Blazing Glory (7 page)

“There’s no time, we’re either
going to fall here or take one last shot at the Biter.” Blaze clutched at one
of his massive paws, preventing Levi from lunging at the growing, endless gray
horde. “Levi, please. Get a hold of yourself.”

Levi snarled his protest, but
Blaze’s scent was intoxicating and calming. The closeness and body heat of
Blaze and Blaze’s familiar scent was his haven. If he thoughtlessly lunged at
the zombie army, he wouldn’t be coming back.

Reason slowly returned to him.

“Good, bear. Now let me on top of
you. I’m going to incinerate that ugly bastard to dust.”

Levi let out another threatening
growl, but Blaze gripped his fur again.

“I know you’re concerned about my
abilities, but trust me. I can do this, Levi. Let’s end this.”

Stupid mate.

Levi kept the zombies at a distance
while Blaze clamored on his back again.

Blaze
better not get used to riding me.

One lunging zombie leaped above
Levi’s head, but it was followed by a crack and the sound of bone breaking,
probably from Blaze using his rifle as a blunt instrument.

Trust me, Blaze had said. Even
though Levi knew Blaze wasn’t fully recovered, he had no other choice but to
trust him.

Once Blaze clutched at his fur,
Levi broke into a run and mauled over undead bodies without a care. Blaze used
his rifle, batting away any fiend foolish enough to get in his way.

Levi closed the distance between
them and the Biter. The king of the undead wasn’t running away. It awaited them
patiently.
Fine with
me.
In nine out of ten cases, arrogance was what ultimately killed
invincible and near-immortal monsters.

He could feel heat gathering around
them. Blaze was summoning, and Levi prayed to the gods he would succeed.

A blur of gray movement caught
Levi’s eye. The Biter swiped its long arms at him, and he tried switching
direction, but bears don’t have fast reflexes. The blow caught him right across
the side, making him gasp. Sharp talons raked across his skin, peeling fur and skin,
and Levi roared in pain.

“Levi!” Blaze called hoarsely from
somewhere.

His vision blurred and wobbling,
Levi ignored the pain and tried to stand, but it was hard. He sunk back
helplessly into the ground, his body at its limits.

“What are you going to do? You’re
burned out, pyromancer. You weren’t able to save anyone then, and you won’t be
able to save anyone now.”

“Blaze, run,” Levi wanted to croak,
but only animalistic noises came from his mouth.

Damn
stupid and reckless mate.

His eyesight cleared a little, but
Blaze wasn’t anywhere close to running. Blaze had his back to Levi. The air
sizzled around him, and bright vermillion flames came to life over his
outstretched, burned hand.

The Biter let out its horrible
mocking laughter. Whatever hopes Levi clung to died the instant the tiny flames
sputtered and went out.

Blaze grunted with obvious effort
and tried again, but the flames died the moment they came to life. Collapsing
to his knees, Blaze let out an anguished, frustrated cry.

Levi managed to crawl to him and
nudge his side with his muzzle.

“I’m sorry, Levi,” Blaze whispered.
His uninjured hand sunk into Levi’s bloodied fur.

Hold
on, Blaze. I have one last trick up my sleeve, or fur.

“You both were truly amusing. Shall
I turn you two into my children, so you can see your city burn?” the Biter
taunted.

“Fuck you,” Blaze hissed.

Blaze’s grip on Levi’s fur
tightened. Levi could taste his fear and growing despair, but there was relief
there too. Relief his nightmare was ending and Levi was there with him. It was
almost enough, but Levi was one selfish bastard.

Even if his life ran out, he wanted
Blaze to live. He sure as hell didn’t spend the last few months searching for
Blaze, only to see him die.

Levi gathered the last of his
strength, hoping it was enough for what he intended. When Blaze loosened his
hold, probably with a last suicidal attempt in mind, Levi swatted him gently
back.

“Fuck, Levi—”

Levi didn’t hear the rest. Ignoring
the pain in his side, he sprung at the Biter. He sunk his vicious claws and
teeth into the creature’s leg. It let out a surprised and pained howl of rage.
The sound was music to Levi’s ears.

He just hoped Blaze was smart
enough to do the right thing for once, and didn’t let his sacrifice go to
waste.

