Temptation by Fire

by Tiffany Allee

  Like me.

  “So where are we at, then?” Franklin asked, raising his voice slightly.

  I mentally hit myself. Getting lost in thoughts of Ava while talking to Franklin was stupid. The man would know something was up. “She’s staying with a friend until I call and tell her it’s safe to go back to her apartment. I don’t think Thomas realizes what she is. As long as she stays off the radar until after tonight, she should be okay.”

  “I meant, how are we doing with the plan for Thomas.”

  Shit. Of course that’s what he’d meant.

  “Good that you know the woman’s name, how to contact her,” Franklin said before I could answer. “Might need to reach out to her someday.”

  Something hard and impalpable gripped me at the thoughtful expression on Franklin’s face. He wanted Ava.

  And trying to get Ava to use her powers and work with the Venators was reasonable—I could see that, even if I didn’t want to acknowledge it or move on it. Hell, she could save a lot of lives. But the idea of exposing her to the kind of danger I dealt with every day, not to mention the way seeing demon handiwork could affect a person mentally, pushed my protective instinct into overdrive to keep her as far away from the Venators as possible.

  A wave of dark energy pulsed through me, invisible but just as real as if I’d glowed. The demon blood was always with me, tainting my thoughts. I knew how easy it would be to fall into it entirely at this moment. To let it guide me into making sure Ava was safe, no matter who I had to kill.

  “You’re not bringing her in,” I said, my voice deceptively low.

  “I’m not, huh?” Franklin replied.

  But it wasn’t really a question. We both knew that.

  “No.”

  Franklin mulled that over for a few moments, and I could practically hear the gears churning in the old man’s mind as he weighed benefits and risks. The benefits of a psychic over the risk of a true confrontation with his student.

  “Forget it. Are you ready for Thomas?” Franklin asked.

  Tension I hadn’t even realized I held faded from my shoulders and neck. “We’re ready.”

  I could forget about Ava. She would be safe after I took care of Thomas, and that would have to be enough. My purpose was clear, and I had to focus on that. Destroying demons. Gaining vengeance for those I’d lost. Working my way up to the top so I could take out even more of those bastards.

  The plan was in place. The time was ripe to strike. Tonight, Thomas would be banished.

  …

  “What do you think, Ava?” Miriam asked, far too chipper for me. Granted, it was noon, but after having a demon hunter in my apartment last night, and a sexy one at that, I hadn’t slept much at all. Taking Karson’s advice—okay, his freaking order—I’d headed over to stay at Miriam’s after he’d left. I figured that was keeping out of sight, right? I’d also called in to work and told Eileen I wasn’t feeling well and would be out for a few days. Eileen giggled, probably figuring I was holed up with Karson, nekked, given what I’d told her the day before. I didn’t correct her. Why ruin someone’s fantasy?

  I looked around Miriam’s living room to find out what she was so excited about. Oh my God. Bright streamers had been strewn everywhere. Stretched over the lot of it was a large banner, proclaiming “Congratulations, Graduate!” across its long surface. Sparkles and bright colors adorned every square inch of the space. I took it all in, trying to find order in the madness.

  When I’d shown up at Miriam’s in the dead of the night, she hadn’t questioned me much, probably because she’d had an early volunteer visit at the hospital this morning. I hadn’t bothered to check out the clutter in her living room, given how dark her house was when I’d arrived, but now, in the light of day… Wow. Just wow. And I’d thought Miriam’s dress had been overkill.

  “What did your mom do, buy out the entire decorating section of Dollar Tree?”

  “I know. She went overboard.” Miriam popped out of the kitchen, two glasses of orange juice in hand. She passed one to me and examined the area critically.

  “You could say that.” I touched a streamer that had escaped over the side of the couch. “Your mom is proud of you.” There are worse things.

  “I look at all this and wonder if she isn’t confusing a high school dance with graduating from medical school.”

  I snorted. “Are you sure you want to hang all this today?”

  “I figured we should get started. Next couple of days I’ll be busy at the hospital, and I don’t want to have to do this last minute. Plus there’s that whole ‘Why’d you show up in the middle of the night’ conversation you’re trying to avoid. We can totally hang streamers while we chat.”

