Scorch (Midnight Fire Series)

by Davis, Kaitlyn

  "On my way," Tristan said, and swung through the window, slipping his feet outwards so he easily dropped to the ground without making a sound. Kira took in the dark jeans, the black t-shirt, the way his body moved fluidly like a jungle cat. Not now, she thought and pushed the memories back, not when I need to be on my game.

  To their right, the Punishers were closing in. The leader had gathered his flames, ready to blow them into Kira's face. Normally, that wouldn’t scare her, but something inside of her was screaming in fear, running from the burn. Part of her was afraid that the flames might actually sting.

  "Let's go," she yelled, trying to ignore the shriek in her gut.

  Luke ran in the opposite direction, motioning for them to follow. Tristan went next, and with one final look at the Council that should have accepted her, Kira followed the two boys around the corner.

  In seconds, they reached Luke's get away car—an old black jeep. Luke hopped in the front seat, but Tristan stopped dead in his tracks. Kira slammed into his back, knocking the air out of her lungs.

  "Tristan, come on." Kira shoved him toward the door.

  "What is this?" He asked, mystified and slightly awed.

  "It's a car, like a modern day horse and carriage, but with metal and electricity and gas…" Kira said, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous that sounded to her. Luke, of course, didn't bother to hide his amusement, and Tristan just looked more bewildered.

  "Just get in," she said, opening the front seat for him. After he settled in, Kira jumped in the back and looked out the rear window at the Punishers still running their way.

  Luke pushed on the gas and Tristan practically jumped out of his seat, grabbing the handle bar above his head as though his life depended on it. Kira saw his knuckles turn whiter and whiter the farther down the road they moved. She reached through the seats and put a hand on his shoulder.

  "It's okay," Kira squeezed, "you're perfectly safe."

  "You know, statistically speaking, cars are actually really dangerous," Luke said. Kira death-stared him through the rear-view mirror. "What? I speak the truth," he shrugged, "I'm just a really awesome driver."

  Kira rolled her eyes. "The best," she deadpanned.

  "Hey, I've survived many a car chase, thank you very much."

  "I know. I was almost killed in one of those car chases."

  "By vampires."

  "By your driving."

  "You were totally safe."

  "Because I was tied to the bed of the truck."

  "Completely my idea."

  "You and I have very different memories of that night."

  "Mine being the right one?"

  Kira stared at him, trying not to laugh as he smiled super-widely into the mirror, giving her that all-too-innocent look she knew very well. Total stalemate, Kira thought and bit down on her lip. Luke's eyes crinkled at the corners and Kira knew she was about to win the unspoken contest.

  Three.

  His smile wobbled.

  Two.

  He swallowed a gulp.

  One.

  He sucked in air.

  "You talk very fast," Tristan said slowly, cutting through both of their defenses. Luke let out a loud hoot and Kira broke down in giggles. Tristan turned his head to stare at them both, utterly perplexed by the scene around him.

  Curling her feet into her chest, Kira looked out the window and tried to ease her laughter. But it wouldn't stop. The lightness in her chest just kept expanding the farther out of Sonnyville they traveled.

  The air smelled a little less like delicious honey.

  The Punishers were pushed to the back of her mind.

  Her worries seemed lost to the wind.

  "Where's Pavia?" Luke asked as they neared the gate. Kira shifted her attention to his face, moving her gaze away from the mangled car that reminded her too much of what had happened only an hour earlier.

  "Just keep driving, she'll catch up."

  There was still a pool of blood on the ground that Kira was afraid to be near, a memory she was trying her best to bury.

  "May I ask where we are going?" Tristan questioned, finally easing his grip on the handle a little bit. His eyes were still wide as they looked at the countryside flashing past the window. Kira watched his childlike wonderment in the side mirror, looking away when he tried to meet her gaze.

  "To Charleston," she said.

  "In truth?" He asked, turning around to look at her. The dimples she loved dug into his cheek.

  Kira smiled—she couldn't help it. His excitement was contagious. "Yup."

