Caged Fire

by L M Preston

  “You, my friend, have some explaining to do for sure.”

  Sax jogged next to Demi and took her hand. EmVee understood it as a sign that he wanted to speak to her alone. She walked ahead to catch up to Kayson who was waiting at the door.

  “C’mon in. I don’t bite.” Kayson smiled. His gold rimmed eyes assessed EmVee in a way that made her skin tingle.

  “You better not. I bite back.” EmVee walked through the doorway, making a point not to brush her elbow against Kayson even though his stance made it hard not to.

  The house was immaculate. The furniture seemed to be antique, but not worn. High backed chairs and small couches in various colors adorned the room. The wood floors were shiny and clean with a large ornately designed rug in the middle that matched the colors of the couches and the various paintings on the walls.

  “There’s an office in the back we can work in while I open the files. I’m not a computer whiz, but we can search how to break encryption.”

  Sax cleared his throat. “I can break the encryption. I’ll need the cell phone and some time.”

  EmVee handed Sax the cell phone. “We can work on the laptop.”

  “I can do that too. We do it all the time for the shop.”

  EmVee shrugged and removed the small computer from her backpack and gave it to Demi.

  Demi took it and held EmVee’s gaze. “Are you coming with us while we do this?”

  EmVee considered her question and decided there were some things she needed to settle with Kayson. “I trust you to do it.”

  Demi’s head tilted toward Kayson who was standing with his arms crossed, head and shoulders taller than Demi. “But him? Do you feel all right being alone with him?”

  EmVee nodded. Demi always had an ability to read her way too well. Something EmVee never pondered over much until now. “Thanks for asking though.”

  “We best friends have to stick together, right?” Demi winked.

  EmVee smiled. She hoped Demi wasn’t miffed because Kayson mentioned her old best friend Rachel. EmVee waited until Sax and Demi disappeared to the room beyond the main keep. Then she twisted around to face Kayson.

  “Are you ready to talk?” His deep voice bounced off the walls of the room like a rhythm.

  EmVee remembered his soulful rock sound he belted from the stage at the club where she’d first met Rocky. “As ever.”

  “Then answer me this: what happened to Silas the night you and he were supposed to meet Rachel and me for our double date?” Kayson leaned forward. His sweet breath tickled her nose. However, his eyes held accusations and contempt deep within.

  “He picked me up at my house.” EmVee warred within, trying to stick to the story she’d agreed to with the others involved.

  Kayson’s eyes glowed similar to Silas’ on that night. EmVee swallowed, willing her hands to stop shaking, and she stepped backward.

  “Something happened before he went on that date with you. Something you should know, but I want to hear your story first.”

  “Why should I tell you? Trust you?”

  “Silas was never seen again after that night. I didn’t tell my father that Silas was with you. I tried to get to you after I heard my father disperse a unit to your hospital room.”

  EmVee absently rubbed her hand on her shoulder, calming the tingling of the scar Silas’ bite had left there. “I don’t know what happened to him. We were ah…attacked. He went after the animals that had surrounded us and the guys who did it, and I got a ride home.”

  “By who?”

  “I called, uh…the cab.”

  Kayson cursed and turned away from her, muttering under his breath, “Something’s up with that.”

  “What’d you say?”

  He hit the wall with his fist. “Silas killed the five other band members that night. Then he left as if nothing ever happened and went on a date with you…after he attacked me.” Kayson hit his chest.

  EmVee’s eyes widened as if recovering from a punch in her stomach. “Killed them? All of them? How?”

  Kayson shook his head. “I can’t even say it without getting sick to my stomach. I had to do something I never thought I would have to in order to stop him. But he was only wounded. Then he left before I could recover and go after him.”

  “He picked me up that night. He had a slight limp, but I didn’t consider it at the time.” EmVee sighed, deciding then to tell Kayson more about that night. She couldn’t tell him everything; there were others whose secret she had to keep. “He took me to some little shack diner in the woods. We were having dinner, and during it he turned into some kind of demon wolf or something. He actually grew in size; his eyes, they were fire.”

