Born in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy 1)

“How often did he disappear?” Darius asked.

“Oh…” The duck bill turned into lip gymnastics. “Every two to three weeks.”

“How long has this been going on?” I asked.

“John was approached four months ago or more, but he only started getting really bad in the last couple. That’s about when he started disappearing as well.”

“That could be a girl, though.” I leaned against the wall, my mind trying to fit everything together. “You’d think a vampire would visit his house when he or she needed blood.”

“What girl would have him?” Margaret scoffed. “The high mage hasn’t approached any female witches or mages, as far as I’ve heard. And no girl went to John’s house. No, that can’t be it.”

“Do you know where the self-proclaimed high mage is located?” I asked.

“He moves around all the time.” A troubled expression came over her face. “I’ve heard of a couple places, but he knows people are after him. Or will be, if they aren’t now.” If he was killing vampires and dabbling in unicorn blood, that made sense. “The one thing he does constantly, though, is meet with his disciples—that’s what he calls his followers. They go to the same place every week. John used to sneer when he mentioned the meetings, like the high mage was all-powerful. Like no one in their right mind would challenge them when they were all together.”

“It sounds to me like a bunch of grade schoolers in a pillow fort praising an older boy wearing a paper crown,” I said, feeling the familiar fire of a challenge. “They don’t have anything I haven’t seen before, I guarantee it.” I made a sign like I was writing in the air. “I need that address, please.”

Darius started out of his reverie. He looked at me with a straight face. “I need to go to the lair. There is some information I must acquire.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Don’t go after them alone,” he said, ignoring my question. “Wait for my return.”

I stared at him incredulously. “You’re going to keep me in the dark about what you’re doing?”

“Here.” He handed me the book, ignoring me again. “Keep that. Go to my residence. They will protect you. Don’t go by your house—he is surely waiting for you. Find out when and where they meet, and I’ll—”

“I have that right here, plus a couple of the old addresses I have for him.” Margaret held up the notepad. “The meeting is every Tuesday. A lot of witches know about it, even though they weren’t invited. But I really don’t think that is a great time to go after him. He’s got a couple dozen people firmly under his control.”

“Two dozen barely trained yet volatile mages who have probably forgotten a bullet will kill them more handily than a spell,” I said to Margaret while still staring at Darius’s blank face. “They’ll be so certain they’re the kings of the world, and protected by numbers, they won’t realize that very thinking makes them extremely vulnerable and unprepared. Tuesday is the perfect time to go. And I will be going.”

He stared at me for a moment, reading me as I was trying to do him. I kept my face just as blank.

“I will return at sundown tomorrow,” he said curtly. “Stay away from this until then, or I will consider it a breach of contract.”

“Are you seriously not going to tell me what—” He was gone before I could finish my sentence.

I blinked at the empty spot where he’d just stood, taken aback by the sudden shift in power. One moment I had been leading the charge. The next, I’d been ordered to seek protection in Darius’s home, where I would surely be monitored by his people, and keep my nose out of the investigation. All this while the big man left to take care of secretive business.

What the hell was that about a breach of contract, anyway? That was not how these things worked.

Anger heated my cheeks and tightened my grip on the leather-bound book. “That’s a load of bullshit, right there.”

Margaret’s lips thinned and her eyebrows rose—silent judgment. She tilted her head down in a half nod, as if to say, Yes, that is some bullshit, you are right.

“What day is today?” I asked.

“The third.”

“No, like, the day of the week.”

She shook her head—another silent judgment. “This is why you shouldn’t hang out with vampires,” she said. “I know he is incredibly handsome, and it’s hard to think around him, but as a rule, they run out when they are needed the most.”

“I can think around him perfectly fine, Margaret. I’m only working with the vampires because I’m poor and they offered me a job, which has nothing to do with what day of the week it is…”

She sniffed. “Desperation. That’s how it always starts…”

“No, it starts with biting and canoodling. What do you think I am, a novice? What day is today?”

“Sunday.”

I tapped each of my weapons, a check to make sure they were there while I mentally got ready to go out on my own again. Damned if I would check into a hidey-hole with a bunch of curious vampires I couldn’t trust while Darius went off to do some secret handshakes, or whatever he was doing.

“I know he said he’d come back, Reagan,” Margaret said, analyzing me. “But vampires are only your best friends when they need something. As soon as they get what they’re after, you’re expendable. You should never trust a vampire.”

I sighed. She was like a broken record.

“So what are you going to do?” she asked, clearly seeing my decision to ignore her.

“First I’m going to borrow a satchel off you, because this book will be cumbersome. After that, I’m going to collect a bunch of spells for a helluva magical battle. I’ve got a mark to capture and then use to barter for the money I’m owed. There is no way a vampire is going to dupe me out of a mark a second time. No way in hell.”

Chapter Seventeen

Armed with a very bad attitude and a handful of spells Margaret had given me, I walked down the street while pulling up the ride-share app. My phone was charged up, thanks to the stay at Darius’s house, but my bank account was nearly dry. I planned to rectify that.

After the big, bearded driver picked me up and brought me to my first destination, I made him wait while I thumped on Darius’s front door. The poor guy had commented favorably on my sword, but he’d gone white at the sight of my gun. It must’ve dawned on him that those items weren’t for show. He was probably afraid to refuse service, since I’d already gotten in the car.

I thumped on Darius’s door again. Out of patience, I stepped back with the intent to kick it in. The lock flipped.

“About time,” I said, straightening out.

A handsome man stood in the doorway. Six two, shirtless, and sporting lots of defined muscle, he was human.

Confused for a moment, I backed up and checked the house. Yep, it was the right one.

I shooed him out of the door. “I need to see William.”

“William is busy at the moment,” the man said in a raspy voice. I noticed three small gashes spread across his torso, in the stages of bionic healing from vampire saliva.

“What were you, the appetizer or the main course?” I pushed him out of the way.

“Hey!” he said, staggering back.

“Where’s William? Or another rich vamp. I need money.”

“They don’t just give us money, you know that.”

Not allowing myself to flinch as I stalked across a cream-colored rug in my grimy shoes, I took the stairs. “You should work out a better deal,” I told the guy, who was now following me.

I peeked into the dining room and found a couple humans hunched over sandwiches. Clearly Darius hadn’t been in charge of organizing this dinner.

“Where is William?” I asked the built guy again.

“He’s in the east wing.”

I rolled my eyes. “This place is a big square. There are no wings. Lead me to him.”

Frowning at me, he did as he was told, bringing me up a floor and into a plush room with plenty of places to lounge. William was sitting beside another vampire, a different gorgeous woman than Marie, both in a state of sublime relaxation.