Fire Baptized (22 page)

A fire truck’s siren blared from outside.

A camera crew and news reporter stood in front of Detective Rivera as he held a microphone in front of him.

“I’ve been investigating these murders on my off time,” Rivera said, slicking his hair back and smiling as two photographers took a picture, and then directed his attention back to the video camera. “I just can’t stand by while Supernaturals are killed.”

“Why are we just learning about all of these murders now?” the reporter asked. “It seems to me that the entire habitat should have been put on alert.”

“I had to be sure that the murders were related. I didn’t want everybody alarmed for nothing.” Rivera flashed a grin as another photographer came to his right.

We maneuvered through the crowd, escaping out of the front door. A large team of Fire Witches raced into the diner.

“When you passed out in Roxy’s arms, I called Nona and MeShack.” Zulu took us to a white van. “We surrounded the diner with a hundred Rebels. People thought it was a protest and called the habbies. The news came out.”

He slid the van door open and motioned for MeShack to enter. “We’ve been out here for several hours, all last night and this morning. I stood at that window watching Roxy. She remained in the diner, eating and talking. She even napped at the back table. I had no idea where you were. Then smoke filled the diner.”

“Angel and I had set a serious fire down there,” I said as MeShack lay me down in the van and immediately sat next to me. He shifted into cheetah form so quickly, I’d barely comprehended the action as clothes exploded around me.

His cheetah stalked around me, making the van’s weight shift and lean from side to side.

“Nona, drive. I’m riding in the back with them.” Zulu climbed inside. “I don’t trust this cheetah.”

“He won’t hurt me,” I said as MeShack snatched my shirt with his fangs and ripped it away. “He’s just checking to see if I’m injured.”

MeShack sniffed around my back and whimpered.

“Sounds like you are.” Zulu sat a few feet in front of me.

The driver’s door slammed shut. Nona started the car. The hum of the van’s engine made the metal floor vibrate.

I looked up at Zulu.

“Don’t you ever do that shit again,” he said. “You just give yourself up. I thought I’d lost you.”

“You didn’t,” I whispered.

MeShack nuzzled the back of my head and then licked the area where Roxy had pierced my skin. It didn’t hurt each time his wet velvet tongue touched my back, but it did feel weird.

“No licking.” I edged away, and the cheetah snarled. I sighed. “Fine. Just a little.”

“You killed Roxy?” Zulu asked and then focused on MeShack.

I closed my eyes, enjoying the way the van rocked back and forth as Nona sped over speed bumps. “Angel did. She’s the vessel.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.” I smiled as MeShack’s tongue lathered my back with saliva. “Roxy is dead. That’s what’s important.”

Epilogue

I woke up in my candlelit bedroom at The Inked Guerilla with Zulu standing in front of me, very naked.

Ben lay sound asleep, facing me with his leg draped over my hips. I smiled and wished I’d gotten to greet him when they’d brought me home. I must have passed out in the van.

I glanced over my shoulder.

MeShack snored behind me in cheetah form. His furry body rocked with each gut-crushing noise. Ten Pixies slept scattered all over his body, lounging in his warm coat and completely unfazed by the sounds.

Satisfied that he was sound asleep, I returned my attention to the nude Zulu.

“Can I help you?” I grinned.

“Did I wake you?”

I shook my head no, watching the candlelit shadows dance across his muscular chest. “Are you joining us in the bed? I ask, because it may be a bit awkward with you having no clothes on, and Ben and MeShack also sleeping here.”

He bent down and moved Ben’s leg off my hip. “No. I’m taking you away for an hour or so. After you fell asleep in the van, the cheetah bit anybody that came near you, except for Ben, of course.”

I slowly sat up and realized someone had dressed me in my favorite nightgown; a simple lavender shirt that fell to my knees.

Zulu put his hands under my arms and picked me up like I was a doll.

“I can’t do that again,” he whispered in my ear and embraced me. “The waiting in ignorance. The not knowing if you’re dead or alive.”

“It won’t happen again.” I straddled his waist as he carried me out of the bedroom and closed the door behind me.

The ceiling lights bathed the hallway in a white luminous glow. I adjusted to the brightness, glanced at Zulu, and noticed his eyes were pitch black.

His despair traveled through our bond and suffocated me. I dug my nails into his shoulders and forced myself to inhale and exhale. “Zulu, I’m okay. Why are you so sad?”

I leaned back as he stiffened under my arms.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s deal with it tomorrow.” He pressed a button on the wall near my closed door. A wide hole materialized in the ceiling, pushing the lights to the side. “Let’s just enjoy tonight.”

