A Ritual of Fire

by J. L. Hendricks

  “That’s right, Rhett. Whatcha want, little lady? Bourbon and Coke? Beer? Please don’t tell me you want wine. We don’t stock swill.” The bartender laughed.

  “Uh, I think I’ll stick with water, thanks.” I really hoped these guys would leave me alone, but a new woman in a biker bar was probably like candy to a kid, something they couldn’t pass up.

  “Oh, come on babe. I think you’ll have more fun if you have a few drinks.”

  The guy next to me was just trying to get me drunk or drugged. I wasn’t really sure which. Either way, I wasn’t going to fall for it. Even if I did partake, little did they know that alcohol didn’t affect me like most women. My system burned it off so fast, it would probably take an entire week of drinking non-stop to get drunk. Well, that might be exaggerated, but it would take a long time and a ton of booze, more time and booze than I’d ever give these guys.

  “Sorry, I can’t really party today. I need a clear head so I can find a way home, but I won’t stand in your way, though. Feel free to drink. I’ll just wait for my friend to feel better. The crash probably hurt him more than he’s willing to admit.” I needed some way to make these guys think Vlad wouldn’t be an issue so they would leave him alone.

  “Is he your boyfriend or something?” the bartender asked. “I don’t see a ring on your finger.”

  “Not even close. We work together.” I turned to ZZ Top and put on a polite smile. “I’m Alyson. What’s your name?”

  I hadn’t seen these guys before so I needed real names to put with their faces in my memory banks. My brain was pretty good at sorting a face to a name. It was rare I forgot someone.

  “I’m Rhett and my buddy behind the bar is Stoner.” The guy next to me smiled, I think. There were some teeth in the bush covering his face, so I assumed it was a smile.

  “Nice to meet you, Rhett. Stoner? I take it that’s a nickname?”

  Most of the guys I busted a few years ago used street names and it was a common practice with biker gangs in general. Rhett seemed like a normal name unless he was a fan of Gone With The Wind.

  “Yup, none of us use our real names. I wanted to name him Skunk since he likes to smoke the stuff so much, but our president had another member he wanted to name skunk. It suits him better, anyway.” Rhett and Stoner both busted up laughing.

  I guessed it meant one of their members really stunk to high heaven.

  “Rhett, where did your name come from?”

  “My Momma named me Rhett after some dumb movie she loved to watch. It just kinda stuck, even when I joined the club.” Gone With The Wind. Okay, that one was sort of cute.

  The door to the place flew open and a group of eleven bikers walked in. Some had women with them.

  Rhett stood up and pointed to me. “Guys, look what we got here! A fresh recruit.”

  “No, I’m not a recruit. Just trying to wait out the phone issue so I can call for a ride home. That’s all.” I took a deep breath as my inner dragon sensed their threat in the air and tried to push her down. Now wasn’t the time to get angry. Not with Vlad still asleep. “Not interested in becoming part of your club.”

  Motorcycle clubs were not for me. Nothing against it personally, but I just didn’t like riding down the open road on a motorcycle. It always just made me miss flying.

  “I don’t think that’s how it works. Am I right, Riot?” As he spoke, Stoner licked his lips. As I watched him envision me naked, my hands curled into fists.

  Now was when I really needed my partner to help calm me down. I could deal with a dozen crazy men as long as they kept their crazy to themselves. Once it moved to more than that, well, I might not be able to keep a lid on my dragon, and once she came out to play, all bets were off.

  “That’s right.” Riot, one of the guys who had walked in, leered at me. “Any woman who comes through these doors is fair game for the club members. Sorry, darlin’. You just became our entertainment for the day.” I stood up and stared them all down. “Guys, I’ve had a rough night, you really don’t want to mess with me. I have zero patience for stupid men who don’t know when to back off. My partner and I came in here intending to pay for our food and drinks and just hang out until we could get a ride back to LA. Just leave me be and there won’t be any trouble.”

