Shadows of Fire (12 page)

He
went down heavy on his shoulder, his head slamming onto the wooden planks of
the barn. Gasping for air, Glenn’s mouth filled with a sickly mixture of straw,
dust and his own blood. He only needed to rid his chest of the stake and his
body could repair itself. But when his brain tried to engage his hands, they
wouldn’t move. Nothing moved, save for feet pacing in small circles.

Glenn
ignored the darkness creeping along the edges of his vision. He focused on the
boots in front of him, the curl of the toe and the elegant sweep of the leather
around the ankle. He’d seen them before and he had every intention of using the
information to identify his attacker. The vamp wouldn’t get away with another
murder. Anger welled until his vision pulsed red, ebbing and flowing as if it
were breathing inside of him and filling him. It continued to grow and consume
him until Glenn’s skin tingled from the heat of it.

He
fought for control, but the blackness rolled like a tidal wave, tumbling him
into unconsciousness.

* * * *

Reese
dragged ass out of the tanker, already feeling used up after only one call. Not
that he was tired, just completely out of sorts after hearing the damning
information Hope had given to Josh. Fortunately, the alarm had rung minutes
after he’d arrived at the station for the night shift. It had been nothing more
than a diesel fire on a farm tractor. One fire engine. One tanker. Five men.
Routine. He’d volunteered to stay behind with McLeod and the tanker when the
engine was no longer needed. He had no reason to feel as heavy as he did.

But
as he pulled off the bunker gear, rolling the pants over the boots, hanging the
jacket and stowing his helmet on the rack above him, readied for another call,
he couldn’t help but think of the pixie-haired woman. A woman who was now
suspect in killing nearly two dozen vamps and a handful of humans. It’s not at
all where he wanted his thoughts to travel.

He’d
rather remember the way she’d responded to his touch. Reese could still taste
the salt of her satin skin on his tongue, smell the fruity aroma of her silken
hair as he grazed his teeth over her neck and feel the heat of her pressed
against him.

His
body’s reaction hadn’t surprised him. But the way his emotions had swelled when
she’d melted in his arms had thrown Reese completely off-kilter. His mind kept
reminding his heart he’d made a solemn vow never to fall in love again—especially
with a vamp. It was just too damn dangerous. Now, that didn’t seem to matter. Months
of innocent flirting had obviously broken his resolve and the woman had wiggled
her way into his heart. That thought shook him to his core.

Shit
. He needed to get Alex out of
his head. There were lots of hours between now and when he would see her again.
The only question was whether they’d be hours spent lounging in the rec room or
out in the community battling dragons. It was how he’d come to understand fire,
a living, breathing beast, devouring for sheer pleasure and enjoyment.

For
himself, he hoped the alarm would continue to send them screaming into the
night. He had no desire to contemplate how the new information Josh had brought
to their cabin would impact a relationship that had only just begun. For the
residents of South Kenton, he hoped this Friday dragged by with them sitting
around the station talking trash, lifting weights, and playing cards. That
thought darkened his already foul mood.

“Hey,
Colton, Sykes said to head up to his office as soon as you got in. Burkett and
Timmons are already up there,” the dispatcher called from her office. “He
didn’t sound too happy.”

Reese
lumbered up the stairs. Hearing Sykes’s irate voice long before he got to the
office door, he was in no hurry to listen to a tirade. He had no idea what he’d
done and would gladly have heard it secondhand from Josh and Timmons, but they
were a team. They fought fires as a team. They broke bread as a team. They hung
by their balls as a team.
Go team
.

“…
I have no fucking idea what you three were doing at the professor’s mansion,
but I’ve got the fire marshal chewing me a new asshole saying someone tampered—”

At
Reese’s soft knock on the smoky glass, the deputy chief’s rant stopped.

“Colton,
that better be you!” The door swung open. Frank Sykes’s normally placid
features were taut and glowed a sickly red. His thick mustache twitched in time
with his fingers pulsing in and out of a fist. “It’s about time.” He waved him
into the small office. Timmons and Josh sat in the two chairs across from the
deputy’s desk, which left only the door to lean against.

