Dark Flames (Blood Bound Book 6)

Chapter 17

“Looks like we got another live one here… another pack of dogs have been spotted in Beverly Hills.” Trevor said with a sigh.

“Great, more werewolves,” Chad grumbled.

Trevor shook his head, “Nope, these have three heads.”

“Say what?” Chad asked.

“Three heads,” Trevor repeated. “Storm has already warned us about this type of demon. If we don’t mess with them they’ll leave us alone. We still need to check it out though.”

They quickly finished off their cups of coffee before leaving the room. Trevor was a little anxious to see what his car looked like now and couldn’t wait to drive it. Walking out into the parking lot, Trevor pressed the button Storm had pointed out to him and his eyes lit up when he saw a beautiful black car beep and flash its lights in response.

“No way,” Trevor whispered and Chad had to smile at the look on his partner’s face.

“She’s beautiful.” Chad said. “I’ll bet she rides like a dream come true.”

Trevor smiled and opened the driver’s side door. He bent down to look in at the interior and whistled appreciatively.

“Hello Trevor,” a voice that sounded disturbingly familiar spoke to him. “Won’t you come in?”

“Is that Envy’s voice?” Chad demanded looking at Trevor accusingly.

“My name is Evey… I am Trevor’s to do with as he pleases,” Evey answered. “I am fully functional in all areas.”

The driver’s side door swung in and bumped Trevor on the a*s. He went sprawling across the front seat face first making Chad smirk.

“I’m going to kill him,” Trevor growled.

“Evey,” Chad began. “May I ride with Trevor?”

Evey hummed seductively, “The front seat or the back seat?”

“The front seat for now,” Chad answered.

Evey’s voice became sultry, “Oh, a possible promise.”

Chad opened the door and stared down at Trevor still face down in the seat. “Move before I sit on your head.”

Trevor sat up and pulled his feet inside the car before shutting the door.

“Where should I drive you?” Evey asked.

Trevor sighed and covered his face with his hand, “Crazy would be a very short trip.”

“Can you take us to Beverly Hills?” Chad asked.

The engine came to life and Evey pulled out of the parking space. Trevor was blushing ten shades of red while Chad was having a grand old time keeping Evey talking… on purpose.

*****

Zachary parked the car in front of the graveyard Storm had directed them to and got out, gazing over the top of the vehicle at the huge wrought iron fence that surrounded the semi-kept cemetery. Jason and Guy got out of the back seat and Zachary glowered at Jason when the other man rushed to open the door for Tiara and help her out.

“Where’s Trevor?” Guy asked while looking around. “You’d think he’d be the first one here.”

Zachary moved away from the car and shut the door, shrugging as he pushed his hands into his jacket pockets. “Who knows?”

Footsteps on the sidewalk caught their attention and they all turned their heads. Storm was approaching them, lowering a cell phone from his ear.

“Trevor’s not coming.” Storm informed them. “He’s swamped and can’t make it. I’ve decided to come in his place.”

“What’s happened that he can’t make it?” Tiara asked worriedly knowing he was a plant inside the local law enforcement office. “He’s not hurt is he?”

Zachary frowned wondering why she was so worried. Was Trevor on her list of potential lovers? Had she given him the dagger during the meeting so that he would offer to join the team? If so, then it had worked out for her wonderfully… except for the fact that he didn’t show up… oh, and the little thing about being in love with his soul mate Envy. He still wanted to thrash the other man for pulling that stunt in the boutique.

Storm shook his head, “The police station is getting double its normal calls an hour. Luckily, most of them are only reporting what they think is normal city violence. On the down side, that’s leaving Trevor and the other team members I sent to help him under the guise of FBI and CIA scrambling to cover up the panicked phone calls about aliens invading the city,” he answered.

“If I didn’t have a clue what was going on, then that’s exactly what I would think too… alien evasion,” Jason didn’t know whether the smile or frown at the joke, so he did neither.

“This is already getting out of hand,” Zachary added disapprovingly.

“I agree,” Storm nodded toward the graveyard in front of them, “An elderly lady was viciously attacked and killed in this graveyard today,” He informed them. “It’s been listed as a robbery/murder.”

Tiara cast a sad expression toward the old tombstones sitting ominously in the darkness of the graveyard.

Storm followed her gaze wondering what she was thinking or even seeing. Deciding to start the night off on a happier note, he walked up behind her. When Tiara turned to look curiously up at him, he gave her a slight nod, “I’ll be right back,” and then immediately vanished.

“Where’d he go?” Jason asked, looking around with wide eyes.

“Everywhere,” a voice whispered in Jason’s ear making him jump nearly a foot off the ground.

Zachary smirked at Jason before turning a frown on Storm. “What did you do?”

“It’s sad really,” he smirked, undermining what he’d just said. “The elderly woman in question walked out to her car this morning only to find out she had four flat tires and couldn’t make it to visit her dearly departed husband today. Although, she’s now one of the citizens that called the police department this morning reporting vandals,” Storm answered and started walking toward the cemetery entrance. He slowed down once he was beside Tiara.