  Of course, one of them just had to go and be an idiot. Some short guy who probably had Napoleon Syndrome or something came up and tried to pull me to him.

  I pushed him back and he came at me again. This time I brought my knee right up between his legs. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t be gentle. The guy fell on the ground moaning while he grabbed his jewels.

  The rest of the guys laughed.

  “You got spunk.” Riot stalked over to the guy on the floor and helped him up before grinning at me. “I like you. All right, you can stay as long as you pay.” With that, he turned back to the little man. “Leon, how many times have I told you, don’t grab women unless they want you to?” Shaking his head, Riot glanced back at me. “This happens all the time. He feels like he has to prove he’s some big Casanova or something. He almost always ends up on the floor.” He shrugged in a way that made me think they’d set the guy up. I wasn’t sure why, but that almost annoyed me more.

  Riot walked Leon to the back of the place. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to see him again. Fortunately, the rest of Riot’s guys were more disciplined than the little guy and were more than happy to leave me alone after that.

  I wound up taking a seat in the booth closest to the hall which led to the storeroom where Vlad was sleeping. I had at least four more hours to go before Vlad would be up. As I took my seat again, the red vinyl covered seat made a squelching noise.

  It was going to be one long day.

  My hand instinctively covered my mouth as I yawned. Another plus of being a dragon shifter was that I didn’t need much sleep, but I did like to get at least six hours. So far, I had less than four and most of those had been interrupted by Patricia cleaning the place up.

  The news kept me up to date. Telephone services were slowly coming back on throughout the valley. Now I just needed the city and high desert to get their phone services restored, something the news reporters said wouldn’t happen until the next day. The inactivity and inability to act on our case was the most infuriating thing but I kept that frustration in check. Getting angry wouldn’t get anything done.

  The day dragged on and most of the guys left me alone, until one of them decided I needed a friend to talk to.

  Sidling up to me, Riot put an unopened beer bottle in front of me. “How long is your friend going to be?” He sat down into the opposite end of the booth and popped the top off the bottle with his bare hands.

  Before I could answer, I heard a door open and close. It was so soft that only I could have heard it. Vlad was awake.

  “I think he’s probably up now,” I said, sliding out of the booth. “Thanks for letting me wait out the day.” I gestured toward the window where the sun was dipping over the horizon.

  “Is that so?” Riot asked, watching me move in a way that made me think he didn’t believe me.

  “It is so.” Almost casually, Vlad walked up next to me and licked his lips. My own unexpectedly thumping heart calmed down as he glanced down at Riot.

  “You missed something, right here.” I pointed to a red drop on the side of his chin, and as I did, I wondered who he had fed from.

  Vlad used a finger to swipe it away, looking at it for a moment before putting the finger into his mouth. Scrunching his nose at the taste, he looked around at the gang. “Word of advice. You all should eat better. Your blood doesn’t taste very good. It’s too fatty and full of stale alcohol.”

  I’d never heard him complain about his meals before and it was so shocking, I ignored Riot who was staring at my partner open-mouthed. “I didn’t realize vampires preferred those who ate healthy.”

  “Of course we do,” he explained as our host continued to stare in shock. “Just like humans prefer organic fo
ods, vampires prefer humans who eat organic. Those pesticides used in food production taste awful. Don’t even get me started on the steroids most companies use in their cattle. It makes your blood taste like sewage.”

  “Maybe you should be choosier about who you drink from.” I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly annoyed with him even though I wasn’t sure why.

  “I don’t see you offering.” Vlad shrugged. “Is that going to change?” When I didn’t respond he nodded. “Thought not.”

  “Are you really talking about drinking blood?” Riot asked, voice concerned as his eyes flicked from Vlad to me and back again.

  “Yes.” Vlad nodded. “But don’t worry, I didn’t take much from any of your friends.” He gestured back at the room, and I realized several of the men were standing stock still, their eyes dazed in that “I’ve been mind-whammied” by a vampire way.

