Wildfire Gospel (Habitat) (20 page)

I considered it and reluctantly decided that he may be right. “It’s kind of scary how much you’re making sense right now.”

“Don’t worry. It’s scaring me too.”

We entered the suffocating area that I hated with the tight glass walls all caked with dirt under it. Our footsteps boomed on the glass floors, yet I didn’t hear anybody around us. We continued through the hall. Every few steps, Zulu sniffed the air and kept on going. When we got to a sort of crossroads with four different paths around him and me, while we stood in the center, he let his head fall back and inhaled the space. “Your scent is coming from two different paths.”

“That makes sense. He had me locked up in some sort of wet room earlier.”

Zulu snapped his face to me. “Locked up?”

“Chained with water falling all over me.” I thought about it for a while. “In fact, there were several rooms near me with other supernaturals locked away. Now that I know he’s Mister Experimenter, I know he must’ve been testing them too. He probably wouldn’t have let me out if it wasn’t for you sneaking through.”

“Don’t say that. Talk like that will have him dead faster than I want. I was hoping to take my time.”

“Well, he says that he took me as insurance that MFE and you wouldn’t do anything further until he was able to think about what to do next against Mother Earth. Now I’m not so sure. I’m not even certain he’s not working with Mother Earth.”

He lifted his lip up in a sneer. “You should have let me kill him when I had the chance.”

“I know.”

“Instead, you went over there to him to talk some more and fucking made me insane with worry.”

“It’s not like I have all the answers.”

“You’re supposed to. You’re the smart one.”

“What?” I raised my eyebrows as he walked to the path’s entrance on our right and inhaled. “I’m the smart one?”

“Yeah. You’re the one that went to college. You read tons of books and are always spouting off more philosophy than the Prime.” He walked over to the path’s entrance on my left and inhaled that area. “I’ll admit it. You’re the smart one in the relationship.”

I felt weird from the compliment. “And what are you in the relationship? If I’m the brains, are you the beauty?”

He glanced over his shoulder and tossed me a fang-filled grin. “No, baby. You’re the beauty too.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m death and destruction. I’m the one that destroys, when the brains points. I’m the one that pleases, licks, and thrusts, when the beauty requests it.”

I bit my lip. A sensual shiver hummed through me at the thought of his licks and thrusts. “I don’t think those are all actual designated duties in relationships.”

“It is in ours.” He looked back and forth at both paths. “Your scent is strong in both of them. But in one of the paths I’m catching other odors.”

“Like what?”

He scrunched his face up in confusion and pointed to my right. “I’m getting Troll crap from that way.”

The female Troll and her children flashed in my head. “Then that’s where Dante had me locked up.”

“So then left is the way out.”

“Yes.” I displayed a wicked grin. “So let’s go right.”

“And why would we be doing that?”

“Because I want to free all of those supes he has trapped in those glass cages.”

“No.”

“We can’t just leave them there.”

“We can if it means our safety.”

“Zulu? Really?” I held my hands out.

A low, guttural sound fled from his chest.

“Zulu, just hear me out on this. One, it’s messed up to just leave them down there. We’re supposed to be about helping people. Second, we’ll probably find out what he was doing and possibly understand why he was testing on them, once we free them and ask questions.” I held up three fingers. “Third, and this is the best one, we may piss Dante off more than the blood factory bombing.”

“Or they may not be strong enough to escape with us and if we run into other Vampires then we’ll have to protect them and ourselves.”

“I can melt them in seconds.”

“But you won’t because you’re not using that blue stuff anymore.”

“I never promised that.”

He stepped my way. I placed my hands on my hips. “Either you go with me or I go free them by myself. That’s your only option.”

“I could always knock you out and carry you to the portal.”

“Then you would have to run really far once I woke up.”

“Is that so?” He looked me up and down.

“Please, baby. I don’t want to have to whip your behind.”

The line of muscle in his jaw twitched as if he was holding back laughter. “This is really a bad idea.”

