Strange Fire

by Trina M. Lee

  “Leave her out of this, Dash. We’ve been over this already. If Spike gets hurt, I won’t be part of your triad. I’m willing only as long as my friends are safe. You break your word, and I’m done.”

  Dash flung a hand toward me. “Then tell your girlfriend to back off. Her interference is not part of our agreement.”

  “Spike, please.” Rowen surprised me by grabbing my sword hand and giving me a gentle push back. “Let me do this.”

  I got what he was trying to do. I did. But I was offended as fuck at how he went about it.

  “Fuck no.” I jerked my wrist from his grasp. “I don’t need you to save me, and I sure as hell don’t need you to do it by joining yourself to a demon. If you think I’m going to just stand here and be quiet, you don’t know me at all.”

  “Let the girl save your ass, Rowen,” Arrow piped up. “It’s kind of in her job description.”

  Rowen turned on his brother with a snarl. “Don’t fucking talk to me right now.”

  In true demon fashion Dash took advantage of the growing conflict among us. He moved unseen. One moment he stood on the other side of the sunken circle. The next he twisted my arms behind my back so hard and fast the Midnight Star fell to the floor. I cried out as pain ripped through my shoulders. He held tight, crushing my wrists together. His other arm snaked around my neck from behind, pulling me back against his chest.

  “There’s no time for this shit,” he hissed as he dragged me to the circle. “Anyone makes a move without being told, and I snap Spike’s neck. No warnings.”

  My friends watched wide eyed as Dash hauled me away. Jett’s wolf appeared ready to burst out. I hoped it didn’t. She couldn’t help me now.

  Arrow’s hands clenched into tight fists. Shadows writhed all around him, darting about faster than I’d ever seen. Shoulders tense, his expression embodied absolute hatred.

  “Now, Rowen,” Dash continued. “Come over here and follow my instructions. Don’t try anything heroic. Hurry up.”

  Though I willed him not to, Rowen obeyed. His gaze flicked to mine as he approached. In his amber eyes I saw such anguish. It cut deep. We were caught in a hard place, and if we survived tonight, it would only get harder.

  “Take the blade and puncture the heart. Then pour the blood into the chalice.” Dash tightened his hold, forcing a grunt from me. Just enough to ensure Rowen knew he meant business.

  “Ok, I’m doing it. Just chill.” After another brief glance at me, Rowen picked the small ritual dagger off the gold platter.

  He turned it over in his hand. I could almost see him contemplating it, wondering if he could use it somehow. Not worth the risk. In my head I willed him not to do anything risky. Dash’s grip on my neck felt pretty damn serious. Adrenaline pumped through me.

  I racked my brain for a way out of this. The demon held my hands so I couldn’t touch him. I needed touch to thieve a sample of his power. By pinning them so tightly, Dash ensured I couldn’t try it. Not only that, I couldn’t reach the feather in my hair. I could create a fireball though.

  Under Dash’s watchful gaze Rowen stabbed the blade into Vicky’s beating heart. Revulsion twisted his lips into a grimace. Lifting the heart in one hand, he held it over the chalice.

  We all watched the blood drain into the cup. Dash’s low chuckle sounded in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. “I needed the heart of a woman who’d just had a sexual encounter. Primes the energy for a ritual like this. It was yours I wanted though, Spike.”

  “Um…? Sorry about your luck?” I probably had Cinder to thank for keeping it from being my heart on that platter.

  Or maybe it had been someone else. My gaze strayed to Koda. He glowered back at me. Despite being impaled by a weapon that zapped him every time he tried to remove it, he didn’t quit trying.

  “Now, get into the pit,” Dash instructed Rowen. “Keep the chalice handy. Once the planets align I’ll speak the unbinding, and you will pour the blood on every point of the pentagram. The spell will become active. Once you’ve added your own blood to the center, the ritual will be complete.”

  “That’s it?” Rowen asked, peering into the chalice. “Seems simple enough.”

  “Simple?” Dash scoffed in my ear. “I suppose, when all the pieces are in place, it appears that way.”

  My stomach tightened when Rowen jumped down into the circle. There had to be mere moments left until the planets lined up.

