Burning

by Carrillo, K. D.

  Dean

  As tired as I was from staying up all night, the second we hit the door to our too-quiet house, I pounced on Anita. I was scared. Scared my friends were being tortured or worse. Scared of letting my wife fight alongside me tonight. I needed to hold her and remind myself that she was here, safe in my arms.

  I pressed her against the wall and kissed her until I felt her melt in my arms. Picking up on the agenda, she started pulling at my clothes. We stumbled up the stairs, never letting the other go. Eventually, exhausted beyond imagination, we fell asleep still wrapped in each other's arms.

  As the sun dipped toward the ground, we dressed in the same gear we’d worn the night before. We strapped the same weapons back into their holsters and sheaths or onto our backs. Anita brushed her long hair and secured it behind her head in a low ponytail. This time we added black skullcaps since the weather was getting colder now that it was October.

  I sent Grey a text to let him know we were heading to the rendezvous location. I pulled my truck over about a mile down the road from the farm, and we slipped into the shadows. I heard the snap of a twig up ahead, and I pushed Anita behind me.

  "You big goof. Use your senses. What do you smell?" she chastised me.

  "I smell"—I took a deep breath—"Cooper."

  "Hey, cuz," Cooper greeted.

  "Dean, I know you are on edge, but you have to use all of your gifts and trust me to use mine. I'm fast and strong,” Anita reminded me. “I won't get caught."

  "I'll watch her back too," a voice announced from deep in the shadows.

  She jerked her thumb to point behind her, in the direction of the voice. "Plus, he taught me how to sneak up on people. Didn't you, Grey?"

  Grey walked out of the trees with a bullwhip wrapped across his chest, a full-sized recurve bow, and a quiver of arrows. He had knives strapped onto almost every body part. His skin was bone white against his black fatigues. His fangs were on full display. He was a weapon armed with weapons.

  Leah and Jo transformed from deer to large timber wolves. Leah was dark gray, and Jo was ruddy brown. I never would have believed it was possible to shift into more than one animal if I hadn't seen it myself.

  "The girls are faster and stronger in this form. They are going to run the perimeter and make sure no one makes a break for it," Cooper explained for them.

  Anita scanned the area. "Where is Bridgett?" The blond elf stepped out from inside the largest tree in response. "Do you have any offensive magic?" Anita asked.

  Bridgett shook her head and looked shamefully down at her shoes. Anita stepped forward, and comforted her. I looked at Anita sideways. She was never this nice to someone she didn't like.

  "Bridgett, don't be ashamed. You've stepped up and pulled your share tonight. It is better if you aren't in the midst of the fighting, though, if you can't protect yourself. Dean's truck is about a mile down the road next to Cooper's motorcycle. As a precaution, why don't you go make sure our vehicles are hidden?"

  Bridgett looked pleased to have a task to help with our efforts, and she ran off in the direction Anita had pointed.

  "That was nice," I commented.

  "I can be nice if she can. Maybe now she will be more cooperative," Anita said nonchalantly.

  "Do you have the map?" I asked Grey.

  He reached into one of the many pockets sewn into his pants and pulled out a hand-drawn map.

  Cooper had brought Ashleigh to Grey's house after we’d left the farm. The three of them had stayed up strategizing and learning the layout of the bunker—at least the parts she had been able to see.

  Grey spread the map on the ground. "She was able to search the cells along the hallway she escaped from. She didn't see Nik, Finn, or Chloë in any of those rooms. Let's assume they left them where they were since they haven't been discovered." He pointed to the main passage and four cells in that section.

  He pointed to a wing on the left of the map. "Ashleigh said this section is used as some kind of laboratory. She was brought here to have blood drawn, x-rays, and an invasive physical. We can assume they aren't being kept here."

  He pointed to the opposite side of the map. "She was never in this section of the bunker, but she heard the one she calls 'the idiot' ask something about the 'purdy one' they brought in. We pulled an old blueprint from the ‘50s when the bunker was first constructed, and there was originally another wing exactly here set up identically to the medical section. I think this is where we should look first."

