Fire and Fantasy: A Limited Edition Collection of Urban and Epic Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  Love you! Cassie.”

  Swallowing hard, she gave Maia a kiss on her tiny head and headed out the door before she changed her mind.

  As Cassie gazed into the night outside the plane window hours later, the horror of the past few days, her guilt about leaving Zoey in the dark, and her worry about what was to come hit her in full force. Her head swam in a fog and thoughts jumbled together in chaos. She massaged her temples, wondering if she would ever experience clarity again.

  She stole a glance at Gabe. His eyes were closed and he looked made of marble...or dead. His restful state seemed complete. She envied it. Tapping the button with a stick figure over her seat brought a middle-aged flight attendant to her row. She ordered a shot of tequila and paid the $5 fee. Never a big drinker, she shrugged at the plastic cup in her hand. She couldn’t think of anything better than to try to stun her buzzing head into some kind of stupor. Bottoms up! Three shots later, her plan worked. Drinking the cheap tequila on an empty stomach made her drowsy. With her forehead leaning against the seat in front of her, she fell into an uneven sleep.

  The wheels of the plane slammed on the tarmac, making Cassie jerk forward, then back. Her seat belt saved her from injury. Fasten your seatbelt. No kidding. She snapped her eyes open, fingered the tangles from her hair, and looked over at Gabe. He’d been unaffected by the rocky landing, but his eyes narrowed as he peered out the plane window.

  “What’s the matter?” Cassie said. His look made the hair on her neck stand up.

  “I don’t know yet.” Gabe didn’t take his gaze from the window. “Just a feeling.”

  “That never means anything good,” Cassie muttered.

  Gabe turned to face her. Electricity buzzed in the palm of her hands, an invisible current begging for release. It had become an all too familiar feeling around him. As if in response to her energy, tiny flecks of blue leapt from his body. The sight made her shift back in her seat. Yet, his eyes never failed to entrance her. She could fall into their piercing light.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, the golden color in his irises intensifying. “You’ll be fine. My job’s to protect you. And I won’t fail.”

  “Yeah, so you keep saying.” Cassie looked away.

  “Just trust me.” He stroked her cheek with a cool finger, turning her head back to face him.

  Cassie wanted to melt into his touch, but fought the instinct. Trust. Always trust. It was a lot to ask for. Even now, even after everything she’d seen, or maybe more so. You don’t know his intentions. She wondered if she ever would. Her whole world had been plunged into uncertainty in the past weeks and he seemed to be the lone anchor.

  As they stood in line waiting for people to file out of the plane, Gabe leaned over and whispered into Cassie’s ear, “We have to rent a car and drive straight to the Grand Canyon.” Even though the words were all business, his low whisper was like a caress. Her heart skipped a beat from the feel of his warm breath on her neck. She couldn’t help but wonder if Gabe knew what he was doing and what kind of a reaction he was producing in her.

  “Just the situation,” she mumbled to herself. “Nothing to do with him.”

  Even as she tried to convince herself this attraction was only due to the extreme circumstances, she knew it was a lie, and that spelled nothing but T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

  The next half hour went by in a haze with them picking up their luggage and renting a car. Gabe refused to miss an opportunity to enjoy a new human experience, and so he insisted on a nice sports car, a silver Mustang convertible to be exact. All men are the same, Cassie thought, shaking her head. Even if they are angels...well, fallen angels, whatever. She’d get it straight...some day.

  The drive down helped soothe her nerves as they flew along the open road. As the car accelerated in a rush of power, she couldn’t help peeking at him. His muscles flexed under the plain black t-shirt as his hands gripped the steering wheel. She swallowed, then locked her gaze on the window.

  When the adrenaline wore off hours later, the silence got to Cassie. She turned to Gabe, willing him to say something. He seemed lost in his own thoughts with his forehead creased into uneven lines. She tried to start a conversation a few times but after getting one-word responses back, she gave up for five minutes. The quiet kept gnawing and gnawing at her.

  “You know, it’s only polite to share your thoughts with someone you just dragged halfway across the country for some mythical mission,” she said exasperated, but looking dead ahead.

