Fire Danger (16 page)

“We’ll figure it out.” She sounded too optimistic, but she wanted to banish the shadows still lurking around him. “Are you sure the person we felt at the wharf is the guy we want?”

“Nothing else makes sense. We will find him. Thank you. I’m glad you are part human. You remind me of what it means to live.”

Rachel flushed again. “Come on.” She pulled away and tugged on his hand. “We’ve got work to do.”

* * * * *

Ron woke with a start to see his employer standing in his room. Struggling to control his fear, he rose from the bed, trying to look casual.

“Is everything ready?” Her voice was deep and rumbling.

Sometimes Ron wished he could get a really good look at the being. Other times he was glad he couldn’t. Like now.

“I have what I need. I will be laying them down tonight, before the sweeps start. They will never find them.” The sick feeling inside him grew. “I am good at what I do.”

He thought he caught a glimpse of blonde and red hair, and there seemed to be no white in its eyes. Concealed by the hood as it was, he couldn’t be sure. “That is why you were hired. And the weapons?”

The sturdy wood furniture was covered now with a tablecloth, but several handguns and semiautomatic rifles lay under it. He would leave most of the weapons behind after the assassination, but it wouldn’t matter. Ron would be gone, vanished into South America with his huge payoff, never to surface in North America again. That was part of the deal.

Ron was aware that he was in over his head, involved in something far bigger than he had ever known, and it unnerved him.

Not that he would let the taller person in the room know that. Fear was not a welcome emotion in any job. Deep in his gut, he thought that to show fear to this creature would be the last thing he did. He would get through this final job and be gone.

The being pulled back the tablecloth and examined the weapons with a casual interest, flicking a hand that didn’t look human over the firepower. In the darkness, Ron couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong. Once again he decided didn’t want to look too closely.

“Very good,” his employer said, and threw the cover back over the table, once again concealing the weapons. Ron caught a brief glimpse of elongated nails, almost talons, and suppressed a shudder.

“Do not fail.” The words were such a clear warning that Ron finally allowed himself that shudder.

“You didn’t hire me to fail.”

“Exactly.”

Ron blinked. In the space of his eyelids going down and reopening, the creature was gone.

He allowed himself to moan loudly, and went to the refrigerator to pull out a cheap bottle of vodka. Pouring himself a generous portion, he drank down the bitter alcohol quickly, his hands shaking.

He had no feelings one way or another about person he was about to assassinate. People died all the time, and life was never designed to be fair. All politicians were corrupt. A job was a job. This job, however, had turned weird. Something curled in the pit of his stomach like a bad meal, making him want to vomit.

This will soon be over, he told himself.

Not soon enough.

The suburbs of Brazil might work, he thought. Someplace where he could hire a few men to protect him. Somewhere where drugs and booze were cheap and women cheaper. If not Brazil, maybe Ecuador or Colombia.

Someplace far away from the being and any reminder of this weird, off-kilter experience.

This job couldn’t be over fast enough.

* * * * *

“Did you find anything?”

Rachel studied Phoenix’s laptop screen. The Internet view of San Francisco’s downtown streets showed the route the Chicago mayor was going to take on her trip. Only two miles long, it went through some of the city’s densest streets. After some local visits to the tourist attractions and a few meetings with transplant constituents and a round of courtesy meetings, she was going to travel with her old friend the San Francisco mayor to lunch at the Palace Hotel. It was all arranged, the plans available to anyone who wanted to ask. The routes had been posted online, as well as ways to avoid the roadblocks.

“We have several possibilities. The cars coming and going, and also the hotel,” Phoenix said. “I can’t sense anything because of the damned blocker. We’re going to have to check on foot.”

She traced the streets with her gaze, following the designated route. “Aren’t they clearing the way?”

“They will block cars for fifteen minutes before and after the mayor goes by, and the streets around the hotel will be blocked off for the duration.”

“What about the hotel?”

“They are securing two floors around the dining room. There will be rooftop officers there, and they will sweep the local buildings the day of the lunch.”

