Wildfire Gospel (Habitat) (26 page)

I scrunched my face up in confusion. “I had no idea you knew where Graham lived.”

“He threatened to help MeShack kill me once MeShack finished with his Season. I always make a point of knowing as much as I can about a person who’s interested in murdering me.”

“And I’d been to Graham’s house earlier to let him know Rebels were outside of MFE,” Vee said.

“There’s no need for that. I can handle MeShack and my dad. If that even becomes a problem.”

Vee laughed. “You can barely handle yourself. Either way, we got there. We couldn’t even get inside of the house and had to look through the windows to see Ben. There were some serious enchantments covering the house. Thank the goddess we could look inside of the windows. That’s how we found Ben, by himself, eating pizza and reading comic books. We got his attention and he came out through the front door.”

“So he wasn’t in a cage?” I looked at Zulu.

“No. He told us later when we brought him back here that when he didn’t listen, your father would put him in a cage.”

Dad had threatened me with the cage tons of times, but I never thought he would do it. In that moment if my dad had been around me and I knew how to hurt him, I would have.

Yet again, I tried to get out of bed. “Okay. I really need to find Dad and MeShack and then figure out what is going on with Angel before we search for Mother Earth, plus I—”

Zulu snarled, “Not until Harmony says you’re okay.”

I rolled my eyes. “We have a lot more things happening around us. I can check on these test results later. What’s going on with Mother Earth and Dante? Have we heard from either one of them?”

Vee and Zulu exchanged glances.

“What?” I frowned.

Vee jumped in before Zulu. “Have you ever heard of Kegan Burrows, the leader of the group Wildfire Gospel?”

“Not really. I know he claimed to bomb Dante’s blood factory when Zulu and I were the ones who did it. What does he have to do with anything?”

Zulu sneered. “He did a press release an hour ago, proclaiming that he’s the new leader of MFE and both groups are now combined into one. Lots of Rebels were behind him, Nona too.”

“Really? What about Mother Earth?”

“She wasn’t there.”

I nodded. “Well I didn’t get that information in the latest MFE Newsletter. Maybe we should pay him a visit, since he is our new leader.”

“That’s what I was thinking. Him and his group are all Fire Witches. Their headquarters are at Flame nightclub.”

That brightened my mood. There were lots of different types of clubs throughout Santeria, but one of the ones I was most excited about was Flame. However, no one ever longed to go with me. Too many rumors traveled around the habitat that the club’s temperature ranked too high for most normal clubs. The heat wouldn’t have bothered me, but my friends would’ve hated it.

“Meanwhile,” Zulu interrupted my thoughts, “the Witch Council has placed a twenty-five thousand dollar award for any information on your and Dante’s whereabouts.”

“Believe it or not, the Council is not your biggest problem. You both should focus on this Kegan Burrows. I don’t know much about him but he seems like a nasty sort. And I won’t feel my kids are safe until Nona is dealt with.” Vee shrugged. “I believe the Council doesn’t really have plans to bother you now. They were all hurt by the bombings in Yemaya District. Many are rebuilding their homes and putting up the main school for their uppity children. This award is a way to save face for them after you and Dante ruined the Masquerade Ball and embarrassed them. No one’s going to want to go to a Witch-hosted ball again for many years to come. So just ignore them for now.”

“Ignore the Witch Council?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Yes.” Vee nodded. “Because let’s be real. They know where you are. They have enchantments for that. The reward for your whereabouts is just a sort of double message to you. It’s telling you that you’re now on their radar and hugely expanding shit list. You piss them off again, and they’ll hunt you, and it won’t be a big public affair. It will be silent and deadly.”

“That’s comforting.” I covered my breasts with the blanket as I took my time getting out of bed.

Zulu stopped me. “Where are you going?”

“I’m just going to see Ben. Can I at least tiptoe into the next room or should I wait for Harmony before I do that?”

“He’s asleep like any normal growing boy.” Vee placed her hands on her hips. “I bathed, read, and put him to sleep right next to my witchlings. Which brings me to your other problem.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Because after taking care of Ben and it being no hardship on me at all, being that I have other little ones.”

“Hundreds of them,” Zulu muttered.

“I heard that,” she huffed. “I came in here to tell Zulu that tomorrow I plan to find a new apartment and move Ben in with me. And before you say anything, Lanore. You’re the worst mother in this habitat. You’re too young, trouble-seeking, and just plain hardheaded. Ben deserves better than a disciplining cage.”

“The cage wasn’t my fault.” I moved Zulu’s hand out of the way to get up. He blocked me again and forced me back onto the bed. I had no strength to shove him away, which told me that I should probably sit my behind back down anyway. “Wait a minute, why do you need a new apartment?”

