like it.”

  He felt the memory of his family fade into the background and his heart lightened. “Still scratching around in a hole?”

  “Yeah, but this one’s got plumbing.”

  Chapter 17

  The night was clear as Drew prowled around the edges of the EarthBore camp, his dingo feet silent.

  Coen had taught him enough so he could see, but he still didn’t understand what he was looking at most of the time. Colours shimmered through the darkness, revealing the invisible auras and essences of the outback. The trees, the grass, the rock, the dust…he could tell it all apart with his dingo eyes.

  Some things were the same hue, while others varied. Even the Exiles had their own unique colours, but they were more complex than plants and rocks, changing from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute.

  Drew had seen Wally tinkering in his garage before he left on his scouting mission, and the old wolf was a swirl of purple and red. Then, when he’d blinked, a flash of blue flared around the mechanic’s head.

  The EarthBore camp hadn’t changed much in the last few days. It was still lit up with cold, white lights, but the hole they were drilling was deeper. They’d pulled out the Caldwell and had rolled in the excavator, extending the shaft into a wider pit, and had constructed a ramp out of the rubble to get the truck back down.

  To Drew, it looked like they needed to go deeper than they originally planned. Whatever they were searching for was just out of reach, which bought the Exiles a little more time.

  “Did you find what you were looking for?”

  Drew jumped at the sound of Darius’s voice and swung around to face the vampire who stood a handful of steps away. He hadn’t heard him approach, let alone felt his presence, but Hardy had warned him before he came out here. Darius was old, and with age came strength.

  “I could easily snap your neck, but I want to have a conversation with you, Drew,” Darius said. “Which would go better if you were a man.”

  The dingo narrowed his eyes as he saw the muddy brownish-black aura float around the vampire. It didn’t look healthy…for either of them.

  “Come now,” Darius added. “I can turn around if you’d like.”

  Drew growled, the sound rumbling deep in his throat, and began to shift.

  Darius raised his eyebrows, watching the painful process with sick fascination.

  When he was done, Drew stood, unfurling his naked human body. “You got your wish,” he snarled. “Say what you want so we can get this over with.”

  Darius smirked and looked him over. “Those are some pretty scars, shifter. Have you seen Frederick’s?”

  He resisted the urge to cover his junk. “Stop being creepy and get to the point.”

  The vampire laughed and looked at the EarthBore site below. “Tell me, does your little town mean that much to you? Less than ten people live there, and it barely registers on the map. And Frederick Hardy… Does he deserve your friendship, knowing he is what I am? I did make him in my own image. I scraped him out of a hellhole and taught him how to cast aside his role as the prey and become the predator.”

  “Yes,” Drew said with a roll of his eyes. “All of the above.”

  He was beginning to suspect Darius didn’t know Joseph was in Solace, let alone that they knew about his plans. Best he kept his mouth shut…as much as his temper would allow him to. The vampire might reveal something new or contradict Hardy’s new BFF.

  “I am the beginning of my kind on this Earth, but I wasn’t the first,” Darius told him. “All I want to do is to return to my world, but I need magic in order to do so. What’s so wrong with that?”

  “If I could send you back, I’d open the door and shove you through myself,” Drew told him. “Then slam it in your face.”

  The vampire chuckled and shook his head. “Dingoes are spirited creatures. Pack animals, aren’t they?” His eyes darkened. “Where is your pack, Drew?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know.” He wasn’t about to take the bait or let on that it was Eloise’s powers that sent the Dust Dogs to another place—it was what the vampire wanted. “With an attitude like that, how do you know they want you back?”

  “Want and need are two different things,” Darius replied. “But knowledge and power are the same. I know what lies beneath your little town, and I know what lies within this iron ore.” He studied the shifter, searching for changes in his expression. When he smirked, Drew knew he’d found whatever it was he was looking for. “You don’t know, do you?” He pondered this for a moment. “You suspect, but you don’t know for sure. That’s what it is, isn’t it?”

  Drew said nothing. He liked to think he was cleaver, but he wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. If he said something now, he’d just be putting his foot in his mouth.

  “For all your amassed powers, you supernaturals don’t know the first thing about what you’re dealing with,” Darius went on. “How do you know that what you’re protecting deserves it? Hmm?” He narrowed his eyes. “How do you know if
you’re doing the right thing?”