Rachel slid into Phoenix’s lap, although he was still focused on the computer screen. “Isn’t that a lot of manpower for a few politicians? That’s more like what happens when the president is in town.”

He accepted her weight, shifting his legs to brace both of them. “The cops think it’s strange too. There haven’t been any threats to warrant this level of security, but they are not paid to question orders.”

“Even humans know when something is weird.”

He shrugged, his body language indifferent.

“Oh, the arrogance of Elementals.”

Phoenix laughed, the movement rippling against her body. “Rachel, you are good for me.” He nuzzled her neck.

“Right back atcha, pal.” She arched her neck to accept his caress. “What’s the plan, then? Do we go to the mayor?” Phoenix shook his head. “Right. They wouldn’t believe us for a second.” She considered. “You could convince them…”

“I don’t control minds.”

Rachel gave him a bemused smile.

“Clouding their minds is different from controlling them. We eliminate what they don’t believe they are seeing. I can’t control humans. If we could, this war would be a lot uglier.”

“And quicker.” Rachel shuddered as the full implication of what she had been suggesting sank into her. If they could control minds, who knew what chaos that would cause? “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking.”

“You are new to this.”

“So what next, oh wise one?”

He turned her toward him and kissed her before replying. “We walk. We explore. It’s a beautiful day for a stroll.”

* * * * *

Rachel spotted Brienne, Fenley’s alpha female coleader, walking by them. With nothing more than a brief nod, Brienne tilted her eyes to the right. Artur, the cub who had so recently tried to attack Rachel, was also there.

“They are here to help. They will not interfere, but they will watch,”
Phoenix said, nodding to the wolves.

“Seems to be a theme,”
Rachel replied, with a hint of acidity in her tone.

The lunchtime crowd was thick, and they moved through it with some difficulty. Phoenix walked, but his gaze moved around the street and the people, checking the buildings as they passed, examining sightlines and prospective threats. “There are too many possibilities,” he muttered.

After a nod from Phoenix, Artur vanished into the crowd. Although still a teenager, the cub was going to be big like his father. It was in the broad shoulders and long legs of his still-filling-out frame. Someday he would be a factor, and maybe even battle his father for supremacy of the wolf pack.

If humanity survived this. Rachel stopped for a moment. There would be a future for the paranormals, for the ones living outside the world, whatever the outcome. It was the humans who would perish if they failed.

“Wouldn’t Haures stand out? Or does she also seem normal to humans?”

He shrugged, his eyes going from one side of the street to the other slowly, as if he was scanning it with some sort of infrared. She wondered if that was an ability he had.

“She can appear as a human would. She chooses to let humans see her otherness, but they don’t understand. This is San Francisco. A tall, blonde-and-red-haired woman with black eyes wouldn’t be that unusual here.”

Rachel laughed, a deep sound that was too loud for her surroundings.

After a moment he joined her, and for that brief span Rachel forgot her troubles. She breathed in his presence like air. Her new abilities made her fingers twitch. A piece of burning paper wouldn’t cause too much trouble, would it? She focused on one lying on the street and raised her hand.

“Rachel Quinn, stop at once.”

Her lips tugged up at the corners, but she lowered her limb. An almost tangible fire burned within her.

The Palace Hotel, where the political lunch would occur, was on the corner of Market and Montgomery Streets. It was a four-star place known for housing politicians and dignitaries over its long hundred-and-fifty-year life. It was stately and imposing, like you would expect an esteemed hotel to look.

She had never been inside. There had never been an occasion for her to enter the hotel. None of her limited pool of friends stayed there, and the meals that were served were far beyond her tiny budget.

“Would Haures do something as obvious as stay there?” She was curious to see the inside and discover how the other half lived.

He shook his head. “She prefers the dark. The fringes. It makes her more frightening. She’s somewhere near enough that she can get here fast, but not so close that humans see her regularly.”

“How does she fly? I have never seen wings.”

He shrugged and seemed to flex the wings that he didn’t currently have. “You’re right. She has no wings. I don’t know. I believe it’s air currents, or the chemistry of her body. There are a lot of things we don’t understand about who we are, even after all these years.”

