After The Fire

• Author: Diana Castilleja W/A Diana DeRicci
• Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
• Series: A Granier Falls Novel
• Year: 2008
• Fictionwise: [1]
• Direct Buy: [2]

Excerpt

Chapter One

Liar. Fake. Fraud. Deceiver.

The accusations buzzed through Shar’s mind like the largest swarm of locusts, the intense drone driving all sane thought far away. Drunken shouts and swearing made aching pain rise and fall in an obnoxious rhythm while the clang of steel doors being thrown into their locks reverberated in her ears. Up and down the cells the crude noise echoed. Being a woman, she had her own private chamber of hell. Lucky her.

Her hangover pounded on as the morning darkness crawled past her. Disgust warred with nausea when she counted just how many hours she’d been trying to erase those flung curses, especially considering who’d said them. The man who’d deceived her in flying colors. One by one they marched like a line of tromping ants across her thoughts. Shar was forced to listen to their mocking sound.

Liar.

She swallowed hearing its guttural sound over and over in the silence of her accommodations-for-one tomb. She’d never lied about her ability, never let the words of denial slip past her lips. Omission though, that she knew she was guilty of. It was paramount. Humans, people in general, had never warmed to her kind.

Fake.

Ah, yes, another flung taunt. She was so far from fake. She was better than lab-created reality. She was the real thing. Not that it mattered now. None of it would help her in her current situation. Which led her to not being a fraud obviously, at least not the kind Lawson had accused her of being. She so easily could use her magic to get out of jail, and be on the nine o’clock news in the morning as the latest sensation. She snickered in silence.

But that last--deceiver. Yeah, that one hurt. That one burned.

She’d intended to tell him the truth about what she was--today in fact. She knew she was running out of time. She thought he trusted her. She thought he loved her. He had asked her rather impetuously to marry once already. What a load of bull. Derision iced her thoughts. It didn’t feel any better than the bitter headache.

He’d proposed in style this time with the ring and like an idiot she’d accepted it first. The cruel truth slapping her like that had been the only small blessing she’d received because the rest of her day and her night had promptly fallen into a hellish wormhole of misfortune.

The musty, sour stench of previous inhabitants reeked back at her from the grim furnishings of the jail cell she was at the moment calling home. She prayed it was for only a very short stay. Abused brick walls looked like they’d been repeatedly painted by the numerous signs of peeling. The two-inch thick steel door with nothing but viewing bars sandwiched between polyurethane plastic sheets preempted any attempt to try to escape. The guard on the other side would shoot before she got three toes on the other side.

After a humiliating strip search--for God only knew what--the police had left her alone for most of the evening. She knew exactly who she was going to waste her one phone call on. And the bastard better answer his phone if he knew what was good for him. She had no choice but to wait for dawn, the best chance of reaching him at home. It also gave her more than ample time to replay the night before, the reason behind her forced stay in county hospitality to begin with.

• * * *

“Shar!”

She whirled at the shout of her name, and spotted her best friend twisting through the crowd outside the front of the club. Far from angelic beneath midnight dark hair and eyes models craved, Maddie emerged from the throng. Mystic was the only place to be on a Saturday night. The large blue neon letters blazed over the dark entrance; an entrance into another world, at least if you were Kin. Either way, inside or out, it was always busy on the weekends.

“Hey Maddie.” She looped an arm through her friend’s and together they walked into the fog and neon haven. She forced a smile, not wanting to talk about why she was there alone when just six hours ago, she had been nearly engaged. In fact, for a brief few minutes, she had been engaged. Until her eyes had been opened to the man she’d believed loved her.

“Boxer, give me something flaming, will you?” she ordered from the tattooed guy behind the bar in a near shout. Bass beats vibrated the air, booming loud and rocking the house like a frat boy’s wet dream. Scantily dressed women danced all over. She drew a deep breath, soaking it all in. It’d been a while since she’d been to the hot spot. She’d been doing more normal things with Lawson. She realized she’d missed being with her own kind.

“One Flaming Star, coming up,” he said, not missing a stride, as if it wasn’t an unusual order for her. She turned and propped her butt against a barstool. Her gaze sliced one way then the other across the undulating bodies packed on the dance floor. She tugged on the leather corset she wore, more out of irritation than for modesty. It fit her like a glove, and matched her attitude. Black, lethal and screaming ‘I’m one hot single babe’, because as of three that afternoon, there was no doubt she was not getting married.

“Flaming Star?” Maddie asked, her eyes wide against her porcelain skin. Deep blue, they reflected the neon glow and scattered fragments of the disco balls on the dance floor like fireworks in their depths. “Shar? What’s wrong?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “What could possibly be wrong?” she said with a snide undertone. She hadn’t anticipated running into Maddie, but she wasn’t going to turn down the shoulders of one of her best friends. Memories of her afternoon still burned. It was the biggest reason she was in the mood for leather tonight. And Flaming Stars.

