Burned

by J. Nichole Parkins

  “It looks like the killer used the bay to cover his crime. He hasn’t done that before. What changed? Why make more effort to cover up now?” I wondered aloud.

  “Are we getting closer to the killer? Does someone know you are in the House under false pretenses?”

  My heart stopped cold in my chest. Sweat broke out, causing a sudden chill to wrack my body.

  “It’s possible, but not likely. Unless there is a mole in the FBI?”

  “Unlikely, but I’ll bring it up to Don. He can work on clearing everyone who has been at the scenes.” His eyes swung back to mine. “Maybe you should consider getting out.”

  Maybe. But the question was how.

  Something caught my eye further along the dock. My blood froze. Fear crystallized as I realized what I was looking at.

  The shoe lay undamaged on its side next to shreds of meat.

  Red.

  Sparkles flashed in the sun.

  Familiar.

  My eyes closed as recognition slammed into me. I swallowed thickly. Tears pricking my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

  I knew if we looked close they’d be a size eight Jimmy Choo.

  Because they were mine.

  “Spencer.” My voice broke on his name. I cleared my throat as he came closer, his eyes pinched in concern.

  “It’s Rho.”

  His eyes met mine when he placed the name. “From the VIP room at Phoenix?”

  I nodded.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because those are my Jimmy Choos.” At his blank stare I added, “My shoes. I loaned them to her the last time I was there. She had admired them and I owed her.”

  We weren’t close, she was more Daniel’s friend than mine. But she was nice. Fun. She didn’t deserve to die like this. Fury erupted inside me. My arms trembled.

  Spencer’s familiar zing radiated from my shoulder as he squeezed it, drawing some of the energy from me.

  I almost knocked his hand away, preferring the violence. Wanting the release. Craving it.

  The monster wanted out. Wanted to do some damage. Lured me with the promise of how good it would feel to let go.

  But I left it there. The energy continued to dissipate. The calmness that remained was a blessing. I shuddered in relief.

  “I’ll contact my shifter friend.” I resolved silently to do anything I could to catch this guy. But I wouldn’t be turning him in to the FBI.

  No.

  He was all mine.

  I was still seething later that night. The anger simmered around me, the air a warm cloud. I should have stayed home, but I wanted - needed - to make progress on this case.

  The connection between the murders and Alejandro was here somewhere. I could feel it.

  My plan was to stick as close as possible to the vampire. Listening. Learning. Watching. Fuck the consequences. This had gone on far too long.

  I stretched out on the chaise in his office reading - or pretending to read - a magazine. I was trying not to remember catching Vera and Liam there, displayed in all their glory. I shivered. That wasn’t an image I wanted burned into my head. But once seen, some things just can’t be unseen.

  It wasn't that the magazine was dull - the stunning images of this season’s shoes were drool-worthy. A pair of black leather thigh-highs with a four-inch heel were definitely worth adding to my collection. I almost had a shoegasm on the spot. I focused on the conversation between Alejandro and Arabella. Their hushed words blurring, running together thanks to the hum of the air conditioning.

  My frustration mounted. If they’d just move a couple of feet to the left, I could hear everything. Scenarios for moving closer ran through my mind, none of them plausible.

  Before I could think of anything believable, Arabella stomped off in an angry huff. Her skirt swinging around her ankles as her Valentino sling-backs clicked stiffly on the tile.

  Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise.

  “Kyra,” he barked, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Can you come here please.”

  I stuffed down my irritation. Doing as he asked. Reminding myself why I was here. Why I had to tolerate him.

  I sat in the soft leather chair facing his desk, after he gestured there with a sweep of his hand. His bold platinum ring flashed on his elegant fingers.

  Waiting, I watched as he paced slowly behind his expansive desk. My eyebrow lifted at the uncharacteristic movement, my heart racing. What was going on here?

  “You’ve been with us a few months now.”

  It wasn’t a question so I didn’t answer, just watched as he continued gliding across the room. My anxiety rose with each pass.

  “I feel like you have earned my trust. You have been a very useful addition to my House.”

  Bile rose at the memory of how useful I had been. I forced it down, casually grasping my hands to hide their trembling.

  What was he going to use me for now?

  He changed paths abruptly, gliding behind the chair I was sitting in. Out of my line of vision.

  My heart kicked up a notch.

  His cool hand brushed against my neck, exposed since I continued to wear it in a pixie cut. The style well suited to my lifestyle. Plus it couldn’t be used to restrain me.

  “You know I can feel your presence when I wake. So warm. So vibrant.” His long nail trailed along my carotid, eliciting a chill. “Your blood sings to me. Your energy flutters in my peripheral. Calling to me.”

  The soothing tones of his voice, with his lilting accent, lulled me into a false sense of serenity.

  “I know you feel it too - the draw. The desire to be near me.” His breath was warm on my ear as he whispered, my mouth suddenly dry. He inhaled my scent, nipping almost gently at my neck.

  I was frozen in place. Ice in my veins. Disgust warred with the desire to feel his teeth sink into my flesh.