“No.” I climbed out of his arms as the cords lifted from his flesh. “I want you to tell me now. And where are we going? Why are you shifting?”

His skin darkened to black. His black leathery wings expanded from his back.

“I want to hold you just for a few seconds, before the cat wakes up and hovers over you.” His hands went to my waist. And before I could protest, we rose toward the sky. His wings flapped, increasing our speed and making snapping sounds.

A cool wind rushed by us. The city below me blurred together in solid colors of orange, blue, green, and black. I tightened my grip on him, biting my lip as he made sharp turns around buildings.

“Fuck!” My stomach twisted and I quickly stared into those dark blue eyes to calm myself. The moonlight hit his black skin, giving him a shiny, polished look. The strong scent of sandalwood radiated off him.

“Keeping secrets is not a great way to start a relationship,” I insisted. “And could you slow down?”

“I’ll tell you the secret tomorrow. It doesn’t have anything to do with us.” His black lips curled at the edges. “We’re in a relationship now?”

“Kind of.”

Some of his despair lifted inside of me, but it didn’t relax me. I needed to know what would cause him so much pain. If he’d been a little sad, I probably wouldn’t have worried. But this feeling that traveled through our bond was dark and sorrowful.

It moved through me like a murky sludge clogging up my senses. Something was tormenting him, and I needed to know what it was.

“Hold on. This may be a bumpy landing,” he whispered and spread his wings. We glided in the air in a downward motion. I closed my eyes, counting backward so that I could focus on anything else besides crashing into something.

I bounced in his arm as his feet hit the ground.

“Don’t scream,” he said.

What?
I opened my eyes to see what he was talking about, and screamed. We were on the boundary wall. He covered my mouth. I bit his hand.

“Are you insane?” I yelled.

“If the wall had an effect on you, you would already be in pain,” he insisted.

He had a point, but I was still anxious.

“Just trust me, Lanore.”

Fear gripped me. My heart pounded in my ears.

Shivering, I lowered myself onto the wall. My bare feet touched the ragged surface, and nothing happened.

I stared at my feet.
No electrocution?

School had taught us that if you made it to the border’s top, you’d be electrocuted or have a painful allergic reaction that could lead to death.

“I told you. Mixies can touch the top of the wall and the ceiling bars with no problem.” Zulu placed his hands on my waist. “Why don’t you take a look at what’s beyond the wall. I won’t let you go.”

He braced me as I turned and faced the beginning of the barred ceiling.

My nerves flared on edge.
What will I see?

I peered through the bars in front of me and gasped.

A stream of red lasers surrounded the outside of Santeria. Beyond that, rows of black metaled tanks and massive green guns with blue tips pointed toward the habitat. No Humans were around, but I saw several buildings half a mile back with lit windows and parked cars.

“For some reason, I figured the army base would be bigger,” I whispered in pure amazement at the sight.

“No one has ever escaped Santeria. Why would they need to worry?” He raised his arms around me and touched the gate.

I noticed his hands were no longer black, but creamy white. “I can’t believe you can touch the bars.”

I gazed back through the bars.

Miles past the army base, a massive city loomed in the distance. Pillars of bright, gleaming lights shimmered. Triangular-shaped buildings pierced the sky. Tiny circular cars floated along a spiraling blue highway that glowed within the night and rose high above the buildings and beyond the clouds.

The space was infinite. Thousands of houses rested around the city. And the land didn’t stop; it continued far outside my ability to see.

The whole view overwhelmed me. I leaned back on Zulu, trying to take it all in.

“I wanted you to see our future.” Zulu brushed my hair onto one shoulder, exposing my ear and kissing it. “I don’t know how yet, but I’m going to get us all out. Our kids won’t know the habitat’s poverty and strife. They won’t be limited by walls or Purebloods.”

“Our kids?”

“I’m not that bold to suggest you’ll have my children.” He nipped at the tip of my ear. “I meant the next generation of Mixies.”

I touched the bars with my fingertips and jerked back. Nothing happened. He grabbed my hand and placed it firmly on the bars. Cold metal touched my skin, but none of the consequences that I’d been warned about all of my life occurred.

“The Humans pushed lies and propaganda in our schools,” I said. “Talking about the dangers of the walls and ceiling. Instantaneous deaths, allergic reactions, but—”

“No, Lanore. They weren’t lying. The bars and wall do harm the Purebloods.” He gently turned me around to face him. “I had brought Ray and Nona here to test it out. They couldn’t survive ten feet near the top of the wall without lesions forming in their skin. Ray had to stay in the hospital for a week.”

“So then, just Mixies are immune?”

“As far as I know. But I’ve only tried you and me.”

