Playing With Fire (tales of an extra ordinary girl)

by Gena Showalter

  Without thought, I stretched out my hands. I don’t know what I expected to happen, and wasn’t given a chance to ponder. A bolt of lightning instantly slammed into the first man, throwing him backward and into the other man. The two sailed several feet before hitting the SUV. Both slumped to the ground.

  “Holy shit, Viper. How did you do that?”

  “I don’t know!” I said, pointing my hands toward the ground before they could do any more damage. “Come on. Rome needs us.”

  “He didn’t give the signal.”

  “I know.”

  “Oh, hell.”

  I sprinted into action, racing into the thick of the rain. No, not rain. With my fear, the rain had turned to snow. The cold infiltrated my bones.

  When I reached the porch, I withdrew the Taser Rome had given me. If I’d had a gun, I would have pulled it out, too. I would have shot someone, with no hesitation. And yes, now I knew for sure I’d stab someone, if necessary. Anything to protect Rome.

  Tanner stepped up beside me, panting. Water dripped from his hair onto his face, and ran like a river from the clothes now plastered to his body. “We opening a can of whoop-ass now?”

  “Fo sheezie,” I said.

  He paled, but slid a gun from the waist sheath hooked to his side. He rolled the… whatever the hell that was called. Cylinder? I don’t know.

  “Locked and loaded,” he muttered.

  I hadn’t realized Rome had given him a gun, and blinked at it, stunned for a moment.

  He kissed the barrel. “I’m a wild man, Viper, and I’m ready for action. Let’s get this showdown started.”

  I positioned myself beside the front door. It was opened slightly, so getting in wouldn’t be a problem. “Guard my back, you hardened outlaw. Okay?” I could hear the scramble of feet, the scrape of furniture. At least there was no more gunfire.

  Tanner closed in behind me. “I used to hunt with my dad. I’ll hit anyone who aims at you, promise.”

  I couldn’t believe I was doing this, but I didn’t want to leave Rome in there alone. No telling how many men he was up against. “On three. One. Two. Three.” I kicked my way inside, Taser raised and ready for action. The lights were out, but my eyes had already adjusted to the darkness so I could make out the total chaos. Overturned tables and chairs, pillows strewn in every direction.

  It was oddly silent now. The sound of footsteps had faded.

  Suddenly a huge, black blur sprang at me. A part of me realized it was Rome in his jaguar form, but the rest of me acted on pure, terrified instinct. Those lethal claws were coming at me, and Rome might not realize exactly who it was he was attacking.

  When he hit me, his massive body knocking me down, I allowed my instinct free rein and nailed the beast with the Taser, shooting volt after volt of electricity into his heart. We fell to the ground, the cat roaring and convulsing.

  Behind me, a shot suddenly rang out, the sound so loud it nearly busted my eardrums. In the next instant, a human man (who, I would discover, had been about to shoot me) collapsed on top of me and the now-immobile cat.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  SO I’D TASERED MY boyfriend. Other girls have done worse. I felt bad, really, but I wasn’t going to beat myself up over it. He’d come at me, claws and fangs bared.

  Anyone else would have done the same thing.

  Yeah, he’d been in the process of saving my life. Had I known that at the time? No. Had he given me any type of warning? Again, no. I might feel (slightly) bad about this, as mentioned above, but I wouldn’t accept blame. Rome was the only one at fault. Well, the assassin who’d been behind me was at fault, too. But not me!

  Tanner switched on his flashlight and moved it over Rome, whose body still vibrated from the electrical charge. What did that mean? Crap, maybe I needed to examine him or something, and make sure I hadn’t damaged him worse than I’d thought.

  While I scooted out from under him, as well as the dead body draped over his back, Tanner’s babbling assaulted my ears. “I shot him. I shot him dead. One bullet, just boom. Did you see me?”

  “Don’t beat yourself up about it,” I said. God, Rome weighed a ton. “He was a bad guy, and he wanted to hurt us. You had to kill him.”

  “Beat myself up?” Grinning like a loon, he whooped. “Did you see my kick-ass aim? I had my eyes closed, but it was dead center-excuse my pun-and he went down like a horny boy in a whorehouse.”

