Force of Fire

by Ali Vali

  “You think it goes lower than this?” Pauline climbed down and stood next to him.

  He studied the stone walls for anything he might’ve missed, but that was unlikely considering how much he prided himself on his thoroughness. Just then, the worker came down with the equipment that was the size of the backpack and broke the silence.

  “Start in the middle and see if you can find anything to justify bringing the bigger one down.”

  “Sí, señor.”

  It took forty minutes for the worker to methodically scan the floor of a space that made no sense to him. Nothing in it gave a hint as to why it was there at all. That also made him wonder if this wasn’t Mayan or Incan. The Maya were storytellers. Blank walls weren’t their norm.

  “Come back once you have the results.” He dismissed the short man of Mayan descent, wanting to be alone with his thoughts.

  “We’re already pretty deep, so why would you think there’s anything lower than this?” Pauline asked.

  He understood her need to know, but she hadn’t learned how to keep her mouth shut when he was trying to concentrate. “You’ve been with me long enough to be able to look at the glyphs and decipher the Mayan language. We’re at the southern region of Mesoamerica but still in Mayan territory.”

  “We haven’t found any glyphs in here.”

  “We found some outside.”

  “We did,” she said, sitting next to him.

  He nodded before lowering himself to the stone floor. “So tell me a story, then.”

  “Even you can’t read the tablets covering these rooms. None of them are even close to the known Mayan written language.”

  “Exactly.” He pointed to each wall and the ceiling. “The Mayan kings were fanatical about recording their history. They wouldn’t have left all this blank space.”

  “So someone from that time period replicated an entire city as a hoax?” She laughed, as if knowing, like he did, that would be entirely far-fetched.

  “It’s the whole chicken-and-egg debate.” As soon as he finished they heard a scream, followed by total commotion outside. The men had to have set off another trap by rushing. If they lost any more men, the others probably wouldn’t stick around much longer.

  “What’s happening?” Pauline jumped up and headed for the stairs.

  “Perhaps we need some more answers before we continue.” Alejandro would have to show more cards than he had, because the other mystery was how his men were dying. The bodies they’d had to dispose of on the old altar at Alejandro’s direction showed no signs of any trauma, but each and every one’s frozen expression showed abject terror. No one else would venture inside until he and Pauline had descended the ladder carefully, but even then, he saw no sign of anything deadly enough to kill five men.

  “Señor Petchel,” one of the men yelled.

  He reached the top of the steps in time to watch a large number of snakes come out of the dirt where they’d just removed the stone. They were the biggest pythons he’d ever seen and appeared to be coming from the chamber he knew in his gut was there.

  “Dios mio,” he said, genuflecting like the nuns had taught him as a small boy in school. “What the hell is this?”

  Chapter Two

  “Congratulations, old friend,” Kendal said to Morgaine after she’d left Piper to watch the baby take a nap. It wasn’t until Piper had given birth that they’d been told that Lenore had also gone into labor and given birth to another girl.

  “I don’t think either of us was planning for this,” Morgaine said, though she was smiling like she couldn’t contain her joy. “But this should be fun.”

  “What name did you two decide on?”

  “Lenore thought it should be Greek, so we went with Anastasia.”

  She laughed and hugged Morgaine. They’d been friends and sporadic lovers, but their fight with the traitorous elder Julius had made Morgaine realize that Lenore was her true mate. Morgaine had been truly surprised that the woman who’d made her whole was someone who’d been in her life for thousands of years. Aphrodite had blessed that love by giving them one of the souls trapped in the Sea Serpent Sword.

  “Great minds must think alike, so Anastasia and Hali will share a birthday.”

  “Two girls?” Morgaine asked, pulling a little away from her and shaking her head. “Are we ready for this?”

  “Not really, since I’ve been alive forever but have very little experience with children, much less babies.”

  “You’ll find that it’s a lot like all those battle strategies you’re so good at,” Bruik, the Genesis Clan’s most senior seer, said as he joined them. “Your life will be very regimented for a while, but enjoy it. I’m ancient as well, but I was able to experience fatherhood before the elixir.”

  Bruik had traveled back with them to help Piper with her newfound ability to see into the future. It had been Bruik who’d foreseen her finding Piper and awakening that part of her mind she’d never experienced before. With his patient tutelage, Piper’s vision was becoming clearer and easier to access.

  “Will you stay on?” Kendal asked, grasping his offered arm for the greeting she would’ve given one of her fellow soldiers when she served in the pharaoh’s forces. Like her, that’s the region Bruik was from, but he had already lived many lifetimes before her birth.

  “Rolla requested I stay, but that’s what I wanted, especially when Piper told me we were returning to New Orleans. I’ve read of your time here and was looking forward to seeing your history come to life with Charlie as my guide. He’s never ventured far and had done a masterful job of writing your history.”

  Charlie had started his life with Kendal after she’d bought him from the slave auction blocks, but his chains had come off once he’d reached her home, only then Charlie had known her as Jacques St. Louis. Kendal had given him the elixir so he could avenge his family after her brother Henri had slaughtered them.

