Warrior of Fire

by Shona Husk

  “I’ll call him. You call her.”

  He kissed her again, not wanting to do this but knowing they had to act.

  * * * *

  Julian sat in the coffee shop that was within Leira’s one-block radius. He knew it well because he’d been here before, only this time he sat with his back to a wall as Dale had advised. Dale sat at a table nearby with a coffee and a newspaper looking like just another guy enjoying a Sunday morning.

  Dale hadn’t been thrilled with the plan, but he understood the need to draw people out and get them to make a mistake. Hopefully a non-fatal one. But Dale had also been practical and insisted that Julian wear a bulletproof vest under his jacket. They weren’t nearly as difficult to purchase as Julian had thought they’d be. It was, however, heavier and hotter than he’d expected. It may also save his life—assuming Emily didn’t aim for his head or his thigh and hit the femoral artery. There were so many places on the body that could be injured and cause a quick death. He had to stop thinking about that.

  He resisted the urge to glance out the window to where Leira was watching from the rental car. Her telltale blond hair hidden under a cap.

  Julian really hoped that Emily had no more backup, otherwise anyone in the coffee shop could be a Guardian. He cast his gaze around, trying to see if anyone had a trident tattoo on their wrist. Although, that was probably only Emily’s branch.

  No one was watching him and everyone was far too busy with their coffee and cakes and friends. There were too many people in here. What if she did something and hurt someone? Once he would’ve said Emily wasn’t capable of hurting anyone, now he knew she was willing to kill.

  Dale turned the page of the newspaper. Was he actually reading?

  Julian checked his phone, then scanned the menu for the tenth time. He had no plans to order anything. He couldn’t have eaten even if he had. Emily was late. Had she been watching the coffee shop? They’d been careful; Leira had driven and he’d caught the train as usual. Dale had been here before Julian had arrived.

  He forced out a breath and risked a glance out the window to where Leira was. She was fine. He may not be, because Emily was walking toward the door. His heart clenched and adrenaline swept through him. Fire was close to the surface, ready and waiting. He’d cut his hand before coming out to make sure he had blood ready to spill if he needed it to strengthen his magic.

  Emily sat down opposite him. There was no greeting or smile. All presence of romance or affection was gone. “You wanted to meet.”

  “I want to establish a truce.” They had decided that would be the best way to approach this.

  She laughed, mocking him. It was an ugly sound. “It’s far too late for that after what you did to my mother.” Her voice was a low harsh whisper.

  “Your mother?” He honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

  “Melbourne? Don’t act like you don’t know.”

  Oh. One of those Guardians who had been killed had been her mother. “I didn’t know that was going to happen.”

  “Bullshit. I told you they were coming and you passed the news on.” The sneer in her voice was so sharp he wondered what he’d ever seen in her.

  “I warned the others, that much is true, but I didn’t expect that result. Besides, they were coming here with only one purpose. How can you argue that they were innocent or didn’t deserve it?” How many Albah had her mother killed and made it look like an accident? “They had blood on their hands.”

  Emily’s face contorted. “That was my mother.”

  “Yeah, hurts to lose your mother, doesn’t it? To know that it could have been prevented. Imagine what it would be like if your people stopped killing mine. No one would need to die.”

  “People would die, though. You’d want a taste of forever.”

  Julian shook his head. “Two hundred years ago we made a truce with your kind. We kept our end in good faith, but your kind have been breaking it, making it look accidental. Now we know the truth and some of us want revenge.” That probably wasn’t a lie, but he didn’t know if it was the truth either. “Most of us want peace and to be left alone.”

  “No, there will never be peace until you are all gone.” She rearranged her handbag on her lap.

  “Genocide is never the answer. Maybe the rest of the world would like to know we exist and what we can do.”

  She sneered at him. “Two words. Government labs. The Albah will never go public. The Guardians? We have many faces. We could be your colleagues, your friends, your lovers and you wouldn’t know until the trigger was pulled.” She stood up. “This is for my mother.”

