Fire Baptized (20 page)

Zulu’s focus went to Roxy as he said through clenched teeth. “You’re not going with her.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. I embraced him, resting my head on his heaving chest and hoping this wouldn’t be the last time. “Stop. I was going to go, regardless. Whether she had Ben or not.”

He clasped his hands around my waist. “You’re fucking crazy. Are you trying to commit suicide? She knows you can make fire. She’s prepared for you.”

“If you’re right and she grabs me, we have our bond. Maybe you can sense me or something.”

His lips formed into an angry line. His skin vibrated. Rage rushed through our bond. “You stay here. I grab Ben.”

“You’re not listening. We trade Ben for me.”

A knock on the glass sounded. I quickly turned toward it. Roxy held the phone to her ear. Her other hand sat on Ben’s shoulder. She must have called him over while I was talking to Zulu.

Ben waved at me, grinned, and pointed to his new game player.

I gave him a thumbs up and unmuted the phone. “You can have me if you give Ben to Zulu, but right now tell Ben to go back to the table.”

She motioned for him to go to his seat. He looked at me for some assurance.

I nodded in agreement, curling my lips up into a huge smile as if everything was completely normal.
Nothing wrong here, Ben. Just two people talking on the phone with a window between them.
He backed away, his eyes staying on me. Concern passed over them. He sensed something wasn’t right.

“Smile, Zulu,” I whispered.

Zulu groaned and flashed a pathetic grin at Ben. “I don’t like this shit, Lanore.”

I raised my hand to stop him. There was nothing else to discuss. Roxy and I would end this, but not until Ben and Zulu were somewhere safe.

Ben glanced at Zulu then me, and must have been reassured, because he went back to focusing on his game.

Once Ben sat down, Roxy’s eyes met mine.

Adrenaline charged through my veins.

“So, how are we going to do this?” I said into the phone.

“I want a blood promise that you won’t set me on fire,” Roxy demanded and winked.

I sucked my teeth. “I’ll only do the promise for the diner, outside is fair game.”

She waited a few seconds and shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll agree to that.”

She replied too quickly.
What does she have planned?

“I also want a blood promise,” I said. “That you’ll release Ben to Zulu, when I come to you.”

She pulled a pocket knife out, flipped it open, and cut her wrist. “I promise with my blood that I will give Ben to Zulu, as soon as Lanore holds my hand.”

Shocked, I scanned the customers and wondered if they’d noticed. Surely they had smelled her blood, but no one looked her way.

I put my arm in front of me and stared at Zulu. “Please give me something sharp to cut my arm. I’m going to make a blood promise.”

A black claw emerged from his index finger. “Lanore, will you listen to me for a minute?”

I shoved my arm against the claw before he could jerk it away. The tip pierced me. The wound stung. Blood seeped out of the gash, dripping down my arm and onto the pavement.

“I promise with my blood, to not set Roxy on fire while we are in the Owl diner,” I declared.

The blood twisted around my hand and arm, covering it like a glove. It squeezed my skin, spilled into my pores, and hardened under my flesh into a thick shell that constricted my movement.

I held the stiff arm to my waist as if I had a brace on it. My other arm with the cords still ached and throbbed as I headed to the front door.

“Lanore.” Zulu appeared in front of me before I could open the door. “You can’t just walk in there. We need a plan. Everything is happening too fast.”

“Just get Ben. I don’t know what her plan is, but it’s a public place—maybe I’m safe.” I scanned the area behind me. More people were parking and heading in our direction.

“Regardless, I’m done with the cat-and-mouse chase,” I said. “I can’t burn her in there, but outside of the diner is a different story. Take Ben and keep him safe.”

“You’re not going in there,” Zulu demanded. His hand clasped to my waist again as an Earth Witch couple strolled by and stepped into the diner.

Zulu pulled me to him. “We can get Ben without this bullshit.”

I kissed his cheek and whispered, “Move, so I don’t have to burn you.”

He remained there, tightening his grip. I directed fire to my waist. He jerked back as the flames singed his skin. I quickly slipped by him, swinging the door open.

A mechanical hoot sounded at the top of the door, announcing a customer was entering.

Before I could completely go through the doorway, Zulu grabbed my stiff arm. I screamed in pain, and threw a fireball with my other hand.

The blood promise responded since my foot was in the diner and I’d used fire. The blood reacted, compressing my arm into an inch within itself. My arm now appeared thinner than the other. My legs buckled under me at the horrific constriction. I hadn’t completely broken the promise, since I was only halfway inside the diner. The magic gave me a clear warning to not use fire again.

My arm expanded back to normal. I breathed in and out, trying to calm down. Beads of sweat dripped down my face. By now, several Purebloods had raced over to the commotion.