“Or a really good one,” I added.

“How many supes did you see locked away?”

“Around ten or so, but I really can’t be sure. However, the Troll I spotted had little kids with her. Two.”

The humor on his face vanished. “Kids? Then we go right. You should have mentioned the kids the first time.”

Lanore

Zulu and I arrived at the glass cells in no time. He remained in Prime form. To his dismay, I kept lots of blue balls hovering above me as we traveled just in case another Vamp jumped out of nowhere to attack. Due to the detour from our escape, we speed-walked down the hallway to where Dante had kept me in a wet room earlier.

“This is sick.” Zulu’s fangs protruded over his bottom lip. He touched the glass where the Troll slept. I didn’t see the kids, but her pouches bulged so I assumed they were in there. I’d forgotten about the cuts to the side of her face. The person had cut those lines within her bumpy, brown skin with precision in mind. Behind me, the Mermaid in gold scales swam past the glass. The water now appeared murky and pink. Those gold eyes plead with me to free her. Like the Troll, delicate lines decorated her pale face. She touched the glass with her hand and opened her mouth, but of course I couldn’t hear her. I nodded anyway, what else could she want but to be free.

Why did you cut them that way, Dante? Was it to collect skin graphs or something like Keo said? Were you going to cut me too?

Zulu tapped the glass wall with the Troll. “It isn’t thick. I could break it in no time.”

“Dante probably didn’t figure that it needed to be thick. Who else would be coming down this hallway, but his own men and women? Not to mention other Vamp families had invested interests in the outcome of his experiments. No one else could come through the portals from Santeria, so he just needed to make sure the supes remained inside their cells.”

The Mermaid knocked on the glass and pointed at herself.

Zulu glanced over his shoulder. “Can Mermaids breathe outside of water?”

“I don’t think so, but it looks like she wants to be free.”

He returned to the Troll’s cell. “Do you think he was just testing for blood that could go to different portals?”

“No, but I’m not sure.” I ran my fingers across the cool glass. “He owned the blood factory, maybe his first tests started here and then when he discovered a new product he took it above ground to the factory. I remembered him saying at the Masquerade Ball that we were lucky he kept many of his blood products somewhere else.”

“No.” Zulu formed his black hands into fists. “He was lucky. Now his luck has run out.”

Zulu smashed the glass wall into pieces. The noise woke up the mom. Shattered bits fell to the floor. Two little brown faced kids with pickle shaped noses peeked out from each of their pouches and then ducked back in.

“We won’t hurt you.” I held my hand in front of me. Zulu remained on my side. I kept my blue fireballs out in the hall so she wouldn’t think I was going to attack her. Although no one really got to see Troll females and their young outside of the house, stories filled books of how protective Troll mothers killed people when they believed their children faced danger. “We’re here to free you.”

She blinked and didn’t say anything at all. I wasn’t sure what else to do, until a tiny tear left her eye.

“Do you need help getting up?” Zulu stepped forward.

“No.” The Troll’s voice came out rough and low as if she was an old man that smoked for years. “I-I can move.”

“Good.” I sighed and turned to Zulu. “Break the other walls, baby, but let’s leave the Mermaid’s cell for last.”

“I love it when you order me like that.” He winked and rushed to the next one.

Oh goodness.

I hurried into the Troll’s cell as she rose and towered over me. “Do you want me to get one of your kids or—”

“No one touches them!”

I backed up. “Of course.”

One peeked out and peered at me for a few seconds before jumping back in. The pouches shook. I bit my lip and hoped we could get them out.

“My family will pay you and him a lot if you can return me to them.” The Troll stumbled forward.

“Do you need help?”

“No. It’s just been a long time since I’ve needed to stand or even walk. I’m strong though. My Kin is Calcite. We’re strong as the rock and hard to crack.”

“Good.”

