Touch of Fire

by Michele Callahan

  Kayla gasped as the bird greeted Xander and waited patiently for Xander to introduce Flame. “Fury, I’d like you to met Flame. She’s a fire fairy, and, if it’s all right with you, she can keep your nest warm while you hunt, and help take care of your hatchlings when they arrive.”

  Fury lifted her regal head and Kayla stared. Sparkling orange-and-gold flames seemed to race over the bird’s feathers and disappear in a constant flow of magic. The bird’s eyes were coal black but sparkled like diamonds in sunlight. Glitter suddenly appeared and helped herself to a seat on Kayla’s shoulder.

  “Oh! A firebird! I haven’t seen one in ages.” The fairy seemed well pleased with her daughter’s new acquaintance. Glitter flew a few feet straight up into the air and landed on Kayla’s shoulder with a happy grin. “She’s got two eggs! Two! How exciting. My little Flame paired with a firebird. The others will be so jealous when they get here!”

  Fury was about the size of an eagle back home, but that was the end of the resemblance. If ever Kayla had seen a magical creature, the firebird was tops, from the flames dancing over its body to the sparkling beauty of its eyes and feathers. The firebird’s voice, however, made her stop and listen in awe. The creature spoke in perfect English with a Russian accent, but her voice was like the beautiful humming of a harp’s strings.

  “Thank you, Xander. I am happy to meet you, Flame.”

  Flame hopped off Xander’s hand and walked to the edge of the firebird’s nest. There, the small fairy stopped and bowed deeply to her new friend. Next to Kayla’s ear, Glitter sniffled and sighed as the firebird bowed back. “Oh, Flame is so wonderful. Such good manners already. I’m so proud!”

  Xander turned away from the scene and walked toward Kayla with a look of relief in his eyes. Kayla smiled at him. “That was wonderful. Where did you get a firebird? She’s incredible.”

  He stopped and stared at her like she was spouting complete nonsense. “No one owns a firebird. They choose you, or not, as they see fit. I met Fury a few years ago near Mauna Loa in Hawaii. I needed a purge. She was there for the same reason, and she came home with me.”

  “A purge?”

  “I had to get rid of some fire magic, and an active volcano is one of the safest places to do it.” He shrugged. “I could try the ocean, but I’d be worried about staying in the water too long and making it too hot. I don’t want to kill the sea creatures by boiling water. Not only would I feel like a murderer, it would also make my mother extremely angry.”

  That was it. Kayla couldn’t deal with anything else. She needed a break from all this insanity. Her stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn’t eaten anything but an ice cream sundae for dinner. She’d spent nine hours in the car, first taking her friend to the airport, then driving here. She’d met a fairy family, a unicorn, a firebird, a witch, and she’d kissed a man who claimed to be some kind of demi-god, fire elemental with a shape-shifting dragon for a mother. Kissed him, and wanted to do it again.

  “I have to go now.” Kayla turned and walked out of the garden with Xander hot on her heels.

  “Wait. Where do you want to go?”

  Kayla shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m hungry. I’m tired. And I can’t deal with anything else today. I just need a break. I need to find a hotel and I need to go get my car.”

  “You can stay here. I can make something for you to eat.” The hopeful tone of Xander’s voice made Kayla walk faster. Nope. No way. She’d kiss him again if she stayed. And then she’d want to do other things. She did not trust her judgment right now.

  “Thank you for the offer, but I can’t. I need to get my car. If you could just take me back into town, that would be great.” She could practically feel his disappointment as she opened the front door and walked straight back to his truck. But he didn’t argue, just followed behind. She was already in the passenger seat by the time he reached the truck and climbed inside.

  He drove in silence most of the way to town, which really wasn’t far. He parked in front of The Witch’s Brew in an open space right next to her car.

  “Thank you, Xander.”

  “You’re welcome. But I still think you should let me take you to dinner. We can go right across the street to The Krazy Kettle. They have good food.”