  “Of course, we’re doing the right thing,” Drew hissed. “If that power is released, then—”

  “Then what?” Darius interrupted. “If you don’t understand what’s down there, how do you know what will happen? You don’t.”

  According to Eloise, who’d spoken to Andante, they had a good idea it was an entity tied to the ancient ocean that used to flow over the outback. The day she’d told them what she’d found out, Drew had learned a new word—calamity. That sounded bad to him.

  Darius didn’t care what happened to the people he left behind, only opening his stupid portal.

  “And you do?” Drew challenged.

  The vampire snorted. “Of course, I do.”

  “Then tell me.”

  Darius grabbed his throat, moving so fast his hand was a blur. “No, I think not.”

  Drew gasped, grasping the vampire’s wrist as he felt his eyes bulging.

  “I see you people are obsessed with your little town, so I’m going to be crystal-clear, Drew.” He jerked the shifter close as his eyes turned completely black. “I don’t care about your seal, your town, or this world. I don’t care about Frederick or the vampires I created. You are all a means to an end. After a thousand years of toil, I am days away from finally returning home. I won’t let anyone stop me. Get in my way again and I will kill you all.” Loosening his grip, he wrenched the shifter’s head to the side.

  Drew managed to suck in a sharp breath before Darius struck. The vampire sank his fangs into his neck, tearing into his flesh with a painful rip that splintered through his entire body. Warm blood trickled over his chest and back, spilling onto the ochre dirt.

  Darius jerked back, his mouth and chin smeared red. “I won’t warn you again.” He shoved Drew to the ground.

  The shifter landed on his knees, his hand flying to his neck. His fingers slipped through his sticky blood and he hissed as his torn flesh stung.

  Joseph was right. Darius deserved everything that was coming to him and more.

  “Run dog,” the vampire snarled. “Run back to your pack and spread the word. Tell them how easy it was for me best you.”

  Drew stumbled to his feet, backing away into the shadows. He shifted, his bones snapping with every hasty step until he was a dingo again. His neck stung and blood clung to his fur, but he chased the first hints of dawn all the way back to Solace.

  Vera was dreaming about sun baking on a tropical beach—complete with white sands, clear blue water, and a hot police officer bringing her one of those fruity cocktails in a coconut shell—when loud banging startled her awake.

  She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then checked the time. Five forty-three a.m. Who in their right mind would bother a witch before the sun had fully risen? Outside of the solstices, there was no time for sunrise in her world.

  The banging continued as she slipped out of her comfy bed and pulled on her silky green dressing gown. Tying the belt around her waist, she hurried out of her bedroom and into the hall.

  “Okay, okay!” She pushed through the beaded curtain, making the strands clack furiously. “I’m coming! Calm your farm!” She stormed up the stairs. “This better be good,” she raged, wrenching the door open. “I was having the best dr—” The words died in her mouth when she saw Drew standing outside, his neck, shoulder, and chest covered in blood. “What happened?”

  “I got chomped on by Darius,” he said with a grimace.

  Vera almost swore as she grabbed his arm and dragged him inside. Slamming the door closed behind him, she said, “What on earth were you doing to get yourself bitten?”

  “Nothing!” Drew complained as they went into the kitchen. He pressed his palm over the bite. “Well, I was spying, but Kyne told me to. You were there, remember?”

  Vera sighed and sat him on one of the mismatched chairs at her little dining table and handed him a clean tea towel. “Take that and clean some of that blood off yourself.”

  Drew leaned over and turned on the tap in the sink, dampening the tea towel. He cursed and carried on as he dabbed it on his bite.

  Vera pulled ingredients out of the cupboards and picked sprigs of dried herbs out of the bunches hanging from the ceiling. Vampires didn’t have venom on their fangs, so it should just be a simple healing salve she needed. Salt, paw paw seeds, lemongrass, hop bush leaves…

  “Hardy could heal this in two seconds,” she said, dumping leaves and bark into her mortar. “Why didn’t you go see him?”

  “Because I reckon it’d trigger that Joseph bloke. I know when a guy is on edge. It’s a dingo thing.”

  “I’m sure it is.” She began mixing the ingredients, the pestle releasing a pungent earthy scent.

  “If I go marching over there with a vampire bite, it’ll be on for young and old,” Drew went on. “Kyne told us to lay low.”

  “Like you were?”

  “I was laying low.” He sighed. “At least, I thought I was. That guy is creepy. It’s like he was everywhere.”

