Wildfire Gospel (Habitat) (3 page)

“I’m going to kill you.” The air heated. “It won’t be now, but it will be soon.”

First I have to get Zulu and then figure out how to get Angel, him, and I out of here.

Dante went quiet as I glared at him.

Angel placed her hand on the center of my back.
“Lanore, we can’t leave without his help. That is the way of the path.”

I sucked my teeth. “Where’s Zulu and how did he get down here in the first place?”

Dante pointed to my cords. “He must’ve used his claim on your arms to trace you. The entrance to our compound is a secret to all but Bottelli Family members. Getting in the portal entrance is even more difficult, at least five of my people guard that area. He entered within minutes, destroying the doors with his claws and crawling on the ceiling. The fact that he could step through the Bottelli portal represents another problem. One I’ll have to work on later. At any rate I assume it is him. He screams your name over and over like a homicidal lunatic and has black skin and wings.”

Zulu roared once more. The ear-splitting noise ripped through the air. The ceiling lights blurred in and out before staying on completely. Goosebumps rose on my skin. I’d never heard him sound this bad. With the raincoat still on, I quickly slipped into my jeans and put my back to Dante and the guards. “For Shango’s sake, where is he now?”

“In the compound workers’ dining area terrorizing everyone. Only Ambi knows how many people he’s killed by now. They’re not even strong Vampires. These are the ones that manage the diggers.”

Diggers?

“I need you to get control of him.” An edge laced Dante’s voice.

“Control Zulu?” Keeping my back to Dante, I laughed, took off the raincoat, and slipped on the white shirt with Bottelli written on the front in red letters. “No one manages Zulu, but him.”

“I doubt that. We sent some of my people in with fairy glamour that made them look like you. Each time he stopped killing for a few seconds.”

I twisted around with my shirt fully on. “That was stupid.”

“I had no other choice.”

“What happened to the fake Lanores you sent in there?”

“Let’s go.” Dante avoided the question and stormed off. His men trailed behind. “We don’t have time for this.”

“What happened?” I called after him.

Angel got on my side. “Zulu ripped out their hearts. Somehow he realized they were not you and shredded their bodies into strips of flesh.”

Strips of flesh?

I paused in the middle of the hallway. “So Dante basically wants me to go into a room with a pissed off Zulu who’s already been tricked by people pretending to be me … How many times has someone gone in resembling me?”

“Ten,” Angel said.

“And he killed them all?”

“Yes.”

Great. There is no way I’m going in there while Zulu is enraged.

“Eleven isn’t a lucky number.” I placed my hands on my hips.

“It’s better than ten.” Angel winked at me. It seemed awkward with her new look. “Just ask the tenth person that went in. If he can still talk.”

“I’m not going in there until he’s calmed down.”

Dante spun around. “We don’t have time for him to calm down. He’s killing my people and destroying the area. With my factory’s bombing, I can’t take another hit. There are other families down here and even more powerful leaders. If he keeps the roaring up, he’s going to get their attention. And then we’re all dead.”

“News flash, fire kills Vampires. I’m not worried.”

Dante’s fangs revealed themselves. “Then we have Mother Earth and whoever else set us up to fight each other, still out there somewhere lurking in the shadows of Santeria. And to add to the pot, all of the pureblood councils are in an uproar over our destruction of the Masquerade Ball.”

“Correction.” I gestured to him. “Your destruction of the ball.”

“They’re saying it’s both of us, Bottelli Family and MFE to be exact.”

Vampires destroyed a party. Of course let’s just blame a bunch of Mixbreeds too.

Dante continued. “We’re supposed to meet with the councils soon—”

“Fuck them.”

“Do you know any other English words besides curses?”

“Fuck you too.” I considered what Zulu used to always say. “I don’t obey any council.”

“Me either, until they’re all coming for me at once. Then I dance and do whatever else they ask.” Dante combed his fingers through his hair. “And they will be coming after us. Those Witches spent a year planning that event. You ignore them and you’ll be looking over your back for unexpected spells until they forget. And Witches
never
forget.”

