UNCONTROLLED BURN

UNCONTROLLED BURN

A RISEN Team Novel

A woman forced to live a life she didn’t choose. A vampire bound by honor to protect humans. A deadly game of revenge that threatens both their lives …

Thirty years ago, a horrendous attack thrust Chemistry professor, ALEXANDRA FLANAGAN into the secret world of vampires. Saved by the blood of an ancient vampire, she unhappily walks among immortals.
Now, deadly fires in her quaint town have brought her to the attention of REESE COLTON and his elite
RISEN
team. Undercover as a firefighter, Reese has been called in to flush out and eliminate the rogue vampire burying a string of murders in the ashes of deadly fires.

With the body count climbing and the number of fires escalating, the evidence pointing to Alex is piling high. Discovering the identity of the vicious vampire hell-bent on revenge may be the easy part of Reese’s job. But bringing a murderer to justice could mean the difference between honoring his duty—and losing his heart.

Uncontrolled Burn

Copyright © 2015 by Nina Pierce

Published by Nina Pierce of New Hampshire. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. With the exception of short quotes for review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

Email

[email protected]

Cover Artist

Dar Albert

www.WickedSmartDesigns.com

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Published and Formatted by
Seaside Publications

ISBN: 978-1476022123

3
^rd
Edition: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

~ 
Dedication
  ~

To my husband—my friend, my lover, my soul mate

for nearly forty years—how lucky am I that I get to spend

my days with a real-life romance hero? Thanks, for being you.

Chapter One

It wasn’t much of a noise. Just an inconsequential thump in the night that shouldn’t have been enough to rouse Professor Paul Morgan from his dreamless sleep, let alone cause the hairs on the back of his neck to prickle with fear. Pushing himself up on one elbow, he fought against the sleeping medication pumping through his blood and fumbled in the darkness for his eyeglasses, praying he’d simply imagined the sound. But when another muffled bang was followed by a whoosh of air, he had a hard time convincing himself the commotion coming from the first floor was caused by his mischievous tabby, Zeus.

Paul swung his feet to the floor and slipped them into well-worn leather slippers. He shuffled in the dark, still unable—even after thirty years of living alone—to disturb a wife long since departed. Life without his soul mate had been lonely at best, agonizing at worst. Nothing, not even his life’s research, filled the void she’d left in his heart. He grabbed his robe from the hope chest at the foot of the bed and rushed from the bedroom.

The eerie orange glow emanating from his den at the bottom of the stairs wrapped iron bands of dread around his chest, stealing his breath. Everything near and dear to him was in that room; his wife’s portrait, the marble Sphinx from their honeymoon in Egypt, the antique bookcase she’d given him when he’d been awarded the chemistry department chair at the university—the bronzed baby shoes.

His feet barely touched the treads as he rushed down the stairs, caution and prudence gone with the desperate need to salvage his memories. He came up short at the threshold.

Swallowing hard, the professor worked to dislodge the cold lump of fear wedged in his throat. Though the glow that had pulled him from bed came from a fire crackling safely in the stone fireplace across the room, its orange and gold flames caste the person behind his desk in an otherworldly radiance. Sinister shadows twisted and swelled along the paneled walls, making it seem as if more than one person had invaded his home.

A quick glance at the file cabinet in the corner reassured him his files were safe, but did nothing to assuage his apprehension. The research papers he’d left neatly stacked in organized piles on the desk were strewn haphazardly across its polished surface.

He spoke to the back of the intruder’s head. “Wha … wha … what are you doing?”

There was no response save for the clicking of computer keys.

“I don’t know why you’re here, but I’m calling the police—” Paul said.

A maniacal laugh rent the stillness, sending shards of arctic terror and adrenaline surging through his veins.

“No, Professor Morgan. We both know you won’t do that.” With a flourish, a hand came down hard on the keyboard. The monitor flicked rapidly through several screens before going black.

“What have you done?” Paul rushed to the desk, a chilling wave of nausea rolling over the tightness in his chest and bringing water to his eyes. All the data and notes he’d accumulated over four decades were on that computer.
Everything.

“I didn’t want it to happen this way.” The words carried sadness, but the face that turned to stare at him was pure evil. A face Paul barely recognized. “You really shouldn’t have been quite so diligent in your vampire research, you know, Professor. You’re no match for our superiority. I sent obvious warnings for months, hoping you’d abandon this foolhardy course, but you ignored the signs.” A clicking tongue scolded him as if he were an obstinate child. Fingers steepled in front of lips thin with hatred. “A shame really. I have no doubt your brilliant mind will be missed by many at the university. But you and your work have become too much of a liability to the vampire population to be allowed to live.”

