The Flash of a Firefly

by Amber Riley

  “I felt bad about the other night,” I told her. I watched as she grabbed the stuffed pig and started to pick at its fur. “So you didn’t want to live in the dorms?” I asked.

  She rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. “Well, Sarah’s grandmother was put into a nursing home just before the semester started. She said we could stay here while we were enrolled in school. It’s worked out really well. We only have to pay the utilities and stuff.”

  “And you started your job on Monday?”

  I wanted to know, but mostly I wanted her to keep talking. Her voice was calming. The whole time I had been with her, Francesca hadn’t crossed my mind once. After I got comfortable with the smell in her room, I found myself not wanting to leave. There was something here that I had been missing. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

  “Yes.” She laughed. “I get to wear a stupid hat.” A fresh wave of lavender hit my nose as she hopped up from the bed and opened her closet. She pulled out a pink knit hat shaped like a cupcake, complete with sprinkles and a cherry. I raised my eyebrows and bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. She pulled it onto her head and struck a pose. “You don’t like it?” She fought a smile. “I was thinking about getting one in every color.”

  My lips curled into a smirk. “Where exactly are you working?”

  She pulled the hat off and fluffed her hair. “Granny’s Cupcakes and Confectionaries.” She laughed again. “It’s a paycheck, and I get a free cookie every day that I work.”

  “A free cookie?” I smiled carefully. “Then the hat is definitely worth it.”

  “Hey, they’re good cookies.” She tossed the hat back into her closet and sat on the edge of her bed again. She covered her mouth as she yawned and wiped the water from her eyes.

  “I’d better get going,” I said. She was exhausted, and I really should have been home a long time ago.

  She nodded and walked me back downstairs. I followed quietly, trying not to wake up the rest of the house, but it became obvious that it wasn’t necessary. Lyn’s roommate Sarah was still awake. She and her boyfriend were making out like a couple of love-struck teenagers on the couch.

  Lyn forced herself to cough so they would know we were there. Sarah jumped and started smoothing down the back of her hair. She ran her finger over her bottom lip and smiled guiltily. “Hey,” she said.

  “Hi,” Lyn replied. “Hey, Alex. Sorry. I’m just walking Kaden out.”

  I froze at the foot of the stairs. Alex was young with a perfect set of teeth, brown hair, and a tan, muscular body. His cheekbones were high, and his profile was perfect. I had seen him around a few times. He was one of Sid’s werewolves.

  His cheeks blazed a bright red, and he refused to make eye contact with me. His body was stiff, and he was holding his breath. If I were him, I would be scared too. He was busted having relations with a human. Sid strictly forbade it due to their uncontrollable nature during intimacy.

  “I was just on my way out,” he murmured. I bet you were, I thought sarcastically. He was hiding more than his girlfriend.

  He kissed Sarah on the cheek and rushed out the door as fast as he could. The two girls exchanged confused looks but shrugged it off. I, on the other hand, wasn’t about to let it go without answers.

  “Good luck on your test tomorrow,” I told Lyn.

  “Thanks a lot.” She smiled. “I owe you big-time.”

  I raised my hand in a quick farewell and rushed out after Alex.

  Chapter 7

  The wind had picked up outside and was beating against Alex’s back. He was going down the sidewalk at a brisk walk with squared shoulders and the hood from his sweatshirt pulled up onto his head. His hands were shoved into the front pocket, and his forehead was wrinkled against the elements.

  “Hello,” I said as I reached his side. He kept walking without acknowledging me. “A human, huh? I thought that was against the rules,” I continued. “Do you care to tell me what you were doing?”

  He stopped dead and spun around to face me. “Me? What were you doing? Last time I checked, humans were food for vampires.” He flinched, knowing he was out of line, and shifted his eyes to the side. He lowered his voice and told me, “I was just visiting a friend.”

  “A friend?”

  He nodded and kept his eyes averted.

  “With benefits, I see.”