Well. At least we agreed on one thing.

Witches kept grudges for centuries. They also hated Vamps. They shunned them whenever possible—blocking them from business contracts, resources, and events. The hatred went as far back as the Supe-Human wars. All the Purebloods believed that supes would’ve won the wars if the Vamps had joined the fight.

After the government discovered the existence of supes and captured them, Witches united with Shifters and attacked Washington, DC, starting the Supe-Human wars. It resulted in five years of death and destruction that spread from America to all regions of the world. Governments everywhere combined their militaries together in fear, striking against any being with an ounce of paranormal power. Fairies and Trolls joined the wars.

What did the Vampires do?

They fled to third world countries for refuge, only to be captured later.

“Yeah.” I dug my hands into my jeans. “Witches have never gotten over you Vamps betraying all supes.”

“We didn’t betray anyone. We just used our common sense. I’ve been alive for decades. Humans always win. They have the resources. For every one supernatural there are ten humans.”

The only humans I knew were habitat police, but I didn’t bicker further with Dante. History supported his argument. The first year of the wars, the supes won many battles. Witches used earth’s elements to fight. Shifters had strength and rapid healing ability. Fairies possessed an assortment of powers to use, including glamour to hide most of the supes’ bases.

But the Humans owned the weapons.

The government conducted tests on the probed supes they’d caught earlier and discovered each species’ weakness. Steel bullets destroyed Shifter and Fairy military units. Battlefields were covered in liquid silver to prevent Earth Witches from controlling the land. Monkweed, an herb deadly to all Witches, was processed into liquid and gas forms. Human soldiers drank Monkweed to prevent Water Witches from controlling their bloodstream. They sprayed Monkweed gas in the air to instantly kill Fire and Air Witches.

In no time, humans were victorious.

Supes surrendered and lived in concentration camps with no running water. The camps produced disease. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals conducted an international campaign against the most powerful countries. They demanded a nonviolent solution that would treat supes humanely. As a compromise, the governments developed the Habitat System, a network of caged supe cities all over the world. Each caged city was categorized by a religion. Supes were given a choice of cities they wanted to live in. Most picked the one representing their actual religion. Others picked cities based on religions that were most accepting of their species. That was why my dad picked Santeria—because that religion didn’t perceive Demons as evil creatures from hell. It saw them as just another species.

“Are you going to stop Zulu or should I think of an alternative?” Dante tilted his head to the side.

I bet all my money any alternative Dante considers ends in blood and death. No more of my loved ones will die by his hands. This ends now.

“I’ll stop him.” A shiver crept up my spine. “It shouldn’t be too hard to convince him it’s me.”

Unless he’s already slipped into the world of crazy.

Zulu took control of his body too earlier after his sister, Cassie, died. He’d gone into himself for barely twenty-four hours and returned to me. That wasn’t good. When a tragedy was really horrific, Shifters remained within themselves for weeks, sometimes months.

Shifters shared two separate minds within one body. Tragedy and stressful situations impacted Shifters more than other supes. Both Zulu and his Prime needed time to recover. So when one went into himself, he was allowing both of his minds to heal. Without this downtime, both of them would go into overdrive from the stress of day-to-day activities and having to control their body. There’d been cases where Shifters’ sanities had deteriorated to the point where they went on killing sprees.

Is this a killing spree now?

Angel placed her hand in mine and squeezed it. “He’ll know it’s you. It’ll work out.”

“And then we’ll kill Dante and Mother Earth?”

She pulled me forward as Dante and his men rushed off. “Let us just handle one thing at a time.”

I hurried my pace. “I’d rather go on a killing tour than try to convince a blood-lusting, death-driven Zulu that I’m not the eleventh fake Lanore.”

“Just show him your tits. That may jog his memory.” Angel formed her lips into that smart-ass smile I remembered, but the effect of familiarity disappeared when she exposed pink gums instead of teeth.

“So you’re my adviser, and all you can say is, ‘show him your tits’?”