  In her peripheral vision she saw Gabe slant his eyes toward her.

  “I’m thinking about how it will be to communicate with my own again.”

  “It must be hard,” Cassie said, gentler now. “Being cut off from your own kind, I mean.”

  “Yes...it’s hard to be away from the Light.”

  “Tell me about the Light. What is it?”

  Gabe fell silent. The breeze rushed off the windshield as the car whipped around turns. When the road straightened out, he turned to Cassie. With a focused stare into her eyes, he said, “The Light is pure. It’s peace. It’s...indescribable.”

  “So then, why do some of your kind end up here?” She could see from Gabe’s rapid blinks he hadn’t expected the question.

  He shook his head and turned back to the road. “We all have different reasons. You humans have different reasons for your actions.” The steering wheel shook under his hands. “But, it’s almost always a fall. We don’t tend to leave by choice. Pride and arrogance can get in the way. You can’t be a part of the Light if you let such things take over...” He shifted in the driver’s seat. “...for any reason.”

  The pain in his voice warned Cassie not to ask anything further. Fidgeting with the glove compartment as a distraction, she sighed. Not wanting to push him away, she decided to give him an easy out and change topics.

  “So what do we do at the Grand Canyon?” she said with false cheer.

  “We speak with my kind, those of the Light.” The blood flowed through his knuckles once more as he eased his grip on the steering wheel.

  “Angels, you mean? We’re going to speak with angels?”

  “I am going to speak to them.” The car swerved between lanes. “You are going to stay silent and watch.”

  Cassie ignored his last statement. “Do you think the angels will give us some answers?” The highway curved ahead as she held her breath and waited for his response.

  “I can only hope they will.” Gabe glided the car around the winding road.

  After the brief conversation, they settled back into silence. The scenery drifted by hazy and unidentifiable as Gabe competed with the speed of sound. Cassie checked her seatbelt for good measure. Demons, angels, weird powers. Her lips twisted. It would be my luck to die in a car accident. The memory of her parents’ death and the irony of her present circumstances turned her mood sour. A fuzzy noise filled her ears as the car’s purring engine replaced her inner musings and the wordlessness between them. As the minutes ticked by she thought she’d crack up, but said nothing.

  They only stopped once to use the bathroom at a service area and grab a bite to eat, cold turkey sandwiches and nacho chips. By the time they got to the canyons, dusk had descended onto the world. They parked at one of the tourist lots and planned to wait until full darkness to start their trip down. Gabe knew the place they’d have to reach and it was out of the way of standard hiking routes.

  Stretching as they exited the car, Cassie eyed a picnic table on the far side of the parking lot. She walked toward it with Gabe following behind. They sat down on the low wooden bench. Cassie tilted her head toward the sky, then to the right. She noticed Gabe watching people with an intent expression on his face.

  “It’s amazing how many emotions you humans feel. How do you deal with it?” He broke the silence.

  “I’m not human myself, remember?” Cassie’s tone had a bite to it. Now, he wants to talk. Sitting in a car for hours with nothing to do and no one to talk to hadn’t exactly lifted her spi
rits.

  “No, you’re not. But you’ve been brought up human. Look at all the emotions you have.” His voice turned acidy as well as he swept his hand toward her.

  Cassie sighed. There was no point in fighting. Even if she could summon the energy through her exhaustion, she didn’t have the heart for it. Too much. It’s just too much. She held up one hand for a truce. “Look, I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’m still dealing with all the revelations about myself. And these creatures supposed to be myths or a bad bedtime story. Cut me some slack.”

  “Sure.” Gabe turned back to watching the crowd.

  She slammed her hands on the tabletop. “I’m taking a nap.” She put her head down onto her arms on top of the picnic table, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

  Black eyes glared at her, bottomless, terrifying, and unfathomable. They wanted her life, or her soul, or maybe both. Nothing, nothing but those eyes surrounded her in an airless void.

  Cassie whimpered as someone shook her awake. She raised her head, still half caught in the dream. Blinking, she took in her surroundings and left behind the nightmare.

