Page 19 of Up In Flames

Well, soon. After I’m well again.

Xy slaps his hands on the hard plastic end of my second bed. “Your namesake was human. Delilah took him down easy. Cut his hair, is all, because humans are weak things. Lesser. Easy to manipulate. I notice you wear your hair on the shortish side. Still too long by my standards, but not long like your namesake. That’s your blood telling you that you don’t want to be associated with that asshole. Good on you.” He laughs as if this is the funniest thing he’s ever said.

And suddenly, it’s like a lightbulb clicks on inside my head. Here I am, trying to make sense of what Xy is saying, when all the while, I shouldn’t have bothered. It doesn’t matter… because he’s insane.

Wait, am I related to someone certifiable?

Assuming we are related, it’s not as big of a surprise as it should be to find I’m part of a family of madness. I have my own brand. I don’t know if it’s evil, but it’s lustful, which is its own kind of crazy. I hunger for sex, and have ever since college. Constantly. And I’ve got kinks. I might own them all without shame, but I’m aware they’re not quite normal. Not… good.

“You’re assuming the Philistines were tall because some guy named Goliath fought for them, and he was rumored to be a giant. And you hate Sampson because he took down the Philistine temple. Pushed down the pillars, right? But what I don’t get is why you care about ancient history at all? Some guys are tall, Xy. There’s no need to leverage mythology to explain your size.” I’m trying to be patient with him, but there are sharp daggers of pain radiating down my spine from my neck. And also? I don’t want to be swept up in whatever crazy he’s spilling.

Because it’s all a little too seductive for an adopted boy who yearns to know something about where he came from.

A displeased growl fills the dark room. “What’s your lineage? Who do I blame for your attitude?”

“Depends if you mean my adoptive or birth parents, I guess.”

“You were adopted?”

I nod. Another pang.

“As a baby?”

“Yeah. I was left at the fire station. And no, I have no idea by whom.”

Several beats of silence drag out before his long whistle fills the room. “So, I was right. You don’t know, which explains a lot, but leaves more questions. The Council didn’t send you, did they?”

And I’m back to annoyance. “Look, if you’re not going to answer any of my questions, you might as well leave. I don’t…”

“Why’d you join the fire department? Because you were left there? Or because of the association with fire?”

“Because the firemen who discovered me on their doorstep took care of me and found me a home. Why would I have an association with fire?”

“That’s the question.” He clicks his tongue against his teeth. “The highest Watcher worked fire magick into his exchange for a bride. You might be naturally drawn to the element if you’re his descendant, though it’s a longshot he’s your ancestor. Other Fallen also had an affinity for flames. You’re probably one of their get. Anyway, it gives us a place to start in trying to figure out who you really are. Meanwhile, you should know that loyalty isn’t appreciated by our Kind, not unless it’s directed at The Council, or, I suppose, the Watchers, not that you’re likely to run into any of them, locked up as they are. But loyalty to a human agency like a fire department? Please. That’s just going to get you punished. Understand?”

“Not a word.” Xy might as well be speaking Portuguese, Lithuanian, or Nigerian, all of which I also don’t understand. I’m not comprehending any of what he says, except that he seems to be intimating once again that he’s not human.

And that, by extension, I’m not human.

Clearly nuts. So yeah, he might be related.

Suddenly, he moves. Fast. A large hand slaps down over my heart, covering my chest, shooting pain through my veins. “Don’t you worry, son. I’ll find your line, gifts, and why you were left. We’ll get you straightened out so you can take your rightful place among the Nephilim.”

“I’m already straight,” I gasp, sucking in oxygen.

But the hand is already gone, along with the figure. He slips like a black shadow bent from the ceiling into the hallway beyond, and then disappears completely.

What the heck?

I’m reviewing every piece of information he let drop, which isn’t much, other than some crazy stuff having to do with Philistines, who I’m not sure still exist, and something called Neph… something, when Morpheus starts yanking me into dreamland once more.

Well, in my defense, it’s been quite a day.

CHAPTER 7

Nina

For the first time in a long time, the words flow from my fingers. And, yeah, I’m stealing from real life, but so what? There’s still a fantasy twist. The vampire firefighter, Darius, has just saved the heroine, Clove, from taking a tumble out of a three-story tree (gotta’ give real life a bit of a boost to make Clove’s cowardice less so), and in the process managed to give my latest heroine the best orgasm of her life. But now fiction is deviating from reality because Darius just appeared in Clove’s bedroom, swathed in moonlight, ready to fuck her into oblivion with his big dick.