  Kayson nodded. “He revealed his true self to you. His abomination made him kill his own kind and Anima Lanista, better known as Soul Trainers. My father’s research for the case of the serial murders uncovered that.”

  EmVee shook her head. “Uh, what is that again?”

  “Remember the murders of the cheerleaders in The Void? Well, all of them were Soul Trainers— female warriors who can cross the world of magic to the human world to kill and capture magical beings that have escaped to earth. The guys who were killed were likely threats.”

  “I’m not a Soul Trainer. I’m a girl who wanted to be a professional boxer. Now, that dream is over along with everything else in my life right now.”

  “I don’t know why he would attack you unless he wanted to turn you, like…”

  EmVee sniffed then inhaled harder. “Like who?” Kayson’s scent was similar to Silas’ and to hers. Could he be like Silas?

  Kayson wiped a hand down his face, visibly shuddering. “Us. Everyone in the band had to go through an initiation. Then, if we made it, Silas would give us a drink that made us stronger, keener, better musicians, and better athletes.”

  “I never asked for that.”

  “Then maybe, in some sick way, he did fall in love with you and wanted you to be like him so you could accept him.”

  EmVee’s stomach fluttered. No way did she feel as though Silas loved her, at least not in a normal way. “I don’t think that was the reason.”

  “It had to be. You weren’t a Soul Trainer, which appeared to be a food or drug source for him. I discovered he was the killer of those cheerleaders and the male band members who didn’t make it through the ‘vetting’ process. The guys he killed must have threatened him in some way. When I confronted him, I think it’s what made him go berserk and kill the band. He wanted to start over. Maybe, he wanted to do that with you.”

  “Are you still searching for him?” EmVee bit her lip.

  “Yes, maybe he’s the one who killed my father and made me the fall guy for it. I owe him some pain—my father was all I had since my mother escaped The Void and never returned for us.”

  EmVee squeezed her fingers and then pressed them at the base of her neck under her curls. She didn’t know if she should tell him the truth. If she did, it would break a promise she made to Megan and Rachel. “Okay, Silas isn’t the one who set you up.”

  Kayson nailed her with a steel gaze. “What are you saying?”

  “Silas is never coming back.” EmVee cleared her throat. “And he didn’t set you up and kill your father.”

  “Damn it. EmVee, be straight with me. I trusted you with my shit; trust me with yours this time.”

  EmVee nodded. She’d tell him her part, but not Rachel’s or Megan’s. “Silas attacked me, and I fought him as best as I could. I hurt him but couldn’t stop him. A ghostly figure of a girl appeared first. Then many more came from the trees. They stopped him from eating me by capturing him with a gold lasso wrapped around his neck.” EmVee sat in a nearby chair, placed her hands on her knees and rocked, fighting back the tears from the horrors she’d endured that night. “Something in that rope must have held magic; it forced him to release me. They led him into some kind of cage, and he stayed in beast form. Then I passed out. When I came to, I called for help.”

  Kay
son exhaled. “Damn.” He slouched back against the wall. “If not him, who? Your father…what happened to him? Rocky’s body was on the ground when I left the fight. I found him. Then I heard thunder, or a shot, and went around the back of the place.”

  “A woman, she had a gang or something. She didn’t look old. I’d say in her early twenties, but she seemed older than that somehow. Men attacked my father. He was winning when she showed up. She said she was taking revenge. She shot him then picked him up like he weighed nothing and left with him.” Tears flowed from her eyes unchecked. “I’ll never see him again,” she whispered then blinked when Kayson wrapped her in his arms. She didn’t realize he could move so fast. She didn’t care as she sobbed into his chest.

  EmVee’s breath caught in her throat as Kayson pulled away from his embrace. Then, he hesitated as if he wanted to kiss her. She pushed against his chest and turned away.

