by Alix Sharpe
Angeline swallowed hard and narrowed her eyes. No matter how downright delicious he looked, she could not get distracted from her mission. The fact that she stood before him naked and powerless could be easily remedied. She just needed his magic and she’d be on her way.
“I am a Captain in The Realm’s army,” she spat, angling her blade closer to his beautiful face, “I command you: hand over your amulet.”
“Ooooh. A Captain, bummer. And here I was about to ask for a phone number.”
Her jaw tensed. Phones didn’t even work here, that was the stupidest pick up line she’d ever heard. “This is no time for jokes. I’m on a critical mission and you’ve put it in jeopardy. You’ve put the entire Realm at risk.”
“I didn’t realize the Masters were sending warriors on naked quests these days. If I knew that, maybe I’d still be enlisted.”
“You’re not part of a platoon?” she said, ignoring the fact that his eyes were starting to drift. Life in the field had erased all traces of modesty she once held.
“Not anymore,” he said, shrugging. “My arms are getting tired. What can we do to get you to put those weapons down?”
“You can give me your amulet, you can follow my orders.”
“What happened to your amulet, Captain?”
“YOU happened,” she nodded towards the ground, blue shards poking up through the mud, gold chain pressed into the earth. “When your fire got out of hand and you blasted a boulder at me.”
He winced. “Goddamn those things are fragile.”
“Last I checked,” she said, sourly, “most objects don’t hold up when a 2-ton boulder rolls across them.”
“Ehh, sorry about that. I was taking out a few pointy-eared piss-rags.”
“Typical Salamander,” she grunted.
“Damn straight, Captain, us Salamanders get shit done. Someone had to take care of them. What would you do with this pretty, red amulet anyway? Never seen a Mage wield flames.”
“I can,” she said, stepping closer with her knives. “I was classed as a Salamander before the Masters saw my skills and promoted me to a Mage.”
“Promoted huh?” he said. “Here I was thinking fire was top of the food chain. Silly me.”
“Judging by the boulder trick, I’m guessing thinking isn’t one of your strong suits.” Also typical for a Salamander.
“Says the genius who took off her amulet,” he said rolling his eyes.
“I was taking a bath,” she said, gritting her teeth.
“Look,” he said, edging towards the water, “this is how you take a bath out here, Captain.”
She watched (marginally amused, mostly infuriated) as he trudged into the water with all his clothes on. He dipped his head under briefly, and then popped back up, shaking off the droplets like a wet St. Bernard. He lifted his palms from the water and ignited a small flame in each hand. “See, magic still good.”
The muscles in her arms twitched, preparing to throw her blades if need be. A little voice in the back of her head scolded her for allowing him to shift to a more advantageous position. Another voice told her to stop being so friggen paranoid. This guy may look like a massive, wolf pack alpha, but his personality felt more like a mischievous, yellow lab puppy. Most Salamanders were giant puppies really.
A muscle twitched in her neck. She had thought that disloyal bastard, Soren, was a puppy too. Really, he’d been the Elves’ rabid bloodhound. She gripped her knives tighter; she wouldn’t let her guard down around this one.
“Fine, so we both made a mistake,” she said. You could never win an argument with a dog, but you could convince them to play your game, if you got them excited. She just needed to clarify how important this was. “But I have critical intel I need to relay to the Castle and I’m going to need magic to safely complete the journey. That is why I command you to turn over your amulet, immediately. Do your part.”
“No.”
Goddammit this idiot just didn’t get it. “Join me and once we’ve arrived at our destination your amulet will be returned to you.”
“That’s not gonna work for me,” he said. He extinguished his flames and began to lazily scrub himself with water. “But I’m willing to compromise. I have some information the Masters should probably know about too, but I’m not willing to deliver it in person. AWOL soldiers aren’t so popular, no matter which side of The Veil the army’s on.”
“What’s your intel?” she demanded.