“What
the hell did you three do after we left?” Sykes stalked behind the desk, but
didn’t sit.

“Burkett
and I already told you,” Timmons said. “The body was transported to the morgue.
We pulled down what was left of the walls and soaked the hotspots.” Timmons
turned to Josh and Reese, who nodded in confusion. Reese was fairly certain,
though he and Josh had been thorough in their search, they hadn’t disturbed
anything that would have the fire marshal upset enough to call their boss.
Every firefighter understood the scene was only theirs until the fire was out,
then possession returned to the owners or, in the case of a death—the fire
marshal.

Though
it happened, firefighters weren’t supposed to return to the scene.

“Didn’t
they get the photos and collect everything they wanted last night?” Josh asked.

Sykes
stared him down. “Obviously
not
, Burkett. With the number of fire
deaths, he’s making sure he doesn’t miss anything. Imagine his surprise when he
went back this morning and the place was torn apart. And not just from axes and
water. The only obvious people on the scene were you three.” He paused, his narrowed
eyes probing for guilt. “I’m talking the master suite, a guest bedroom and the
living area. You sure you three didn’t see anyone or do a little investigation
on your own?” None of them moved. With serious deliberation, he laid his palms
on the desk and leaned forward. “Seems some things he wanted were missing. Not
the least of which was the computer from the office.”

“What
the hell would we do with a piece of melted plastic?” Josh asked.

The
alarm was his only answer.

“Attention
South Kenton fire,” the dispatcher called. “Repeat. Attention South Kenton
fire. Report of structure fire. One-seventeen Chestnut Hill Road, a tenth of a
mile past Goughan’s bridge …”

Reese
took the shortest route to the bay, pounding down the stairs in front of Josh,
Timmons and Sykes. Stepping into his boots, he pulled up his bunker pants,
sliding the suspenders over his shoulders in one sweeping motion. He shrugged
into his coat, grabbed his helmet and lumbered toward the engine.
Routine.
His thoughts focused on what lay ahead, not the motions of his muscles. He
pulled the lanyard, releasing the air tank tucked in the seat’s back before his
butt ever hit the vinyl. His seat belt and air tank straps snicked into place
as adrenaline filled his veins and sharpened his senses.

He’d
get through this long night one fire at a time.

* * * *

Ronan
pressed harder on the gas pedal of the Volvo, sending it hurtling along the treacherous
mountain road leading up to Glenn’s farm. Weaving in and out of the forest, the
asphalt rising and falling with the rocky California terrain, he had a hard
time keeping the car on his side of the road. The headlights bumped along the
low-hanging trees, the shadows opening only long enough for him to pass, then
closing quickly behind him. This section of forest held tight to its secrets.

The
car bounced over the rise on the picturesque bridge and the chassis slammed down
hard on the tar. The Volvo screeched with the impact. Ronan didn’t care. He
pushed the needle of the speedometer to a chilling angle.

He
needed to find Alex.

The
woman may have charmed Burkett and Colton, but Ronan knew she was as guilty for
crimes committed against vampires as he was determined to make her pay. Despite
what his cohorts thought of her innocence, Ronan had every intention of
stopping her. That’s why he’d been sitting at the tavern waiting for Alex when
the call about the fire at Glenn’s had blared over the firefighters’ pagers.

Every
off-duty firefighter at O’Malley’s answered the call and he’d left with the
surge. They’d headed to the station. He’d driven up the road. There was no
doubt in his mind, if Alex wasn’t at O’Malley’s—she had to be with Glenn.

Ronan
had wondered about her connection to the transgressions in South Kenton for
months. After this morning—he no longer had any doubts. He’d even pressed her in
the winery earlier in the morning, and he’d been so close to breaking through
her tough exterior. Ronan slammed his fist on the steering wheel, imagining it
was Reese Colton’s face. The man had rotten timing. But then again, he hated
Colton and everything he did, especially since a woman was involved.

