Chapter 18

 

Emily yanked the trident free of Leira’s chest. Her burned palm was sore, but she wouldn’t let such a minor injury stop her. She’d known the freak was up to something in the bathroom. How she’d lit the fire, Emily had no idea, but she wasn’t going to let a good fire go to waste. All the evidence would burn along with Leira’s body. It was just a pity she hadn’t been able to do a proper questioning where she got Leira to admit to wanting to became a vampire. That was what Guardians did. They made the Albah confess to being unnatural.

Not that it mattered now. Her mother would never know that she’d completed the task. She’d never get to hear her mother say how proud she was. All she’d ever heard was the disappointment.

At least she’d gotten to use a trident like a real Guardian, even if it was only a gardening fork that she’d bought for a few dollars at the hardware store.

Leira glanced down and placed a hand to her chest. She looked surprised.

“Did you think I was going to shoot you? That’s too quick for the likes of you.” Emily took a step back. She needed to grab her bag and get out of here. The fire was spreading. Smoke coiled along the ceiling.

Then something happened and Leira’s clothing burst into flames. But instead of screaming she just stood there. Maybe she was dead already and she just hadn’t fallen over yet.

Emily took a moment to enjoy the satisfaction of avenging her mother and completing her first mission. She was a full Guardian. The Albah weren’t that hard to kill after all. Before she left Australia she’d hunt them all down one by one. She could do that with the gun. She didn’t need to get close the way she had with Julian and Leira. They’d tried to play her, but she’d won.

Leira moved. She wasn’t dead even though she was on fire and bleeding. Emily yelped and stepped back. Leira lifted her hand. A ball of fire hit the wall behind Emily. She jumped away but sparks hit her skin and burned. The fire spread to the ceiling.

Emily turned and ran. Leira was clearly a vampire now. She had to be. No one could survive being on fire like that. Emily glanced behind her. Leira was following. Blood was soaking the front of Leira’s shirt, and she was leaning on the wall to stay upright. But she was following. Emily pulled a gold cross out from under her shirt. “Get away from me, Albanex.”

Leira shook her head. “I’m not the monster.”

Her voice was barely louder that the crackle of flames. They crawled over her skin but didn’t seem to be burning her. Her clothes disintegrated, burned away.

She clearly wasn’t human, but Emily didn’t know what Leira was. No one had told her that the Alba could hold fire without burning. Was this the magic that Julian had hinted at? Was this the secret that Guardians learned once they had made their first kill?

Emily picked up her bag and ran for the door. The balls of fire followed. One hit the door right in front of her. She stopped and turned.

“Are you crazy? We’ll both be trapped in here.”

“If I have to die, so do you.” Leira was leaning heavily on the wall now.

Could Emily stab her again and finish her off? Maybe shoot her so she didn’t have to get close to her. She rummaged through the bag. Where had she put the gun? Fire engulfed the bag before she could grab anything out of it. She dropped the burning bag with a yelp. Leira was actually throwing fire the way normal people threw tennis balls.

The gun was in her room, where she’d left when she’d grabbed the trident, up the burning corridor. She wasn’t going back to get it. She had to get out of here. The balcony.

Emily ran across the empty room. The linoleum at her feet crackled and split as fire chased her. The blinds that covered the glass sliding doors exploded into flames. She was trapped. No, it wasn’t supposed to end like this. She remembered Julian telling her to walk away, that she didn’t have to do this. But he’d never understood her. Without the Guardians of Adam, she was no one. Nothing but a boring woman with no chance of ever getting to college or doing anything else. She had no other skills except fighting and tracking.

But even the Guardians had lied to her about how dangerous the Albah were. This was the proof they weren’t human and they needed to die.

* * * *

Every breath hurt. Leira was losing blood, but she had to stay awake. The moment she lost consciousness the flames would burn her. Having her element destroy her would be the ultimate humiliation.

Emily stood frozen in the middle of the room as though she didn’t know where to run to. There was nowhere for her to go. Everything was on fire.

The smell was appalling, acrid from the burning plastics. The smoke was thick and black just like in her vision. This was it. Somewhere she’d dropped the wet towel, or maybe it had burned up, Leira couldn’t remember. All she’d known was that she was not letting Emily leave.

She slid down the wall to sit on the ground. There was less smoke down here, but the apartment was filling, poisoning the air and making breathing toxic. The front door was burning. Had everyone else been evacuated from the apartment block? She didn’t want anyone else to die. She felt a little guilty for causing so much damage. It far exceeded anything she’d accidentally done.