“Someone ransacked and set it on fire. My landlord kicked me out. Zulu moved us in. Focus, Lanore.” She snapped her fingers. “Ben stays with me. You can tutor, visit, come by, take him to the movies, and whatever else comes to mind, but I can no longer stand by and allow you to take care of a little individual as you tramp around the habitat triggering revolutionary wars.”

Obviously, Vee made valid points. More than I wanted to hear, but I couldn’t abandon Ben. MeShack and I had found him abandoned in an apartment. A sick individual had killed his mom. I’d come by to notify her family and discovered him inside of a trashy place, by himself, covered in grime, and nothing to eat but candy and stale burgers. Since then, Zulu helped me with enrolling Ben into private school on the nicest side of Shango District. MeShack and Zulu alternated with taking him to football practice, camping, and whatever other activities they deemed would make him a masculine supe. I tutored Ben in math and taught him how to read when he’d had no concept of something as basic as the alphabet.

We weren’t bad for Ben. We just weren’t the best.

Although Vee managed many hustles from her small apartment in Drum Housing Projects, she maintained a warm household where all her kids were loved and cherished. Unlike me, she wouldn’t burn a teacher for giving Ben a C on a project that I believed deserved an A+. Additionally, Vee would be home every night to tuck him in.

But how would Ben feel about this?

Vee and Zulu stared at me.

“I need some time to think about you taking care of Ben,” I admitted.

“What?” Zulu pushed out his fangs. “We don’t need any time. Ben stays with us.”

“He’s staying with me and that’s that.” Vee pointed at Zulu and rose from the bed. “You two are barely home and always fighting somebody. You think this mess you’re in now will end soon? You think that Dante, Nona, or any of these loony supes that you’ve pissed off won’t think twice about taking or hurting Ben? “

“I know.”

“And dropping him off with babysitter after babysitter is just not being a responsible parent. Especially when you leave him with homicidal maniacs that place children in cages.”

I dug my fingernails into my palm. “Vee, I’ll think about it. Give me a break. I just woke up.”

“Then we’ll talk about this tomorrow after I’ve found somewhere else to live.”

“Fine,” I said as she left and closed the door behind her.

Zulu brought my attention to him. “I don’t want you using any more of that demon fire.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ll use it whenever I want to.”

Lanore

Zulu and I spent the rest of the evening arguing. Our fights were never violent or too loud, besides the occasional roar from Zulu. They were more like heated disagreements, ones that began with curt and defiant sentences and then elevated to murderous threats. Zulu demanded I get rid of the demon fire. I ordered him to go back into himself since he was obviously losing his mind if he thought he could tell me what to do with my own powers.

After close to two hours of Zulu’s roaring and my threatening him with fire, we just refused to talk to each other and sat there in silence. We’d argued enough in the past weeks to know that neither would get their way, if the other didn’t want to give it.

“You’re stubborn and going to get yourself killed.” Zulu’s fangs returned back into their gums.

“You have nothing to say to me about being stubborn until you go back into yourself.”

“Harmony gave me something to help me not go insane.”

“So you don’t have to go into yourself?” I flashed him a skeptical look.

“Not immediately. But yes, she said it was temporary.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Let’s just get some sleep. I’m done fighting about this with you.”

“I don’t want to sleep. I want to check on—”

“It’s late and we have hundreds of things we have to do tomorrow. Besides the fact you can’t even walk on your own.” Zulu lay me back down the way I’d woken up, pulled off his T-shirt, took off his jeans, and got under the covers to lay right next to me. He snapped his fingers. The light in the room went off.

We faced each other. The moonlight traveled through the lavender curtains and cast a colorful hue on our faces. Our eyes met. With him so close and his scent drifting my ways, my aggravation with him flickered into a slight annoyance.

“I didn’t pass out because of the fire,” I whispered. “I’ve had it in my body before and it never hurt me.”

“I don’t care. I was scared.”

“I’m sorry.” I scooted closer to him.

He lifted his arm, wrapped it around my waist, and drew me close to him.

“I had some weird dreams. One where you were holding me and your cords were inside of me sending these weird shocks through my body.”

His eyes flared brighter. “That wasn’t a dream. Harmony taught me how to push my magic inside of you and give you energy. But in the end you didn’t need it. Something else was happening to you.”

“What?”

“We don’t know. That’s why she did the tests.”