“Show me yours, I’ll show you mine,” he said, splashing water into each of his armpits. “Info, that is, seeing as how you’ve already given me a free show.”
Was this guy for real? Did he actually pride himself on that banter? Or, even worse, did he fully recognize the cheese-factor and this was just his aggravating shtick?
“I’m not sharing classified information with a rogue,” she said, disdainfully. “But if you want me to deliver your message, you’re going to have to tell me at some point.”
“Then that some point will be later,” he said, shoving his hand down his pants to wash his junk (or at least she hoped that’s what he was doing and not just playing with it). “Just before I drop you off.”
“Drop me off?”
“I’m not turning over my amulet, but I will escort you to the Castle.”
A flare of rage flickered in her chest. “So you’re asking me to put my life in your hands? You, who could barely manage a of couple Elves?”
“A few elves, not a couple. There were three.”
“I’ve taken down 16 single-handedly,” she said. “We’ll be safer if I hold the amulet.”
“Not if you’re as careless with it as you were with yours,” he said. “Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, especially given your current condition, but I don’t want to hold up your critical, top secret mission unnecessarily. Do you want me to escort you or not?”
“Fine,” she said, snatching her pants and under garments out of the mud. If things got heated she could always make him change his mind and hand over the amulet. Well, unless he stood there making stupid jokes while the Elves charged. She had her combat skills for back up, but with the way Keira’s Diviner visions had been going lately, they could easily run into a large horde and get in trouble quick.
“Ah don’t get dressed on account of me,” he said.
She glared at him and stepped into her underwear.
“Hey, you could even use it as a battle tactic,” he said. “Even the Elves would stop and appreciate a sight like that. Hell, when I saw you from the hill I thought maybe I’d died and gone to heaven. Thought someone sent me an angel.”
She snorted and yanked her shirt over her head, keeping one knife handy. “That’s ironic.”
“How?”
“My first name’s Angeline.”
“Hmm. Captain Angeline. But I’m guessing you’re no angel, are you?”
“It’s Captain Quintana. And there’s no way in hell I’m answering that question, perv. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 4 – KYLE
“Keep up, Kallen,” she barked over her shoulder.
Kyle grimaced. He was really starting to regret telling the Captain his name. He should have just used his fall back: ‘Bruce Wayne’. Playboy, vigilante, taking out ugly-ass villains? No, the humor would definitely be lost on her.
“Maybe if you didn’t walk so damn fast,” he said. While he was definitely enjoying the view marching behind her, he was not enjoying her yipping at him like a damn drill sergeant. Oh wait. Hah.
Too bad she was a Captain. Might have been nice to take her for a ride on the K-rocket. Fine as hell. Sassy too. And that crazy hair of hers, just the kind he liked to twist his fingers in… But no. No Captains. He didn’t do well with authority. He didn’t take orders, not anymore.
“We have to keep this pace if we’re going to make decent time. We need to get this information to the Masters,” she said, kicking up her speed ever so slightly.
“Isn’t that what they have Diviners for?” he sai
d. Whatever this chick knew, he really doubted she was the only one who’d learned this ‘critical’ information.
“My Field Diviner is the one who started Seeing these visions. None of the closest Tower Diviners had any idea. I checked. We need to pick up the pace.”
“Maybe if you ask me nicely,” he laughed sarcastically.
“I don’t do nice,” she said.
“Right. Angeline the un-angelic. So, you don’t do nice. Do you do naughty then?”
“Quit it with the creepy Santa shit,” she said, rolling her foxy hazel eyes at him. “Do your sleazy pick-up lines actually work?”
“You’d be surprised,” he said, dropping his voice into a husky purr.
“Nothing surprises me anymore,” she said, “not when I have to babysit dozens of infant wizards fresh across The Veil… or rogue man-child Salamanders, like you. Why’d you leave your post anyway? Most soldiers who can’t hang shoot straight back across The Veil the second they get a chance. Why did you stay?”