  Inside I panicked. Lungs frozen but heart racing, I searched for the answer. And found it in Kai’s story of sacrifice. He’d given himself up to save me. Arrow had called it. Kai’s gift to me was his sacrifice. And now that had to be my gift to Rowen.

  “This can’t be happening.” Arrow moved as if to intervene.

  Probably saving his life, Jett held him back. Eyes solid brown wolf, she easily overpowered him. I caught her eye and tried like crazy to use that psychic connection all best friends seemed to form.

  Hear me, I pleaded mentally. So many times we’d communicated with a mere look, and I needed that to happen now.

  With Dash’s attention trained on Rowen, for now, she put her lips to Arrow’s ear and murmured something inaudible. My palms itched and I readied myself. If only there were a damn countdown clock to make this easier.

  Rowen glanced up at us, the chalice in hand. “Is it time yet?”

  The demon’s response was to begin a slow, creepy as fuck, otherworldly chant. Having it spoken in his sinister timbre next to my ear made me almost pee my pants.

  “Now, Rowen. Pour the blood.” Stern and commanding, Dash left no room for argument.

  “Don’t do it.” My shout turned to a shriek as he gave my arms a painful yank.

  Avoiding eye contact with any of us, Rowen poured the blood on each pentagram point. As it splashed onto the last point, sulfuric smoke rose up. The atmosphere hummed almost painfully, not unlike the ringing in one’s ears after a loud concert.

  Rowen leaned out of the circle to place the empty chalice back on the platter. He reached for the small dagger and hesitated. Glancing up at me, he said, “Don’t hold this against me. It’s what I have to do.”

  Like fuck it was.

  With an angry cry I unleashed the fire that had been building inside me. The itch in my hands subsided in a satisfying blaze that erupted between Dash and me. The fireball blasted out sudden and intense.

  It threw Dash back, freeing me from his hold. The element of surprise allowed me to keep my neck intact. I turned to hit him with another blast right in the face.

  Although he’d always been affected by my fire, it tended to be short lived. I didn’t have much time. I turned to shout Jett’s name, but she was already in motion. Together she and Arrow rushed the circle and dragged Rowen out. Without waiting for Dash to react, I threw myself into the pit.

  Frantic, I searched for the ritual dagger. Rowen still held it clutched in a hand. Fuck.

  Seeing my predicament, Arrow kicked the Midnight Star toward me. I dragged my palm across the tip, saw blood, and turned to find the center of the pentagram.

  An infuriated Dash lunged at me. Falling to my knees, I slapped my bloody palm down on the pentagram’s center. An inhuman howl shook the room. The demon reached in to grab me, probably to kill me, but he never got the chance.

  Power exploded from the circle. The force threw everyone back, pasting them against the walls or floor, wherever they happened to land. Trapped in the eye of a tornado of power, I gasped for breath, unable to move.

  “You stupid bitch.” A roar of wind swallowed Dash’s insult.

  His opinion meant nothing to me, although I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe this had been stupid after all. Unleashing a nephilim’s power all in one shot was to risk their life. I might die here.

  Too late now. I’d made my choice.

  The storm swept all around me. My hair whipped about, plastering to my face. I struggled to shove it out of my eyes. Breathing seemed like an unattainable goal. My limbs felt like they were swel
ling though I saw no visible difference. The sensation spread through me until I thought for sure my body would explode, unable to contain the massive pressure. Every cell in my body seemed filled to the breaking point. I pictured them all bursting inside me. A crushing pain flung me face down in the circle. It felt like my bones were breaking, and every organ in me protested the onslaught of power.

  The sudden and immense onslaught of agony proved too much. I couldn’t take it. When I tried to scream, a strangled groan was all I could manage. I lay there and prayed for an end to my suffering. I’d take death over this hell any day. The sweet release would be worth the trade.

  I fell to my knees in the center of the pentagram. A bloodstained pentagram point swam before my eyes. I reached to touch it, to feel something real beneath my fingers, but they refused to move. My hands curled until my nails cut into my palms. My body would not obey my mind.

  Faintly I heard someone shout my name. The roar of wind in my ears soon drowned them out.

