Up In Flames (Netherworld Series Book 2)

by Olivia Hutchinson

  When they left the church, they met her family and family friends for dinner. It was a huge party, requiring two long tables. The Italian restaurant was nice enough and he ate his fill. Her family and friends, on the other hand, were something else.

  “You’re Heidi’s boyfriend?”

  “I am.” It amazed him how easy it was to agree to the middle aged man’s question. The words just flowed from his mouth.

  “Hey, you’re not from around here, are you?”

  “No, I’m from—”

  “Ciao bello!” the man exclaimed, clapping his hands. “I’ve never met an Italian outside Italy before. How do you like the spaghetti? Is it just like your mom served at home?”

  As soon as Marie and Heidi finished waving goodbye to relatives Heidi wouldn’t see until someone else died, Marie turned to her.

  “Would you and Liam mind going by the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions? This day has sucked the life out of me.”

  “No, I don’t mind.”

  “Thank you,” Marie said, squeezing Heidi’s hand. “Randy can drive me home.”

  “Is there anything else you need?”

  Marie shook her head. “I just need my blood pressure medication. I only have two pills left.”

  “Not a problem,” Liam said beside her.

  “Thank you.”

  Heidi drove over to the pharmacy and ran inside to get her mother’s prescription. Liam waited for her outside, soaking up the sunlight.

  “It’s nice out,” she said as she came out of the building. She opened her purse and put the pill bottle inside, tossing the bag and receipt in the trash can as she walked past it.

  “Spring may come after all.”

  “Do you want to go for a walk?” she asked him. “We’re not far from the park.”

  “Sure.”

  There were no sidewalks, but Liam didn’t mind. He worried about Heidi, walking in heels like she was, but she managed just fine. He held her hand as they walked to the park. They talked very little, but he enjoyed her company. A few kids were playing on the playground and when she went over to the small swing set, he followed her.

  “Push me, will you?” she asked, sitting on the old rusty swing. She hoisted her purse further up on her shoulder and gripped the chains.

  Liam stood behind her and pushed her, careful not to push her hard enough to send her flying. She was laughing in the setting sun when he saw them and the smile that had been on his face died. It wasn’t fear for himself that overtook him, but rather fear for Heidi’s safety.

  When she swung back toward him, he grabbed the chains and held the swing in place.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  He never took his eyes off them, praying that they wouldn’t see him. That they wouldn’t see Heidi.

  “We have to go,” he said, his voice low. “Come on.”

  She was off the swing and standing next to him when his eyes met the cold blue eyes of the one and only Cole. They had been spotted by the warlocks.

  12

  “Walk,” he said under his breath, his hand gripping hers so tight that trying to pry it out of his grasp would be useless.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She couldn’t help the icy tendrils of fear that snaked up her spine. Her eyes searched the area, trying to pick up on what he had seen, but all she saw at first were playing children. When her eyes landed on the tall, blond headed man with the strange tattoos on his forearms, she knew exactly who Liam was looking at. Although what or who he was, Heidi had no clue.

  “We need to get back to the car.” He pulled her with him, forcing her to keep up with him. He didn’t sprint away from the blond and his bald companion, but it wasn’t a leisurely stroll either. The two followed behind them.

  They stayed on the edge of the road, going back toward the pharmacy in a different direction than the one they had used to get to the park. She knew where they were. She knew Cantor like the back of her hand.

  “If we cut through here,” she said nodding toward an alleyway that was several yards ahead of them, “we can jump the fence at the end and be back in the parking lot not far from the car.”

  “All right.”

  A quick glance over her shoulder told her that they wouldn’t make it there in time. There was almost no traffic on the side road they were on. No one to witness whatever it was that these men would do to them. Judging by the way their eyes were fixed on them, they had something planned.

  They were being hunted.

  A quick blast of air and she was almost ripped out of her shoes. If Liam’s arm wouldn’t have wrapped around her at the last second, she would’ve been blown off her feet.

  “We have no quarrel with you, dragon. Hand over the witch and we’ll let you go,” the blond spoke.

  “That’s out of the question, Cole,” Liam roared beside her.

  “Ah, so it knows who I am,” the blond said. “If that’s the case then why would you be so foolish as to give your life up for a little witch?”

  Heidi fiddled with her purse as Liam pulled her forward. Cole and the man with him were closing in by the second. If she couldn’t get her stupid purse open, she was just going to hurl the thing at them.

  Desperate to buy time, she stopped where she was, forcing Liam to stop with her. Spinning on her heels, she faced the two men.

  “I’m not a witch,” she told them, digging through the little bag.

  They stopped a foot away from her, both of them smiling at her. The bald man went so far as to laugh in her face.

  “That’s a nice try.”

  “I’m not bullshitting you. I’m not a witch. I’m human. I’m a human who’s fucking a dragon.”

  The bald man laughed again, but Cole stopped smiling. He tilted his head and gave her a funny look, his blue eyes looking at her as if he saw through her.

  “I don’t believe you,” he said, his voice as cold as the ice in his eyes.