  “No thanks. I appreciate the offer, but I really just want to get a hotel room and order room service.” Kayla opened her door and stepped out onto the pavement.

  “We don’t have any hotels like that. You’ll have to stay at a B&B if you want food. Otherwise, I recommend you call them now, and eat before you check in.”

  “Oh. Okay. Thanks.” Oh, shit. This town was very, very small. No Holiday Inn? No food delivery? But he’d offered to buy her dinner, so one of these crazy restaurants had to be open.

  Xander tilted his head and gave her the face, the sad little boy face, the face puppies made when they wanted to play, the face she could never say no to. “Please promise me that you will come to my home tomorrow and visit.”

  If he’d demanded, or not looked so sadly dejected at saying goodbye, she might have refused. But she did want to see the fairies again, even if she didn’t dare start something with the sexy man looking at her with longing and loneliness clearly visible in his eyes. He wasn’t pretending. He wasn’t acting coy or playing games. He wasn’t feigning his interest in her. He wanted to spend time with her, and that honesty, his vulnerability, made it impossible for her to refuse him.

  “Okay. I promise. I have a week off before I start my new job so I think I might stick around and explore for a few days.” She smiled at him because she couldn’t help it. “This is a very interesting town.”

  *.*.*

  Xander drove around the corner, parked his truck and walked back to the street where he could watch over Kayla. He knew word would have spread about her by now. Every available male in town was going to be looking for her. It wasn’t every day that a beautiful, kind and accepting woman strolled into town. A woman who could handle talking rabbits and unicorns on her first day.

  And Topper, that horrible witch, had made his predicament that much worse. Instead of staring helplessly at a troll or gargoyle, Kayla would understand them perfectly as they flirted with her, trying to steal her right out from under his nose.

  The sun had set and he stayed in the shadows across the street from The Krazy Kettle, feeling like a stalker. Kayla was in a seat next to the window and he watched her as she ate a stacked sandwich and chips. He liked the way she moved, the graceful curve of her neck and the feminine yet confident tilt to her chin. Was he obsessed? Absolutely. But he wasn’t crazy, and he wasn’t trying to hurt her. He was simply making sure she made it to the B&B in one piece. The werewolves in this town were always horny as hell, chasing women every chance they got. But it wasn’t the wolves who worried him this very second.

  It was the vampires.

  And one of the aggressive bastards was sitting at a table not too far from Kayla, watching her with nearly as much ferocity as Xander. Kayla paid her bill and turned toward the window to put her small wallet back in her purse when the vampire made his move.

  Xander felt the fire rising in his gut and clenched his jaw to hold it in check. He didn’t need to burn the place to the ground. He needed to get his woman away from that leech.

  Kayla turned back around to slide out of the booth and ran right into the bloodthirsty bastard. She had to crane her neck to look up at him and Xander knew the moment she’d been hypnotized by the vampire’s gaze. She rose from the table with a vacant smile on her face and tamely followed the young vampire outside as if on a perfect three-foot leash.

  Oh, the vamp wouldn’t kill her. Xander knew the young man, knew his family. This was a small town, and he’d been here a few months. He knew everybody. He was sure the young bloodsucker was simply hungry and looking for a sweet taste of tourist to quench his thirst.

  On a normal night, tourists were led outside and into the park where the vampires had asked the local witches to grow a la
rge stand of trees for them to hide within while feeding. It worked out fine for everyone. The vampires didn’t feed on the locals, and the tourists had a euphoric experience, loved the town, but didn’t remember a thing.

  But Kayla wasn’t a tourist. She belonged to him.

  The park was only a couple minutes’ walk from the restaurant and shopping district, and Kayla was halfway down the block when Xander caught up to them. He didn’t bother trying to stop Kayla. He knew the vampire had a firm hold on her mind and wouldn’t relinquish it without being forced. He wanted to fry the little bastard into a crisp for daring to touch his woman, but he had to live in this town, and murdering the locals probably wasn’t the best way to make friends.

