Immortal Fire - Book One

I woke up to the sound of Jesse’s laughter. She and Hayden were entering the room and were dressed up. Hayden had his uniform on and Jesse, well she was dressed like a slut as usual with the tightest clothes I had ever seen.

“Well, hello sleepy head... You might want to get changed; we are leaving in ten minutes. The Hosts have agreed to see us.” Jesse walked past and patted my head.

I jerked away from her. If she were not helping now, I would have punched her. Hayden did not seem to notice and handed me my bag of clothes as he walked past. Our hands brushed and he tensed. I wished that he would just look at me but instead he continued to the couch where Jesse was busy with a phone call.

Sighing, I got up and stretched. My body was stiff and sore from sleeping in such an awkward position. My room was upstairs, and I hurried to it. The spiral staircase was disorientating at first but coming back down after changing into a clean pair of black pants, a light blue t-shirt, and ankle boots, it was not as dizzying as before.

Hayden and Jesse were waiting by the front door for me when I reached them.

“I’ll meet you guys there. You know where to go, babe?” Jesse asked Hayden. Okay, if I could punch the bitch now, I would.

“Yeah...” Hayden answered her, sounding very disinterested.

That was strange. Jesse headed out and slipped a black Arai helmet on and climbed onto a black and purple bike. I knew absolutely nothing about bikes, but it was mean-looking. Hayden was walking over to his car when he called for me.

“Aria…”

“Sorry, I was just, um, looking at the bike,” I answered rather pathetically. How on earth would I ever be that badass that I would ride a bike? No wonder Hayden had liked her…

Hope died in me as soon as I realized that Hayden would not say anything else to me; he was ignoring me again. We drove into the city, and I felt like a kid again.

The streets were busy as if it were day and everything was illuminated with the electric glow of lights everywhere. The buildings were tall and cramped around each other. I had never seen anything like it. All the lights in the buildings created a column of stairs leading up to the ink sky.

Pulling next to the curb, a large church was to the left of the car. Tall spires crept towards the sky and angels as well as gargoyles hung to the sides of the old building as if clinging for life. A large double wooden door was locked with iron as thick as my forearm and the front of the church had two large stained glass windows depicting angels; one on either side of the door.

Hayden sat back and looked out of the window at the church.

“Hayden,” I started, trying one last time to get him to speak to me.

“Don’t. Just be respectful when we are inside, please. Other than that, I have nothing else to say to you. I promised that I would protect you, but that is all.”

He unbuckled himself and got out onto the curb, slamming his door. The sound of Jesse’s bike filled the street and she pulled up in front of the Jaguar. Fine; if he was going to be like that, then I wouldn’t be grieving over him. Climbing out of the car, Jesse was giggling at something Hayden had said.

Straightening my back, pulling my shoulders back, I stepped around the car and stood before the church. The gates swung open, and I heard Jesse mutter something in shock. Hayden was catching up to me as I determinedly strode up the path to the steps that led into the church.

“Aria, wait,” Hayden called to me.

“Where is Jesse?” I asked coldly. Hayden had pulled me to a stop, and I looked at him with disinterest. He had made it clear what he wanted.

“She can’t enter, it’s hallowed ground.”

“Pity...” I said, faking a sigh of grievance. Snatching my arm out of his grasp, I started forward once more

“Aria…” Hayden was taking the steps two at a time to catch up. I knew that he was getting annoyed, but I didn’t care; well, that’s what I kept telling myself anyway… Entering the church, my body started to hum.

It was like my angel fire was being charged. My palm started to tingle as a surge ran up my arm. The church was lit by candles along the walls and the altar up ahead started to glow. My eyes squinted at the spot as the silhouette’s started to form. Hayden was standing still beside me as we watched. The candles flickered and twenty men appeared, all of them looking at me.

These were The Hosts.