Amethyst Flame (The Flame Series Book 2) (2 page)

Another burst of laughter came on the heels of the arrival of yet another Border Patrol vehicle. His survival instincts kicked in. “We should leave, Em. Right now. I can fly us straight out of here. Someone else can pick up your bike and my SUV later.”

He held out his arm to her and gestured to his foot. He’d flown her before, so she knew the drill. All she had to do was hop on and he’d have them out of danger within seconds.

She glanced at his boot but shook her head. “I can’t go. Not yet.”

“Why? We both know this is a set-up, and isn’t it bad enough Loghry got these girls? So, how about we get the hell out of here?”

“Vaughn, you know what this is like for me. It’s the way my
alter
power manifests. I have to tend to the girls. Their spirits are calling to me.” She started down the side of the ditch.

Vaughn’s heartrate kicked up a notch. “Emma, don’t do this. We’ve gotta go now.”

“The girls need me and it’s the least I can do after what they’ve been through.”

Vaughn didn’t try to argue with her and instead began his own descent. He might not want her to stay, but like hell he was leaving her alone in No Man’s Land.

~ ~ ~

Emma Delacey, Tribunal Public Safety officer, understood Vaughn’s concern. She felt it as well, that she was heading into a trap.

She’d been the first to arrive at the triple homicide in the Graveyard, a part of Five Bridges she’d only been to a handful of times.

Her corrupt boss, Tribunal Chief Donaldson, had ordered her to head out here or resign. She wasn’t a quitter, though the sweat on his forehead had told her she was in trouble the minute he’d come into her office. The three major cartels of Five Bridges owned one of Donaldson’s testicles. The dark spellcasters of Elegance territory held the other in a crushing grip. She wasn’t even sure she blamed Donaldson anymore. If you were high up in the administration and didn’t play ball, you got killed.

She picked her way carefully down the side of the ditch, avoiding chunks of blown-up cement, cactus and a helluvalot of rocks.

Her
alter
witch senses told her the girls had died within the past two hours. She also knew because of her unique gift that the ghosts were struggling to leave their bodies.

She didn’t know why her witchness leaned toward the deceased. But it had from the time she’d gotten stuck with the spellcaster gene and sentenced to live out her life in Five Bridges. She’d been here seven years and had strived to remain as human as possible by repressing her gifts.

Yet, the sight of the teens below made her wish she’d taken a different course. If she’d spent her nights developing her abilities, instead of ignoring them, maybe she’d be able to take Loghry on. But he was one of the most powerful spellcasters in Elegance and she was an infant by comparison.

Anger bloomed in her chest suddenly as she stared down at the young women. They would never breathe again, never fall in love and marry, never bear children. And all because of a psychopathic wizard who ran a vile sex racket that exploited teens.

Everyone knew who Loghry was, as well as the extent of his operation in Elegance. He didn’t go out in public often, being one of the rare monsters who lived a secluded life. She’d only seen him once herself a year ago. It had been July in the desert and despite the intense summer heat, he’d worn a black scarf around his neck, no doubt to hide the violet markings on his throat. An addiction to any of the flame drugs created a skin discoloration in the shape of flames, especially on the neck, sometimes rising onto the face.

When the pull of the girls’ struggle became an ache in Emma’s chest, she came to a decision. She would embrace what she’d avoided for so long. Simple witch spells or standard police work weren’t effective against Loghry and his kind. She needed power, the kind that came from being a fully engaged
alter
witch. From this moment forward, she meant to acquire as much power as she could.

She turned to Vaughn, who had made his way into the ditch as well and stood beside her once more. “Loghry is not going to win this time. I won’t let him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m not going to hold back anymore. I’m going to access who I am in this shitfest of a world. I should have done it years ago. Maybe if I had, these young women would still be alive.”

“Em, please don’t. You’re talking about a level of power the dark witches employ. I’ve felt how much potential you have. Besides, I know what this means to you. I know how hard you’ve tried to hold onto your humanity.”