Glass exploded outside of the cell. I ran out to see Zulu punching a cell, moving on, and then slamming his fists into another one. Supes limped or stumbled out into the hallway. They all wore no clothes. Just like the Troll and Mermaid, A pattern of cut lines decorated the left side of all their faces. Broken glass littered the floor, piles of it. It must’ve taken a good twenty minutes to destroy all the cells. I did a quick count and landed at twenty-five.

You imprisoned twenty-five people for what? Was it all just to get free from the habitat?

They all spotted my fireballs floating above their heads. I’d made a few more just in case Vamps came. Every now and then Zulu glanced at them with a scowl painted on his face. Whispers began among the freed prisoners. Most sighed in relief. Crying came next. The prisoners represented almost every race in the habitat—Elves to Air Witches, tiny Pixies to big eared Dwarfs. Some were men, but most were female. And all of them looked to us for an answer.

I shushed the few that were crying as all of them gathered together in front of the Mermaid’s cell. “If you haven’t figured it out, we’re freeing you.”

Squeaks sounded from the Mermaid’s glass as she frantically swam from side to side, her gold and crimson hair swishing in the water.

I gestured to the glass. “Does anybody know if Mermaids can breathe out of water?”

No one said anything. The Troll looked at me and shrugged. Zulu stood by the poor Mermaid’s cell and waited for me. “You’re the brains. What do we do?”

I have no idea.

Mermaids didn’t live in Santeria or any habitat. I had no idea how Dante got one. I’d read articles that there were pet stores out in the human cities that sold Mermaids. They were called exotic supernatural pet stores. Only the truly rich bought from them. Among the list of creatures that I remember the shops sold were Mermaids and colorful feathered birds that could hold elaborate conversations with their owner.

The only time I’d seen a Mermaid close up was when Zulu and I attended the Blood Harvest Ball where I met Dante for the first time. A massive fish tank that rose at least thirty feet in the air stood in the center of the dance floor. Lots of Mermen and Mermaids swam inside. Gossip had spread that the Bottelli Family loaned the Merpeople from a human billionaire. The whole ball had been captivating and beautiful, but things changed once Dante actually introduced himself. He tested Zulu by flirting with me, which didn’t go well. Zulu attacked. Others did too. A war on the dance floor resulted between Mixbreeds, Rebels, and Vampires. That enormous fish tank cracked and then exploded into shards of glass. Water poured out and flooded the ball room before seeping away. All the Mermaids fell onto the floor, gasping for air and flapping their tails against the floor just like fish did out of water.

The Mermaid knocked on the glass.

I faced her and pointed to my nose. “Can you breathe?”

She nodded.

“Can you breathe out of water?” I did squiggly lines with my hands, not even sure if that made sense to her.

She tilted her head to the side. Wrinkles appeared on her forehead. She squeaked.

“I vote we just break the glass and let her out. Whether she breathes or not is no matter.” A male Dwarf behind me hugged himself with one arm and covered his groin with the other. “I can’t be down here another minute. I’m too scared.”

“Okay. I want all of you to go down this hall. I don’t know how big this tank is and how much water will come out.” I pointed the way Dante and I had come.

“You go down there with them.” Zulu gestured that way. “You don’t need to get wet. I need you ready for battle.”

“Okay.” I marched off down the hall and directed my view to the balls. The demon fire gave me the impression it was a sentient being, conscious of everything I thought or said. It followed me around without me ordering it to, unlike my regular fireballs. When the prisoners came near, the balls crackled and sizzled in anticipation.

Can these flames understand what’s going on?

The balls brightened to a white flare and then crackled back to ice blue as if to answer me yes. I decided to test out my question and focused on them.
Search for bloodsuckers.
They zipped off ahead of me, rounding the corners to different paths. I paused in the hallway with shivering fingers.

Did that actually work?

“Where are those balls going?” the Troll asked.

“I told them to look for Vamps.” I still didn’t move.

“Then why do you look so scared?”

“I do?”

“Yeah.”

