Chapter 37

They spread out to form an arc, communication devices in their ears and weapons ready. Ryan and Gabrielle carried high-powered rifles loaded with silver shot. The grenades were better for those without the night vision who might be using the scattergun approach.

Ryan was to her left, Danny to her right, with Kyle and Gabrielle after that. They thought it best for the two strongest to remain at the outer edges, which also kept them the safest from any misdirected flames.

Moving steadily forward as a cohesive unit, they closed the distance from a half mile to a quarter mile without incident.

"Anyone seeing anything? We're awfully quiet out there," Gabrielle spoke suddenly, causing Becca to startle.

"Nothing here," Kyle whispered tightly.

Danny reported the same, as did Ryan.

Becca was just about to give her identical comment when something caught the light in front of her. Quickly, she dropped into a crouch to hide, though behind what, she didn't know. There was nothing around save sand and some minor scrub.

Again the thing flashed but it was not heading for her, it was heading to her right. Straight for Danny!

"Danny," she called in her "com" device. "Danny, I saw something coming for you. Heads up."

Before she could say another word she heard his anguished cry in her ear and saw a flash of fire not far away.

"Danny!" Becca screamed, taking off at a dead run over the questionable terrain. She stumbled and slid in her haste, falling twice over loose rocks. The sharp stones cutting into the palms of her hands barely registered in her haste to get to her partner.

The grenade had worked. It had burned a ring of shrubbery, the edges of which still glowed in flames. Inside the ring was a black mark where a form had absorbed the impact and the flaming liquid. Sagebrush stood untouched in two places in the center roughly in the shape of feet. To the side of the ring was a singed trail that swung past it and ended nearby next to another pile of ashes.

Gabrielle and Ryan were there, having approached with more caution, Kyle was last. When they all stood at the burning spot, Ryan cursed.

"Fire demon." Gabrielle pointed at the ash pile outside the charred ring.

"Damn. Don't know how we kill a fire demon." Ryan was frustrated, staring at the uncharred footprints with his hands on his hips.

"Water," Kyle replied simply, as if it was obvious.

Becca hunched over the remains of her friend, reduced to ashes. Her fingers touched him as he was carried away by a breeze. Sickened, Becca shoved his dog tags into her pocket and stood.

"Where do you propose we get enough water around here to douse a fire demon?" Ryan asked Kyle sarcastically.

Kyle snapped his lips shut.

Becca barely heard their frustrated exchange. She was staring at the ground, unable to tear her eyes away from Danny until he was gone. The wind had picked up, gusting just enough to play with Danny's ashes, casting them about between their dejected party. Her fingers stroked his dog tags, clicking them together in her pocket.

Danny may have been adverse to her present company but he had been a friend to her when no one else was willing. What has passed between them that night was forgiven with his death. Vengeance wasn't something she usually took much stock in but in this case, in this meaningless death, she wanted it for him and for his family.

Straightening her shoulders, Becca steeled herself and shifted her pack. Hands unencumbered by a weapon other than the grenade, she could move quickly. Reaching behind herself, she tucked the grenade loosely in her pack and aimed herself directly at the cabin.

Without a word she took a step. The soft scuffing sound of feet following her told her of her unit's solidarity. They had the same purpose, different motivations. Hers was purely selfish and for that she felt no guilt. There was no room under her grief and fury.

"Bec," Kyle called out to her quietly, jogging to catch up. "Bec why are you going this way?"

His question stopped her. Hesitating, Becca realized she hadn't thought about what direction she was going. Why would she go to the building where they knew the demon had just come from in order to attack one of theirs? She had no clue why or how she knew but with absolute certainty she knew it had returned.

"It's there," was all she said and marched on.

The party followed, trusting in her sight. Senses left hypersensitive by two infusions of vampire's blood inside a week guided her. Her feet found a more secure path with barely a conscious effort. In her head she thanked Michael for sharing.

At thought of Michael she felt a twinge and took it for a warning to focus in on him. Spots started dancing and anger, hot and fresh, rushed up as she thought "not him." Emotions made seemingly more powerful by loss and heightened awareness filled her until she felt as though her chest would burst and her nose began to bleed. Debilitating physical symptoms that rendered her helpless were not going to cost her another loved one. No one else was going to die, she raged at the wretched, worthless, goddamned spots!

Michael was in trouble, she'd sensed it and checked in with what he was seeing. She felt the warnings strongly when she thought about him. Her body warned her again and with a swift, decisive mental side block she sent the unwanted blindness down to cower far from her consciousness. Her liberation was cathartic. Mastery of her ability was hers! In place of screaming pain and holes in her sight, a polite twinge was her ability's way of

alerting her to impending trouble. It was Michael. The demon was with him. She didn't have the luxury of time to plan on the safest line, instead picking up her pace to find the fastest one.