  “You did what?” Riot asked, leaping to his feet.

  “All right…” I mumbled as Riot burst past us to shake one of the men still standing there dazed. “What are you going to do about these witnesses? Erase their minds? Do you have enough juice for it?”

  “I’ll need to take just a little bit more from each of them. It should give me more than enough juice to erase us from their recent memories.” Vlad looked at me before making his way to the first biker. “Consider it done.”

  “All right, I’ll make sure no one leaves. Make it quick.” I stood in front of the main door and watched as Vlad practically went supersonic. Well, it wasn’t that fast, but he didn’t spend much time taking a little sip from each of the twenty one bikers and chicks in the room.

  I watched in awe as my partner then proceeded to alter their memories. He told them to forget ever seeing us and to go about their business like we weren’t even there. It made the rest of the day pass quite comfortably.

  “Looks like it’s dark enough,” Vlad said, startling me away from the news program. I hadn’t even heard what was going on because I’d been too busy staring at the anchor’s cheek mole. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “We still don’t have a car?” I mumbled, looking helplessly at my phone.

  “Right, car.” He nodded before getting to his feet. “Say, can one of you fine upstanding gentlemen lend us a car?”

  “Sure thing, boss,” Riot said, his eyes going glassy as he turned to look at us. “Mine’s out front.” He held out a pair of keys.

  “We can leave it in LA somewhere,” Vlad said, taking the keys and turning to offer me his free hand. “Once they report it missing, they’ll get it back. No one will know we were here. Probably the best thing for all involved since we can’t call in their illegal weapons possession.”

  Vlad was right. If the phones were working I would have called this whole situation in. We would have been picked up hours ago and been back on out investigation already. On the other hand, if the phones were working, we wouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place.

  6

  Vlad

  I hated removing memories. It was as though I was stripping a portion of a human’s soul. Doing anything against another living being’s wishes was not something I enjoyed even when they deserved it.

  When I had woken up and heard they were threatening my partner, I couldn’t stop my baser instincts from taking over. The only reason I stopped when I did was Alyson and the way she looked at me. I wasn’t joking when I said I stopped because of her.

  It wasn’t because she would give me a hard time though. I just didn’t want her to see me as a demon of the night, even though I am. Her respect was something I have always wanted.

  I’ve killed in front of her in self-defense. Drinking blood in front of her wasn’t anything new either. But my slaughtering a room full of outlaws while draining them dry was something I’d never want her to see.

  Sometimes my inner demons really ticked me off. I didn’t need to be second guessing myself and my feelings for my partner. I needed those feelings to be platonic. It never worked when partners developed romantic ties, ever. I should know, I’ve done it too many times to count over the past two centuries.

  After erasing the bikers’ memories of us, Alyson and I walked outside to see what those animals loaned us.

  “I wonder which vehicle it is,” I said, glancing from the key in my hand to the parking lot. There weren’t that many cars here, but there were enough that the thought of checking them all irked me.

  “Just click the button,” Alyson said, and as I turned to ask her what she meant, she snatched the key out of my hand and pointed it at the parking lot. “Sometimes I forget you’re old.” She gave me a quick smile as she clicked the remote. “Just click the remote and see what lights up.”

  Alyson laughed as the lights on the black SUV on the side of the building flashed in response to the remote. “See, works every time.” She began heading toward it. “And we don’t have to take a motorcycle. Bonus.”

  Personally, I would have preferred the 1969 Dodge Charger or the 2017 Infiniti QX80, but beggars can’t be choosers.

  “I suppose that is true,” I said.

  “What’s the matter? Don’t like SUVs?” Alyson chuckled and walked around to the driver’s side of the vehicle. “Or were you hoping for one of the bikes so I’d have to hold you tight?”

  “The thought had crossed my mind, but your hair would be a rat’s nest after riding a hog.” Even though I loved the idea of Alyson wrapping her arms around me while riding a motorcycle, it wasn’t practical while on a case.

