Amethyst Flame Read online

  Table of Contents

  Amethyst Flame

  Copyright

  Dear Reader...

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Epilogue

  Thank you!

  Coming Soon...

  List of Books

  About the Author

  You can find Caris at...

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  AMETHYST FLAME

  THE FLAME SERIES: BOOK 2

  CARIS ROANE

  Blood Flame - The Flame Series: Book 2

  By Caris Roane

  Copyright © 2015 Twin Bridges Creations LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced in whole or in part, scanned, photocopied, recorded, distributed in any printed or electronic form, or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without express written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to the second installment of the Flame Series called AMETHYST FLAME!

  In this story, Vaughn, a powerful vampire serving as a Border Patrol officer for his corrupt world, falls for a dangerous witch who alone is the key to saving his long lost sister…

  Vampire Officer Vaughn of the Crescent Border Patrol gets called to a triple homicide in a deadly place called the Graveyard. When he finds that Emma Delacey has been summoned to the same crime scene, warning bells sound. He’s tried to suppress his desire for the beautiful witch knowing nothing good can come of a relationship in the alter world of Five Bridges. But her auburn hair and glittering green eyes call to him as no woman has since he became an alter vampire. As an evil wizard hounds them both, Vaughn must come to terms with his deepest fears especially when Emma proves to be the key to saving his sister from a madman’s torture.

  I hope you’re enjoying the Flame Series. If you’ve missed the first book, BLOOD FLAME, you can find lots of info here.

  I’ve had a wonderful time developing a world inspired by my love for bridges and of course, hunky warrior vampire types!

  Enjoy!

  CHAPTER ONE

  “We didn’t save them after all.”

  Vaughn heard the break in Emma Delacey’s voice. His own chest was damn tight and his throat hurt.

  He stood beside her at the top of a deep ditch in the middle of the area of Five Bridges known as the Graveyard. Bodies were dumped here every night to be cleaned up by a designated Tribunal squad in the early morning hours.

  Tonight was no exception.

  He moved closer to her, blood pounding in his head. He stared down at the bodies of three familiar teenage girls, triplets in fact. Two months ago, he and Emma had rescued the girls from a despicable human trafficking organization. Now they were here, naked, beat-up, and laid out like discarded mannequins. Their arms and legs were at odd angles, bones fractured.

  The bastard who’d abducted them hadn’t just killed them, he’d tortured each one.

  “Jesus. They’ve been savaged.” Vaughn found it hard to breathe, but he wasn’t sure if it was grief or blind rage. He couldn’t believe the girls had been kidnapped a second time.

  Emma moaned softly like a wounded animal. She’d become a good friend in recent weeks, despite the fact she was an alter witch and his natural enemy. He slid an arm around her shoulders.

  She didn’t pull away, either. “How did Wizard Loghry find them again? I thought they were safe. Their parents said they’d take them out of state.”

  “Maybe they did. But you know what Loghry is. He has massive connections throughout the Southwest. He could have hired dozens of people to hunt them down and bring them back.”

  “He must have done this for revenge.”

  “I have no doubt about that.”

  Emma shook her head slowly, her fingers on her lips. “Maybe if we’d left them alone, they’d still be alive.”

  “You don’t know that, Em. Girls like these are trapped inside Loghry’s sex clubs with no way to escape. They get used up and after a time no one sees them again.”

  She took a shuddering breath. “I’ve never felt so sick about being in Five Bridges.”

  He got where Emma was coming from. Having saved the girls the first time, she’d believed they’d done some good. To have these beautiful girls abducted again added to his hatred of the world they’d each gotten stuck in.

  But there was another issue they had to deal with, a critical one, as in why he and Emma had been summoned to the scene. He patrolled almost exclusively in Crescent and he knew Emma rarely worked this part of Five Bridges. It felt like a set-up.

  His suspicions grew as another SUV pulled up. There was no reason to have this many officers at a Graveyard homicide scene.

  He recognized the vehicle as belonging to the Elegance Border Patrol and he slid his arm from Emma’s shoulders. He didn’t want her to become a target because she’d been fraternizing with a vampire.

  Vaughn recognized the officer in the police cruiser, a warlock he despised. His nostrils flared. He’d as soon kill the man as get near him.

  There was no love lost among the five different territory Border Patrols. But he loathed those men and women on the take no matter which species. The warlock, who stayed in his vehicle with his com to his mouth, was in deep with the three cartels that ruled the underworld of Five Bridges. So, who was he reporting back to? Probably Donaldson at the Trib or maybe the corrupt chief at the Elegance station.

  Vaughn became acutely aware he’d left his half-sword in his SUV. Easton had pushed him to get out here fast and to keep a low profile. He didn’t want shots fired in the Graveyard. And he definitely didn’t want Vaughn battling any Elegance officers who might show up. Vaughn was to leave his weapons in his SUV, head to the crime scene, take a quick look, then report back to Crescent. Get in, get out.

  Despite Easton’s orders, Vaughn had his Glock with him.