Maybe, I’m scared because freaking fire shouldn’t be that smart.

“What’s your name?” I breathed in and out to calm my nerves.

So what the demon fire can understand me much better than my fire. Zulu’s worries are just getting into my head.

“My name is Cee Cee, first of Kin Calcite. My dad leads.”

“And your mom?” I relaxed my shoulders as all of the blue fireballs whizzed back and just floated above me as if waiting for my next order. I decided to continue to move forward. The prisoners trailed behind me.

“My mom does everything else.”

I checked behind me. About twenty feet separated us from Zulu as he stood in front of the Mermaid’s glass. “How’s everybody doing so far?”

A few whispered or mumbled, “fine.”

The rest just shook in fear, moving their faces from side to side like they were expecting Vamps to jump out and put them back in their cells.

“Let’s keep moving forward.” I spotted the crossroad up ahead where Zulu and I had made the decision to turn right toward the cells, instead of left to freedom. “We have a decent walk ahead of us. If Vamps approach and you think you can fight, do it. If not, then stay far behind and out the way. You got me?”

Groans and head nods answered me.

The noise of a crash came behind us all. I turned. Zulu punched the Mermaids tank over and over. Apparently that glass must’ve been thick, but it didn’t take too long to break. Glass and water snaked out. Zulu expanded his black wings and smacked a lot of it to the sides as he extended his hands to catch the Mermaid.

Come on baby. Get her.

She fell into her arms and he ran, which was good because an assault of gallons of water rushed out next. He raced away with her in his arms. “Run! The tank is bigger than we thought!”

“Fuck.”

We sped off. Cee Cee was the slowest, bobbing and doing sort of a fast hop. Her bulky brown breasts wiggled, but she didn’t stop. She kept the pace the best she could.

I picked up the one Pixie of the prisoners and kept him in my hand. He looked like a little human with butterfly wings. No clothes covered him. Not that it mattered. Naked Pixies had no sexual organs that could be seen. They were all skin accept the tiny opening between their legs that was covered with a flap of fuzzy flesh. I’d read that in order to breed, the male pulled both of his and her flaps back and they rubbed their openings against each other. Either way, he clung to my thumb and held on as I increased my speed. The blue fireballs followed me without any command. With abnormal speed, Zulu met us. For some reason, that put me on edge. He was too fast.

Did our bond really do all of that?

I had no time to further consider the thought. A river of pink water chased us down the hallway. Some of the prisoners screamed at the sight before us, which were a pile of decapitated heads, disfigured body parts, and of course the lovely finger bouquets that my loveable monster had made.

“Ignore this stuff and keep moving.” I tightened my hold on the Pixie. “Just kick the heads away and jump over the stuff if you have to. Focus on freedom.”

They did what I said. We entered the ballroom of horror and flames. Zulu and I had destroyed the place. Where corpses didn’t lay, weakening fire did.

No wonder Dante hates us so much. We’re always messing up his stuff.

I smiled as an idea hit me. I stopped in the center of the bloodied ballroom. The rest of the prisoners rushed ahead. Zulu had torn off a door up ahead. It was a no brainer that the way out of there was the door.

“Why did you stop?”

“I’m going to set fire to this room just in case any Vamps come behind us.”

“No.”

“That wasn’t a question, babe. Just keep going forward.”

“I’m staying with you.” Zulu continued to hold the Mermaid. She lay in his arms with closed eyes, but her chest moved up and down. Cracks formed in her skin. We needed to get to get her to water soon, but I still figured it was a good sign she was breathing.

Maybe luck is on our side.

“Let’s go.” Zulu snapped his fangs back into his mouth.

“No. Keep going forward. It will take me a few seconds.” I centered my attention to the flames.

Burn this room.

They expanded getting bigger and bigger into huge masses of balls. Zulu hissed at them and stepped to the side.

“Stop being mean to them.” I stuck my tongue at him.

“This isn’t funny. I don’t like this.”