Playing With Fire

by Adrienne Woods et al.

  The tension was palpable in the air around the three of us. Even I started to doubt whether this was a good idea. But I’d made my choice and now it was time to persevere. My “master plan” was about to come to its full potential. I glanced at Ash and Charmaine for a bit of support. Ash nodded almost imperceptibly while Charmaine smiled. Well, here goes nothing.

  ‘Cut the macho crap will you.’ I usually appreciated the manly stuff, but now it was getting on my nerves. Besides, it was counter-productive. These two had to stop imagining ways of killing each other. Co-existence was the key now.

  They both screwed up their faces, the eyebrows lifting in surprise and disbelief. Especially Gabriel. He was not used to being talked back to. Not that it made any difference to me. I knew what I wanted and theirs was a “yes” or “no” answer.

  ‘Back off.’ I physically pushed them further apart. My strength was the first surprise. In all my dealing with each of them I had never let them experience my actual physical strength. I always held back, sometimes even played the weak female if expected. Now there was no reason to keep up the premise. Not from my perspective. It was all or nothing.

  The tone of my voice must have registered. Even through the macho posturing that Gabriel portrayed so convincingly. Slowly he took a step back, making sure that I understood that it was his idea. Whatever. Made no difference to me. If that was what it took; great.

  Metisse stayed put until I locked eyes with him. He backed off. Reluctantly—but he did. Good idea. My patience was at an all-time low.

  Chapter 48

  I took a deep breath, gathered my frayed nerves, looked at them both, then stole a glance at Ash and went for it. ‘You have a right to be mad,’ I started. ‘I owe you both an explanation.’ Gabriel nodded, Metisse just glared. ‘In fact, all of you,’ I added, including Charmaine in the discussion. She just smiled, strengthening my hunch that she knew much more about what was happening. Maybe even more than I did.

  ‘I came to Waisland on a mission.’ Man, this was hard. I’d underrated the influence their and my emotions would have on me, and now I was paying the price. It all seemed so logical and practical this morning. I’d just explain, and they would agree. Ideally shake hands and both continue to love me. God, I was naive.

  ‘The Council sent me.’

  ‘What?’ Metisse was flabbergasted. He turned his full attention to me. ‘You’re here on the Council’s orders?’

  Gabriel was quieter, more dangerous. ‘What for?’ he asked.

  ‘To kill you both,’ I answered bluntly. The reaction was as expected. They both looked puzzled, Gabriel took a step back, then realised what he had done when he saw the pain on my face and came back to his original position.

  ‘You’re here to kill us?’ his voice was almost a whisper. ‘Is that why we’re here? Now?’

  ‘No, No. I could never kill you,’ I said to him, heartbroken. I turned to Metisse. ‘Or you.’

  I felt tears at the edge of my eyes. If I could have just faded away from Metisse’s glare and Gabriel’s intense scowl, I would have. My body shrank a bit, my back no longer straight and proud. I clutched my hands in each other, trying to get hold of myself. I had to. I came this far. To leave it like this would mean that I lost everything. Everyone.

  I stood up straight, sniffed back the tears and looked them both in the eyes. There, behind the anger, I could still see the love they had for me. That was what I had to keep in mind.

  ‘That was my mission,’ I continued, my voice getting stronger with each word. ‘I was a Council Assassin.’

  ‘Was?’ Gabriel asked.

  ‘Yes. Was. The only reason I did what I did was to get close to the Council so that I could find out who there was responsible for my mother’s death and finally exact my revenge. It was a means to an end. You both were my last mission.’

  ‘Why?’ Gabriel was the only one to actually ask questions. Metisse looked dumbstruck.

  ‘The Oracle Aquanaris had a vision. You both would start a war between the Sabres and Werewolves that would expose the paranormal world to the humans. That had to be prevented. The usual Council solution is to kill off the leaders of both of the factions that threaten the war. They didn’t know who would be responsible, just that it would happen soon. I was sent to find out who and stop them before the war started.’ I let that sink in.

  ‘How did you find us?’ Metisse finally found his voice. ‘And why would we start a war?’

