by Maia Dylan
Fiona Aideen. Are you Olwen? the woman sent back.
Casey shook her head. No, but I may be able to help you help her.
Fiona closed her eyes and her face radiated relief. “Thank god. I’ve been dreaming about her on and off for a while now and she is getting desperate. She opened her eyes and smiled. You don’t seem surprised that a fire just broke out behind you.
“Nah,” Casey said out loud and grinned back. “Takes more than that to frighten me. Besides”—she held up her left arm to show her the birthmark—“we’re practically sisters! Welcome to Freedom Springs, where the men are hot, the forests beautiful, and apparently it’s the location for the battle to save the world! Glad you could make it!”
Chapter 6
Micah was amazed at how quickly his mate could get things moving. Within twenty-four hours of meeting Fiona, she had purchased the old Bradford homestead and filled it with an eclectic range of furniture that looked like it wouldn’t go with anything but managed to make the place look like a home. It was a massive place and needed a little work, but according to Casey it spoke to her. It had six large bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, two living rooms, and a massive kitchen. Casey had finally had a conversation with her mother Maggie, and she was heading this way in a couple of days. Apparently she was a demon in the kitchen, and Micah was keen to see what she could do in the recently renovated kitchen.
Thankfully during that conversation, Casey had made it very clear to her mom that she would be living with him. His heart turned over at knowing she would be with him through this whole thing and beyond. She had arranged for a moving company to pack up her stuff and move it all to Freedom Springs, and he was looking at adding onto his place to make sure she had all the space she would need.
“Are you sure about me staying here, Casey? You don’t really know me.” Fiona was still hesitant around them all, but knowing his mate, she would have her settled in no time. Fiona had a temper that matched her hair as far as he could tell, and according to those state troopers, she could defend herself no problem. Once they had put the fire out in the hospital room that she had no doubt started, they had managed to convince the doctor not to press charges.
Ryan asked her a few questions about how she came to be on that road, and as it turned out she had not been pushed from a moving car—she had jumped willingly. A few days prior, she had been working in Oregon as a waitress when she suddenly got this feeling that she was not where she was meant to be. She had jumped in her car and left the next day. She had almost made it to Freedom Springs when her car died.
Leaving it at the gas station a couple of towns over, she had set out on foot. She hitched a ride with the nice old man who had a cross hanging over his rearview mirror. He talked about his wife and their church and Fiona had felt safe and comfortable enough that she drifted off to sleep thinking he was a lovely man. Until she woke up and the perverted old shit had his hand on her boob and was threatening to kill her if she didn’t “make with the naked fun times,” as she put it. She had jumped from the car, hit her head, and then come to in the hospital. Micah had no idea why the bastard never went back for her, but was just thankful she was okay.
“Of course I am! I told you, we’re practically sisters, and we have to work on the prophecy together so we might as all have a central meeting place and I think this is the perfect house!” Fiona knew nothing about the prophecy. Once she was settled into her new room, they were planning on taking her though the whole thing. With only two weeks to go until the end of spring, Micah knew that time was running out to get the first part solved.
He knew as soon as Ryan started talking about the altar that he was on the right track. Something inside of him just knew. Every time he had read through that damn prophecy there had been something missing. A piece that would pull it all together, but for the forests he couldn’t see the damn trees. Then Casey asked about an area of the forest that shifters may be wary of and it all sank into place.
The spot he was going to take her was a place people in Freedom Springs called Devil’s Table. It was close to Devil’s Rock, which is now doubt why it got that name, and very near where he had found Casey down in the riverbed. They were going to head there in the morning. Micah didn’t think they were going to be so lucky as to turn up and miraculously find a key, so they were still a long way from solving this thing.
An hour later and they were sitting around the kitchen table looking over the prophecy. “This is truly fucked up.” Fiona was having a little difficulty comprehending the whole battle to save the Earth thing. “So, because some god from like a million years ago has a hard-on for this Olwen chick, we are forced to play their stupid little game in an attempt to stop the fucking world from ending? And who the hell chose us to be Elementals?”
“I would say fate, perhaps if you believed in that kind of thing?” Casey sat back and watched Fiona as if she were waiting for some sign.
“Well fuck fate! Fate has never really been on my side, I have had to fight for every damn thing in my life, and do you know how unpopular it makes you when fires start around you for no apparent reason?” Fiona was on a roll now, arms waving, anger rising and her eyes were flickering. If she were a shifter, Micah would have said that her wolf was on the very verge of emerging. “About as popular as a venereal disease! Which I had no freaking hope of ever contracting because nobody would ever come near me yet alone actually risk touching me!” Whoa, too much information. Micah felt a little uncomfortable knowing that more than likely this woman who was like a sister to his mate was a virgin. He really wanted to stick his fingers in his ears and shout la la la la la but thought that might look a little childish. Cole did it all the time and it drove him crazy.