  “Let her go, vampire. Now.” Xander strode forward and the vampire turned to watch Xander’s approach, a look of surprise in his young eyes.

  “Why? She’s a tourist, bro. Fair game.” The vampire made a face at him and rolled his eyes. “Go get your own. There’s still a couple more down at the restaurant.”

  When the vampire’s eyes flared wide, Xander caught a glimpse of his reflection in the dark surfaces and saw what the vampire saw, a hulking male with flames in his eyes bearing down on him like a hellhound. “She’s mine. Touch her again, and I’ll kill you.”

  “I don’t see a wooden stake.” The mouthy little brat pushed Xander over the edge.

  Xander stepped forward and snarled as the vampire fought to be free of the giant hand squeezing his slender neck. Xander shoved him against the brick wall, holding the vampire a couple feet off the ground. Vampires were renowned for their strength and speed, but Xander was connected to the Earth herself, the molten core lent him strength and heat. “I can burn you to ash in a heartbeat, vampire. I am an elemental, born of the goddess Thetis. And this woman is mine. Spread the word. Anyone drinks from her, any horny werewolf touches her, they die.”

  The kid was kicking, the strength of the blows enough to send a human flying thirty feet. Xander didn’t even flinch. He was furious and his anger was causing the sick odor of burned flesh to float up from the vampire’s neck. “Okay. Okay. Just don’t torch me. I’m letting her go.”

  Beside him Kayla blinked and stumbled, her hand flying out to catch her balance on the brick wall right next to the vampire’s hip. Xander had his right hand around the vampire’s scrawny neck, but he reached out to steady her with his left, and to make sure the stupid kid didn’t accidentally kick her and do real damage.

  Luckily, the vampire might have been a teenaged punk who liked to push back, but he also knew when to shut the hell up.

  Kayla blinked, looked from Xander to the vampire and back about three times. “What is happening? Xander? What are you doing here?”

  Xander growled, shaking the vampire a bit for good measure. “This child was about to feast on your blood, Kayla. I couldn’t allow that.”

  Confusion and fear chased each other across her face and she looked at the vampire with new eyes. “You’re a vampire?”

  “Yes. Please tell your psycho boyfriend to put me down. I wasn’t going to hurt you.”

  That made her frown. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  The kid laughed. “Yeah? Well, he didn’t get the status update in his feed.”

  Xander frowned and gave the kid a shake for good measure.

  Kayla shook her head, as if still trying to clear it. “Why can’t I remember anything? I remember paying my bill. The sandwich was pretty good. But then…”

  Now that Kayla was looking at him, talking to him, and out from under the spell of the punk kid, the protective rage drained out of him and he lowered the vampire to the ground and let him go. “Go on. Get out of here. But remember what I told you.”

  The vampire gave a mock salute and walked back in the direction of the restaurant to find another meal.

  Kayla watched him walk away. “He’s a vampire?”

  “Yes.”

  “But he’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He looks so normal, like a college kid home on spring break.”

  Xander lifted his hand to her elbow and gently began leading her to her car. “That’s because he is. His family has been around here for a couple hundred years. They’re all college educated. They run some kind of international business over the internet.”

  “What did you tell him to remember?” She stumbled along beside him, still a bit shaky, so he wrapped his arm around her waist and sighed in relief when she snuggled closer instead of pulling away.

  “To spread the word.”

  “What’s the word?”

  “You’re mine, and anyone who touches you dies.”

  Kayla stopped moving and he stopped with her, amused by the dumbfounded expression on her face. “You can’t be serious.”

  “As a funeral pyre.”

  “That’s not a saying. It’s supposed to be, serious as a heart attack.”

  He chuckled at that and ran the backs of his fingers along her cheek. “Not where I come from. A funeral pyre is as serious as it gets.”

  “I don’t understand you. Why are you doing this? I just met you today. Why do you keep saying the crazy things you’re saying?”

