CHAPTER FIVE
I’d often wished I could fly, but never as much as I did right now. I was pushing the limits of sane driving, even for me. I could feel Quinn using her power to smooth out the turns I took at ninety miles an hour. She’d already used a punch of power to knock out the stupid magnetic speed controls.
Fire. I smelled it before I could see it.
“Oh, no,” Quinn murmured.
Donovan began to recite a prayer in Irish Gaelic.
The convertible slid to a stop, burning tire marks over the asphalt. A large crowd was gathered outside, well away from the blaze engulfing the building. Like starving animals, the flames devoured everything in their path. The roof sagged towards imminent collapse. “Where’s Will?” I yelled, to nobody in particular.
“Inside,” gasped a tear-streaked redhead, her voice raw from the smoke.
Taking a deep breath, I plunged into the inferno.
I’m not immune to fire. I can be burned to a crisp like most other so-called immortals. And I could most certainly feel the extreme heat. The smoke was not as much of a problem, just irritating since it blocked my view of what little could be seen that was not aflame. I irrationally tried to swipe it away from my face before realizing it was futile.
Half blind, I stumbled towards the back offices of the bar. If Will had gotten trapped, he must be back there somewhere. Beside me, a chunk of roof crashed down onto the floor. Burning splinters of wood flew up into my legs. I felt them pierce through my jeans and into my skin, but I didn’t care. I was running out of time. If Will was going to die in this fire, so was I.
I reached the door to his office. It was open. He wasn’t there.
Where else could he be? I had a memory of Will telling me about his wine cellar with a great deal of pride. I’d never seen it. But that had to be where he was. I’d passed a door on my way to the office that could be it. Spinning around, I fumbled my way back through the smoke until I found it.
Stairs descended into a dimly lit room. Less smoke lingered there. Now that I could see, I sped down the steps. Will lay on the floor, a figure crouched over him. Alexander. White hot rage poured up out of me. He turned.
It wasn’t Alexander. It was Eli, the angel, covered in soot. “What are you doing here?” we yelled at the same time.
“Nevermind. Just grab Will!” I yelled. He scooped Will up in his arms and we fled up the stairs.
Just as we reached the top, the roof gave a last death groan and fell. I threw my hands up and closed my eyes, waiting to feel the flaming beams on my head. Instead, I felt a strong grip on my wrist, and a second later my feet left the ground.
My eyes flew open. Vermillion embers filled the air around me, but I passed through them, up into the night sky. The sudden feeling of cool air felt like falling into a snow bank. I took in a deep breath, and it tasted beautiful. Looking up I saw only silvery wings and glowing skin.
A moment later Eli dropped me unceremoniously onto the pavement. Not that I was complaining. He landed gracefully, an unconscious Will in his arms. “Is he alive?” I asked, breathless.
“Yes. But he needs to get to the hospital right away. I’ll take him.” Eli was absolutely covered in black ash from head to foot, but still managed to look radiant. I would have made a snarky comment if he hadn’t just saved my ass and Will’s.
“Was he the last one inside?”
“Yeah, I got a few others before I found him. Ambulances are on the way. I think everyone else can wait, but he needs to go now.” Without another word, he launched into the night.
A moment later there was a blonde witch wrapped around my body. “Zy! Oh my God, are you okay?”
And then a werewolf. “When the building collapsed, I thought…” he trailed off.
“I’m fine, guys.” I took a deep breath and let it whistle out slowly between my teeth. “Is everyone here okay? I want to go check on Will.”
“You giving up for the night?” Donovan asked, approaching from a clump of bystanders.
“No,” I hissed. “One of my friends was nearly killed because of me. So, as soon as I go make sure he’s going to make it through the night, then I’ll be back on Alexander’s trail. Cowardly bastard.” Now that the shock of nearly getting crisped was wearing off, I had begun to get super pissed. Alexander had sunken to a new low.
“Alright.” Donovan’s tone was neutral, but for the briefest of moments his eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion. “Just making sure you aren’t losing your edge.”
“You can feel it if you’d like,” I answered with a smile, reaching for my katana.
“No need.” He smirked. “We’ll check out a few more places, but I bet he’s hanging low at the moment.”
“I guess we’ll just get in touch later then.”
He nodded in agreement and went to round up his gang.
A few minutes later, though it seemed a hundred years, we were walking down the florescent halls of the Swedish First Hill ER.
There are two primary scents of death. Actual decomposition, which is pretty disgusting. And then there’s hospital smell. That sterilized and infinitely scarier smell, because it seems clean but you know it’s not. You know lives are ending despite all attempts to keep them. Death both imminent and drawn out, lingering beneath the hand sanitizer and the Clorox.
We found the ER nurse’s station. One quick lie and an ensorcelled nurse later, and we were standing outside the curtained-off temporary room where Will lay. He’d been plugged up to an oxygen machine.
“Now what are you doing here?” Eli asked, arms crossed over his chest.
“What, have you switched from HR security to ER security?” I rolled my eyes. “Will is a good friend of mine. What were you doing at the bar?”
“I’d heard there’s a new Assembly member and that he’d stopped by earlier. I went by to check it out. So, do you know what happened tonight?”
