Warrior of Fire

by Shona Husk

  The familiar heat rushed through her like a blush dialed up to one hundred.

  Flames spread over her hands.

  Once she started the fire she would be stepping into the future she’d seen. The thick black smoke that choked her to death. That also killed Emily. This was how she died. The flames faltered for a heartbeat before she silenced the fear, smothering it with anger.

  Help would come. She had to believe that. Saba was better at finding. They shared blood. The cops would be using her phone to track her. They would find her. Hell, maybe she’d walk out of here. That was still a possibility. No future that she’d seen was permanent. It could still be changed.

  Did she open the door and start throwing fire or just set fire to the door?

  She didn’t really want to open the door and risk being shot.

  No matter what she did she risked another bullet.

  Fear kept her still, but the fire was still in her hands. She placed one on the white painted wood and sent all her energy into it. The paint blistered beneath her palm, and then the wood started to char. There was the first whiff of smoke and then the door caught alight.

  “Ow!” Emily said from the other side. The handle was released. The metal must have gotten too hot for her to hold.

  Leira managed a smile. She hoped the burn hurt.

  “Come out, you curled-ear freak.”

  “In a rush to kill me?” Leira was in no rush to die. She took the chance that Emily wouldn’t touch the handle again and grabbed a towel and wet it so she didn’t have to breathe in the smoke. Then she crouched by the door, now burning merrily. Her calf was throbbing, but she couldn’t let it distract her.

  “Yeah, I have a plane to catch.” There was a pause. “What the hell have you done?”

  The fire must have spread to the other side. Not long now. She didn’t want to fight through the door, just walk through the flames and…and throw a few fire balls at Emily.

  She closed her eyes as images of Emily on fire filled her mind. That would be an awful way to die. Leira didn’t think she’d be able to deliberately burn someone. Emily might be a Guardian, a witch hunter, but Leira was better than that. She peered up at the widening hole in the door. The acrid smell of the smoke caught in her throat despite the wet towel.

  She was not going to die in this dingy little bathroom.

  The smoke detector started beeping.

  Now while Emily would be distracted. She had to move now. Maybe she could make it to a window. They were five floors up…too far to jump without the magic of air to assist her, but there would be balconies. Risking a fall was still a better option than being trapped in the apartment with Emily.

  Leira stood, careful to keep to the side, then peeked through the hole the fire had made in the door again. No one was there.

  Her heart was beating hard and fast, but she forced herself through the burning gap.

  The flames kissed her skin but left no mark. Her clothes caught alight at the edges but she didn’t care. Emily wasn’t there. Leira stepped around the corner ready to make her escape, but Emily was waiting. And armed.

  Emily plunged an iron trident into Leira’s chest.

  * * * *

  “She shot me and she has Leira. I need to be out there, not here.” Julian didn’t want to be sitting around. He was sure that Emily and Leira were together and since he’d heard nothing from Leira he was beginning to think the worst.

  He didn’t want that future to come true.

  His arm was throbbing, and there was a bruise blooming on his chest from where the bulletproof vest had saved his life. His shield didn’t stop bullets, only slowed them down. That was a good thing to know.

  The cop he was with just shook his head. “There are qualified people on the job.”

  Qualified, but non-Albah on the job. Where was his father? Julian had sent a message.

  Every second that slid by was one that they had lost in the search. The tension was eating him alive, but he remained sitting and didn’t start pacing.

  The coffee shop was closed. A crime scene. All the witnesses were being interviewed. He wasn’t a suspect but he had been involved so he was getting a special interview now that the paramedics had checked him over. It would’ve been easier to go to hospital and then escape.

  There was a fuss at the door and his father walked in flashing his badge. He walked straight over. “Julian, with me.”

  “I’m still talking to him,” the cop protested

  “And you can have him back once we have located his ex-girlfriend, who is holding his current girlfriend hostage.”

  Those words hurt and confirmed his worst fears. He knew what her future held and he’d be damned if she was going to die with Emily. “Is Leira okay?”

  “She was as of fifteen minutes ago, when we received notification.” His father’s voice was level but from the look in his eyes Julian knew there would be hell to pay later. He’d pay whatever he needed to as long as Leira was all right.

  Dad’s phone rang and he stepped back, motioning Julian to follow. Julian obeyed, glad to be doing something other than sitting and waiting. “Good. Send me the map.”

  They walked out of the coffee shop.

  “Leira was on foot?” His father walked briskly toward the footpath.

  “Yes.” The car was still out front of the coffee shop.

  “Which way?”

  “I didn’t see…” He should have noticed.

  His father checked his phone as it pinged. “Saba has narrowed it down.”

  Julian looked at the screen. It was a tighter area than what Leira had gotten when she’d tried to locate Emily. “She must have gone this way. It’s the shortest route.”

  Quinn looked up and down the street. He glanced up as though looking for answers. If he’d been a female air user, he might have found some in the clouds. There were plenty of onlookers wanting to see what the drama was about. “Only if she was going home.”