  Julian pushed up his shield. The first bullet hit, the metal glowing red as it slowed, then hit him in the chest.

  If she noticed his magic, she didn’t stop. “I’ll hunt your girlfriend down too.”

  People hadn’t realized what was going on yet. The gun was too quiet and they thought they were witnessing an argument. Breathing hurt but he had to focus on the shield. He scraped his nails over the cut on his palm and felt the shield harden. Dale was moving. Emily fired again. The bullet skewed through his shield and hit him in the bicep. It tore through the muscle.

  Now people were screaming and hiding behind their tables.

  Emily was running. Dale gave chase and was calling the police.

  Julian dropped the shield; the pain was distracting. He clamped his hand over his arm. Plenty of blood to work with. As much as he’d like to heal it here and now, there were too many people around and they were expecting him to be hurt. Blood oozed between his fingers. He slowed the flow, feeling for the ruptured blood vessels and knitting them together. It was all he could do in those few seconds. Healing wasn’t a quick magic and he wasn’t sure he could do more on himself for something this major.

  Could have been worse.

  Dale ran back in. “Where are you hit?”

  “Arm. It’s fine.”

  Dale looked like he was about to argue, but then must have remembered he was talking to a doctor with healing magic. He may not be fine. Muscle was damaged, maybe the bullet had chipped the bone. He wouldn’t know until he got the chance to do more magic. He didn’t want surgery and a hospital stay. “You didn’t get her.”

  Dale shook his head. “I never saw the gun. Did you?”

  Julian shook his head. This place would be crawling with cops and medics soon. He needed to make the injury less severe. “She fired through her handbag…must have had a silencer?”

  Dale nodded. “Take a moment to do what you need.” He pulled out his badge and started gathering people up.

  That was his idea of a distraction. Julian grabbed the sugar off the table and made a circle around his chair as surreptitiously as he could—he wouldn’t be able to hold one out of pure will right now. The circle sprang up around him. He used his own blood in the magic. He focused on the wound, then took hold of the pain and used that too. He hadn’t healed himself in years. That had really only been skinned knees, and one small fracture in his hand. This was different. Everything was screaming and ragged. He could feel the bullet in him. It was still hot after passing through his shield.

  Carefully he nudged it closer to the surface, which was difficult to do. What he needed was some tweezers and a little local anesthetic to go digging. He started the healing process on the inside. He didn’t have the time or energy to fully heal anything right now.

  Sirens filled the air.

  He pulled his hand off his arm and let the circle go. The wound felt better already. He could feel it knitting together. The bullet was still moving, working its way closer to the surface. A little silver on the wound and the help of another male Albah to finish the healing and he’d be fine.

  He was not going to tell his father about this. He sighed. With the cops arriving his father was going to hear about it anyway. There was no way to keep this quiet. Leira and he had never expected Emily to try something so public.

  By the time
the cops and the ambulance pulled up, everything had calmed down. He even managed to avoid a trip to hospital.

  But not being questioned by the newly arrived police.

  This was a mess. He glanced out the window. The car was empty. Leira was gone.

  Chapter 17

  Emily ran from the coffee shop. She’d dressed in leggings and runners as though she’d planned on fleeing the scene—or was out for a catch up with friends after yoga to the casual observer. Her handbag was clutched to her chest. Leira had no idea what had happened in the coffee shop, only that she had to go after Emily and hope that Dale and Julian were okay.

  She left the car and followed Emily. Leira had also worn runners for the occasion; she was glad that she did go to the gym on a semi regular basis so could keep up. The only thing in her favor was that Emily wasn’t expecting her.

  It was easy to follow her at first. She was headed to the train station. As Emily rounded the corner, she slowed and joined the other people on the footpath. Leira slowed, but didn’t get too close. Her phone buzzed, but she ignored it. If she answered, she might lose Emily, or worse, Emily might turn at the sound of her voice.