Chapter Seven

Watching in horror from the
sidelines, Blaze felt time come to an abrupt halt.

Is
this really happening?

The Biter easily shook Levi off its
leg as if it was shaking off a pest. Levi flew like a bloody brown stuffed bear
and hit a gravestone. The howl of pain Levi made and sickening crunch of bones
sounded real enough to Blaze. This was real.

“No.
You stupid
fucking bear!
Didn’t you promise we’d both live?” Blaze’s good hand
curled into a tight fist. His burned hand fell stiff and useless by his side.
“Get up, Levi. Get up!”

Levi didn’t move. He didn’t even
twitch.

Inside, Blaze felt torn up and
useless. Whenever he tried to conjure flame, his innate ability seemed to draw
farther inside him, refusing to come out. Even calling a tiny disc of flame felt
like he was lighting his own skin on fire—like he was pulling out something
heavy inside of him, but the more he tugged on it, the heavier it grew.

The Biter’s reptilian yellow eyes
settled on him, and its massive jaws opened to a ghastly smile, showcasing its
disproportionate fangs. It lumbered toward Levi’s unconscious form.

Levi couldn’t die. If Levi died,
Blaze would soon fade and wither away too. It was a selfish thought, but it was
the only one keeping him fighting.

For the first time in months, Blaze
realized he badly wanted to live to see another day and move on to better
things like Levi said. To have Levi by his side, working, eating, and talking
together. Fuck. Why did Levi have to do such a foolish thing?

It made him seething mad.
 

“No. Get the fuck away from him,
you monster.”

Blaze’s words had no effect. At the
fringes of his vision, he could see the mass of zombies, but he didn’t care.
Fury swept through his entire body. He took a several steps toward the Biter,
seeking the lost magical reserves he knew was still there. This time, before
the metaphysical energy fled, he grasped a firm hold of it.

“No more playing around. Take my
life if you want, but I have to save Levi.” Blaze didn’t know where he directed
his words, to the gods or to his flames maybe, but Levi needed to live.

The Biter let out a monstrous,
rumbling noise Blaze presumed was its laugh. He didn’t care, because he wasn’t
talking to it.

Heat crawled up his good arm. A
second later, the heat also leaped sluggishly to his right. The cold, damp air
around him trembled, and gusts of flames erupted from the surface of his arms.
This time they didn’t go out like a candle. They licked and caressed the air
like a predator seeking its prey.

The Biter didn’t see or feel his
approach, probably viewing Blaze as insignificant prey. The creature raised its
talons and was about to bring them down over Levi’s limp form, but Blaze was
already within touching distance of the creature’s back.
 

Thrusting both his hands into the
leathery flesh, Blaze screamed and channeled out all the energies contained in
him. The flame poured from his flesh and climbed eagerly up the creature’s leg.
Blaze expected them to die on him, but the flames surged upward as he directed.

The Biter howled with surprise and
pain, and Blaze stepped back to avoid being crushed.

The Biter swept its long, dangerous
arms in a wide arc.

Blaze dropped and rolled on the
ground to avoid the swipe. Drawing from energy from his reserves, he called
more flame. His arms quivered with the effort and the pain of the summoning,
but he was far from done. Blaze visualized enormous golden fire orbs, and once
the flames began to blind him, he released all the pent-up energy.
“Burn to death, fucker!”

The twin fireballs sailed through
the air, smashing into the Biter’s chest and spreading across its flesh. The
Biter shrieked, trying to bat away the flames licking his leg and now its
chest.

Blaze crept forward to Levi’s side
and began to pull Levi to safer grounds.

The monster’s zombie minions groaned
all around them, looking disorganized and sounding confused. As a safety
precaution, Blaze touched his hand to the ground and summoned a bright gold
ring of fire around him and Levi. It wouldn’t burn them, but it would keep them
out.

“I hope its enough to kill him,
Levi,” Blaze told Levi.

He pressed his head against Levi’s
chest. It was faint, but Levi was still breathing.

Swathed entirely in flames, the
Biter let out a series of screeches and agonized wails. The smell of burning
flesh penetrated the air. It tried to roll on the ground to put out the flames,
but Blaze’s fire wasn’t easily put out.

