Born Into Flames

by Justin Sloan

  “She’s tough, she’ll get over it,” Cammie said.

  “I’m not talking about her.” He stared pointedly at Valerie’s breasts. “Do you like that?”

  She smiled. “I do, actually, but I think Cammie here’s about to kick your ass.”

  “We get the point,” Cammie said. “We’ll stop objectifying your huge c—”

  “Come on,” he interrupted. “Do they need to know everything about us?”

  “You’re so old fashioned,” Cammie said, going to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “That’s what I love about you.”

  His eyes went wide, but she pulled back. “Wait, no, I said ‘love about you,’ I didn’t say ‘that’s why I love you’ or whatever is going on in your head.”

  He narrowed his eyes, as if unsure.

  “You all heard me,” Cammie said, turning to Valerie and Robin. “Right?”

  “Hmm, sounded like you said you love him to me,” Robin said with a grin.

  Valerie laughed, playing along. “This is all so romantic. Maybe the pirates have a bottle of wine to toast this momentous occasion.”

  “Oh, come on!” She threw her hands up and said, “Everyone, chill. Just… this isn’t funny.”

  “You don’t like it when it’s directed at you, huh?” Royland chuckled.

  “Having a donkey dong and being accused of saying something you didn’t say are two very different things.”

  Valerie held up a hand. “Yeah, but neither of those things are necessarily bad. Might want to keep that in mind.”

  “Unless it hurts,” Robin said, looking back at Royland’s crotch again.

  He covered it and made an annoyed grunt, heading for the door, but then stopped. “Dammit, I can’t go outside yet. Remind me never to travel with you three ladies together after this.”

  “He has a point,” Valerie said, looking down at her breasts, which had not only grown when Michael had given her extra power, but were now pressed up tight, thanks to her pirate dress. She never understood why they had grown, but had to assume that the nanocytes or whatever it was he had told her were in her blood upgraded her in other ways than just for combat—like reproductive purposes. Or maybe it was an accidental side effect.

  When she looked up, everyone was staring at her breasts, too. Yeah, that felt really awkward.

  “No more objectifying anyone here, got it?” She looked pointedly at Cammie, then Robin. “We need to be a team, and that means trusting each other. Not holding resentment.”

  “He’s a guy,” Cammie said in response. “What guy doesn’t want this kind of objectification?”

  Valerie turned to Royland for an answer.

  He pursed his lips, thinking about it. “Good point, but still… I don’t know, it just feels weird, everyone here imagining me nude. There’s definitely a good side to that, you could say, but at the same time, I guess it makes me uncomfortable on some unexplainable level.”

  “Sexual tension,” Cammie replied.

  “What?”

  “If we all just stripped down and got it out of the way, you know, out of our system, it wouldn’t be awkward, and we could all move on.”

  Everyone stared at her now, but she just smiled back.

  “We’re not doing that,” Valerie said. “And Cammie, I think you need help.”

  “Help… in a sexual way?” She took Royland’s hand. “Nope, got that covered.”

  “I was thinking more in an it’s weird to be okay sharing your man kind of way.”

  “As odd as this sounds from me,” Royland said, kissing her hand. “I agree. I mean, maybe it’d be nice if you were a little jealous about the idea of me with another woman.”

  “I would be if I wasn’t there, too,” Cammie said, as if that made all the sense in the world.

  Valerie hung her head in frustration.

  “Um, guys?” Robin was at the doorway, no mask on, smiling. “In case you didn’t notice, all this talking lasted long enough for the sun to set. It’s pirate city time.”

  “Wonderful!” Royland said, and Valerie was just as happy to have a reason to move on from the awkward conversation.

  They all climbed down from the blimp to find Bronson slipping some coins into the stranger’s hand. With a smile, the stranger nodded their way and walked off.

  “Bastard says it’s for protection,” Bronson said when they had joined him.

  “As if we need protection,” Cammie scoffed.