Hating
his boss wasn’t good for his career with RISEN. Ronan didn’t really care. He’d
stay with the organization only as long as it suited his needs. Competing for a
woman’s attention, even if he only wanted to use her, was just bad politics.
Still, it raised his hackles. It was obvious Colton was sniffing around Alex,
looking for more than wine and friendly banter. Ronan had been trying to gain
her trust for the last several months, but she barely gave him the time of day.

He’d
backed off in the wine cellar when Colton had shown up. But when Josh had brought
the proof of Alex’s crimes, it had pissed him off beyond reason that Colton
hadn’t looked beyond his dick. The facts had been laid out in plain sight and
both of the older vampires had turned a blind eye.

Well
he didn’t need either of them. He could bring Alex to the tribunal without
them. Who cared if it ruined his career with RISEN? He hadn’t planned on
staying with the organization after he finished this assignment. Making Alex
pay for her atrocities against vampires
and
shoving the whole case up
Colton’s self-righteous ass would be a two-fer.

As
he came over the last rise before the farm, the forest glowed with a sickly
orange fog of smoke. The drive from O’Malley’s was no more than fifteen minutes.
Ronan’s heart pounded rapidly in his throat as he rounded the final corner and
saw the conflagration in front of him. Alex’s black Honda was parked behind
Glenn’s truck, exactly where he expected to find it.

He
opened the door before he’d completely stopped. He killed the engine and jumped
out. The destruction was unbelievable. Flames lapped out of broken windows, reaching
up to taste the siding and lick the sill of the roof. Sparks danced in merry
wonder upon the black smoke billowing into the night and shadowing the fat disk
of the moon, watching from high above. The doors were thrown wide, frightened
animals spilling from the barn and scattering in fear.

“Alex!”
Ronan yelled, running toward the building. His voice was swallowed by the fire
as it roared its power and shook something within the building. It was all
happening so fast. “Alex!” he yelled again. Someone was here. Below the thunder
of the devastation, like a steady drum beat, Ronan heard a heart pounding hard
and steady. He hoped it was Alex.

The
female vamp needed to pay for what she’d done, but not until the tribunal had a
chance to pass judgment in front of the whole vampire clan. She needed to be
taken alive. He was still a hundred feet from the blaze, the heat pressing
angrily against his skin and snatching his breath. Even an immortal couldn’t
survive that beast.

Ronan
registered the sound of sirens. Help was on its way. He wondered if Colton
would be one of the first firefighters on the scene and be the one to save her.
Wouldn’t that be rich? Rescued from the flames only to be found guilty and
destroyed by the fires of justice.

He
watched the silhouette of a person running from the woods, then along the side
of the building. Lumbering and clumsy, she stumbled and went down. He’d studied
Alex far too long, not to know the lithe form was her. He was upon her before
she could recover. Liquid fire dripped into the grass around them as the metal
of the roof fed the flames. Grabbing her arms, he hauled her weak form upright,
aware that the vampire within her hadn’t taken control.

Her
wide eyes searched his face in confusion. “I can’t find Glenn. I think he’s in
there. I don’t think we can save him.” Her fingers dug into his arms, but her
voice was deadly calm.

* * * *

Reese
jumped from the engine, assessing and evaluating even as he pulled his face
mask over his hood and settled his helmet in place. The shadowed sight of Ronan
holding Alex drew his fangs long. Nason had wanted her drawn and quartered
earlier in the afternoon and now, Reese wasn’t sure if the vampire’s embrace
was protection or confinement.

The
two vampires moved as a unit toward them. Ronan broke from Alex only long enough
to yell over the roar of the fire. “We can’t find Glenn Karr. I suspect he’s in
the barn.”

“We’ll
get him.” Sykes spoke with a conviction Reese didn’t feel. The fire had chewed
through the back half of the barn and danced in victory along the roof shingles.
Sykes turned to his men. “Burkett, Colton, the fire’s too advanced. You’ll need
to take water and do your search. Timmons and McLeod vent the roof and attack
from there. We’ll have someone else go in with the imaging camera and more
hoses.”