  “Your blood is so powerful,” he whispered against my skin. “I’ll admit to almost being obsessed with you.” His tongue darted out, leaving behind a wetness that cooled in the air.

  “I never expected to find a Nahual again.” I could feel his smile. A shiver coursed through me. Was finding the killer worth whatever horrible acts he would make me do while I was a part of his enclave?

  A slide show of bodies paraded in my mind. The mangled flesh. Torn from their bones while they were alive.

  Rho.

  Laughing. Fist on her hip. Her eyes sparkling with life. Vitality.

  I steeled myself.

  It had to be.

  “You’ve come so far in such a short time.” He rose, tapping a finger on his leg. “Come. I have a very important task for you to accomplish.” Snapping his briefcase closed, he stalked to the elevator expecting me to follow.

  I was about to find out.

  Chapter Twenty

  The flames licked up the side of the building, as it followed my direction. The power moved through me, tingling through my limbs. Heart racing, a smile played on my lips. Ecstasy rolled through my body.

  I never thought I’d enjoy releasing the flames. I had spent years trying to keep the energy in its little box, keep it from overflowing. So much wasted time. I should have given in long ago. Pleasure rolled through me as I gathered more of the surrounding energy and focused it into the building.

  I was powerful. Unbelievably so.

  How could something that felt this good, felt this right, be bad?

  “You are doing wonderfully, my dear.” Alejandro’s cultured voice danced around me. I felt his icy presence behind me, but ignored it to stay focused on the job at hand.

  I raised my hands above my head and the flames immediately responded, rising. It was heady.

  I hated to admit it, but he’d been right. The fire was mine to control now, it was as a part of me as breathing, as shifting.

  I had finally stopped fighting myself and accepted all the parts of me. I had never felt more whole.

  When I allowed the flames loose like this I felt invincible.

  I w
as a god.

  I laughed, the joyful sound drowned out by the crackle and pop of the flames as they burned through the building.

  It was another insurance burn-down. An abandoned hotel just outside of Orlando, about an hour and a half east of Tampa. Alejandro, under one of his subsidiary companies, had some problems getting a permit to demolish the building and replace it with a luxury resort for tourists. My little talent was taking care of it for him.

  The whole building was engulfed in flames at this point. There was no way to salvage any part of it. The insurance payoff would be full once the investigation was over. Alejandro could then raze the rubble to the ground and get started on the resort. Satisfied that my job here was done, I turned to leave.

  But then I heard it.

  The screaming.

  It twisted my gut as I realized what I was hearing.

  Someone was being burned alive.

  No, not someone. Several.

  The acrid stench of burning flesh reached me and I stayed rooted to the spot, unable to move. Shock rocketed through me. I grappled to find a solution. How did I fix this?

  Released from my stasis, I began to run. I had to save them. I might be able to stop the flames. Deep down I knew the damage was done. But I needed to try.

  A steel band wrapped around my waist, lifting me in the air as I kicked and scrambled futilely.

  “We need to go,” Alejandro whispered in my ear. I shuddered with revulsion at his closeness. “The authorities are on their way.”

  “No!” I screamed, beating at his arms. “I can stop it! I can-”

  “You cannot.”

  He was right. He was always right. It was too late.

  I had just killed several people.

  I bent at the waist vomiting. Some of it splashed on his Italian leather shoes. I would find perverse pleasure in this fact later.

  Yes, I had killed before, but never like this. These people were innocent, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The others, the people I had killed in the past - it was out of self-preservation. Self-defense.

  Threatening people or inflicting damage was one thing.

  Burning people alive?

  It was horrific.

  It was torture.

  I was a monster.

  My mind went blank, shutting down to save my sanity.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “You don’t care that I just burned a bunch of people alive?” My voice rose to a shriek. I was in a state of horrified shock. I would have never spoken like that to him otherwise.

  “No.” He shrugged, completely unconcerned. “I knew they were in there.”

  “What?” I could feel the blood drain from my face. My stomach dropped. Heart racing, I didn’t want to hear this. But I needed to.

  He sighed exasperated at having to repeat himself. “I knew you would be upset, so I didn’t say anything. What does it matter now, it is done. Nothing you can do will change the outcome. Accept it and move on.”

  Spoken so casually. Like it didn’t matter. But to him, it didn’t. His humanity was completely absent, lost over the centuries as this creature took its place.

  I could become just like him. I was becoming like him. How long was I going to live? Long enough to witness my humanity drip away? To become the corroded shell that stood unaffected before me?

  I was nothing but a means to him, a weapon to be used and then discarded when I was no longer useful.

  My hubris had put me here. The mistaken idea that I could make a difference, that I was enough to solve this case. That I was more clever, better than everyone else.

  Drawn in by the lure of control, of power, I had allowed this evil creature to worm his way into my life. His darkness found my own and spread it like a cancer, devouring my insides.

  I swallowed thickly, my heart racing. How was I going to get out?

  It had seemed so simple going in. Just leave. But how could I leave when he sensed me at all times? When he knew where I was…knew when I was sleeping or awake.

  Christ. I was being stalked by a satanic Santa Claus.

  There was no way out.

