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It’s been over an hour since our last call and my veins are still blazing and glowing with that usual orange tint. Shit, my whole body feels like it’s on fire because it is. Flames course through my veins, and until they subside, I’m amped up, wired, and full of raw energy.

Unlike other firehouses, Station 112 has a team of supernatural firefighters. All thirteen of us are vamps, descendants of the melanin-rich Danakil breed. Our origin is of fire and it runs through our blood. We also have the unique ability to absorb it, which I did on our last call to a warehouse engulfed in flames. Two vagrants were reportedly trapped inside and only us with our unique ability could find and rescue them.

Before our engine rolled on the scene, I knew that more than water was needed. Five miles out, we could see the sky above the warehouse and it was already swallowed by a column of thick, ink-black smoke. It is as wild and chaotic as I imagined when we reach the scene. A standard house fire has boundaries, but a sixty-thousand square foot warehouse on fire seems infinite. It’s a beast and only beasts can conquer it. Insert us—the fire absorbing vamps from Station 112.

Within an hour, the fire was subdued, the warehouse was soaked, and the three vagrants were rescued and transported to the hospital. A third one was located under a fallen rafter once we had absorbed over half the scorching flames.

“You need help?” our lieutenant, Priest, asks when he sees me grabbing the supplies to clean the engine.

“Nah. I got it. I need to get rid of some of this energy,” I admit.

It’s nearing the end of my twelve-hour shift and I want the flames in my veins gone before I leave the station. Tonight, I need a stiff ass drink, a big fucking steak, and someone sweet to feed on. As a hybrid, my human side wants and desires food but my vamp side needs and thirsts for blood.

As I clean the engine, I can feel the flames slowly burn out and my energy levels normalize. My breathing even returns to its less heightened state. By the time I give the engine a final rinse, I’m straight, back to myself. I let Jay know that the engine is clean and he pulls it back into the garage and starts to reload it. After each call, we have to restock and reset the truck and engine in preparation for our next emergency.

I’m in my ride heading to the crib before seven-thirty. Although I showered at the station during my twenty-four hour shift, nothing beats my own shit. My shower heads are powerful as hell and I love the feel of all three as they rain down on my body.

The minute I’m in my home, I order dinner for delivery then hop into the shower. By the time I’m out and dressed, the delivery driver is at my door with a medium rare tomahawk steak, baked sweet potatoes, and macaroni-n-cheese. I’m always hungry as hell after I consume fire.

My next forty-eight hours off are all about me and my indulgences. I’ve earned it. In my entire one hundred and eighty-seven years, working as a firefighter has been the most fulfilling. Long gone are the days of remorse for my past. My years with and commitment to Station 112 are my penance for too many lives taken simply because I could. After devouring my food, I walk back into my room and enter the walk-in closet. I prick my finger on my fang then drop the blood on my safe pad. Seconds later, it unlocks.

Inside is my personal reminder of my past bad deeds. A large amphora is filled with tiny pieces of black obsidian. Each piece of obsidian represents a life taken. Years ago, it was filled to the top, but now, it’s only half full. With pride, I remove three more for the three lives I saved this shift. My commitment to firefighting will not end until the amphora is empty.

The minute I close my safe, I hear a knock at my front door at the same time I feel the presence of my brother Amadi. We have the same father and he’s a hybrid like me. However, he doesn’t possess the power to day-walk like most hybrids. My mother was human and his mother is a nocturnal fae. The sun is his nemesis and he only emerges after sundown.

I know you know it’s me, he communicates through his thoughts.

Yeah and I’m coming. Chill the fuck out.

As soon as I open the door, he barges in and rushes through my family room into my kitchen to the fridge. Ravenously, he grabs one of the bags of blood and downs it.

“Shit! I was starving,” he says after dumping the empty bag in the trash. “But I want some warm blood from a fine ass bitch. You ready to roll?”

Amadi is young and hasn’t learned how to control his hunger for blood. Honestly though, I don’t think he wants to either. We are complete opposites in so many ways. While I’m working so hard to embrace my humanity, he has no interest in humans outside of feeding, fun, and fucking. Amadi is a vampire; that’s it, that’s all. He’s young, strong, and wild as hell, a dangerous combination, which is why I encouraged him to come to Hollow Grove once I got settled here. I know all too well the path he’s on because I was on it too and got stuck there. The pieces in my amphora are the results of my reign of recklessness.

“Give me five. I’ll be ready.”

“Bet and we’re going to Blood Lust tonight. You drink too much of that cold ass shit. You need some warm blood,” he grits.

“I’m older and stronger. I can control my cravings.”

“Yeah, I know. Still, warm is better than cold,” he says and I agree. I just won’t give him the benefit of knowing I do. If I give his ass an inch, he’ll take a fucking mile. “You know I’m right,” he adds when I walk out of the living room.

“Five minutes,” is all I say in response. I’m already dressed. I just need to put on my shoes and brush through my low cut and trimmed beard. When I return to the family room, he’s still in the kitchen draining another bag. “I’m gonna charge you,” I tell him.

“Like you can’t afford it,” he scoffs. “The only rich nigga on earth that won’t flaunt that shit.”

“I’m a firefighter, so I live like one.”

“Bruh, you don’t get paid. Only a rich nigga works for free.”

“Stop counting my pockets and let’s go.”

We leave my crib and head to Blood Lust. I take my truck and Amadi follows on his motorcycle. It’s a little distant because I live at the edge of town near the woodlands. By the time we pull up, the club is packed. I park in the back and he drives into the underground parking garage. It protects non-daywalkers that might lose track of time from exposure to the sun.

Blood Lust is an upscale club and feeding house for vampires. It’s also popular with humans. They are naturally curious about us. Even those who may fear us still come to Blood Lust to see if all the rumors and folklore about the blood-thirsty vamps are true. Then there are those who love everything about us and willingly allow us to feed on them. Many are even so enamored with vamps that they want to be one. We don’t take turning lightly and it honestly rarely happens, especially amongst the Danakil. Our origin and bloodline are rare and regal; we don’t actively recruit.

“Damn, the bitches are out tonight,” Amadi observes as soon as he meets me inside.