A Touch of Fire (Meridian Island Book 1)

by Jennie Dah

  “Cool. You can help me pick out an outfit,” she says excitedly.

  “Yeah sure, let me help you with that.” Stella takes the box on top and they head upstairs.

  “Thanks,” she smiles at her.

  “Where to?” Stella asks following behind her.

  “Nick’s already cleared out a few drawers so let’s start with that. This should be fast.”

  “You mean Nicholas' room?” she asks slowly looking over her shoulder at me.

  She laughs. “Yeah silly, where else would I stay?”

  Stella shoots a strange look in my direction and I scratch the back of my head avoiding her eyes. Those emotionless eyes seem calculating just now but that can’t be.

  “Hey come on,” she nods at Dani. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?”

  “Dani. Well, it’s Danielle but everyone calls me Dani,” he says rushing up the stairs to join them.

  “Cool. I’m Celia.”

  “But Stella called you another name today,” she says her face confused.

  “Yeah. Makafui or Kafui for short.”

  “Oh. Makafui.”

  “That’s right. You got it right,” she laughs in delight and the sound fills the whole house brightening up the space. “Everyone I’ve met since leaving home has difficulty pronouncing it right so I switched to Celia. Makes it easier for me and I can avoid the headache of always correcting them.”

  Is she disappointed I can’t say it? I could try but I don’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes when I get it wrong.

  “Maka…” I stop, sighing resignedly.

  Their voices finally trails off as they disappear upstairs. I could probably eavesdrop on them but I think Celia needs this time with them. I tune them out and send a telepathic message to Michael.

  ‘You busy?’

  ‘No, I’m just heading down to the hall. You need something? Is chatty okay?’

  I smile at the nickname for Celia.

  ‘She’s fine. She’s getting ready. She wants to attend the festival.’

  I can feel his surprise bleed through the connection and I sigh tiredly rubbing at my temples.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes,’ I grumble.

  'You explained everything to her? And she’s not freaking out?’

  ‘Actually Owen did that yesterday. I just explained the festival.’

  ‘We’ll be there in five.’

  And then the connection disappears and I groan tiredly.

  Exactly five minutes later and there’s a knock on the door just before it swings open. Michael comes around the corner into the kitchen where I’m getting a bottle of water to drink.

  Robbie, Charlie and Logan come into to kitchen too making me scowl. These guys left here not even an hour ago and they're back here again. That’s too many times for them to be here. I chug down the water and throw the bottle in the bin.

  “Why does she want to go to the Function Hall? You did explain things to her, right?” Charlie asks looking at me suspiciously.

  “Of course, I did,” I say slightly offended that he’d think I’ll take Celia somewhere that can be dangerous to her without explaining things to her.

  “I'm just asking,” he says looking apologetic.

  “I heard she took the news very well yesterday,” Logan finally speaks biting into the apple he stole from my fridge.

  I glare at him and he shrugs. After eating my food earlier, now he’s eating my fruit?

  “What’s up with that? All she said was ‘okay’? Even I freaked out badly. Something’s wrong with her,” he adds with a certain nod of his head.

  Everyone ignores him but I’m pretty sure they’re all thinking the same thing. Logan grew up on the Mainland all his life before he moved to Meridian and didn’t know he was a lion shifter until the change came over him while he was heading for class.

  Luckily for him, no one saw him and since he was adopted, his parents couldn’t even tell him he wasn’t human. It took him a while for him to come to terms with the fact that he’s not human. Hell, even I am confused over her reaction, everyone freaks out the first time.

  “If someone calls on her to sing, you do know what will happen, right?” Charlie asks looking at us worriedly. Now that I think about it, I did kind of just brushed through everything.

  Oh no. Did I tell her it was fun?

  Yeah, that’s why she wanted to go remember?

  “Why is your face looking like that? Huh?” Logan asks looking at me suspiciously munching on another apple and I can’t even muster the energy to care.

