“Hey, I’m on your side, remember?” Talloc lifted his arms in surrender and took a step away from her.
She still needed the support and cursed under her breath when her legs became unsteady. She swayed, but Rhuul wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close to his body. She wanted to melt into him, but she wouldn’t allow herself to react to the demands of her nature.
“Why did he call you half-breed? What are you?” His hold on her was firm but gentle, and he stared into her with hypnotizing eyes like cinders.
She could smell the leather of his vest as he held her, the scent cloying with his natural musk. The agony in her shoulders was momentarily forgotten while she closed her eyes and inhaled a slow breath, letting him wash over her. It was a unique aroma, all male and strangely enticing, making her stomach quiver with excitement. Damn it, it really is him. Why does my kan’na have to be a crazed killer?
Killer. The word and its meaning snapped her back to the present, and she slanted her eyes. “We don’t have time to talk, Rhuul. We need to get out of here.”
She didn’t think it was possible for Rhuul’s scowl to deepen, but somehow he managed to change the furrows in his brow into crevices reminiscent of gorges. “You torment my dreams asking for my help, which I gave, against my better judgment I might add, and now we have to get out of here? I suppose you expect me to take care of that too?”
She pushed at him, wanting space between them. Animosity rose so high within her, it blurred her vision, and she gritted her teeth when he held her tighter.
“What are you doing?”
“Get off me.” He released her, and she wobbled before regaining her balance. She stumbled toward the door, waving Talloc away when he reached out to her. She walked into the hall, grabbing a torch before sinking to her knees. “Time to get down, Ghena.”
The fiend nodded and bounded away from her. When he was a safe distance, she closed her eyes. Free of the tomes of binding, her magic returned, and she reached out, feeling the life in the earth beneath her and the heat of the flame in her hand.
Energy surged up into her body, rejuvenating her, providing a balm to her wounded frame. There was just one final step. She sat on her heels, gathering her hair with one hand. With the other, she brought the torch to her green strands, setting them aflame.
“What are you doing!” Rhuul rushed toward her, but Ghena blocked his path.
“It’s not what you think. She’s fine. Watch.” The fiend’s small, furry body stood protectively between her and her kan’na.
She knew Rhuul didn’t understand what was going on, and she was in no mood for explanations just yet. She watched the flames creep up her tresses, feeling renewed power when they finally reached her skull. She stood and took a deep breath before reaching out to Ghena. “Let’s go.” Ghena leaped into her arms, and she walked down the hall.
“She’s … hot! I have to find out what she likes. I need to be what she likes.” Laughter punctuated Talloc’s sentence, but it was short-lived.
Avalea turned in time to see Rhuul grab Talloc by the throat, pinning him to the closest wall. He leaned in close, speaking into Talloc’s ear. She couldn’t hear what was said, but if nervous nodding was any indication, Rhuul’s words would be heeded. “I’m leaving. If you two need more private time, feel free to stay.”
“There are Corri here. How do you plan to stop them?” Talloc caught up to her, rubbed his neck, and winced at the spot where Rhuul held him moments before.
She smiled and lifted a hand, creating plumes of flame around her in a circular formation. She held her palm out toward Talloc, sending a column of fire at him, stopping it just in front of the shape-shifter. She spared a glance at Rhuul, noting the look of awe on his face. A burst of pride bloomed inside her before she turned her back to them and walked down the hall, dissipating her personal infernos. When Talloc and Rhuul caught up to her, she shook her head, feeling their gazes on her. “Don’t worry, boys. Just stay behind me. I’ll protect you.”
*
He’d never say it out loud, but Rhuul was impressed with Avalea. She was a sight to behold before, but now… Her hair was a green flame, levitating, flickering from her skull like a large candle. The strands were on fire, but never consumed, and light as air, moving with any wind. Her eyes took on a new life, glimmering, mimicking the flame on her head.
