Into the Flames

by Multi-Author

  He fought for control, but the blackness rolled like a tidal wave, tumbling him into unconsciousness.

  * * *

  Reese dragged ass out of the tanker, already feeling used up after only one call. Not that he was tired, just completely out of sorts after hearing the damning information Hope had given to Josh. He’d spent the afternoon going over every scrap of information they had on the fires, working to find another explanation and trying to reach Glenn.

  He hadn’t had any luck with either task.

  Fortunately, the alarm had rung minutes after he’d arrived at the station for the night shift. It had been nothing more than a diesel fire on a farm tractor. One fire engine. One tanker. Five men. Routine. He’d volunteered to stay behind with McLeod and the tanker when the engine was no longer needed. He had no reason to feel as heavy as he did.

  But as he pulled off his bunker gear, rolling the pants over the boots, hanging the jacket and stowing his helmet on the rack above him, readied for another call, he couldn’t help but think of the pixie-haired woman. A woman who was now suspect in killing nearly two dozen vamps and a handful of humans. It’s not at all where he wanted his thoughts to travel.

  He’d rather remember the way she’d responded to his touch. Reese could still taste the salt of her satin skin on his tongue, smell the fruity aroma of her silken hair as he grazed his teeth over her neck and feel the heat of her pressed against him.

  His body’s reaction hadn’t surprised him. But the way his emotions had swelled when she’d melted in his arms had thrown Reese completely off-kilter. His mind kept reminding his heart he’d made a solemn vow never to fall in love again—especially with a vamp. It was just too damn dangerous. Now, that didn’t seem to matter. Months of innocent flirting had obviously broken his resolve and the woman had wiggled her way into his heart. That thought shook him to his core.

  Shit. He needed to get Alex out of his head. There were lots of hours between now and when he would see her again. The only question was whether he’d spending the hours lounging in the rec room or out in the community battling dragons. It was how he’d come to understand fire, a living breathing beast, devouring for sheer pleasure and enjoyment.

  For himself, he hoped the alarm would continue to send the engines screaming into the night. He had no desire to contemplate how the new information Josh had brought to their cabin would impact a relationship that had only just begun. For the residents of South Kenton, he hoped this Friday dragged by with them sitting around the fire station talking trash, lifting weights, and playing cards. That thought darkened his already foul mood.

  “Hey, Colton, Sykes said to head up to his office as soon as you got in. Burkett and Timmons are already up there,” the dispatcher called from her office. “He didn’t sound too happy.”

  Reese lumbered up the stairs, hearing Sykes’s irate voice long before he got to the office door. He sure as hell was in no hurry to listen to a tirade. He had no idea what he’d done and would gladly have heard it secondhand from Josh and Timmons, but they were a team. They fought fires as a team. They broke bread as a team. They hung by their balls as a team. Go team.

  “… I have no fucking idea what you three were doing at the professor’s mansion, but I’ve got the fire marshal chewing me a new asshole saying someone tampered—”

  At Reese’s soft knock on the smoky glass, the deputy chief’s rant stopped.

  “Colton, that’d better be you!” The door swung open. Frank Sykes’s normally placid features were taut and glowed a sickly red. His thick mustache twitched in time with his fingers pulsing in and out of a fist. “It’s about time.” He waved him into the small office. Timmons and Josh sat in the two chairs across from the deputy’s desk, which left only the door to lean against.

  “What the hell did you three do after we left?” Sykes stalked behind the desk, but didn’t sit.

  “Burkett and I already told you,” Timmons said. “The body was transported to the morgue. We pulled down what was left of the walls and soaked the hotspots.” Timmons turned to Josh and Reese, who nodded in confusion. Reese was fairly certain, though he and Josh had been thorough in their search, they hadn’t disturbed anything that would have the fire marshal upset enough to call their boss. Every firefighter understood the scene was only theirs until the fire was out, then possession returned to the owners or, in the case of a death—the fire marshal.

  Though it happened, firefighters weren’t supposed to return to the scene.

  “Didn’t they get the photos and collect everything they wanted early this morning?” Josh asked.

