Born Into Flames Read online

  “Are you shitting me?” Sandra stood now, anger flaring. “After all we’ve been through?”

  “Honey,” Diego said, standing and taking her arm. “The baby…”

  She pulled her arm free, rolling her eyes at the fact that he would use that now. “What’s this test then?”

  Donnoly had the gall to look to Diego before saying, “There’s talk of a group outside the city walls. Possibly made up of some old faction members, maybe an escaped leader. Talk is, they’re going to make a move on the city. Try to attack from within. They know these tunnels better than most of us, to be frank. We have to hit them before they make their move.”

  Sandra sat back down with a sigh. “When’s all this going to be over?”

  “When we’re all working together,” a voice said from the doorway and they turned to see Sergeant Garcia. “Until you all and the FDG are working hand in hand, these lands won’t be safe.”

  Others looked to Donnoly, but he said, “Garcia here will be tested, but not in a ‘we don’t trust him’ sort of way. More of a ‘we shouldn’t trust anyone, but he seems legit’ way.”

  Garcia chuckled. “Fair enough.”

  “Didn’t the Black Plague group of vampires exist not too far from where the FDG is located?”

  “A small army of vampire assassins?” Garcia laughed out loud. “The FDG is equipped well, but not well enough to handle that, or not when they’re keeping hidden, anyway. TH is smart, he sees the value in partnering with you all—a bunch of vampires and Weres, along with smart leaders.”

  “Smart enough to somewhat trust you, anyway,” Donnoly said. “Is that it?”

  Garcia nodded. “Seems like a qualification of intelligence if ever I heard one.”

  Sandra hated this—she’d always hated watching Valerie run off to the fight, but at least then she was worried about a vampire with crazy strength and healing power. Sure, Diego was a Were and could heal, too, but he wasn’t on the same level as Valerie.

  She turned to him, eyes full of concern, but he already seemed to know what she was thinking.

  “I’ll be careful,” he whispered.

  “You want me to watch over him?” Garcia said with a broad smile.

  “Ha!” Diego said in a fake laugh. “Say that again when I’m keeping those nut-jobs off of you. We’ll see.”

  “Do they really even stand a chance of leading an attack on the city?” Esmerelda asked. “I mean, is this something we should bother ourselves with to the degree that we’re having night meetings about it?”

  Everyone turned to Donnoly, who seemed to think about it but, Sandra surmised, had already considered all angles of this topic.

  “Even so,” he said, “we want the people of New York to know they’re safe, that they don’t have to worry about being invaded. Sure, this time it might be small, but fear of the unknown can eat away at the best of us.”

  “Hit ‘em strong and hard, and never let the citizens know a threat existed in the first place,” Garcia said, nodding his approval. “I like the way you people think. Smart.”

  “It’s settled then.” Donnoly stood, and others followed suit. “Get some rest. We’ll take a small group of Weres and vampires out in the early morning, well before sunrise.”

  Sandra lingered behind with Diego, watching Garcia and Donnoly meander off, deep in conversation.

  “Less than a full day here,” she noted. “Moving fast.”

  “That’s his job, isn’t it?” Diego asked.

  “Yeah, sure.” Sandra was about to stand, when she saw a look cross Diego’s face. “What is it?”

  “Just something I heard from Bradley, that large Were from the Golden City. About some of the Weres being uneasy.”

  “That’s nothing new,” she said. “Weres working and training alongside vampires… seems like nothing to me, but it’s not like there haven’t been issues there.”

  “Like a human and a Were, kinda?” He chuckled. “Just because something’s had problems in the past doesn’t mean it should be discarded.”

  She took his hand, lovingly. “Of course.”

  He shook his head. “You’re missing the point.”

  “And that is?”

  “That there might be more going on than a little unrest. He thinks we might end up with another group causing trouble from within.”

  “A mutiny?” She licked her lips, considering it. “Or does that word only apply to ships?”

  “Regardless, you stay vigilant in the city. I’ll do the worrying about the team on the road.”

