Heart of Fire

by Lisa Edmonds

“Girl named Katie. Blonde, kinda tall.” She eyed me. “Pretty but thin. She’s been hanging at Eleventh the last couple nights. She’s got magic, too.”

  “Why haven’t you mentioned her before?”

  “She’s new, Bobby,” Rachel said petulantly. “She used to work out by the airport, now she’s down on Elm.”

  “How do you know she’s got magic?”

  I raised my hand and green fire ran along my fingertips.

  Rachel nodded. “I saw her playing with little green flames on her fingers,” she said. “I Googled it. Green fire is earth magic, right?”

  “That’s right,” Bobby told her. “Blonde named Katie at Eleventh. Got it.”

  “You gonna get her tonight? I need some money.”

  “Yeah, I’ll head that way in a few. After we get her, I’ll drop the cash off as usual.”

  “Okay,” Rachel said. They disconnected.

  She turned the phone off and handed it to me. “How’d I do?” she asked anxiously.

  “You did good,” I told her. “Who should I be looking for?”

  “Red two-door Mazda. Bobby’s got kinda longish blond hair and usually wears a black jacket.”

  “How does he incapacitate them?” Sean asked.

  She jumped at the sound of his voice. “A sleep spell. He told me they fall asleep and they never feel a thing.”

  “A lot of women may be dead because of you,” I told her. “Doesn’t that bother you at all? Or was it just about the money?”

  “We all gotta do what we gotta do,” she told me shortly. “I’ve been a hooker for four years. I’ve been beaten almost to death twice. I’ve been raped more times than I remember. I thought I’d get some money saved up and get out of here. Go somewhere else, start over.”

  “Those girls had dreams, too,” Sean snarled. “Felicia dedicated her life to helping people, and you sold her for four hundred dollars.”

  I reached out and touched her arm. “Sleep.”

  She dropped. Sean let her go and she hit the floor hard.

  We looked at each other over the unconscious body of Rachel Barrow. “What now?” Sean asked.

  “Call Bryan and have him send someone to pick her up. The vamps can hold her for now, until we can turn her over to the feds. I’ve got to get changed.”

  “I would prefer to be the one getting kidnapped,” Sean said.

  I shrugged and applied lipstick, using the mirror on the back of the visor. “If you think you can pass as a blonde named Katie, go for it, but even if you could fool them into picking you up, you still wouldn’t be able to take down the wards once you got inside the warehouse.”

  He growled.

  I capped the lipstick and stuck it in the black vinyl handbag I’d borrowed from Rachel’s closet. I’d also borrowed a shimmery, see-through shirt that tied above my waist and a red bustier. I was wearing my own jeans and boots, but had to raid Rachel’s makeup and jewelry collection to round out my outfit. My blonde wig was part of the “quickie” disguise kit I kept in my trunk.

  Transformation complete, I blew Sean a kiss. “How do I look?”

  He laced his fingers through mine. “Brave.”

  I frowned at him. “Brave? I was hoping for hot, sexy, gorgeous, or something more along those lines.”

  “Have I mentioned that I find brave women extremely sexy?”

  I snorted. “You just be ready to ride in with the cavalry when Malcolm shows up and tells you the wards are down,” I told him, touching the spell crystal I’d tied to his wrist. “He’ll jump to you and give you the all-clear. It’s a good plan.”

  “Except for the hundred things that could go wrong.” He cupped my chin. “Will you take a beach vacation with me?”

  I sighed.

  “I’ll bring you drinks with umbrellas in them. As many as you want, whenever you want them.”

  I raised my eyebrows. He was offering to serve me, which was a courting ritual for shifters. “Sean, do you realize you and I have never been on an actual date? Shouldn’t we do that first before we decide to take a vacation together?”

  He surprised me by smiling. “I’ve realized this is our version of dating. Stakeouts, talking to witnesses, wearing disguises…this is how we date. We don’t go out to dinner and a movie or attend the ballet after a five-course meal at La Piazza. Forget a few hours together here and there; we’ve had dates that lasted whole days, and I for one think they’ve generally gone pretty well.”