“Maybe let him sniff you down—”

“I think I got it.” I raised my free hand. “Sadly, I actually will expose myself, if all else fails.”

When it came to Zulu’s claws, I held no shame or dignity in doing anything to stay alive. There was no way I was going to die in a Vamp dining area somewhere underground.

I just had too many people to kill this week. My to-do list dripped with blood and fire.

#1– Set Dante on fire until he’s nothing but smoke and ash.

#2– Find Nona and Mother Earth, tie them to a tree, and create the biggest bonfire Santeria has ever seen.

#3– Find out who’s guiding Mother Earth, if there is anybody higher in the psychotic chain of command.

#4– Burn anybody else to a crisp if they get in my fucking way.

Lanore

“I changed my mind. I’m not going in.” I glanced over my shoulder at Dante, before turning back to the closed off dining room.

The metal door between the entrance to the dining area and hallway boasted dents in the shape of fists.
Most likely Zulu’s fists.
Blood leaked out the bottom of the door, flooded the area in front for several feet, and soaked my sneakers as I tried to peer into the tiny square-shaped window. Red and black liquid smudged the glass. On the other side of the surface, darkness bathed the dining area. Every few seconds a whoosh of wind surged by. I assumed it was Zulu soaring past the entrance.

An exasperated breath escaped my lips. “It’s dark in there.”

“He destroyed all of the lights first.” Alarm masked Dante’s usually calm face. “Then he started killing everyone. I think he can see in the dark.”

He definitely can see in the dark, which doesn’t help me at all.

“What is he?” Dante asked. “In all my years I’ve never seen anything like his beast-form before.”

I ignored the question and tried to figure out the fastest way I could convince Zulu I was me, without being sliced by his sharp claws first. Surely he could smell that it was me. My gaze returned to the sticky wetness of the blood-drenched floor. The sickening metallic odor overwhelmed my senses.

“Could he catch my scent with all the blood around?”

Angel peeked into the window herself.
“He may not be able to smell you.”

I tossed her an annoyed look.

“What?”

I leaned her way. “Are you just going to read my mind anytime you want to?”

“My bad. It’s just I’ve never had power before and your mind is the only one I can read.”
She gave me a wide smile.
“Did you know that your thoughts are hot and smell like sulfur?”

I frowned.

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “I won’t do it unless it’s an emergency.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you ladies done?” Dante dove his hands into his pockets.

“Give me a minute.” I held up my hands. “I don’t see you rushing in to save your people either.”

“We don’t have a minute.”

“Do you have a party to go to?” I gestured at the suit he had on. “You look like you’re about to attend an event.”

“One of my men think they found Mother Earth. I’d like to be there when they capture her. I figured you would too.”

You damn right I would.

I faced the door again and grabbed the doorknob. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re dressed up.”

“Women around the habitat dream about me when they lay in their beds. Most think of me while they make love to their husbands. I simply don’t want to disappoint them if they happen to see me out on the streets.”

Were-bullcrap.

“Your ego is all the motivation I need to run to my death.”

“You won’t die.” Angel grabbed my hand. “We’re going in together. Maybe I can distract him long enough while you convince him that you are you.”

And watch you die too?

“No,” I said. “I go in by myself.”

“Nope. I’m coming.”

A gust of white light exploded around the area and blinded me for a second. Angel must have been using her magic to move around again. She’d poofed in and out earlier. When she did, white light filled the area. It took another second to regain my eyesight. Angel was no longer near me, instead she knocked on the glass from the other side. Zulu’s roar beat against the space. Somehow he must have sensed Angel’s presence, probably from seeing her in the dark or sniffing her out.

“Angel!” I fumbled with the doorknob, opened it, and raced in.

As soon as the door opened, decapitated heads tumbled out on a river of mucous and blood. The stench singed the hairs on my nostrils. It must’ve been fifty decaying skulls, all with missing skin and dug out noses. Tongues stuck in eye sockets. Brains smashed into torn lips. Bigger body parts crashed out next—feet split in half, intestines roped around arms with a bow, and the hands, dear god, each one of them were flayed out at the finger tips like flowers and secured at the wrist with glossy veins as if Zulu desired to gift Dante with a bouquet of fingers.