  Vaughn reverted his attention to the crime scene and started looking for anything out of place that might indicate a bomb. But it was hard to tell. The whole massive central area of the alter world, known as the Graveyard, looked like a war zone made worse by an explosion a month ago. Dirt, rocks and cement had been flung all over the surrounding ditches and at least a dozen small bridges that crossed them.

  He spoke quietly. “We’re in trouble here, Em.” He’d started abbreviating her name a few phone calls ago. They were good friends now. They were at least that, though they could have been a lot more. In another life, they could have been everything.

  Emma turned toward him and kept her voice low as well. “I know. Loghry’s hand is all over this. But Vaughn, even though we agreed never to see each other again, I’m so glad you’re here. I can’t tell you how much I’ve valued all our conversations since that first night. In fact, the only reason I think I can bear what Loghry has done to these girls is because you’re beside me.”

  He felt the same way and resisted a powerful impulse to haul her into his arms and hold her.

  His relationship with Emma had grown complicated since the night of the rescue. Afterward, they’d gone to a bar, one of the few that served all five alter species. He’d ordered a couple of beers, then another matched set.

  By the time six bottles were sitting on the table, he knew he was in
trouble. He’d walked her outside, then drawn her into the shadows and kissed her. When he’d suggested they go to his house, she hadn’t hesitated. Neither had she minded flying for the first time with a vampire.

  The sex that had followed had been hot as hell though he couldn’t believe he’d crossed the line. Vampires and witches didn’t date.

  Afterward, they’d agreed not to see each other again, but the phone had been a different case. He’d talked with Emma almost every night since. He’d call her after their respective shifts and a lot of those conversations had gone well past dawn. But this was the first time he’d seen her since the rescue. Despite the fact that she was a witch, the enemy of his kind, he couldn’t deny his powerful attraction to her or that he’d come to care about her as much as he did.

  Tears shimmered in her green eyes, which made her even more beautiful than he remembered. She had thick auburn hair, the front portion pulled into her usual top knot. The rest hung almost to her waist. Her creamy complexion glowed in the moonlight and her snug jeans and t-shirt reminded him of everything he’d once held in his arms.

  The pain she obviously felt about the deaths below echoed his own. Doing good in their sick, corrupt world was a rare thing, and he hated that their joint efforts to save these teens two months ago had ended in tragedy. But he had to give Emma this, she had grit and he loved that about her.

  As for the author of the crime, Wizard Loghry was one of the most vicious criminals in Five Bridges. The amethyst flame addicted warlock had strong ties to the cartels that ruled the underworld of their alter society, which meant he was well-protected. He could do whatever he wanted without fear of repercussion.

  He operated several sex clubs in Elegance Territory stocked primarily with teenage girls. He systematically abducted them from the human part of Arizona, then smuggled them past the border that separated the city of Phoenix from the cordoned off province of Five Bridges.

  Sometimes the girls entered Loghry’s work establishments in their fragile human forms. Other times, he put them through the difficult alter process and made vampires out of them. It was rumored he liked fangs in his throat, and that he’d kept a female vampire imprisoned for years in the labyrinth below his Elegance mansion.

  Emma crossed her arms protectively over her chest. “Did your boss send you out here?”

  “Yep. Easton delivered his orders personally.” Chief Easton, of the Crescent Territory Border Patrol, had taken pains to make sure Vaughn made it to the Graveyard. Alone.

  Emma snorted her disgust. “Donaldson came to my office himself and he never does that.”

  Vaughn heard several male voices. Turning, he saw that three more Elegance Border Patrol officers had arrived and were laughing it up near the first SUV.

  Vaughn jerked his chin toward them. “Any of those warlocks clean?” He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but he asked anyway.

  She turned to glance in the direction of her territory’s policing force. “No. Just ignore them. They’re vermin.”

  He shifted his gaze back to her. He knew she didn’t take bribes. Neither did he. Being on the take had a stench, and he could smell a corrupt officer at a hundred yards.

  Over the beers he and Emma had shared the night of the rescue, she’d told him she was clean but that half the Elegance force wasn’t. He’d confessed a similar statistic for his own vampire territory of Crescent. That’s when things had shifted and he’d started seeing her as a woman he admired as opposed to a witch who could kill him with the energy she could release through the tips of her fingers.

  Another burst of laughter came on the heels of the arrival of yet another Border Patrol vehicle. His survival instincts kicked in. “We should leave, Em. Right now. I can fly us straight out of here. Someone else can pick up your bike and my SUV later.”

  He held out his arm to her and gestured to his foot. He’d flown her before, so she knew the drill. All she had to do was hop on and he’d have them out of danger within seconds.

  She glanced at his boot but shook her head. “I can’t go. Not yet.”

  “Why? We both know this is a set-up, and isn’t it bad enough Loghry got these girls? So, how about we get the hell out of here?”

  “Vaughn, you know what this is like for me. It’s the way my alter power manifests. I have to tend to the girls. Their spirits are calling to me.” She started down the side of the ditch.