  “I might have told her it was fun?” I say my voice a little high pitched and I cringe when I say the words out loud.

  “That’s why she wanted to go,” Robbie says realization dawning on him and everyone gets identical horrified expressions.

  “She’ll be fine,” Michael says nodding his head in certainty but not convincingly enough.

  “Are you trying to convince yourself or us? Because you’re not fooling that cockroach either,” Charles quips.

  There’s a cockroach in my house? I look around warily. Those things creep me out. What doesn’t die after it’s been stomped on several times? And there’s a chance it could be a shifter too.

  “We should just stay here,” I mutter looking out the window in dread. She could even freak out if one of those meatheads shifts suddenly. It’s common for someone to just shift in the middle of the road for no good reason.

  “No one is staying here. She’ll get suspicious and then probably sneak out to check it out for herself,” Michael says just as the sound of shuffling feet descending the stairs reach my ears.

  I look up to see the women come into the kitchen. My eyes immediately goes to Celia and I just about swallowed my tongue.

  What the hell? Is this how she used to dress on the Mainland? She looks like she just stepped off a runway in Paris.

  How is she even pulling that look off in ripped jeans and a plain white T-shirt? She let her hair down and I see a few beads in there that wasn’t there before.

  She looks amazing. Her face is still make-up free though and I breath a sigh of relief. I look down at her feet and smile. Artfully decorated slippers. There’s a big bow in colorful African print that I suspect is an original African cloth on top of the slippers and there’s a thin piece of the cloth wrapped around her head.

  A big smile spreads across her face and I lose my breath. Damn, what is this woman doing to me? I rub my chest at the tightness there.

  “Hey guys, are you coming with us?” She asks looking at the men in my kitchen and they all nod in unison looking at her as if in a trance. Idiots.

  “Okay, if you could just pick your tongues off of the floor then, can we go before the Hall fills up?” Stella snaps her fingers in our faces and that seems to snap the guys out of it. The women head out the door and we scramble after them.

  Outside, I see a lot of people do double takes at seeing Celia and some of the men are outright drooling. I catch up to her and pull her into me. She smiles up at me and turns back to her conversation with Stella and Dani.

  I look around and people are still looking. I can practically hear what they’re thinking without even delving into their minds. I growl at a guy that comes a little too close and he scurries away. I look down at her shoulder but the mark is covered up and I feel a stirring in my chest and I stumble in surprise.

  Celia presses a hand to my chest and looks at me worriedly. I stare at her in awe. I haven’t felt anything from my gryphon not since my parents died. Like absolutely nothing. It’s been radio silence since then and now I felt him. He’d flashed through my mind and for a second there I felt our connection.

  Because of her. During the brief connection, I’d felt his jealousy and possessiveness rip through me. Oh. God. He wants her too?

  “Nick, are you okay?” she asks worry deep in her voice.

  “I’m perfect,” I rasp nodding down at her.

  “Are you sure man, you look a l
ittle pale,” Michael says grabbing onto my arm.

  “No, I’m fine. Let’s hurry people are already heading inside,” I say with a little smile but inside I’m a shaky mess.

  I try to feel him again and I get a faint pulse from him and my heart starts pounding in my chest. I look down at Celia and there’s a little frown on her face and she keeps rubbing at her chest.

  I slam my mental shields up when I realize that my feelings are seeping through our bond. Her face relaxes and she turns back to the other women.

  Oh God. What does this mean? Two hundred years and today is the day I feel him again? I feel dread seep through my bones and I try to brush it off but it clings to me.

  I feel my stomach knot in anticipation. Of what? I do not know. We head into the Cathedral building just as the alarm sounds for the start of the contest. We find seats at the front just as people start pouring into the building.

  Within a few minutes the room completely fills up and there are even a few people standing in the back. Wow, there’s a lot of turn up this year. It makes me uneasy that there are a lot of unmated males in the same room as her.