  Emily kept going, then crossed the road. Leira had no choice but to get closer and also jog across the intersection before the lights changed. Emily turned around, her lips drew into a smug grin, and her hand slid into her handbag. “Your boyfriend is dead.”

  Sirens started in the distance.

  Fear gripped Leira and she froze. Her vision of Julian had already happened while she sat in the car. He’d looked fine. He’d been sitting in the chair. She’d never heard the shot. Wasn’t that supposed to be noisy? Fire heated her blood as fear made her skin cold. “What did you do?”

  “Shot him in the chest. Twice. Once for my mother and once for my aunt.” But there was a flicker of doubt and the taste of untruth on her words. Emily wasn’t sure Julian was dead.

  Anger flickered through her and brought the fire too close to the surface. She forced herself to breathe more calmly. He could be injured. Dale was with him. He would be okay. He had to be okay. “You lie.”

  Emily withdrew her hand slightly so Leira could see the barrel of a pistol. A gun. Emily had really shot Julian. The sirens were getting closer. “Want to find out? Run back to him, but the odds are good that I fill you with bullets before you get over the road.”

  Leira swallowed. If she stayed, she’d get shot anyway. She ran. No plan had ever included her getting shot. The first bullet hit her in the leg. It was almost silent. She fell and landed on her hands and knees.

  “Leira! Are you okay?” Emily was being the fake friend to anyone who was looking or listening. She pulled Leira up with one hand. “You do anything and the next one enters your back and punctures your lung. Start walking.”

  “Get away from me.” Her voice was tight with fear and her words didn’t carry over the sound of sirens. Everyone was gravitating toward the café to see what was going on. No one was coming to help her.

  Her mind raced and her skin was hot. She might burn Emily’s fingers, but Emily would still kill her with the gun. That wasn’t how this was supposed to end. Unless her future had changed again. If she was going to die, she was taking Emily with her. Just like in her vision. When Emily pulled, she moved. Her calf burned and blood was running down her leg, making her sock squishy.

  She tried to let the flames take hold. She didn’t care if her clothes caught fire and everyone stared. She just needed to get Emily off her. But the flames didn’t form. She wished she’d answered her phone when it had rung, had it been a warning? Maybe it wasn’t too late. She slid her hand into her pocket.

  Emily nudged her. “Don’t even try it.”

  Leira glanced at a passerby but they were distracted by the sirens. She would have to save herself. Her glimpses of the future had never given her any clues about how that was supposed to happen. “Where are you taking me?”

  “You wanted to know where I live, right? We can have a chat, woman to woman about how you shouldn’t steal boyfriends.”

  “I didn’t steal him.” He could be dead. She refused to believe that. “He’s not a car. He has free will.” Could Emily not see she was part of the problem? Why would anyone want to be with a liar with so little regard for life?

  “Shut up.” Emily jabbed the gun into her ribs.

  “You don’t want to talk. You want to kill me. Why not do it here?” She had more of a chance while they were in public. If they ended up at Emily’s place, it would be too late.

  “Because I want my second kill to be done right. My mother was killed by some of you. Gunned down for no reason. Do you even care about the death you cause?”

  “Do you? How many of us did your mother kill?”

  “Shut up, you non-human freak!” Emily yanked her into a cheap apartment complex. Leira resisted, not wanting to go in, but Emily was strong and pulled her into the lift.

  Leira stamped on Emily’s foot and shoved, letting the heat fill her hands. Nothing happened. Where was her magic? Was she too panicked to grab it? It was there but slippery. She fought to get free, not wanting to get into the lift. Hoping someone would see the struggle. Emily smashed the gun into the side of Leira’s face. Leira staggered. Her back hit the wall and the doors closed, trapping her inside the lift with Emily.

  What had Julian said about the magic not being there if the user was unconscious?

  She had to stay awake.

  Leira let the fear flood her so she could grab her fire, but she couldn’t focus as Emily struck again. Leira barely got her hands up in time to block the strike. The impact reverberated up her arm.

