Phoenix Under Fire (Afterlife Book 5) Read online

  "I can't!" Chloe said. "It's impossible!"

  "You must find a way," Father Gary said. "I believe in you, and so does our God. He knows you can do this, and he loves you, just as he loves those whom you must save. This is your penance child, will you accept it?"

  Chloe let out a low curse, then remembered she was in a church. "Sorry, Father."

  Father Gary bowed his head and said nothing.

  "Yes," Chloe finally said. "I will."

  "Then God will absolve you of your sins," Father Gary said. "Go now, and may you save the city, and may you save yourself."

  TEN

  When Harper woke later that night, she wasn't sure why her head was hurting. Then her afternoon with Conner came swimming back with startling clarity. She winced, reaching for the water bottle beside her bed. She downed about half of it, and then got out of bed and into the shower.

  She felt her face flood with color whenever she thought of Conner. Had they really kissed? Had it really almost turned into more? Harper couldn't believe herself. At least Conner had been a gentleman and sent her back to her own room before things could really get out of control.

  Harper tried to sort out of her feelings, but it was all a huge mess in her mind. Did she have feelings for Conner, or had it been the wine talking? She didn't know. Her mind briefly flickered to Alec, but she felt no guilt there. She'd finally come to peace with the fact they couldn't be more than friends. Still, she wondered how would he react to Harper kissing his best friend. She didn't think it would be good.

  She shook her head and decided not to think about it for now. She could discuss it with Brittney later. Maybe. There was a chance that Brittney would tell Chloe, and Chloe would tell Sarah, and then everyone would know in no time. For now, she wanted to keep it to herself until she'd figured out what her feelings were.

  After her shower, she got dressed in a pair of jeans and a tank top. She slid on a half-sleeve jacket over the tank and a pair of socks and running shoes. She briefly smiled as she tied them, remembering what Conner had told her. When you were dealing with bad men, human or demon, a good pair of running shoes could save your life.

  After brushing and tying up her hair she left her room. For a moment, she didn't know where to go. Would everyone be in Alec's room, as usual? Or would they be getting together somewhere else? She didn't want to be the one to wake Alec up. Her worries were quickly solved when she saw Brittney and Chloe heading into his room. She hurried after them.

  Alec was already awake, sitting at the desk in the suite. Sarah was there too, laying on the floor in her wolf form. Conner was sitting on the bed. Chloe and Brittney joined him. He slung an arm around each of their shoulders. Then he looked up and saw Harper. Their eyes locked for a moment, and then they both quickly looked away. Harper wondered if her guilt was written as clearly on her face as it was on Conner's.

  "Good, you're up," Alec said. "Sit down. We have a lot to go over for tonight."

  Harper nodded and went and sat beside Brittney. "Right," she said. "Did you figure out where their base is?"

  "Yes," Alec said. "They own a late night coffee shop. They cater to the people who work night shifts, or just enjoy being night owls. It's called Serendipity."

  Chloe snorted. "And I thought our name was lame."

  "You think the Afterlife is lame?" Conner asked. He looked offended, and took his arm from around her shoulders. "You're a terrible person, Chloe McAllister."

  Chloe stuck her tongue out at him.

  "Names aside, there's bound to be people there tonight, which is good for you guys," Alec said. "They're less likely to launch an assault if they have customers."

  Everyone nodded.

  "Now, if it's all the same to you," Alec said, "I think I'm going to keep with the original plan of hunting down some vampires and trying to infiltrate that way. I'll keep my phone on me, and text if you I learn anything. I will if I'm going to be out longer than expected. They might expect me to come back with them, in which case, I might not be around for a few days. You guys are going to have to handle things on your own. Is that doable?"

  "Oh, no," Chloe said. "Work without the fabled Alec? What will we do?"

  Alec glared at her, and she laughed.

  "I'm kidding," she said. "We'll be fine, though, Alec. You have to start trusting us someday. You can't hold our hands forever."

  "I don't hold your hands," Alec said. "I just don't like the idea of sending you guys in alone."

