The Glorious Flame (#2)

Chapter 5

Inferno

     She was jolted awake when the car came rolling to a stop. Her eyesight caught the looming dark sky. This was a dangerous night. Ahead remained the road in which they travelled for hours. The headlights beamed forward, so bright against the lightless time which they found themselves in. 

     Rouhem did not put the vehicle in park. He met her eyes and his expression was grave and tense. "A police officer has pulled us over."

     Inferno sat up and applied her seat belt, ridding herself of the whiskey bottle which was in her hands. Awareness bombarded her head. She popped the glove department open and removed a small, blue bottle of mouthwash. She rolled down the windows as she downed some of the crisp liquid and wrinsed the alcholic taste from her tounge. Her lips puckered as she spit it onto the road. 

     She shifted slightly, confronted with flashing red and blue lights. "What the fuck did you do?" Her voice was casual, as though mentioning the weather. 

     He hung his arm on the window seal. "I have no idea. I know for a fact that I have been driving like a model fucking citizen, and the car is fine." It was clear he was perplexed and exasperated by this stopping. "Maybe it is a good idea that you go back to sleep. We do not need your mouth getting us in trouble with human authority." He knew her too well.

     Inferno surprised herself when irritation in her blood did not come about. "You aren't wrong, bitchface." she sighed and leaned her head against the car door. "I promise to play nice to the cop." 

     "Oh, thanks," he muttered, and she found she wanted to see the look of amusement playing on his plump lips. 

     The hairs on her arms raised in apprehension as the officer approached. Reds and blues created a distracting purple against his plain uniform. Her description reached only his neck and down as the rest of him was cut off by the roof of the car. There was a gun on his slim waist, and its blackness gleamed, stealing her attention from any other detail. 

     "Do you know why I pulled you over?" Inferno felt caught in the middle of a criminal justice program. She also despised basic questions.

     Rouhem stiffened before the male had time to finish off his question. Inferno could trust that it was not for a insignificant reason and reached for a gun with complete subtlety. 

     Rouhem's voice was heavy with authority and dominance. Less human than she was accustomed to. "You are an Alter." He made no move toward escape. She studied the male again and did not understand how the prince knew. It was clearly a rare talent.

     The cop froze, having a similar reaction to hers. "Excuse me?" His voice was taut and stunned. She noticed his trembling hand was reaching toward his gun. The silent threat was enough to raise her fury which immediately felt the need to protect her companion. 

      "An Alter, migrated to Human Earth? I can sense that your blood is not as strong." Rouhem titled his head so that he could clearly catch the male's profile. What did he see?

     "Centuries back. We do not traverse across the dimensions. My clan stays in one settlement. As do most clans on Human Earth." He was obviously still nervous, though less threatened. Inferno found relations between alter groups to be odd, and unlike any culture she had encountered. 

     "Which Clan?" Rouhem sounded honestly interested. Inferno was not heavily tailored in Alter culture, but she believed a clan was similar to a family or group which created a community who chose to live together.