  A cop talking to some of the bystanders waved Quinn over. “Apparently there’s fresh blood at the intersection.”

  The person he’d been talking to pointed toward the traffic signals. “Not much, but it looked fresh. Did someone get shot?”

  His father didn’t answer.

  Julian followed and they walked up the street. When they reached the suspected blood, his father made another call to confirm and get someone over to mark the blood splatter and protect the evidence.

  Was it Leira’s blood? He had no idea.

  When his father got off the phone, he looked at Julian. “What did you think you were doing?”

  “I went to talk. We wanted to find out where she lived so that you could do your job.” He left out the bit about wanting to push Emily into making a mistake.

  “You don’t wear a bulletproof vest to a chat. You expected something to happen.” He shook his head. “I’ve spoken to Dale already. He should’ve told me what you were up to.”

  Damn it. “I don’t need to tell you everything.”

  His father glared at him. “This isn’t a game. It’s not TV. This is a bloody war that has been fought for centuries.”

  “And they are winning because we do nothing.”

  More sirens. What was going on now?

  His father lifted his gaze. “I knew there was something in the air. There’s a fire.”

  “Leira.” The vision of her death in the choking smoke, of Emily in the same situation, became all too real. He wanted to run to her, but he didn’t know where he was going. “Where is she?”

  But his father was already on the phone asking where the fire truck was heading.

  Had Leira set the fire so she’d be found? He’d cheated death this morning. He didn’t feel like all his luck was used up. His father pointed and started running. Julian ran too.

  He wasn’t losing someone else he loved to fire.

  Chapter 18

  Emily yanked the trident free of Leira�
��s chest. Her burned palm was sore, but she wouldn’t let such a minor injury stop her. She’d known the freak was up to something in the bathroom. How she’d lit the fire, Emily had no idea, but she wasn’t going to let a good fire go to waste. All the evidence would burn along with Leira’s body. It was just a pity she hadn’t been able to do a proper questioning where she got Leira to admit to wanting to became a vampire. That was what Guardians did. They made the Albah confess to being unnatural.

  Not that it mattered now. Her mother would never know that she’d completed the task. She’d never get to hear her mother say how proud she was. All she’d ever heard was the disappointment.

  At least she’d gotten to use a trident like a real Guardian, even if it was only a gardening fork that she’d bought for a few dollars at the hardware store.

  Leira glanced down and placed a hand to her chest. She looked surprised.

  “Did you think I was going to shoot you? That’s too quick for the likes of you.” Emily took a step back. She needed to grab her bag and get out of here. The fire was spreading. Smoke coiled along the ceiling.

  Then something happened and Leira’s clothing burst into flames. But instead of screaming she just stood there. Maybe she was dead already and she just hadn’t fallen over yet.

  Emily took a moment to enjoy the satisfaction of avenging her mother and completing her first mission. She was a full Guardian. The Albah weren’t that hard to kill after all. Before she left Australia she’d hunt them all down one by one. She could do that with the gun. She didn’t need to get close the way she had with Julian and Leira. They’d tried to play her, but she’d won.

  Leira moved. She wasn’t dead even though she was on fire and bleeding. Emily yelped and stepped back. Leira lifted her hand. A ball of fire hit the wall behind Emily. She jumped away but sparks hit her skin and burned. The fire spread to the ceiling.

  Emily turned and ran. Leira was clearly a vampire now. She had to be. No one could survive being on fire like that. Emily glanced behind her. Leira was following. Blood was soaking the front of Leira’s shirt, and she was leaning on the wall to stay upright. But she was following. Emily pulled a gold cross out from under her shirt. “Get away from me, Albanex.”

  Leira shook her head. “I’m not the monster.”

  Her voice was barely louder that the crackle of flames. They crawled over her skin but didn’t seem to be burning her. Her clothes disintegrated, burned away.

  She clearly wasn’t human, but Emily didn’t know what Leira was. No one had told her that the Alba could hold fire without burning. Was this the magic that Julian had hinted at? Was this the secret that Guardians learned once they had made their first kill?

  Emily picked up her bag and ran for the door. The balls of fire followed. One hit the door right in front of her. She stopped and turned.

  “Are you crazy? We’ll both be trapped in here.”

  “If I have to die, so do you.” Leira was leaning heavily on the wall now.

  Could Emily stab her again and finish her off? Maybe shoot her so she didn’t have to get close to her. She rummaged through the bag. Where had she put the gun? Fire engulfed the bag before she could grab anything out of it. She dropped the burning bag with a yelp. Leira was actually throwing fire the way normal people threw tennis balls.

  The gun was in her room, where she’d left when she’d grabbed the trident, up the burning corridor. She wasn’t going back to get it. She had to get out of here. The balcony.

  Emily ran across the empty room. The linoleum at her feet crackled and split as fire chased her. The blinds that covered the glass sliding doors exploded into flames. She was trapped. No, it wasn’t supposed to end like this. She remembered Julian telling her to walk away, that she didn’t have to do this. But he’d never understood her. Without the Guardians of Adam, she was no one. Nothing but a boring woman with no chance of ever getting to college or doing anything else. She had no other skills except fighting and tracking.