Zulu grabbed my free hand and tried to pick me up.

“No.” I pulled my hand away.

“For Shango’s sake, what is going on?” asked a Shifter with strawberry-colored curls crowning her face. She wore a brown waitress uniform. “You Mixbreeds are blocking the door and causing a disturbance!”

Roxy came to the door, beaming like she’d won a contest. She held Ben’s hand and guided him to Zulu.

“Wendy, she’s with me.” Roxy helped me up.

Something pricked my elbow. It was sharp and pierced my skin a little and then exited as quickly as it had entered. The area around the injury tingled and then numbed.

What’s that? Did Roxy stick me with something?
I gazed at Roxy, and she gave me a knowing grin.

Yes. I’m fucked.

“Well, Roxy, I don’t care if they’re your friends or not; they keep this up, and I’m calling the habbies,” Wendy proclaimed.

“Call them.” Zulu reached for my shoulder.

Roxy blocked him and hissed. My vision blurred. I shook my head, attempting to clear my mind. I put my hand in front of me and waved it, only seeing a distorted image of brown in front of me. I blinked a few times. My vision returned, but it wasn’t as clear as usual.

“What’s wrong with her?” Wendy asked.

“Nothing,” Roxy said.

“What the fuck did you give her?” Zulu rushed toward Roxy.

Three Shifter men materialized by us within seconds and gathered around the doorway. I stepped back, stunned by their quick movements, and lost my balance. Roxy caught me.

“You got a problem, Combo Trash?” One of the Shifters asked Zulu.

“There’s no problem.” I clutched my throat, trying to swallow. The air seemed thick. I searched for Ben and spotted him behind Zulu. His eyes opened wide, darting back and forth from Zulu and me.

“Just leave, baby,” I mumbled at Zulu. He had to get Ben out of here.

Zulu reached for me again.

Another Shifter blocked Zulu, stepped in front of me, and asked, “Roxy, what’s going on here? This Mixbreed bothering you?”

“Yes,” she insisted.

These were Roxy’s friends. They’d called her by her name. She also knew the waitress, but then, of course she did. The diner was across the street from Goldie’s. She’d probably frequented it after or before work.

Zulu and I would find no help here. He needed to leave with Ben while he could.

“She’s a murderer.” Zulu pointed to Roxy. “She killed five people this week.”

Wendy gasped as laughter filled the diner.

My vision became foggy again. I squinted my eyes and blinked them a few times. Three Zulus materialized in front of me. I grabbed for one and felt nothing.

“I told you they all do drugs,” a deep voiced man insisted. “Look at her—she’s high on something.”

“You need to leave,” Wendy said. At least I think it was Wendy. I closed my eyes, falling back into strong arms.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Zulu replied.

I closed my eyes. My head felt dizzy. I swayed.

“Back up,” a guy said.

Zulu roared.

Someone shouted. Glass broke. Wood cracked and banged. Maybe people were fighting, maybe not. I couldn’t tell as darkness surrounded me.

I forced myself to open my eyes, but I couldn’t. It was like sleep’s soothing hands had clasped my eyes shut.

“Just go, Zulu,” I whispered within the chaos as darkness swallowed me.

“Cold.” I opened my eyes and only saw pitch black. There was no light, just darkness.

Ice water surrounded my naked body and reached up to my nostrils. Except for my head, I was completely submerged. Rope tightened around my waist, ankles, and wrists, constricting my movement and keeping me in a slanted lying position. The binding pinned my hands down to the side. I could only move my shivering fingers. A jagged surface slid under my fingertips.

It was so dark.

I breathed in dense air, which made me think I was in a place that had limited oxygen. The scent of mold hung around me, giving me no clue to where I was trapped.

Someone coughed.

I moved my head toward the cough’s direction. Water splashed against my face and dripped into my eyes.

“Roxy?” I yelled as my body trembled. “Where am I? Hello?”

“You’re in a tub,” a woman said. She sounded barely a foot away from me.

Is she locked up with me or working with Roxy?
I held my face up so it would be dry enough to make fire.

“Who are you?” I asked. “And how long have I been down here?”

“My name’s Angel. Roxy locked you down here with me,” she responded. “I’m tied near you, but not in a tub.”

I processed the information as the events at the diner rushed back to me. “Why is it so dark in here?”

“I think we’re underground. The floor is all dirt.” Angel coughed. “The few times Roxy came down here, it was through a vent or something. She had a flashlight with her.”

Sadness and fear consumed me.
Is this it? The day I die?
My eyes closed as I sat there for a few seconds in silence.
Think, Lanore.

“What species are you, Angel?” I asked.

“Mixie.”

“Me, too.” I opened my eyes as my lips quivered from the freezing temperature.