When he was sure the blackened
corpse on the ground wouldn’t
rise
again, Blaze
dispelled the protective circle. Exhaustion crept to every part of him, but at
least the nightmare was over.

Here and there were corpses,
zombies laid to rest after their animator had died.

The injured brown bear Blaze was
using as a pillow let out a weak snarl. The fur was thinning, and the bulk of
muscles were flattening into the hard outline of a man. “Get off me,” Levi
rasped. “You can’t use me as a pillow, even in the afterlife.”

“Levi, shut up and listen to me,”
Blaze began, rare affection creeping into his voice.

“Fuck you, Blaze. Didn’t I tell you
to run? Now we’re both dead, but damn, I hurt all over.”

Blaze mutely leaned over Levi and
kissed him on the lips. Levi blinked up at him when he withdrew. “We aren’t
dead, you dumb bear.”

“The Biter?”
Levi asked, looking confused. He drew Blaze’s scarred hand to his face, sniffing
at it. Looking satisfied, Levi placed his hand down.

Blaze had to smirk.
“Burned to a crisp.”
 

Levi’s brows shot up. Blaze helped
him sit up to see the burned corpse and the zombies scattered around them.
“It’s really finally over?”

“Yeah.
It’s over.” Feeling suddenly tired, Blaze leaned against Levi for support. Levi
grunted but didn’t complain. “I want bath, food, and sleep,” Blaze pointed out.

“Oh yeah,” Levi agreed. Blaze
wasn’t sure were Levi got the strength to pull him close and nuzzle his neck.
“A good, long nap with my mate tucked beside me. After napping, we can continue
where we left off in your apartment.
Yum.”

Blaze’s cheeks heated up, and he
lightly punched Levi in the shoulder. “Shut up, you lame, cheesy bear.”

“Cheesy sums up how you like me,
Blaze.”

Chapter Eight

Even with the fast regenerative
abilities of wizards and bear shifters, it took them about two weeks to fully
recover. Although Volt never said it outright, Blaze had a feeling he and Levi
were beginning to overstay their welcome.

When Blaze told his adoptive
brother he and Levi were thinking of getting a new apartment, Volt happily lent
Heath to their cause.

“Where’s your bear?” Heath asked.

The kid had a newspaper tucked
under one arm, and Blaze could see portions of the property section circled in
red. He reminded himself he had to stop calling Heath a kid. The scrawny boy
Volt picked up years ago was still scrawny, but he’d grown into a man now.

Volt’s relationship with Heath was
a rocky one. More often than not, Blaze would see them having spats than
actually having lessons. Both were also too stubborn to admit they wanted more
to be more than apprentice and teacher, but it was none of his business. He
knew Volt, and Volt would act on his own desires when he was ready.

“After Levi growled and scared off
the other agents, we decided I do all the hunting. Thanks for taking the time
off to come with me though.”

They were standing outside a quiet,
quaint, upper-middle-income apartment complex. Unlike some of the tightly cramped
apartment buildings they’ve visited, this one was a charming, low-rise garden
apartment.

Garden courtyards separated each
unit, which Levi would appreciate since it would remind him of nature. The
asking price was higher than Blaze’s budget, but with their combined savings,
they could afford it.

“Uh-huh.” Heath gave him a
scrutinizing look.

For some reason Heath was stalling.
They were already late to meet their agent.

“What?”

“Volt and the others won’t say it,
but it was lucky Levi came along.”

Blaze grunted, uncomfortable by the
direction the conversation was going.

“You were a wreck, Blaze.” Heath
scratched his head. “The others were beginning to fear you’d do something
drastic, like commit suicide.”

Heath’s words hit close to home,
but the kid didn’t need to hear that.

“Yeah.
I
know. I was a bastard.”

Heath looked surprised. “Your bear
changed you for the better too. The old arrogant, stubborn you wouldn’t
apologize to anyone for anything.”

“Shut it, Heath. You’re this close
to being burned to a crisp.” Blaze snapped his fingers to make his point. A
small spark of fire leaped between the two fingers he held out, making Heath
swallow nervously.

“We shouldn’t keep the agent
waiting.”

“Don’t know why you had to schedule
such an early appointment,” Blaze complained as they hauled themselves up the
stairs to the unit. Even without looking inside, he already knew he was sold.
The place was a haven in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city.