“Um, you don’t drink for one, and you ordered a Flaming Star. Two sips and you’ll be on your ass.”

Maddie was right, but she refused to admit it. Instead, she focused her attention on the sea of bodies in front of her.

“Here you go,” Boxer said, sliding the drink toward her on the hardwood bar. She turned to watch the show. A pool of something dark green and sweet-smelling was layered over the base crème liqueurs of the drink. He snapped his fingers and the pool ignited with a cerulean flame. “Make your wish before you blow it out. It’s the only way to drink a Flaming Star.” He winked then turned to get more drink orders filled.

She grimaced. Her wishes would likely get her into more trouble because they involved the maiming and torturing of a particular male. Thankfully no one would think of reading her mind because even without actually making the wish, it was really hard not to think about making that wish.

Maddie spoke up. “What happened Shar? You didn’t answer me.”

Shar frowned, envisioning her now ex’s face melting in the glowing flame. He silently screamed as his face solidified in the arc of light, melting like hot wax. “I found out Lawson’s been using me.” Oh, fuck it. She made her wish and blew out the flame. Maddie’s jaw fell open. Carefully cradling the tumbler she blew on it, waiting for the glass and liquid to cool enough to sip at the heat-candied liquor layer on top.

She looked across the dance floor to the few tables and spotted Braden and his friends at one. The table next to them was just being vacated. “Let’s go grab it,” she said.

Once they were situated, Maddie tilted her chin to talk privately, but there was no mistaking the shock in her voice. “But you two are engaged!”

“Nearly engaged. We were nearly engaged,” she corrected. Sans one ring, it was pending. She refused to call herself engaged to that jerk.

A choking sound came from Maddie. Shar’s gaze stayed locked on the liquid in her drink. Looking up might have disastrous results. The people on the dance floor should be thankful she’d learned control at an early age. The urge to let it out was incredible. A small explosion. Just a small one. She would feel so much better, expelling the pent up rage she was silently wallowing in. She forced restraint on her temper instead.

“He popped the question over a month ago. I thought all that was left was the ring. Did he buy the ring?”

A lip lifted in a snarl. “He bought a ring all right.” She’d even had a few minutes to enjoy it and the way it looked on her finger before the truth hit her with the force of megaton comet. The painful expulsion of air she’d suffered wearing the glittering diamond had knocked her down. Waves of anger and humiliation made the air shimmer around her. She forced calm back down her throat, along with the first sip of the concoction in her hand. One sip to go and oblivion would be hers. At least for tonight. “Did you know he could block his mind?”

Maddie shook her head, her eyes bulging with what that meant. Lawson knew she was a witch. “How would he know?” she demanded. Her eyes glowed brightly from the inside with indignation, sparking from more than the lights from the strobes hanging from the ceiling. Shar didn’t know how Lawson had figured it out, or if he’d known all along. She never got the chance to find out.

It had been a hell of a shock for Shar, that was for damn sure. After a year, she’d had no idea. Talk about being a fool, and he’d accused her of being a deceiver. The irony still made her want to scream. She’d been silent for her own protection. That had been the least of his reasons.

“Neither did I. The ring was charged with his aura and I slipped right in behind his protections before I even knew what had happened. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I think he didn’t believe I’d find him out, definitely not so easily. He’s had training to protect himself. He’s probably known all along that I have powers. He was after something.”

“Oh, Shar,” Maddie said with sympathy.

“I’m not, or wasn’t, his only girlfriend either.” She controlled the shudder when she was forced to acknowledge just how unfaithful he’d been. He’d been playing with her, pretending to care. She’d thought the proposal had been real. He just didn’t have the ring when he’d asked her, his blushing face giving away that it had been spur of the moment. The ring hadn’t been that important to her. He’d asked her to marry him! She had been ecstatic. Amazing how well he could act. Derision burned at the memory. She thought the emotion had been real too. It hadn’t meant dick to Lawson. The proof was all the women he’d shared his bed with since she’d known him. Let Maddie think it was just one. She could live with that, rather than the reality.

This time the squeak of outrage was much louder. “You’re kidding, right? He couldn’t have been that stupid.”

“Apparently he is.”

“Shar, honey. I’m so sorry.” Still dumbfounded, she murmured, “I can’t believe he’d lie like that. He fooled all of us, then.” The note of support coming from Maddie eased the pain knifing through her. “I had no idea. None of us knew him before he came to Granier Falls. He always seemed so damn honest.” It was against the Kin laws to probe minds. Just once she should have done it. She’d have saved herself a year of humiliation.