  “I prefer riding in style and not drawing too much attention. Those loud motorcycles will turn heads wherever we go.” Alyson made a good point as she unlocked the car and slid behind the driver’s seat. “Now let’s go.”

  I raised a finger to protest as I got into the passenger’s seat. “I can drive. After the last time you drove, it might actually be better for me to do so.”

  She backhanded my chest and snorted. “Seriously? You’re going to blame me for the car blowing up?”

  “Look, all I’m saying is bad things happen when you drive.” I shrugged as Alyson backed out of the parking space and pulled onto the highway heading back to town.

  “You’re not driving.” She glanced at me instead of keeping her eyes on the road. “Anyway, I learned while you were sleeping that all of the phones are down, which is why we can’t reach base. Some eco-terrorist group attacked the telecommunications lines. It’s going to take a couple of days to get them back up, cell towers included.”

  “What? A terrorist attack?” I slumped in my chair and thought about the past twenty-four hours. “I don’t like the timing of it. We need to pay a visit to the local coven and see what they think about this and the murders. I’m sure everyone is fine back at base if the phones are just down.” I looked out the window as we pulled onto the road and stared at the night sky. “Besides, if there is a problem at HQ, the witches might be able to help.”

  Alyson’s face turned hard. “Fine.” She slowed down and made a U-turn in the middle of the street and drove toward the witches’ lair.

  I knew she had an issue with witches. She had a right to. Most of them were self-serving and never helped the paranormal community unless it served their purpose. This coven was different, or at least, they were different with me.

  “Alyson, remember what I said. This coven has helped me many times. They even helped us with our first case.” That particular fact was something I had kept to myself until now, knowing how she would have reacted if I had told her about it at the time.

  She gave me a hard, sidelong glance at that. “That may be true, and I remember what you said last night. It doesn’t mean they’ll be helpful to the rest of our community. I wouldn’t be surprised if they got something out of it whenever they helped you.” The edge in her voice told me she didn’t approve of my plan to visit the witches but she’d do it anyway.

  That was fine. As long as we went, I could kill two birds with one stone. I’d been meaning to see the gre
at witch, anyway. She was next on my list of people to question. Not that I suspected her. Quite the opposite, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone in her coven had been attacked.

  With that, Alyson shook her head and focused on the road which was a good thing, because up ahead the cars were completely stopped on the road.

  “Now what?” she said, getting annoyed.

  Cars were backed up all along our side of the road while the opposite lanes were moving freely. This must have been going on for a little while as people were milling about talking. Of course, the jam was deep enough that I couldn’t see what the holdup was.

  “Can you try calling command again? Maybe you can get a signal now?” I asked as I checked my own phone. The battery was just about out as Alyson dug out her own phone. I took the time while she dialed up command to hunt for a car charger. Thankfully the owner of this car had good tastes in cell phones as I found a charger that matched my phone in the center console. Not everyone had iPhones anymore.

  By the time I finished, Alyson was shaking her head. “No luck. Figures. Our luck has certainly dried up on this case.” Alyson leaned her forehead against the steering wheel.

  “I can run up ahead and see what’s going on. Why don’t you just wait here in case the line moves?” I hopped out without waiting for her reply. There really wasn’t much else we could do, after all.

  About a mile up the road I could see the issue, downed power lines. Two consecutive poles were splayed across the road. I had a bad feeling about this.

  Something was off. There hadn’t been a storm while I slept, so they couldn’t have been downed by lightning. No cars had crashed into it. Thinking it was fishy, I made my way to the bottom of the first pole to inspect how it fell over.

  Once I was next to the pole, I smelled the air and realized it was the work of whomever has been committing the murders. The stench of death and black magic permeated the air. This had to have been done within the past few hours.

  Was our perp trying to keep us up here or were they trying to keep someone else out of LA?