  The implication of his words slammed into me harder than a bullet, and I gasped, my mouth agape. “You’re telling me you aimed that gun in my general direction and your eyes were closed?”

  Some of his excitement waned, and he gulped. “Well, yeah.”

  “The fact that you could have hit me doesn’t bother you?” My eyes narrowed on him, the rims burning. “The fact that you could have hit Rome doesn’t freaking bother you?”

  Tanner’s chin raised stubbornly. “What would a bullet have mattered? You Tasered him.”

  My jaw clenched. “For God’s sake, he was coming at me.”

  “Yeah, to help you. And how did you repay him? By frying him up like an egg.”

  “Shut up and get over here. I need help. My legs are trapped under two tons of cat.”

  Tanner kicked the dead guy off of Rome. “I think the pussycat’s coming around.” He bent down and clutched Rome by his-its-head and shoulders, lifting. “My God,” he grunted. “You weren’t lying. What kind of cat chow has this heifer been eating?”

  I wiggled free and glanced at the cat. He’d stopped shaking, at least, but his eyes were slitted on me. His lips were pulled back from his teeth in a lethal snarl. I’d never been Tasered, but I knew the electrical currents had rendered him immobile. Thank the Lord. He might have pounced on me for real if he could move.

  “What?” I said to him, all innocence, with fluttering eyelashes and a dainty shrug. “This is your fault, and you know it.”

  Tanner released Rome, who thumped to the floor. “Oops. Sorry.”

  Licking my lips, I glanced around the room-anything to keep from looking at Rome. “Are there any more bad guys in the house?”

  “Not that I can see,” Tanner replied.

  “So… what should we do next?”

  “Aren’t we, like, supposed to question someone and look for information about the doc and his evil potions?”

  I nodded. “Yes, of course. While Rome ’s recovering, why don’t you look for a survivor and I’ll search for the information.”

  Tanner’s head canted to the side, and he surveyed the destruction. “Uh, I’d rather search for information.”

  “Fine. Jeez. Let the delicate woman search the menacing criminals for signs of life.”

  “Thanks,” he said, flouncing off, his flashlight in hand, leaving me in the dark.

  “Tanner!” I shouted at his retreating back.

  “Don’t make an offer you don’t want accepted,” he threw over his shoulder. He disappeared down the hall.

  “Smart-ass,” I muttered. To Rome ’s prone body, I said, “We really need to teach that punk some manners.” I reached toward the wall, feeling blindly for the light switch.

  Rome growled.

  My hand stopped in midair. “No light?”

  Of course he didn’t answer.

  “Blink once if you want me to leave the light off, twice if I can turn it on,” I said, turning on my flashlight-duh, I’d forgotten I had one, too!-and shining it in his face. Well, I needed some light, whether he wanted me to have it or not.

  He blinked once.

  Great. I got the privilege of finding a live body/killer with only a flashlight. Yippee for me. “Growl or something if you need me,” I sighed. I planted a kiss on his nose and scampered off, only thin beams of amber illuminating my path.

  The house had wide, spacious rooms that looked very much like the foyer, with furniture overturned and broken glass scattered in every direction. I counted nine of Vincent’s agents, both upstairs and downstairs. Rome had made short work of them, a
nd though he’d wanted to keep one alive, none had survived. The ones I’d heard moaning earlier were now quiet.

  I bumped into Tanner in the master bedroom. He oomphed, but didn’t remove his attention from the far wall. He had something long and blue in his hands. When I saw what held him enthralled on the wall, though, I forgot to ask him about the blue thing.

  “My God,” I said.

  “Do you think I could, like, take some of this with me?”

  “Eww. No. That’s gross.” The good doctor obviously enjoyed S and M. Whips, spiked collars, crops and black leather abounded. Not to mention the silver chain harness hanging from the ceiling. No wonder Lexis had said the man had a wild sexual side. Just how “friendly” had she pretended to be with him? I shuddered.

  “Look at this.” Tanner held up the long, blue thing. “What is it? What are the beaded things?”

  “Tanner!” My cheeks heated. “That’s a vibrator.” I whispered the last word, embarrassed even to be saying it.

