Chapter 13: Fire Breather

RAPHAEL

As I walked through the charred remains of the Lumen Industrial District, I was completely in awe of the damage that one person could do to this city…

The city that I was supposed to protect.

What kind of example was I setting as Alpha of the Millennium when I let a district of Lumen get completely torched?

Luckily this wasn’t a residential area, but what about next time?

We still hadn’t caught this pyromancer; he could be anywhere.

A cloud of ash suddenly stirred up in front of me like a dust storm. I looked up to see Eve descending, her long feathery wings flapping furiously.

As she landed, they retracted into her back.

“Still no sight of him,” she said, slightly out of breath. “But I’ll keep looking.”

The truth was, we didn’t have to keep looking. We had the means of finding the pyromancer this very second…

But Eve refused to even consider it.

“This was bad, Eve,” I said, motioning to the now decrepit row of buildings. “We don’t have time to keep blindly searching.”

“What are you suggesting?” she asked, her tone immediately defensive.

“I think…” I hesitated, but I knew what needed to be done. “I think we should use Snow’s powers.”

Eve’s eyes lit up with a mixture of anger and betrayal.

“You would put our daughter in danger? You would risk ~her~ life for someone else’s?”

“Dammit, Eve! I’m not just any Alpha. I’m Alpha of the fucking Millennium! You might be content to stand by while people die, but I don’t have that luxury. It’s my duty to protect this city!”

“And what about your duty as a father? To protect your daughter?” Eve snarled at me, turning away. “Did you forget about that?”

“Snow can help save lives!” I growled. “We’ll both be there to protect her!”

When Eve whipped back around her fangs had fully extended. She hardly ever bared her fangs.

“We’ll ~both~ be around to protect her?” she asked with a hint of venom. “You weren’t around to protect Snow for the first five hundred years of her life! Why would you suddenly start now?”

I felt like she’d slashed me across the stomach with her scythe. It was a low blow and it cut deep.

“If…if I had known that she…”

“If you had known, it wouldn’t have changed anything,” Eve spat. “You weren’t ready to be a father then and you aren’t ready now either.”

Eve’s wings burst from her back again, and she propelled from the ground with such force that it nearly knocked me over.

Moments later, she disappeared over the horizon, leaving me alone in the ruins.

~Maybe she was right?~

~Maybe I hadn’t just failed as a protector of this city…~

~Maybe I was a failure as a father too…~

EVE

As I flew through the sky, the crisp morning air biting at my face, I began to feel uneasy about the things that I said to Raphael.

I glided to a remote cliff overlooking the city, perching myself to gather my thoughts.

I would always be defensive when it came to Snow, but Raphael wasn’t just Snow’s father…he was also my mate.

We were supposed to be a team. Sometimes, I forgot that.

We’d spent five hundred years apart, clawing and fighting our way back together.

I wasn’t going to disregard him because of one argument, even if it was one I felt strongly about.

I wouldn’t give up on us…not again.

But my harsh words aside, there was still the issue at hand, and we had come to a crossroads.

A choice needed to be made, and I already knew where Raphael stood.

He had said something to me that Reyna had also echoed at one point…

That I could just sit back and ignore other people’s pain and suffering.

~Am I really so emotionless and unfeeling toward others?~

Reyna’s exact words were “cold-hearted bitch.”

Maybe she was right…

I told Raphael that he wasn’t ready to be a father, but what if I wasn’t ready to be a mother?

What kind of example was I setting for Snow? What kind of message was I sending? Sit back and watch others die as long as it doesn’t affect you?

My detachment might not have been hereditary, as Reyna had so cuttingly suggested, but it could certainly be passed down by example.

And I didn’t want that for Snow.

I didn’t want that at all.

REYNA

It was the day of auditioning potential carnival acts, and so far…

It wasn’t going well.

I sighed heavily, banging my head against the table as a naked guy collected his shredded clothing off the ground and ran out of the tent.

“Listen, if he had ~actually~ been able to shift with his clothes remaining intact, it would’ve been a cool act,” Derek said, stifling a laugh.

“That was like the fourteenth audition we’ve seen this morning, and each one is worse than the last,” I groaned.

“Maybe we’ll get a contortionist next?” Derek said, grinning and giving me a mischievous look. “That would be pretty hot.”

I glared at him, in no mood for teasing.

“Not as hot as you, of course,” he said, course-correcting with a kiss on my cheek.

I didn’t exactly know what me and Derek ~were~, but whatever it was, it worked for now. I was having fun and so was he.