  It had taken years, but Charlie had used her father’s sword to kill Henri and give them both the justice they sought.

  “Charlie would love nothing better, and you’re welcome to stay as long as you please. Piper would appreciate you staying close.”

  “Piper, as you know, is hard to say no to, so I accept your invitation.” When he smiled, he, in a way, reminded her of her father. “But now, Asra, you need to welcome the sun with your mate. You too, Morgaine. Don’t keep them waiting.”

  “Have you seen the babies?” Morgaine asked him.

  “Don’t worry yet.” He took Morgaine’s hand and shook it. “Time will only tell what those eyes will bring.”

  His answer saved Kendal from asking the same thing. She was well aware of how they were able to bring these children to life but was wary of their futures. Gifts from the gods weren’t commonplace, but Aphrodite had told them to have faith, so she would do just that.

  “Have you seen them as adults?” she asked out of curiosity.

  “They’ll be beautiful and accomplished women, Asra. Each will have a mind, heart, and spirit of her own. Those who gave their lives to the goddess will be only an echo in their essence, but a very faint echo. They might grow up to love each other, but they might not. No one deserves the burden of someone’s past from birth.”

  “Thank you for your honesty, but I have a date with a beautiful woman and our daughter.”

  * * *

  “Did you read it?” Lowe Carey asked her pack leader, Convel Lupo. They’d settled outside of New Orleans and had managed to stay out of the sight of the Genesis Clan, even though their most talented slayer lived less than five miles from them.

  Convel got some kind of thrill from hunting on Kendal’s property. Lowe thought it was risky, especially when Kendal had returned, but Oakgrove had gone dark for a while, though now it was definitely populated with a full staff that liked to patrol every bit of the acreage Kendal owned. That had cut the thrill, so Convel had thought of moving them, but Lowe feared what could come from settling somewhere more populated.

>   “Not yet,” Convel said as she stared out the window. “I’m trying to figure out how he knew we were here.”

  The scroll one of their pack delivered from the great Rolla himself had made her shiver when her pack mate had handed it over, but she tried not to show fear. His seal was for Convel to break, but Lowe figured she would’ve forgiven her for reading it. “Do you think it could’ve been Kendal?”

  “She wasn’t here long enough to figure it out.” Convel spoke sharply and rubbed the top of her right hand. The scar would never disappear or fade, and it was a constant reminder of Kendal’s skills. The battle had been fierce, she’d heard, and Convel had never forgiven Kendal for marking her.

  “Please, love, read it. If you need to move us, we have to start planning.” She pressed against Convel’s back and put her arms around her waist. The greatest honor of her life was when Convel had picked her as her mate—only death would sever the bond.

  “Go on and open it. Let’s see what the bastard wants. They usually can’t be bothered with the rabble.”

  “The seal is yours to break.” She reached for the scroll and handed it over.

  “You’re as superstitious as you are beautiful.” Convel kissed her forehead but did what she asked and broke the seal, then dropped into her desk chair and unrolled it.

  “Do you want me to read it?”

  “Come sit with me.” Convel pushed back some and invited her to sit on her lap.

  She readily joined Convel and kissed her. The act would help her steady herself if the news was bad. “You are my life, and I’ll destroy anyone who tries to harm you.”

  “Rolla very seldom starts with that kind of threat, love.” Convel held the scroll up so they could read it together.

  Greetings to Convel Lupo and her family.

  I extend a hand of peace to you and your pack. Asra recently informed me of your presence, so I’d like to request that you stay now that Asra has returned. Her family will be settling back in the city, so we need to set a meeting.

  You may pick the location, but Charlie says you are quite familiar with the grounds of Oakgrove. Perhaps you will consider coming to her home under a banner of truce—a truce that could extend for as long as both sides honor it.

  Rolla

  Convel held it up long enough for both of them to reread it three times. “This is good, don’t you think?”

  The scroll fell from Convel’s fingers, and she closed her eyes. “This is strange is what it is. Rolla commands killers who do just that. Peace offerings aren’t his style at all.”

  “Then why this?”

  “The old codes are still honored. If he invited us, then he can’t destroy our family without consequences.”

  “If they know we’re here, couldn’t he have ordered that already?” She asked because she was tired of living with old fears. “Maybe we should at least hear what he has in mind.”

  “Maybe we’ll get some answers as to what happened at Oakgrove all those months ago before Kendal disappeared for a time. We both witnessed it, but I still haven’t figured it out.”

  “Let’s accept only if Onai, Sepf, Varg, and Zaylz agree. They’re our family, and they believe in you.”

  “Don’t worry so much, love, and we’ll go. Write a response and send it with Varg. Have him go back to wherever Rolla’s lackey found him.”

  “Are you sure you want to send Varg? He’s still young and doesn’t yet control his hunger very well, especially now.”

  “Who do you suggest then?”

  “Let me go for you, or better yet, we could go together.” She kissed Convel again and finished by nipping gently at her bottom lip.

  “We’ll go together, but not now,” Convel said as she slipped her hand in her jeans. “Now all I want is you.”

  Lowe felt alive when Convel touched her like this, and she gladly gave herself over to the passion between them. “You have all of me.”

