Passion Ignited (5 page)

****

“Ethan, you’re off tonight. Instead of
patrolling, you’re on Deck Detail. Thrash and Blaze, you’re also
off. Rest up, since you’re back on tomorrow. Nitro and Ash, you two
are together, and Garrick and I are teamed up as well.”

“Only two teams going out tonight?” Blaze
asked.

“Yeah, Ferox didn’t feel up to going out, and
with Draven being MIA, we’re down two fighters.” Walking over to a
map that was spread out across the table, Raider pointed at it,
circling an area. “This is where I want you two to cover. Here are
your cells in case anyone needs back-up, or in case we receive any
distress calls from civilians.” He handed the three new recruits
their phones. “All of our numbers are already programmed in, so you
can contact any one of us at any time. Speed dial number one calls
the deck.”

Nitro rolled her eyes as she slid the phone
down her bustier. Her face lit up in the fake smile Raider was
already getting to know intimately. She clapped her hands together
and hopped up and down once. “Thanks, daddy. My friends will be so
jealous
.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, still unsure what
to make of her. Well, he wasn’t sure what to make of any of them.
“Garrick and I will keep an eye out here,” he said as he pointed to
another area on the map. “We’ve found in the past that these two
areas have been particular hotspots for Collectives.”

Ferox came down the stairs. His arm was
intertwined with Raine’s as they made their way down the stairwell
slowly. Raider glanced up at his king with a pang of sadness. He’d
known Ferox since they were small children. Raider’s father was
Drök’s—Ferox and Damion’s father’s—younger brother. As such, they’d
all grown up as close as cousins could. Yes, he was blood related
to Ferox and Damion, but his relationship with Ferox went so much
further than that. They were best friends. Brothers to the
core.

It worried him that Ferox was taking so long
to heal. Well, maybe “heal” wasn’t the right term. Ferox was
physically healing, but mentally he was a wreck. Clearly the royal
headfuck he’d gone through in killing his own brother was much
worse than any of the Guardians had even comprehended. Still, he
looked much better than he had the night Raine had found him. And
he was still doing far better than Riley.

“Ah, it’s good to see you’re going out on
patrols tonight, warriors,” Ferox said. “Although, with Damion out
of commission, I don’t see a reason to go out right now. But,
Raider insisted on a light patrol, so I’ve agreed to it. However, I
don’t want you to battle against Damion’s men until we know what
their plans are.”

Raider narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “You
don’t want us to engage in combat at all?” That was weird. “How
would you have us protect civilians if they are being attacked by
Collectives?”

Ferox turned his attention toward Raider.
“Attack them only if you must. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t
protect others. I’m saying that it’s not open season on Damion’s
men unless you see that they are actually a danger to
others.”

He let a few seconds tick by before he replied
to the strange order. “Yes, my king.” He bowed to Ferox then turned
on his heels, heading for the door. Garrick and the twins followed
Raider’s lead and they went out into the cold winter
night.

Chapter Four

Raider and Garrick walked along the empty
streets, keeping their eyes out for Collectives. They’d split from
the twins a few hours ago and hadn’t seen any action
yet.

“All I’m saying is, I don’t understand what’s
going on here. Demetrius pushed for us to come here and assist the
Guardians in this ‘Collective’ threat, and yet your king doesn’t
want us to fight them?” Garrick shook his head as he and Raider
turned down another dark alleyway. “And not to be a bitch or
anything, but everything that Demetrius told me about the vampire
king just doesn’t fit with the vibes I’m getting from
him.”

Raider looked sidewise at the new warrior.
Just as when they’d met the day before, Garrick was still dressed
in a finely tailored suit. The bastard didn’t look like he was
ready to fight; he looked like he was walking down a godsdamned
runway.

“Ferox doesn’t mean what he said,” Raider
replied. “He’s been off ever since his fight with the Collective’s
leader. You’ll see. Once he’s fully healed, he’ll be back to
normal.”

“Good. I don’t want to hold back from kicking
some demon ass.”

He snorted at Garrick’s eagerness. “Have at
it, my man.”

“Thank the gods. It’s been days since I’ve had
a real fight.”

That was one thing Raider could clearly see.
Garrick was pumped, ready for battle. If it wasn’t for that damned
suit.

“What’s with the clothes?”

Garrick stopped short and smoothed out his
suit with his hands. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s…not really what people wear in
battle.”

He laughed. “Maybe it’s not what
you
wear in battle. But it is certainly what I wear. Why should I look
like a beggar when I fight? I believe one should always look
presentable, no matter the circumstances.”

Raider nodded silently. To be fair, the man
definitely looked presentable. He looked like he could appear in
one of those GQ magazines human women fondle over. They continued
to walk through a series of alleys until they came to an especially
dingy one. “I’ve been monitoring this one for quite a while. We
took out some of the Collective’s main hideouts a few days ago, and
the remaining demons seem to have scattered. Luckily this one was
already on my radar.”

“So what’s the deal with the Collective?”
Garrick asked, leaning against a darkened wall.

“Just your run-of-the-mill evil organization
out for world domination. Damion was the Collective’s leader, and
his sole purpose in life was to have complete dominion over this
realm. Oh, and also to make humans his slaves.”

Garrick’s eyebrows popped up as he lit a
cigar. “Well, of course. You can’t have your typical grade-A super
villain without wanting to make some race his slaves.”

Raider chuckled. “That pretty much sums it up.
But now that Ferox has killed him, we’re not sure who is taking
over or what their plan of action will be. With Damion, we had good
insight on what he wanted to do.”

“Why’s that?”

He turned toward Garrick. There was no reason
to keep it hidden, not if he was willing to risk his life to help
the Guardians. “He was Ferox’s twin brother.”