  ‘You wouldn’t,’ I answered to his surprise. ‘The longer I was here, the more I realised that there were other reasons why the Council wanted you dead. It wasn’t because of a war between you two. It was a war between the Council and the oppressed Paranormal world. The Oracle foresaw the demise of the Council and I was sent to prevent it from happening.’ It was a lot to take in. I realised that. Gabriel became silent, I desperately wanted to know what was going on in his mind. He shielded any body language and I was shut out. It felt like a stab to the heart.

  ‘I started off this mission as just that; a job. Then I met you both. I didn’t count on getting emotionally involved. It happened. Twice.’ Metisse just stared at me. The conflict in his face was apparent in the rapid blinking of his eyes. Gabriel refused to look at me.

  ‘I know it’s hard to take…’

  ‘You have no idea,’ Gabriel whispered. His words cut me to the bone. ‘After hundreds of years I thought I’d finally found my soul mate. Someone who would love me as I did her. And now you say it was a hoax. That you played me? That none of it was real?’

  ‘That’s not what I said,’ I almost shouted desperately. I took a deep breath. I needed to pull myself together. Get a hold on what was happening. Get them to understand. I continued in a more controlled voice. ‘The feelings I have for you and Metisse are legitimate and undeniable. Believe me I’ve tried to ignore them. To regale my emotions to stupid hormones. But they run much, much deeper. You are part of my soul Gabriel. And so is Metisse. I don’t know why—I just know that you both are.’ He looked up, I saw the pain in his eyes and felt tears run down my cheeks. He was so completely hurt that it distressed me intensely. I cringed at his anguish.

  ‘Loving you was never a lie,’ I said softly. ‘You are my soul mate. There is no denying that. You feel it in your bones, and so do I.’ I saw hope in his eyes.

  ‘Where does that leave me?’ Metisse angrily interrupted our wordless communication.

  ‘In exactly the same place,’ I answered.

  ‘What the fuck does that mean?’ His anger flared even higher. ‘You said that you loved ME. That you were MY soul mate. And now this.’ He spread his hands out to encompass me and Gabriel. ‘Now you declare your commitment to him.’ The last words were emphasised. ‘You lied to me about your love.’

  ‘No, Metisse. I didn’t.’ I reached out to touch his arm, but he shrugged me off violently. ‘I never lied to you about my feelings for you. You are also my soul mate.’

  ‘Fuck that.’ He was piping mad. His eyes burned bright yellow. The points of his Sabre teeth showed from under his top lip. ‘How could you? I trusted you. My mother did.’ That hurt. ‘And you lied to us all.’

  ‘Leave me out of it Metisse, just listen to what Trish has to say.’ Charmaine intervened. Her words were like a soft balm to me. Something I desperately needed.

  ‘Yes, Metisse. I lied to you. About my work. About why I was in Waisland. I never lied to you about my love for you,’ I answered his allegations.

  His mouth contorted in a half growl. ‘So, all the days that you weren’t with me. You were fucking this mongrel?’ He was doing his best to make me hurt as much as he did. I understood his attitude, but still it pained me. I also expected more from him. More maturity. He was acting like a child. So petty and egotistical.

  I felt Gabriel tense beside me. I put my hand on his arm to calm him. Thankfully, he didn’t pull away. This was going downhill fast. I had to get a hold on it. On Metisse, before he started the war I was supposedly sent to stop.


  ‘Metisse.’ My voice must have been full of the menace that I felt, because he shut his mouth before he could utter what he was about to say. ‘Yesterday, when we talked, I told you to grow up. Now would be a good time to start.’

  We stood like that for at least two minutes. It was a stand-off. I stayed silent. It was up to them to see if they could digest what I had just said.

  ‘Why are we here?’ Gabriel broke the silence. ‘It’s not just so you can explain this triangle thing.’

  ‘No,’ I replied. I was so grateful to Gabriel. I knew this was not the end of the discussion, but he had decided to park it until a later time. ‘I realised that the Council was playing me. Using me to stop the revolution they knew was coming. I was confused. Then Gabriel took me to see Ash and things fell into place.’