  Those were the last words they shared for the rest of the afternoon after Convel laid her down on the desk. Rolla’s truce was important, but not as important as this.

  * * *

  Kendal carried Piper outside to the spot where they’d shared lunch under the large oaks months before. They’d made love under the trees at Oakgrove like they had that first night in Napa, when they’d brought legend to fulfillment after Piper made the tattoo she’d been given by Aphrodite hundreds of years before reappear on her skin. Piper had said seeing the stars above them reminded her of the night she knew without a doubt that she belonged to Kendal as much as Kendal belonged to her.

  She remembered Piper’s hesitation that night before putting her hand on her lower abdomen, because if the dragon tattoo had stayed dormant, Kendal wasn’t her true mate. That same hesitancy hadn’t occurred to her after she knew who Piper was to her. The mate to her mark had appeared on Piper’s chest, proving her right. Their reward was the baby the healer carried out for them.

  “Thank you,” Piper said when the young woman handed her the baby. She waited until they were alone before she leaned back against her and exposed the baby’s face to the warm predawn air. “Are you as deliriously happy as I am?”

  “Every day I’ve spent with you has made me feel that way. Our road will be long, and we’ll enjoy each step because we’ll walk it together.” She kissed the side of Piper’s neck and sensed the first ray of light break across the horizon.

  “If anyone I know deserves a child to carry on her blood, baby, it’s you.”

  The sky was pink, so she kissed Piper again and reached into her pocket for the old amulet that had been hers as a child. It was one of the only things she’d taken with her that night she’d followed Morgaine out of the bloodbath her brother had made of their father’s house. She’d kept it because her father had placed it on her while he was alive, then asked the gods to bless her with a long and happy life. Now she’d ask the same for her and Piper’s child.

  She stood and unwrapped the blanket, placed the amulet on Hali’s chest, and lifted her over her head. The baby shivered a bit but didn’t cry.

  “I am Asra of the house of Raad,” she said in her native tongue. “Bless our child and have the gods watch over her so her days will be filled with love, joy, and peace. Father, carry my words into the heavens and make it so. Hali is of your blood, your line, and your courage. Guide her as you have me.”

  She carefully wrapped Hali up again and gave her back to Piper so she could hold both of them. Piper glanced back at her with tears in her eyes, but they didn’t need to say anything else. Once the sun was up, Piper closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

  “This is the first time I’ve ever had to test these healing powers, so I have to say they’re pretty amazing.” She stood up and stretched.

  “I’ve never had a complaint about them,” she said, taking Hali back so Piper could raise her arms toward the sun. “If you’ve finished your sun worship for the moment, let’s join everyone for breakfast.”

  The baby woke up as if understanding the word, so they sat back down so Piper could feed her. “What now, my warrior?”

  “Our battles are done for now, my love, so we get on with the business of building boats.”

  “Pops will be thrilled.”

  “We might get years of peace since I made that truce with Vadoma. Hopefully she’ll keep her minions in line, but even so it’ll be years before she gains anywhere as much power as Ora.”

  “I don’t see Vadoma as a problem going forward,” Piper said as the baby latched onto her nipple and suckled enthusiastically. “She might be something right out of my nightmares, but she’ll keep her word and your truce.”

  “Then what do you see as a problem?”

  “I’m not sure about that yet, but Rolla will probably tell us when he arrives tomorrow.” Piper handed Hali over for her to burp after she explained that was what she was supposed to be doing. “I thought you read those books I gave you?”

  “I did, but having her here has short-circuited my
brain, so be patient with me, my love.” Hali let out a burp that belied her size. “Why do you think Rolla is coming? There’s usually a bit of fanfare before he graces anyone with his company.”

  “You’re going to have to trust me. He’s coming, and it’s not a social call.” She took the baby back and finished feeding her. “Something’s not right in the world, though I can’t quite figure out what that is.”

  “Believe me, there’s always something not right in the world, but we don’t necessarily always have to be the ones who fix it.”

  “That I can agree with, but he wants to talk to you, and I don’t sense that urge is negotiable.”

  Kendal cradled her and Hali and sighed. “It never is.”

  Chapter Three

  Rolla stood in the window of a high-end hotel, the Piquant, in New Orleans, and stared down at the streetcar rumbling by. He didn’t come to the United States often, but the young country had intrigued him enough that he’d been present when George Washington was sworn in as the first president.

  Those had been trying times, not because of a revolution that had given birth to a nation, but because so many of those they’d tried to keep a rein on had found a new frontier to try to conquer. A great number of people who had lain dead on the battlefield had lost their lives not to British aggression, but to the hunger or rage of some beast with very little or no soul.

  “Have you sent word we’re coming?” Rawney Lumas asked. Her dark skin and hair really set off her pale-blue eyes. Rawney was a distant relative of Vadoma, the new queen of the vampires, and they both had learned the craft of magic from the Gypsy women who’d raised them. Granted, Rawney was much older than Vadoma, so the power of her spells and potions would take Vadoma many more years to perfect, but she still respected Vadoma’s talents.