As volunteers, we’d set up a row of red folding chairs in the back of a twenty-foot high tent outside the gym.

The exterior of the school was actually starting to look like a real carnival, and despite my initial hatred of this committee, I was actually getting kind of excited.

~If only one of these acts could bring that same sense of excitement. I’m bored to fucking tears.~

Marcy, the carnival coordinator, stood up and loudly cleared her throat in an attempt to regain our attention.

“Okay, I know it’s been a long day, but everyone hang in there!” she said in her bubbly voice. “The next act sounds like an exciting one!”

“I highly doubt that,” I whispered to Derek.

“Everyone please give a big round of applause for our first ~fire breather!~” she said, clapping her hands annoyingly fast.

Derek gave me a shrug. “Hey, this one actually sounds promising.”

A young man, wearing dark jeans and a tattered shirt, walked to the center of the tent. As he passed me, I could’ve sworn that he gave me a dirty look.

When he stood in front of us, I realized it wasn’t just my imagination.

There was actual ~hatred~ in his eyes, and it was aimed right at me.

~What the hell was this guy’s problem?~

Derek seemed to notice, too, because he gave me a questioning look.

“Do you know this dude?”

“Never seen him before in my life,” I said, starting to feel uneasy.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the fire breather shouted, addressing the committee. “Have I got a show for you!”

He spun around and a spiral of fire twirled around him. The committee clapped and cheered, but I was still creeped out.

He craned back his neck and opened his mouth, causing a geyser of fire to shoot forth.

“Fucking insane,” Derek said, starting to get into it.

“How is he doing this?” I asked, dumbstruck. “I don’t see any props or lighter fluid or anything that would let him make fire out of thin air like that.”

“It’s all part of the illusion,” Derek whispered.

The fire breather turned back toward the committee. His lips curled into an unsettling smile.

He snapped his fingers and a fireball materialized in his hand. His eyes were on me again.

“Hope you like to play catch.”

The fire breather threw the fireball directly at me—

“Reyna, look out!” Derek shouted, tackling me to the ground as the flames rippled over my head.

“He’s…he’s a pyromancer!” I realized, lifting up my head to see him stalking toward me, another fireball in hand. “He’s doing this with magic.”

~And I’ll bet he’s drunk with power from the Haze.~

“You fucking bastard!” Derek shouted, starting to shift. He charged at the pyromancer but was blasted into a row of bleachers by his magic.

“Derek!” I yelled, trying to get to my feet. Everyone started screaming and scattering.

The pyromancer knelt down next to me and whispered in my ear.

“I know what you are, ~hybrid.~ Half-vampire, half-human. Disgusting.”

“How…how did you…” I stammered. The pyromancer grabbed my wrist, his touch burning my skin. I looked up into his eyes, fiery and crazed.

“I believe that this fire magic was gifted to me,” he said, sounding completely off kilter. “Do you want to know why?”

Tears welled up in my eyes as he clenched my wrist even harder.

“To cleanse the world of filth like you,” he hissed.

“The only filth here is ~you,~” a familiar voice said.

The pyromancer’s eyes widened with fear as a winged shadow eclipsed him from above.

It was Eve…

And she was carrying Snow with her.

EVE

When I saw that Reyna was in danger, I cursed myself for ever hesitating to take action.

Snow was the most important person to me in this world, but she wasn’t the ~only~ important person in my life.

If Snow’s gifts could help stop hateful fucks like this guy, I should’ve gotten on board sooner.

“FILTHY HYBRIDS! ALL OF YOU!” the pyromancer screamed, jumping to his feet.

He started chaotically shooting fireballs in every direction, setting the tent ablaze.

“Reyna, take Snow out of here,” I said, shielding them both with my wings.

“What about you?” she asked, worried.

“I don’t want you to see what I’m about to do,” I said darkly.

Reyna looked hesitant, but she grabbed Snow and ran out of the burning tent while I faced down the pyromancer.

“You really shouldn’t play with fire,” I said, narrowing my eyes and materializing my scythe.

I quickly muttered an incantation, and my scythe’s blade lit up with blue fire. “Or you’re liable to get burned.”

“You think I’m the dangerous one?” he said, laughing maniacally. “The one you should be scared of is your own daughter. She’s an abomination! She’s...”

Before he could say another word, his head was rolling on the floor. The rest of his body fell to the ground, his neck cauterized by my searing blade.

His reign of hatred was over—but his words still haunted me.

~“The one you should be scared of is your own daughter.”~