He’s well past sanity right now.

Two of Dante’s guards screeched in horror. Dante backed up several feet and thrust his claws out. “We may need to go with my alternative.”

“Which is what?”

“Send in a small bomb.”

“You do it and the whole compound will burn down. I’ll make sure of that. It’ll be the biggest fire in history. They’ll probably call it Dante’s Inferno.”

“Just get in there so I can close the door!” Dante edged back again. “And get a new joke. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve had a fire threat punch-lined with Dante’s Inferno?”

I jumped over rotting arms and legs and stepped on a few to get in there. Dante’s guards helped me out, by shoving my back with their feet and instantly locking the door behind me. It shut with a slam.

What a great group of honorable Vamps. I’ll have to thank them later.

Black cloaked the space. I couldn’t see Angel or Zulu, and was too scared to call either of their names. Air whooshed by. Ducking, I jumped down to the warm, wet ground, covering my head. Liquid pasted my skin, bathed the front of my body, and stunk of death. Vomit crawled up my throat and I struggled to keep it down. Even without being able to see, there was no doubt shredded corpses lay all around me. It reeked of it.

“Another Lanore?” Zulu’s words stabbed through the darkness like a sharp edged knife. If he’d given the Prime control, his voice would have come out deeper. “How fast will you die?”

“Angel? Can you hear me? These are one of those emergency times when it’s cool to listen to my thoughts!”

“Zulu. It’s me! The real Lanore.”

“Prove it.” He whizzed by and snapped at the air a few inches above my head.
Where did he come from?
I rolled over. Hot sludge coated my skin, but I managed to avert him again as he tried to catch me.

“I can make fire!” I yelled.

“They all could make fire. Do you have a mini blow torch in your sleeve too?” His voice sounded from high up to the ceiling. I seized the opportunity to get to a safer hiding spot, jumped up, and raced away, flaying my hands in front of me so I wouldn’t bump into anything.

“Where are you going?” Flapping came above my head and then his claw sliced my shoulder. I screamed. Stinging chewed into my flesh. Light burst near me. Soft hands snatched at my waist and pulled me into a small frame.

“Angel?” I gritted my teeth through the pain.

“Yes.” Her eyes glowed white in front of me and illuminated half of her face, leaving the rest in shadows.

“What’s this? We have a fake Lanore and some other creature? What are you?” Zulu captured us both in his arms, squashed us together, and lifted us high in the air. In the darkness, Angel’s body pressed hard against mine as she cried out in shock.

I thrashed my legs out. We rose higher and higher within his iron grip. I had no idea where he was taking us or how high we were up, but I knew we rose from the current of air that moved down my skin and rustled my locks. “Zulu I swear to every god and goddess it’s me, Lanore!”

“My lady isn’t religious.” He released us. Angel and I fell through the air. Both of us grasped onto the other. Our throats burned with screams and shrills.

“Hold on to me tighter,” Angel yelled. Light burst everywhere right before we could’ve smashed into the floor. But we didn’t. Instead, Angel and I traveled through a light tunnel of some sort.
She must be moving us with magic.
Pressure compressed against my skin, tightening all of me into nothing but a thin line of hurt and suffocation. I couldn’t breathe. I drowned in heaviness. Brightness sparked again. The pressure disappeared. A loud snap came. I breathed like I never breathed before, inhaling huge gasps and exhaling as quickly as the air could leave my lips. The hallway, Dante, and his guards materialized out of thin air. Or it was more like, Angel and I appeared within seconds.

“H-he’s too fast and I-I couldn’t see in there.” Angel shivered as she hugged me, blood dripped out of her nose. “I spirited us … out here.”

Spirited? That’s what that pressure was, some sort of magic to transport us to a different place?

Inside the dining area, Zulu laughed and slammed his fists against the metal door. Cracks snaked around the hinges.