  Grey pulled up the trap door and soundlessly jumped down the hole. Anita followed him, but I had to use the ladder to climb down the one-hundred-foot hole. It was a chilly night outside, but it was frigid at the bottom of the tunnel. Cooper landed next to me after jumping off the last twenty or so feet.

  It was blacker than I had ever experienced. I partially transformed, gaining the improved night vision of a cougar. But usually I had some light in the dark—the moon, stars, something. Anita opened her palm and a small amount of light glowed from a floating orb. She whispered something and it floated ahead.

  "I made it dim so they wouldn't see it if they aren't in the hall. It is heading to the wing we think we will find the three of them. Let's go," she whispered.

  I grabbed her hand and followed her into the dark.

  Chapter Eleven

  Fuel to the Fire

  Anita

  "Chloë? Can you hear me?" I asked telepathically. I waited, but there was no response. Farther down the hallway, I tried again. Still nothing. We continued down the hall, but something felt wrong or maybe just missing.

  Halfway down the hall, there was an alcove and another trap door. I stopped suddenly and felt a strong urge to open it. Dean came up behind me and pulled me into his chest.

  He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "What's wrong?"

  I pointed to the trap door. "I think we are going the wrong way. I tried calling out to Chloë telepathically and she didn't answer. I don't think they are down that hallway. I think they are down that hole."

  Grey turned around and peeked over Anita's shoulder. "I don't hear any breathing or heartbeats down this corridor. I really hope Anita's right, because, well… Let's just hope Anita is right."

  Grey stepped back and gave me room to open the trap door. I think he wanted to prove to Dean that I was capable of looking out for myself. This one was made of thick steel, and it was much heavier than the wooden one to get into the first level. The hinges creaked and groaned when the weight was lifted

  I went to jump down first, but Dean's hand fell on my shoulder and pulled me back. I thought about protesting his overprotectiveness, but I knew he was struggling with me just being here so I decided to let it pass. Grey gave me a questioning look, and I gestured for him to go first. Honestly, he looked like he was going to have a heart attack from the idea of me going first too. Well, he would have if his heart was still functioning.

  We went down the tunnel in the same order we had the first one. This one was about half as long and three times as cold. Immediately, I heard a faint fluttering sound. I listened closer, trying to identify the sound. "Is that..."

  "Heartbeats. Sounds like three of them," Grey supplied.

  I started to move forward, but I stopped again. I looked at Grey and then Dean.

  Dean had his head cocked to the side like he was listening to something I could only feel. "Grey, do you feel those vibrations?"

  He nodded.

  "Dean, do you know what it is?" I asked.

  Dean seemed to communicate silently with Cooper, who pulled on his ear then pointed to the corner. "Cameras set with motion detectors. They let off a high-frequency tone. The kind of sound only audible to..." Dean paused.

  "Animals?" I finished.

  "Can we disable it?" Grey asked.

  "Give me a second and I'll cast a glamour spell!" shouted a voice down the hall.

  "Who's there?" Cooper called back.

  "For a Watcher, you aren't too sharp, are you?" he mocke
d.

  Cooper and Grey looked at each other and groaned in unison, "Nik."

  "Wait, a glamour spell will hide us from the cameras, but the motion detectors will still pick up our movements," I pointed out.

  "And the guards will still come down to investigate," Dean added.

  "Not as quickly as they would if they saw you on the camera. Unless you have a better plan, mine will have to do," Nik argued.

  "Get on with it then," Grey snapped.

  After a few seconds, a sparkly haze poured out of Nik's cell and surrounded us. We ran to his door, and Grey popped it off its hinges. Nik burst out, and Grey set the door back in the frame.

  "They have my cousin and her mate in a cell at the end of the hall," Nik said, running down the passage.

  "Have you seen them?" Dean asked.

  "No," he answered.

  "Well then how do you know they are down there?" Dean insisted.

  Nik turned red, like he didn't want to explain.

