Fire Song (City of Dragons) (17 page)

I laughed a little. “I really wish I could. I hope you do find her. If you do, will you call me? Let me know?”

“Sure thing,” he said, putting his sunglasses back on and opening the door to the car. “Later, then, Ms. Caspian.”

“You know, you should probably call me Penny,” I said. “Especially if you find Dahlia and we’ve just solved this case together. I think we should be on a first-name basis, then.”

He shrugged. “All right.”

“And I can call you Lachlan?”

He shrugged again. “If you want.” He slid inside the car, waved to me, and drove off.

I peered after Flint. Lachlan. Hmm. Maybe I wanted to keep calling him Flint.

I wasn’t sure.

I went back inside. I had a lot of preparation to do if I was going to stop these damned vampires once and for all.

*

Flint called me later to tell me that the house looked abandoned. He said there was still a for-sale sign in the front lawn, and he had called the real estate agent on the sign.

“Apparently, Brody just bought this thing about a week ago.”

“Then he can’t have used it to kill those girls, can he?” I said. “He didn’t own it when they were murdered.”

“No, doesn’t seem likely.”

“So, does that clear him?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I still want to go in and look around if I can, just to be sure. Like I said, it’s abandoned and in the middle of nowhere. Maybe he bought it to cover his tracks. Maybe he’s been using it and found out it was on the market or something.”

“Does that make sense?” I said. “Would he want to create a paper trail to the murder scene?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s a long shot. But I got the real estate agent to agree to let me in next week. You still going to be busy then, or you want to come along?”

“I should be able to come,” I said.

“Good.”

“Sure thing.”

“Well, uh, I guess I’ll see you later,” he said. “Penny.”

“Yeah, you too, Lachlan.” The name seemed to stick in my mouth.

He chuckled. “Bye now.” He hung up.

I took the phone away from my ear and glared at it. What was it about the good detective that left me so unsettled sometimes?

I tried to remember what it had been like to be attracted to men before meeting Alastair. I’d had a few interactions as a younger person, and I knew that my all-encompassing attraction for Alastair had blown all of that out of the water.

I did know that a younger version of myself would never have gone for someone like Flint. As a younger woman, I went for much more easy-going guys, the kind who flirted and grinned and wore their intentions on their sleeves. Flint—Lachlan—was far too pensive for me.

But there was the fact that I always thought about whether or not I was attracted to Flint, which must have meant something.

Still, it didn’t matter.

I was certain that someone like Lachlan Flint was never going to be something as pedestrian as attracted to
me
. So, it was a thought-process better abandoned.

It was kind of annoying that it kept coming up, however.

I didn’t have time to think about this, anyway.

I had to go and shift into a dragon so that I would have optimal magic when I faced down with Ace Gonzales. I wasn’t going to let that asshole push me around anymore.

The sky was black, dotted with tiny white stars, and the air was cold.

Connor, Felicity and I walked up the street toward the ocean. On our left were rows of identical-looking beach houses—white with pastel porches. The windows glowed yellow and the activity was contained inside. It was too cold to be sitting on the porches. Most of the houses were empty. There wasn’t a lot of tourist activity this time of year.

On our left was a huge, block-wide Sunsations. It was closed down for the winter season, and it squatted there like a massive toad.

In a few weeks, it would be spring break for some college somewhere, and then we’d start to be deluged with loud co-eds, running around and drinking and vomiting and playing their music at ungodly decibels. For now, though, it was quiet.

We would feel the breeze from the ocean on our faces, hear the crash of the waves as we approached.

I reached under my shirt and touched the talisman that I had created. It hung between my breasts—the two long claws bound together and tied to a leather strap. Just running my fingers over them made magic ripple through my body.

I took a deep breath. “You guys okay?” I said to Felicity and Connor.

“Yeah,” said Felicity, who looked determined and strong.

Connor gulped. “Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

I turned to look at him. “Hey, do you want out? I included you because I think of you like family, and because this is personal for you after what they did to you. But you shouldn’t feel as if you have to fight them. If you want to go home, leave this to Felicity and me—”

“I can handle it,” he said, looking fierce. “I may not be butch, but I’m strong.”

“I know you are,” I said.

“I’m a flipping gargoyle,” he said. “My people were created to fight dragons. To withstand their strength and heat and magic. So, yeah, I can handle this.”

I grinned. “Attaboy.” I clapped him on the back.

He gulped.

“Just remember the plan,” I said to both of them. “Don’t let go of my hand no matter what. And is your talisman touching your skin?”

“Yes, we know that the talismans need to be against our skin,” said Felicity. “Ophelia told us both eighteen times, and you keep harping on it too.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I just want to make sure you’re both protected.”

“But they do more than protect us, right?” said Connor.

I nodded. “Yeah. They make you both channels for magic. Together, we’ll be threefold strong. There’s nothing those vamps can do to us.”

“Let’s do this thing,” said Felicity.

“I’ll go first,” I said. “Stay close.”

Ahead of us, there was a beach-access point, which basically amounted to a break in the fence that ran across the beach. As we got closer to it, the pavement was covered in sand.

We stepped over that sand, which was covering the pavement. The ground still felt firm under our feet.

But as we cleared the fence, the pavement gave way, and our feet sunk into the cold, powdery stuff.

The beach was empty except for a distant fire down the beach. We could see that there were quite a few people gathered around the fire pit. Those were the vamps. They were having a party on the beach.