  The Hall is designed to fit a hundred thousand people. The lights dim and Celia grabs my arm and bounce in her seat. I look at her but her face is rapt with attention, her eyes focused on the raised dais at the front of the room. I look back at the stage and the big red curtains open to reveal Arthur with a big smile as fake as the hair hiding his bald spot.

  Ugh, I just can’t stand the guy. Celia deflates in her seat her tight grip on my arm loosening, disappointment rolling off of her in waves.

  “Hey it gets better,” I whisper close to ear. She shivers slightly and turns her face to mine so that we’re only a few inches apart.

  “Really? Because I don’t see how I’ll enjoy anything if he’s up there,” she whispers her lips lightly brushing mine. My lips tingle and send sparks of pleasure to my cock. Her eyes drop to my lips and she stares for a few seconds before turning back to the stage.

  She pouts adorably and I lean in and press my lips to her cheeks in a brief kiss. She smiles, her eyes on the stage and I turn back to the stage my heart feeling lighter than it had in years. My body suddenly goes rigid buzzing slightly as I feel eyes boring a hole in my skull.

  I look around but everyone’s attention is focused on the stage. Uneasiness sweeps through me and my stomach clenches into a thousand knots. Arthur finishes his introduction and the force field slams up in a burst of colors. Celia’s gasp of delight draws my attention.

  Her blunt nails dig into my arm and she turns to me with an absolute look of awe on her beautiful face making her glow. I look to the others and they are also watching her expression change with big smiles. We’ve already seen this about a hundred dozen times but somehow for me it feels like I’m watching it for the first time too.

  Arthur gives a quick rundown of how the contest works for the new-borns benefit but with him you never know. He’s probably doing it to listen to the sound of his own voice. The crowd chooses someone to start.

  The force field will light up if you sing good enough to make it match your emotions but it will go transparent if you can’t connect with it. It will then shrink until you’ve suffocated and passed out, then it will go back up again.

  The thing with the field is you never know when it will shrink so you can sing better than Beyoncé but if you’re unable to connect with it then you’re toast. It’s actually quite fun.

  Well, fun if you’re not the one up there. Arthur finishes the explanation but Celia’s face is still delighted. I guess she isn’t mad I left that part out. Arthur steps off the stage and the field goes transparent signalling the start of the competition. The hall goes silent and then someone shouts a name and within seconds the entire room is chanting it.

  “Arabella!!!” the chant gets louder and louder until she steps up to the stage. She steps up to the lone mic with smile.

  “That fucking bitch,” I hear Celia hiss from beside me and a few heads turn our way but she’s too busy glaring at the stage to notice anything.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask in confusion but she doesn’t even look at me because she’s too busy seething in her seat. I turn to Stella thoroughly confused and she shrugs.

  “They don’t get along very well,” she mumbles turning back to the stage when the first strings of music fills the air.

  “I hope she chokes on her spit and shrinks to death,” Celia hisses and my head whips to her in alarm.

  Why the hostility? I’ve never seen her anything other than happy before. Granted I’ve only known her two days but still.

  Whoa, two days? It feels like we’ve been together for years. I look at the others guys and they are also wearing similar looks of confusion but Michael the psychopath is staring at her with a giant smile.

  Arabella starts singing and there’s a lot of wiggling and ass shaking just like she does every year and the field barely shows any sign of glowing. Celia rolls her eyes the entire time until she’s done with the song. When she’s done she searches through the crowd until her eyes land on me and I sigh.

  Here we go. She’s been trying for years to get in my bed but there’s just nothing attractive about belittling those around you just for the sake of having a little fun. She starts to say my name and a low growl rents the air around us.

  Arabella’s eyes snap to my left and she rears back in surprise. I look at Celia and the death glare she’s shooting at her would have made me frightened if I didn’t know she was the sweetest most kindest person I knew. Arabella shifts nervously on her feet before she straightens with a look of defiance on her face. Oh no.

