The Flash of a Firefly

by Amber Riley

  “Kaden?” Sullivan called.

  I looked around in a daze. Reece was cut and limping. Flo was pushing Stu away from her as he tried to examine a wound on her arm. Sirens were blaring nearby. It all seemed to blur together.

  “Kaden.” Sullivan’s hair was falling around his face and he was breathing a little hard, but he was otherwise unharmed. So was Davis, although his throat was in a death grip at the end of Sullivan’s arm. “Would you like to send a message back to Phoenix, or should I kill him?”

  The smart answer was to kill him. One less enemy was always the safest route. But it was Davis. He had the power of reason even if he was still loyal to the master vampire. The only way I would see him again would be because he was sent to me, and I would rather deal with him than someone else.

  I counted to ten and exhaled. “Let him go.”

  “What?” Flo shrieked. “Have you lost your mind?”

  Davis rubbed his neck once he was free and nodded to me. “I’m grateful, but this kind of thing isn’t going to get you very far.”

  “No,” I replied. “But it’s gotten me far enough.”

  “I’ll pull everyone out tonight.” He gave me a little smile. “But, you know, Phoenix won’t let you go. He’s not going to give up.”

  I knew. Things were just going to get harder from that point forward. It was going to be one attack after another, each one worse than the one before. This was only going to end with one of us dead. I had no intention of it being me.

  “I can look after myself,” I told him. “Don’t forget to take the Marquis with you.”

  Davis’s eyebrows knitted together, and he spun around slowly, scanning the park. His hand fell away from his throat, and he took a step back. “You didn’t kill him?”

  I knew I hadn’t, and Sullivan had been busy with Davis. Stu shook his head and looked at Flo. Her eyes widened. “Reece?” she demanded.

  He was kneeling beside an unconscious Sid. Blood was streaked down his naked body, and his left eye was swollen shut. “I didn’t even see him,” he croaked.

  Davis kept backing up. I didn’t understand what he was doing at first, but there was a steady glow of fear coming from his eyes. It all clicked when he met my stare.

  I took one step toward him and stopped. My head spun for a moment before the anger bubbling in my stomach overflowed. My eyes seemed to get tunnel vision. Lyn’s house was at the end of it.

  Without another thought, I was running at full speed. Alex would never be enough to protect her from the Marquis. Not in a million years.

  Chapter 19

  Red and blue lights of two police cars reflected off the windows at Lyn’s house, and the front door stood wide open. One of her roommates was standing on the lawn, sobbing hysterically as the cop next to her scribbled on his pad. People were standing on their porches to see what happened while more cars, sirens blaring, flew around the corner.

  My stomach was in my throat. The wind stung my face as I watched one of the officers come from the house with his hand over his mouth. Everything slowed down around me, and my mind went completely blank.

  Then the smell of fresh blood hit me. It was heavy and rich, far too dense to be human. It was werewolf blood. If Alex was dead, then Lyn was in trouble. There was no rhythmic sound of a human heart in the house and no trace of her scent anywhere outside.

  The pressure on my chest was almost unbearable. She would’ve still been unconscious and wouldn’t have had a chance. It was all my fault. If I had just left her alone to begin with, then none of this would have happened.

  My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out with numb hands. There was a text from Alex. I looked back at the house before reading the message. When I did, a wave of relief rushed over me. They were on their way to my house. Then who is dead inside? I asked myself.

  It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting back home and seeing Lyn alive with my own two eyes. But, what should have occurred to me was that I received a text instead of a phone call. It could have been anyone sending me that message. I wanted to believe it though, so I did. That was my first mistake.

  My second mistake was barreling down my driveway at full speed without making sure the coast was clear. Before I knew it, I was tripping over an ivory cane and landing face-first in the gravel. Little pieces of stone lodged themselves in my face and hands as I skidded forward.

  Ouch.