  "For how long? I would love to visit my home."

  "I don't know," Kira said, turning her attention out the window again. She didn't have the heart to tell him his home was gone. The plantation he used to live in was dust sprinkling the marshes, torn to ash from a fire during The Civil War.

  "It might be a little different than you remember," Luke said. Kira wanted to kiss him for the gentleness in voice.

  "It will still be home." Tristan leaned back, resting his head. "This car," he stumbled over the word, "it is far more comfortable than a horse."

  Luke cupped a hand around his mouth, trapping the bark that was about to escape. "I like you this way, Tristan. Who knew you were so funny?"

  "I don't mean to be humorous," he said, looking at Luke strangely.

  "That makes it so much better," Luke sighed, shaking his head happily.

  "You are very odd."

  "He gets that a lot," Kira said, meeting Luke's eye in the mirror and smiling warmly. But he was her oddball, Kira thought, liking the way that sounded.

  All of a sudden, a huge screech ripped through the air and Luke slammed on the brakes. The seatbelt dug into Kira's shoulder and she yelped as the car sputtered to a stop. The smell of burnt rubber filled her nostrils.

  "What the…" Kira trailed off, looking up. "Good driver my as—" She stopped at the sight of Pavia standing with arms crossed an inch in front of the car.

  "That was a little close, you know," the vampire said and grinned, winking in the process. She strolled around the car, opening the door behind Luke. Kira shifted from the middle, moving to squat behind Tristan as Pavia settled in.

  "This is going to be fun," the vampire said cheerfully, looking at the two boys in the front seat. "You must be Tristan," she winked at him and turned to Kira, "Nice work. He's just a cute as I remember, well you remembered and I stole. A little tanner, maybe, but that comes with the humanity I guess." She reached out, brushing a finger along his cheek, as if to check if there was really human blood pumping under his skin. Kira knew what she was really doing.

  She slapped Pavia's hand down. "Stop."

  "I was just taking a peek," she whined. "Besides, I didn't see anything useful. He's all blocked up."

  "What?" Kira asked, tilting her head.

  "There's a wall dividing his memories, something that's stopping me from retrieving them…for now." She raised her eyebrows, accepting the challenge. Kira opened her mouth to ask another question, but Luke interjected.

  "The name's Luke, by the way." A hard edge had crept into his tone.

  "Nice to meet you," Pavia said, extending her hand in his direction.

  "I'd rather not," Luke said.

  "I see Kira told you my little secret, no fun." She pouted, looking at Kira accusingly.

  "Oh please," Kira said, not giving into Pavia's little charade. "Now that the introductions are over, let's get down to business. You said you had to tell me something, something to do with Aldrich?"

  Tristan sucked in a breath instinctively, catching Kira's attention. But there was no real recognition in his features. Kira knew what her Tristan's face would look like at the mention of that man—hard, a mix of steel and ice.

  Pavia sunk into her seat, getting comfortable. Her features softened as the mask fell and Kira recognized this girl—this was the girl who promised to come back to Kira, to share more of her mother's memories, to fight Aldrich at all costs. The vampire with
a heart, that one hiding inside of Pavia's tough exterior.

  The teasing banter was lost to whatever grave news she had come to bear. Kira eyed her, watching the vampire's gaze shift from side to side as she struggled to make a decision.

  Finally, Pavia sighed. "I don't know where to begin."

  "It's only been a few days, how much can there really be to tell?"

  A dark laugh escaped her lips, "More than you know."

  "Start with Aldrich," Luke interjected, "what's his plan?"

  "Kira could probably tell you that part better than I can," Pavia said and Kira sucked in a breath. Did she know? Know about the darkness lurking inside of Kira's chest, the black hole Aldrich wanted to push her into—the one her body seemed almost willing to fall into?

  But no, there was no secret hiding in Pavia's glance. She really didn't know what Aldrich wanted so badly, why he was chasing so forcefully after Kira.