  But before I can say my name to volunteer, she calls on Stella and I sag back in my seat relieved. I look at Stella and the look of absolute terror on her face makes me feel bad but Celia’s safe and that’s all that matters to me. She swallows loudly and nervously get up and head towards the stage.

  “Why does she look like she’s heading to her execution?” Celia asks with concern.

  “That’s because she kinda is,” Michael says munching loudly on something. I look over at him and he has a bowl of popcorn in his lap. He must have conjured it but the hall is rigged so we can’t use our powers in here, so where the hell did he get it? He’s always doing things like this. I shake my head because I won’t be getting any answers.

  “She can sing, right? All you have to do is step into that blurry thingy and sing. I’m pretty sure she can sing. She look like someone who can,” she blubbers.

  I rub her hand reassuringly. “She’ll be fine.”

  “I hope so. I'd hate to see her in pain.”

  “Why don’t I take you out to get something to eat?” I ask trying to get her out of here because I know how this will go. I’ve seen it before. Damn Arabella, I curse.

  “No I’m not hungry,” she says with a small smile at me. “Besides I want to be here for her. I have a feeling this will go badly.”

  She rubs at her chest and then taps it with her fingers twice.

  Damn it. She reaches her hand across the seat Stella vacated for Dani’s hand, her grip on my bicep tightening. Dani clutches her hand gratefully and turns back to the stage.

  I look at the others and they obviously feel the same way because they are looking at Celia in concern. Arabella hands the mic to Stella and the force field dissolve and she gets off the stage throwing a smug smile at Celia who answers with a sweet smile and a middle finger raised before turning back to Stella will an eye roll.

  The field goes back up and Stella’s hands shake slightly. A few seconds after the music starts she looks around terrified then the field shrinks about a few inches and she jumps a little with an alarmed cry. The sound of slight laughter rises with the din of soft murmurs.

  The field shrinks again her hands start shaking badly and I can practically feel the glee of the others in the room as the field shrinks tighter as if it were a physical being in the room.

  “I can’t watch thi
s,” Celia blurts getting out of her seat.

  I start to follow but she’s pushes down hard on my shoulder and I fall back in my seat. She shakes her head slightly, her mouth pressed in a thin line before she steps out into the isle and walks straight up to the stage as if she owns the place. Silence descends as everyone watches her.

  I just about died in my seat. Michael and the others turn to me wearing identical looks of horror and I scramble out of my seat but Charlie stops me before I can stop her.

  I look up and she’s almost to the stage. No, no, no. How does she even look so calm? She steps up onto the stage as if she’s been up there all her life.

  The entire hall is silent you can hear a pin drop. Everyone knows if she tries to step through that field she’ll be slammed back into the pillars so hard she'll even have a few broken bones.

  No. No. No. My heart is beating so hard I’m surprised no one else can hear it. She won’t be able to make it up there but if I try to go up there we’ll all get hurt.

  I don’t care, I just need to get her off that stage before she attempts to step through. My heart beats in desperation but more hands hold onto me as I fight to get to her but when I look up, she is already ascended the steps to the stage.

  I stare with my heart in my throat as she closes her eyes and steps through the force field and takes the mic from Stella. My jaw drops and a collective gasp of shock reverberates around the room.

  Oh my God. She just keeps surprising me. What is she doing? She smiles at Stella and motions for her to step back. I run a hand roughly through my hair tugging slightly at the roots and the guys behind me yells for me to sit and I shoot them a dirty look. I gingerly sit back down, my heart trying to explode out of my chest. Stella backs away from the front and the force field shrinks further barely an inch above their heads and swear to God my heart stops.

  Celia steps up to the front and the music stops. Another tune starts up again and she takes a deep breath. The beat didn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard before. The whole room is silent I’m afraid no one is breathing.

  She bobs her head gently and sways softly to the beat before she brings the microphone up and then she starts singing.