Pure Blooded

by Amanda Carlson

  “How’d you get your badge?” I asked as Rourke and Naomi settled in beside me.

  “I was buck-ass naked after that portal ripped every stitch of clothing off my body, so I went home to get new ones. My badge was sitting on the table where I left it, so I grabbed it. I thought it might come in handy, though not this soon, but turns out it did.” Ray hit the gas and spun out, racing over the marshlands at high speed, bouncing us around like kids on a hayride, hooting like a kid with a new toy.

  The huge tires, which appeared to be more like inflated donuts than actual tires, sprayed up an array of grasses and swamp water as we went. I scuttled to the middle of the truck bed to avoid being sprayed, but it was a losing battle.

  “Too bad we don’t have demon showers here,” I muttered to my mate as he wrapped his arm around me. In the Underworld they had a formula that ate the dirt right off of you. “We’re going to smell like dank swamp until we can wash off, and I can guarantee there won’t be any decent showers where we’re going.”

  We pounded along the bumpy terrain for a good twenty minutes.

  My teeth rattled around until we finally evened out onto a small paved road. “Almost there,” Ray yelled. “We got lucky with our directions. This direction is close to civilization. Any farther west and it would’ve been more complicated. Naomi tracked you before we went off-road, so we knew where you’d be.”

  Naomi nodded, her face amused by Ray’s antics. Then she glanced over at Rourke appreciatively. “Your beast is fierce,” she said to him. “I have not seen an equal to it in all my years. The rumors of your strength are renowned in the vampire world, and clearly they weren’t exaggerated.”

  Rourke nodded once, accepting her praise, but didn’t comment.

  “I will not tell a soul,” Naomi said. “My allegiance is to Jessica, and by proxy to you, and I won’t risk putting us in jeopardy, nor will I ever talk of anything that would compromise us.”

  “There’s no need to keep it quiet anymore, Naomi,” Rourke said. “The game has changed for me forever and my old ways won’t work any longer. If I don’t adapt, I’ll be the one who ultimately places us in jeopardy. And who knows? Maybe if supernaturals know what I am, and what I’m capable of, they’ll think twice about pursuing us. Keeping Jessica safe is my number one priority, so it doesn’t matter if anyone knows what I am.”

  Naomi sharpened her gaze, her eyes suddenly dancing. “If you’d like, I can spread rumors of your strength among the vampires. I still have a few contacts. Vampires love to gossip. They live for drama and it might help us.”

  Rourke chuckled. “I like your style, Naomi. Do whatever you see fit. I’m willing to do just about anything to keep the odds in our favor. Having the supernatural community renew their gossip about me might be a good thing.”

  Naomi nodded as she peered out at the scenery flying by. Ray must have been going at least eighty. I knew she would do whatever it took to keep all of us safe, just like Rourke, and she took her part seriously. I had no doubt she could come up with a tale that would paint Rourke as a fierce beast who could rip your throat out while you were still talking.

  “When we get to the airboat place,” I said, nudging Naomi out of her thoughts with the toe of my shoe, “I’m going to send you out ahead of us. I told my father you’d be arriving before us to get the coordinates. He said the place is warded from humans, but since you’ve already seen them, I’m sure you can find them again.”

  “Oui, I will do that,” Naomi answered. “Are you going to wait for the wolf boys to join us before we depart? Or are we going to leave them to meet us later?”

  “The ‘wolf boys’?” I chortled, tossing back my head. “Now, that’s something you don’t hear every day.”

  “Well”—Naomi blushed, shrugging—“they are always together, those two. It will be easier to find a name that works for both of them. You refer to Ray and myself as ‘the vamps,’ and I agree, it’s easier to group us together, so ‘wolf boys’ is the equivalent for me.”

  “I like it. And, Naomi, I think you’re developing a sense of humor, and funny looks good on you. Let me check in with Tyler now so we can plan ahead. Gimme a second.” I held up a finger.

  Tyler, are you there? I called.

  Yep, he said. We’re about an hour from a city called Homestead. We made good time. Where are you?