  “Please,” I somehow managed to whisper to the floor beneath me. Please make it stop.

  I hoped Cinder wasn’t too disappointed when he learned of my death. I did it for Rowen, but I also did it for him. I wanted him to be proud of who I’d become under his tutelage. He needed to know this was more than a wayward romance gone wrong. This had been my duty, exactly what I’d signed on for. And I couldn’t let myself down by fleeing it like I had so many other commitments.

  When I stopped resisting the pain, it seemed to lessen. My muscles relaxed, and I lay there, hoping whatever came next would be fast. Because this fucking sucked.

  Two sharp stabbing jolts in my back caused my whole body to spasm. And then the pain was gone, like it had never been there.

  Heat rolled over me. Wings of fire erupted from my back, cloaking me like a protective shield. I marveled at the sight of them on either side of me. Was this some kind of out-of-body dream sequence?

  Carefully I pushed to my feet but found that I felt… okay. In fact, I felt pretty damn fantastic. I turned inside the circle to find my friends gaping at me with matching expressions of worry, shock, and awe.

  Dash retreated with slow steps that brought him closer to the door. Did he think he was leaving now?

  I climbed out of the circle in a glide. Picking up the Midnight Star, I advanced on the demon. Guided by instinct alone, I knew only that I had a message to send and he would certainly receive it.

  “Kai’s daughter,” Dash spat my father’s name at me, using it as a weapon, expecting it to wound. “Of course you’d survive. Pity. I’d kill you myself for fucking up my ritual, if you didn’t already have a target on your back. Thief. They’ll never let you live. Not now.”

  My mortality hadn’t been altered. I was still very much human. But I felt stronger. More alive. Like the entire universe dwelled within me now. I had a new connection to the world.

  Vengeance drove me. With greater speed than I’d ever possessed, I darted past him to block his exit.

  “So you know who my father is now?” I swung the sword from side to side in a figure eight. “Then you know he’s never really been one of you. Angel blood runs through my veins. Not demon. I may be mortal, but I’ll never fear you again, Dash. You fucked with the wrong flame bearer.”

  Dash saw my thrust coming. He attempted to ward me off. A flick of his wrist and a vice-like pain gripped my heart. My nose began to bleed.

  I’d seen this before. He’d done it to Arrow. Dear God it hurt. But it wasn’t enough to stop me now. Done. I was so done with his shit. I’d reached my limit with him, a place of apathy, where there was no coming back.

  The point of no return.

  I slashed the air before him with the Midnight Star. Flames rolled down the blade in a wave that smashed Dash in the chest. Even as he dodged the blade, every sweep of the weapon flung fire across him. I drove him back toward the center of the room.

  To throw him a curveball, I reached into my hair to touch the feather there. Following a blast of flame with a deadly sharp shard of ice kept him on his toes.

  Dash’s red eyes widened. I could see him trying to assess me, to figure out what I had in my arsenal, especially now that his spell had awoken my gifts. Truth be told, I didn’t know myself.

  He retaliated with a shot of that purple lightning. I deflected it with the sword, sending it right back to him. Brow furrowed, he absorbed the blow before using telekinesis to throw me against the wall.

  My skull bounced off the hard surface, leaving me slightly disoriented. I used another ice attack to buy me a moment to regroup. It froze Dash’s hand as he held it toward me.

  With an angry shout I lunged at him. My blade stopped inches from his face as he flung up his free arm and used pure, raw energy to push back.

  I would not be deterred. For months this demon had taunted me. Threatened me. Threatened my loved ones. Staring into his mocking eyes even as he fought for the upper hand, I spun in a circle, sweeping him with my flaming wings. The might of them astounded me. As Dash tumbled down into the ritual pit, I slashed at him, raining down blow after blow as he blocked and defended. A flap of my wings and scorching heat pasted him to the side of the sunken circle.

  A shriek resounded as the demon’s flesh melted away.

  I saw my shot and I took it. The Midnight Star pierced Dash’s chest. Standing above him, I shoved it deep.

  His mouth fell open, and he clutched at the blade. Too late.

