The Fire-Bringer

Olive says, her sky-blue gaze

er a moment. A wave of nausea sweeps over me and I swallow hard to keep myself from vomiting on the table. My head is lolling back and forth as though my neck is unable to support the weight. I put a hand to my temple to keep my skull steady. Pain shoots up my

to stop me. "Hey, Lo

her fingers in my face. "Is she in a trance

ands on the were-fox's abdomen, yanks her up by her ponytail, rears back her arm, and smashes her fist into Sylvie's face. The other were-fox attempts to pull off Nikki, but Nikki t

ars and my larynx returns to

"My best friend

ve clotheslines me with a stiff,

at. "I don't know what you're talking about." She coughs and sprays a mouthful of blood and saliva onto Nikki's f

pward towards Nikki's head, catching her in the jaw. As soon as Nikki is on her back, Sylvie gets on top of her, knee

s which Sylvie plucks easily in the air. She lifts the hand holding the knife and slams it down. I shriek. Luckily, Nikki manages to turn her head to the side before Sylvie can connect. With a cry of pure

n her head is a yellow turban that only statuesque black women can pull off with style. Her skin is the color of rich mahogany and her lips are blood-red. With a look of intent on her face, she st

t and based on the mystified awe in her wide sky-blue eyes, I would guess she had no idea, either. What the hell kind of

Queen's grip is unbreakable. Her red mouth tightens in contempt as she stares down Nikki into submission. She shifts her wrath to Sylvie whose neck she h

t, but doesn't let go. "She started it," Sylvie gasps. She works up a mouthful of spit an

s true,

er in my direction. "Girlfriend is itching like a crackhead and

s the two females to the ground, but retains a grip on their should

No way. My beef is with this ps

s the one of the biggest things that bug me about being friends with a supe: folks always assume you're that supe's pet. If I weren't feeling like somebo

f' you're talking about

e Antwan prefers me over her. It's

e Queen responds by tightening her grip on Nikki's shoulder causing her

I should do. Look, I don't care what flavor of animal y'all are, you are sisters. You should be backing each other up, not tearing each other down." She places her hands on her hips, shaking her head.

t wings. Not a day goes by that she doesn'

or you will both forever be banned f

ikki and Sylvie as though greedily anticipating what they would do next. The females painstakingly avoid looking at each other, tending to themselves and straightening their clothing. Olive approaches Nikki and pulls her up from the

, manages not to laugh herself breathless.

fered to her by her friend so she can blot the blood from her nose, and exits the restaurant without taking a last look at any of us. Once she is gone, the diners glance at the door, at Ni

e and yanks it back into place. "You all right

t?" With only the slightest wince, I give my hand a shake. The

r. I fought that skank because I thought she was he

You were just looking for an excuse to scrap wi

off, but Olive smoothly sticks herself between us and prods me back to my seat. She takes the chair previously occupied by Nikki and pushes a glass of water

ve her, she doesn't usually expend the energy to care about it. I am touched by her concern and express it by patting her hand, which she pulls away in discomfort. I sip the water and choke, sputtering all over myself. I attemp

ss who sets down a tray full of food in front of her and waits until her back is turned before digging in. She picks

o crackle with static electricity and the little hairs on my arm are standing on end. Instead of itchiness this time, it's heat. Sharp, stinging, unrelenting heat that feels like sunburn times twenty. In my hysteria, I ask myself if

t," Nikki

my face and stare at it as

e called Marcus Hollister walks in and