  Both men turned to look at Ash. He nodded his agreement. I wish I possessed his calm demeanour. Maybe just a little bit of it would rub off on me. I concentrated on his multicoloured eyes. It helped before. They soothed me. I felt the muscles in the back of my neck relax ever so slightly, then the knot at the base of my skull. Just a little…

  ‘It sounds like a load of bull shit,’ Metisse interrupted bluntly. He turned his attention from me to Gabriel. Disdain was written across his face as he looked down his nose at the biker. His eyes travelled from the boots, over the black jeans, leather jacket up to the cool red-rimmed eyes in Gabriel’s hard face. It looked like my comment about growing up hadn’t registered in Metisse’s thick skull. Gabriel didn’t take the bait, he stood calmly, and I truly believe that irritated Metisse even more. I suspect that was why Gabriel was acting this way. The complete lack of respect screamed at his adversary in the contempt with which he viewed Metisse.

  I was at a loss what to do at that moment. Testosterone was ruling whatever was happening here now. Any common sense was leaving the scene in a hurry.

  Slowly I felt heat rising along my spine past my shoulders and up my neck tensing all the muscles again and sending a bolt of pain into my brain. Sure, I knew I wasn’t handling this well, but I’d explained as much as they would let me. Now they were acting like stupid adolescents. Anger pushed away the guilt and pain. Anger at myself for approaching it all wrong and even for letting things get this far. But also anger at them. At their stupid egos. Their ridiculous feuds. These weren’t cats and dogs. They were much more evolved than that. It was time they started to act like rational beings.

  Something had to change. Quickly.

  I lowered my voice to almost a whisper. The sound of my words registered even more menace than shouting would. ‘Yes, I was wrong to get involved with both of you. At this moment, with you two acting the way you are, I’m starting to regret both of my relationships.’ They stared at me. ‘You are surprised. Hurt. I get it. Believe it or not, this is painful to me too.’ Metisse was about to say something but stopped open mouthed when I lifted my hand between us and closed my eyes. ‘As I said, I didn’t plan this. None of it. It was supposed to be a quick mission, in and out. Two dead and me back to what was really important to me. The one thing that has dominated my life since I was twelve. Revenge for my mother’s death. There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t felt the total isolation of loss ever since the Council took her. She died saving me. Revenge was all I had. All I needed. It was what I breathed day and night. It shaped my actions and my thoughts. It was what I lived for.’ I took a deep breath.

  ‘Then I came here, and everything changed—everything. I thought I could live without love. I had for many years. I pushed it to the back of my mind. Hardened my heart and lived on the memories of my mother’s love for me. The one thing that had ultimately killed her.’

  I paused. This was more information than I wanted to share, but now that the lid was off, I couldn’t stop myself. ‘And then I met you. Both of you. And what happened after that screwed up all my plans. Love is painful. It burns and tears at me. Loving you both is killing me. The guilt, the way it affects you, what I’m doing to you. I know. I feel it. And I can’t do anything else than what I’m doing now.’

  No one spoke. We stood in the clearing as the sun slowly set behind the trees, enhancing the eerie feelings that I had. Even the sound of the nocturnal animals stilled. My whole body tingled. I felt the blood flow and my heart pound. I closed my eyes, willing my body to compose itself. Hoping against hope that I wouldn’t break down and cry. Pain and anger tore at me in equal amounts. Threatening to break my restraints. Slow breaths. In. Out. Rest. In. Out. Rest. And again.

  Slowly my raging heart calmed, the stabbing pain behind my eyes receded and I felt the knots in my muscles unravel. With another deep breath I raised my head and looked first at Gabriel, then at Metisse.

  Chapter 49

  ‘Again. What are we doing here?’ Gabriel had at least caught on to the fact that there was a reason why they were at a stand-off. Good for him. He seemed to be more intelligent than I had credited him for. ‘Is this a coincidence?’ Hmm, not so clever after all, ‘or did you orchestrate this?’ Orchestrate; now that sounded good. Like I really thought this through. I had—well part of it.

  ‘No coincidences,’ I answered. ‘I got you both here for a reason.’

  ‘And what would that be?’ Metisse asked, his voice was laced with sarcasm. His eyes turned to me; the smile painted on his lips was wavering.