  "Besides," Pavia continued, "that's the end of the story. I guess we should start with him." She pointed at Tristan.

  "What about him?" Kira asked. Protectiveness lurked into her tone, roughing it up.

  "Are you kidding? From now on, everything is about him."

  "Me?" Tristan asked, shrinking into his seat.

  "I guess I should start with Aldrich escaping—which I'm still pretty impressed about by the way," she threw a pointed look in Kira's direction, "you seemed pretty dead set on killing him."

  Kira shrugged, unable to meet Pavia or Luke's eyes, "Can't win them all."

  "Well anyway, the man's got a serious grudge against you. He wanted to unite the vampire community, to give them something to fight about together, and Tristan became his rallying point. I mean, a vampire that became a human again? That's some scary stuff to a lot of vamps out there."

  Tristan turned his gaze out the window and Kira tried to read the expression gathering on his face, the far off look in his eyes.

  "Why scary?" Luke asked from the front seat.

  Pavia fell back, thinking. "I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's like, when you're a vampire nothing really matters. Your actions don't have consequences; you can do very bad things without feeling any real remorse about them, things that a human wouldn't do."

  As Pavia spoke, Kira kept watching Tristan. He brought one hand up and over his eyes, using his thumb and middle finger to rub at his temples. He didn't want to think about any of the past he didn't remember. Kira couldn't imagine the ideas running through his head, the questions about the things he may have done…

  "But Tristan doesn't remember," Kira mumbled.

  "But none of us knew that, and a lot of vampires would do anything to ensure that they are never human again—that they never have to feel the weight of humanity run through their veins ever again."

  "So they're after Kira now… well, again?" Luke asked—no ounce of surprise tainted his words. This was business as usual.

  "Some, yeah, but not me—and not a group of vampires I've been talking to for the past few days."

  "What do they want?" Luke asked roughly, the protector in him coming out full force.

  "Down boy," Pavia muttered, raising her eyebrows in Kira's direction. "They heard Aldrich's story, but it had the opposite effect. It excited them, energized them, gave them a new hope for something more. What they want, Luke, is their humanity back—what they want is to be human again."

  "What are they willing to do for it?" Kira asked. She clenched her fists. Her powers were in there, but Kira didn't know if they were up to the task, if Tristan had maybe been a one-time thing.

  "I'm sure we can negotiate something. Right now, all they want is to meet with you and to see that guy in the flesh." Pavia pointed at Tristan, who was still doing his best to tune out the conversation.

  "Absolutely not," Kira said, her voice harsh and commanding. "I'm not taking Tristan there."

  "I'll do it," he said softly from the front seat.

  "No," Kira shook her head, "I want you to stay out of it."

  "I need to help," Tristan said, louder this time, "I must do something."

  "You will," Kira put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing softly, "I promise you will, but I can't let you do this."

  "Kira," Luke interjected.

  "No," she shook her head. "No, Pavia will just have to show them her memory of Tristan and that will have to be enough."

  Pavia opened her mouth to speak, but then thought better of it. Kira was not in a negotiating mood, not when it came to Tristan. The last thing he needed was to be around vampires, to get more and more confused about what his life had been for the past hundred years. She wanted him to be safe, to settle into a normal human life—or as normal as it could be. Kira refused to save him just to put him in danger again. That was never going to happen, not on her watch.

  "Luke and I will go, and that will have to be enough."

  Pavia raised her hands in the air, as if to say she was giving up, and nodded. "They should all be on their way to Charleston—you are so predictable Kira. I'll set something up once we get there."

  "Good," Kira said, trying to warm her voice up a bit. She owed Pavia a lot, but man did that girl know how to get on someone's nerves.

  "Conduits and vampires meeting in peace? To strategize together? This has got to be a first," Luke shook his head, his voice light with disbelief.

  "That's not the only thing vamps and conduits can do together," Pavia said, her voice highly suggestive.

  "Pavia," Kira said sternly. The uncaring vampire she didn't like very much was returning now that business talk was done.