  "Wait, did you say mate?" Cooper asked for clarification.

  "Uh, yeah," Nik muttered and scratched the back of his neck.

  "How do you know..." Cooper trailed off when Grey ripped the door free from the last cell.

  Finn and Chloë lay sleeping, covered by each other, a little bit of a wool blanket, and nothing else.

  "Ah, I see," Cooper mumbled.

  Dean and I hurried to gather their clothes, which were tossed everywhere.

  Finn opened one blue eye and then started to jump up. Fortunately, he remembered his state of undressed and pulled the blanket around them. Or maybe unfortunately. Just because I didn’t want to touch him didn’t mean I couldn't appreciate his masculine beauty. Kind of like one of those Renaissance sculptures, only living.

  He nudged Chloë awake, and she squeaked in surprise when she saw all of us standing there. Dean and I dropped their clothes on them.

  "We are going to step outside. Hurry and get dressed. We don't have much time," Dean urged.

  About five seconds later, they came out. Chloë had her shirt on inside out. Finn's shirt was backwards, and he was hopping to put on his last shoe.

  Grey went up the tunnel first, practically flying up the ladder. He let out a short whistle to let us know the coast was clear. We piled in one by one. Nik went first. Then Chloë and Finn. I went right after them. Dean and Cooper brought up the rear. We were racing around the corner to the last tunnel when the cadence of footfalls caught my attention.

  "Guys, we have company!" I shouted. We were past hiding now.

  "Cooper, how old are you?" Nik asked suddenly.

  I could see Cooper frown in the dark. "I'm twenty-six. Why?"

  "That means you are invulnerable, right? I mean, it is the same with shifters, right?" Nik continued.

  "Yeah, I am," Cooper answered.

  Nik moved to the rear by Cooper. "Well then, how about we buy them some time? You guys got Ashleigh out, right?"

  "She drew us the map," I confirmed.

  "All right then. I don't have a lot of offensive magic, but I can do some damage to this place. Now that they don't have any more hostages, I think I'm going to have some fun."

  Cooper responded by transforming into a giant brown bear. He roared, and I felt the vibrations bounce off the walls. Nik rubbed his hands together and started throwing balls of fire.

  Suddenly, my father materialized in front of us. "Go! I'll stay with these two and destroy what we can."

  Finn

  We raced up the ladder that opened in the barn. I could see my breath escape my mouth in a cloud, but after the bone-numbing chill below, I felt like someone had lit a bonfire. We didn't linger near the opening. After Dean exited the tunnel, we took off at a run.

  Shouts and something that sounded like explosions emanated from the hatch. Logically, we knew that Cooper, Nik, and Carlos would be fine. They were invincible as fully mature supes, but leaving them there felt wrong. I was pulled out of my ethical debate when Grey released a sharp whistle. Out of the shadows, two wolves ran towards us.

  Dean tipped his head toward the oncoming wolves. "Leah and Jo."

  I scrunched my brow.

  He smirked at my confusion. "Apparently the four of us aren't the only special ones. In fact, other than Chloë and Anita, I don't think there is anyone more special than those twins."

  "Until one of us has a kid," I mumbled.

  Dean's face blanched. "Don't even say that. I would like to finish college and stop fighting every narcissistic crazy out there before I face life's really scary challenges."

  I nodded, distracted.

  We made it to Dean's truck and climbed in. It was a tight fit. I climbed into the back with Chloë and Jo. I was surprised to see Bridgett sit next to Anita without Anita trying to bite or kill her. Grey hopped on Cooper's bike, and Leah climbed on behind him.

  Dean turned sharply, and in the second it took for the truck to spin around, we saw a large fireball consume the farm. Everything sank in on itself, falling into a large crater where the bunker used to be. The news tomorrow would carry a story about a gasline explosion creating a sinkhole or something that calmed the humans.

  Guilt consumed me as we raced back to our house in Thorp. I had bought into the despair of being in the cell. I’d lost track of time, and emotionally, I’d broken down. I’d believed we weren't making it out of there. I’d made love to Chloë and experienced one of the best moments of my life during one of the worst.