No, this had been one hundred percent deliberate.

Slowly she edged toward the front door, dragging herself over the floor and using the wall for support. Maybe she could get out through the burning door and get herself down the stairs. She didn’t want to die from smoke inhalation.

The air was hot in her lungs and she knew all those chemicals wouldn’t be doing her any good. Emily was coughing; she was still standing. Fool.

Leira kept moving. Everything hurt. She was tired. The magic and the blood loss were taking their toll. This morning she hadn’t expected anything to happen except a little recon to find out where Emily lived. She hadn’t expected Emily to have a gun. If she’d had a gun this whole time, why not just use it and get it done?

Why not shoot her properly the first time?

Although Leira was glad that Emily hadn’t shot her in the chest and left her to die in the street. Emily moved through the smoke toward her. If that bitch laid a hand on her, she was going to burn.

But Emily didn’t touch her. “I don’t want to die.”

Leira kept edging toward the door. “Neither do I, but you didn’t care about that.”

Every word was an effort. The wound in her chest was making her breaths short and painful. She should probably shut up and concentrate on staying conscious.

“I’m sorry.” Emily was on her hands and knees, crawling closer.

Leira shook her head. The time for sorry was long gone. “Maybe you shouldn’t have pulled the trigger.”

“You don’t understand.”

Leira didn’t want to understand. Anyone who thought that it was okay to kill people they didn’t like didn’t deserve the opportunity to be heard or understood. “Go to hell.”

The door was right behind her. She’d have to crawl through, over the broken bits of wood. She didn’t know if she was going to be able to make it. The hole wasn’t big enough yet. She put her hand out to burn it further.

Emily rammed the gardening fork through Leira’s calf. She screamed. That had been her good leg.

“Save me or I turn you into a sieve!” Emily tore the fork out, ready to strike again.

Leira panted through the pain that wanted to swallow her whole. The heat was starting to get to her. Her skin was feeling too hot and she was thirsty. Must stay awake. That was all that was keeping her alive and immune to flames. Where was the fire department?

She put her back against what was left of the front door, determined to get through one way or another or die trying. She couldn’t take her eyes off Emily.

It took far too much effort to throw the fire that caught hold of the cheap plastic handle of the gardening fork. Emily’s little trident burned. If it had been a pitchfork, Emily might have killed her already. Someone had come after her with a fork, but it was Leira brandishing the fire.

Centuries had passed and yet some things hadn’t changed. This was still a witch hunt.

Emily howled and dropped the weapon. Her shirt caught alight. Emily tried to put herself out; she was screaming and crying.

Leira winced. But she couldn’t let herself feel compassion for Emily. Emily had brought this future into reality.

The remains of the door gave a little and Leira leaned into it, determined to force her way through.

Parts of the ceiling were starting to fall. Every breath was a cough that racked her whole body. Every time she closed her eyes she wasn’t sure if she was going to open them. Heat and the pain on her skin was all that was keeping her awake and alive. She was fire and it wouldn’t kill her, not while she was still conscious. She could hold out for a little longer. Tears filled her vision, the smoke stinging her eyes.

A little farther and she’d be out of the apartment. She used her back to nudge the door. It gave a little more. She was almost there. There was fresh air, fresher air in the hallway. She turned her head and tried to suck some of it into her damaged lungs.

She’d looked up what smoke inhalation did to the body. It wasn’t nice. It didn’t feel nice either.

Emily’s cries were lost in the noise of the fire. Leira tried not to look at her. She hadn’t meant to kill anyone. She gave the door another shove with her back and almost fell out into the hallway and straight onto a broken piece of wood that was waiting to impale anyone who escaped the fire. Carefully she inched backward through what was left of the door. She was almost free.

Emily grabbed her ankle.

The fire on Leira’s skin had gone out, making her safe to touch. She was running out of energy to do anything but stay alive.

Someone touched her shoulder. Leira screamed.

“It’s okay. I got you,” Julian said close to her ear.

He’d come for her. Tears of relief flooded her eyes. He pulled her the rest of the way through the door. Emily was still screaming and holding on as though Leira was her lifeline out of the hell she’d made. Julian held on to Leira with one arm, keeping her close. Leira gripped his shirt. She was never letting go of him. The last thing she remembered was Julian prying Emily’s fingers off her ankle.

* * * *

Julian looked into Emily’s eyes, then pulled her off the very wounded Leira. Emily had had her chance to change and instead she had chosen to destroy as many lives as possible. Her lips moved, begging.

