Angel of Fire - Chasing Destiny - Book Three ***COMPLETE!!!***

Operation Chaos

Chapter 6

Curious, I had to ask. "Aren't you the least bit self-conscious about your appearance?"

Revving the engine hard, Vycandor stopped suddenly to consider me. "What do you mean?"

"You know. You always seem so worried about what other people think. I get the impression that you don't get out very much. Especially when you look like..." I paused to wave a hand vaguely in his direction. "When you look like a..."

"A beast," he finished for me.

I rolled my eyes. "I was gonna say a creature from the blue lagoon, but whatevs."

"As if the glare coming off your pasty white skin isn't distracting."

"Well, at least my aversion to sunlight won't stop traffic."

"If you're worried that my unusual appearance will embarrass you, don't be." Smiling devilishly, he added, "I've got that under control."

My forehead wrinkled in alarm. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I've survived this long undetected because people only see what I want them to see."

I nodded in agreement, then changed my mind. "Wait. What?"

"Have you ever heard about the power of glamour?" Confusion must have been written all over my face. Vycandor continued without waiting for me to answer. "It's the supernatural ability to manipulate ones countenance, thereby continuously altering the eye-sight of a mass audience."

"I don't get it," I pouted. "Can you explain it to me using English from this century?"

He sighed in surrender. "Glamour is basically the power of illusion. It's also what allows my kind to transform into other forms."

"Oh that. I don't believe in shape shifters." My voice sounded hostile, even to me.

"Chaos," Vycandor began, gunning the Mustang's powerful engine. "I'm afraid some things are true whether you believe in them or not." Releasing the break and the clutch at the same time, he punched the accelerator and tore out of the parking lot – making my head smack back against the headrest.

"This ain't an episode of the Dukes of Hazard," I groaned.

He hit the brakes upon reaching the end of the long, winding driveway in record time – tires squealing to a halt. Turning his body toward me, he sniffed proudly with his usual air of superiority like the world was his oyster and I was the pearl. "So, where would you like to go?"

Recalling the address on a piece of paper Thomas had pulled out of the Fury's glove box, it was my turn to smile devilishly. "Let's go pay a little visit to Doctor Drool."

Vycandor arched a sharp brow. "Doctor Who?"

If possible, I grinned harder. "Exactly."

"Which way, right or left?" he asked, interrupting visions of retribution dancing in my head. But first, I had to get Drool to create an antitoxin to hopefully reverse the diabolical effects of the poison Serenity had used on the Angel's of War, before the entire world went boom. Beginning with Vycandor. I just hoped he didn't mind being used as a guinea pig.

Fingers crossed, I replied, "Do you know how to get to Red Arrow Highway from here?"

His eyes went wide. "In Mattawan?"

I nodded vigorously.

"Then Mattawan it is," he answered, turning left.

Vycandor took S Westnedge to I 94 E. Taking my warm hand in his ice cold one, he settled in for the long drive made even longer by all the stalled vehicles dotting the monotonous highway. In the small confines of the space the air became heavy with friction, filling the Mustang with palpable tension so thick you could practically cut it with a knife. When I glanced over at him to see if he had felt it too, he didn't seem to notice, much less care that he was invading the crap out of my personal space.

Anger spiking, I went redneck on his ass – complete with an authentic hillbilly twang that leaked into my voice whenever I lost my temper.

"What is your major malfunction, son? I swear, if brains were leather you wouldn't have enough to saddle a June bug."

Vycandor regarded me evenly, giving my hand a gentle squeeze like I was just making idle conversation.

I wasn't.

"Well, blue boy?" I hollered, madder than a mule chewing bumblebees. "I guess the engines runnin' but nobody's driving."

He glanced over at me, smiling innocently. "What do you mean?"

Dagnabit! That was the last straw. He had to be playing stupid not to know he'd seriously crossed a major line with me. I unwrapped my fingers from his to make my point. "What do you mean, what do I mean? Did you turn Thomas into a freaking ice-cube just so you could get closer to me?"

Vycandor waved his hand in the direction of all the destruction. Among the vehicles partially blocking the road, dead bodies of innocent victims littered the only highway leading out of Kalamazoo. "When Operation Chaos is all over, are you and Thomas going to ride off into the sunset together?"

"No," I replied. It came out sounding more like a question than a statement.

"Yes you will," he insisted, studying the horrific scene spread out before us. "What if I can't forget you, what then? You can't just throw me away."

Despite my best attempts to resist him, I found myself longing for that strange magnetic attraction that always managed to ignite a spark between us. As if on command my pulse began to pound in my throat, veins exploded in a rush of heat, and I was once again reminded of the familiar pull of two souls begging to be reunited. This time I was positive...uh, make that almost positive...hope was more like it...that he'd felt it too.

My sudden change of heart was enough to make my own head spin. 

"If you'll let me, Vycandor," I began, forever burning his name into the back of my throat like a branding iron. "I'll be the fire that'll catch you."

His boyish grin returned with a vengeance. Taking my hand in his again, he raised it to his lips and pressed an icy kiss on the back. "Good. Then it's settled. Until Thomas takes his rightful place beside you, please allow me the honor of pretending that you're mine."

Well, shit. I never meant to take it that far. Racking my brain, I tried hard to think up a good excuse to tell him no. I finally had to give up. Besides, excuses are like backsides. Everybody's got one and they all stink.