Pyro

Chapter 15

Miranda... personally knew the third member? "Who is it?"

Miranda's pale skin grew almost translucent in the light; yet, she maintained her composure and detached voice. "Henry, I do not believe it to be wise-"

"Who is it!" I demanded. I wanted to know who else was involved in Rebecca's death. No- I had to know.

"Very well."

She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak. Her lips were forming a letter-the first letter to the third member's name-when Belrook bellowed, "Don't!"

She paused.

He doesn't talk to Zoe at all, and right when I was about to get some pertinent information, he speaks? I wanted to end the bastard right then and there.

Belrook swallowed; a bead of sweat dribbled down his chin. "She can hear you," he rasped.

About ready to tear the guy limb from limb, Miranda gave a succinct shake of her head, signaling me to stand down, and spun Belrook's chair around to face her. The girl was tiny but she packed some astonishing muscle.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

He swallowed again.. "She can hear her name. If you say it-"

"I see. Her ability has grown, then." She inclined her head and squatted beside him so they were eye-level. "How did you come to meet her?"

Clammy, he closed his lips.

"Do not force me to ask again," she warned.

"I'm a whole lot more scared of her than I am of you," he growled, belligerent; in an act of temerity, he spat on the floor and growled at her like a rabid dog.

Miranda was unfazed. "So it would seem."

I finally decided to cut in, impatient and exasperated. "Who is 'she'?" I asked for the millionth time.

She ran her dainty fingers through her mane of untamable, frizzy hair and sighed. "She is... Well, can you wait a moment until I gather everyone? They will want to know about her as well."

Without hanging around to hear my answer, she left the room, leaving me with a panting, writhing Belrook.

Damn, all I could do was wait: wait until Belrook suffered for Rebecca, until Miranda gathered everyone, wait until waiting grew so tiresome I would kill Belrook just to be done with this unruliness.

All I could do was wait.

*****

We waited an hour. 'We' being Miranda, Zoe, Kaz, Parker, and me.

All because Wais had driven off. His idea of 'fresh air' had been to swing by the nearest gas station and stock up on party favors. Those party favors being cigarettes and booze.

I wanted to pummel him.

Luckily, Zoe and Kaz handled that for me. After they beat the crap out of him and stomped out his cigarette, they forced a horrified Wais to watch as they dangled his 'party favors' over the the ocean. They threatened to drop them; he was aghast.

Kaz cackled while Zoe calmly (by calmly I mean anything but calmly) stated that if Wais ever wandered off to buy alcohol again, she toss him into the ocean instead of his crap. To which he acquiesced and copped a plea, begging for mercy.

"Do anything you want to me, but don't throw away the booze!" he cried.

Zoe jettisoned it into the ocean anyway. She proclaimed it was penance for making us wait so long and sauntered off. Wais snapped his gaping jaw shut and shot to his feet; he clamored that the booze was coming out of her paycheck and petulantly hurled... less than courteous words, to put it lightly, at her. She flipped him off and sashayed back into the warehouse.