Emma’s heart heated up as she stared back at Vaughn. Was it possible he felt more for her than she thought? They’d had an amazing round of sex in his townhouse, but they’d also agreed not to repeat anything like it again.

Then, of course, he’d called her and they’d fallen into conversation like they’d always known each other. She’d come to cherish their time on the phone like a lifeline she’d grabbed in high seas. “Thanks for saying as much. It means a lot. All this time, I’ve held back developing my gifts for selfish reasons. I’ve been trying to hold onto something that doesn’t exist anymore, that hasn’t existed from the time I was slipped the
alter
witch serum. And I owe it to these girls to make a change.

“If I can become a force that will bring Loghry down, then I don’t care about anything else. Not after tonight. I’m done trying to use a rolled up newspaper to battle a hurricane.”

From the rim of the ditch above, one of the officers made a crack about ‘bloodsuckers’, the slur aimed at Vaughn.

She glanced up, surprised to see seven officers now, standing side-by-side and watching them. “Bastards. All those men are on the take.”

“Just ignore them.” He sounded angry.

She met his gaze once more. “I’m going to fight Loghry on his own terms. There’s no other way to do this. So, please don’t interfere.”

“And there’s nothing I can say?”

“I’m afraid not.”

For a moment, though, time slowed as she looked at Vaughn. She’d wanted to see him again so badly after she’d been with him the night of the rescue.

He was an incredibly handsome man, rugged looking with his thick black hair cropped close on the sides and tattoos showing through on his skin. He had straight black brows, drawn tight together in concern and gray eyes that melted her into a puddle. His cheeks were strong and angled to a firm jaw. His lips were full and sensual and had stolen her last reservation when he’d kissed her outside the bar.

Having sex with him had been an incredible, healing experience.

Yet now she was here.

She gave herself a mental shake and turned back to the girls. She didn’t wait for Vaughn to say anything else. Instead, she extended her arms slightly and held her hands palms up.

As she’d never done before, she opened herself up to her spellcaster power. She focused her energy and thoughts on the core of her being, on all that she was as an
alter
witch.

A sensation like electricity whipped through her, awakening her latent abilities. To her surprise, she found the seat of her power with no trouble at all. And contrary to all expectation, everything about the moment felt sacred and good, not corrupt like she’d feared.

After that, two things happened simultaneously. Odd snapshots started floating though her mind, images of the Graveyard, the ditch, the dead girls and Vaughn. She knew she was looking at pieces of the immediate future. Because the pictures held a serious warning, they were an equal pull on her attention. But the girls needed her help desperately. If they were unable to leave their bodies, they could get stuck forever right here in the Graveyard.

She turned her attention to them and directed her whirling witch energy toward the triplets. Power flowed and swirled above the girls until she could feel each one, their fears and sadness, even their confusion. Mentally, she began to coax them to let go of their time on earth and to leave their bodies. It wasn’t long before the air in the ditch began to shimmer and shortly afterward the ghosts rose into the air.

They appeared dazed at first. They looked at one another then Emma and finally at Vaughn. Each tried to talk, but couldn’t.

Emma stood amazed by how they appeared. She’d seen ghosts before, but only as fleeting wisps of smoky air.

Not this time. Each was fully formed as though possessing a body, yet not quite a body. It almost seemed as though the girls were working on taking shape. She wondered if Vaughn could see them, but one glance told her he didn’t.

They seemed to be communicating with each other and a moment later bits of clothing appeared, though more like smoke than real fabric. Colors as well. The center girl, who had the strongest personality, now wore a red tank top, blue jeans and running shoes. The one to the right donned red shorts, a dark blue crop top and navy sandals with flowers at the top of the t-strap. While the third wore a red plaid short dress, dark stockings and black Mary-Jane shoes. The girls seemed to like red.

They were lovely, each with long, curly, light brown hair and large, blue eyes.

The blue-jeans ghost drew close to Emma, then addressed her telepathically.
You saved us once. I remember now. You, and this man, took us home the night we were abducted the first time.