  I jerked it free, and he began to crumple before disappearing entirely as he was forced back to the other side.

  My chest burned from exertion. Spots danced before my eyes. Taking a step back, my legs gave out. My vision grew dark. Muffled voices called to me as I collapsed in a heap on the floor.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “Grow the fuck up, you two. Spike didn’t just almost kill herself so you could sit here whining and crying over who kissed who. I’m about to whack the both of you.” A thump accompanied Jett’s threat.

  “No need for violence, Jett,” came Cinder’s calm, soothing tone. “Please put the guitar down.”

  They were gathered in my living room, but their conversation traveled easily through the apartment.

  I tried to open my eyes. They seemed to be glued shut. No, they weren’t. After another attempt, I realized the effort to be greater than my body deemed worth exerting. Another more focused attempt had me staring at my bedroom ceiling.

  If Jett busted my guitar over someone’s head I’d be livid. Of course, I’d have to be able to get up first.

  “I knew that song was about her,” Rowen muttered.

  Arrow sounded exhausted when he replied with a tired, “What do you want from me, Rowen? Do you think I planned to feel something for her? I have no control over that shit.”

  “You apparently have no control over your lips either,” came Rowen’s bitter retort.

  His words drew me out of my sleepy haze. I sat up with a groan. A weight tugged at my back. Looking to either side of me, I saw the now-flameless silver wings spread out across my bed.

  So that had been real. It felt like a dream.

  “That’s it. You’re both getting bitch slapped.” The obvious sound of two smacks followed Jett’s claim.

  My sense of time seemed distorted. I couldn’t tell how long I’d been asleep. Someone had put my fuzzy PJ pants and a Motley Crüe t-shirt on me. Jett, I presumed.

  Wait, how did the shirt work with the wings? I struggled to look over my shoulder at them. They seemed to just be there, despite my clothing, just as they were for the others. A physical manifestation of a symbolic feature, they weren’t bound by the same laws as the rest of my body. How uncanny.

  “Would anyone like some tea?” Cinder’s method of peacekeeping was less than conventional.

  I couldn’t go out there like this. It felt… weird. Recalling Cinder’s instruction to Rowen on how to will the wings to obey like any other limb, I sat on the edge of my bed and concentrated on making them go aw
ay.

  At first nothing happened. Then, like a numbed limb regaining feeling, they responded with pins and needles. The sound of feathers ruffling tripped me out. Was this for real?

  It felt so strange to have them there. As I watched they faded from sight. I reached out a hand to touch them and felt nothing, though I could still feel them as part of me. It was like they were there but they weren’t.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” I mumbled to myself.

  I shuffled from the bedroom, wondering how rough I looked. Everyone turned to stare at me when I emerged into the living room. Like I didn’t feel weird enough.

  “Damn, bitch, you scared me.” Jett threw her arms around me in a tight squeeze. She smelled of shampoo, like she’d recently showered. Her makeup was light but fresh.

  “How long have I been asleep?” I accepted a hug from Cinder.

  He held me a little tighter than expected. His warm embrace went on longer than usual for him. He’d been worried. Although he would claim not to, I knew he had. It brought a smile to my face.

  “All day. It’s nearing supper hour.” Pulling back to peer into my eyes, Cinder searched me intently. “Are you hungry? I can fix you something. Do you feel alright?”

  I spared a glance for Rowen and Arrow who sat on opposite ends of the couch. A deep frown marred Rowen’s brow. He gripped the arm of the couch as if trying to hold himself in place.

  It was hard to meet his gaze. As good as it was to see him and as bad as I wanted to kiss him, I couldn’t just forget the way he’d made decision after decision without me.

  Before I could fall into his amber eyes I looked away. To Arrow. He lounged on the couch, giving off the appearance of being chill. I’d gotten to know him well enough in recent months to know it to be an act. When eyes were upon him, Arrow had a way of feigning nonchalance as if it were authentic. It was his way of ensuring nobody saw behind the mask he wore. I suspected he’d been perfecting it for years.

  Knowing they’d just been arguing about the kiss made it especially awkward. I suspected a strained conversation with Rowen awaited in my near future.