  “Really?” Grinning, he shook it. The batteries rattled. “Cool.”

  “Put that down right now!”

  “Hell, no. I found it on the floor, in plain sight. Finders keepers.” Grin widening, he rattled it some more-and the end fell off. A sheet of paper drifted to the floor. “Hey, what’s that?”

  I frowned, bent down and pinched the paper between my fingers, shining my flashlight over it. When I realized what it was, I gasped. A note. From Dr. Roberts to… me. Well, to the Person Who Drank the Formula-my name wasn’t specified. Still, my mouth fell open in shock. He’d known I would come here. Or maybe he had hoped.

  “What does it say?” Tanner asked.

  “It says ‘I’m sorry.’” I swallowed and read the rest. “‘I’ve done a terrible thing to you. I was weak and let a threat to ruin my public reputation influence my work. I should have destroyed the formula when I first discovered how dangerous it was. By the time I realized the error of my ways, it was too late-the formula had been perfected, and was just about to fall into the wrong hands. Evil hands. Unfortunately, the best hiding place I could think of on such short notice was… you. You were convenient, nearby. Please don’t hate me. I’ve left you a present in my office, which is in a secret lab directly across from Utopia Café. Watch for prying eyes.’”

  I paused, looking around. I could almost feel those prying eyes on me just then. “‘P.S. Sorry about the sordid hiding place. I couldn’t risk OASS finding this note, but I knew PSI would be hot on your heels and I hoped they’d know where to look.’”

  “Wow,” Tanner said. “You’d think since OASS knew he was a sex fiend, they’d have looked in the vibrator, too.”

  “I wonder why they didn’t.”

  “They’re dumbshits, if you ask me.”

  “Hey! Lexis told me the doctor was a pervert, but I didn’t think to look in the vibrator, either.” Tanner opened his mouth to comment, but I pointed a finger at him. “Don’t say it.”

  He grinned. “Hey, this means the good old doc considered the employees of PSI pervs.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Belle hooked up with a perv,” he sang.

  “That means you’re a pervert, too, since you’re the one who actually found the note,” I shot back.

  His grin widened. “I know! Isn’t it great?”

  I shouldn’t have been surprised by his happiness, the horn-ball. If I didn’t change the subject, though-vibrators, for God’s sake-we’d never get anything done. “So how’d Dr. Roberts get back into his house to hide this note?” I said, thinking aloud. “How’d he get past the OASSholes?”

  “The who?”

  I waved my hand through the air. “Never mind. Just ignore me.” He could have planted it before he made his escape, knowing he was going to give the formula to someone.

  Tanner shrugged. “Maybe there’s another note around here, with more instructions.” He began searching the rest of the “toys,” whistling in tune with his movements.

  I tapped a fingertip to my chin, wondering just what kind of confession was left for the doctor to make in a second note. I’d cause a world-wide flood if I wasn’t careful? I’d have to live in an igloo for the rest of my life just to control the fire inside me? There was a depressing thought.

  “I doubt we’ll find anything else,” Tanner said a few minutes later, his voice heavy with disappointment. “None of the other toys open.”

  “Just keep looking,” I said.

  Tanner ran his hand over the inside of a drawer, probing for a hidden compartment. “Have you found a live body yet?”

  “No,” I grumbled. I had to admit, in all my many jobs, many interviews, many hours spent scouring the classifieds, I’d never pictured myself doing this. Was there even a title for it? Certified Body Finder?

  I should have preferred serving coffee to snobs. Should have preferred tweaking the odometers of used cars or making stupid balloon animals for ungrateful kids. Hell, I should have preferred sweeping disgusting balls of hair off the salon floor.

  I didn’t.

  I kind of liked my current position, I realized. Maybe I wasn’t ready to go back to my normal life. Sighing, I stuffed the doctor’s note in my pocket. What would Rome say when he saw it? Maybe it would bribe him out of his Taser-induced bad mood when he finally came around.

  As I trudged down the stairs, I ran my fingers over the bullet holes in the wall. Where was I going to find a living bad guy? The answer came to me instantly, surprising me. Grinning, I hopped over Rome ’s body-which had begun the slow process of returning to human form. Big patches of fur had fallen out, leaving gaps of tanned skin and sleek muscle. At the moment he resembled a hideous man-beast. I tried not to grimace.