  “Maybe we don’t,” Bronson replied, “but the blimps do. A couple shots into those balloons and we’d be grounded.”

  “You have somewhere to stay until we need to get out of here?” Valerie asked him, glancing over his shoulder at his three kids who were just walking over to join them.

  “I’ve made some contacts,” he said. “We’ll be safe.”

  “You have a plan?” Robin asked Valerie.

  Cammie interjected, “Kill ‘em all. Let God sort ‘em out.”

  “The fuck kind of saying is that?” Bronson asked.

  “Dad, mouth,” Allen said. The kids were at his side now.

  “Sorry, son.” Bronson shook his head, then looked at Valerie, nervously. “Please tell me you have a plan.”

  Valerie laughed at the pout on Cammie’s face, then said, “While we might eventually find that killing ends up being a necessity, I agree with what I think the Captain’s getting at. What’re we here for? To stop them from pirating, so that New York—and the rest of the world, really—can prosper.”

  “So… we have to kill them all.” Cammie said, folding her arms across her chest.

  “Or we have to take control,” Valerie said with a smile.

  Bronson frowned. “It’s… impossible.” His frown gave way to a smile. “But I like the way you think.”

  “Thinking has nothing to do with it,” Royland said with a laugh. “Why would we even want to keep them alive? These are cutthroats, thieves, and, er…” he glanced at the kids, then finished with, “…worse.”

  “Every last one of ‘em,” Cammie added with a disdainful glance at the pirate city.

  “Is that so?” Bronson asked, holding his youngest son close. “Until just a while ago, I was one of them, in a way. Lots of people are, because they aren’t given a choice or simply see no alternative.”

  “These are pirates we’re talking about here,” Royland said. “Just because you fell in with them, doesn’t mean we should take it easy here.”

  “I’m not saying we should take it easy.” Bronson stood his ground, not backing down from the vampire in front of him, and Valerie had to respect that. “But I’m saying we separate the rotten ones from the rest. You don’t think there’s people out there right now who think all vampires are bad? Who’d take to the streets and burn every last one of you alive, simply because of stories they’ve heard? Of your reputation?” He scoffed, glaring at Royland. “There’re some among you who I’m sure deserve this, but others less so.”

  “Fuck. You.”

  “You don’t think I’ve heard about you?” He looked at the rest of the group. “Did he tell you all the truth of his past? I’ve heard stories up here. Royland the Merciless, that’s you, right?”

  Royland backhanded Bronson, knocking him to the ground. Immediately his boy, Allen, had transformed and was attacking Royland. The boy actually held his ground fairly well, but Valerie stepped in and pulled them apart.

  “Learn your place, boy,” Royland said, then froze as everyone stared at him. “I—I had to lead my clan back then! Choices were made, none that I wouldn’t give up in a second if I had that as an option. But I don’t. I have to live with my choices, and do my best to make amends for them.”

  Bronson stood and held a hand out for his boy to relax, then smiled. “Point proven.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Point proven,” he repeated. “There are men, women, and yes, even children in there who have done some bad stuff, and walked away rich. We can bet on that. But there are many who would give
it all up in a second if they knew there was another lifestyle waiting for them. If they knew there was a leader who could take them away from this pirate life.”

  He turned to Valerie, waiting, but to her surprise, Cammie was the one who spoke up.

  “He’s right,” she said. “And I’ll be the one to lead them. Well, not just me…” She took Royland’s hand and held it to her chest, clutched in both of hers. “Both of us. Because none of your past matters to me, none of that shit. And we have to show the world that there’s a chance for redemption. If there isn’t, we’re all doomed.”

  Royland’s gaze remained firm, but he nodded. “If they don’t try to kill us, they can live. I’ll stand by such a rule.”

  “Those who want to can move to New York, but only if we feel they’re trustworthy. If they stay here, they fall under us and our new rule.”