I sighed, leaned back on the bars, and directed my attention to Zulu’s eyes. They were still solid black. I placed my arms on his shoulders. My fingers twirled his silky dreadlocks between my fingers.

“What happened today to make you so sad and bring me here?” I asked. “And if you avoid the damn question again, I’m going to do something. I don’t know what, since we’re several feet in the air, but it won’t be good.”

He leaned forward to kiss me.

I moved out of his way.

He growled, and I rolled my eyes, staring at him.

Several seconds passed.

“Shit.” He raked his fingers through his locks. “Dante met the blood promise’s guidelines. He released the Vamp-owned Mixies and voided their contracts.”

I raised my eyebrows, cursing myself for forgetting about Dante’s promise. Too much had happened in these past days.

“So, where are the former Vamp-owned Mixies?” I asked.

“He released them into an airtight container and locked them in.”

My mouth dropped open.

“He delivered them to my condo tonight.” Zulu looked away from me. “They’d been dead in the container for at least a day.”

A tear fell from the corner of his eye. I wiped it away and pulled him to me.

“I fucked up, Lanore.”

“You can’t blame yourself.” I shook my head. “Dante’s over two hundred years old. He’s been playing this game longer than any of us. We just have to sit down and think of—”

“There’s nothing to discuss. He killed innocent people. I want to rip him apart inch by inch.”

I leaned my head back on the bars. The burden of
MFE
’s future weighed me down. If Zulu and the Rebels attacked Dante, it would be a war between the Mixies and Vamps. Other species may enter the fight. Mixies that had nothing to do with this would die.

Zulu had to think through his anguish and focus.

“Okay. I want an official role in
MFE
,” I demanded.

He looked into my eyes. A stream of his relief entered me. “You want to be my second-in-command?”

“No. I want to be your equal,” I insisted. “And I want a promise that we don’t make any major moves unless we both agree.”

He gazed at me for a few seconds and then muttered, “Okay.”

“No moves against the Bottelli family, until we’ve sat down and strategized.”

“He killed almost fifty—”

“No, Zulu. You do anything, and it’ll start a war.” I placed my hands on the sides of his face. “We can’t just immediately react. I guarantee you, Dante’s prepared, waiting for us. Let’s sit down tomorrow and figure out our next move.”

“I can live with that as long as we figure something out that will cause him and the ones he loves lots of pain.” His eyes slowly transformed to dark blue.

“I can’t promise all of that. We need to plan something that’s going to catch him off guard. It may take weeks.” I bit my lip. “And I have a long list of things to complete at the beginning of this week. Ben needs to know about his mother. Plus, I have to go to the Palero—”

“No. That thing works for Dante.”

“It has to be done, but you can come with me.”

“Me and several Rebels.”

I gazed at the moon hanging over the habitat’s ceiling. A breeze blew past me, chilling my skin.

“It doesn’t really matter how many Supes we take,” I said. “The Palero’s powerful and I’m just going to deliver a message.”

“I’m going with you. And I don’t care how powerful it is—anything can die.”

I nodded and directed my attention to him.

“I should probably make this clear now.” He put his forehead on mine and whispered. “There won’t be any exit paths out of
MFE
or from me.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit intense?” I gave him a weak smile, hoping he was joking.

“After this crap with Roxy, I vowed that I wouldn’t lose you again.” He slid his hands down my hips to the edge of my nightgown. “I’ll get a Fairy to remove the cords and my claim, but I won’t let you go.”

He pressed his soft lips against mine. His wet tongue slipped between them, exploring my mouth. I moaned, sucking on it. Pleasure sparked within my core.

He pulled back. His hands lifted my gown and caressed my thighs.

“And I don’t share.” His hands traveled to my panties and ripped them away. “I’m going to sit down with MeShack and have a discussion.”

“Wait a minute.” I swallowed as he cupped my behind. “Zulu, we’re just dating and I won’t be bullied. My position in
MFE
will—”

“I love you.” He kissed me.

“But, Zulu,” I whispered and stopped as his hand went between my legs. Desire burned and flickered inside of me like a lit bomb right before the explosion.

“I’m done being patient and waiting for you to come to the realization that you’re mine.” His fingers entered me, and I gasped, wanting him to do more. “I’m willing to fight for us.”

He lifted me up, and I straddled his waist.

“And do I have any say in the matter?” I asked as he left a trail of kisses on my neck.

“No.” He tore off my gown, exposing my breast. “On this, I won’t budge.”

He devoured my nipples.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my body into his as the barred ceiling and the walls fell down around me.

The Supernatural cage was no longer there. The violence and oppression disappeared.