  Vera didn’t say anything, focused on tipping some salt water into the salve to make it stickier. Once she was satisfied, she brought the whole mortar over to the table and scooped up the mixture with her fingers.

  “He was fishing,” Drew said, wincing as Vera slapped the salve on his neck. “Jesus Christ, what the hell is in that? It stinks.”

  “Shut up and take it like a man,” the witch told him.

  He grimaced, his brow creasing. “Darius said the same thing Joseph did. He wants to go back to his own world, and he doesn’t give two flying fruitcakes who and what he destroys along the way. We’re collateral damage.”

  “The whole bloody planet is going to be collateral damage,” Vera muttered. “For one lousy vampire.”

  “He knows about the seal, Vera.”

  She froze, her hand hovering by his neck. A dollop of salve plopped onto the floor and she blinked. “Of bloody course he does,” she drawled. “And what does the iron ore have to do with it?”

  “He wasn’t in the mood to play twenty questions,” the shifter retorted and pointed to his neck. “This was his last warning. Next time, it’ll be a bloodbath.”

  Vera said nothing, she just bent over and cleaned up the salve.

  “He said he knew what was under it,” he added.

  She stood and set down the mortar. “I don’t think it matters at this point.”

  “Matter or not, he said he was days away from getting what he needed for his stupid portal.”

  “Days?” The colour drained from Vera’s cheeks and she rubbed her sticky hands over her silky dressing gown. She’d better get a move on and rearrange her to-do list.

  “You’ve got a plan,” Drew said, straightening up. Some of the salve slipped away from his neck and fell onto his shoulder.

  Vera nodded. “If I can connect to the elements, maybe my magic can guide me to whatever he’s trying to dig out of that iron ore.”

  “Can you do that?”

  “I think so.” She slipped out of the kitchen and began fussing around in the living room, trying to figure out what she’d need for a spell of that magnitude. Crystals, iron, sage… Crap, Drew needed some bandages for his neck first. She did a U-turn and opened the cabinet under the television, taking out some cloth from her stash.

  “Then why haven’t you tried before?” Drew asked with a scowl.

  “Because it’s like a billion square kilometres of the stuff,” she snapped, waving the cloth at him. “It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack the size of the solar system. Now that they’re digging, maybe I can narrow it down.” They had days…days! “A spell like this is going to knock me out of play, Drew. I…” she looked at him, “I don’t know if I should.”

  “First, I recon you should calm down a little.”

  Vera took a deep breath and began to unwind the cloth. She fixed a small square over the bite and pressed Drew’s fingers on it to hold it in place.

  “The only thing I know, is that we need t
o stop Darius and free those EarthBore employees from his compulsion,” the shifter added.

  They knew what Darius wanted, but what did the iron ore have to do with it? It was the key to his plans, but why? How? Was it a natural amplifier? That much of it was an anomaly in itself, and considering it was this close to the seal, the two had to be linked. Maybe it was a back door of some sort… That was it!

  Darius needed the entity, but not locked behind a slab of magicked bluestone, but free.

  “All before he lets out the entity,” she murmured, tucking the end of the bandage into the last wrap. “Because that’s what he needs to do if he wants to go home.”

  Drew frowned. “How do you figure that?”

  “I’ve felt what kind of power lies under there. I tapped into it as the Nightshade,” she reminded him. “Its magic is dulled while it’s trapped, but free… There’d be more than enough to punch a gaping hole through space and time.” Whatever came next would be ten times bigger than the arcane tornado the Nightshade had conjured through her. “Darius doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who likes subtlety.”

  “We’ve got two vampires, two elementals, a werewolf, a shifter, and a fae,” Drew murmured. “That’s got to be enough to stand against a thousand-year-old wanker like Darius.”

  “Let’s hope so.” Turning on the tap, she rinsed of her hands. “C’mon. Let’s go find the others and tell them the bad news.”

  Chapter 18

  Eloise picked up the knife and fork and sawed a neat little triangle off the edge of her eggs and toast. The yolk was still runny, and she was careful to slice far enough away to stop it from bursting.

  Blue made one hell of a good hot breakfast.

  Kyne sat beside her with his own breakfast, eyeing her with a bemused smile. Wally sat to the side, with Blue opposite, and all of them were watching her.

  “What?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “Have I got something on my face?”