  “What did Silas’ drink turn you into? Is there a name for it?”

  “I don’t think there was a name for it. Silas was the only one of his kind. Part Fenrir and something else, which I don’t think he even understood. He only knew he was one of a kind, made from the blood of a cursed wolf god wrapped in a dark magic.”

  “So, that means you’re a werewolf?” EmVee’s throat constricted.

  “We—” Kayson stepped closer, bent, and sniffed her neck. “—are not werewolves. We are carriers of Fenrir blood and whatever else. We don’t turn into beasts like werewolves when the moon comes out. I don’t have a hunger for the flesh of Soul Trainers or even others like myself. Well, I don’t think I do. You and I are the only ones who remain. Silas never turned anyone else who survived his attack on the band. He liked being the only one of his kind—the strongest of us.”

  “Then why did he change the band?”

  “Because…” Kayson pivoted away, dragging his hand through is waved dark hair. “He turned me by accident.”

  “What?”

  “We practiced and wrote a lot of music together for the band. We also fought more than we needed to about our different opinions. It got physical more than once. He usually could control his strength, but one night when he couldn’t, he changed form and nearly ripped my arm off before I could get away from him.”

  EmVee covered her mouth with her hand and blinked back tears. “Why didn’t you tell your father—someone—anyone about him?”

  “He was like a brother to me. I-I couldn’t do it. At least not then. He found me that night in the woods where I’d collapsed from loss of blood. He tried many things to revive me then I think he finally gave me his blood by sealing it in one of my wounds. When I woke, he was there and told me everything. He also let me know that he was glad I was still alive. That he wanted everyone in the band to have the same ‘gift’ and he could build the family he never had from it.”

  “I thought he was adopted by some rich family.”

  “He was, but they only tossed gifts at him. He did have an aunt who spent more time with him than even his parents. She’s the one who bought him the car. Besides them, he had no one.”

  “He wanted his band to be some Fen-wolf pack family?” EmVee snorted. “Sick.”

  “No, he wanted his band to connect with him on a level he’d never had before. No one knew what he was going through. How he fought to stay in control of his beast. He was hurting and wanted someone to share his secrets with, someone he could trust.”

  “You really trusted him?”

  “I did. Until I found that he’d made his third kill by the time you moved here. He’d killed those girls and some prospective band members and hid it from me. I was his co-conspirator in convincing the band members to change over for him. I’ll never forgive myself for that. They died because of me. I feel as though, in part, their deaths are my fault.”

  EmVee bit her lip, wanting to blame him for knowing what Silas was, yet not doing anything to stop it. If he had, she would had never been Silas’ victim. Many people would still be alive. She forced the contempt from her face with a sigh. “Do you have any other possible suspects for killing your father? Or who kidnapped my family?” EmVee paced.

  “No. Rocky’s stuff may give us a clue. He had my father’s case files and something else in there, I’m sure.”

  “Great. I want my old life back. The one I had before my father got that stupid business proposition in The Void. I thought I was moving to Rhode Island.”

  “Well, technically, The Void kind of sits in Rhode Island. At least that’s the portal’s way in.”

  “How did Rocky get so much information?”

  Kayson laughed. “Rocky was involved with everything. He worked for the club and got us our first gig there. He was working for someone powerful, and it wasn’t the person who was holding us all in The Void. I guess we’ll never find out though.”

  “He did it to himself, you know. Even though he was dying he decided to end himself.”

  Kayson frowned then put his hand on his chin. “That doesn’t sound like Rocky. He must have been afraid of someone, or something, or for someone.”

  “He did mention a son. He wanted to keep the boy’s hideaway secret.”

  “This is a cluster-fuck.” Kayson kicked the bottom of a nearby chair. “He bailed on us. You, me, and your father. We are the only ones to make it out of The Void in the last few years. Rocky, for some reason, had the ability to come back and leave at will. Few humans can do that, and the Magicals burn when they try if they don’t have someone to smuggle them out.”