  I ducked my head.

  Miriam pursed her lips and crossed her arms, worry striking a deep groove into her forehead. “What’s going on? Are you having trouble because you feel like you should have done more about warning Thomas? Because I’m more than willing to track that guy down, you know, if you think you need to give him more details. Convince him he’s about to die or whatever. I have the rest of the day off, and I don’t mind leaving this for another day or so. Not like it’s exactly important compared to someone’s life.”

  All the information I’d learned the day before had built itself into a big ball inside my chest and I ached to release it all over my best friend. But should I?

  Miriam waited, her expression losing its humor and growing more concerned with each passing moment. The knowledge that demons were in the world wasn’t just a weighty thing that gave nightmares and made its bearer twitchy at the slightest noise—it was dangerous knowledge. Knowledge that could get a person killed.

  No. I couldn’t bear that kind of responsibility. If I got Miriam killed because I told her this secret to alleviate my own stress, I’d never be able to live with myself.

  “It’s nothing.” I pushed down the knowledge trying to work its way free. This was my burden to bear.

  “Nothing, huh?” Miriam walked to an armoire that sat against the far wall and opened a drawer. “Fine. Consider the subject dropped—for now.” She pulled a small package out that had been wrapped in shiny silver paper and tied with a neat bow. It was the size and shape of a book. Maybe a thin hardcover. She handed it to me, then stepped back. “For you.”

  “What’s this for?”

  “It’s something for you to remember me by—for you to remember us by—when I’m not here to remind you.”

  “Remind me of what? I’m not going to forget you.” How could I forget my only friend?

  “It’s to remind you that you’re not alone. I’m always a phone call, a plane trip—heck, even a long car ride—away.”

  Tears burned my eyes, but I blinked them back. Carefully, I pulled off the ribbon and plucked at the bit of tape confining the gift.

  A picture frame. I flipped it around to see two smiling faces. Miriam and I stood in the sunshine at an amusement park—one we’d visited after graduating high school. We’d been at the start of our lives. When everything had still seemed possible. When the fear that I’d never be able to really live in the world because of my curse had only been a growing worry, not a full-on reality. A reality that would only be harder without Miriam around to confide in.

  Please don’t go.

  But I couldn’t say that, so I sniffed and blinked back tears. “Thank you. I’ll treasure it, always.”

  Miriam reached out and patted my shoulder, and for once, I didn’t want to cringe away.

  Her soft expression shifted, and her eyes narrowed. “So what aren’t you telling me?”

  “I don’t know what you—”

  “Come on, Ava. You’re a terrible liar.”

  I suppressed a sigh. I really needed to work on my lying skills. Karson had also been able to read me too well.

  Karson. I’d done everything I could to keep from thinking about him. The concern he’d shown for me. The risk he’d taken to save my life—and the wounds he’d shown for
it. The tattooed, smooth skin I’d come so close to touching. The slight roughness of his finger against my lips.

  Oh, how I’d wanted to touch him. Feel his lips against mine. See what it was like, for once, to be swept away by a man who seemed almost too potent to be real. What would it be like to be wanted by a man like that?

  “Earth to Ava.” Miriam waved a hand in front of my face, and I jumped. Just a little. After the week I’d had, I counted that as a win.

  “Sorry.”

  “Give,” Miriam demanded.

  “It’s something—well, it’s better you don’t know.” When Miriam just stared at me, I added, “It’s not safe for you to know.”

  Miriam’s expression only grew fiercer. She was a like a pit bull when she’d decided on something. And I knew from experience that I’d never be able to change Miriam’s mind.

  “If you don’t tell me, I’ll just bother you relentlessly until you give,” Miriam said, confirming my fear.

  “Okay, fine.” I plopped onto the couch behind me, and Miriam scooted party favors out of the way so she could sit at the other end. “But it’s going to be difficult to believe.”

  Miriam waved at me, dismissively. “Please.”

