The Burning Bush (35 page)

“It’s not a fort. It’s a nest,” I insisted.

“I’m not a bird, so it is a fort or perhaps a ferocious monster’s platform.” The Prime patted it down some more.

“No. You’re more like a bat and a big black man smashed together,” MeShack added.

“This from a Shifter wearing panties.” The Prime chuckled.

I choked on laughter. A tingling sensation poured over my skin. My exhaustion disappeared. Everything brightened in the room. My violet walls seemed as if they breathed in and out, almost touching me. I put my hands in front of my face, and purple sparkles shot from my fingers. Music sounded in my ears—a gentle melody, more harp than violin. I peeked around my hands and spotted MeShack and the Prime laughing at me. The music stopped.

“You’re blown,” MeShack announced. A halo of golden light circled his copper skin as he smothered the lit joint with his tongue and stuck it behind his ear.

“Yes.” I beamed at them. “Yes, I’m high as the habitat ceiling. That was pretty quick. Besides the rejuvenation spell paper, what did you put in our joint?”

“Goldenrod and White Lotus,” MeShack answered. “I figured last night’s tragic events called for the good stuff.”

I exhaled, riding the waves of the Goldenrod’s magic. The enchanted herb cost a lot on the street. It took a year to grow one plant. Any time MeShack bought some from his frat brother, he would harvest the seeds and grow a few in his closet.

The Prime’s wings expanded as he exhaled. “I wish I could just go fly right now. Zulu ordered me to listen to you while he was gone. If I cover myself in glamour, will you give me your permission, Lanore?”

“Absolutely not. You’re high and it’s daytime.” I grinned, relishing in the sudden peacefulness that surrounded me. It was as if I was newly born and wrapped inside a warm blanket with an understanding that I was loved and protected. I exhaled.

The Prime focused his gold eyes on me. “I love when we fly together.”

“So last night wasn’t the first time you’ve flown with Zulu?” MeShack leaned back in his chair and slung his feet on my bed. “You just let Zulu fly you around?”

“Yes. We fly at night sometimes.” I spread my arms out. More purple sparks shot from my hands. The tingling sensation increased as if I’d dived into a pool of ice water. I gasped, feeling lighter, like the weight of the bombing, Cassie’s death, and Angel’s imprisonment had all been resolved. I jumped up and twirled.

A rumble came from MeShack’s chest. “And where do you fly?”

“Don’t blow my high.” I strolled over to him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him from his seat. “It’s fun. We touched the boundary wall.”

Hesitantly standing up, MeShack embraced me. I began to sway and he followed. His face held a neutral mask—the one he wore when he was deciding whether to kill someone or not.

“Stop stressing. I can touch the wall. It has no effect on me.” I released his hands and twirled around him. MeShack remained where he was, his eyes following me.

“Actually you did more than touch the wall with Zulu and me that night,” the Prime whispered. I scowled at the Prime, and he laughed. Zulu and I had made love on the habitat’s boundary wall until dawn, but MeShack didn’t need to know all of that.

“What is he talking about?” MeShack faced me.

“New topic please,” I said. Now that I was relaxed and full of peace, I could tackle my to-do list.

“How will we kill Dante?” I asked them. “I think the Rebels are working with him.”

The Prime’s face snapped to me. “You are wrong.”

“Nona took Cassie to Zulu’s condo, right? And Nona was supposed to stay with Cassie,” I argued. “The bomb hits. Cassie is dead, and Nona is at MFE in new clothes.”

The Prime shook his black head. “Zulu and I saw Cassie’s beast. We asked the tiger what happened. She said that Nona brought Cassie to the condo, talked to her for a while, and tucked her in Zulu’s bed.”

“That doesn’t sound like a killer to me,” MeShack added.

“I don’t trust Nona or any of the Rebels,” I said. “Especially, not after tonight.”

“Holy Shango! I need to tell you something.” MeShack slapped his hands together. “I caught Mother Earth’s scent. It’s the first time I was close enough to smell her.”

“Mother Earth and Nona are not involved. Dante is doing this alone.” The Prime returned his interest to the trashy romance novel.

Ignoring the Prime, I asked MeShack, “So what does Mother Earth smell like?”

“Food. Kind of like meat fried in old oil,” MeShack said. “I’ve never smelled anything like it except on our dead Pixies.”

“Motherpounder!” Flames zipped up my arms, making MeShack jerk back. “So Mother Earth killed my Pixies. She’s obviously spying for Dante.”

“This is why I didn’t tell you when we were with her.” MeShack gestured to the flames as I mentally smothered them.

“Fine with me. I’ll just burn her later.” I exhaled and turned on one toe, almost bumping into the wall. “Finally, I’m getting somewhere. Mother Earth killed my Pixies and delivered the message for Dante.”

With extended arms, I leapt into the air. “Things are always so much better when I know my enemy’s face.” I added kill Mother Earth to my to-do list.

“You are going to break something if you continue to dance while high on Goldenrod.” The Prime flipped the book’s page.

MeShack leaped into the air and crashed onto my bed. The headboard banged against the wall. A crack splintered at the top of the headboard. “La La’s a bad dancer—high or not. She has no rhythm.”

“Blow me.” I leapt again and accidentally slammed my leg against the edge of my dresser. No pain shot to my knee, but then I never experience pain while smoking Goldenrod. Sadly, I would feel the pain as soon as I was sober.