The ghostly voice in Emma’s head made her feel dizzy, but she responded immediately.
We did. It was the finest night of my life since becoming an
alter
witch.

Oh, you’re a witch.
She shifted to look at Vaughn.
But this man can’t see me, can he?

I don’t think so. And in case you’re wondering, Officer Vaughn is a vampire.

The ghost swept backward, rejoining her sisters. But she continued to talk with Emma.
There was a lot of pain from what that madman was doing to us and he ordered vampires to take our blood. I think maybe the vampires were the ones who killed us. I remember getting weaker and weaker. And now we’re here.

By the pallor of their skin, Emma knew she was right. Once more, a terrible grief assailed her that these young women had been robbed of their lives. Yet, it cemented her determination to do what she could to prevent Loghry from continuing his abduction of innocent teens.

The girls, almost as one, shifted their attention upward to the ditch ridge. Emma started to turn to see what they were looking at, but suddenly the three spirits flew around both her and Vaughn. They cried out in loud voices, almost wailing.

The one with the blue jeans got in front of Emma and tried to speak, but no words formed. She seemed really distressed.

Emma attempted to make telepathic contact with her, but only static returned.

The wailing grew louder until Emma finally had to cover her ears. She didn’t understand what was wrong.

~ ~ ~

Vaughn had never felt so much power emanate from Emma before as though she’d opened the floodgates. Maybe she had. He had an impression of the three ghosts but nothing more than that, though a bad feeling crawled through him like a snake. Something wasn’t right.

Emma was bent over as if in pain, her hands held to her ears.

He felt a strange sensation on his face, like soft fingers dragging over his skin. Had to be the ghosts attempting to communicate with him. The message felt like a warning.

He turned to glance back up at the top of the ditch, wondering if the Elegance officers intended to fire on them. “Shit.” There were no longer seven but at least twelve Elegance witches and warlocks staring down at him, all members of the territory’s Border Patrol.

The fingers on his face moved swiftly now and his instincts vibrated heavily, sending warning after warning through his mind.

A second passed.

Then another.

But the moment he watched all those Border Patrol hands move in the direction of their firearms, he reacted swiftly. He didn’t have time to warn Emma. Instead, he grabbed her around the waist and as fast as he could, he hauled her straight up into the night sky.

The firing began at almost the same time.

He whipped through the air and kept flying. He didn’t shift course either, just headed higher and higher out of the line of what became a barrage of pistol fire.

He only slowed down when he couldn’t hear a single distant pop.

Hovering in the air, he reached for Emma telepathically.
Emma! Are you okay? Are you hit?

I don’t know. I don’t think so. But I can hardly breathe. I think you might be holding me too tight.

Sorry.
He released his death grip on her waist, though he still kept her pressed firmly against him. He doubted she could levitate. Some of the more powerful witches and warlocks could. But until tonight, Emma had kept the brakes on her power, so she probably couldn’t.

“We’re pretty high up, aren’t we?”

He cleared his mind and became aware she was shaking head to foot. She’d only flown one time before with him, but that had been two months ago.

Still holding her in a firm clasp, he told her to plant her feet on his right boot. He eased her down a little until she connected. When she did, he felt her relax right away.

“That helps so much.” As she slid an arm around his neck, she glanced around. “How high would you say we are?”

“About half a mile.”

“Oh, my God. But what happened? What was that back there and how did you think to move us so fast?”

Vaughn told her the exact sequence. “When you were doubled over, I felt fingers on my face. It was the girls, right?”

“Yes, they’d just left their bodies. They were flying around us, shrieking so loud I could hardly stand it. Didn’t you hear them?”

“No, but I could sense a warning in their touch. That’s when I gabbed you.”

“The gunfire was deafening. I take it all seven officers were firing.”

“Not seven. There were at least twelve.”

Emma groaned. “Then Loghry really wanted us dead.”

“No question. It also means he won’t quit until we are.”

Adrenaline had his nerves on edge. He needed to take her somewhere, but if Loghry was after them, where could they go to be safe?