“Why would I leave and skip all the fun? I’d miss my magic if I went back Earth-side.”
She sighed and shook her head.
“Why were you fighting those Elves anyway?” she said.
“Oh,” he said, “you aren’t going to trick me that easily. Not until I drop you off, remember?”
“Fine,” she said, “I have you figured out anyway.”
“Oh?”
“You don’t like authority because you have control issues. And you stay on this side of The Veil to fight the Elves because you’re trying to make amends for something. Combine the two and we have an authority figure who pushed you into doing something you regret.”
His jaw ticked. Spot on. But hell if he’d let her have the satisfaction.
“I fight the Elves because that’s what I do. I’m a fighter. Underground MMA circuit almost 10 years strong.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. Of course that’d pique her interest. Chicks always dug it.
“And what about the authority part?” she said, voice flat.
Geez this girl didn’t give up. Okay so maybe that look in her eye wasn’t what he’d thought it was. Or maybe it was, and she was just trying to hide her curiosity. Wait a second. He recognized this tactic. She was trying to get the upper hand by learning everything about him she could, while sharing nothing about herself. Sly, little angel, very sly.
“I might have some control issues,” he trailed off, mischievous lilt to his voice. Hah. Let her ask about that.
“Oh?” she said, obviously hoping he’d keep spilling.
“Yeah,” he said, glancing at her sideways. “You ever hear of BDSM? It’s all about control.”
“Oh fucking hell,” she said, groaning in frustration.
He snickered to himself as she pushed past and put some distance between them. As the minutes marched on, his grin of victory began to fade. How had she figured him out that easily? Maybe Captains got some special psychological training he didn’t know about, for interrogation purposes. Or it could just be her Mage nature. They manipulated objects with ease, maybe they had a way to get inside people’s heads too. Well he wouldn’t let her. Angelface might be throwing jabs, but he was a pro at blocking.
By the time they stopped for the night, his legs were throbbing. He tried to conceal his limping as best he could, but man the Captain was observant. Guess she had to be in order to keep an eye on her squad. But he wasn’t one of her soldiers and he didn’t like the way she was watching him. That’s okay. He’d figured her out too, at least a little. He knew how to make her stop staring.
He hobbled over to her. He bit back a laugh as her gorgeous amber eyes drifted up his body, she was not doing very good at hiding her attraction to him. Kyle smirked, that would make this even easier. He crouched down in front of her and leaned in close.
She didn’t budge. She clearly didn’t like to lose.
Fine, he’d just have to play a little harder. He shifted even closer, his stubble brushing against her soft cheek. He dropped his voice down low and whispered in her ear: “You any good at deep tissue massage?” He turned sideways and rubbed one of his ass cheeks just to make sure she understood what he was implying. “My glutes are killing me.”
For a second, all she could do was sit there slack-jawed. Probably embarrassed. Or intrigued.
Whatever she was feeling, she certainly had no intention of revealing it to Kyle. She regained her composure, shoved to her feet, and backed away.
Bam! Point number two for the K-Beast. Must have been tough for the Captain, not being able to just pull rank and knock him into submission. He could get used to this, this was entertaining as hell. He chuckled and started to walk away.
Then his victory was cut short.
“Kallen!” she barked behind him.
He glanced back over his shoulder.
She gestured to the forest floor. “Clear this brush while I run some sweeps. I expect a fire to be going by the time I return.”
Then she turned and bolted off down the hill before he could protest.
Kyle crossed his arms and shook his head. How the hell did she still have so much energy? And more importantly, why the hell did she think she could just boss him around like that? He wasn’t one of her soldiers. He wasn’t a soldier at all.
He sighed and flicked his wrist at the debris strewn ground. Flames exploded in front of him instantly incinerating the scattered sticks and leaves. He closed his fist and extinguished the fires. What? It’s not that he was giving in to her demands, he just didn’t want to deal with her whining.
He waited a couple minutes for the earth to cool then stepped inside the little singed patch of grass. He tossed a couple rocks out of the way and called it good.