  His face turned a light shade of pink. “It’s not exactly like that,” he mumbled.

  People were so picky these days. Either you were sleeping with someone that you were not in a relationship with, or you weren’t. It wasn’t that complicated. There wasn’t time for semantics. It didn’t really matter to me what their relationship was as long as I found out why it just so happened to be Lyn’s roommate that it was with.

  “It looked like it to me,” I said, trying to feel him out.

  His eyes dropped. “Don’t tell Sid,” he pleaded. “I know we’re not supposed to be with them, but it’s not like I actually like her.”

  I was pretty sure that made it even worse. “All right, Alex,” I said slowly. “I won’t tell him, but you’re going to have to tell me what you’re really up to.”

  He thought for a second and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I met Sarah a few weeks ago at Starbucks, and we’ve been spending time together since then.”

  He was squirming now. His weight shifted between his feet, and he fiddled with something in his pocket. His green eyes dilated, and he kept flaring his nostrils. I hadn’t seen such a bad liar in ages.

  I shrugged and whipped out my phone. “Have it your way then.”

  I had dialed nine out of ten numbers to reach Sid when Alex stopped me. His hand reached for the phone, and I yanked it out of reach. He looked at me, frantic, and shook his head. “I wasn’t supposed to let anyone find out.”

  I continued to hold the phone in the air above my head. “Find out what?”

  “Sid’s girlfriend told me to do it.” He let out a giant puff of air, and the rest just seemed to fall out of his mouth. “I’m supposed to date Sarah in order to keep an eye on Lyn. She doesn’t want Sid to find out because he wouldn’t approve. So, you’re not going to say anything, right?”

  I was. If Sid wasn’t supposed to know about something, and it was something that made sense, then something was wrong. Not to mention, it didn’t add up at all. I hadn’t told anyone about meeting Lyn, so Sid’s girlfriend wouldn’t know to have Alex look after her.

  It was something that Sid had better have an answer for. It wasn’t like him to hide things from me. Honesty was what made the two of us work so well together. I couldn’t think that he was doing things behind my back.

  “Hey, you’re not going to say anything, right?” he asked again. “Kaden, seriously, are you?”

  I turned and grabbed him by his collar. His pupils grew to twice their size, and he held his hands up. The wind was howling against us. The force of it made both of us wince as it stung our eyes. The smells of sewage, car exhaust, and metal all mixed together in the air, making me want to gag.

  Alex must have smelled it too, because his breathing became shallow. That and fear mixed with confusion was all I could see in his face. I was good at reading people, and he had no idea what was happening. His eyes screamed ignorance, perhaps a little naïveté, but not mutiny. At least not on purpose.

  I let go of his sweatshirt and took a step back. He rubbed at the stretched-out fabric and pulled his hood farther onto his head. “What are you doing?” Alex asked as I finished dialing my cell phone.

  I ignored him while the phone rang, and I started down the sidewalk. He ran after me like a little puppy. I glared at him from the corner of my eye and stopped. I held a finger in the air for him to wait a minute, and he bounced around nervously.

  “Reece, it’s Kaden,” I said when his voice came through the receiver, and I brushed Alex’s hands away from my face. “I’m glad I caught you.”


  He paused. “What happened?”

  “Nothing,” I lied. “Everything’s fine. I was just wondering what time you’re coming to replace Sid tomorrow.”

  “It’s the bus trip tomorrow,” Alex whispered. “Please hang up.”

  “The bus trip,” I said quickly into the receiver. “I forgot. Why don’t you come over when you’re done working and pick up Sid? It would be easier for him to leave tonight.”

  “Kaden, what happened?” He sounded very serious. “Is Sid okay?”

  “Of course. I’ll see you in a bit.” I hung up and stuck the phone back into my pocket. “Sorry, Alex. I think this is a little bigger than you realize.”

  “She’s going to kill me,” he groaned.

  I shook my head. “She’s not going to know, if you keep your mouth shut. So you didn’t see me tonight. Got it?”