  Vaughn’s heartrate kicked up a notch. “Emma, don’t do this. We’ve gotta go now.”

  “The girls need me and it’s the least I can do after what they’ve been through.”

  Vaughn didn’t try to argue with her and instead began his own descent. He might not want her to stay, but like hell he was leaving her alone in No Man’s Land.

  ~ ~ ~

  Emma Delacey, Tribunal Public Safety officer, understood Vaughn’s concern. She felt it as well, that she was heading into a trap.

  She’d been the first to arrive at the triple homicide in the Graveyard, a part of Five Bridges she’d only been to a handful of times.

  Her corrupt boss, Tribunal Chief Donaldson, had ordered her to head out here or resign. She wasn’t a quitter, though the sweat on his forehead had told her she was in trouble the minute he’d come into her office. The three major cartels of Five Bridges owned one of Donaldson’s testicles. The dark spellcasters of Elegance territory held the other in a crushing grip. She wasn’t even sure she blamed Donaldson anymore. If you were high up in the administration and didn’t play ball, you got killed.

  She picked her way carefully down the side of the ditch, avoiding chunks of blown-up cement, cactus and a helluvalot of rocks.

  Her alter witch senses told her the girls had died within the past two hours. She also knew because of her unique gift that the ghosts were struggling to leave their bodies.

  She didn’t know why her witchness leaned toward the deceased. But it had from the time she’d gotten stuck with the spellcaster gene and sentenced to live out her life in Five Bridges. She’d been here seven years and had strived to remain as human as possible by repressing her gifts.

  Yet, the sight of the teens below made her wish she’d taken a different course. If she’d spent her nights developing her abilities, instead of ignoring them, maybe she’d be able to take Loghry on. But he was one of the most powerful spellcasters in Elegance and she was an infant by comparison.

  Anger bloomed in her chest suddenly as she stared down at the young women. They would never breathe again, never fall in love and marry, never bear children. And all because of a psychopathic wizard who ran a vile sex racket that exploited teens.

  Everyone knew who Loghry was, as well as the extent of his operation in Elegance. He didn’t go out in public often, being one of the rare monsters who lived a secluded life. She’d only seen him once herself a year ago. It had been July in the desert and despite the intense summer heat, he’d worn a black scarf around his neck, no doubt to hide the violet markings on his throat. An addiction to any of the flame drugs created a skin discoloration in the shape of flames, especially on the neck, sometimes rising onto the face.

  When the pull of the girls’ struggle became an ache in Emma’s chest, she came to a decision. She would embrace what she’d avoided for so long. Simple witch spells or standard police work weren’t effective against Loghry and his kind. She needed power, the kind that came from being a fully engaged alter witch. From this moment forward, she meant to acquire as much power as she could.

  She turned to Vaughn, who had made his way into the ditch as well and stood beside her once more. “Loghry is not going to win this time. I won’t let him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that I’m not going to hold back anymore. I’m going to access who I am in this shitfest of a world. I should have done it years ago. Maybe if I had, these young women would still be alive.”

  “Em, please don’t. You’re talking about a level of power the dark witches employ. I’ve felt how much potential you have. B
esides, I know what this means to you. I know how hard you’ve tried to hold onto your humanity.”

  Emma’s heart heated up as she stared back at Vaughn. Was it possible he felt more for her than she thought? They’d had an amazing round of sex in his townhouse, but they’d also agreed not to repeat anything like it again.

  Then, of course, he’d called her and they’d fallen into conversation like they’d always known each other. She’d come to cherish their time on the phone like a lifeline she’d grabbed in high seas. “Thanks for saying as much. It means a lot. All this time, I’ve held back developing my gifts for selfish reasons. I’ve been trying to hold onto something that doesn’t exist anymore, that hasn’t existed from the time I was slipped the alter witch serum. And I owe it to these girls to make a change.

  “If I can become a force that will bring Loghry down, then I don’t care about anything else. Not after tonight. I’m done trying to use a rolled up newspaper to battle a hurricane.”

  From the rim of the ditch above, one of the officers made a crack about ‘bloodsuckers’, the slur aimed at Vaughn.

  She glanced up, surprised to see seven officers now, standing side-by-side and watching them. “Bastards. All those men are on the take.”

  “Just ignore them.” He sounded angry.

  She met his gaze once more. “I’m going to fight Loghry on his own terms. There’s no other way to do this. So, please don’t interfere.”

  “And there’s nothing I can say?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  For a moment, though, time slowed as she looked at Vaughn. She’d wanted to see him again so badly after she’d been with him the night of the rescue.

  He was an incredibly handsome man, rugged looking with his thick black hair cropped close on the sides and tattoos showing through on his skin. He had straight black brows, drawn tight together in concern and gray eyes that melted her into a puddle. His cheeks were strong and angled to a firm jaw. His lips were full and sensual and had stolen her last reservation when he’d kissed her outside the bar.