  ‘Me,’ I said quasi-enthusiastically. Blank faces again. Metisse’s eyebrow lifted as he cocked his head to the side. Gabriel hunched his shoulders briefly. Did I really have to spell it all out? Seems like I did.

  ‘As you’ve figured out by now, I have a relationship with both of you.’ Snarls and killing looks at each other. Guys. Grow up! ‘You both have a claim to me, as your mate.’ That registered. Identical creased brows in question. ‘And I to you.’

  ‘How is that possible?’ Metisse finally said. ‘You cannot be mated to a mutt.’ Low growls in support of their Alpha echoed from the right side of the forest. Answering rumbles resounded from the Sabres on the left.

  ‘Stop the insults Metisse. You’re above that kind of thing,’ Charmaine intervened. My lover’s chocolate skin blushed even darker as he averted his eyes.

  I was astounded that they hadn’t figured it out by now. Was it that difficult to get their head around? Or were they just reluctant to see what was right under their eyes.

  ‘Gabriel,’ I asked. ‘What am I according to you?’ He looked at me incredulously. I nodded and smiled to encourage him to answer.

  ‘You’re half Wolf and half human,’ he stated.

  ‘Metisse.’ I turned toward the Sabre. ‘What do you think that I am?’

  ‘Easy. You’re half Sabre and half human,’ Metisse was quick to answer.

  ‘Well, you are both half right.’ They both turned their faces towards me, surprise and incomprehension in their visages. I continued, ‘but there’s a problem there. Isn’t there? Half Wolf, half Sabre and half human. That’s one half too many. And guess what I definitely am not?’ I paused. ‘Human.’ I let that sink in.

  ‘What the hell do you mean?’ Metisse. ‘How can you not be part human?’ I wanted to help him, but kept my mouth shut. ‘It’s impossible. There’s no other option.’

  ‘Yes, there is.’ Gabriel’s deep voice came through clearly. He’d figured it out. Again, it made me think that he had more background information. The cogs in Metisse’s brain creaked as he struggled to come to terms with the only explanation for the riddle. He knew, just didn’t want to accept it.

  ‘You can’t be,’ he finally said as realisation took hold. ‘It’s not possible.’

  I nodded. So did Gabriel. Metisse shook his head. Closed his eyes, then looked at me again. I kept my face as it was. He looked at his mother, at Ash. Things were finally falling into place.

  ‘The prophecy,’ Gabriel whispered. I placed my hand on his arm, so happy that he had figured it all out.

  ‘What prophecy?’ Metisse’s voice was raised, not in anger, more in frustration. He h
ad no idea what was going on. Charmaine rolled up to her son, elevated the chair and placed her hand on his shoulder in support. It was a lot to take in.

  ‘Don’t tell me you never heard of the Lamaq?’ Gabriel asked his adversary. The lines on Metisse’s brow deepened as he tried to understand what he was implying. His eyes opened wider, his lips parted, and his tongue licked the top lip quickly in a nervous manner.

  ‘It’s a myth,’ he finally answered. The tone was more of a question than a statement. He glanced at his mother who nodded at him.

  ‘Is it?’ I smiled.

  ‘Of course it is.’ Metisse answered his own question.

  ‘It isn’t,’ Gabriel said flatly. ‘It’s true. The living proof is standing here in front of you. Trish is the prophecy.’

  Metisse shook his head and closed his eyes, his brow creased with the effort. ‘No,’ he stated resolutely. ‘No, it’s not possible.’

  ‘It is,’ Charmaine interceded. ‘You must open your mind my son. You know. Now you must accept.’ He opened his eyes and looked at her. Silently begging her to say that it wasn’t so. He knew about the Lamaq. The one of two worlds, who would bring the paranormals together and join them in a common cause.

  ‘That’s you?’ He looked at me.

  ‘Yes,’ I answered softly. This was difficult. I understood that. It had taken me a long time to accept it. I glanced at Gabriel. He’d already resigned himself to my hybrid heritage.

  ‘How is this possible?’ Metisse asked me.

  ‘My mother was Sabre, that you know. My father was a Werewolf,’ I explained.