Wildfire Gospel (Habitat) (40 page)

“You lied to me at the ball. You told me that you never got a spy in MFE.”

“That is true. You never asked about the Rebels. I infiltrated that group many times.” He waved the confession away. “But then that was no big deal. Once that female leader figured it out, she tended to kill them and make an example of the person in front of the others. That lost me all the Rebels by the time I met you and Zulu at the Blood Harvest Ball, but by then I had already had my goal set on getting a hold of his blood. I’d heard that he could touch the wall with no problem. I wanted to catch him. Knowing what I do about him now, that almost sounds comical.”

“How did you find out about me?”

“Pure coincidence. I had a team watching Zulu when he flew you to the wall and made love to you high up against the bars. It’s on video if you ever want to watch it. Beautiful stuff.”

I gritted my teeth. “Let’s skip all of this. We both need things from each other.”

“Well, we’ve established what I need from you. Mother Earth alive and handed over would make me a happy Vampire, indeed. I don’t know if she is truly the mother of Vampires, but she’s worth being analyzed.” He gestured to my arm. “I would also want your blood too.”

I’d figured as much. “I’ll have my doctor give you a tube a week.”

“No. I’ll take it myself.”

“Then no. I won’t let you near my skin with anything sharp.”

Or near my baby.

I formed my hands into fists. If I was going to stick it out with this pregnancy, I might as well start being more careful. However, one would say that mentally dancing with Vampires was a very dangerous game. Sakura wanted me to deal with her demon fire beasts and I sure wanted to suck in more of them. I yearned for more of it, regardless of what Graham and Zulu thought. My fingers itched to get back to her compound. Visiting the Shinto Habitat was an added benefit. Angel needed to be in the Christian Habitat before she blew all of us to smithereens. Then there was the possibility of finding a way out of the habitat system as a whole. There would be answers the more I explored other caged cities. We could combine our experiences and figure out more.

“I need safe passage through your portal and compound,” I said. “I’ll be taking several trips down there from now on.”

He laughed. “Could you do something for me real quick?”

I frowned.

“I would love for you to stand up, pull those pants down, and show me those magnificent mega balls you have between your legs.”

“Are you saying it wouldn’t be a good idea to go through your portal again?”

“Hmmm. If you could see the state of my compound now or the faces of the men and women who have lost friends due to you and Zulu’s work, you wouldn’t say that.”

“I didn’t ask to be down there. You’re the one that drugged and kidnapped me.”

“That’s fair.”

“And if you say no, another family will say yes. I plan to ask the other Vampires.” I stood up. “You’re not the only Vampire family leader in this habitat and frankly I’m tired of seeing your face. I mean sure you were cute when you were in shape, but now. Ick.”

A low, dark noise sounded from his chest. “You want safe passage to go to the Endo family’s portal?”

“Yes.” I thought about what the Palero had asked me to do. “However, I want safe passage to go to any portal I want.”

“You expect me to ask my alliances in other habitats?”

“Consider it a multiple of tests.”

“I would want information on the families, portals, compounds, and habitats. Detailed reports, maybe I’ll even give you a mini camera.”

“No. Additionally, the safe passage just doesn’t pass to me. It goes for Zulu, Angel, and any other person I would want to come too.”

He thought about it for a few seconds. “No more than three people. I approve Zulu and Angel. I would have to approve the third person.”

“Fine.”

“For this agreement, I expect two vials of your blood weekly, updated information on Mother Earth as well as her body in a month—”

“I can’t promise I’ll have her in a month.”

“Your problem not mine. You think I want the likes of you and Zulu in my living space?” He rubbed his hands. “You also promise to provide me with information on the families.”

“I won’t be a spy, but I’ll give you tidbits.”

“You’ll give me everything I ask for or you won’t leave my portal.”

I tensed. Back in the day, I wouldn’t have. Long ago, I wouldn’t have cared, but now I had something extra breathing inside of me, a little life that I now had to protect. If I was smart, I would leave this game alone with the Vampires and maybe even not search out Mother Earth. The problem was, this guy swooped down into my life with soft blond hair and blue and gold eyes. He confessed to me his dreams. He showed me a future where our kids, all Mixbreed kids walked around without a barred ceiling over their heads. At the time I thought it was nice. Now after stepping into the Shinto Habitat and breathing foreign air, Zulu’s dream slipped along my skin and sank deep into my pores.

It really could happen. Our kid would never know about life inside of a caged city.

The images of those warring Pixies from my science experiment entered my head. That wasn’t the life I wanted for my child or anyone else.