We were about to crash it.

The waves bashed into the shore. The ocean roared.

We approached the party.

“If this were a movie,” I said, “right now, ‘All Along the Watchtower’ would be playing. It would be absolutely perfect for this moment.”

“It would?” said Connor, disbelief in his tone. “How do you figure?”

“Oh, come on, it’s all about the joker and the thief coming to fuck up the people on the watchtower,” I said.

“No, it’s not,” said Felicity.

“Yes, it is,” I said. “Have you ever even listened to the lyrics?”

Felicity started humming under her breath, mouthing the words to herself.

“Look, whatever it’s about, it’s so… psychedelic,” said Connor. “I really think we could come up with something more current than some song Jimi Hendrix wrote.”

“Actually, Bob Dylan wrote that song,” I said.

“No way,” said Connor.

“Huh,” said Felicity. “Maybe it is about that. Because there’s that part about the two riders approaching?”

“Yeah,” I said. “And the last time we saw the joker and the thief, they were all going on about how late it was getting, so I think they’re obviously going to do
something
.”

“And the wind began to howl,” Felicity whispered darkly.

We walked the rest of the way in silence.

When we got close enough, we were greeted by two muscle-bound vampires who both sported mohawks. They folded tattooed arms and glared down at us. “Party’s by invite only,” said one.

“We’re special friends of Ace Gonzales,” I said. This was the kind of time that having compulsion would really come in handy. Unfortunately, it only worked on humans. The vamps had magic, even if it was only a little bit, and it rendered them immune. “Tell him Penny Caspian’s here. I’m sure he’ll want to talk.”

One of the mohawks turned and grabbed a leather-jacket-clad vampire walking by. “Hey, Steve-o, go tell Ace there’s some Penny Caspian to see him.”

Steve-o stopped and squinted at us. “Hey, man, that’s the dragon chick. The one that owns the hotel.”

The mohawks both turned back to us, very different expressions on their faces. “Come with us,” one said.

They took us by the arms and dragged us over to the fire pit, which was an old metal trash can, flames shooting out the top.

A few vampires had sticks propped up over it, roasting hot dogs.

When Ace saw us, his mouth curved into a smile. “Mrs. Cooper. Decided to come and give us what we want at last? Did you enjoy your visit from your husband?”

That ass. He
had
gotten in touch with Alastair after all. I had thought he’d be too chicken. Well, wonders never ceased.

I smirked. “You think that rattled me? You don’t know me very well.”

“I know that we need to come to an agreement about our business arrangement,” said Ace. “That
is
why you’re here, isn’t it? To pay up?”

“Not even close,” I said.

“Maybe we’ll just take our payment in blood, then,” said Ace, gesturing with both hands.

All the vampires around us turned on us, swarming in close like ants.

I stroked my new talisman, pushed magic outward.

The vampires fell into each other, falling down from the inside out, like a set of well-set-up dominoes.

“Listen to me, Ace Gonzales,” I said. “You and your vampires are going to leave me alone. You’re never going to dark the door of my business again. And you will never touch a hair on any of my employee’s heads ever again.”

“You do talk big, Mrs. Cooper.”

“Caspian,” I said. “The name’s Caspian.” I reached for Felicity and Connor.

All three of us grasped hands.

And I felt the power, the magic, singing through my veins, far brighter and hotter than anything I had ever felt before. I threw my head back, suddenly basking in it.

It felt amazing, like swimming in a hot bath of bright light.

I felt lazily powerful, like a minor goddess, able to give into my whims and desires, no matter how lavish.

“Gather close, everyone,” I whispered, smoke trickling out of my mouth, plumes of it joining the smoke from the fire pit.

I used my magic to pick up all the vampires, bring them in tight and close.

I made them all float, even Ace. They dangled there, several inches off the ground.

And then I drew the power from Felicity and Connor.

“Ready?” I looked at Felicity.

She nodded.

I looked at Connor.

His eyes were shining. “Fuck yes.”

I threw my head back and a wall of fire emanated from within me. It shot straight up into the sky, high as I could see, orangey red and blocking out the moon.

It descended like a rushing roller coaster, encircling the floating vamps with six feet of crackling flames.

The vamps all looked around, fear in their eyes, flames reflecting against their faces.

“What should I do, Ace?” I said. “Should I burn your entire damned gang to the ground? Should I make each of you go up in smoke?”

He swallowed.

“Poof,” I said, blowing out more smoke.

Ace was afraid. “Look, you don’t have to hurt anybody.”

“You didn’t have to hurt anyone either,” I said. “But you did. You came in and hurt my friend here.”

“That was an accident,” said Ace. “Come on, look, lady. Just stop with the fucking fire. We get it. We’ll back off.”

“That a promise?” I said.

“Yes, just turn off the heat,” he said.

“Swear it,” I said. “Swear a blood oath. Swear that if you go back on your word, you will offer up your entrails as a burnt offering for breaking your bond.”

“Okay, yeah,” he said. “Whatever you say.”

“Good,” I said. I let go of Connor and Felicity.

Slowly, the flames dissipated., leaving behind a black ring on the sand.

I dropped all the vampires.

They didn’t land gracefully, but in a tangled heap.

They struggled to their feet, brushing sand off their backsides.

I turned to Connor and Felicity. “Let’s go.”

We started to troop across the sand.