  “Be back in a jiff,” I told him with a false, breezy air. I sailed outside. The neighborhood was calm, as if the shootout had never happened, but the man next door was standing on his porch, scratching his head as he stared out at the hail and snow covering the ground.

  He saw me and said, “You one of Roberts’s girls?”

  I was very thankful the two sleeping (or dead) agents were hidden by the SUV. “Yep.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively, as I thought a hooker might do.

  “Always weird stuff going on in that house.” He motioned to the ground with a tilt of his chin. “You ever seen anything like this? Snow this late in spring, of all things.”

  “Very weird,” I said, just standing there.

  After a moment, he shook his head and went back inside his house.

  Hurry, hurry, hurry! Before he comes out again. I raced the rest of the way to the SUV. The two men were slumped at the tires. One of them, the one I’d hit directly with lightning, was in the same condition as his cohorts in the house.

  I lost a little of my giddiness. I’d killed him. Another victim of my powers. Don’t think about it, Jamison. Remember, he was one of Vincent’s men. He wanted to kill Rome. And capture you. With shaky hands, I checked the second man for a pulse. At the first touch of my fingers, he moaned. I sighed in relief. He, at least, was alive.

  I anchored my hands under his arms and dragged him toward Dr. Roberts’s house. He weighed a freaking ton (more than Rome, even, the fatty), and I strained under the burden. He had black streaks on his face and shirt, as if the lightning bolt had ricocheted off his friend, frying him, too.

  By the time I heaved him onto the porch, gooey mud covered him from head to foot, splattered over his skin and clothes. I huffed and puffed from exertion. Amid his moans, I held him up with one hand and opened the front door with the other. Thankfully, the neighbor never came back out.

  My gaze immediately sought Rome. Except he no longer lay in the entryway. The only sign that he’d been there was the mountain of fur he’d shed.

  Should I call for him or not? He might be searching for me, ready to attack the moment he saw me, in retaliation for what I’d done. He might-holy shit-round the corner and storm toward me, death gleaming in his expression. He was in the process of jerking a black T-shirt over his head.
A pair of black slacks already encased his lower body. How many spare pairs of clothing did this man have?

  His eyes narrowed on me, then flicked to the man I held. “Don’t say a word,” he snapped, his steps never slowing.

  “I wasn’t.” I shook my head for emphasis. “You look great. Really.”

  “How. The hell. Could you stun me?” The words left him haltingly, filled with the dark edge of his fury. He stopped just in front of me, our noses touching. Hot breath fanned my chin.

  Better to go on the offensive, or he’d stomp all over me with guilt. “I think a better question is how could I not?” I released my burden, and the body thumped to the floor. I wagged a finger at Rome. “You came at me as you would a target. You should be commending my excellent reflexes in taking down an assailant.”

  His nostrils flared. “Commending? Did you just say commending?”

  “Your hearing is excellent, Cat Man.”

  His pupils elongated, the black growing thinner, pointing on top and bottom. “What happened to waiting outside like a good little girl?”

  “Tanner and I wanted to protect you. You’re not invincible, Rome.”

  “But I’m damn close.” He spread out his arms, motioning to the bodies lying around us. “You wouldn’t have almost gotten yourself killed if you’d stayed where you were told.”

  “And you might have died if we had stayed. There was a man about to shoot you.” I rose on my tiptoes, putting us on more level ground. “And like it or not, you’ve got partners now. We’re supposed to look after each other. That means we look after you, just the way you look after us. Don’t try to do this all on your own.”

  “If stunning me is how you look after me, I’d rather you didn’t.”

  The man behind me moaned. “Look. I brought you a present. Two, actually. A live body and a note from the doctor.”

  Rome brushed past me, crouched beside the man and hefted him effortlessly over his shoulder. “Lock all the doors,” he grumbled. “We might be here awhile. And what do you mean, a note from the doctor?”

  I fished out the paper and held it toward him. “It was stuffed in a vibrator, of all places.”