  "I was talking about car games. Get your mind out of the gutter, Kira," she said with a wink. "Although, I can see why thinking about Luke might send you there."

  Kira looked away, willing the blush to stop before it reached her cheeks. Luke, always her savior, spoke up from the front seat.

  "What car games did you have in mind? I'm pretty much the champion of the alphabet game."

  "Oh please, there's no skill required in that game. How about 20 questions?"

  "I'm down. Kira?" Luke asked. She nodded.

  "Okay, me first," Luke said, taking control, "I've got it."

  "Is it a place?" Pavia asked.

  "Nope."

  "A person?"

  "Yup."

  "Is this person alive?"

  "Nope."

  "Dead?"

  "Nope."

  "Something can't be neither alive nor dead, you are totally cheating," Pavia said.

  "Look who's talking," Luke retorted.

  "We are alive, thank you very much… but, are you thinking of a vampire?"

  "Nope. And you're down to fifteen."

  Kira smiled and looked out the window. She knew Luke too well and already knew what he was thinking about.

  "Man?"

  "Nope and fourteen."

  "Okay, woman?"

  "Yeah."

  Kira smirked—she was totally right.

  "Fictional character?" Kira asked and Luke met her eyes through the rearview mirror.

  "Yeah," he said with a grin and Kira grinned back. Yup, Pavia would never get it.

  "Does that count as one of my questions?"

  "Nope, but that does. Twelve."

  Pavia blew a bang from her forehead. Luke began to drum his fingers on the steering wheel—his victory was looking more and more imminent. Kira reached through the seats and turned on the radio. Car games weren't really her thing.

  Instead, she settled in her seat and looked at Tristan, who was totally silent. His eyes were focused through the window, flicking back and forth with the trees flying by the car. But they looked lost.

  For what felt like the first time she could remember, Kira didn't understand what was going through that pretty head of his. The wrinkles framing his frowning eyes were familiar, the purse to his lips was something she had seen before, his straight determined nose was nothing new—but it was like a painting that had been replicated. Almost the same as the original
but not quite. There was nothing specific Kira could pinpoint, but something intangible had changed.

  She assumed he was thinking about his life as a vampire, what may have happened, but she didn't know the way she used to. Though Tristan had only been human for a few days, he had already started drifting away from her. And Kira wasn't sure if his memories would bring him back, if anything could bring him back.

  His eyes moved in the side mirror, looking for hers. Kira hesitated, holding his gaze for a minute, before looking away. A self-conscious bubble expanded in her chest, blocking her breath.

  Maybe it was selfish, but she wanted to look into those eyes and see her Tristan again, just for a minute, to feel connected to him again. And Kira knew exactly how to do it, she just needed Pavia to play along once they got to Charleston.

  When they got home, it would all work itself out.

  "Only one question left!" Luke taunted, making his words come out as a song that caught Kira's attention.

  Pavia looked annoyed and determined. She bit her bottom lip while she thought.

  "Are you thinking about Catwoman?" She asked slowly.

  "Nope! I win!" Luke started chanting from the front seat. His joy was contagious and Kira let it bubble up in her chest, flowing through their bond secretly. He really was like a drug, a little happy pill she could take whenever she wanted it.

  "He's thinking of Wonder Woman," Kira told Pavia, fighting the grin that was widening her lips.

  "Bingo! And that's why we're best friends," Luke said, and reached back to squeeze her knee.

  Best friends or something else? Kira thought as the warmth from his hand traveled up her leg.

  Charleston, Kira let the word keep her afloat. Maybe it was a pipe dream, but she had to believe an answer was coming soon.

  Charleston.

  Chapter Six

  "Can you take a right up here?" Kira asked. They had been in the car for hours, taking shifts driving through the night, but finally they were almost home.

  "Here?" Luke asked, confusion clouding his words.

  "Just trust me."

  He made the turn and continued driving until they reached the end of the road, which broke off right next to the Ashley River, a few miles away from Charleston City. He stopped the car and turned to her with an eyebrow raised.