  "We'll be fine," Conner said. "I'm strong, and we have Sarah. If she shifts into her panther form, they best watch out. She'll be tearing out throats in no time."

  Sarah raised her snout from her paws and fixed Conner with a look. Slowly, she bowed her head in agreement, then went back to laying there, staring at them all.

  Harper didn't know how she felt about them going without Alec either. He was their leader, and going without him seemed almost suicidal. She reminded herself, though, that they had fought without Alec before, and they'd been fine. It wasn't the end of the world that he was going to do his own mission without them.

  "Serendipity," Chloe muttered. "Disgusting, really. They have no taste in names."

  "I don't know," Brittney said. "I kind of like it."

  "Do you really?"

  "Yeah."

  They stared at each other for a moment, and then both of them laughed. Harper shook her head, and smiled. She glanced at Conner again, caught his eye, and her smile turned into a grin. He returned it. For a moment, everything felt normal. Then she saw Alec's expression as he looked between the pair of them.

  Immediately, she dropped her gaze.

  "Anyway, I'm going to get going," Alec said. "It's dark already, which means the vampires will be out. I want you guys to be careful. Don't take any unnecessary risks."

  "Alec, stop worrying so much," Sarah said, shifting back into her human form. "We're going to be fine, alright? If anything, we should be worried about you. You're going out there alone. Maybe Conner should go with you."

  "No!" Alec and Conner both said at once.

  Harper sighed.

  "No, it's unnecessary," Alec said. "There's no risk to me."

  "And you guys need me," Conner said. "The four of you can't do this on your own."

  "Fine," Sarah said, waving a hand. "You guys win. The five of us will go to Serendipity, and Alec can go play vampire for a while. Just don't do anything you'll regret later."

  "Like what?" Alec asked, his voice sharp.

  Sarah glanced at the others. Harper could have told her it would be a bad idea to answer; suggesting that Alec would drink human blood would only end badly. Luckily, Sarah seemed to realize this on her own.

  "Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "It's nothing. Come on everyone, let's do this."

  "Brittney and I got a rental car earlier," Chloe said. "We'll take that. Alec, you're on foot, right?"

  Alec nodded.

  The group filed out of the hotel together. Harper shot Alec one last look and then followed the others to the car. She got in the back with Chloe and Brittney. Sarah drove, and Conner took shotgun. She was grateful he hadn't insisted on sitting by her; she still didn't know quite what she was going to do about him.

  Other than Conner navigating from the front seat, they drove in silence to the coffee shop. There were a lot of cars parked outside, so they found a place on the street and parked there. They got out, stretched, and looked at one another.

  "Let me do the talking," Brittney said suddenly.

  Everyone turned towards her.

  "I'm just good at it," she said. "I have that kind of presence that says I'm a leader."

  "Sure," Conner said with a shrug. The others all added in their agreement. Harper didn't know if she approved or not. She would have rather had Sarah or Conner leading this mission, as they were both more experienced, but she couldn't deny what Brittney said. She was good at talking.

  When they'd infiltrated the Trinity gang in Las Vegas, it had been Brittney w
ho did most of the talking, while Harper had stood back and observed.

  The coffee shop was crowded with people. Some of them had brought their own laptops, some were using the computers provided by the coffee shop. Everyone was drinking tall, frothy drinks, and wearing headphones or chatting in corners. The barista on duty approached them. "Can I take your order or do you need a few minutes?"

  Brittney started to say something but Chloe interrupted. "Actually, can I get an iced mocha?"

  "And for the rest of you?"

  Everyone put in a drink order, and the barista left to go make the drinks.

  "We didn't come here to get drinks," Sarah said. "We should have asked to speak to the owners."

  "We will," Chloe said. "But it's going to be a long night, and I need my caffeine."

  Sarah shook her head. "That's less caffeine and more of a sugar infusion. You know how bad those are for you? They have like six hundred calories. And you got whipped cream. That's another--"

  Chloe cut her off. "I don't need a lecture."