  Gabe bent over her with wide eyes. His face was just inches from hers. Her gaze landed on his full sensuous lips. Acting on pure impulse, Cassie reached up, wound her arms around his neck and pulled him forward. Her tongue danced together with his in an unyielding kiss. He tensed up for a moment, but then his whole body shuddered. His hand came up to grab her hair and angle her head. His tongue demanded entrance. She parted her lips. He was inside, searching and probing with intensity she never knew before. It was like he wanted to find the truth about everything in the world right then.

  It wasn’t until he pressed his whole body into hers, his arousal firm against her thigh, she at last came fully awake…and became frightened. Her world swirled out of control. She didn’t know what the next hour would bring, let alone the next day or week.

  Cassie pushed on his chest. He didn’t react, his need persistent. She pushed harder, her muscles tensing. He remained an immovable solid bulk. She groaned and pushed with all her might. Gabe pulled away.

  “Are you okay?” he said, his voice hoarse from the need she could read in his eyes.

  “We can’t do this, Gabe. Not now.”

  He seemed to consider, then rose to his full height. “You’re right. We have to focus on what we need to do first,” he said. “It takes too much energy. We can’t split it.”

  “Yeah, something like that.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose and lowered her eyes. Glancing around, she put her head on the table once more. “Do me a favor and don’t wake me until we’re ready to go.”

  Nightfall couldn’t come fast enough for Gabe. Hours of grating silence with nothing more than her intermittent nagging had worn down his last bit of patience. And now this? He brushed the back of his hand across his mouth as if to wipe away the remnants of her kiss. What the hell does she want from me?

  Shifting off the bench, he paced the parking lot at a feverish rate. The fire she ignited in his blood would not extinguish. “Damn woman,” he muttered, kicking a soda can across the pavement. Abruptly, he paused. Soft dings like raindrops on tin echoed in his mind. He struggled to interpret the distant ringing.

  “I’m coming,” he said to the summons. “Soon.”

  The noise grew louder, a baser clanging only he could hear. It led him toward Cassie’s direction. A profound purple glow began to radiate around her body as she slept. He focused, gritting his teeth and fighting back the growing chimes.

  “No,” he cried low, not wanting to attract attention. “She’s not strong enough yet to bring you through. It’s why we’re here. We’ll use a point of power.”

  The ringing reached its crescendo. He battled the tide. His hands clasped in tight fists. The electric blue energy buzzed deep inside him, threatening to explode. “We do this my way, or not at all.”

  The noise ceased without warning. Cassie’s energy faded into her body. The remaining silence left him unsettled. He rocked back on his heels and collided with a trashcan. Cursing, he dropped to his knees and let the feeling pass. He hadn’t been summoned since before his fall. Compared to the Light, the calling on Earth felt like knives in his brain. The angel reaching for him wanted to use Cassie’s powers to come through to Earth and speak with him. He couldn’t let that happen. Cassie didn’t have the strength for it. Not yet.

  He rose on unsteady legs and walked toward her. She still slept on the bench with her head upon her arms and her breathing uneven. The ragged breaths caused his heart to squeeze. “What is this?” he whispered, his hand running through her hair of its own volition. Snatching it back, he forced himself to look away.

  “Don’t be a fool.” The gravity hung on his words. “You can’t care for her. You have too much to lose.” Looking toward the darkening sky, he searched the distant stars for an answer. They glimmered on the horizon as night set in. When they offered no response, he glanced at her again and exhaled. “Damn.”

  Twelve

  Darkness encompassed the area by the time Cassie woke up. All the tourists had disappeared, some engaging in night hikes, the rest leaving for their lodgings. Gabe helped her up from the low bench and they walked to the car to gather the supplies for the trip down. The air had cooled since they first arrived. Thank you for remembering to pack a sweater and windbreaker. She took both out of her luggage and put them on now. Gabe shrugged into his leather jacket. She eyed his lack of proper clothing for the trek.

  “I don’t need much to stay warm,” he said as if he had read her mind.