  Not sure yet. We’re not near any town at the moment. But before we discuss that, I need to let you know I made contact with Dad. He’s fine and the plan is to meet up soon. I hope you’re close. If you are, we’ll wait. Once we get to the airboat place, I’ll let you know our exact location.

  Glad you got in touch with Dad. I couldn’t get through no matter how hard I tried. What’s going on with them and the fracture pack? I hope they wiped those assholes off the face of the planet.

  Dad said they’ve kept the Made wolves in check, but it sounds like there’s trouble with the priestess. Apparently she’s not in it for the money.

  Tyler let out a low whistle in his mind. If she’s not doing it for payment, she’s doing it for—

  Power.

  Well, fuck.

  The airboat place consisted of a few run-down shacks and a couple of cheesed-off backwater guides. They were both dressed in plaid shirts, dirty jeans, big-billed hats, and nasty scowls.

  “See, we brought your baby back in perfect condition, no harm, no foul,” Marcy chirped as she jumped out of the pickup. “Now, what I want is for you to show my friend here how to operate the boat we just purchased.” She gestured to Rourke, and both men took a step back as he jumped down from the flatbed.

  Rourke grinned and flashed his teeth, pushing his advantage. “I’m a quick learner, boys.” Both guides didn’t move an inch for a few beats.

  I was still in the back, but Naomi had taken to the sky to wait for the wolf boys with extra clothes in hand. I walked to the edge of the truck and glanced down the long dock where the airboats were kept. The one we’d purchased was parked at the end, sitting on top of a big wooden platform that sloped downward on either side. The boat looked as though it’d served a long, battered life in the Glades. Two seats were set higher, right in front of the gigantic propeller fan. They were clearly the drivers’ seats. Then there were two rows of passenger seats in front of them. Even from a distance I could see that the benches were covered with peeling red and white striped vinyl. The airboat looked like it could hold about ten people.

  The taller of the guides followed my gaze out to the boat. “There ain’t nothin’ in these parts habitable, so I don’t know what you’re looking to find. Ain’t no boats on the channels we don’t know about, neither.” He ambled forward, spitting on the ground. “But if you come to investigate the missin’ folk, that’s something altogether different. Some gone missin’ in this neck of the swamp for a good few years now. Lowlife people, who most don’t care nothin’ about. Trappers mostly. No family to miss ’em. Regular folk blame the meth, but we know there’s more to it than that. Guides who’ve been travelin’ ’round here the longest know there’s a place deep in ’em Glades where things just ain’t right.” He pinned his stare on me. “You coming to see about that?”

  I appraised him before I answered. He wasn’t well educated, but he’d been around about a thousand blocks and would likely pick up on a lie. “Yes,” I said. “We’re coming to take a look into that.” I wasn’t surprised humans would pick up on the negative energy after being exposed to it for so long. If the priestesses had been here for a hundred years, like my father had guessed, it was bound to have some residual consequences.

  The shorter guide came within a few feet of Ray before he stopped. “He’s right. Things just ain’t right ’round here. So I guess they hired a fancy police officer from up in the north to come down here and do their dirty work, huh?” He pronounced police like “pole-eece.” “So you just gonna set it all to rights, then?”

  Ray stared at the guy so hard, he finally shied away, shuffling his feet as he went. But I ha
d to give him credit, he lasted a lot longer than a regular human would. He must have been slightly off or he never would’ve approached Ray in the first place. “Something like that,” Ray grumbled, crossing his arms. “But in order for me to ‘set things to right,’ I need you to tell me everything you know about these disappearances, got it? Leave nothing out. The more info we have, the better chance we have to catch these bastards. Let’s go have a nice chat while the other boys figure out the boat.” The short guide trailed after Ray, who was already peppering him with questions in a typical cop fashion.

  The tall guide turned to Rourke. “I’ll show you how to run the boat. It ain’t too hard.” They walked out to the end of the dock.

  Marcy strode up to me, grinning.

  “What?” I asked.