  I really hadn’t thought about it that way, but the man had a point.

  “So, what do you say?”

  “I’ll think about it,” I said. “I need to go. I don’t want to miss my ride.”

  He kissed me then, completely destroying my lipstick, but I didn’t care. It was a fantastic kiss, the kind you gave someone you really liked, or someone you were afraid you might not see again. I grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him closer. With the console between us, it hurt my ribs, but some things were worth the pain.

  When we came up for air, I kept my grip on his shirt and looked into his softly glowing eyes. “What did Malcolm say to you this afternoon before he left to go look for the warehouse?”

  Sean kissed my nose. “He told me not to screw this up again.”

  “I don’t think you screwed it up the first time.” I gave him a quick kiss, then used napkins to wipe his mouth and mine. I reapplied the lipstick, put it back in my purse, and reached for the door.

  “You be careful, Alice Worth,” he said grimly.

  “You too.” I got out of the SUV, shut the door, and walked away.

  Sean had parked two blocks off Elm, in case anyone was watching the Stroll. Somewhere nearby, Bryan and the rest of the Vamp Court forces were assembling, waiting for the all-clear to enter the warehouse. Once we’d secured the situation and figured out what the hell was going on, we’d alert the feds—or at least that was the plan. It all depended on what we found in the warehouse and whether Lake was still alive.

  It was strange to be counting on Sean and the enforcers. I was used to doing things on my own, but this time it wasn’t a one-woman job or even a one-woman/one-ghost job. I was working as part of a team. It felt…good.

  When I got to Ninth and Elm, Zara was waiting for me. The much-taller woman wore a shiny silver dress, with large hoop earrings and matching cuffs around both of her toned biceps.

  “Hey, you,” she said, looking me over appraisingly. “Not too bad. A bit more sway in the hips, like this.” She demonstrated, and we sashayed down Elm.

  Sarah waited for us at Tenth. She saluted me with her cigarette and smirked at my getup. “You look good. I’d do you.”

  I laughed. “Thanks.”

  “We’ll keep an eye out for the car and get the plate if we can,” Zara told me. “You watch yourself.”

  “You too. Wish me luck, ladies.” I headed off down the street toward Eleventh.

  “Move your hips!” Zara called.

  I waggled my butt as I walked, and Sarah snorted.

  I’d been leaning up against the wall at Eleventh and Elm for almost a half-hour when I finally saw a red car approaching. I smoothed my blonde wig, gave the ends a little flip, and moved to the curb, posing with one hand on my hip.

  The Mazda glided to a stop in front of me and the passenger-side window rolled down. I leaned over and peered into the car to see a thirty-something man with shoulder-length blond hair smiling at me. He was wearing a black jacket, a red T-shirt, and jeans.

  I ran my hands over the car while he got a good look at my cleavage. “Hey, sugar. You looking for a date tonight?”

  “I think I’m looking for you, angel,” Bobby said.

  I gave him my biggest smile. “I’m Katie, but I can be your angel if you want me to be.”

  I was very glad neither Sean nor Malcolm could hear me use that cheesy line. Sean and I had argued briefly about me wearing a wire but I vetoed it, worried I would be searched. If they found a wire, the jig would be up before I even had a chance to
get into the warehouse.

  “Get in, Katie,” Bobby said, patting the passenger seat. “Let me take you for a ride.”

  I opened the door and got in. Bobby pulled away from the curb. As he drove, he slid his hand up my thigh. “Put on your seatbelt, angel.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked him, clicking my seatbelt.

  “Just up the street,” he said easily. His hand moved to my arm. I felt something hard concealed in his palm as he pressed it against my skin. “Night.”

  The sleep spell washed over me like a warm blanket, fizzling out against my natural shields. I made a surprised sound and let my head fall to the side, my eyes closed.

  He let go of my arm. Something fell into the cup holder—presumably the used spell crystal—and his jacket rustled as he pulled something from his pocket.