When she was a stone's throw from the door, Becca paused. The others caught her.

"What do you think?" Gabrielle deferred to her ability in this blind situation. That was why they had her after all.

If she hadn't been so worried that she had impulsively led them into horrible danger, she would have been flattered. They trusted her to get them the best possible outcome. She took a moment to gather her thoughts and feel out the interior.

That turned out to be unnecessary. Just then the darkened windows flared with sudden light. Flames plumed then went out.

Ryan cursed. "Kyle's right. Let's throw some water at this thing."

"How are you going to get it here?" Kyle queried curiously, unaffected by Ryan's revisiting his very idea. The same one Ryan had so unceremoniously shot down ten minutes ago.

Ryan was fumbling in his pocket for a phone. "We're in California right? Land of wildfires?" Fingers flew across his keypad and he put the phone to his ear. "Yes, Captain Ryan Hallbeck for Admiral Black." He barely had to pause before they were asking for his codes and what he needed.

The part on the other end of the line must have been familiar with the admiral's rank and power.

Ryan gave an order for a water dump on their location. Hanging up, he smiled grimly. "They'll get some water on us as soon as they can."

Becca wasn't the only one hoping that wouldn't be too late. The flames flared again.

"Come on Bec, what are we looking at in there?" Gabrielle purred reassuringly. She was trying to relax her.

Her power over her ability was still settling in while Becca tried to make sense of what she was seeing inside. The layout of the house mapped itself in her head as he scanned the interior for escape routes.

"They're right inside the back door, the demon is fending them off with fire. It knows they won't come through it." She described what she was seeing. "The hallway of the

cabin where the demon is holed up is off of the main living area behind this door. It pinches down and turns right to get to the back door. That's where Black and Michael are pinned down. Now that they're inside they can't go back or they'll be exposed. It looks like it can throw the flame a good distance." Her eyes widened seeing a volley of fire coming at her face, it was no less disconcerting to know that it was not actually her flesh that was at risk.

Ryan was on the move. He ran in a crouch to the side of the front door. Becca watched with her physical eyes as the demon heard the door handle click. Ryan ducked inside before she could shout a warning.

She turned to Gabrielle. "It heard him. It's moving away from the other two to check him out."

Any question of how Gabrielle felt about Ryan was eliminated as Becca watched her panicked eyes flash to the door. Without pause, she rushed inside to help.

"Damn," Becca cursed. That left her and Kyle outside with her entire unit inside. And as much training and experience as she'd had in her short career she couldn't hold a candle to the experience those four had.

"What do we do Bec?" Kyle sidled up to her, equally at a loss.

His faith in his little sister was flattering even if, she feared, ill placed. Scanning the structure she was grateful for her enhanced vision. She missed it on the first pass. On the way back, Becca saw it. All of the scrub around the perimeter of the cabin was burned to blackened dirt and smudges of soot. The demon's food source.

Pointing, she showed Kyle. "Does your super secret ability extend to generators?"

His eyes were worried. "I don't know. It's gas powered. I've never tried anything that wasn't electric."

"Well, this makes electricity so try now. We need a huge power surge. Enough to blow up the generator." She explained, "Fire needs fuel to survive. If you burn everything around it, it will die.

"I'll try." Kyle deferred to her again. "What about the others? They won't survive a fire will they?"

"I know. Just start working on it and give me two minutes. If I'm not out by then, blow it anyway." Ignoring the alarm in his wide brown eyes, Becca made for the cabin.

The demon was aware of threats from both doors. He would be too distracted to fight both competently. Becca went to the side window and looked around for something to break it. Seeing nothing, she took off her pack and wound it up over her shoulder,

swinging it hard at the glass. The sound of the shatter was lost as another surge of fire shot toward the front hall.

Becca climbed up and into the room, landing behind an overstuffed recliner. It was the kind her father loved and her mother hated but at the moment, Becca had to agree with her dad on its usefulness. Peeking out around the sides, she guessed she was in the cabin's office.

The front entrance led straight into a hall. The cabin was essentially a shotgun house with several doors off the sides for bedrooms and offices. It was perfect for a standoff such as this, giving the defender full advantage.

Looking left, she saw the front entrance. The wood paneling had flames licking up the sides, melting the finish to give off nauseating fumes. With her head sticking out in the hall, Becca signaled to the Ryan and Gabrielle. She waved them back, pantomiming an explosion. Ryan nodded, tugging at Gabrielle's arm as he army crawled backward.

After they'd gone she had second thoughts about her idea. There would be no way to hide and warn the others. She glanced at her watch. Less than a minute to go.