She shrugged again, more than ready to put the whole relationship behind her. “I don’t think anyone did.” She took another sip, savoring it slowly. She didn’t blame anyone but herself for following along, believing in his handsome faced lies.

“He’s a scumbag,” Maddie said staunchly. Shar had to agree, emphatically.

Getting over the deceitfulness of the man she’d almost married though, that might take her a while. She couldn’t believe it. She’d been preparing herself since the original proposal to tell him about herself, to explain her ability and what being a member of the local clans meant, but it hadn’t been necessary. He’d guarded himself especially well to keep her from sensing his intentions. He’d slipped somehow with the ring.

Partly he’d been after her father’s money, of which yes, she had a little, but she still worked, still earned her own. Her shop in downtown Granier Falls suited some of the sexier feminine wishes. She personally loved the butter-soft leathers she special-ordered for some of her biker friends and their wives. The specialty shop had grown into a full lingerie clothing line and women’s leather accoutrement store. With that going on, there wasn’t any need to take over her father’s finances until it was physically a necessity, and the way her old man was going, she had a long while to wait. Locals knew her lineage. She didn’t hide it, but she didn’t flaunt it either. Only Kin knew she was a witch, following the family tree for several generations. She’d never suspected Lawson had such a hunger for what she had waiting for her when her parents finally needed her to take over the accounts. Scumbag was actually too kind for him.

The multiple lovers thing... The air shimmered again, a little brighter, a little hotter. Her hair sparked and fluttered as the energy gathered. She’d almost managed to not think about that.

“Easy, Shar,” Maddie whispered, her shoulder to her own in solidarity. “Be mad, but not in here.”

She nodded at her friend’s advice. Maddie had some incredible energy strengths herself, but nothing that she’d earned the reputation like Shar had over the years. Family spells helped her a lot. She was also one of the best scryers in Granier Falls. Lose your diamond ring? Call Maddie. Shar’s lips twitched at that. She’d seen her do it. Wench, even though it was thought with deep affection. Her sonic-level energy ranged from having the lightest touch of power up to being able to topple a temple with one finger. Shar envied her that. Maddie’s apartment was never dusty. Shar on the other hand...

She was well known for her flare-ups, but had learned over the years to keep them under wraps. She wasn’t lacking for control most of the time, but this was one of those circumstances where letting loose--even just a little--would feel so good. It was like having a good cry, or a hot bath or even both. She’d been so wired since this afternoon, she hadn’t thought of doing anything about it. Until now. And this just wasn’t the right place for it.

She took another drink. A full one. To hell with sips. The warmth from the candied liquid on top along with the raw burn of the alcohol sliding down her throat made her eyes water. Sweetness and something peppery blended on her tongue, coated her all the way down to her stomach. One more swallow and the lowball glass was empty. Damn but those went down easy after the first shock.

Braden turned and spotted them. Probably because she’d tossed sparks, and anyone who knew Shar knew when she was throwing a temper.

“Hello ladies!” Braden grinned, leaning over the leather of the bench seat, a couple of pals and their dates hovering. “What’s going on? Haven’t seen you in a while Shar.” He said it with a taunting grin. “Set anything on fire lately?” His mouth held a wicked smirk. The gleam in his dark brown eyes seemed to catch the lights and glow with his amusement. It was those same eyes and the sexy taunt of his mouth—and his knowledge of how to use them—that kept his datebook filled with other orderlies and nurses from the hospital where he worked.

She glared at him, then put on a face of sultry decadence. “Just your dreams, lover,” she replied in a throaty tease.

A round of howls ensued. Maddie gave her a worried glance, but Shar was feeling pretty impervious. She pushed the empty glass toward Maddie. “I want another one.”

“Shar...” She eyed the glass and Shar knew she was studying the moment, searching for the right balance. Really looking for a way to stop the inevitable.

Braden picked it up. Actually, he called it to him, levitating it off the table to hand it to one of the others sitting with him. “Bring the lady a Flaming Star,” he ordered. “Tell Boxer not to light it. I want that privilege.”

Maddie groaned, but Shar didn’t care. Braden had always pushed Shar’s buttons. Summer seasons spent training together for their education in the magical arts had proven one thing. There was no one better than Braden.

Except Shar. And it ate at him like a vicious dog, swallowing his common sense in one bite. Even drunk Shar knew she was better, better skilled, with more control.

She stood from the table. She swung her hair back and absorbed the sound of the night, the heat of the bodies in the club. It was its own high. She licked her lips. Leather gleamed in the dance floor lights and arching an eyebrow at him she told him, “Bring it on.”