  Emily pressed a button and kept the gun leveled at her. Leira didn’t move. She needed a moment to sort herself out and find the fire. It had always been so easy to find and now that she needed it, it was gone. Ironic. She needed to calm down and put aside the adrenaline. Fear had never once helped her. It had only made things worse.

  The lift stopped and Emily helped her out, the gun pressed to her side again. She wasn’t willing to fight with a gun pressed to her ribs. She’d be wounded too badly. Her calf throbbed; she was already losing blood and doubted she’d be able to run far or fast. She’d only get one shot to get away, and for that she’d need her magic.

  The next best thing she could do was fake being weak.

  Emily opened the door to the apartment and pushed her in. “Have a seat.”

  There was one chair in the middle of the sitting room and no other furniture. Had Emily planned to bring Julian here? Leira glanced around, but sat.

  Emily locked the door. She kept the gun in her hand, but let her handbag slide to the floor. “This was only meant to be backup. The Albah don’t deserve such quick deaths.”

  “Julian deserves a better girlfriend than you. What was it like to sleep with a man you hated? Did you feel like a whore?”

  Emily lifted the gun. Leira threw herself sideways as a bullet hit the cheap plastic chair. How many bullets did that thing have? Why the hell was it so quiet?

  Leira scrambled to the bathroom, and two bullets followed, making puffs of plaster as they hit the wall. Leira shut the bathroom door and locked it. She wanted to lean against it but was very glad she hadn’t when a bullet tore apart the thin sheets of wood and sent splinters flying.

  “You can’t stay in there forever.”

  She knew that. There was no outside window. Damn cheap apartments. “You’re going to run out of bullets soon. People will be looking for me.”

  “Will they? Julian won’t be able to say you were there.”

  No, if he was injured and in surgery he wouldn’t, but Dale would. He’d wonder where she was. Leira pulled out her phone to text Quinn and Dale.

  Her hands were shaking so much she could barely type. Her leg was throbbing.

  Trapped with Emily. Not far from coffee shop. Cheap apartment.

  She couldn’t even remember what the building look
ed like. She was a crappy witness. She hit send, then put the phone on silent.

  The handle jiggled as Emily worked on the lock…if it could be called that. Any coin could open it. It was designed for privacy not security.

  Leira moved next to the door, with her back to the wall so the bullets wouldn’t get her, and held the handle. What could she do? Melt it? Emily could kick the door in.

  She could set fire to the door and walk through it. That might give her the element of surprise. Fire would also set off the smoke alarm and draw attention.

  The handle turned suddenly and Leira struggled to keep hold. If the door opened, she was dead. Another bullet came through the door.

  “Give in. You’re mine. I never planned on killing Julian, at least not until I’d grown tired of him. You, on the other hand, you should die.”

  “I don’t think you can kill. You’ve already tried to kill me once when you tampered with my car. And Julian is still alive.” She had to believe that Emily didn’t have the stomach for murder.

  “I can kill! I will be a full Guardian. I’ll make my mother proud.”

  “If you’d done it right, she wouldn’t have come to Australia and she’d still be alive.” It probably wasn’t smart to taunt Emily but Leira needed time.

  Her magic had always flared up with lust and anger. Apparently fear of death wasn’t enough, or maybe it was too much. She drew in several deep breaths. Anger. She could work with that. Feed it and let it eat her fear. She shouldn’t be afraid Emily was going to kill her. She should be angry that she’d even try. Why did Emily get to play God? Bit by bit, she pulled it together and felt the fire spark.

  Accept it, Julian had said.

  The cops were looking for her; all she had to do was stay alive. The door handle was yanked again, and her fingers slipped. She was going to run out of strength, and blood, if they kept playing this game.

  She was already weak…oh shit. She hadn’t been able to locate Emily properly because there was too much iron. If there was iron through the apartment, then it could also be messing with her magic. This place had been set up to weaken Albah. She had blood. All she needed was silver. Her necklace. She wrapped her bloodied hand around it and summoned the fury, waking the heat in her blood. She wanted lava in her veins. Fire on her skin.