  The words spilled out. My Internet search. The shadowman who’d shown up. Karson saving me. When I got to the part about the shadowman disappearing after he was tossed outside into the sunshine, Miriam finally cut in.

  “Just like…poof?”

  I couldn’t help but grin. Leave it to Miriam to add levity to such a serious conversation. “More like whoosh.”

  She nodded, expression serious, as if the correction in sound effects really clarified things for her.

  “So Karson and I talked after. The shadowman was sent by someone to hunt me down. Karson thinks maybe Thomas, or maybe Thomas’s boss. He says I’ll be fine as long as I stay under the radar for a while. He’s supposed to call me when it’s safe for me to go home.”

  “Are you sure you can trust this guy? Granted, he saved your ass, but that doesn’t mean that he’s necessarily the good guy, you know?” Miriam’s eyes darkened. “I mean, your gift, Ava, it’s pretty damn impressive. And in the wrong hands…”

  Every fiber of my being told me that I could trust Karson, and his actions seemed to indicate that. But Miriam was right. His actions didn’t prove that he really had my best interests at heart. For all I knew, he could just be winning me to his side so he could use my powers for his own gain.

  The idea was more painful that it should have been, and an ache settled in my chest. Could my instincts be so wrong?

  “We have to find out,” I said through gritted teeth. I had to know. Not just because I was still curious about Karson and the world he lived in—although I could admit that was part of it. I had to see if he was really trustworthy. I had to know if my instincts were trustworthy.

  Heck, what if Thomas was the good guy? Karson could be treating me well just to stay on my good side, keep me out of his way. What if the shadowman had worked for Karson and not Thomas or this mysterious boss—if that dude even existed?

  Crap. Why hadn’t I thought of that sooner?

  “How do we figure out if Karson’s on your side?”

  He had to be, right? Suddenly I had to know for sure. No more doubts. I had to know that Karson was, as Miriam said, on my side. I smiled, broadly, at Miriam. “Are you up for some spying?”

  …

  A few hours later, Miriam and I sat in the front seat of her car, parked across the street from Thomas Winston’s condo building. I forced a big bite of burger down into my swirling stomach. I barely tasted the food, eating it mechanically as if it were some sort of freeze-dried military ration instead of a juicy burger from my favorite local diner. I wasn’t hungry. I could only focus on one thing now. Figuring out for sure if I could trust Karson.

  God, I sure wanted to.

  After quickly helping Miriam hang decorations, and alternatively mentally contemplating both Karson’s muscular chest and the likelihood of him being evil, we’d figured it was time to start in on playing Spy.

  I hadn’t been able to figure out a way to find Karson—I didn’t even know his last name. Some computer whiz maybe could have found him using just the cell phone number he’d given me in case of an emergency, but Miriam and I weren’t that technologically awesome.

  Thomas Winston hadn’t been so hard to find. I figured if we found him, we’d find Karson. This time, we’d searched for his name only, and his address. I’d left any mention of Venators and such out of it. And we’d conducted the search quickly, at the public library. After which we may have run to Miriam’s car like raving lunatics, scaring one or two librarians along the way.

  We’d stationed ourselves in front of Thomas’s condo, hoping for a glimpse of him or Karson, but after a couple of hours, there’d been nothing. In fact, Miriam had hopped out of the car and run across the road to get us burgers, fries, and drinks. Hey, might as well go for it when playing Stake Out the Demon.

  “Jeez, is this guy ever gonna leave his apartment?”

  I glanced at Miriam, who was licking French fry salt from her fingers. “Maybe not. Maybe he just has whatever he needs brought to him.”

  “Whatever. No way a guy like that stays in this much. Especially not if he’s a demon. Demons should definitely be more exciting than this.”

  True. Thinking of the demon as a homebody kind of took away some of the scariness factor. “Thanks again for coming.”

  “Quit thanking me. Like I was going to leave you out here to stalk these guys alone.” She shoved another handful of fries in her mouth.

  Miriam had situated us in an outdoor parking area for the building directly across from Thomas’s. Green letters on a white background announced the area was for building tenants only. So far, no one had come out and told us to leave.