How could she ask him for help after she’d shot him this morning?

He hesitated. Could he take them both out of here? The smoke was thick in the hallway and he couldn’t carry both with his wounded arm. He made his choice and picked up Leira.

In those few seconds Leira had gone limp against him. Please don’t let her be dead.

As he’d started running up the stairs the fire truck had pulled up, but he hadn’t waited for them, even though they had yelled at him to stop. He wasn’t leaving Leira in there. He didn’t care what she’d seen in her vision. The future could be changed.

She had to be alive. She was naked and covered in blood. She wasn’t moving. He wasn’t sure she was breathing. He couldn’t stop to check her pulse until they were out.

Firemen raced up the stairs past him.

“There’s someone else,” he called, but he didn’t know if they’d heard him.

He kept going down, and the air became clearer. Leira was dead weight in his arms. His bicep was burning from the strain and he was sure the wound was tearing open.

There were people waiting to take her when he reached the bottom. He didn’t want to let her go in case he didn’t get to hold her again, but they had to do their job. He knew that, but it was still hard to let go. Someone was telling him off for being a foolhardy dickhead and trying to be a hero. They didn’t understand that he was immune to fire. Another person was congratulating him for finding a survivor.

As he laid Leira down on the stretcher, he saw the full extent of her injuries before a sheet was draped over her body to give her some privacy. She’d burned her clothes away. There were stab wounds on her chest. Had they punctured her heart or lungs? Both calves were wounded. One with multiple punctures, one gunshot.

His father pulled him away so the medics could do their thing.

He should do something. He could help her heal. He tried to shrug off his father. The paramedics were checking her pulse. Was she alive?

They didn’t pull the sheet over her face. Then they started putting in an IV line. She was alive and the fear that had wrapped around his heart eased. This time he let his father pull him away. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to help. Nor could he work magic here where so many people would see.

There were other police here now and his father escorted him over to them. He wasn’t ready for their questions. How could he say that he’d left someone inside? He’d left Emily inside when he might have been able to save her. He closed his eyes and saw her pleading, heard her crying. He’d left someone to die. He turned to face the building. Had the firemen reached her in time?

If he hadn’t have gone in, it would have been too late for Leira. His arm throbbed. A fireman came out of the building carrying a body. The man shook his head when a medic raced over.

Emily was dead.

That should bring some kind of relief, but it didn’t. He looked away. His father was talking to him, made him sit. He was given some water. There was still smoke pouring out of the building just like Leira had seen. But she was alive.

Julian sat on the edge of the car park curb. His gaze fixed on where Leira was. Medics were still moving around her. They’d be trying to stabilize her. As long as she didn’t stop breathing or code she’d be okay. He hoped.

A cop was in front of him. Talking. Julian tried to focus on what people were saying to him but couldn’t. All he could think about was Leira covered in blood and crawling away from Emily. If the other three Guardians had joined her, every Albah in Perth would’ve been dead. They would have lost their leader, and they’d have fragmented further until they blew away like ash. He was not going to stand by and let the Albah die out.

“Julian.” His father squatted down in front of him, blocking his view of Leira. “You need to answer the questions.”

Right. Yes. He’d been answering questions all morning. This was starting to look more than a little dicey for him. He’d been in the wrong place too many times.

The cop wanted to what had happened and why he was there.

Who had he pulled out of the fire?

Why had he run in?

Could he identify the other body?

How did he know both parties?

And around it went. The fire got put out, but no one was allowed back in yet until the building was assessed. This was the second time an apartment block had gone up. The cop wanted to know why things burst into flames around him. Julian wanted to laugh but it wouldn’t form.

He couldn’t tell the police the truth, so he lied. Perhaps Emily had lit the fire and had planned on leaving Leira there to die while she fled? It was a flimsy reason, but much more palatable than the truth. Plus Emily had set fire to his place. Not that the cops had been able to pin it on her. Now it was looking like they would.

Now they were taking the threats against him seriously.

Too late. They didn’t understand the true threat. If the cops knew about Albah and Guardians, they would’ve moved faster and seen it for the hate crime it was. Unless they turned a blind eye because they had decided they didn’t like magic users.

He looked around but the ambulance with Leira inside was gone.

His heart hollowed. He hadn’t realized how much she meant to him. How much he wanted a future with her in it until it had almost been taken. He couldn’t imagine her not being around. He wanted to be able to wake up with her. Talk magic, work or whatever with her.

A chance to have a relationship instead of joining for survival.

But they had survived.

They had changed what Leira had seen.

What happened next was up to them.