  “It doesn’t seem like Demi and Sax will be done for a while. Is there somewhere I can go to sleep here?”

  “Yeah, there’s two bedrooms.”

  EmVee narrowed her eyes at him.

  Kayson threw his palms up in front of him. “I’m sleeping out here to keep watch. We should be safe, but you never know. The other room is for Sax and Demi, or uh, Sax if Demi wants to sleep in the room with you.”

  “Okay, where is it?”

  Kayson chuckled and led the way to a room through the doorway in the back of the main room.

  “This house had lots of weird additions put on it. Rocky gave it to me when he helped me get out of The Void. The kitchen is on the upper floor with a music room and the only full bathroom.”

  EmVee smelled the lemon cleaning solution used in the rooms. There was no dust anywhere. “Who cleans the house? It’s so neat.”

  “Thank you, I do it. That was the deal I made with Rocky. If he gave me a place to house sit, I would make sure it was ready for him to move someone in it at the drop of a dime.”

  “Rocky is a mystery.” EmVee entered the room behind Kayson and noticed the king-sized bed decorated in a patched quilt and oversized pillows propped against the wood frame.

  “Yeah, aren’t we all.”

  EmVee turned feeling Kayson’s stare as if it was his hand touching her back.

  “Thanks.”

  “Sure. Can I ask you something?”

  EmVee swallowed and relaxed her shoulders. “What?”

  “Why him? Silas and not me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You know. You won’t tell me. Why him and not me?”

  EmVee bit her lip. “You seemed too nice. I thought I liked a guy with an edge. Silas had that in spades. He was also more confidently persuasive and, well, I guess, seductive.”

  “You would have seen my edges had you taken the time to get to know me.” Kayson searched her face, his jaw clenched rigid. Then he nodded and left the room.

  EmVee felt her heart race in her chest. She never wanted to tell him the rest of the truth, that she’d wished she’d chosen him way before she and Silas went on that last date. Now, she knew she was wrong. Kayson wasn’t nice. He was complicated.

  EmVee tossed and turned in the bed. She was tired, but not tired enough to block the random thoughts. She’d spent the first moments in the lumpy bed crying, then sobbing, then cursing. Even though she did all of that, her entire body seemed like it shook wit
h bottled up emotions she couldn’t decide how to handle.

  “EmVee?” Demi whispered as she opened the door, letting the dim light from the hall pour in.

  “Yeah?” EmVee sat up and tugged her T-shirt down over her underwear. Then stood.

  “Can I sleep in here with you?”

  “Sure. Is Sax still working on the phone?”

  EmVee sat back on the bed and got under the covers while Demi kicked off her shoes and skirt to get on the other side.

  “Yep, he’s working with Kayson.”

  EmVee lay on the bed, turned her back to Demi, and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. She felt Demi move closer.

  “You can’t shut me out, bestie. Tell me about Kayson. I know there is something going on between you.”

  “Nothing is going on. I am using him to find my father’s killer and my family he claims may still be alive. I need to know.”

  “Uh-uh, that’s not it. He stares at you like he wants to devour you. But you, I don’t know, sometimes you have a look like you want him then are disgusted with yourself for it.”

  EmVee turned on her back and covered her face with her arm. “It’s complicated.”

  “Everything is, but I have time.”

  “I went on a few dates with his best friend, thought I was falling in love with Silas but realized he was a diversion. I really wanted Kayson but was too afraid to go for it. Love never ended well for me, especially when I fell for the guy first. He dated my friend Rachel too.”

  “Okay, so he wanted his best friend’s girl?”

  EmVee felt the tap of Demi’s finger.

  “And you wanted him.”

  “It doesn’t matter. His friend Silas was a killer who tried to add me to the list. And Kayson was his best friend, which means he either knew Silas was a stone-cold murderer, or he was in on it the entire time. Not someone I should even want, no matter how good looking they are.”

  “True. Do you think he can help you find the answers you want?”