  “I wonder what it’s like. If Karson is on the up and up and really does hunt demons—what kind of life is that?” Miriam sipped her giant gas station iced coffee from a straw that escaped her every time she let it go from her mouth to shove in more fries, forcing her to feel around with her mouth until she caught the plastic tube again.

  “My guess is life would never be boring.” And Karson had a clear purpose in his life—there was a lot to be said for that.

  “I’d thought Thomas was hot the other night, but now that I think of it, Karson’s actually totally hot. I mean, unless he turns out to be a psycho trying to use you. That would dull the hotness a bit. Although, let’s be honest, he’d still be sort of dark in that hot villain sort of way. Like Spike from Buffy.”

  I cringed, then tried to cover up by shoving a second bite of burger in my mouth before wrapping it up and setting it back in the bag at my feet.

  “I mean, he’s not a pretty boy or anything. A little bit scary, actually. But the man’s got presence. You know what I mean?”

  I made a noncommittal noise, but I knew exactly what Miriam meant. The man had such presence that in those rare moments where I didn’t find myself locked in a burning nightmare or wondering if demons would come for me, images of Karson refused to stop flitting through my brain.

  Something about him had burned his face into my psyche, and I’d found myself thinking about him more than I should. Reading into his every word and motion, and trying to find motivations that probably didn’t exist. I’d half convinced myself that I’d seen attraction, maybe even something stronger, in his eyes after I’d dressed his wounds. It was a stupid idea. The kind of fanciful thought that led naïve women to trust men like him. A stupid, stupid idea. Not to mention dangerous.

  But holy cow, the guy redefined hot.

  Not that he’d go for me—I was just an ordinary girl with a freaky curse. And weird.

  I couldn’t forget the weird part. My visions weren’t exactly sexy. And I had a feeling that Karson was the kind of guy who had his choice of sexy.

  Plus, my visions had hardly put me in a position to be experienced, either in f
lirting or in love. Not that I was a virgin or anything, but I’d been so freaked about the possibility of getting a vision during sex that I’d gone without since my second year of college.

  Desperate for a distraction, I asked, “Are the party plans coming together okay? I mean, the catering and everything?” I didn’t care for parties—too many people who could accidentally touch me and give me a vision. But Miriam was my best friend, and I would be enthusiastically supportive at her graduation party if it killed me.

  She shrugged, and her glance moved to watch a young couple walking a shih tzu on the sidewalk in front of us. “Mom’s taking care of all that stuff, too. Thank goodness. She says my job is to make sure I pass my last final. She’ll take care of the rest.”

  “Are you supposed to be studying right now?”

  “Yep. But don’t worry about it, medical school is easy.” Miriam snickered at her own joke.

  Crap. I should have done this alone. If I didn’t end up getting Miriam hurt by following a probably-demon, I might end up making her blow her last final.

  “Don’t do that,” Miriam said, stern expression on her face.

  “What?”

  “Start feeling guilty. I chose to come here. And I’m really not that busy right now except for my hours at the hospital—which are volunteer, as you know. Don’t stress about it. Believe me, I’ll study better if I’m not worried about you out here alone.”

  A rush of warmth filled my chest. I was so lucky. Miriam never failed to be there for me, never failed to make me feel better. “Thanks, Miriam. I can help you study later if you want. Quiz you or something.”

  “No, but thanks. I’ll be fine on my own. Besides, if there’s anything more interesting to discuss, I won’t be able to focus on studying. This guy and your vision and demons all qualify as more interesting than school.”

  A grin wound its way up to my face, despite the seriousness of the situation. Miriam was honest, even about her own faults.

  Miriam squealed and jumped in her seat, nearly knocking over her drink. “There. Isn’t that them?” She pointed, shaking her finger toward Thomas’s building.

  Sure enough, Thomas stood in front of the building. A few seconds later, a black SUV pulled off to the side of the road in front of him. It paused just long enough for Thomas to jump into the passenger seat. The windows were tinted too dark for me to see inside, especially from our position across the street, but I would bet Karson was driving. The SUV was the same model he’d driven me home in.