  “You know, Kaden, it’s starting to get awfully tiresome chasing you around.” He kicked me onto my back and left his foot on my throat. “Can we get going back to Spain now?”

  “Did you really think that it would be that easy after everything we’ve just gone through?” I asked in a hoarse voice.

  The stars were beginning to show from behind the clouds, but the ground was still wet from a rainstorm earlier. The wounds on my face were healing around the little rocks, and to make matters worse, the familiar twinkle came over the Marquis’s face.

  “Let’s wait for your little girlfriend to show up and see what tune you’re singing then.”

  I had to get out of this. I was stronger than him; I knew I was. It was fear that had been holding me back, but now there was a new fear, a stronger one, urging me to do something.

  “Here they are,” he said as Alex turned onto the driveway with the Trailblazer. “I don’t know how they got away from the muscle I sent, but it adds a little excitement to my night.”

  “If you touch her …” I started.

  “You’ll what?” He smiled down at me.

  The vehicle slammed to a stop as it came out of the tree line. It was thrown into reverse and the engine whined as Alex slammed onto the gas pedal. At the last second, he swerved and rammed into one of the larger maple trees near the road.

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  I took advantage of the distraction. With every ounce of energy I had left, I drove my fist into the Marquis’s knee. The knee cap crumbled under the pressure with a terrible crack, and he fell backward onto the wet grass.

  Alex had successfully managed to dig the wheels into the mud and had given up trying to get them out. He was lifting Lyn out of the backseat like she was a rag doll and rushing toward the house with her.

  The Marquis was back on his feet already. His long hair fell into his face as he started to laugh. “That wasn’t very nice.”

  My fingers twitched at my sides. Alex wasn’t inside with her yet, and until he was I couldn’t make my move. He was almost there. His sneakers squeaked against the porch steps, and he fumbled with the doorknob.

  The Marquis was watching me as intently as I was watching him. Come on, Alex, I thought. Finally, the door was open and he stepped across the threshold.

  I collided midair with the Marquis and landed on the ground with a loud thud. His fangs sunk into my shoulder, sending pain up into my neck. I hissed and clawed at his face, but he had latched on with an iron jaw.

  I drove my knee up into his groin, and he pulled away. My blood was running down his chin as he lunged forward to chomp on me again. I shoved my fist into his chest but missed his heart by an inch. It made a disgusting gurgling sound, and he smiled again.

  “You can do better than that,” he whispered.

  I pushed him away from me, and he landed on his feet halfway across the lawn. He sneered at me and got ready to pounce. Before his feet could leave the ground, he stopped and changed direction toward the house.

  My eyes followed him in what seemed to be slow motion as he moved forward. Alex was on the porch again, still holding onto Lyn. I flew after him to stop him before he could reach them, but I wasn’t fast enough.

  Luckily, I didn’t have to be. Sullivan came out of nowhere and slammed into him. The two tumbled to the side, and I continued toward Alex. In one fluid movement, I pushed Alex and Lyn inside and shut the door behind them.

  “Kaden,” Alex called nervously, “open the door.”

  Sullivan and the Marquis were circling each other on the lawn wit
h their fangs barred. With each step, the Marquis was increasing the distance between them until he reached his cane, which was lying in the grass where he had dropped it.

  “I know when I’m fighting a losing battle,” he growled. “But this isn’t over. Phoenix isn’t going to let you slip through his fingers.”

  I used the top step to push myself forward. I was going to end it with him tonight, even if it wouldn’t end the rest of it. He had other ideas. With lightning speed, he took off down the drive, and Sullivan grabbed my arm before I could follow him.

  “What are you doing?” I yelled. “He’s going to get away.”

  “Kaden.” He pointed to the house. The door was open again, and Alex was backing out of it. “There are more pressing issues at hand.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him to go back, but the words stuck in my throat. The living room was torn apart. There were claw marks gouged into the wallpaper, and stuffing from the throw pillows was all over the hardwood floors. The dining room table was flipped onto its side, and an awful burnt odor was wafting toward us.