  “This is going to be one heck of an adventure, isn’t it?” Her eyes were gleaming. “The last one I had—being kidnapped by the sorcerers—was scary and hellish, but it did bring out one good thing.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “My thirst for adrenaline.”

  “You’re an action junky now?” I eyed her, trying to keep a straight face.

  “Not exactly, but I am trying to nurture the adventurer that has blossomed inside me like a tree taking roots. You know, encourage it to grow by watering it once in a while.” She spread her arms wide. “Like right now. I’m fertilizing it as we speak. Then, I figure if I keep having adventures, they’re bound to grow on me, like tiny shoots that will eventually turn into one big, kickass oak tree.”

  I snorted. “I’m not quite sure that’s how it works.”

  “Oh, that’s how, all right. Just you watch.”

  “Marcy, you’re welcome to have all the adventures you want. I’m sure the Everglades will be exciting, but we have bigger things to worry about than a few alligators and a little black magic from this priestess. When the Hags choose to come after us, it will be adventure on steroids.”

  “Don’t underestimate the power of black magic or this priestess,” Marcy said gravely. “That’s some serious juju. It’s good you have me along with my twitchy fingers”—she wiggled them—“but even I can’t undo black spells. That magic comes from a much different place than mine, like a good-versus-evil kind of thing. Those priestesses kill things and use the blood to do their bidding. It’s heavy, and very, very dangerous.” As she said it, her eyes were twinkling with excitement.

  “And that excites you?” I chuckled. “You just told me that black magic is serious and we should be afraid. Death and destruction shouldn’t be your go-to button for fun. You’re acting like a little kid in a candy store.”

  “That’s exactly it! I am in a candy store—for the very first time,” she said. “My entire life I’ve been deemed not ‘powerful enough’ or ‘not witchy enough,’ and I’ve been relegated to the sidelines for everything. But now”—she hooted with joy, tossing a fist in the air—“I’m here to taste all the flavors life has to offer. This is the absolute best I’ve felt in years. I have James to thank for that too, because he’s brought out all my positives and has punctuated them with delicious exclamation points, and even though I’m still mad at that rat-bellied toad for making me stay home and wait for you—”

  “There’s a baby alligator by your foot,” I said.

  She shrieked loudly and jumped into my arms. It happened so fast, I hoped the guides hadn’t noticed her unnatural speed.

  I chortled as I set her down. “I think adrenaline is your friend in more ways than one.”

  “That wasn’t funny!” she accused, swatting me on the arm. “Having an alligator gnaw my foot off is not having an adventure. Do you know how long it would take me to regenerate a piece of my foot? And how badly that would hurt? I’m not an animal like you. Witches take a long time to heal.”

  Before I could comment on the unfairness of it all, and that most of the adventures I’d been involved with over the last month had had their share of hurts, my brother called my name outside my head. I turned to see him loping toward me, Danny close on his heels.

  “Jessica!” I was happy to see he and Danny were both fully dressed, which meant Naomi had found them first.

  “Where’s Naomi?” I asked a second before I saw her emerge from behind the monster truck. “Ohmygods, are those hamburgers I smell?” My mouth instantly started to salivate and my wolf howled for joy.

  Burgers beat raw reptile by several thousand country miles.

  Naomi held up about ten greasy bags with a big grin on her face. “The wolf boys were hungry after their shift, so they sent me ahead to get food.”

  I turned to my brother. “That was the best decision you’ve ever made in your entire life.”

  5

  After a quick but hearty meal of burgers and fries, we were finally ready to embark. Ray’s face was grim after his chat with the guide, but he stayed quiet. We all boarded the airboat, Rourke and Tyler heading for the two driver’s seats.

  “Just like I said,” the taller guide called. “It’s as easy as one, two, three. This boat’s name is Betsy and she’s been suped up for speed. You can get ’er going to sixty. Find some nice flat vegetation to cross and you can go even faster. The green stuff gets the hull off the ground nice and quick like. You’ll make good time that way getting to the deep cypress.”