  He nodded. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

  I knew I didn’t. He wasn’t going to throw himself under the bus. I just hoped that I wasn’t making a mistake by telling Sid. I didn’t want to believe he would go behind my back, but there was always that slight chance. I had been burned before by people I trusted. After all, I hadn’t even known that Sid had a girlfriend.

  There was no time like the present to find out. As I walked back into my house, I found myself feeling nervous. I was suddenly unsure about everything in my life. If Sid’s betraying me, then who else is? I thought. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach.

  Sid jumped off the couch when I shut the front door, and I watched him carefully. A yellow glow reflected from his eyes until it was replaced with recognition. He picked up his jeans, which he had knocked onto the floor, and folded them. He looked comfortable in his T-shirt and boxers.

  I had to suppress a flash of anger. He was in my house, sleeping on my couch. Is he who I think he is? I asked myself. Maybe I had really been fooled. If he was working for Phoenix, then he was a really good actor.

  “Reece is on his way,” I said. “I need to talk to both of you.”

  “Uh-oh,” he groaned.

  Normally I wouldn’t have called Reece. Sid could have relayed a message as easily as the next guy, and he was head of the pack. But if I was going to be questioned, then I’d rather it all be done at once.

  Then I realized that I didn’t know how I was going to explain anything. I would have to tell them everything, including why I was visiting Lyn, or tell them nothing at all. They had to know. If they weren’t involved in any of it, then I was hoping they would have some idea of who was.

  Sid moved his blankets to one end of the couch and sat down. He leaned back and stuck his hands under his thighs. There were a few lines around his eyes, aging him to around ninety. They aged a lot slower than humans but were far from immortal. That was enough time to have Phoenix snatch you up and mold you into the perfect spy.

  “What?” Sid asked when he caught me staring at him.

  I shook my head. I would play along like nothing was different until I had time to make a decision. Everyone was a suspect now. Phoenix might have even been controlling Flo.

  Speak of the devil, I thought as she flew through the door.

  She clicked the deadbolt into place and slid the chain into the lock. When she was done, she turned around, hands on her hips, and nodded once. “Don’t open the door.”

  Sid and I both hovered between sitting and standing, confused. If there was someone after her, then she would have faced them. There was a small, triumphant smile on her face as she walked across the room in her stilettos.

  “Um—” Sid started.

  “What?” she snapped. “Are you expecting someone?”

  “Actually, yes,” I said, enunciating carefully.

  She shrugged indifferently and sat down. A few seconds later there was a knock on the door. Flo examined her fingernails and pretended not to hear it. The knocking grew louder and louder, and eventually started creating a rhythm. Flo pursed her lips but remained in the chair.

  I raised one eyebrow at her and stood up. She was being ridiculous. We weren’t going to sit there and listen to it any longer than we already had. I crossed the room, but before I could open the door, Flo rushed in front of me, grabbing the knob. “Flo,” I sighed. “Come on.”

  “Yeah, come on,” a man’s voice said through the door.

  I scowled at her until she grudgingly moved out of the way. Her foot immediately started tapping as I unlocked the door and pulled it open. If she was acting that way, then it was obvious who was waiting on the other side.

  I leaned my head against the dark wooden door. “Hi, Stu.”

  He smiled brightly and saluted me. He was wearing black pants and a silk blouse that he had unbuttoned enough to expose his muscular stomach. With his hair spiked and his rings, he looked like a cheap, cliché gigolo.

  “Long time, no see,” he said. “Want to ask me in?”

  “You were already invited inside a long time ago,” I told him.

  “I was just being polite.” He stepped over the threshold and winked at Flo. “You’re getting fast in your old age. You almost lost me there for a minute.”

  She glared at him and crossed her arms. “Too bad.”

  I shook my head and went back to the couch. The two of them were always at each other’s throats. It was a never-ending cycle. Stu would antagonize Flo, and Flo would always give him the reaction he was looking for. It might have been a fun game for them, but it never was for anyone else in their general vicinity.