  My mouth was still hanging open as I stepped around Alex. The damage was worse than it looked from outside. The television was cracked, spindles from the staircase were broken off, and the coffee table was splintered all across the room.

  I stepped carefully over bits of what used to be my house. Now I was really pissed off. This was so far over the line that you couldn’t even see it anymore.

  And just as I thought my night couldn’t possibly get any worse, Max came in through the shattered French doors, crunching on broken glass as he did. He was filthy. There was something black smudged on his arms and neck, and his T-shirt was torn.

  He looked at me from across the room with wide eyes and took a step backward. “Hi,” he stammered.

  “What are you doing here?” I growled.

  It was against my better judgment to not kill him on the spot, but I fought to control myself. The last thing I needed was the Iustitia coming to New York to avenge one of their fallen.

  “I came to talk to you.” He carefully skirted around a broken chair. “But when I got here, a werewolf was doing all this …”

  “Where is it now?” Sullivan asked as he stepped lightly to my side.

  Max turned red and began brushing off his jeans. “I found a shovel in your garage, so I buried her.”

  My eyes narrowed. “And all that commotion a minute ago didn’t catch your attention? What kind of vampire hunter are you?”

  “I’m not,” he said defensively. “I was pulled out of university, given basic training, and put on a plane to come get you. So excuse me if I’m not doing this right.”

  Well, that was something. I knew the Iustitia had to be desperate to ask for my help, but they must be worse off than he made them out to be. That didn’t change the fact that he was dangerous to have around. If he didn’t think he was going to get anywhere with us, then he might as well knock us off while he had the chance.

  “She’s waking up,” Alex called.

  He had replaced the tattered couch cushions and laid her down. When I got to her, her eyes were fluttering open. Her heartbeat was erratic, and she started gasping for breath between coughs.

  I flashed a look at Sullivan. He looked down at her, and his forehead creased. He laid his fingers on her temples for a brief moment. He straightened back up and took a deep breath.

  “What?” I demanded. My stomach was in knots as he slowly let his breath out. He was thinking too much about this. “Sullivan, what’s happening to her?”

  “It’s possible that it didn’t work,” he said slowly. “I had a few issues.”

  “Issues? What kind of issues?” I knelt down next to the couch. Her body was shaking viciously as she continued to fight for air.

  Sullivan watched her intently. “I pull the subconscious desire to forget something forward to rewrite their memories. She didn’t really have that kind of desire.”

  “Is she all right?” Max asked.

  I shot him a look, and he backed away. Sweat was beading on her skin now, and her heart was speeding up even more. “Sullivan,” I pleaded.

  “This has never happened before,” he admitted.

  I gripped the ruined cushion and looked up at him. My body tingled with anger, or worry. I still couldn’t tell the difference. If she didn’t wake up soon, then she was going to have to be taken to the hospital. Her heart couldn’t keep up this pace for long without giving out. I tapped her cheek lightly, but it didn’t help.

  Alex came around the couch and placed a wet washcloth from the bathroom on her forehead. “Hey,” he said to Max. “Make yourself useful and get a glass of water and a paper bag.”

  He cracked his knuckles. “I can’t. The kitchen caught on fire before you got back. I put it out as quickly as I could,” he added.

  My head spun. This isn’t happening, I thought. This is not happening. How did things get here? One day things were going along as usual, and the next it was all turned upside down. There was no going back now. At least there wasn’t without losing anything else.

  Lyn gasped and tried to sit up, but Alex held her down by her shoulders. Her eyes fully opened and became glassy. She continued to fight to catch her breath, but she was awake. She looked between Alex and me with tears rolling down her face.

  “Lyn?” I asked nervously. “Are you all right? Do you know who I am?”

  She nodded her head. Alex moved his hands and let her sit up slowly. She wiped at her face with the sleeve from her sweater. “What happened?” she asked, barely audible.