  Sykes stared him down. “Obviously not, Burkett. With the number of fire deaths, he’s making sure he doesn’t miss anything. Imagine his surprise when he went back this morning and the place was torn apart. And not just from axes and water. The only obvious people on the scene were you three.” He paused, his narrowed eyes probing for guilt. “I’m talking the master suite, a guest bedroom and the living area. You sure you three didn’t see anyone or do a little investigation on your own?” None of them moved. With serious deliberation, the deputy chief flattened his palms on the desk and leaned forward. “Seems some things he wanted were missing. Not the least of which was the computer from the office.”

  “What the hell would we do with a piece of melted plastic?” Josh asked.

  The alarm was his only answer.

  “Attention South Kenton fire,” the dispatcher called. “Repeat. Attention South Kenton fire. Report of structure fire. One-seventeen Chestnut Hill Road, a tenth of a mile past Goughan’s bridge …”

  Literally saved by the bell.

  Reese took the shortest route to the bay, pounding down the stairs in front of Josh, Timmons and Sykes. Stepping into his boots, he pulled up his bunker pants, sliding the suspenders over his shoulders in one sweeping motion. He shrugged into his coat, grabbed his helmet and lumbered toward the engine. Routine. His thoughts focused on what lay ahead, his muscle memory did the rest. He pulled the lanyard, releasing the air tank tucked in the seat’s back before his butt ever hit the vinyl. His seat belt and air tank straps snicked into place as adrenaline filled his veins and sharpened his senses.

  He’d get through this long night one fire at a time.

  * * *

  Ronan pressed harder on the gas pedal of the Volvo, sending it hurtling along the treacherous mountain road leading up to Glenn’s farm. Weaving in and out of the forest, the asphalt rising and falling with the rocky California terrain, he had a hard time keeping the car on his side of the road. The headlights bumped along the low-hanging trees, the shadows opening only long enough for him to pass, then closing quickly behind him. No doubt this section of forest held tight to its secrets.

  The car bounced over the rise on the picturesque bridge and the chassis slammed down hard on the road. The Volvo screeched with the impact. Ronan didn’t care. He pushed the needle of the speedometer to a chilling angle.

  He needed to find Alex.

  The woman may have charmed Burkett and Colton, but Ronan knew she was guilty for crimes committed against vampires and he was determined to make her pay. Despite what his cohorts thought of her innocence, Ronan had every intention of bringing her to justice. That’s why he’d been sitting at the tavern waiting for the woman when the call about the fire at Glenn’s had blared over the firefighters’ pagers.

  Every off-duty firefighter at O’Malley’s had answered the call and he’d left with the surge. They’d headed to the station. He’d driven up the road. He wanted to stop her before she got away.

  Ronan had wondered for months exactly where her loyalties lay. After this morning, he no longer had any doubts.

  He’d measured her every move in the cellars. Listened for any subtle nuance of deceit in her words. He’d been so close to breaking through her tough exterior, when the unthinkable had happened. Ronan slammed his fist on the steering wheel, imagining it was Reese Colton’s face. The man’s timing had pissed
him off. But then, he hated Colton and everything he did.

  Hating his boss wasn’t good for his career with RISEN. Ronan didn’t really care. He’d work with the asshole only as long as it suited his needs. Then he’d move on. Competing for a woman’s attention, even if he only wanted to use her, was just bad politics. Still, it raised his hackles that she’d lost focus the minute the firefighter had entered the cellar. It was obvious Colton was sniffing around Alex looking for more than wine and friendly banter. Ronan had been trying to gain her trust for the last several months, but she barely gave him the time of day.

  He may have backed off in the wine cellar, choosing not to fight a battle he couldn’t win, but when Josh had brought the proof of Alex’s crimes—proof RISEN hadn’t been able to find—it had pissed him off beyond reason that Colton hadn’t seen beyond his dick. The facts had been laid out in plain sight and both of his colleagues had turned a blind eye.