“Yeah.” I cast a guilty glance over at Quinn and Riley, who stood against the wall. “I ran into my ex earlier, and we’re not exactly on the best of terms, so Will kicked him out of the club. My guess is, Alexander came back to exact revenge. He’s pretty prejudiced against some of the supes like the Cyclopses.” I paused. “Oh, and by the way, he’s the new Assembly member, and the one that’s been trying to knock off the HR.”
Eli’s eyes narrowed. “When exactly were you planning on telling me this?”
“Chill, okay? I didn’t realize when you were at Noir that it was him. But then at Will’s bar, it hit me. Since I want the lowlife immortal dead as much as you do, I hired some help and figured we’d take care of it for you.”
“Yeah, well clearly that plan’s working out fantastically,” he said, his tone razorblades and jagged glass.
Goddamn, was everyone trying to piss me off tonight? “You’re a total asshole. Has anyone ever told you that?”
A groan rose up from behind the curtain. “Oooh, are we skipping right to the dirty talk? I dig it.”
“Will!” I shoved back the curtain and gave him a very careful hug. “Jesus Christ, you had me so worried!” Eli threw me a reproving look for dropping the J-Bomb. Like I freaking cared.
“Well, I had to get your attention somehow.” He grinned weakly.
“Please don’t say stuff like that.” My hazel eyes searched his face. I drew in a long breath. “It was Alexander wasn’t it? The guy from earlier?”
Will’s expression became somber, a look I’d never seen on him before. It made it a bit hard to breath. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I had run down to the wine cellar to get a case of Pinot Grigio when I heard someone follow me down. I turned and saw just a flash of black hair right as something hit me over the head.”
My eyes were directed very carefully at the chalk white sheets on the hospital gurney. I raised them up to Will’s, trying to keep my emotions at bay. “He’ll pay for what he’s done, Will. I’m not going to let him get away with this.”
“Don’t do anything foolish on my account,” Will
said, squeezing my hand.
“She won’t,” Eli said, stepping up on the other side of Will’s bed. “Alexander is under official investigation by the HR’s security team, and he’ll be brought to justice through an official legal process.”
“Since when has hiring soul stealers been an official legal process of the HR?” I snapped.
Eli smiled tightly. “We didn’t hire you.”
“But you tried.” I flashed him my very best you’re so full of shit smile.
Eli opened his mouth to speak, but someone cleared their throat very loudly behind us.
“Excuse me, I’m Dr. Harris and I need to check on this patient.” The woman looked down at the chart in her hands through rectangle glasses. “Uh, William Evers.”
“Call me Will.” He flashed a smile.
I couldn’t believe how lighthearted he was after everything that had happened. His bar was burnt to a crisp, very nearly with him in it. He was something else. “Well, I guess we’d better get going,” I said. “I’ll check on you as soon as I can.”
The doctor cast me a stern look that made it clear how she felt about us stepping foot in her hospital again. The medical profession wasn’t too fond of us supes since we’d pretty much turned everything upside down for them. Even with the laws against supernaturals turning humans and marrying humans, the supe population continued to grow steadily. With many of us having regenerative skills or being immortal, not to mention that turning vamp could cure cancer, heart disease, and any number of other diseases, the supe population had cut into their profits heavily.
“You better.” Will gave my hand one last squeeze, returning my attention to where it was needed. “And thanks for saving my life, dude,” Will said to Eli.
“No need for thanks,” Eli said, with a genuinely warm smile. Maybe there was a little angelic streak in him after all.
Quinn and Riley popped their heads in to say goodbye to Will, and we all strode back down the hall.
“I’m going to need you to accompany me to HR headquarters,” Eli said after less than ten paces. All business again.
“And why is that?” I raised my brows.
“Because, if you’re going to assist in bringing in a known assassin, you need to be officially briefed.” He didn’t look at me as he spoke, just sauntered fluidly down the hall.
“Oh, so now I am hired? Which is it? I’m starting to get whiplash.”
Quinn and Riley’s eyes darted back and forth between us, Quinn’s expression one of apprehension, while Riley looked like he was laid out with some popcorn watching a juicy soap opera.
“Well, the official decision is up to the HR. He said he wanted to meet you.” Eli glanced over at my face this time, to judge my expression I guess.
I attempted to keep my face neutral, though the fact that the HR wanted to meet me was pretty surprising. “Whatever. But this is going to be on my terms, or I’m out.”
I heard Eli grind his teeth together. “You’ll work within the law or you’ll be arrested.”
“I’d love to see you try.” I laughed, rolling my head back and putting some oomph into it, which served its intended purpose of making Eli even more agitated.
“I’m serious—” he began.
“Tell me something I don’t know.” I stopped walking and put a finger on his chest. It was as rock hard as it looked. Not that I cared. “You are way too serious. Like, the king of serious. Loosen up a bit, okay? I’ll go with you to meet the HR, and we’ll see what he has to say about all this.”
Silence stretched between us for a moment. “Fine.”
Riley caught up to us, a mischievous grin on his face. “Any chance I can tag along and meet some of your coworkers?”
I could swear the tiniest of smiles played at Eli’s lips before he answered. “Sorry, but no. It’s HR staff only at headquarters. Not even the world leaders can gain entry without the HR’s express approval.”
“Well, the two of them are going to be helping me find Alexander. So, they’re on the team.”
Eli frowned. “Maybe they can wait in the lobby. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Good.” I smiled at the three of them and jingled my car keys. “Let’s get this party started.”