  "Sorry," Sarah said.

  Chloe smiled at her best friend. "It's alright," she said. "Just remember, not all of us are health nuts like you. Some of us happen to like our sugar. Besides, Harper ordered one too, and I don't see you lecturing her."

  "I just hadn't gotten around to it yet," Sarah said. "Harper, you really shouldn't drink those. You know how bad they are. Do you really want to undo all the hard work you've put in at the gym? Which, by the way, speaking of the gym... we should go to the one in the hotel."

  Harper gave a good-natured groan, realizing that Sarah was joking around about the drink. Unfortunately, she was all too serious about the gym. Harper didn't really mind going to the gym, not as much as Chloe did anyway, but she also left there feeling like she'd run a marathon. She'd been in better shape with Afterlife than she'd ever been in her entire life.

  The barista approached again carrying a large tray of drinks. She passed them out to each of them.

  "Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you," the barista said.

  "Actually, there is something you can do for us," Brittney said. "We need to talk to the owners."

  "Oh, they're not available right now," the barista said. "I'm sorry. Can I take a message for them? Maybe a phone number for them to call back?"

  Brittney shook her head. "That's not going to work for us," she said. "We need to talk to them now, and I have a good feeling they're here, probably in a back room that's kept locked."

  When the barista only gave her a smile and shook her head, Brittney reached into her purse. She fished out her FBI badge and flashed it at the woman.

  "It's important," she said. "Now, your cooperation would be appreciated."

  The barista still hesitated, and Brittney made a clucking noise at her, and a hand motion to match.

  Harper couldn't help but marvel at Brittney's readiness for the circumstance. She hadn't even thought about bringing her FBI badge with her to Phoenix until Alec had mentioned it, and it never crossed her mind to use it at Serendipity. She couldn't deny it worked though; the barista gave a nod, and led them back through the crowd to a tall, polished door. She knocked on it three times.

  "What is it?" A female voice came from inside.

  Harper looked over and caught Conner's eye. He gave her a swift nod, and she was relieved that he'd seemed to catch her meaning in the look; she wanted him prepared to seduce whatever woman was waiting on the other side.

  "There's someone here to see you, ma'am," the barista said. "Someone, uh, official." She glanced back at the guests, but nobody was watching them. She leaned closer to the door anyway and added. "They're FBI, ma'am."

  There was a scraping of chairs they heard from the other side of the door. Harper couldn't help but to smirk; they clearly hadn't soundproofed their back room like Afterlife had. The door clicked, unlocked, and a tall, gorgeous woman with pale skin and even paler blonde hair appeared in the doorway.

  She looked over the group, tilting her head one way than the other. Harper focused on her; she was a vampire, she realized. She could see her for how she truly was with the power of Sight. Her baby blue eyes deepened to a pitch black, and her canines lengthened. She was athletic, and dressed to kill in a button up white blouse, pinstripe pants, and a tilted fedora. She had a cigarette hanging out the corner of her mouth.

  "FBI, is it?"

  "Yes," Brittney said. "We need to talk to you and your associates."

  "Then you'd best come in," the woman said. Before they could enter, though, she stepped forward and extended a hand to Brittney. "My name is Miriam Underwood. I shall introduce you to my ...ah, what did you call them? My associates, yes."

  As Brittney held out her own hand, Harper felt the sudden urge to slap the woman's hand away and refuse the gesture. She contained herself, though, barely. She had a bad feeling about this, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong. Other than they were headed into enemy territory with nothing but a few survival tricks packed into their purses.

  Miriam and Brittney shook. "Special Agent Brittney Conley," she said. "I'll introduce the others once we're somewhere a bit more private."

  "Of course," Miriam said. She led them through the door, and then closed it after them. She locked it, and then turned back towards them. They were standing in a room similar to the one at Afterlife; there was a large conference table in the center of the room, several monitors positioned at places that Harper didn't recognize, and three people sitting at the table.