  Didn’t matter. He didn’t need either of them. He could bring Alex to the tribunal without them. Who cared if going over the heads of his superiors put a black mark on his career with RISEN? Making Alex pay for her atrocities against vampires and shoving the whole case up Colton’s self-righteous ass would be a twofer.

  The drive from O’Malley’s had taken no more than fifteen minutes. And even before he’d crested the last hill, Ronan knew there’d be little left of Glenn’s farm worth saving. The forest around him glowed an unnatural orange, the shadows of the trees dancing along the road as if celebrating the carnage.

  When he rounded the final turn, his suspicions were confirmed. Flames lapped out of broken windows, reaching up to taste the siding and lick the sill of the roof. Sparks danced in merry wonder upon the black smoke billowing into the night and shadowing the fat disk of the moon, watching from high above.

  He pulled his car to the side of the road, opening his door before he’d fully stopped. He killed the engine and jumped out. Running across the road and into the yard, he passed Alex’s car and Glenn’s truck and nearly tripped over a couple panicked chickens spilling from the open doors of the barn and scattering in fear.

  “Alex! Glenn!” Ronan yelled, running toward the barn. His voice was swallowed by the fire as it roared its power and shook something within the building. The heat and destruction were overwhelming “Alex! Glenn! Are you here?” he yelled again. Someone was here. Below the thunder of the devastation, like a muted drum beat, Ronan felt the unmistakable rhythm of a vampire. But who?

  He hoped Alex hadn’t been caught in the fire. The female vamp needed to pay for what she’d done, but not until the tribunal had a chance to pass judgment in front of the whole vampire clan. She needed to be taken alive. He was still a hundred feet from the blaze, the heat pressing angrily against his skin and snatching his breath. Even an immortal couldn’t survive that beast.

  Ronan registered the sound of sirens. He wondered if Colton would be one of the first firefighters on the scene and be the one to save her. Wouldn’t that be rich? Rescued from the flames only to be found guilty and destroyed by the fires of justice.

  He watched the silhouette of a person running from the woods, then along the side of the building. Lumbering and clumsy, she stumbled and went down. He’d studied Alex far too long, not to know the lithe form was her. He was upon her before she could recover. Liquid fire dripped into the grass around them as the metal of the roof fed the flames. Grabbing her arms, he hauled her weak form upright, aware that the vampire within her hadn’t taken control.

  Her wide eyes searched his face in confusion. “I can’t find Glenn. I think he’s in there. I don’t think we can save him.” Her fingers dug into his arms, but her voice was deadly calm.

  * * *

  Reese jumped from the engine, assessing and evaluating even as he settled his helmet in place. The shadowed sight of Ronan holding Alex drew his fangs long. Nason had wanted her drawn and quartered earlier in the afternoon and now, Reese wasn’t sure if the vampire’s embrace was protection or confinement.

  The two vampires moved as a unit toward them. Ronan broke from Alex only long enough to yell over the roar of the fire. “We can’t find Glenn Karr. His truck’s here. I hope he’s not—”

  A person burst from the side door of Glenn’s house, running toward them at an unnatural speed, his shouts not audible to the humans, but Reese heard every word. “I can’t find ‘em. You need to find ‘em.”

  “Oh, God.” Alex crumpled against Ronan just as the short order cook from O’Malleys reached their group.

  “Jesus, Alex, what the hell are you doing here?” Chris asked. “Have you seen—”

  “Folks, you need to get out of our way. Let us do our job.” Sykes corralled the three, guiding them to the back of the firetruck. “Colton, you and Burkett take a hose. Attack from the front.”

  Reese tuned him out as the fire chief turned and gave orders to the rest of his squad. He grabbed Ronan’s arm, stopping the vampire in his tracks. “I expect you to keep her safe, Nason.”

  “You do your fucking job and find Glenn. I’ll do mine.” Ronan wrenched his arm free, dragging Alex away from the destruction, Chris trailing behind.

  Reese didn’t have time to contemplate why all three vampires were at Glenn’s and the one vamp that should have been front and center, seemed to have disappeared.