She racked her brain for ideas. Something she could use to hold off the demon for a precious few seconds. That was all she would need to get its attention and allow Michael and Black to back out of the cabin. Thinking beyond that was more than she could handle so she didn't.

Becca had a plan. Digging in her pack, she came out with hands filled with grenades. Just like Danny, she would threaten it. That should get it to follow her long enough to get them out.

Grenades in hand, Becca stood up and stepped out into the hall. Other than the haze of smoke and flames illuminating various pieces of the walls, it was empty. She hadn't expected that. Temporarily thrown for a loop, she lowered her grenades and stepped forward. A few feet past the doorway of the room where she'd been hiding, Becca saw the demon as it turned the corner, coming from the back hall where it was holding off the others.

Clearly it hadn't expected her to be there either. For a few seconds they both stared at each other. It wasn't what she'd expected.

She didn't know what she thought a fire demon would look like. Maybe some sort of dancing flame or matchstick, something with horns maybe, she hadn't really thought about it. Instead, the demon was human looking, and male. Very male. It, he, was garbed only in the burnt remnants of trousers. He was built like an underwear model with a face to match. Too delicately boned to be handsome, Becca stared at its beauty.

She hesitated in her strike. She couldn't set fire to a human. Even if he wasn't really, he would burn like one and that would be the image she would see in her nightmares.

He didn't have the same objections. His arm came up, warning Becca just before he threw his flames. She jogged back, hand along the wall, searching for the open doorway through the smoke. She found it just as she watched him throw a ball of flame growing from his palm.

A quick check and she confirmed Michael and the admiral hadn't come closer, they remained out of the line of fire.

Shaking fingers pulled the pin from her grenade and she closed her eyes, throwing it down the hall before yelling. "Michael, get out of here. The whole place is gonna blow."

She couldn't hear if there was an answer because the grenade detonated, flames engulfed that end of the hall and the fire roared. Taking a breath and forcing herself to move, Becca stepped out again to face the demon.

Nausea and fear that had nothing to do with any sort of prescience mixed and bile rose up the back of her throat. Smoked stung her eyes, her lungs itched with the heavy air. She began to cough and gag. The demon's human body was burning. Instead of having the good sense to fall down, it was advancing. As the flesh and hair burned away, it left a blackened exterior flashing red where it moved. It was a walking lava flow, its furthest extremities cooling to sleek black moving rock. The wooden flooring smoldered with each step.

It's hand came forward again. Becca backed away instinctively, taking her further down the hall. The grenade was in her hand. She kept her eyes on the demon as her hands moved together, intent upon pulling the pin from it.

Then the thing spoke. A deep voice scratched out rasping sounds as it moved its black lips. Its dark tongue flashed, showing liquid hot magma behind it.

Becca was transfixed. She forgot to cough.

"You oppose me? A weak human, burned away as easily as my host and you attack me? You are as foolish as the others," it cackled, confident enough to toy with her.

Biting back the acidic taste in her mouth, Becca told herself it would have burned away its human host as soon as it was done with it anyway. It didn't help. She had incinerated another human just like this thing had done to Danny.

A flicker of rage blossomed in her breast as she thought about the humans this thing had destroyed. She reminded herself why they were here. This thing had enslaved a vampire who had used her brother to gain information that would expose her friends.

The flicker grew to a bonfire. Becca cultivated it, letting her mind run rampant with images of Danny's charred remains blowing away in the wind and Michael's face melting away as the host's had.

Enraged, Becca felt her fear sliding away. She pulled the pin and threw one grenade, then another at the walls on either side of the creature.

It realized what she was doing and roared as the cabin burned around it. It couldn't move when the wood beneath its feet was charred. It required a constant source of fuel. The fire grew behind and on all sides of it. Both of them were trapped in a small section of the hall with no doors and no windows to escape.

A flash of movement on the other side of the wall of flames behind her caught her eye. Two tall dark forms, one with a bone white face joined the other three and Becca smiled. She had done it. Her unit and her brother were safe. It hadn't been her intent to sacrifice herself but it was worth it if it saved those she loved and those they served alongside in one form or another.

The fumes from the melting paneling on both sides of her were making her dizzy. Becca watched the demon roaring furiously as he shrank steadily into a hard black rock that barely came to her knees. She had her arm up, trying to get clean air through her shirtsleeve. It didn't work; it was too thick. While her eyes studied the dying demon, her knees buckled bringing her eye level with it. The surface was cool and glassy like obsidian stone.

Becca's consciousness was fading. She leaned forward on the cool surface of the black stone. The flames roared around her and she felt her skin prickling in the heat, her lungs burned and grew exhausted with the effort of moving the thick air. She dry heaved from the noxious fumes.

Becca said a quiet prayer, unable to hear her own hoarse voice over the fire before she closed her eyes.