  “I don’t care if you believe me or not.” Liam gripped her hand to the point of pain, a warning for her to get away from them. It was then that her hand closed around the cool metal can and her index finger found the small trigger.

  “If you come with us we’ll let your dragon live,” Cole told her, glancing from her to Liam, who was now muttering something to her under his breath she couldn’t make out.

  “You got one thing right about that statement.”

  “Which was?” Cole asked her, the corner of his mouth raised.

  “He is my dragon, but I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  She brought the can out of her purse and sprayed him directly in the eyes. The bald man was next less than a second later.

  “Close your eyes,” Liam yelled as a sudden gush of wind hit her just as she turned her face away.

  This time when Liam pulled on her hand, she ran with him. The sounds of coughing and cursing came from behind her. They darted down the alleyway behind the bar she and her friends went to—The Wolf’s Den—and Liam cursed.

  “Warlocks and werewolves? What the hell kind of town do you live in?”

  Werewolves? She thought she heard him correctly, but she wasn’t about to stop to ask him about it.

  They were at the fence a second later. He didn’t give her time to worry about how she was going to climb the chain links when he gripped her waist and all but threw her to the top.

  She held onto the top of the chain-links as he pushed her up so that she could swing her leg over. Liam backed up and then bolted toward the fence as she hung off the other side. She let go and fell to her feet just as he jumped. Gripping the top, he pulled himself up and over before landing easily on the other side.

  Taking her hand, they ran toward the Durango which was only a few feet away. The sounds coming behind her got louder and louder by the second. Instead of unlocking the Durango doors, Liam pulled her around to the driver’s side and crouched down, forcing her down with him.

  She looked at him, her eyes wide and her heart threatening
to explode in her chest. He held a finger to his lips and she nodded her head, pressing her body firmly against the side of the vehicle. She was breathing hard, but as she heard the men in the alley behind them she held her breath.

  “Where the fuck are they?” Cole yelled.

  “I don’t know.”

  “How could you let them get away, Kiir?”

  “How could I let them get away? You’re the one who wanted—”

  The sudden silence that met her ears was followed by wretched gasping. She was gripping Liam’s hand just as tightly as he held hers. She didn’t know what they were up against and she didn’t want to find out.

  Coughing followed a second later and when it stopped Cole said, “Don’t ever speak to me in that way again. The next time I won’t let you live, understand?”

  “Ye…yes,” Kiir managed to get out before falling into another coughing fit.

  “We’ll come back later with more warriors and fan out over the area. Where there’s one witch there are sure to be others. Dis was right about this place. It’s ripe.”

  There was the sound of their fading steps and then they were gone. Heidi let out a long exhale as Liam peeked up over the side of the Durango, never releasing her hand as he peered through the glass.

  “Come on. Let’s get out of here,” he said after minute.

  She got behind the wheel while Liam jumped into the passenger side. Heidi cranked the engine and tried to drive as calmly as she could in the direction of her mother’s house. She wanted to put as much distance between them as possible.

  “Who were those men?” she asked him when they pulled onto her mother’s street a few minutes later.

  “Warlocks.”

  She had suspected as much, but hearing him say the words made it hit home for her.

  “And they thought I was a witch.”

  “Yes.”

  “Just like the demonic butterflies did.”

  “The fae? Yes.”

  She took a deep, shaky breath as she pulled in front of her mother’s house. Randy’s car was sitting next to Liam’s truck. In no way did she want to go inside and face her brother, but there were other more important things plaguing her.

  “What now?” she asked, turning to face him.

  “We go back to New Freedom.”

  When they waved goodbye to Heidi’s mother, Liam couldn’t help but feel relieved. He liked Heidi’s family—her mother in particular—but never had he been so grateful to be leaving a place. Cantor, though a small town by most standards, was too large for him to be comfortable in. Maybe it was because it was unfamiliar but regardless, he much preferred the seclusion of his woods and his cave. He had room there. A place to spread his wings.

  Heidi had gone upstairs to pack a bag while he told Marie of their plans to head back to New Freedom. She had frowned at first, claiming that she didn’t understand why they were going when they had just gotten there, but then slowly began nodding her head.

  “It makes sense,” she said.

  He raised a brow. “It does?”

  She nodded again, her brown eyes fixing on him. “Yes. Heidi needs to be away from here for a while. I get it. I don’t want to be in this house since Papa died either, but I don’t have a choice. Just promise me you’ll look out for her while she’s gone. Heidi doesn’t do well in nature.”

  “I will.” And he meant it. He wouldn’t let any harm come to her, as difficult as that had been so far, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her in the future.

  Their drive back to New Freedom seemed to take much longer than it had taken them to get to Cantor. He couldn’t help but wonder if the reason was because he couldn’t get away from Cantor fast enough. He longed to be home.

  “You mentioned werewolves earlier,” Heidi said, her gaze fixed out the passenger window as she tapped her fingertips on her jean clad thigh. She had changed out of the dress in favor of a pair of jeans, a long sleeved black T-shirt and the same pair of boots he had bought for her. “What did you mean?”

  He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. There were so many things he couldn’t, or rather shouldn’t, tell her. The existence of the werewolves had been one that had just slipped out.