“I can’t let him get in here.” Dante yanked out his phone. “We’ll have to send a bomb in there.”

“No!” I rushed to him and knocked away his phone with bloody hands. It fell to the floor but didn’t break. “Can’t you put some sleeping gas into the vents or—”

“We tried that he won’t go to sleep.”

“There’s got to be another way.”

“You can go back in there and die. Once you’re dead, I’ll bomb him.” Dante bent over and picked up his phone.

I’ll need to control Zulu with fire.

I glanced back at the door. “Dante, give me your jacket so I can dry my hands.”

“Do you have any idea how much this cost? One of you two give her your jacket.” Dante gestured to his guards. They complied and even helped wipe some of the slime off of me.

I focused on making fireballs. Fire is created when an inflammable liquid is combined with oxygen and exposed to extreme heat. The Demon part of me provided my body with pores that naturally released heat and combustible sweat called pyrobem. The hot liquid oozed out of my somewhat clean hands, thicker than ever before.

“What’s that?” Dante peered over and studied the orange fluid.

“Why don’t you come closer to see?” I tossed him a wicked smile.

He inched back. Flames enveloped my hands. I dragged my fingers through the air and formed a globe of fire so big it extended down half of my body and widened close to the walls.
So beautiful.
The blazing ball funneled into gold sparks and blinding yellows, raging oranges and hints of red at the tips where it dissolved into shuddering white smoke. It was my greatest work. I’d never been able to make a ball so big and with as much speed as I’d made that one. Perhaps, the skill emerged due to fear or maybe Zulu’s fairy magic within the claim on my arms. Whatever it was I sighed in relief at my bounty. I could do anything with fire, even convince a hard-headed Zulu that I was me, his lady, his claim, the one he’d pledged to be with forever.

Everyone backed far away, including Angel.

“I need someone to open the door.” I ordered the globe to follow me.

“You heard her.” Dante pointed to one of his men. “Do it.”

When the Vamp arrived at the door, I held out my hand to stop him. “Okay. On the count of three open the door. As soon as I get in, close it.”

He nodded.

“One. Two.” I swallowed down all of my anxiety. “Three!”

He opened the door. I slung the globe through and ran inside with it. The fire slashed through the air.

Separate and rise!
I commanded the fire with my mind. It obeyed, breaking down into hundreds of fireballs that scattered all over the space. Zulu yelped off in the distance. I still couldn’t see him, but at least one of my balls had got him.
Score one for Lanore.
The door slammed behind me. Golf sized fireballs rose everywhere.

Make more.
I mentally ordered. Each ball separated into another and then another until the air flooded with sparkling balls that floated in the space. It looked like it was raining fire. The whole dining area illuminated before my eyes. Tables and broken chairs scattered around more dead bodies. Things dripped and twitched. Eyes blinked on ruptured heads.
How could he fly around in this room and still be sane?
My stomach clenched into knots of disgust. The urge to run out of there engulfed me. I shook so much my teeth chattered against themselves.

“This is new.” Zulu’s dark voice brought me back to the reality of my problem.

If I didn’t convince him that it was me, Dante would kill him. I couldn’t let it happen. I drove fire out my hands. They decorated my fingers, wrists, and arms. I could take no more chances with Zulu. If I did, he’d kill me.

“Did all of those fake Lanores make it storm flames?” I scanned the fire lit area for him. Some sort of dark paint coated the ceiling. The Prime’s skin was so dark he could be blending in with the color. “Could they set their hands on fire and walk around like I’m doing?”

“No,” he whispered in my ear.

I spun around to hit him. He disappeared. I’d known he was fast, but not that fast. I almost pissed myself.

“You smell like her.” His flapping wings hummed on my right, next my left, and then above me.

He moves faster than a goddamn hummingbird. Have you been holding back on your powers with me, Zulu?

“Why do you smell like her?”

“Because I am her!” I shot out a fireball in the direction of the noise.

“Prove it.”

“You claimed me. Can you feel my emotions right now moving through the cords?”

“I don’t feel anything anymore?”