Alexa pulled out the knife she had concealed in her boot and stabbed him in the gut, opening him from his balls to this throat. Much to her surprise, though, there was no gushing of blood, no squelch of spilled guts. Just a hiss, as though she’d popped a balloon. She jumped away, horrified. What the fuck was this?
“You bitch,” he sputtered. “Do you have any idea how much that hurts?”
“Been there. Done that. So I can imagine,” she retorted, as she watched, to her horror, the cut slowly close. He shook himself, and dropped into a fighter’s crouch again.
“Bring it on, little bird. My companions and I would love to tenderize that sweet body of yours before we really get down to work—“
Alexa circled away from Felicia, her eyes never leaving Edgar. His eyes—they were now solid black and his tongue seemed obscenely long as he licked his thin—now almost nonexistent—lips. Alexa sent her mind into a trance, of sorts, trying to dredge up the memories from the sorcerer-witch being she’d lived with, served, and studied under. There were a few spells she could try, but there was no time to prepare them for use! Edgar rushed her again, catching her neatly and knocking her to the floor, pinning her down.
“Do you know how long it’s been since I met someone who was actually a challenge?” he hissed.
Thousands of years of survival had shown Alexa a dozen ways to get out from under someone, but that presumed that she had a limb free. Somehow, Edgar had managed to pin down both her arms and legs. “Hmm, you’re not as good as I thought you were,” he said, bringing his head down to sniff at her large breasts. Alexa swallowed her indignation and waited until he moved up to lick her ear—
And slammed her forehead into his nose. He screamed and flailed, and she was on her feet in a flash. This time she didn’t wait for him. She went straight for his face again, kicked him in the stomach, the balls—though she wasn’t sure it would do her much good, since he was clearly not human underneath. He shied away from her blows, but she wasn’t hurting him.
Edgar rushed her unexpectedly, using his weight against her, and pressed her against the wall, again, somehow contriving to pin her down so that she was rendered immobile. “You’re good,” he whispered. “And so hot. How tight are you down there? Have you ever—don’t even think about that,” he admonished her, as she tried to butt him in the head again.
He pressed his lips against hers, slipping his tongue—far too long for it to be an actual human’s tongue—down her throat. She gagged, and bit down. He yelled, “You bitch!” and slapped her, but not before she’d gotten a taste of his blood—
A bowl, filled with ashes—and her fiery blood. A whiff of sage smoke in the air. A hand on her shoulder. Her own hands, saying the words as she added the sacred earth to the bowl, a lock of her hair, and the pure water from the silver pitcher. Setting everything on the fire. Watching it all burn. Feeling the flames in her blood. Naming her secret name, whispering it to the flames.
She was reminded of who she was. She whispered her name to herself, and the flames in her blood grew and she herself began to burn. Edgar’s face lit up. “Yesssss! I knew it! You are one of them!”
She spoke words that came to her as they would from a dream, and she felt herself grow stronger and lighter, becoming a being of incandescent fire and fury. Edgar shed the skin he wore, revealing himself to be a sliver of pure darkness—a dark so complete it was a blistering cold. He slid against her, bringing her back to her human body, freezing it, killing her slowly. There’s nothing you can do, sweet bird. She wasn’t sure if he spoke the words, or if she only thought them.
It wasn’t until he was freezing the last breath from her body that he realized his mistake—in taking her flame, he’d consumed her—and she was a phoenix. She would rise again, and now that she knew her true name—
“I obliterate the darkness with my light,” she murmured, remembering the oath she’d taken. Inside Edgar, nothing could live for very long, but just a spark was enough—a spark of flame shattered the darkness, brought something into the void—and before she died again, she heard his agonized screams.
When Alexa came to again, she was on the floor, almost completely drained of energy. This was odd to her—she’d never resurrected so quickly before, but then she heard Felicia’s death rattle, and she knew what’d happened: her body, searching for the energy she needed to live had forcefully taken everything it could from Felicia, which had already been draining away since the start. “No,” Alexa croaked. She had not fought off a demon and died just to lose Felicia forever. But Alexa couldn’t move. Her own limbs were still cold and stiff from having been kissed by whatever the hell Edgar was. She did the only thing she could—she opened her heart to Felicia, and poured her life giving fire into her.
Chapter Fifteen
Felicia awoke, still on the floor. But she had been covered, at least, with a blanket. “Good to see you’re awake.”