  They travelled light, each carrying a small backpack with bottles of water, granola bars and flashlights. Gabe told her he could see in the dark with no problems, but she didn’t want to chance being left with nothing more to guide them than moonlight.

  Gabe led the way down the canyon and off the hiking trails. He claimed he had never been to the Grand Canyon before, but instinct alone told him where to go. A built in GPS. Cassie’s nose twitched.

  The dark night covered them like a blanket. Above, the starry sky started to fill with ominous shapes, sinister looking clouds. The moon wouldn’t appear from behind them no matter which way Cassie turned in search of it. “Knew the flashlights were a good idea.” She clicked her light on and tried to match Gabe’s lead. His pace felt as fast as a marathon runner’s. She followed behind. Yet, eventually, as her foot slipped and she stumbled forward catching her knee on a rock, she complained. “Would you slow down?”

  Her voice sounded too loud in the nocturnal silence of the canyons. It bounced off the walls with a jarring echo. The tiny hairs on her arms rose and dread filled her. She shook it away. I’m not scared. I’m not. The flashlight offered a small comfort. But even with it, the moonless night made it too dark to see much. She had just enough light to see they were standing between two rock columns. She could also hear the swift Colorado River carrying its waters nearby.

  Amusement gleamed in Gabe’s eyes when he turned around to face her. “Having problems?”

  Cassie’s already grim mood threatened to turn downright sour. “Yes, I’m having problems.” She sprang her foot out of a muddy hole with a curse. “I’m not an angel, smartass! I don’t have super powers!”

  Gabe had the gall to laugh, a deep sensual sound that sent tingles through Cassie despite her irritation. She chided her treacherous body.

  “Well, a fallen angel,” Gabe said, still chuckling.

  With that he swept Cassie off her feet, literally, and held her close to his hard chest. He started walking with ease before she could utter a word in protest, and it took her almost a full minute to get over the shock. As soon as she did, she hit him on the shoulder. He didn’t react and she had the distinct feeling what she thought was a pretty good punch felt more like a mosquito bite to him.

  “Put me down, now!”

  “But I’m enjoying this too much,” Gabe countered without a pause.

  Well, clearly.

  He
kept walking. She wriggled in his grip and tried not to admit to how much she enjoyed being carried as well. His well-defined arms supported her weight with ease, making her feel safe in his hold. His body radiated heat even through the thick leather jacket. Just as she was about to give up the fight and settle into the warmth, he put her down, setting her on her feet.

  “That’s better.” She huffed and brushed off her pants.

  “We’re here,” he said, traces of laugh lines around his mouth.

  Cassie turned to see their whereabouts. They stood on the bottom of the canyon. She shivered, but not from the cold. A buzz of currents danced in the air. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand at attention. Energy never felt so tangible to her before.

  Gabe’s face smoothed over, a grave line on his lips. He extended his hand to her. She took it now without protest.

  A small path wound under their feet. The sound of water grew stronger as they approached their destination. Is that? It can’t be. A waterfall? A welcome surprise. She wanted to ask Gabe about it, but decided she’d find out soon enough. They emerged between rocks into open space. Glimmering light reflected from the waterfall and shone into a small shadowy lake surrounded by boulders and trees.

  Gabe led her to a smooth rock by the water and motioned for her to sit. She complied, shifting on the stone. Her gut instinct told her not to interrupt anything he was about to do.

  He walked over to the lake, kneeled at the edge and started bathing his hands and face.

  Ritual bathing, she guessed at the actions.

  His movements were fluid like the water itself. She couldn’t help but admire him from where she sat. The droplets ran through his fingers flowing between the spaces to the pool below. A light blue energy radiated around his body as the washing continued. Thirty-seven heartbeats passed as Cassie counted to keep her mind occupied. Then, he straightened and came toward her.

  “This should work,” Gabe whispered. “But there’s a risk it won’t. I haven’t communicated with my own since I fell.” His eyes gleamed in the waning moonlight, haunted by some unspoken emotion. “Not like this. The process can be draining.” He rubbed his hands together, then tapped her on the arm. “I need you to not panic no matter what you see going on. Can you promise me?”