  Now that we had made it out safe and sound, I was choked by fear. Would she regret it? I could never give her up now. I felt tied up in her. If something happened to her, I honestly thought I would die because I wasn’t sure my organs would function without her. I knew my heart would quit and my lungs would refuse to draw another breath. And what's more, I would have welcomed the release from a lifetime of agony.

  That wasn't what was scaring me the most though. I'd made a passing comment about not having protection, but I hadn't really been worried because I’d thought we were going to die. I wasn't worried about diseases. No, the kind of sickness I was worried about would only affect Chloë, probably in the morning. She had been reticent to move forward too quickly, and I might have just knocked her up.

  Her hand rubbing up and down my thigh brought me back out of my head. "You disappeared again."

  I slipped my arm around her, cradling her to my side. "I was thinking." I shrugged, pretending it wasn't important. I’d forgotten how connected we were now.

  "I can hear you in my head, you know," she spoke to me mentally.

  I groaned. That meant she’d probably heard everything.

  "You mean how you're worried I'm pregnant?"

  Was this always going to happen? Would I never have a private thought again? Shit. That was going to make it hard to surprise her on birthdays and anniversaries.

  She laughed. Aaaand I’d done it again, broadcast all of my thoughts, pretty much like I was doing right now.

  "I think it will only happen until you learn to control it. You're upset, and it is making your magic go haywire. Plus, when we've communicated like this before, I was controlling it. Now you can initiate it. It'll take some getting used to."

  Okay, I'd give it a try on purpose. "You aren't worried?"

  She pursed her lips, thinking. Taking advantage, I leaned in and kissed her hard before letting her answer.

  "About being pregnant?"

  I nodded.

  Her responding smile lit something inside me. Hope? Trust? "I'm not fighting against us anymore. If I am, so be it. We aren't children. I see that there is fate working here with us. I don't like being controlled, but I'm not looking at it like that anymore. It's like God or whatever gave me a gift by giving me you."

  "I'm a gift now?" I mentally responded, and cocked my eyebrow at her.

  I saw Dean giving us weird looks in the rearview mirror. Bridgett looked resigned, almost as if she’d accepted that Chloë and I belonged together. I returned my complete attention to Chloë,
who was unashamedly checking me out.

  "Mmm, if I say yes, can I unwrap you later?"

  I gulped and got everyone's attention.

  I hadn't noticed that the truck had stopped or that we were parked in the driveway. I hadn't even realized that everyone, except for Chloë and me, was still in the truck.

  Dean leaned his head in the driver's side. "Were you planning on getting out sometime today?"

  Grey

  I really wished there were somewhere else we had to go. I didn't want to give up this small piece of solitude with Leah just yet.

  "I guess we have to go back?" she asked, obviously thinking the same thing.

  I grunted in reply. Not real smooth, but my polished charm seemed to abandon me when she was near.

  "I had fun at dinner the other night," Leah continued.

  I smiled, and when I realized she couldn't see me, I answered, "I did too. I'd like to take you out again as soon as things calm down a bit."

  "Grey, our lives will never be calm, but I've still got to eat."

  "You're right. As soon as we check in, I'm going to take you out for a burger," I agreed.

  "Awfully specific for someone who doesn't eat. Why a burger?"

  I shrugged. "I never got to have one. They look good, but unfortunately, they weren't around when I was human."

  "Is it hard to be a vampire?"

  "At first it was. I've become accustomed to it over the years. I've been a vampire for so long now that I sometimes forget what it was like to be human. You'd think that would make it easier, but I don't want to forget."

  "This is where I should say I'm sorry that happened to you. I can't though, because then we'd never have met."

  "Meeting you was the best thing to happen to me in a thousand years," I answered honestly.

  I pulled Cooper's bike into the drive and killed the engine. Dean stepped out onto the porch and looked in our direction. His face fell when he saw that it was Leah and me.