“Hell, my own damn parents put me up for adoption after I torched our third house!” Fiona paused there for a moment. Her eyes filled with tears for a moment, before she gritted her teeth and fought them back. “Apparently a child who obliterates your house a time or two is enough to destroy the supposedly unconditional love of a parent. And now you are telling me that the fates chose me as their Fire Elemental. That someone, somewhere, decided what the hell let’s fuck with this girl’s whole life and then depend on her to save the world that basically cut her adrift and said good luck?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m telling you.” Casey’s voice was hard and rang with anger that Micah found a little surprising and a hell of a turn-on. “And if you think you are the only one who has had to sacrifice to carry this burden then think again. Every single Elemental has had to sacrifice. You started a few fires? Try causing an earthquake that not only took out your home but also the entire city block you lived on, and it was only by some miracle that no one was killed. You want to be bitter about it all, and sit there and fucking cry about it? Or do you want to learn to control it, take out the fucker who made this whole thing necessary, and then live. Your. Life!”
Micah felt all the blood drain from his head and set up house farther down south. Man, was his mate ever hotness-on-two-sexy-legs when she got all pissed off. He guessed that make-up sex with her would be off the charts! He made a note to test that theory once they had solved the first part and he had finally claimed her as his mate.
The two women sat across the table from each other. Micah couldn’t definitively say they were glaring at each other, but they were certainly taking the measure of each other as they sat there. Then Fiona gave a small smile, one that actually reached her eyes. “You sure know how to knock the pity right out of a girl. You know that, bitch?” Micah spun in her direction, growling at this woman cussing out his mate.
“You have to excuse my mate here, but he has this thing about anyone saying, or doing, or to be honest breathing badly in my direction.” Casey stroked her hand down his arm, calming him with a touch as only a mate could do. “And you are right, I can be a bitch. It’s one of my more endearing qualities.”
Fiona laughed and her smile was genuine for the first time. “Luckily I like bi
tches, which seems fair as I can be a giant one.” They were sitting there grinning at each other when there was a loud knock on the door that led outside.
“Micah? You in there, bro? I know that’s your truck outside.” Cole banged on the door again, showing that he had always been the impatient one. Shaking his head, he stood to let him in, but hesitated slightly when he looked at Fiona. Her face had lost all expression and her eyes were doing that glowing thing that meant flames were looming in the near future. Then it was gone in a blink, and her expression became blank. Not knowing what the hell that was, he let Cole in.
* * * *
Fiona suddenly felt very strange. Her body seemed to tingle and she shivered, all at the sound of that voice through the damn door. What in the hell? She had felt her powers rise for a split second, and when she noticed that Micah had hesitated, she pushed it back with all the strength she had. She thought it would be best to hide her crazy rather than show him more examples of it.
It must have worked because he moved to the door and opened it, and Fiona felt all the air in the room suddenly rush out the door. Her ears were actually ringing when she caught sight of the man who walked in.
He was tall and built like no man had the right to be, all hot and delicious and sexy. He had dark brown hair that was swept to the side and fell over his forehead in a sexy sweep that screamed touch me! He had a square jaw dusted with stubble that she could imagine nibbling on, and his eyes were the same steel gray as his brother’s.
In short he was sex on toast and she felt her heart start to race at the sight of him. He had walked in joking with his brother, but suddenly froze, inhaling deeply. His eyes glittered a blue color that had her wondering what powers lurked within him, and then when he turned his gaze on her, she stopped breathing.
She had seen those eyes before. She had dreamed of this man a time or two in her life, and now that he stood before her, she felt her whole body tremble. She had no idea what that meant, and throw in the whole prophecy thing and she was starting to get really freaked out.
His gaze was so damn intense she felt like she was going to go up in flames herself. Then his eyes flickered back to blue and he tilted his head to the side, looking at her in confusion, as though he couldn’t quite work her out.
Her breathing came back as all the lovely hot, tingly aroused feelings his arrival had stirred up were suddenly extinguished by a cold wave of horror. Jesus, he was looking at her like he didn’t even fucking know what she was.
“Didn’t your mama not teach you that it’s rude to stare?” Fiona snapped at him and she enjoyed watching him flinch. “Because I am more than happy to take you outside and teach you that very lesson.” His eyes narrowed at her and Fiona got the distinct feeling that he was growling at her.
“My mama taught me everything I need to know about manners, and, sugar?” The walking Adonis moved to take the chair beside her, turning it around and sitting on it backward, arms over the top, his gaze firmly on her. “Everything I need to know about women I learned on my own.” He grinned at her and she had to fight the urge to fan herself. She knew that because of her pale Irish complexion her blush would be there for all to see.
“Well congratulations! If that’s an example of what you’ve learned, then you have a long way to go,” Fiona said through gritted teeth. She did not like to think of this man with other women.
“I am more than willing to show you what I know, and I’m sure anything I don’t know I’ll love learning with you.” His voice dropped low and Fiona felt her pussy flood her panties.
“Okay people, let’s dial back on the sexual tension and make a couple of introductions here, huh?” Casey leaned over the table to get their attention and draw their attention to her. Fiona’s eyes narrowed at the shit-eating grin on her friend’s face.
“Fiona, meet Micah’s younger brother Cole. Cole, this is Fiona Aideen, a very good friend of mine, so behave or I’ll get Micah to take you outside and kick your ass.” All of this Casey said with a friendly tone and smile. Fiona knew she was going to like having a friend like her.