  He leaned down and kissed her softly, a slow, sweet kiss that rocked him to his core. “Like what?”

  Her eyes had drifted closed and she opened them slowly, standing there in the middle of the sidewalk and looking up at him with a mix of confusion and desire in her eyes. “That you built that garden for me. That I belong to you.”

  He kissed her again, interrupting her because he couldn’t resist, not after hearing those sweet words from her lips. “Because you are mine, Kayla. You were meant for me as I was meant for you.” He kissed her again. “It’s magic, Kayla. Magic brought you to me.”

  “Magic? Like a spell?”

  “Not like a spell, a spell. A curse actually, but for the first time in my life, at this very moment, I don’t hate my mother.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  He smiled. “Maybe.”

  That made her grin and he decided not to push his luck any farther. Stepping back, he held her elbow and led her back to her car. “Give me your keys. I’ll drive. You can’t stay in town, not with the vampires and werewolves running around. Especially not tomorrow night. You’ll have to stay at my place for sure.”

  Kayla frowned, but dug around in her purse for her car keys. “Do you have a spare room?”

  “You can have mine.”

  She shook her head and lifted the keys free of her bag. “No. Really. I’ll find a hotel. I don’t want to put you out.”

  Refusing to take no for an answer, he grabbed the keys from her hand and unlocked the car. “I’ll sleep in the living room.”

  “On what? You don’t have any furniture.”

  “I’ll sleep on the floor, Kayla. It won’t be the first time. But you can’t be in town tomorrow night. It will be much too dangerous.”

  “More dangerous than almost being a vampire’s dinner?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Full moon.”

  She licked her lips and glanced up at the sky where a large, bright moon hung low over the horizon, missing the smallest sliver. “What happens on a full moon?”

  Xander opened the passenger door and waited as she settled in the seat. “The werewolves come to town, and they’re horny as hell.”

  He closed the door on her burst of laughter and walked around to the driver’s side. The car was small, and he had to scrunch his knees up to fit behind the steering wheel, but he managed. He would come back for his truck another day. He had to get her home, where he could keep her out of trouble.

  Somehow, he wasn’t sure it mattered where she was. Trouble always seemed to come looking.

  Chapter Eight

  Kayla stretched with a happy sigh and rolled over to check the old-fashioned clock on the wall across from the king-sized bed. It was midmorning, but she felt refreshed and happy, and in deep, deep trouble.

  She’
d been here for five days, and each day a new adventure found her. Each day she felt more and more attracted to Xander. She couldn’t go five minutes without daydreaming about kissing him, stripping off his clothes and tracing his rock-hard abs with her tongue. Oh, she was in trouble, all right. The deep, I want him so badly I can’t breathe, kind of trouble.

  After going home with Xander that first night, he’d been the most amazing host and a perfect gentleman. He was cooking for her, and touching her every chance he got. He stole kisses and his touch went from friendly to sensual as the days passed. All too often she found his heated gaze on her as she hiked the land with him or played with the fairies. On her second day she’d walked to the living room to find it completely furnished with plush couches, tables, lamps, chairs a large television and fuzzy blankets to throw over her lap on a cold night. When she’s asked Xander where it had all come from, he’d mumbled something about owing the witches a favor, but refused to say more.

  He then pulled her down onto the couch next to him and watched a romantic movie marathon. He said it was at Topper’s insistence, but since the movies were some of Kayla’s all-time favorites, she didn’t protest, simply curled up next to him and enjoyed the show. It felt like a date, a weird date, but a date all the same.

  The town itself was strange. The magical creatures who lived here, stranger. If she could just convince them to let her study them. She was dying to know if what Glitter said was true. Did the little beings have DNA? Or did they not? If not, what was Glitter’s music going to look like on a gel after electrophoresis?

  She was going home to study genetic markers in cancer cells. It was important work with potential crossover to human medicine. But she couldn’t stop considering the possibilities here. Dragons. Unicorns. Fairies. Demi-gods and witches. The research possibilities were literally endless.