He studied the hotel, ignoring the pedestrians who pushed past them, some muttering obscenities. None very loudly, as Phoenix’s imposing bulk deterred most casual rudeness.

“The hotel isn’t important. It’s just a way station. I doubt they intend to let the mayor arrive here. There’s got to be something else. Someone else.” He started scanning the other buildings again.

“I thought paranormals couldn’t help?”

“We cannot aid our fellow Elementals, but others are not bound by that. There have been Challenges where we have had assistance, like we have now.” He pointed to the two wolves gathered in a nearby doorway.

“Most shapeshifters and other paranormals are neutral, choosing neither side. This does not concern them. You’ve heard them say this. Some align with one side or the other, but they rarely assist directly.”

“Then it’s definitely our human, the one with the blocker.” When he nodded, she sighed. She’d gotten used to being able to hear the thoughts of others and didn’t know how she could have lived any other way. Focusing, she picked out individual thoughts, hearing the everyday chatter of the people on the street.

“Late. I’m late. Damn the elevator.”

“Eggs…milk…bread…vodka…”

“Fuck the fucking fuckers. You’re all in my fucking way.”

Ears ringing with the intensity of the thoughts, Rachel threw up her shields again and all mind noise stopped. She’d put up the wall that blocked everything, including Phoenix, and eased it down. The thoughts started again, but muted. Phoenix was studying her with a peculiar expression. “The wall I put up, is that like a blocker?”

He took her hand. “It would be, if a human had any power to hear you, but few do. There are some, a handful of true humans, who have that power, but they are rare. A blocker is most effective against paranormals. Your wall is natural. There are only a few blockers, and they are coveted by both of our sides. A blocker also bolsters weaker paranormals against stronger minds. I wonder who designed it, back in the day.” His voice was thoughtful. “It’s a rare and useful tool. Come. Let’s have lunch.”

* * * * *

She was aware of Phoenix’s observation while they were eating. It was a nice lunch, very civilized. Phoenix had chosen from a fixed-price menu, and Rachel allowed him to take the lead. Now she ate dessert, a decadent chocolate confection.

Apart from the opulent furnishings, there wasn’t much to see. The clientele was a mix of San Francisco elite and out-of-town tourists, as evidenced by their wide-eyed awe at the old, prestigious hotel.

Rachel saw Phoenix’s gaze move from one window to the next. She realized he was studying the sightlines from each one. After a moment, she decided he was calculating the trajectories and then picturing that flight as if he were currently winged. He was determining which buildings would be likely candidates for a sniper.

“Wouldn’t the humans also have protected against that?” She gestured to the windows, finishing the thought process in his mind. “Check the local hotels, I mean.”

“I am sure they have, but not all of these buildings are hotels. There are businesses and residences and, of course, underground.”

“Won’t they check that too?”

“They are human. They can’t think of everything.”

“So condescending.”

He shrugged. “It’s true. No matter how much security they set up, they don’t have the wherewithal to deal with us.”

“Can we find it? Or him? Or her? Or them? Stop this?”

“That’s the idea. I have seen humans killed thousands of different ways, many by my hand. We paranormals engage in petty squabbles sometimes just for the sheer pleasure of fighting, when ennui has taken hold. The truth is if someone wants you dead, you will be dead. If that’s what Haures wanted, she would have killed you. You could not have stopped it, and neither could your grandfather. If the death of the mayor was all she wanted, it would already have happened. It’s the timing that appears to make the difference here.”

Rachel shivered. “Why didn’t she kill me? My powers had not yet manifested and I would have been easy to pick off. Why the scare tactics?”

His brown eyes met hers. She toyed with a fork, and he mimicked the motion. She sent out a small, questing probe and discovered that their minds were lightly linked, but his was well shielded. There was uncertainty in his eyes, but the reason for the emotion lay behind his shield. She probed a little deeper, trying to slip around his defense.

“Stupid people eating. They’re all so fucking stupid. They better leave a big tip.”