I molded myself against him. My bare breasts pressed against his hard chest. I could hear his breathing shift from steady to a rhythm that was a little faster. His heart drummed at a quick beat. It was the sound of anticipation that always came from his body right before we had sex. Yet he didn’t slide his hand over my skin and spoil me with caresses. Instead, he gave me one little peck on my lips and closed his eyes.

“Excuse me?” I frowned.

He opened his eyes. “What?”

“I’m naked. You’re naked.” I winked.

“You just woke out of a coma. You couldn’t handle me tonight.” He shut those eyelids again.

“First of all, it wasn’t a coma. Second,
I
can’t handle
you
? That’s insinuating you’re this great force. When in reality, I’m the one bringing all the physical phenomenon to our bedroom.”

His cheeks twitched as if he was holding in laughter.

“
You
are the one that can’t handle me.” I set my leg over his and slid my foot against the curve of his calf muscle. “If you can, then prove it.”

Silent, he moved his hand from my waist to my behind and squeezed. “Don’t tempt me. Not when I want you so bad.” He slid his hand down to my thigh, lifted my leg, and set it back on my side of the bed. His eyes closed again.

I landed several kisses on his chest. “I want you inside of me.”

He smirked. His cords glowed, unstitched themselves from his arms, rose high in the air dangling like lit snakes, and swayed my way. As soon as they greeted my skin, that same electric charge from earlier hit me. They dove inside of my body. Several teased my nipples and traced circles along my breasts until finally sinking into them.
Fuck. This feels good.
Some pierced my arms and chests. Others hit my waist and back. The rest extended and stretched to thrust into my thighs. Thrilling little shivers of sensuality waved through me.

Oh my.

I shrieked in pleasure. My body moved to him as if the cords had sucked me in like a vacuum. They gleamed in various colors like Christmas lights and delivered enchanting shades all over the space. The whole room was lit up. But, I could barely take in the enchanting display when his magic journeyed through me, making me his all over again. Every cell burst in titillating desire.

“This is the only way I’ll be inside you tonight.” He pressed his lips against mine and nibbled at my lip.

“I want more.” I rubbed against him, kneading my skin into the layers of thick muscle around his waist, chest, and all over his legs.

“No.” His hardness pushed along my thigh as if needing to speak for himself. “I’ll please you with my cords tonight. This way, I’ll actually pay attention to your body’s signs of danger and make sure I’m not hurting you.”

“Your cords feel good.” I licked my lips. “I can’t deny that, but I have to have all of you. Come on, baby.”

His magic replied with soft seductive massages to my insides. Every area within felt his soft touch. Places I didn’t know could be considered erotic, sparked to life and joined the ride. It was unimaginable. I let my head fall back and released a moan as my thighs moistened with my need.

“You like that, huh?” Zulu sucked on my neck. “You want to know what else I learned to do with my cords.”

“What?” The word came out as a breathless whisper.

Two cords fled my arm and danced along my skin. They traced a line of shivering energy across my stomach and then dipped between my thighs, but didn’t touch what I craved for him to play with the most.

“Before I show you, I need you to promise me something.” He seized my behind in his two large hands. “No more demon fire.”

“You’re an asshole for giving me an ultimatum right now when I’m barely able to think.”

“Is that a no?” His cords played along the inner area of my thighs. By now I was dripping and aching to be filled with him. My clit was swollen and hungry. If he wasn’t going to do something about it, I was very close to doing it myself.

“I’m not making any promises right now.” I placed my leg over his with the hopes that my spread out thighs would motivate the cords to come closer.

“Hmmm. Are you sure about that?” The cords stroked my wet folds.

“Zulu,” I moaned.

Groaning himself, he squeezed my behind and pulled me closer to him. “I like hearing my name, but you know what I want to hear.”

He moved those yummy cords away and I whimpered. His blue and gold eyes shimmered in the moonlit room. “Promise me.”

“No.” I undid my own cords on my arm, not a hundred percent sure of what I was going to do, but I figured at least I could try to turn him on with mine like he was getting me. “I’m going to give you a little bit of your own medicine.”

“Really?” Zulu followed my cords’ movement with his gaze. They moved like drunk ropes, flopping up for a second or so and then falling limp between us.

Come on, little ones. You can do it.

They rose again, dove his way, and pierced his arms. He smiled. “Would you be mad if I laughed?”

“Oh be quiet.” I yanked them out of his arms.

Maybe I can just direct them like my fire.

It was odd. When I considered the cords like my fireballs, it seemed to be another side of my brain that switched on or maybe it was more of a magical inner self. Either way, I could sense the cords around me, even with Zulu rubbing and massaging his power all through me.

“Now I’ve got it.” I stuck my tongue out at him. My cords traveled down to his stiff length and thrust into it. “Come here, poor baby.”