“I’ll have to follow Mother Earth to wherever she meets Dante,” I muttered.
How long has Mother Earth been working with Dante? Do Nona or the other Rebels know?
The whole concept seemed outrageous. Mother Earth had been the most adamant person for bombing Dante’s blood factory. In fact, she wanted us to wait until Dante was inside the factory to start the bomb.
Now they’re working together?
I did another twirl. This time it didn’t possess the same joy.
Mother Earth’s working with Dante doesn’t make sense.
I am definitely missing something.

“If music was on, you could really see how bad La La dances.” MeShack wrapped himself in my violet blanket, reminding me of a cuddly little kitten. I did a light skip to my satchel, pulled out my notebook and pencil, and wrote down everything I’d been considering.

“La La is beautiful and almost a genius at times, but musical talent really skipped her,” MeShack continued. “Have you ever heard her sing?”

The Prime bobbed his head. “I believe Lanore’s singing is reminiscent of a Were-hyena being skinned alive with—”

“You’re both cockburgers! Everyone’s a freaking critic.” I walked to the Prime’s nest with my notebook in my hand.

“So when Zulu talked to Cassie’s beast, did the tiger say anything about Mother Earth being around?” I asked the Prime.

“No.”

I nervously tapped my pencil against my notebook. “I just don’t get why Mother Earth would kill the Pixies and work with Dante.”

“Dante may have offered her money.” MeShack yawned and shut his eyes.

“I don’t think Dante has any more money, but that’s a good point.” I wrote that down. “Zulu had just delivered money to Dante through Nona. Maybe the Rebels and Dante split the money.”

“Dante seems like a logical Vampire. I don’t know why he would try to kill Zulu when Zulu offered to rebuild his business. We need to forget about this Mother Earth angle and try to figure out what Dante gains from killing Zulu.” The Prime snatched up a book that had been leaning on the nest’s edge. “I’ve been reading Sun Tzu’s
Art of War
, and—”

MeShack interrupted. “Sun Tzu was an Earth Witch. The only advice I take from an Earthie is on how to grow excellent weed.”

I traced the edge of the nest with my fingers. “Go ahead, Prime. What were you going to say?”

“Sun Tzu says, ‘If you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss. If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose. But if you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.’”

“Like I said, Earthies are nonsense-speaking grass hippies.” MeShack snatched up one of my purple pillows and put it under his head.

I directed my attention back to the Prime. “So what you’re saying is we need to understand Dante’s motives to win?”

The Prime smiled, displaying his fangs. “This is why I am glad Zulu chose you. You’re smart. Although, if you refuse to give up this Mother Earth conspiracy theory, then we need to know what her motivation is as well.”

Information on Mother Earth was hard to find. I never liked her, so I’d done a quick Internet search of her, but I came up with nothing. Obviously, Mother Earth wasn’t her real name. Perhaps Wallace could discover the things I couldn’t.

I considered what I already knew of Dante, which wasn’t much either. I’d researched him before the factory bombing. Everything on him was from magazines, biographies written by Humans, and this one documentary filmed by a newly made Vamp.
How the hell can I learn more about him?

I twirled around the room until I became dizzy. Glittery sparks swirled around my face like a carousel. And then the answer hit me.
The Palero.
Not only could the Palero tell me Dante’s weaknesses, It could help me release Angel. At least I hoped It could.

“You have thought of something.” The Prime slung the book over his right wing. “I can see it in your eyes.”

“Yep. I may be slashing several things off my to-do list.” I headed to the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“And then?” MeShack lifted his head from the pillow.

I wiped my face with my hands and massaged the side of my forehead. “Well, I’m probably going to break into Jacobi’s house and hopefully find evidence that he’s tying up girls and setting them on fire. Jacobi is still my best suspect for the Burning Bush Murders since I have no idea how to find the limo guy.” I pulled my dreadlocks out of my ponytail holder. “Then I’m going to see the Palero and see if It can tell me about Dante in exchange for Angel’s identity.”

“Will you be stuffing your ass with lit dynamite too?” MeShack groaned as he flung away the covers, got up, and stretched his well-muscled arms. “I’m going with you, so you don’t end up getting yourself killed or arrested.”

“I will join.” The Prime expanded his wings.

“No,” MeShack and I said in unison.

“No one knows what a Prime is. You’re going to scare everybody,” I said. “Which would probably be funny any other time, but now with the bombings, you’ll just get shot, spelled, bitten, or arrested. The whole habitat is on edge.”

“Besides, everyone thinks Zulu is dead,” MeShack added. “The few people that recognize what Zulu’s beast looks like will know he’s alive when they see you.”

“Good point.” I opened my jeans, stepped into my bathroom, and gasped. Zulu had fixed my shower or at least gotten some Witch to do it. The whole space shined like brand new. No broken glass or bent pipes.
Damn I miss you, Zulu.

“Hurry up and take a shower.” MeShack rubbed his eyes. “I’ll need to roll two more joints for the trip.”

Emergency weed? That’s my MeShee.

“You don’t have to come.” I closed the door behind me.

MeShack snorted. “You have five minutes to take a shower before I join you.”

The tram entered the north end of Yemaya District several blocks from last night’s bombing. Smoke hovered in the air. Various shades of gray painted the sky in this part of the city. Since I was with MeShack, I didn’t have to stand in the tram’s Mixie section in the back. I could sit next to him and the other Purebloods—although the tram driver warned MeShack that any problems I caused would make MeShack liable.
What am I going to do, bite the passengers or take a dump on the tram?

I gazed out the window. Air Witches assembled in various areas of Yemaya, casting spells that pushed last night’s bomb smoke toward Shango District, where most of the Mixies lived.
Sure, give us the smoke. We wouldn’t want your precious diamonds and fur coats to get dirty.