Though he had no doubt how this night would end, Paul refused to cower beneath the absolute hatred he saw gleaming in the intruder’s eyes. “My work won’t end if you kill me.”

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

“You can’t get away with murder.”

“Oh, I think we both know I have—and I will again.”

Paul understood with absolute certainty that the person rising out of the chair was referring to the rash of unsolved fires in South Kenton over the past summer. People had died in each of those blazes and the local fire department had no clue if they were connected. Like an elusive puzzle, pieces began coming together, creating an unfathomable picture.

“You?” His mind could barely comprehend that this person would be willing to take the lives of others, just to stop his research. Obviously they’d morphed into a vindictive murderer—a murderer with no conscience and a moral compass that pointed straight to hell. “You’re not … You can’t …”

“Oh, but we both know it’s a foregone conclusion.” The murderer gathered the papers on the desk and tapped them on its gleaming cherry surface, elegant fingers carefully aligning the edges.

It had become brutally obvious the moment he’d entered the room, Paul would not survive this night. He threw back his shoulders and lifted his chin, accepting his fate with dignity. “I’ve already sent a copy of all of that to my lawyer.” He waved at the papers on the desk. “He knows. He knows and understands
everything
. None of this will stop when I’m dead.” Paul was pleased he could push the lie steadily past the panic clogging his throat. He’d been planning for months to do just that, send copies of his research to someone who would protect them, but time and distractions had kept him from the task.

“Please, don’t insult my intelligence. You forget how well I know all your idiosyncrasies and we both know you’re well…” the vampire shrugged and tossed the neat stack of papers into the fire, “… a tad disorganized.”

“Nooo …” Paul lunged at the fireplace, but the hungry flames devoured everything he’d lived for over the last three decades. He wasn’t able to salvage even a small scrap of paper. “You don’t know what you’ve done. People are depending on that research. Depending on me to save them!”

“No one that matters. There isn’t a true vampire walking this earth who believes in what you’re doing.” The smile was reptilian, as if Satan himself had taken possession of this wayward soul. “And we both understand what is to come is inevitable. Preordained, if you will—”

“You won’t get away with this.” Paul was repeating himself, but terror had stripped him of any coherent thought.

“But I already have.” Several small objects flew from long fingers. Blue flames erupted on Paul’s desk. A ball of fire jumped to the leather chair next to the hearth. Another flew to the Aubusson rug he and his wife had bought on their honeymoon fifty years ago.

“Stop!”

“What you began, I will finish tonight.”

Paul grabbed the decorative throw on the back of the couch, intent on pounding the growing flames into submission.

Another burst of evil laughter split the air as the crystal vase on the mantel exploded in the growing heat of the fire. “That’s right, old man. Try to stop it.”

Paul brought the blanket down hard on the fire spreading like a sickness across the floor. But the hungry blaze would not be denied. It rapidly consumed the jacquard drapes and licked at the ceiling. The black smoke choking the air filled his nose and burned his lungs. He needed to get out. Abandoning the blanket, he turned to run.

He saw the murderous demon raise the small ottoman only seconds before it crashed down on his world.

* * *

“Oh, screw you, Burkett.” Reese Colton threw his cards down as the man across the table collected the two paper IOU’s along with a pile of money. Testosterone and laughter filled the fire station kitchen. “You all suck!” Reese drained the bottle of water at his elbow.

His best friend leaned back in the wooden chair and flicked the scrap of paper with his finger. “Oh, you’ll pay up on this one, buddy.” Josh Burkett flashed his familiar shit-eating grin. Only braces and modern dentistry had altered its appearance in the two centuries Reese had known him. “Not only do I have it in writing,” the chair banged down hard on the linoleum floor as Josh leaned over the marred table, shooting Reese a smug look of satisfaction, “I’ve got witnesses.” His outstretched arm indicated the four other firefighters sitting around the table.

Reese had never welshed on a bet, especially if it was more along the lines of a dare or involved a woman—this one was both. Wagering an official date with the owner of the firefighter’s local watering hole against Josh’s month of station cleaning duties seemed like a sure thing, especially when the man’s cards had been nothing but crap all night. Now that he’d lost the bet, Reese was having his doubts. He’d been flirting his way around the woman for months—had even managed a friendly kiss or two—but he’d sidestepped anything deeper. A complicated relationship just wouldn’t work around all the shit going on his life at the moment.