It was smart of Roxy to keep me contained in water. How she figured out my simple weakness was beyond me. But what she didn’t know was that I could create fire through other parts of my body. She probably assumed I could only make fire with my hands.

I concentrated on directing fire out of my forehead. A few sparks appeared above me, but no flames or balls. Straining, I tried again. Nothing showed.

Giving myself time to rest, I asked, “What are you mixed with, Angel?”

“Don’t know. When I was a baby, I was found in a dumpster in Oshun District.”

Water spilled into my mouth, as I opened my mouth in shock. I spit it out and asked, “Can you do anything?”

“Not really.”

“Not really sounds like you have some power, but don’t think it’s important.”

She didn’t reply.

I wanted to scream,
Just tell me what you can do so we can work together and get out of here!
but I forced myself to relax. This was the only person in here with me. I needed her to cooperate.

I returned to making fire, this time guiding it out of my nose and forehead. Only sparks popped and cracked near my face.

“Are you doing that?” Angel’s voice sounded a little closer now, as if she moved toward the tub.

“Yes. It’s me.” I increased the heat in my body. I felt steam rise around me. Straining, I squeezed a tiny fireball smaller than a marble out of my forehead. My temples stung. The fire floated a few inches above me, placing an orange glow on my face. A glint of hope entered my heart. I mentally ordered the ball to expand and desperately hoped I could make more.

“Mother of Shango. How’d you do that?” Angel asked as the fire grew into the size of a baseball, illuminating the area around it.

“I can make fire.”

“No shit,” she said. “Can you make more?”

“Yes, but it’ll take me a while.”

I could see my surroundings as the fire rose. A dirt wall materialized in the light. I instructed the ball to go higher. A soiled ceiling appeared.

“It looks like a cave,” Angel mumbled.

“There aren’t any caves in Santeria. But we’re definitely in some sort of room encased with mud and dirt.” Searching my mind, I considered the various possibilities.

Roxy could have gotten an Earth Witch to make a massive jail, but I doubted it. It took a lot of money and time. She didn’t possess the money necessary to employ a high-powered Witch. She was the child of a serial killer and murdered mom. She’d probably grown up as a poor outcast.

Maybe she trapped us in a basement?
I gazed at the ceiling and walls again. No way. The room seemed literally like it was carved out of the earth.

“Angel, can you tell me what you see?” I directed the fire to circle the room. “I can’t move my head too much. I don’t want to get it wet.”

“Shovels. Lots of them. Pots. A big hole with a metal vent on it. I think that’s how Roxy gets in here—”

“Do the shovels look old?”

“They look like regular shovels,” Angel replied.

“But are they rusted and brown?”

“Yes.”

I sighed. “We’re probably in a burial tunnel.”

“It can’t be. They’re all cemented.”

“Not the tunnels that lead to nowhere,” I insisted.

The first year the habitat was established, a group of Shifters decided to create tunnels to freedom. It was a mass movement that spread throughout all species. Groups of Purebloods would shovel, dig, and cast spells to move the dirt. The plan had been to dig under the habitat’s border walls and then escape. But the Humans had considered that possibility. They’d planted sensors under the border. When the Purebloods dug under the walls, they tapped the sensors and triggered explosives. Hundreds died. The Humans refused to dig out the dead so that their families could bury them. The dead had remained, which was why most Supes called them burial tunnels.

“We have to get out here,” I muttered to myself. “Think about any power or anything you can do to help.”

“I don’t have any power.”

I tried to calm the temper that rose in me. She needed to figure out her power and soon. Even the average Mixie had increased speed or enhanced eyesight.

“Anything weird ever happen to you or around you?” I created another fireball. This time it poured out of my nose and singed my nostrils. I sniffed, sucking some of the ash into me.

“I’ve tried to do things when I was young, like control water or air. Never could do it,” Angel explained. “I tried shifting a few times, but nothing happened. I can touch every metal. Nothing hurts me.”

“We don’t have time to discuss what doesn’t work. Let’s talk about the things that do work.”

“Shit.” She blew out air. “Well, this Water Witch tried to get out of paying me for my um . . . services, so he did something with his hands in front of me. But nothing happened. So then he looked at me really weird and gave me the money.”

“Okay, so Witch magic has no effect on you?”

“Well that, and something else. Right after that happened, for the next couple of hours, water was coming out of my hands and arms. Like I really had to sweat. So I waved my hands and water splashed out of them.”

I froze in place, contemplated what that could mean. “So, you took his magic or you think he screwed up the spell? When did the water stop coming out?”

“A day later.”

“Has anything else like that ever happened? Like with another Supe?” I formed another fireball from my nose, expanded it, and commanded the fire to float above me.