Turning his head, Storm gave her a heart-stopping smile. “She’ll probably have those tires fixed by tomorrow morning, so let’s make this cemetery a safe place for her this time.”

Tiara’s eyes lit up as she smiled back at Storm. “My mother was right… you’re a saint,” she praised meaning every word.

“Every little bit counts… right?” Storm winked at her then entered the graveyard with the absence of a nosebleed or the headache that usually followed. Maybe there was hope after all.

Zachary looked away not wanting to see the hero complex Tiara was feeling for the time walker. The sudden jealous reaction shocked him making him frown harder. Why had Storm suddenly decided to pick this team to baby-sit over everything else going on in the city?

They all fell in step behind Storm, unconsciously forming a perimeter of sorts around Tiara as they walked. Zachary became very alert as he gazed at their surroundings… trying to take in every detail. Glancing to his right toward Tiara, he noticed her gaze stopping in odd places and he could tell by her expression that she was meeting things eye to eye.

The knowledge that she could see the monsters when he couldn’t was already starting to eat at him. Storm was right about one thing… he needed to know what was truly out there among them if he was to protect her.

The cemetery was small for one this far inside the city limits… only about five acres or so, but it was an old graveyard. Zachary’s only experience with necromancy had been through Myra, but he’d been able to visibly absorb a lot of knowledge the short time he’d worked with her. One thing he had learned was, the older the graves… the harder it was for a necromancer to set them right.

Just like older people, the longer the dead remained undead, the more set they were in their ways. They could be even more stubborn after they died than they were when they were alive. If the dead didn’t want to return to the other side or worse yet… had never been to the other side, it took nothing short of a miracle to coerce them. They liked things they were used to.

On the way here, Zachary had also noticed with satisfaction that the graveyard Storm had chosen was at least ten blocks away from the closest known vampire nest… the fanged soulless shouldn’t be a problem tonight. At least he hoped not.

His eyes narrowed noticing the grass was yellowed and the trees were dead. Even the flowers that dotted some of the more, well-tended headstones were completely wilted and colorless. Whatever had disturbed this area had been powerful enough to suck the life from the ground in more ways than one.

Chapter 9

Tiara moved away from the protective circle and stepped past Storm, wanting to head towards the middle of the graveyard. She let her fingers graze over headstones and statues as she passed them, ignoring the things she felt watching her… things hiding but curious at the same time. She wasn’t here to hurt them… they were the victims here.

As she approached one of the cherub statues, she stared impassively as its baby sweet face began to twist and its mouth stretched showing a row of sharp ghostly teeth. As soon as she touched it, the statue returned to normal. They did not want the living here… this was their home now.

Jason walked a bit behind Zachary and Guy, dragging his feet and kicking up leaves occasionally. He really didn’t want to be here. He’d never been fond of graveyards during the daylight… much less the darkness. Why in the hell he had to go out and get himself marked by some crazy demon, which in turn got him mixed up with the Ghostbusters on steroids, he had no idea.

Seeing a shadow on his right move, Jason didn’t have time to track it with his vision when he suddenly felt something slam into him from behind. He went down face first in the grass with a startled grunt. He twisted his arm back to elbow the thing off of him, but his arm hit open air because the weight on top of him had already vanished.

He blinked at the gravestone beside him. Who the hell had a last name like Eerie at a time like this? “That’s not funny,” he told the stone with a straight face.

“What the hell?” Guy demanded having seen the lone vampire on top of Jason just before it disappeared. “Where’d the vamp come from?”

“It doesn’t want us here,” Tiara whispered keeping her eyes on the ghosts, feeling the same sensations they felt… things that didn’t belong here. It wasn’t the vampire they were afraid of, which meant the vampire was a victim too. She let her necromancy flow outwards, letting the ghosts know she was there to help them.

“Houston, we have a rogue,” Zachary said making Guy frown.

“Vamps usually group together,” Guy pointed out. “Why would we have a rogue on our hands in this dump of a graveyard?”

The vampire suddenly reappeared in front of Guy, who ducked the wild punch to his face and slammed his hand into its midsection.

The vampire vanished again and Jason quickly rose to his feet, glad to see that it wasn’t only picking on him. Removing the silver dagger from the sheath on his belt, Jason held it up in front of him… ready to ward off what was coming. At least if the thing came at him from the front, it would get a nice sharp surprise.

“Anyone else having flashbacks of Buffy?” Jason asked no one in particular. The left side of his face suddenly exploded in pain and he went flying into a tree. His back slammed hard enough against the trunk to make his teeth rattle and he slid to the ground with a muffled thump.

“Jason,” Tiara started toward their fallen team member but Zachary held his arm out in front of her. She started to dodge his arm but when he turned his head to look at her, she went shock still seeing his pupils alight with fire.