  “I don’t like it,” she said.

  He squeezed her hand and forced a smile. “You don’t have to.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Isle of the Prince

  Valerie and her group stayed to the shadows as they made their way into the closest part of the city, not far from their destination.

  “You sure you’ll be safe here?” she asked Bronson as he herded his children up a staircase between two buildings.

  “Safe in a place like this?” he scoffed. “No one’s safe in a place like this. Well, maybe you, but no normal person. That said, I’ve learned to hold my own, and I have Allen here.”

  Allen paused in the doorway at the top of the stairs long enough to turn and show the yellow of his eyes, then disappeared within.

  “I would say it’s crazy to rely on a kid his age,” Cammie said, “but if he’s anything like I was, you’ll be fine.”

  He nodded, paused, and held out his hand to Valerie.

  “The hell’s that?” she asked.

  “In case I never see you again.”

  “You never see her again,” Cammie interjected, “you’re going to wish you’d asked for a lot more than a handshake.”

  Valerie rolled her eyes, but was glad to see her comment made the man smile. Instead of the handshake she went in for a hug, conscious of her breasts pressed against him and wondering what guys thought of that—it wasn’t like she did it on purpose, or not this time, anyway, but would guys realize that? Not likely.

  “Just be safe,” she said. “I’ll need you on that blimp when it’s time to move out.”

  He nodded, then headed up the stairs and out of sight.

  “We need a guard here?” Robin asked.

  Valerie thought about it, then shook her head. “He’s survived this far. And having Allen with him improves his chance, so there you go.”

  Robin nodded, but glanced up to where the curtains moved at the window above. Probably one of the boys looking out. “I still don’t feel right about leaving children here… not in a place like this.”

  “They’re teens,” Cammie reminded her. “And kinda badass teens, based on what they went through.”

  “And those children?” Valerie said, watching two boys run across the street, chasing some sort of rat or something. “They don’t deserve to live like this. Who knows what we’re facing here, or what horrors arise when we fail to take action.”

  Royland nodded, then Cammie. Finally, Robin said, “Let’s liberate.”

  They walked toward the lights, Valerie in the lead. Every time a pirate passed, she expected to have to end a life. The pirates were either too drunk or just assumed she and her group were pirates as well, because they just walked on past, some pausing to drunkenly tip a hat.

  Shouting came from ahead and, as they entered a path surrounded by shanties, the sound of more yelling came, then something snapping and the groans of man on man fighting.

  “Remember,” Valerie said with a glance back at Cammie’s hands gripping her sword hilts, “we’re not here for violence, yet.”

  “You sure about that?” Cammie said with a nod to one of the buildings ahead on the left.

  Valerie squinted, wondering what Cammie was seeing, then saw the silhouette of a head—what she had at first assumed to be just another person, this one on a roof, was a head on a spike.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Valerie said, feeling a bit queasy. It wasn’t just a head, it was
a woman’s head.

  They stepped out in a circular clearing, where a crowd was gathered to watch three men kicking and beating a fourth.

  At a glance from Robin, Valerie held up a hand and turned to an old, balding man at her side.

  “What’d he do?”

  The man glanced at her, sneered in a way that showed off his black teeth, and said, “You ain’t heard? That’s his wife up there.” The man gestured to the head on display. “Found out she was one of them, you know.”

  “One of…?”

  “A werewolf. Dumb bastard insists she wasn’t, but where’s that gonna get him other than a shallow grave?”

  Valerie sighed, not wanting to be part of this, but really seeing no choice. She gave Robin a nod, and Cammie grinned at her side.

  “So much for staying low key,” Valerie said as she followed Robin, who was pushing her way through the crowd. If there was one thing that girl hated, it was injustice and bullying. This was a whole lot of both.

  “All right, everyone, time to—” Valerie started, but a thud sounded, interrupting her, and a second later one of the attackers collapsed from one of Robin’s punches. Cammie was there at her side, kicking another’s knee out before backhanding him so that he fell to the ground, unconscious.