****

“What’s with these Guardians?” Nitro asked.
She was down on one knee, and as a disgusting looking creature
barreled toward her, she slammed her fist into the demon’s gut.
“Ugh, you really need to work out. Your stomach feels like pudding.
Puke
.” The demon flopped back on the ground, huffing and
puffing in rage. She stood up and faced her brother, watching as he
sliced a demon up with his dagger. “I mean, they’re so babied. They
make a plan for everything. They live in that nice place. Ugh, they
team up
for gods’ sakes—”

“We team up,” Ash interrupted.

“We’re twins. We’ve always worked together.
It’s like they don’t know how to do anything without someone
holding their fucking hands.”

She spun around just as Pudding made his way
back to her. This time he’d procured a crowbar and based on the
angry gleam in his eyes, he was clearly planning to play tee-ball
with her head.

“Nuh, uh, uh,” Nitro said as she waved her
finger at him. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to play
nice?”

“Fuck you
,” the creature snarled with a
heavy accent. He hurled himself at her with the bar raised above
his head.

Nitro spun out of the way just as he would
have careened into her. “Not with a ten-foot pole.” She laughed as
she kicked the demon in the ass, sending him to the ground
again.

Jeesh, this guy was slow. Did the Guardians
really need help when their demons were like
this?

“I thought you didn’t mind them,” Ash said as
he punched his demon in the stomach.

“You know, I really think you need to pay more
attention. I
sort of
think they’re alright. But right now, I
think they’re just a bunch of pussies who need their hands
held.”

He laughed as he spun and dodged a blow from
his demon.

“I think I should just finish this one off.
He’s giving me awful images in my head. What do you think,
brother?” She turned just as Ash severed his opponent’s head from
his body.

“You have far too much fun, Nitro,” he
laughed. “Finish the ugly bastard before he runs and gets his big
brothers.”

“Mmmm. That might be just what this fight
needs. How about a little competition for a change?”

Pudding, as she so liked to think of him,
charged her again, clearly upset that she was making fun of his
sub-par fighting skills. Again, without any urgency on her part,
she spun out of the way. Instead of kicking him in the ass, as she
also liked to do, she spun around completely, baring her dagger and
impaling him through the back.

He let out a girlish wail as he tried to reach
the dagger protruding from the middle of his back. But after
trying, and failing, he finally fell to the ground. Nitro pulled
another dagger from the waist of her pants and began to hack
through his neck. She didn’t know what the hell kind of demon he
was, but safe to say one could always count on the old adage “when
in doubt, remove the head.”

Sure as shit, once she was done sawing through
his thick neck, his body started convulsing. Thick sludge leaked
from his open wounds until he completely dissolved into the sticky
substance. Of course, that was
after
it spewed some icky
greenish sludge all over her.

She quickly pulled her other dagger from the
goo and flung what was stuck to it onto the ground. She started to
clean off her blades as she made her way over to Ash, who had just
lit his demon’s body on fire and was watching the yellow flames
burn it to ash.

“Not a bad start for the night,” he said as he
looked over at her. His face quickly morphed into one of disgust.
“It puked on you?”

She pegged him with a glare as she picked some
of it out of her hair. “No, thank the gods. I think that was its
blood.” She gripped some goo that had stuck to her bustier and
threw it to the ground.

“How did you make out tonight?”

Ash and Nitro both turned as Raider and
Garrick stepped from the shadows at the opening of the alley. “Not
bad,” Ash said. “We only came across five demons though, but
they’re all toast.”

“I hope that doesn’t displease your king,”
Nitro added sarcastically.

“Speaking of that,” Raider said. “Garrick and
I were talking about that earlier. If you’re going to be fighting
alongside us, there’s some information you should be privy
to.”

She stayed silent, merely raising her
eyebrows.

“I didn’t mention this to you at the mansion
because it’s a sore subject,” he continued. “And one that I didn’t
feel needed to be discussed yet.”

“If you’re about to tell us that you’re gay, I
think we’ve all already figured that out. And really, I think you
should tell the others. It will be hard, I’m sure. But we’re here
to make it painless for you, Raider. Although, I must say, I’m glad
you came to us for your little predicament.”

He glared at Nitro and, sidestepping her ploy
to get a rise out of him, he continued. “There was a little bit of
important information I withheld from you at the mansion in regards
to the Collective. The reason we are constantly at war with them is
not only because they are out to cause harm to others. The other
reason is that their leader had a personal vendetta against
Ferox.”

“And why is that, Dr. Phil?”

Ash and Garrick both glared at her, annoyance
apparent on both their faces.

“Because he was always jealous that Ferox
wears the crown.”

This time Ash spoke up. “And why would that
upset him?”

“Because Ferox and Damion are
twins.”

Chapter Five

“Fuck you, corn dog!”

Raider turned the corner into the library just
as Blaze slammed his laptop shut.

“Lost again?” he laughed as he sat down on the
couch.

“I never fucking win,” Blaze said. “I swear to
the gods it’s rigged.”

“How many corn dogs did you buy this time?” he
asked just as Garrick and the twins came in for a drink.

Blaze had a slight obsession with CornDog King
corn dogs. As soon as he’d heard that they had a game online, he
bought more and more corn dogs in an attempt to win free stuff.
Aside from the occasional free corn dog, he hadn’t won a single
time. It had turned into something of a joke at the mansion though,
since Blaze was obsessed with the CornDog King game. He was
half-vampire and half-Salvo, which was a dangerous type of fire
demon. Being that he was part Salvo, he had a temper on him that he
constantly fought to hold back. He was also the jokester Guardian,
keeping them all on their toes. They’d jokingly deemed him “Valvo”
since he was unique in his heritage, and it had stuck. “I spent
eighty bucks.”