  She focused on each in turn; the other woman was a harpy. When Harper employed her power of Sight, she could see the vulture like wings protruding from her back, the sharp, vicious angles of her face, and the long talons for fingernails. She, too, was beautiful, though, even in her demonic form. There was a man there that she couldn't pinpoint. She finally settled that he must be the shape-shifter. If he wasn't in his animal form, there was no way for her Sight to work on him; he was fully human just like Sarah.

  The other man, though, was short and slim, with sandy colored hair and brown eyes that seemed to sink into her soul... she recognized him immediately. He was a fairy. Not just any fairy, though. He was a love fairy; what Brittney continuously called Cupid. She nearly gasped when she realized this. She couldn't understand why a love fairy would be working with a group that was earning notoriety for their dark deeds.

  "This is Samuel Frisk," Miriam said, pointing to the shape shifter. "Heather Tisdale," she said, pointing to the harpy. "And this is Wren O'Malley," she said, pointing to the fairy. "Guys, these are our... friends from the FBI. They have some questions they'd like to ask us."

  With that, Miriam returned to the seat she'd presumably been sitting in. She gestured at the empty chairs with a loft of her eyebrows.

  One by one, they introduced themselves, and took a seat. Harper was last. She felt like her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth. She unstuck it, and said, "Harper Hawthorne," and took a seat at the end of the table, as far away from Miriam as she could sit without seeming rude.

  "A pleasure," everyone greeted.

  "Now, to what do we owe the pleasure, this fine evening?" Miriam asked.

  "Actually, we're not really sanctioned by the FBI." She dropped her badge back into her purse. "We're not here because of that, Miss Underwood."

  "Miriam, please," she said. "And if you're not here on FBI business, then how can we help you? Normally, I'd escort you out myself, as my colleagues and I are very busy people, but you went through so much effort to see us, and it would be truly rude of me to not at least hear you out."

  Brittney bowed her head. She glanced briefly at Harper. "I appreciate it," she said. "But perhaps we'd best start with my friend Harper. You see, she has a special talent, don't you, Harper?"

  Harper blinked at Brittney, wondering exactly what she was up to. When Brittney made a gesture with her hand, she cleared her throat. "Yes, I do."

  "And what exactly is that talent?" Miriam asked.
/>   Harper spared a glance for her other friends. Conner gave her an encouraging nod, Sarah simply met and held her gaze for a second, and Chloe drummed her fingers atop the table and bowed her head in agreement with Brittney.

  "Well, you see, I was gifted with the power of Sight," Harper said. "It comes from my great-grandmother, who was a renowned gypsy. She passed on her blood and talent to me. So, you see, using that power, I can tell exactly what you are."

  "And what is that?" Miriam asked. The others seemed satisfied to sit in silence and simply observe.

  "You're a vampire," Harper said. "And Heather is a harpy. Wren is a fairy -- particularly the one dedicated to helping those in need find their true loves -- and Samuel... well, if I had to guess, he's a shape-shifter."

  Samuel simply met her gaze and said nothing.

  "Very good," Miriam said. "A true talent you have, Harper, dear. Of course, it's a talent that could get you into a lot of trouble if you aren't careful where you employ it. Isn't that so?"

  "Perhaps," Brittney interrupted. "Except, of course, for the fact that we too have our own special talents. You see Chloe there? She's a fairy as well. Conner? He's an incubus. And Sarah can shape-shift too. So you see, I think we're fairly evenly matched. So save the veiled threats until you know why we're here. We aren't your enemies."

  "Delightful," Wren said. He glanced over at Chloe briefly and then returned his gaze to Brittney. "But you, you didn't say what you are. If we are being so open and honest here, perhaps you'd care to share what you are."

  Brittney shook her head. "I'm human," she said. "And the leader of my little band of supernatural friends. Just as Miriam leads your group. Unless I'm wrong, of course." Her tone suggested that she doubted that.

  "You're not wrong," Miriam said. "But what do you want? You don't just waltz into someone's place of business and demand a meeting merely to introduce yourself. Do you Samuel?"