  “I smelled them. Two in particular, but there were hints of a lot more,” he said, sighing. He wouldn’t lie to her.

  “Really? I never knew Cantor had werewolves.”

  He snorted. “You’d be surprised how much you don’t know. I don’t know much of Maine, or the rest of the country for that matter, outside of New Freedom. I don’t leave the area often if I can help it.”

  “I guessed as much.”

  He cast a glance in her direction as he shifted gears. “It seems your Cantor is part of werewolf territory.”

  “Oh? How can you tell?” She turned in her seat to face him.

  “The smell, for one. I can’t smell nearly as well as shifters, or werewolves for that matter, but I have a better sense of smell than humans.”

  “Than me.”

  “Aye.”

  “Then why didn’t you smell them before?”

  He shrugged. “They must not be around your house that often, but they certainly had been in that alley and in the vicinity in general. And often. It was marked.”

  “Marked?”

  “Yes. I don’t think you need me to explain. Werewolves are very animalistic when they change. Marking their territory is just one of those traits they possess.”

  “Oh.”

  She was quiet for a second, turning to look out the windshield as he drove down the back roads that took them closer and closer to New Freedom.

  “I know about dragons, fae, shifters, witches, warlocks, and now werewolves. Is there anything else I’m missing?”

  What was that saying? In for a penny, in for a pound? “A lot.”

  She looked back to him. “Like what?”

  “Vampires.”

  “Really?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Yes.”

  “Wow. What else?”

  He groaned. He didn’t want to have this conversation with her, but at the same time why should he continue to hide it from her? She knew more than any other human.

  “That’s it for the most part. The seven factions make up what we call the Netherworld. We’re overseen by a council who make the rules and try to keep our existence in the dark from the humans.”

  She tilted her head as she studied him, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear. “But you said there was a lot more.”

  He shifted in his seat. “There are. Slayers are one.”

  “Slayers? Like vampire slayers or dragon slayers?”

  Just talking about the Slayers was enough to make the hair on his forearms stand on end. “They’re one of the reasons for the existence of the Netherworld. We’ve seen what happens when the humans learn of our existence, which is why I shouldn’t be divulging any more to you now. It’s bad enough that you know as much as you do.”

  She waved her hand in the air. “Oh, cut me a break and spill it. What are Slayers?”

  Shaking his head, he answered her, “They’re essentially humans. Humans who over the centuries have discovered our existence and who formed a secret society of sorts. Slayers could be anywhere, could be anyone. Any human you know could be a slayer. That’s where the danger of telling even a single human of our true nature comes from. They’ll learn your secret and then they’ll hunt you down and murder you in your sleep.”

  She laughed. Startled at the sound, he jerked his head in her direction.

  “That’s ridiculous. You don’t think you’d know if someone came into your cave? Even I know you better than that. As soon as some poor fool tried to hunt you down and made it far enough to get into the cave, you’d set their ass on fire.”

  Maybe she was partially right. He’d know as soon as someone entered the cabin, but that still didn’t mean the slayers weren’t as dangerous as he was telling her. He knew of several people whom they had taken out. His un
cle was the most forward in his mind.

  When his face fell, her laughter died. “What is it?”

  “We went flying one night. We were going hunting, which was something we both always liked to do. Picking up a deer or a moose and bringing it home where we would butcher it and stock up the freezers. We weren’t more than a few miles out when they cast the net.”

  “Who? Who were you flying with?” she asked when he lapsed into silence.

  The memories of that night, although it had happened years before, were still there. Still haunting even though the pain had eased some. It wasn’t as fresh, but it was still there. Buried deep.

  “My uncle Mordecai. I don’t know if they even saw me, he was lighter than I am and didn’t blend in as well at night. They pulled him right from the sky. The net was weighted and between that and the surprise of it, he was on the ground before I realized what had happened. They speared his heart just as I flew over.”

  “You killed them,” she said, her voice low.

  “Yes. I was able to catch them off guard. They didn’t know I was there but I was still too late to save him. When he turned back to his human form after he took his last breath, I took him home and buried him. His grave marker isn’t far from the cabin.”

  She put her hand on his arm. “Liam, I am so sorry.”

  “So yes, slayers are dangerous and they could be anywhere, even in the middle of the Maine woods. They hunt down anyone different from them and they kill them.”

  “I see,” she said softly.

  Silence surrounded them for the rest of the drive home. After talking about his uncle, he didn’t care to discuss the slayers, or the rest of the Netherworld for that matter. He had said too much as it was.

  They were driving slowly over the narrow trail in the woods toward the spot where he liked to park his truck when he glanced over at her. She really was a beautiful creature. She had the tiniest little nose and her full lips were just made for kissing.

  The moon, while gradually dimming in its waning state, was bright enough to cast peculiar shadows across her face. She looked peaceful as she stared up at it. Maybe she was feeling it the same way he was feeling it. A change was coming, a big one. He didn’t know when or where but he felt the sudden shift in the atmosphere almost a week before. With every day it loomed larger and larger. Part of him couldn’t help but wonder if she was part of it.