  “Real nice,” Valerie said, rolling her eyes. She’d hoped they could try to keep some sense of secrecy here, but knocking a man unconscious with a backhand wasn’t the best way toward that goal.

  “You with him then?” the third attacker asked, then turned and spat on the bloodied man at his feet.

  Not bothering to respond, Royland stepped forward and helped the bloodied man to stand while Valerie stepped forward to address the crowd.

  “Show’s over,” she said. “As is the hunt for our kind. Attack one of us again, and you’ll all answer for your crime.”

  “Who the fuck do you think you are, walking in here and—” the man stopped talking and started screaming instead as Cammie grabbed him by the balls and lifted him into the air with one hand. “Fuck-fuck-fuck!”

  She released her hold and he fell to the ground, howling in pain. A quick kick shut him up, though he spat blood and stared at her with piercing blue eyes.

  “Did these men kill his wife?” Valerie asked, addressing the crowd.

  “She was a werewolf,” one of them shouted.

  “A creature of the dammed!” came the shrill voice of another.

  A tall man in a long black coat stepped forward, dreadlocks hanging over his shoulders. He smiled and said, “She got what she deserved.”

  Valerie stared at this man and took a sniff. Nope, just normal human. She smiled back, and then pushed out with fear, causing everyone in the crowd to either step back or cower.

  “She’s a witch!” the man shouted, regaining his composure faster than the rest. “You saw what she did, put her head up there with the werewolf.”

  “A…?” Valerie guffawed, caught off guard with that one.

  “Oh, I’d love to see this,” Royland said, motioning the guy forward. “Don’t suppose anyone has any popcorn? No? Yeah, you’re right, I’d hate to get blood and guts confused with the butter.”

  “What’s wrong with your friend?” a short woman asked Valerie with a nod in Royland’s direction.

  “He’s got a thing for idiots getting their comeuppance,” Valerie replied. “We all do.”

  “Can I just cut him in half?” Cammie asked, glaring. “Skip the show and go right to dessert?”

  “Screw that,” Valerie replied. “I say we teach him a lesson and let him run back to his prince to tell him all about it.”

  The crowd hushed at the mention of their prince, many still terrified from the fear Valerie had pushed onto them. Oddly, she noted, this tall man’s aura seemed calm.

  “I don’t think he’ll be the only one learning this lesson,” she said, ears perking at the sound of something behind them. A great whirring came as a man with a chainsaw came at her. She dodged left, only to find the man with dreadlocks pulling out two sabers and swinging her way.

  Dodging these wasn’t much of a challenge, but when another opened fire with an old AK-47 that hit three innocents, one of them a young teen, she got pissed. The AK-47 was in her hands before she knew it, and it was slamming over and over into the large man’s face until he fell back to the ground, twitched, and stopped moving.

  The crowd fell back, no one else attacking, except for the two with the chainsaw and the one with long dreadlocks.

  Wait, no… the chainsaw fell to the ground, the man’s arm still attached to it, and the man fell the other way, blood spewing.

  Cammie nodded from the other side of him, sword still held out.

  “What’s your name?” Valerie asked the dreadlock guy as she approached, AK-47 held up like a street-thug. She hadn’t wanted it to happen like this, but she kicked herself for that thought. These were street thugs, after all, playing pirate.

  When he didn’t respond, she laughed and shot a round into his foot—or meant to, but the weapon gave out a burst of rounds that ripped into his leg.

  He collapsed to the ground, grunting in pain, teeth clenched to avoid yelling out.

  “What is his name?” she repeated, this time to the crowd.

  “Captain—Captain Bairne,” a teen boy said, stepping forward. He was shirtless except for an open vest—a look that never would have worked here before the warming effects of the World’s Worst Day Ever.

  “River, the Prince’ll kill ya!” a woman behind him said, trying to pull him back. He pulled himself free, pointing to the teen who’d been shot, but was no longer moving. “Fuck Bairne, and fuck the Prince,” he shouted for all to hear. “Oliver’s dead because of those pricks.” He took two long strides and stomped down on the bloodied leg of Captain Bairne, but the man was still about his senses enough to lunge for River.