  “You’re crushing my heart,” Stu said with a fang-baring grin.

  “You have no heart,” she spat. She spun around, shot me a nasty look, and stormed up the stairs.

  Stu laughed. “She loves me.”

  An ankle-high boot flew over the banister, heading straight for his head. He reached out and grabbed it before it could leave an indent in his forehead. He examined the shoe carefully and started twirling it by the heel as he sat down.

  Flo stomped her foot and ran down to the living room, snatching the shoe from his hand. Her hair hit him in the face as she turned to leave the room again, and he twirled a piece with his finger. She turned around, hit his arm with the shoe, and stormed away.

  Stu smiled and shrugged at me. “So what’s up, my peeps?”

  I blinked slowly, trying to process what he had just said. Stu may have always been great at adapting to the changing centuries, but he was being a little extreme. “I have never seen you looking this ridiculous,” I told him.

  He plucked at his shirt and laughed. “I like to switch it up sometimes, or I get bored.” He started to button the shirt, and the smile fell from his face. “I got your voice mail about Francesca, so I found Flo and followed her back here.”

  “I left that voice mail a week ago.”

  “Yeah.” He rubbed his eye and accidentally scratched himself with one of his rings. “This is the age of text messages. I don’t check my voice mail much, but I’m here now.”

  “Comforting,” I said sarcastically.

  Sid’s phone started playing a rock song and vibrating across the coffee table. He grabbed it and pushed the talk button. Reece was talking so loud on the other end that I could hear him. Apparently there was something wrong with his car and he didn’t think he could make it.

  “Put it on speaker,” I told Sid.

  He did. The wind was making a crackly noise into the phone, and it sounded like he was banging around on metal. His voice kept getting louder and softer as he moved closer to and away from the receiver.

  “Reece,” I interrupted. I was too impatient to wait. “It’s fine; just listen.”

  There was a loud clang, and he swore into the phone. After another few noises, the wind stopped and there was silence on the phone for a second. “All right, I’m in the car. Tell me what’s going on.”

  “Sid has a girlfriend,” I said, watching him carefully for a reaction.

  There was a long pause. “So?” Reece said.

  Sid blushed an
d ruffled his curls. “I just started seeing her a few weeks ago. It’s not anything serious.”

  “Good.” I looked him straight in the eye. “Because she’s sending Alex to date a human so he can watch the girl’s roommate.”

  “I’m totally lost here,” Stu said, jumping into the conversation. “You’re worried about Alex dating a human because Sid’s girlfriend said so, in order to protect the roommate of said human? Now? Don’t you have better things to deal with?”

  “The roommate is my antique dealer’s niece,” I said, throwing him a nasty look. “Francesca threatened her, and now Alex is supposed to be watching her.”

  “I don’t understand,” Reece said.

  Flo appeared and leaned over the back of the couch. She was wearing her white robe again and had her hair up in a bun. “You morons,” she started. “He never told anyone about this,” she glanced at me, “niece. How does Sid’s little girlfriend know enough to have someone look after her? And why didn’t she tell you about it?”

  There was another long pause before Sid got up and put his jeans on. He pulled his sneakers out from under the table and grabbed his jacket off the back of the couch.

  “Reece,” he said into the phone, “fix the car.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “To deal with this,” he said, slamming the door on his way out.

  Chapter 8

  When I woke up, Francesca was already waiting for me outside. I knew because Flo was outside my door having a hemorrhage of green paint. I hadn’t heard that many curse words strung together in a long time. I took my time getting dressed. I still wasn’t ready to face the music, but I doubted that I ever would be.

  By the time I made it to the front door, twenty minutes had passed. I was nervous, and Flo was getting me agitated. She hovered behind me in a state of near panic. Even Stu was keeping his distance from her.

  I got to the door and spun around to face her. “Flo, seriously, calm down.”

  “Calm down?” she hissed. “How can anyone be calm at a time like this?”