Little one, you’re going to open your eyes for the first time and see nothing but beautiful sky, with no bars.

“Do we have a deal, Miss Vesta?” Dante stood up and extended his hand.

My demon fire lowered to him, until they were barely two inches from his jacket. He didn’t even flinch or appear worried. Our deal swam in his eyes.

I shook his hand. “It looks like we haven’t seen the last of each other yet.”

EPILOGUE

Lanore

I lay down next to the Prime and covered us both in my fuzzy purple blanket. He’d convinced me to come up with him in the nest, by displaying pathetic little, pleading eyes and pouting those black lips.
This is as high as I’ll be for several months. No more joints.
The Prime wrapped his arm around my waist and drew me in to him. His erection pressed into my behind.

“Prime?”

“Yes,” he panted.

“Back up or put a pillow between us.”

“Perhaps, you should consider the fact that I am not truly an animal in the Fairy Realm. I am a man.”

“You’re a beast here.”

“A wild being.”

“If you don’t put your dick away, I’m going to set it on fire.”

He backed up. “I really do not see the big deal. For once, I would love to experience sex with you first hand.”

I yawned. “Zulu won’t even be experiencing sex with me first hand, so save your whining for someone who cares.”

My phone rang. I didn’t want to answer it. There was no reason for anyone to call me unless it was bad news or that they needed me to get out of this very comfortable nest.

“Should we pretend it is not ringing?” The Prime tapped my shoulder.

Grumbling, I grabbed it from the edge of the nest. “Hello?”

“Umm, Lanore?” Wallace said.

“Yes.” I relaxed and closed my eyes. Usually, Wallace didn’t give me bad news. Most of the time it was about research that he’d done for me.

“I know it’s pretty early in the morning and I didn’t want to bother you, but the wrinkled thing in your office has been floating in the air and doing some sort of gagging thing.”

“Wrinkled thing?”

“Pardon my wording. I just don’t know what type of species this is, and it has no forehead brand.”

I sat up. “The Palero.”

“Okay. I guess.”

“You said it’s floating around?”

“Yeah and bumping into the wall and door. I was sleeping in Zulu’s office. Remember he said I could and I heard this knocking coming from your office. I sneaked over there and checked.”

I pulled the cover off me. “Okay. I’ll be there soon. Could you go in my bedroom and wake up Angel? She should be in there.”

“The last time I saw her she was leaving with you yesterday.”

“You haven’t seen her since?”

“No.”

“Okay.” I hung up. “Prime, I hope you’re not tired. I need you.”

“Field trip?”

“Definitely.”

Since I saved Angel long ago from a deranged serial killer, she didn’t go many places without me or at least without letting me know where she was going. If she went off to party or hang out with a friend, which was highly unlikely, she would’ve called. Too much was happening around us to not let me know. Plus she knew her mentor was sick and at MFE. She’d talked about going back to MFE after Flame, but I was too pissed to go back with her so she remained with me.

And stayed at Dad’s house.

“Where are we going?” The Prime stretched his arms as he sat up. His wings expanded out to his sides.

“We’re going to see my dad.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kenya Wright currently resides in Miami with her three amazing, overactive children, a supportive, gorgeous husband, and three cool black cats that refuse to stop sleeping on her head at night.

www.kenyawright.com

Kenya is a child abuse prevention advocate. Please take these simple steps to help prevent child abuse.

TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO

TO HELP PREVENT CHILD ABUSE

1. Volunteer your time with an agency that serves children and families. Examples of these agencies include after school programs, mentoring programs, and parenting classes.

2. Educate yourself and others about what child abuse is. Know the warning signs.

3. Support local programs that prevent child abuse. Ask your church or social group to do a fundraiser for an organization that prevents child abuse or works with abused children.

4. Teach your children their rights. Teach them who the supportive and caring adults in their lives are, and make sure they know who they can talk to if they are hurt in any way.

5. Teach your children to solve problems without violence. Set a good example by avoiding violence to discipline children or pets.

6. Get to know your neighbors and their children. Offer to help neighbors, and ask for their help occasionally.

7. If you know a family that is under stress, offer to help by babysitting or doing chores.

8. Find out what resources are available to families in your community, such as parenting support groups, sliding-scale counseling, or crisis respite care. Ask your library to create a parenting resource section.

9. Know your children’s friends. Make them feel welcome in your home.

10. If you believe a child is being abused, report it! One phone call could save a child’s life. The authorities will not tell anyone who made the report.

YOU CAN HELP