  But even the Guardians had lied to her about how dangerous the Albah were. This was the proof they weren’t human and they needed to die.

  * * * *

  Every breath hurt. Leira was losing blood, but she had to stay awake. The moment she lost consciousness the flames would burn her. Having her element destroy her would be the ultimate humiliation.

  Emily stood frozen in the middle of the room as though she didn’t know where to run to. There was nowhere for her to go. Everything was on fire.

  The smell was appalling, acrid from the burning plastics. The smoke was thick and black just like in her vision. This was it. Somewhere she’d dropped the wet towel, or maybe it had burned up, Leira couldn’t remember. All she’d known was that she was not letting Emily leave.

  She slid down the wall to sit on the ground. There was less smoke down here, but the apartment was filling, poisoning the air and making breathing toxic. The front door was burning. Had everyone else been evacuated from the apartment block? She didn’t want anyone else to die. She felt a little guilty for causing so much damage. It far exceeded anything she’d accidentally done.

  No, this had been one hundred percent deliberate.

  Slowly she edged toward the front door, dragging herself over the floor and using the wall for support. Maybe she could get out through the burning door and get herself down the stairs. She didn’t want to die from smoke inhalation.

  The air was hot in her lungs and she knew all those chemicals wouldn’t be doing her any good. Emily was coughing; she was still standing. Fool.

  Leira kept moving. Everything hurt. She was tired. The magic and the blood loss were taking their toll. This morning she hadn’t expected anything to happen except a little recon to find out where Emily lived. She hadn’t expected Emily to have a gun. If she’d had a gun this whole time, why not just use it and get it done?

  Why not shoot her properly the first time?

  Although Leira was glad that Emily hadn’t shot her in the chest and left her to die in the street. Emily moved through the smoke toward her. If that bitch laid a hand on her, she was going to burn.

  But Emily didn’t touch her. “I don’t want to die.”

  Leira kept edging toward the door. “Neither do I, but you didn’t care about that.”

  Every word was an effort. The wound in her chest was making her breaths short and painful. She should probably shut up and concentrate on staying conscious.

  “I’m sorry.” Emily was on her hands and knees, crawling closer.

  Leira shook her head. The time for sorry was long gone. “Maybe you shouldn’t have pulled the trigger.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  Leira didn’t want to understand. Anyone who thought that it was okay to kill people they didn’t like didn’t deserve the opportunity to be heard or understood. “Go to hell.”

  The door was right behind her. She’d have to crawl through, over the broken bits of wood. She didn’t know if she was going to be able to make it. The hole wasn’t big enough yet. She put her hand out to burn it further.

  Emily rammed the gardening fork through Leira’s calf. She screamed. That had been her good leg.

  “Save me or I turn you into a sieve!” Emily tore the fork out, ready to strike again.

  Leira panted through the pain that wanted to swallow her whole. The heat was starting to get to her. Her skin was feeling too hot and she was thirsty. Must stay awake. That was all that was keeping her alive and immune to flames. Where was the fire department?

  She put her back against what was left of the front door, determined to get through one way or another or die trying. She couldn’t take her eyes off Emily.

  It took far too much effort to throw the fire that caught hold of the cheap plastic handle of the gardening fork. Emily’s little trident burned. If it had been a pitchfork, Emily might have killed her already. Someone had come after her with a fork, but it was Leira brandishing the fire.

  Centuries had pas
sed and yet some things hadn’t changed. This was still a witch hunt.

  Emily howled and dropped the weapon. Her shirt caught alight. Emily tried to put herself out; she was screaming and crying.

  Leira winced. But she couldn’t let herself feel compassion for Emily. Emily had brought this future into reality.

  The remains of the door gave a little and Leira leaned into it, determined to force her way through.

  Parts of the ceiling were starting to fall. Every breath was a cough that racked her whole body. Every time she closed her eyes she wasn’t sure if she was going to open them. Heat and the pain on her skin was all that was keeping her awake and alive. She was fire and it wouldn’t kill her, not while she was still conscious. She could hold out for a little longer. Tears filled her vision, the smoke stinging her eyes.

  A little farther and she’d be out of the apartment. She used her back to nudge the door. It gave a little more. She was almost there. There was fresh air, fresher air in the hallway. She turned her head and tried to suck some of it into her damaged lungs.

  She’d looked up what smoke inhalation did to the body. It wasn’t nice. It didn’t feel nice either.

  Emily’s cries were lost in the noise of the fire. Leira tried not to look at her. She hadn’t meant to kill anyone. She gave the door another shove with her back and almost fell out into the hallway and straight onto a broken piece of wood that was waiting to impale anyone who escaped the fire. Carefully she inched backward through what was left of the door. She was almost free.

  Emily grabbed her ankle.

  The fire on Leira’s skin had gone out, making her safe to touch. She was running out of energy to do anything but stay alive.

  Someone touched her shoulder. Leira screamed.

  “It’s okay. I got you,” Julian said close to her ear.