  Royland was too quick for that, though, and was pulling the two apart within a second. He tossed Bairne to the crowd, a couple of whom helped him stand.

  “Well, then…” Valerie smiled at them, showing her vampire teeth. “Tell your Prince that I’m here, and willing to talk.” She raised her voice, turning to address the crowd. “Anyone here who wishes to live may do so with my permission. I’m not here to enslave you, but to set you free. You want treasure… you need treasure, it’s clear from your hollow cheeks and ravenous eyes. Well, I can give it to you, in terms of work. I can keep you safe, keep you away from having to steal from others.”

  “Bullshit,” a woman in a wide pirate’s hat said. She tilted her head to the side, her black hair tucked behind her ears. “How the ‘ell you gonna do all that?”

  “We’ve taken Old Manhattan,” Valerie said. “The CEOs are gone, Strake is gone, and—”

  “No fucking way,” the woman said, suddenly standing straight, looking at Valerie and the dead and injured, then taking a step back. “You’re really her, ain’t ya?”

  “Her?”

  “The devil walking,” the woman said in almost a whisper, then cleared her throat. “The vampire princess. The one they say took ‘em all out with her fangs and claws.”

  Valerie licked her lips, glancing about. She wasn’t using her fear at all, but faces were pale, eyes wide, mouths open. Even Bairne and his men were staring in silence.

  “We liberated that city,” Valerie said. “Saved humans, both modified and not, and have set about rebuilding it into the New York it once was—a city of awe and wonder. The happiest place on earth, I’ve heard.”

  “You slaughtered men and women!” Bairne said, laughing. “I’ve heard the stories, we all have!”

  “Some of those were our brothers and sisters in arms,” one of the women next to him said, and she held up a stump. “This was a present from one of yours, a fucking werewolf. Now we hunt your kind and theirs. But looks like the hunt’s over, eh? Grand fucking prize turkey just flew up to our doorstep.”

  “You have it all wrong,” Valerie said. “Well, maybe not you, be
cause it sounds like you were one of Strake’s Enforcers…” When the woman didn’t respond, Valerie nodded and addressed the crowd. “I hear you’re all pirates, but I bring you a shot at redemption. This is what New York is all about now—new beginnings. Yes, even you, lady with one arm and a crappy attitude, you would be welcome in New York.”

  “We’d make a deal with the devil, and be foolish enough to leave everything behind based on that deal?” another man from the audience shouted, but his voice carried with it a sense of hope.

  “I am no devil,” Valerie said. “I am here to ensure justice is carried out at all levels, to see that my kind, vampires and Weres, are treated as equals to non-modified humans. And to assist any who will accept my help.”

  “Well then, you can go to hell,” Bairne said, and turned to hobble away, his followers close at his heels.

  “I expect to hear from this prince character very soon.” Valerie called after them.

  “Trust me, you will,” Bairne called out as he disappeared around the bend.

  Valerie turned to the crowd again, waiting, and then said, “You all have a choice to make. But you can wait until I’ve dealt with the Prince before you make up your damn minds.”

  Then she turned and motioned for her team to gather close, and waited, staring at the boy they’d called River. He looked hesitantly her way, then walked over and waited.

  “Do you want to be part of what we’re doing here?” Valerie asked.

  “He’s just a kid,” Royland interjected.

  River’s eyes shot over to Royland, fierce, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Valerie could respect that.

  “Answer the question,” Robin said to the boy.

  “I ain’t serving the prince no more,” he said. “Too many lives are just thrown away up here, too much power given to jackholes simply because they dish out the most violence. You run this New York place like that?”

  Valerie shook her head.

  “Well, then you got yourself a new recruit.”

  Robin rolled her eyes and said, “Yay,” then turned back to watch the dispersing crowd going about their business. Several had stayed, but not more than a handful.