“Ah!” Zulu roared, but this one wasn’t his usual sound of anger or thunderous noise before some violent impending action. Pure enjoyment flowed through that roar, one that I’d never heard before. His body trembled against me. His erection glowed white and illuminated the room. The cords inside of me went slack as all of his concentration must’ve faltered. He roared again and then moaned so loud I swore I saw and felt the walls shake.

“Maybe I should have you make a promise,” I said.

He moaned, “Take them out, please.”

“You don’t like it anymore?

“I want to show you how much I like it.” He seized my waist and lifted me up as I slowly inch by inch took the cords away. Anticipation built in my chest. For whatever reason, he carried me off of the bed.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To the nest.”

“What? Why?”

“Hold onto me.” His claws pushed out and ripped through the skin in his fingertips. I wrapped my hands around his neck. He jumped up on the wall, dug his claws from his hands and feet in the surface, and took us up high enough to the next. “No one has ever made me roar like that.”

“And so my prize is sex in a nest?” I grinned. “Not really the best way to show me your appreciation.”

“I don’t want you finding any way to run from me. I tried to be gentle and nice tonight.” He brought us into the nest. I’d been right about it having loads of pillows. They piled the whole place. Their soft texture settled against my body as he laid me down and flipped me over on my stomach. He remained behind me. “I want to make you roar like you just made me.”

“Meaning?” I placed my hands on the nest’s smoothed edge and got up on my knees.

“Meaning. I’m going to take you all night until you make a noise that I’m satisfied with.” Before I could turn around to see him, he thrust hard into my wet center, pushing out a melodious moan from my lips.

“Oh, baby.”

He captured my breasts with his hands and squeezed my nipples as he slid in and out of me with smooth precision. His cords came next, pierced my body, and surged little tantalizing shocks through me. They teased my thighs and strummed my clit like a musician playing an instrument. It was like making love to a man with many hands.
Fuck me.
I could find no escape or minute to catch my breath.

“Oh Zulu.”

“That’s right, baby. Say my name again.”

“Zulu!” I groaned.

“Oh yes.” He nibbled at the back of my neck and thrust even harder and deeper than he ever had before.

Wet slapping sounds filled the air. The more he moved in and out of me, the more I moaned with pleasure. My behind stirred with his gentle pounding. My breasts bobbed to his rhythm. An orgasm ignited at my core and spread all over my insides, seeping through my flesh in a mounting explosion of sensations.

“Oh, Zulu. I’m so close.”

Two of his cords thrusts into my clit from both sides and broke my whole being into shattered pieces of hot, molten ecstasy. I screamed, so loud, my throat burned. My chest vibrated. My whole body tensed as Zulu continued to rock into me, continued to push me further into this maddening sphere of pleasure to the point that I didn’t think I could take anymore. I spasmed a little and tried to scoot away from him, but I couldn’t. The nest’s wall impeded my escape.

“No, baby.” Zulu drove into me harder, expanding my quivering flesh more. “Nowhere to run.”

I came again, and again. Hard. Fast. Rapid. Wet, yet heart-pounding orgasms. Sweat dripped from my forehead. My dreadlocks flapped around me as I whipped my head from side to side, crying out in delight. My own cords came out of my arms, twisted around, and entered him. I needed him to feel what I was feeling, to understand and maybe even get the same insanity he’d thrown my way.

The moment he roared in pleasure, I knew I’d somehow did it. I’d transferred my sensations to him.

“Aww, baby.” He increased his movements into fast pounding. “What you do to me.”

He roared that same loud one from earlier, the type that had gotten me in the nest to begin with. The sound fled from his lips and his whole body quaked so hard the nest shook. I was scared it would break and we would fall out. Mad giggles left me. He thrust into me one last time. The force knocked me onto the nest’s edge and had me slumped over in a helpless position. Cool liquid coated my insides and then dripped down my inner thighs. His cords left, yet somehow mine had remained. His emotions traveled through to me.

Pleasure and joy. Tons of maddening unadulterated happiness. And underneath it all was regret and … guilt. Unlike the last time I’d sensed the guilt, this was even more. In fact, as the seconds passed with him coming down from his orgasm, the guilt rose.

What does he feel guilty about? What is he regretting?

He slid out of me and helped me up. “Are you going to remove your cords?”

“That depends.” I balanced myself against the nest.

His hard body molded into the back of mine. “Depends on what?”

“Are you going to finally tell me what you feel guilty about?”

He grumbled and pushed my cords out of him. They zipped back to my arms as if he had more control of them than me. “I don’t like when you read my emotions.”