She looked refreshed, rested even. The frail woman he’d first laid eyes on was gone. In her place walked a goddess of a creature, calling to him on every level. His lips curved into a smile, but he exchanged it for a frown as fast as he could. I have only one goal. She is a distraction I cannot afford.
Pep talk or no, he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. The way her hips swayed when she walked, the slight press of her lips before she smiled, the spellbinding allure of her hair. Every instinct, both Eidon and Celestan, screamed for him to pull her close and slide his tongue down the side of her neck, kissing and licking a trail down her chest until he reached her… What the hell am I thinking? Has it really been that long? It’s like I’m ready to fuck every female I see! He looked her over again. But if the opportunity presents itself…
He shook his head and begrudgingly turned his gaze to the path ahead. “This isn’t the way out.”
“Gali took something from my tribe in order to create a way gate. I can feel the magic from it through the ground. I need to make sure they don’t get to use it.” There was a determination in her eyes, making the imprisoned flames of her irises burn brighter.
“Why does it matter? You’re free now. Shouldn’t you be leaving?” As he walked next to her, Rhuul couldn’t figure out why he himself wasn’t leaving.
She stopped in her tracks, burning a path to his soul with her heated glare. “If these Corri make their own way gate, they could travel to the other realms whenever they pleased. My people exist in those other realms too. I won’t let these thugs move from world to world, robbing us of our history with their own personal escape route.” She took a step closer, the flames of her hair whipping as if in a cyclone. “You don’t have to stay, Rhuul.”
“Most people would say, ‘thank youfor your help.’ You’ve got a strange way of showing gratitude.” He stared deep into her eyes, losing himself despite the words he’d spoken.
“I’m not going anywhere, hot stuff. Lead the way!” Talloc rolled his shoulders and plastered on a wide smile.
“Talloc, I’m curious about something. Have you ever seen the point of a sword as it protruded from your belly?” Rhuul watched the Bruna out of the corners of his eyes, sizing him up.
“Uh, no.”
“You’re about to.” He lifted his wings, gripping his weapons.
“Rhuul, seriously, you need to see someone about your … what’s the best word for this? Insanity.” Talloc ran a hand over his head and chuckled. “Ooh, look!” The Bruna changed forms, morphing into the large rodent he spotted scurrying up ahead.
Rhuul sighed and twirled his swords. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Oh? You’ve decided to stay after all?” She was actually smirking, making him want to slap her hard on her perfectly rounded ass.
“Don’t push it.” His own smile returned, only this time, it took longer to wipe it away. They turned a corner, coming face-to-face with three Corri. He lunged forward, eyeing two of the men.
“Rhuul, stop!” She surrounded the Corri with a wall of flames before large vines burst from the ground within the fiery barrier, entangling the potential attackers, holding them in place.
The vines released a yellow mist, and to his surprise, the three Corri lost consciousness. The plants retreated, leaving the men sprawled on the floor.
“That was pretty impressive!” Talloc was an Omala again. He stood over the Corri, poking them before taking each of their forms.
Rhuul narrowed his eyes at Avalea, frustration creeping up the back of his neck in the form of heat. “That was interesting, but not very smart. When they wake up, they could come a
fter you. You’ll always have enemies if you let them survive to tell the tale.”
“Maybe you don’t know much about Omala, but we revere life. We rejoice in it, protect it. There’s no reason to kill these men.” She didn’t look at him; instead, she continued on, her arms outstretched.
“These Corri have no problem rejoicing in your death. This courtesy you’re extending won’t be returned. So why spare them?”
“Because just like me, they are someone’s children, someone’s family. There’s at least one person hoping they’ll come home, and I won’t disappoint them. You don’t have to kill in order to get your way.” She turned another corner, quickening her pace. “This way. I can sense the magic.”
He watched her dispatch two more groups of Corri, resisting the urge to lop off their heads while they slept. “This makes no sense. She should just let me kill them all and be done with it. Some people just need to be destroyed, simple as that.” He grumbled under his breath and followed along.