  “He won’t hurt her.” Josh pulled the hoses from the tanker, handing the nozzle to Reese. “Right now you need to focus on putting this fire out and locating Glenn.”

  As they ran into the blaze, Reese searched for the ancient vampire’s quiet harmony, unable to find Glenn’s signature vibration in the chaos of his racing thoughts. The vampire had been through so much and saved so many, Reese couldn’t bear to think it would all end like this.

  The moment they’d arrived on scene, Sykes had called in mutual aid from two towns and every off-duty firefighter had poured into the station ready to do battle when they’d found out it was Glenn’s place lighting up the night. But the fire had already chewed through the back half of the barn and danced in victory along the roof shingles. Reese doubted they’d be able to save any part of the structure, let alone the lives of any living creature unfortunate to be caught in the inferno.

  Pulling back on the lever of the hose, Reese let the water spew forth in a great plume and pushed into the barn. Josh leaned into him, his gloved hands holding tight. Though either of them was strong enough to overpower the bucking hose, for appearance’s sake, they followed protocol. With giant sweeping motions, Reese fought back the tempest. Flames crept up the wooden walls, hissing as the he aimed the water and reclaimed small portions of the building. The firefighters pushed forward at a steady pace, their gaze cutting through the inky smoke, searching for any signs of life.

  In the center of the barn, they found their first victim.

  The fire had consumed the stalls along the walls and was working its way into the hayloft, but the floor remained nearly unscathed. A quick glance confirmed the body, drained of blood and lying before them, wasn’t Glenn. Josh bent to check for signs of life, but they both knew the heart had stopped beating long before the man had been staked spread eagle to the floor. His head was contorted to one side, the bruised and swollen puncture marks at his neck further evidence of the gruesome ending to his life. Even in the shimmering light, the pentagon painted on the wooden planks was visible. Reese had no idea if the elaborate setup was a hoax or a warning to other vampires.

  He detested leaving the body, but Timmons and McLeod had already broken through the roof above them. Tampering with evidence of murder, even if it seemed to point directly to a pagan ritual and a vampire slaying, was criminal.

  Josh lifted the mic off his shoulder, held it to the speaker of his face mask and spoke to Sykes. “One body. Center barn floor. Dead. Send recovery team with video. Burkett and Colton moving to back of barn to continue the search.”

  Their boss’s confirmation crackled in his ear. Reese took a quick gl
ance at the light display in his face mask. Four lights marching across his nose from left to right indicated the air level of his tank. One red. One yellow. Two green. One green light had already dimmed. Depending on how shallow he kept his breathing, Reese still had fifteen or twenty minutes of air left in this tank. Plenty of time to battle their way to the back of the barn. Already another team had hoses working on the blaze behind them. Until he and Josh finished searching the barn, their hose would only clear their way. Battling the fire would come later.

  Josh nodded and Reese pushed into the belly of the beast. Back here, where the fire had most likely begun, it had eaten through the rafters. A portion of the hayloft on the right side of the barn had already fallen victim to its heat. It lay crumpled in on itself, the thick smoke and flames lifting in triumph toward the night sky. The fire had burned its way across the ceiling and birthed droplets of flame that rained down around them. But the water was slowing its progress. The thunderous roar of the fire and the hissing sound of defeat ebbed and flowed in Reese’s ears.

  “Over there.”

  Reese followed the direction of Josh’s finger. The last couple of stalls of the barn in the back left corner had been walled off. Probably a tack room or an office. Smoke poured from the closed door. Even if the fire hadn’t worked into the space, there was little chance of a human surviving the heat and toxic smoke. But Glenn wasn’t human.

  They aimed the hose at the door and pushed back the flames slithering down the walls. Reese swept the water, allowing Josh access to the door. His partner shoved it open and jumped back as fire leapt from the space. Reese didn’t need the thermal imaging camera to see the burned body on the floor, its torso propped against the wall. The stake protruding at an angle from the center of Glenn’s chest would have only paralyzed him, but the ferocious heat had singed off his hair, melted his clothes and blackened most of his skin. Even an ancient vampire couldn’t recover from those wounds.