  “Yeah, go and get dem assholes,” the other piped in. “If you do, we got plenty of moonshine to celebrate with. It’s not legal yet in Florida, but from where we come from it’s like mother’s milk, straight from the teat.” He smiled wide, and I noticed he had more than a few teeth missing.

  “Don’t you worry,” Danny called, holding up the old ceramic jug they’d given him and shaking it. “We will indeed find something to celebrate along the way.” Danny popped the cork out and took a sniff. “Good gods, that’s strong enough to take the hair off my mother’s chest.” Then he waggled his eyebrows. “But that’s why I’m going to enjoy it to its fullest.”

  “Best stuff in the state of Florida,” the tall guide called, “but be careful with it. That hooch’ll leave you shitfaced and groggy for two solid weeks if you imbibe too much.”

  Rourke started the fan. It sounded like a jet engine readying for takeoff as the blades began to increase their speed. Very slowly he eased the throttle forward and began to glide us off the platform like he’d been operating this boat his entire life. “We go through the low grasses first to get to the main channel,” Rourke said. “After that, the start of the cypress swamp begins. The particular patch of cypress the guides are concerned about ends in the mangroves, near the coast, which is likely how the priestess entered this area.”

  The fan found its rhythm, but it was irritatingly loud. None of us had to raise our voices to be heard if we didn’t feel like it, however. The boat skimmed over small swamp grasses, and as Rourke opened up the throttle even more, it gained speed. The scenery over the open water was beautiful and majestic. The sun glinted off the water and plants, making everything sparkle.

  “Naomi,” I called. “Once we reach the cypress swamp, I want you to take off. I’m certain we’ll all feel the magic when we get close enough, but you have to rendezvous with my father to get us the directions to their camp.”

  “Oui.” She nodded.

  “Oh, and I never asked the first time, but when you were here last night did you notice any dark magic from the sky?”

  “Non,” she answered. “I was too high up. I’m certain if I had come down farther, I would’ve detected something.”

  Marcy shook her head. “You might not have. Black magic is tangible only when you’re right on top of it. It’s like a creepy oil slick. Those human guides back there would’ve had to come right up next to it to feel anything, but once they did, I bet the hair on their arms jumped on end and it sent them scurrying as fast as their overalls would take them.”

  Rourke maneuvered the boat into a fairly wide channel littered with tall water lilies sprouting out of the water like they were trying to reach
for the sky. Cypress trees were clustered in the distance, and we were closing in fast.

  “Did the guide tell you which channel to take once we got there?” Tyler asked Rourke. “From here it looks like there might be a few options.”

  “Yep,” Rourke answered. “We’re taking the one on the far right.”

  We rode in silence, and once we reached the end of the channel, Rourke deftly turned the boat into the new lane, this one filled with trees. It was like entering a new world. Tall cypress trees jutted out into the water like gnarled fingers. The majority of their roots were exposed to the elements and their canopies were knit closely, blocking out most of the light as effectively as flipping a switch.

  “Okay, Naomi.” I motioned with my hand. “You can go. Once you touch base with my father, come find us.”

  “Okay, Ma Reine. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She took to the sky immediately.

  Ray turned to me. “Do you want me to go with her? I can scout around while she talks to your father. I’m curious about all this black magic hocus-pocus. I’m itching to get closer and see if I sense anything.”

  “If you want to scout it out, that’s fine with me,” I said, my eyes scanning the trees as we zoomed forward, searching for anything out of the ordinary. “But stay close. We have no idea what to expect.”

  Ray took off after Naomi.

  I glanced at Rourke and my brother. Marcy sat beside me and Danny was in front of us. “Do you feel anything particular?” I asked my mate.

  “Not yet,” he said. “But according to the guide, we still have about ten miles to go. We’re edging toward the coast. Keep your senses open. I don’t have a good feeling about this.” He shook his head gravely. “Whoever this priestess is, she knows we’re coming.”

  We headed down the channel in silence for another few miles, all of us scouting and trying to sense any magic.

  “Marcy, tell me what you know about voodoo,” I murmured, not taking my eyes off the trees. “Before, you said it’s magic based on sacrifice and blood. What else?”