By the time she returned he had a decent size fire pit built and the sleeping pads rolled out.
“You can see that fire from the valley floor,” she said. “Put it out and build it again over there between those trees.”
Kyle opened his mouth, about to snap back, but she had already moved over to her pack and was paying him no more attention. Kyle closed his mouth, brow furrowed.
He glanced at the fire and traced the glow with his eyes. She was right, you’d definitely be able to see it from down low. Guess she wasn’t just arguing for the sake of arguing. Maybe she wasn’t even trying to get under his skin, talking to him that way. Maybe she was just going through her routine, doing her Captain thing.
Still, that didn’t make it any less irritating.
Kyle waved his hand through the air and cut off the oxygen to the flames. It’d be okay, he’d just have to put up with her attitude for a few more days. He could have just sent her off on her own, but with the Elves acting all funny, it just didn’t feel right. And sure, he could partially take the blame for her losing her magic, but there was no reason for him to hand over his. This was the only arrangement that made sense.
But Elves stealing amulets on the other hand… now that did not make sense. Whatever, it wasn’t for him to figure out. He’d just pass it on to the Masters and let them deal with the mess. Not his problem. Nope, his only problem was Captain Angelface and he’d be free of her soon enough.
CHAPTER 5 – ANGELINE
Angeline sunk her teeth into a tough strip of jerky and leaned back against the rock behind her. Her muscles shook with exhaustion, but she refused to show any signs of weakness. If she so much as winced, that irritating Salamander would never shut up about it. He’d probably even find a way to turn it into a dirty joke. Another massage wisecrack? Maybe a one-liner about the meat in her mouth? Something, she was sure.
In another life she might have actually been attracted to him. Okay, fine, physically he was just her type with his massive bad-boy muscles, the kind she just wanted to sink her fingers into… and that mischievous grin, those abs…
But mentally. She’d had enough cocky, reckless Salamanders to last her a lifetime. And he was one of the worst. He was so damn full of himself he probabl
y carried a mirror around in his pack. Probably used it to watch himself take a shit. Or maybe he’d use it for the rare occasion when his cheesy pick-up lines actually worked and he got lucky. Oh, but he wouldn’t be watching his partner in that mirror. No, it would be all about admiring his own ass in the reflection.
Angeline ripped another chunk of jerky away in her teeth and lifted her gaze to watch Kallen puttering around on his half of the campsite. She watched as he extracted a glass jar, a canteen, and plastic bag from his pack.
He opened the bag and poured a fine powder into the jar, filling it half way. He filled it the rest of the way with some water, stirred it with a stick, and chugged.
“Is that…” she said, scrunching her nose, “a protein shake?” That would explain why his muscles were so massive. But at the same time, how the hell would he get ahold of it? It sounded like a logistical nightmare, it’s not like they gave it out as camp rations. He didn’t even have a camp he belonged to anyway. Did he smuggle a pallet across The Veil and hide it in a cave somewhere where he could conveniently restock to ensure he never missed his daily dose? A friggen protein shake, out here! Her irritation had more to do with the wizard drinking the beverage than the beverage itself, but still, the ridiculousness of the situation only exacerbated her already frayed nerves.
“Yep,” he said, smacking his lips as he finished his drink.
“Great now you are going to reek of whey,” she said. Not that she intended to get close enough to smell him or anything.
“It’s not whey, it’s pea & soy protein,” he said, digging around in his pack again. He pulled out what looked like a lump of cheese, but she couldn’t be sure in the low light of the campfire.
“Pea & soy? Gross.”
“I don’t do whey,” he said, “Whey can have rennet in it. Cow’s stomach. I’m a vegetarian.”
She nearly choked on her jerky. “You’re a vegetarian?” She’d been a vegetarian before she crossed The Veil, but she quickly discovered that avoiding meat on the camp menu basically meant her options were limited to crackers and potatoes.