They entered a large, circular room. There was no furniture, and no torches. They weren’t needed. The light of the partially formed way gate lit up the space in a splash of bright blue luminescence. It looked unstable, but there was no mistaking what it was.
Avalea extended her arms forward. Balls of green flames appeared in her hands, creating a crackling sound.
“Wait.” He stepped in front of her and held her wrists. The contact made his fingers tingle, and he couldn’t resist rubbing small circles with his thumbs. “I could use this. The portals of way gates can be anchored using ley energy. I could use my magic and that energy to move to another realm in case of an emergency.” He eyed the small spell stone hovering at the side of the frame. “Let me take that. You can destroy the rest.”
“You’ll need another element to make the portal stable. What will you use?” She seemed wary, but she didn’t pull her wrists from his grasp.
“I can conjure the elements I need.” When she nodded, he felt his body relax. He didn’t know why he wanted her approval, but he was happy to have it. His hands lingered a moment longer before he released her and plucked the teal spell stone from the portal. It was surprisingly cold, but soon heated in his hand. He placed it in a pouch attached to his belt and stepped back. “Okay, do your fire-and-brimstone thing.”
Avalea rolled her eyes and sent pillars of flames from her hands to the wooden framework of the dying portal. She watched it burn with a look of satisfaction and remained unmoving until everything was destroyed. And he stayed by her side.
When there was nothing left but soot, she turned to Ghena and stroked his fur. “Let’s go.” The fiend nodded, holding her tighter, as if he were her child.
They made their way out of the room and, after a few skirmishes, out of the Corri compound. There were a million questions floating through Rhuul’s head, but as they walked in the light of the suns, one query moved to the forefront. “What exactly are you, Avalea?”
“And you had the nerve to insinuate my rudeness.” She shook her head as Ghena snickered. “Quiet, you.” She grasped one of his furry, round ears between her fingers and spread her lips in a small smile. “Come on, show me what you’ve done. Let’s bring it back.” Ghena jumped down and stood with his arms outstretched.
“Bring what back?” Rhuul looked between the two of them, watching as Avalea closed her eyes and chanted words he didn’t recognize. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know what this is, but I bet it’s going to be amazing.” Talloc clapped his hands and bounced on the balls of his feet. He looked on as if this was all a show, orchestrated for solely for his entertainment.
I may end up killing this guy. Rhuul returned his attention to Avalea, watching as her hands became coated in flames. Ghena exhaled a slow breath and opened his mouth wide. The back of his throat glowed, as if a light moved up from inside him. A tiny ball of flame floated through his pointed teeth, with something dark in the center.
The light in his throat retreated, as if it sank back down into the depths of his body. Avalea kept her eyes closed as the small flame drifted to her, resting on her forehead.
“Very clever, Ghena.” She smiled and opened her eyes. The tiny fire on her forehead sank into her skin, disappearing into her. She opened her arms to the fiend, and when he ran to her, she held him close, nuzzling his head with her cheek. “Thank you.” The words were whispered, but Rhuul heard them.
“What’s … going on?” The exchange between her and Ghena seemed meaningful. She looked tearful. His arms ached to comfort her, while his lips were ready to soothe her. He was walking toward her before he could think. He held out his hand to her, unsure of what she would allow. “Is everything okay?”
She nodded and wiped her eyes. “Yeah. I just… Yes. I’m fine now.”
“That was fascinating. What exactly did you do? I have a few ideas of what it was, but I’d love to hear your explanation. After all, you were—”
“Talloc, if you don’t shut the hell up!” Rhuul whipped his head around to look the Bruna up and down.
When he turned back to Avalea, she was staring at the horizon. “I need to return to my village.”
Despite his need to part ways with her, he felt his breath still when she mentioned leaving. “I thought you were looking for whatever the Corri stole.”
She hugged Ghena tighter and laughed. “I’ve found it, thanks to this little one.” She started walking, moving in a new direction. This path wasn’t the same as the one he arrived on. The captive Corri had led them from the north. Avalea was heading east.