  The weight of the knowledge was suffocating. I gasped for breath, panting. Feeling the darkness close in on me.

  “Kyra.” His voice dripped with disdain, an expression of boredom on his face. “Go home if you are going to be so childish. No one wants to see your temper tantrum. Get a grip on yourself.” Disappointment shone in his eyes.

  I didn’t hesitate, rushing out the door and down the stairs despite the fifteen floors. I couldn’t deal with the added stress of gliding down the building in a tiny metal box. Plus the cell reception was better.

  I concentrated, not wanting to fry my cell as I dialed my partner, my turmoil moving around me in eddies only I could feel.

  “Spencer. I need you. Can you meet me at my place?” I swallowed thickly, expecting rejection, shocked when he readily agreed.

  I flew to my loft, pushing the limits of my bike’s capabilities. Weaving in and out of traffic, I arrived at my condo in minutes.

  I was pacing in my living room when the knock sounded. Racing to the door I flew into his warm arms, sobbing. But it wasn’t my partner, it was Gavin. His solid arms locked around me. Held me together as I sobbed into his chest, falling to pieces.

  I heard his worried voice, but couldn’t talk through my tears. He half-dragged me to the couch, sinking into the cushions.

  “Hello?” a worried voice yelled from the hall.

  “We’re in here Spencer.” Gavin’s voice rumbled through his chest underneath my cheek. Its familiarity comforting.

  “Why is the door open?” He slammed the door shut behind him, barely struggling for breath despite running up the six flights.

  “She was like this when I showed up a second ago. I had my hands full and didn’t get the door closed all the way.”

  His body tense, Spencer laid his hand gently along my cheek. The excess energy that gathered like a storm inside me gravitated towards him. He funneled it safely to the ground where it dissipated. Back to the benign force it should be.

  Crouching to meet my eyes as I still lay sobbing in Gavin’s arms his southern accent warm and thick as he asked the question I dreaded.

  “What’s wrong, Kyra?”

  “You’re scaring me,” Gavin added, almost whispering.

  I was scared to tell them what I had done.

  How could they ever forgive me?

  I pushed Gavin away, stumbling to the floor. My hands gripped my short hair as I rocked back and forth, still hearing the screams of all those people. The rhythmic motion was somewhat soothing. I focused on the movement, balancing my breath. The sobs slowly abated although the tears still fell.

  This was a mistake.

  Spencer’s morals were too dichotomous; everything was black and white, good or evil. And I was clearly on the wrong side.

  Despite our relationship - our almost friendship - he would have to arrest me. For murder.

  Even if it was ruled an accident, case or no case, he would never look at me the same way again. I’d be a killer in his eyes. He’d see me for the monster I was.

  Daniel would understand, he wouldn’t judge me so harshly.

  But what danger would that pose to him? Alejandro was his boss. He was going to become one of them soon. The thought sent a chill down my back. His admitted concern about losing his humanity when he turned came back to me. I didn’t want him to change into that creature. Living for centuries he would lose his humanity bit by bit. There was no way to avoid it. No one was meant to live forever, our core essence wouldn’t survive.

  I considered Gavin. Immediately throwing that thought out. I needed to keep him as far away from my world as possible.

  I remembered the shock and then immediate support I received from him all those years ago. Before we really even knew each other.

  I had arrived at his family’s ranch a broken mess.

  With his help, I became - not whole - but
less broken. The cracks plastered over with a temporary glue. Enough to survive. My heart warmed remembering the love I felt.

  He had accepted me regardless, but I was only a kid then. I had killed in self-defense.

  What I had done these past months didn’t fall into that category. Stupidity maybe, but far from self-defense.

  Sweat broke out on my forehead, but the tears had finally stopped.

  Gavin would be disgusted. I didn’t want him to think even less of me. But maybe knowing what I was truly capable of would finally open his eyes.

  He’d leave me.

  But he’d be alive.

  I sucked in a breath.

  Fine.

  My narrowed eyes shot to Gavin, deep in discussion with Spencer.

  My heart pounded in my chest. The nausea returned.

  Unable to look at either of them. Unwilling to watch the disgust grow in their eyes. I stared at my hands, picking at my nails. It at least gave me something to do while I flayed myself open.

  My throat was scratchy from the abuse. The crying. The hurling.

  I glossed over as much as I could.

  Just the facts ma’am.

  My voice wavered to start, growing stronger, but more hollow as I continued.

  Someone gasped, their indrawn breath might as well have been a cannon going off in the condo.

  I was starting to come unhinged.

  Unglued.

  The broken pieces shattering.

  Would there be enough left to put me back together?

  I sat frozen on the floor, fully expecting Gavin to walk out. I waited to feel the cuffs around my wrists as Spencer hauled me in to Don.

  The air was thick with tension making each breath stick in my lungs.

  The silence stretched.

  I couldn’t take it anymore.

  I lifted my head and peeked through my lashes as they sat frozen on the couch. Tracks of wetness trailed down Gavin’s cheeks, his eyes shone as they met mine. Fear seized my heart at what I’d see, but I looked anyway.