  “Well then, let’s go bag ourselves some pirates, shall we?” Bronson said with a shrug. He pointed to the pirate city, diverting the group’s attention. They were at the outskirts of it, but farther in they could just make out the sound of cheering and music and the warm glow of large fires.

  “That’s where we’ll want to be,” Bronson said, and they all stared at the spot down by the shore.

  Fires roared around a well-preserved building from the old days, tall glass windows and a colorful wave of decorative architecture running along the front. A tall building stood behind it, and two incoming blimps could be seen passing overhead. The building might have once been a hotel, but Valerie guessed now was the housing base for the most respected pirates on the island. Crowds were gathered there, small dots moving about in the distance, but it was clear this was the spot to be.

  “Many islands weren’t hurt as bad during the aftermath to the Great Collapse,” Bronson said, as if reading her mind. “This one included. Yes, vegetation and whatnot suffered, but the crazies were kept at bay, and the people here were able to last, even had a ship—a regular sail boat—that they managed to get afloat… the days that followed led to intercepting a blimp at port, and, eventually, what you see before you.”

  “We look the part?” Valerie asked, glancing down at her pressed up cleavage and cringing.

  He nodded. “Some of the pirates have been experimenting with various tech, like what you saw back there with those metal gloves. Most of it is trigger-based—they make connection, darts shoot out, for example. But I’ve seen a weird device on a pirate’s back with steam coming out of it, others with strange additions to their swords. Just… be careful.”

  “You take care of those three kids. We can take care of ourselves.”

  “Down south, they hunted vampire blood,” Bronson said. “Well, up here they hunt vampires and Weres, but not for blood—it’s for sport. The UnknownWorld did less of a good job keeping itself unknown around these parts, so now it’s the ultimate sign of success if you can mount a head on your wall.

  “A human head?” Robin asked, horrified.

  “That’s the problem, isn’t it? You can’t really tell if it’s human or Were once it’s on the wall.”

  “We are human,” Valerie corrected him. “Just modified.”

  He nodded, forcing a smile as he looked at his Were boy. “I know that, you know that, but I’m afraid they don’t know that yet.” With a gesture to the incoming blimps, he said, “We best be moving on, unless we want to start here.”

  “If we want answers,” Robin said, staring off into the distance and the fires that lit up the night sky, “who’re we looking for?”

  “The prince, of course,” Bronson replied. “When you see him, you’ll know.”

  “We’ll escort you to the safe house,” Valerie said. “Then you and your family stay safe, we’ll break off and look for him.”

  “And if we find him?” Royland asked.

  “We need information on slaving operations in these parts,” Valerie replied. “We might need him to leverage bigger fish, and, at some point, we’ll need him out of the picture so that we can move in and fix this place.”

  “Alive then,” Cammie said. “Alive pirates are my least favorite kind.”

  “Then you might want to avoid looking in a mirror,” Valerie said with a chuckle.

  Cammie adjusted the black button-up coat and adjusted her black, felt hat. “I love the hat, though,” she admitted. “It’ll do well enough to replace my old one.” She pulled one of the swords she’d taken from the fallen pirates, not so different from her old kali-sticks, except that these blades weren’t hidden within wood. “And these will do fine.”

  Valerie, too, had picked up a belt with two blades attached, though hers were longer and thinner. Not your typical cutlass, used as much for the force of the strike as the blade itself. Hers, she guessed, as she didn’t know much about pirate blades, were more like modified rapiers. After a quick test and a smile to reassure the others, Valerie nodded and said, “We all know our mission, let’s get to it.”

  With that, they began their march into the pirate city to begin their hunt for the pirate prince. Valerie thought it funny that some had once called her the vampire princess, and now here she was, seeking out a prince. Only, in this fairy tale, she was damn sure it wouldn’t end with him winning her hand. Instead, she would tear out his heart.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Old Manhattan

  Sandra had slept most of the afternoon and woke to find that it was dark outside.

  “Diego?” she called out, and glanced around, waiting for a response. When none came, she turned on the bedside lamp and walked into the dining room.