The room became bright. I risked leaning my head to the side to get a view of the tub. It wasn’t metal. It was wood and appeared uneven, like someone had quickly nailed several boards together without measuring them. Good. Maybe I could burn the wood, or at least wear it down enough to make a hole.

“Nothing else ever happened. Usually I get hit. No other guy did a spell on me till then,” Angel said. “This fire is amazing.”

“Thanks.” I turned my face and noticed the water waving back and forth.

A little bit spilled over the edges.
Yes!
Maybe I could get some of this water out of here. Experimenting with that idea, I frantically shook my head. The water splashed out the tub, lowering the level to an inch under my neck. I did it again. More water splattered out.

“Lanore?” Angel interrupted my rapid head shaking. “Can you make other things besides fire? Or control other stuff?”

“No—just fire.” I made several more fire marbles, at least twenty. They shot out of my forehead and nose. Snot dripped from my nostrils, clogging my nose. I rested and breathed out of my mouth.

Okay. Now it was time to damage this wood and get out of this tub.

At my command, the fire marbles traveled to the tub’s edges. They touched the wood, blazed into a steady flame for several seconds, and then smoldered into smoke as they hit the water. I surveyed the damage. Ragged burnt cracks now decorated the rims. Water leaked out at a lazy pace.

I couldn’t get out of the tub, but at least the level was at the top of my chest. I could move my head without getting it wet.

Two fireballs remained, floating above me.

I turned my head toward Angel. “Don’t be afraid. I’m going to send fire your way, so I can see you better.”

“Okay.” She coughed.

I delivered the order to one of the balls.

When the fire hovered above her, Angel’s pale face and large blue eyes stared back at me. Her cracked lips formed into a weak smile as she shook. Her blonde hair was short and stopped right under her chin. Strands stuck to her X brand. Thick rope wrapped around Angel’s naked body and bound her wrists and ankles together.

“Hold up your hands, so I can burn the rope,” I said. “I may burn you, but—”

“I don’t give a damn.” She quickly raised her wrists in front of her, showing me the rope.

“Maybe if you close your eyes then—”

“No way. I never look away. I’m a watch-the-doctor-put-the-needle-in-my-arm type of person. I have to know where the pain is going to be.” She balled up her fingers into fists.

With fire around heating the air, an instant blaze emerged from the rope.

I told it to burn away the rope, but it disregarded my orders. Worry rushed through me. I felt my control of the flames easily slip away from me for the first time in my life.

They spread up her arms, snatching at her flesh. She jerked back and screamed.

“No!” I quickly tried to put out the fire, straining my mind to regain my hold on it.

The flames ignored my command and remained on her, dancing on her skin.

I strained again, putting all of my energy into the next order, and then halted. Because in that moment, I realized that she’d stopped screaming and her arms hadn’t burned.

“It doesn’t hurt,” she whispered, staring at the fire. The flames crept to her waist. She remained still and hypnotized.

The rope burned away. She stretched and twisted her hands, shaking her head in disbelief as the flames remained skipping around her skin. “It feels like a massage or a caress, almost—”

“Soothing,” I finished.

“Yes.”

“You can absorb powers,” I said completely shocked and overjoyed. If she could take control of my fire, then it would be two fire starters against Roxy.

We just might have a fighting chance.

She placed the flames on all the ropes until her whole body resembled a bonfire. Crackling noises rose around her like a sweet melody of freedom.

We might get out of here.

Angel let out a loud sigh of relief, raising her arms above her and pushing out her legs. Orange flames bounced around her, illuminating the whole burial tunnel.

Now that she was free, I mentally doused the flames from her body.

“Okay.” She got on all fours, crawled to me, and splashed water out of the tub. “I’m too weak to turn this tub over.”

“If you can just get most of the water out, then I could burn the ropes.”

After several minutes of her shoving waves of water over the tub’s edges, she stopped. Her breathing was hoarse. Her chest rapidly rose and fell.

“This is going to take forever.” She exhaled. Fire flew out of her mouth.

My body stiffened. “Motherpounder.”

She arched her eyebrows and widened her eyes. “How did I do that?”

“Let’s figure that out later,” I said. “Just focus your mind on your hands and see if you can make a fireball.”

She stared at her hands. Hundreds of flamed balls shot out of her palms, slamming into me and the tub, bounced off the dirt walls, and set the whole tunnel on fire. She’d made an inferno within seconds.

The tub’s wood cracked and bent as the fire consumed it. Water spilled and then rushed out into steam. Once the water left, my entire body was ablaze, freeing me from my ropes. I jumped up, putting out all of the fire. Smoldering smoke filled the burial tunnel and escaped through the vent I noticed a few feet ahead of me.