“I don’t see anything.” He scratched behind his ear and followed her.
“Ava and I have a bond. She shared a part of herself with me. It keeps us connected, even when we’re apart.” Ghena thrust his paw into the sack he kept his berries in. He frowned for a few moments before his face lit up. He pulled out his prize and shoved it into his mouth.
“Is that why you didn’t have parja?” Rhuul was beginning to understand why the fiend was so different from the others, but Ghena’s revelation raised more questions.
“That’s right. Ava is my companion. I’ll never have parja as long as she lives.” Ghena’s face took on a solemn look. The longer hairs of his eyebrows were drawn down, and he cast his gaze to the ground. “When Ava realized she wouldn’t be able to get away, she gave me the earth stone. She also gave me some of her power. I wanted to help her, but she wanted me to keep the stone safe. She made me promise. She distracted the Corri while I got away. I used her power to hide the stone in a plane of the earth. It took everything she gave me.”
Avalea patted Ghena’s head before scratching him behind the ear. “Only Ghena knew where the stone was hidden, but it would take my powers to retrieve it.”
“So when Gali bound your magic, he cut himself off from the stone. That’s … That’s brilliant.” Rhuul found himself in awe of her yet again. It seems her mind matches the rest of her.
“It was a little more than that. Ghena hid the stone using magic. I needed to find him to know where on the plane he hid it. Now that I know, I can go home. I can call the stone forth once I get there.” She sounded proud, and she walked just a little taller. “The first thing I’m going to do when I get back is take a long, hot bath, and then I’m going to eat everything in sight. You’ll join me, won’t you?” She looked down at Ghena and grinned. If she hadn’t looked at the fiend, he would have sworn she was talking to him.
The image of Avalea’s wet, naked body made Rhuul’s throat dry. He snatched the flagon from his belt and took a long swig.
“Yes, I’ll join you. We can start now if you want.” Talloc picked up his pace.
“Talloc, I swear by the gods—”
“Fine, Rhuul.” He walked next to her on the opposite side, chuckling to himself. “Doesn’t take much to work you up, does it? Though, if you’re feeling left out, I can become a woman. I think I have an idea of what you like.”
“You clearly have a death wis
h.” Rhuul found himself returning to his earlier question, only this time, he decided to rephrase it. “Gali called you a half-breed. Why would he say that?”
“Gali’s an ass, for one.” She sighed, and looked up at the sky for a few seconds. “I’m half Omala, half elemental. I’m sure you can guess which kind.”
“Oh that’s easy, hot stuff. Fire.” Talloc grinned and looked her up and down. “But how’s that even possible? I mean, wouldn’t a fire elemental burn an Omala to death? How did your parents … you know, do it?”
“When my father met my mother, he recognized her as his soul mate. Elementals don’t speak the way we do. To communicate with nonelementals, they share their thoughts through touch. In order for my father to touch my mother without hurting her, he shared his flame with her. It’s one of the most intimate acts between elementals.” She stared off into the distance, a small smile on her face. “After he shared his flame, they could communicate with each other. She fell in love with him, he took her as his wife, and here I am.”
He didn’t expect it, but Rhuul felt a stab of jealousy after hearing the story. Two beings, so different, so unconventional, but they stayed together. They raised her together. She’s still welcome in her village while I’m … I’ve been exiled. They showed her love while I was only shown hate.
“Rhuul?” She stopped in her tracks and stared at him.
He shrugged her off and kept walking. “How far?”
“Do you know the way?” When he turned around, she had a hand on her hip.
“I’ve never been there. How can I know the way?”
“Then why are you walking ahead of me?” She lifted an eyebrow and pulled the corner of her mouth into a smirk.
Oh, if only he could have thought of a comeback to wipe that grin off her face. But he couldn’t. She was right, and more than that, she managed to look even sexier with that wicked smile on her face. “Fine. After you, then.”
Rhuul's Flame (Realms of Possibilities, book 1) Page 4