  Again she called out for him, but no answer came. She turned on the main light and cringed as it flickered, too. Just another reminder that they hadn’t perfected this city yet. One day, she swore to herself, they would have this whole place operating like the old days—better even.

  She meandered over to the cupboard and found some crackers to munch on, poured a glass of water, and then went to the window. Outside, a police pod passed by, dark blue silhouette in the night with red lights trailing. A yellow glow rose up out of the city, and she wondered what all of the people out there were doing. Not sleeping yet, apparently. Many were likely just getting off of work and making their way to the food stalls along Capital Square, where they could find bowls of noodles, fried rice, and at one cart, even hot dogs.

  The thought made her mouth water, so she jammed another cracker in there and chased it with a swig of water.

  Where was Diego? She turned to see if the bathroom light was on, starting to feel the tightness in her chest that only came with worry, and then paused. There on the table was a piece of parchment. A note!

  She darted over and picked it up.

  The note read: Sorry, love, didn’t want to wake you. Donnoly called a meeting at Enforcer HQ.

  Sandra stared at the note for a moment, then noticed she was clenching her hand hard enough for her fingernails to hurt her palms. What the hell? They were having meetings without her now.

  Maybe that shouldn’t have bothered her, but it did. She had helped take control in the days following the departure of Commander Strake and the CEOs. She’d moved into leadership positions more than once, when others weren’t around to do so.

  Then again, she was the one who wanted to keep life more simple, to start the café and focus on sweets and wine. There wasn’t any reason to complain, so why did she want to kick something?

  She smiled, remembering one reason her emotions might be going crazy right now, and rubbed her belly. A little baby was growing in there, and that might mean some emotional shifts from time to time.

  Still, that didn’t mean she had to sit here and let them leave her out of whatever the hell was happening. Throwing on a light jacket over her T-shirt and changing into a pair of jeans, she finished her water and went for the door, then had to double back when she remembered how being pregnant meant using the bathroom way more than normal. She didn’t want to be halfway there and have to pop a squat in some alley—not wi
thout her Were boyfriend, or husband… nearby to protect her.

  When she was done, she made her way over to Enforcer HQ without incident and was soon riding the elevators to Colonel Donnoly’s office. That was where most of the meetings took place, so she figured the same would be true this night.

  Indeed, a low hum of chatter emerged from the office as she stepped out of the elevator. When she threw open the office doors, everyone turned to look at her. Donnoly sat at the head of the table, Esmerelda and Presley nearby, and Diego at the opposite end of the table.

  “Honey, you’re awake!” Diego stood and pulled out the chair next to him.

  She glared and sat, then asked, “Why was I excluded?”

  Donnoly pursed his lips and motioned to her belly. “We just assumed…”

  “No, don’t assume. Until I’m laid back with a baby coming out of me, I’m still in commission.” A couple in the room cringed at that image. “Seriously? We’ve all killed, and you have problems with the idea of life being brought into the world?” Donnoly laughed, but Sandra glared at him. “You tried to exclude me based on this. You aren’t getting off so easily.”

  “They’re just looking out for you,” Esmerelda said, coldly.

  “Let me look out for myself.” For a moment she considered asking what the hell Esmerelda was doing here anyway, but from seeing the way the woman had acted toward Donnoly earlier, she didn’t have any doubts.

  And then the awkward silence came… and dragged on. And on.

  Finally Sandra cleared her throat, leaned forward with her palms on the table, and said, “Get on with it then.”

  “Several matters were on the table,” Donnoly said. “One of them being your new friend.”

  “He’s good to go.”

  Donnoly arched an eyebrow, but nodded. “Which brings us to the second item, and a perfect opportunity to test him out.”

  “I vouch for him,” Sandra said, growing exasperated. “There’s no need.”

  “No offense,” Donnoly said, slowly looking around the room. “Most of you haven’t been part of this city longer than a couple months. As much as I trust you all—”