  Sullivan bent down and leaned in toward her. “How are you feeling?”

  She rubbed her forehead with both hands and winced. “My head is killing me, I’m nauseous, and I’m confused.” She looked me straight in the eyes. “Did one of you do ...” She trailed off and stiffened.

  “No one did anything to hurt you. We …” I paused. “We tried to erase your memories of us, but it was to protect you.”

  Her jaw dropped. “What?”

  “We thought it would be better for you,” Sullivan explained.

  “Better for who?” She stood up and swayed.

  I caught her before she fell, and she pushed me away. It was like a knife in my heart. It was better for her even if she didn’t realize it. I didn’t expect her to understand, but I wished that she had.

  “Alex, take me home.” She brushed past me and stopped. Slowly, she turned around and glared at me. “Kaden, what happened to your house? And who is he?” She pointed to Max. “Someone better tell me what’s going on here.”

  There was a long pause. I wasn’t sure how to answer her. So much had happened but nothing she should know about. “Lyn, I—”

  “Don’t,” she interrupted, changing her mind. “I don’t want to hear you lie to me. I’m leaving.”

  Alex walked around the couch and touched her arm. He leaned in to whisper into her ear. She started to cry again, and he led her upstairs, but not without throwing me a nasty look over his shoulder.

  “Kaden, I know this is a bad time, but I really need to talk to you about Rome,” Max said.

  Saying that this was a bad time was a huge understatement. My life had just crumbled to dust at my feet. Why would I want to discuss anything with him, now or later? I didn’t care what was happening in Italy. Enough was going on in my own backyard.

  “They’re killing people every night. Rome is supposed to be off limits, but it’s completely overrun. We’re losing members left and right while we’re hunting. It’s impossible to get a step ahead of them.”

  “I don’t care,” I snapped. “The fewer of you, the better.”

  “It seems like they’re on a crusade against religion. If this continues, then people might find out you’re real,” he continued.

  “Phoenix would send the Enforcement Team if he felt things were getting out of hand,” Sullivan told him.

  “He’s right,” Flo said, storming in the open front door with Stu trai
ling behind. Her blond hair was stained with blood, and they were both covered in dirt. “It’s not our job.”

  Max was bright red now. His heart was racing as he fought to maintain his composure. He was like a sheep that had wandered away from his flock and into a den of wolves. Hungry, agitated wolves.

  “I say we go help,” Stu said.

  Flo smacked the back of his head. He had to be kidding. We would have to be out of our minds to go into the middle of enemy territory and expect them not to kill us. It was impossible.

  Max perked up. “If you want to bring anyone to help, that would be great.”

  “I want to get my name off that list you guys have,” Stu grumbled. “It’s not a selfless act or anything. It’s a give and take type of deal.”

  “Of course.” Max looked at me again. “I’d have to speak with the elders to get approval, but I’m sure something could be arranged.”

  Even I was a little intrigued at the thought of being removed from their list. Every vampire with any significance was on it to be targeted. We were the ones hunted down, while any other kill was just a bonus. From a rational standpoint, all four of us would have been off it already due to good behavior, but that was not how the Iustitia worked. The only way off was death.

  “So we are?” Flo asked. “On the list, that is. Why aren’t you killing us?”

  “Yes, because of what you’re capable of,” he stammered. “But my orders weren’t to kill anyone.”

  “Assuming you get permission, I’ll go,” Sullivan announced.

  “What?” Flo shrieked. “The two of you are insane.”

  She continued to yell, but I was getting better at blocking her out. They were insane—she was right about that. But maybe it was the right decision. I just had risked my own life, and theirs, to keep my freedom. I barely had managed to hang onto it, but what was I going to do with it?

  I could stay and rebuild, but they would be back. Next time with bigger guns. Saying no to the Iustitia would be the smart thing to do, but at the same time, I was curious. Phoenix was trying to get me to go back after all this time while he let vampires into a territory that was out of bounds.