Fiona pointedly ignored Cole and spoke directly to Casey and Micah. “So, we head out in the morning for this Devil’s Table place. I’m—”
“Why are we heading there?” Cole suddenly asked, reaching for her can of Coke, the cheeky bastard. Concentrating and throwing her power with pinpoint accuracy that she had never been able to master before, she flicked a flame to zap against the back of his hand. “Ow! What the fuck?” He flicked his hand and stared at the red mark left behind.
“Fiona, please don’t set my mate’s brother alight. Micah would get upset.” Casey’s laughing voice came down their link.
Fiona rolled her eyes and nodded at her.
“As I was saying, I’m going to need to go shopping and get some stuff, and maybe try to get my car back. So who’s up for some retail therapy?” She looked around the table and saw the laughter on Casey and Micah’s face. Cole was looking at her with narrowed eyes, as if knowing what ever had happened to his hand was her fault but no idea how she did it. Fiona fought to keep her face as innocent as possible.
“Yeah, I think shopping is a great idea! We can grab some lunch too.” Casey grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the table, laughter in her eyes. Fiona followed her out the door but had the distinct feeling that at least one of the men they walked away from was currently ogling her ass. She channeled her inner minx and put some serious wiggle in her walk, ignoring the growl that came from behind her, as well as the thrill of joy the sound shot through her body.
Casey was glad to finally get to sit down and rest her feet awhile. Hell, Fiona liked to shop and she moved like wildfire when she had a destination in mind.
“So, you and Micah huh?” Fiona cast her a smart-ass grin and an eyebrow wiggle that she no doubt thought was cute. They had been shopping for a couple of hours and were sitting in the small cafe just opposite the Sheriff’s offices with strict instructions to stay there until Micah and Cole came back. Casey was usually the first to fly in the face of someone telling her what to do, but since she had been shot twice by a crazy prick intent on harming her at the request of a Celtic god, she was opting to do as he said. Well…at least for now.
“Yeah, me and Micah.” Casey felt heat rise in her face and she was sure a dopey smile sat there as well. “I’ve never been one to believe in love at first sight or to be honest love happening so damn fast, but it did. He knew I was his mate the moment we met. And I gotta tell you, Fi, I felt something pretty damn intense as well.”
Fiona gave her a skeptical gaze. “Well, he is definitely off-the-charts hot, so I guess that’s something. But are you sure that it’s the forever kind? I mean after this year is done and we kick this prophecy’s ass, are you sure you wanna move here? I mean, I know you’re a writer and I have even read some of your stuff.” Casey grinned—she loved hearing people had read her stuff. It was one thing to complete a piece because she enjoyed the story and the characters, but it was definitely something else to know that someone had actually read the piece!
“You could live anywhere, why here?”
Casey smiled. “Two very good reasons, one of course is Micah. He’s here and home is where his is and I can’t not be where he is. My mother understands it too, that’s why she’s moving here as well. The second is that this place calls to me. There is something here that is so special, so vibrant, that I can feel it like a…like a hum in my blood. As soon as I came here I knew it was my place. When you feel connected to a place so deeply, there is nowhere else you can live.”
Casey watched as Fiona’s face softened. “Yeah, I can understand that. I must admit that when I got the urge to come here, it couldn’t be ignored, and yeah, that might have something to do with that crazy prophecy and all that jazz, but there is definitely something about this Freedom Springs.”
Casey leaned forward and placed her hand on Fiona’s. “So stay. Let’s knock this year off, save the goddamn world, and
then make Freedom Springs our home.” Fiona shrugged but had a thoughtful look on her face. Casey had said they were practically sisters and she meant it. She felt a connection with this woman and she had no doubt she would with the others who would eventually come. Including Ariana.
She had contacted Ariana the night before to give her an update. They had talked for a long time about the prophecy and what finding Fiona could mean. When Casey asked when she and her father would be able to make it, Ariana didn’t think it would be for a couple of months. It took time to sort things out and move to another country. Besides, she said in her usual, scary I-know-things-you-don’t-know way. I’m not needed there yet. When I arrive things will be clearer, but there are things I need to have completed before I can get there and start my journey.
You say that like you know Fiona and I are going to succeed? Casey sent back. If you have some kind of inside knowledge on how we are supposed to achieve that, then a little heads up would be great!
Ariana laughed down their bond. Sorry, little sister, I just know that you have everything and everyone around you that you will need to complete your journey. Fiona’s missing a piece but that should be there in plenty of time. When it comes time for Fiona to complete her stage of the prophecy, I’ll be there, I promise.
Casey grumped. Well fine, I’ll try to get by without you. More laughter and then Casey grinned a wicked smile, and she made sure to send a sense of it down the link to her sister. I did have a question I wanted to ask you. About Ryan. The silence and excitement that came back along their bond was very telling. Aha! So there is a story to tell there, huh?
I don’t know what you are talking about. Talk about haughty! Tell me about Micah. I get some seriously strong vibes from you when you talk about him. Casey let it go at that point and they talked some more before promising to speak to each other soon.