  I heard a phone ringing, and then a brusque male voice answered. “Yes?” I didn’t recognize the voice, but he sounded like an older man.

  “I’ve got the package,” Bobby said.

  “Any trouble?”

  “No trouble. Pretty girl, like Rachel said. We’re on our way. I’ll be there in about twenty.”

  He put the phone back in his pocket and turned up the radio. Bobby liked eighties rock.

  Somewhere far behind us where he wouldn’t be noticed, Sean was following the Mazda via the tracker I’d slipped into the front passenger wheel-well. I tried not to worry about him. I had to focus on what I had to do to make the plan work, or Lake was a dead man—if he wasn’t already.

  I had a lot of experience faking unconsciousness, but Bobby didn’t seem to be paying me much attention. I wondered how many women he’d taken like this from the Stroll, knocking them out and delivering them to the warehouse. I’d sensed only a trace of air magic in him, just enough to power the sleep spell, so he wasn’t part of the harnad. What his role was in the operation wasn’t clear, but I promised myself I would find out.

  It might have only been twenty minutes from the Stroll to the warehouse, but my neck ached, and it felt like an hour before the car finally turned. The tires crunched on rough pavement, and then the car stopped.

  Bobby picked up my limp arm and tied something around my wrist. A spell flared. A moment later I felt another one, as if he’d tied the same spell to himself. Then the car began to move again, slowly.

  Thanks to the passkey spells on our wrists, we crossed the wards as they sizzled on my skin. Even through the spell I was wearing and my shields, I could tell the wards were powerful and very deadly. I detected many of them layered together. The aversion spells would keep most people away, and the black wards would incapacitate or kill anyone who got past the aversion spells.

  I suppressed a shudder when I recognized a razor ward, and tried not to think about what would happen if the passkey spell on my wrist fell off midway through the wards. The harnad was very serious about no one getting in or out of the warehouse.

  I sensed rather than saw the car pulling into the building. A large rolling door closed behind us with a heavy thud.

  I was in.

  Bobby took me out of the car, slung me over his shoulder, and carried me through a large room that felt and sounded cavernous. For his role in Lake’s kidnapping, he deserved some payback. For groping my ass, I figured he owed me a hand.

  We went through a door and down a dimly lit hallway. He stopped and opened another door, then closed it behind him. He dumped me on a cot, handcuffed me to the frame, and left me there. The door closed and his footsteps faded away down the hall. I didn’t feel any wards flare around the room, and he hadn’t even bothered to lock the door.

  My ribs ached from being carried over his shoulder, but I lay still and waited for several minutes, listening. There was someone else in the room, but he or she was asleep or unconscious. When I was reasonably certain we were alone, I opened my eyes and peered into the darkness around me.

  I was in a room with four cots, but only two were occupied: mine and one across from me. I couldn’t see anything but a small figure under a sheet. The room smelled like disinfectant and bleach.

  I didn’t see any security cameras and I’d just been restrained with standard handcuffs. So far, so good. “Katie” was no threat to the harnad, especially not when she was knocked out by a sleep spell that was supposed to have rendered her unconscious for several hours.

  I didn’t have time to play it safe; Lake had been here for hours. I had to move if I wanted to get to him before they killed him. I hoped they were still trying to get information out of him. As awful as the prospect of him being tortured was, it was better than the alternative.

  I sat up. When no one came running, I held the handcuff chain taut and manifested my cold-fire whip. With a single quick lash, I broke the cuff and stood to get a closer look at the room. It was bare except for the cots, which were bolted to the floor, and IV stands next to each bed. There was a doorway that led to a tiny bathroom containing a sink, a toilet, and a small shower with no door or curtain.

  I checked on the person in the other bed. She was young and blonde and extremely pale and thin. She was unconscious, probably spelled, but her whole body trembled. There was an IV of clear liquid running into her hand.

  Rage made me shake. Stay focused, I ordered myself. We are getting these people out of here tonight, but only if you do your job.