A small, bookish man with round glasses took out a knife. The sight of the metal brought back everything that Edgar had done to her—all the cuts he’d made, the pain he’d put her through, how he’d violated her, forced her to say she wanted more—it all flooded back to her and she shrieked and pulled away. The blanket fell away, and between the humiliation and the pain she was still in, she couldn’t decide which was of the two was worse and her indecision paralyzed her. All she could do was cry.
Michael Rollins knelt, and cut her bonds. And then stood up, went over to his bag, and pulled out a square packet.
“Miss Grant,” he said, presenting her with a loose fitting jogging suit and sandals. She accepted them wordlessly, too surprised to thank him for them.
He went back to Alexa’s body as she dressed. He began to tie her limbs together. “Is she all right?” Felicia asked, her voice shaking. “I saw—I don’t know—“
“You saw nothing,” the man said. “She rescued you, but Edgar killed her and now he’s gone.”
“You mean he’s still out there?” Alexa wailed. She curled into a ball, quivering. “I can’t—no. I saw her burn him—I saw him—“It made no sense, what she’d seen—Alexa, turning into pillar of fire; Edgar freezing her flame; Edgar shattering. Had she seen what she’d seen?
“Miss Grant. He’s gone.”
Something about the way he said “gone” made her realize that it really was all over—that Edgar Faust was no more. She felt a little stronger at that. “And—and Alexa?”
“I’m afraid your friend is dead again, Miss Grant. I’ve come to collect the body,” he said, as he rolled Alexa’s limp body onto a stretcher board. He quickly strapped her body to the board, attached a pair of wheels to the end and said, “Good day, Miss Grant. If you should recover enough to want to visit Alexa again, you may find her here.”
He gave her a card, and she took it, not knowing what else to do. “If you decide to notify the police concerning what has transpired here, please leave Ms. Raines out of your story. They would not believe you anyway” he said, as he wheeled her out.
“Wait!” Felicia said. But it was too late. He was already moving back through the tunnel, and Felicia was all alone.
Felicia looked at the card: it was plain looking, with only three words written on it. “Raines Adjustments” on the top line, “California” on the bottom. She realized, then, that he’d given it to her as a way to dismiss her. It was a taunt: You’ll never find us. Alexa was out of her life again, for good. But there were too many questions about her that Felicia just couldn’t stop asking. What was she? Who was she? And if Alexa could cheat death once could she not cheat death again. If she was even dead at all. “You think you’re the only one who can play this game?” Felicia murmured. She was not backing down. Not this time.
Chapter Sixteen
The black one and the white one were waiting outside. Michael swallowed, but pressed on. They moved aside while he loaded Alexa’s body into the back of the van. “She doesn’t look too bad,” the white one said. “How long do you think it’ll ta
ke?”
Michael shook his head as he closed the van. “I only follow her orders.”
“And now you’re following ours, aren’t you?”
Michael pressed his lips together, but the black one slammed him against the back of the van, while the white one rolled up his sleeves. “Do I really have to remind you, Michael?”
Michael shook his head frantically. “Please!” he burst out. “Yes, I’m following your orders. Yes, I’ll—I am your bitch.” He had to grit his teeth as he said the words, but they liked that. They enjoyed his torment.
“Good. How long?”
“I don’t know. It’s different every time she is reborn.”
The white one looked at the black one and sighed. “Well, what good is he, then? We should just kill him and be done with it.”
At this, panic gripped Michael’s heart. “You promised—“he began, wishing to God he didn’t sound like a five-year-old child, but unable to contain the fear he felt for his family and himself.
“Very well,” the black one said. “But you’d better keep your promise to us,” he hissed into Michael’s ear. “We don’t like cheaters, either.”
Michael buried his face in his hands, to quell the panic and get a grip on his emotions. When he raised his head again, the two had disappeared. He looked at his forearm—the tattoo of his wife and two children that the two had magically imprinted — were still smiling. He breathed a deep sigh of relief. As he climbed into the van to begin the long drive back to California, though, he couldn’t help but feel guilty about betraying Alexa. But what else could he do?
Copyright and Disclaimer
Copyright 2013 – J.L. Masters
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book.
It is the intention of this book to only offer entertainment. This is a figment of my imagination. No real person or persons are represented in this work of fiction.
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Other Books by J.L. Masters
Raines of Fire: The Alexa Raines Chronicles (Book 1)
http://www.amazon.com/Kindred-Raines-Chronicles-J-L-Masters-ebook/dp/B00GVDE0MO
Raines of Fire: The Alexa Raines Chronicles Page 5