  I gave myself one second to think about Sean, somewhere nearby with the cadre of Vamp Court forces, waiting for my signal. My fingers itched to break the wards now, but I didn’t dare, not until I found Lake and figured out what was going on here and how to protect the survivors.

  I took the pillows from the other beds and arranged them under the sheet and blanket on my cot, then took off the blonde wig and tucked it under the sheet until only part of it was showing. From the door, it would look like someone had put me on the cot and pulled the blankets up over me. As long as no one came over to check on me, it would buy me some time—hopefully.

  I went to the door, put my ear against the wood, and listened intently. I didn’t hear anything in the hallway beyond. I took a deep breath, opened the door, and peeked into the hallway.

  Nothing. It was eerily silent.

  I slipped out of the room and closed the door softly. The hallway was lined with doors identical to the one I had just come out of. I counted ten doors. At four cots per room, that would be forty people if all of the cots were occupied.

  I wanted to look for Felicia, Danielle, and Carrie, but the longer I delayed and the more doors I opened, the more likely I was to be spotted. I needed to find Lake.

  I crept down the hallway, my back against the wall, boots silent. At the end of the hall, the corridor turned left. Near the end of that hall, there were two more doors, larger and metal. My blood magic tingled as I approached.

  When I reached the door on the right, I touched the door handle, then paused. I couldn’t hear anything from inside the room. It might be a broom closet, for all I knew. I opened the door and slipped inside.

  My eyes were used to the slightly brighter illumination in the hallway, so it took a moment for them to adjust to the dimness. Like the room I’d been left in, this one was virtually empty. Unlike my previous accommodations, this room had only one cot and it was occupied by a gray-haired man who was facing away from me.

  I took two quiet steps forward. The man on the bed turned his head.

  “Alice Worth,” John West said. “We meet at last.”

  We stared at each other.

  I wasn’t surprised he knew who I was; he’d seen my car parked outside Natalie Newton’s house after Amelia’s death. It would have been easy to find out who I was from there.

  He was cuffed to the cot with spell cuffs, I noticed immediately. Two sets of them, in fact: one on his left wrist and one on his left ankle. Someone wanted to make doubly sure he was completely restrained, both physically and magically. Judging by his pallor, they’d taken blood from him at least once already.

  Since time was not on
my side, I skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. “What the hell is going on, West?” I demanded in a low voice. “How’d you end up like this? Aren’t you in charge of these people?”

  “I was,” West said. “Apparently, our group is under new management.”

  “How did Bobby and Gary manage to take you? Magic?”

  He snorted. “Those morons don’t have magic. It was a dart loaded with a paralytic.” The kind they’d used to take Felicia Lowell. That was poetic justice, in any case. He looked me over. “No need to ask how you got in. Why are you here?”

  “I came to rescue someone and shut this all down.”

  “How foolish of you. Who are you here to rescue?”

  “A federal agent.”

  He sighed. “They took a federal agent?”

  “Yep. He was shadowing you. When they took you, they took him, too. I’m here to make sure they regret it.”

  “That idiot.” West’s voice gained some strength. “That imbecile. Eighteen months we’ve been running this operation with no problems. Then, in the space of just a few days, Addison brings it all crashing down. I knew I should have killed him months ago.”

  “Who is Addison? Is that who’s in charge now?”

  West’s eyes narrowed. “We can make a deal.”

  “Why would I want to make a deal with you? From where I’m standing, you’re in spell cuffs and I’m free to walk out of here anytime I like and let the vamps and the feds rain justice down on all of you. They’re ready to come in as soon as I drop the wards.”

  He raised an imperious eyebrow. “If you break those wards, you’ll die. Addison’s wards have landmines. And Addison is here tonight. You can’t break them while he’s here, not without help.”

  I stared at him. “Are you offering to help?”

  “He sent people to knock me out. He cuffed me to a cot and drained my blood. He left me conscious so I could lay here and think about how he’s going to kill me slowly over the next week or so, or longer if he draws it out. The members of the harnad who are loyal to me are here too, being drained. I want Addison dead. I want the members of our group who are helping him dead.”