“Ari, you’ve got to give the guy a try. I thought after everything that happened with your mom and the HAC, and you calling him to get you and the kids, that you were ready to give things a try.” I threw myself back, abandoning the remainder of my breakfast and licking the last remnants of sticky goodness from my fingers. My body rested against the mattress as I stared up at the ceiling.
James had a point. A little over a month ago, shortly after Declan had initially mate claimed me, I’d taken off. I’d gone with Inarus and decided to meet mommy dearest and see if maybe she’d had a legitimate reason for abandoning me after all. What I’d ended up finding out was that my mother was a first-class witch with a capital B who was the reason my father was dead. She’d also orchestrated the kidnapping of multiple shifter children. I still had no idea why the HAC had taken them, but we’d managed to rescue all eight of them. They’d been battered and abused, most of them still working through the horrors they’d lived through.
“How are Caden and the kids doing, by the way?”
James growled. “Ari, you’re changing the subject.” I rolled my eyes. So what if I was?
“It’s a legitimate question,” I shot back.
James sighed and then lay back, his arm folded behind his head. “You know how they’re doing. All of the children have been relocated to their respective Packs. And as for those who remained, Caden seems to be adjusting. He’s making friends and finding his place as one of the Pack teenagers, and I’m told you see the remaining cubs regularly in primary.”
That was true enough.
“Did you hear what Wyatt did the other day?” I rolled to my side so I could look at him. Wyatt was a leopard cub we’d rescued and I had a soft spot for him, as did most of the Pack. “He played a prank on Mauro that I’m told involved a large amount of flour and syrup.”
Mauro and his mate, the Betas for Clan Big, had been visiting for the week to discuss some Pack nonsense with Declan that I hadn’t really bothered to keep up on. They lived in Kennewick, roughly two hours away from the Compound in Spokane, WA. Like most of the Alphas and Betas, they kept residence outside of Spokane but within Declan’s territory of the Pacific Northwest, and stayed within the Compound intermittently when the need arose.
I didn’t know the full extent of how everything had happened, but I had been able to see the aftereffects of a snow-white and sticky Mauro bellowing in the hallway that “this is the last time!” and “get back here, you little monster.” I laughed.
I still remembered the sticky footprints he had left leading down the hall as he’d attempted to catch Wyatt and his friends, who’d shifted and taken off in their animal forms to better outrun the burly man.
“I heard about it. It is all anyone has been talking about for the past two days. Big bad Mauro, beaten by a twenty-pound kitten.” James and I laughed aloud, tears forming in my eyes.
“I’m glad he’s settling in.”
“Me too. All of the kids are now. It would be nice if you would too.”
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. You cannot burn your best friend. It’s poor taste. You cannot light him on fire. Not even a little singe. Not even just to get him to shut up about you not wanting to date the man who bound you mind, body, and soul to him without your consent as if this is the Stone Age, where men hold all the control and can do whatever they want and take whoever they want without any thought—
“Aria! Shit, your bed is on fire!”
I opened my eyes. Dammit. James had jumped up and was swatting at the fire that started to the left of where my head had been resting, as if that was going to accomplish anything.
I sat up and ran my hand over the flames that were now engulfing my navy blue down comforter. Nothing happened. James grabbed a throw blanket from one of the nearby chairs and tried to smother the flames, but instead they only spread to the other blanket, forcing him to abandon it in a pile atop my bed. I pursed my lips and tried to focus. My fire had been difficult to control lately, though that wasn’t anything new. The real problem was that I was seriously burned out. Since Declan and I had bonded, the depth of my power had grown tenfold—not that I was sharing that information with anyone. But I still needed food and sleep to function properly, and I had only had one of those things today, and unfortunately, fire wasn’t easy to call back.
I pulled at the flames with my mind, urging them to come to me. I pulled at them with invisible threads. The flames leaned towards me, as if debating whether or not they wanted to heed my call, but they didn’t obey me. They didn’t come to me. They came closer, sure, but they didn’t lessen, and I was so damn tired.
“Aria?” James prompted, a question evident in his voice.
“I’m trying, James.” I gritted out the words. Sweat dripped down my brow, and my hands shook in front of me as I tried to rein the fire in. Frustration pulled at me. Why was this so hard? Why couldn’t I control it? Then all at once, a calming presence took hold and the flames disappeared in a rush as if pulled through the fabric. A crater of blackened ash remained in their wake in the middle of my mattress.
I stared at the ash, puzzled. What had just happened?
A throat cleared behind me, and had me spinning away from the bed. Declan stood just inside the doorway. His stance and expression were casual, though his eyes were anything but.
“Everything okay?” he asked. Broad-shouldered and muscular, Declan stood with barely contained strength. He wore a two-toned grey-striped shirt that did nothing to hide the corded muscles beneath the thin material.
He typically kept his white-blonde hair military short, but it had grown out, leaving about an inch of length, just enough that one could tug at the strands. Flecks of gold danced in his emerald-green eyes, giving them a metallic quality that let you know his tiger was present and watching. God, he looked good. My mouth practically watered.
My heart instinctively began to hammer in my chest like a horse’s hooves beating across the track. I nodded and turned back towards the bed to hide my reaction to his presence, not that he wouldn’t know. There wasn’t much you could hide from a shifter. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t try, though, and thankfully, Declan didn’t call me out on it. But judging by the smug expression on James’ face, he knew Declan made my heart race, at the very least.
The bed wasn’t worth saving. The flames had destroyed both the bedding and the mattress beyond repair.
“Yeah, everything is good. Thanks.” I knew my tone was dismissive, but I couldn’t help it. I glanced at James, who was now standing awkwardly to the side of my bed, his hands shoved into his pockets and an expression on his face that said he’d rather be anywhere but here. You and me both, buddy. His eyes caught mine only briefly before he turned to Declan.
“Come on in, I was just heading out.” I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from swearing at him, and instead settled on glaring daggers at his back as he made a hasty retreat out of my room. Coward. Declan came in the rest of the way and we both stood awkwardly silent in the room. I looked down at my feet, debating what I should say to him. I never knew what to say, or how I felt, not really.
I wanted to hate him. He’d pushed me into this without my consent, but then again, could I really blame the guy when he’d done what he thought necessary to save my life? I also had this crazy attraction to him. He’d been attractive to begin with, sure, but since bonding, it was like I couldn’t keep my eyes from going over every ridge and valley on his body with a fierce hunger that I seriously wanted to satisfy. Not that I was going to, though. Thankfully I had at least some measure of self-control.
“We’re going to dinner tonight. Six o’clock,” he said. My pulse jumped and my brain went haywire for a second before I snapped out of it.
I scowled. “Right, sure we are.” Hey, my voice didn’t waver. Two points for me.
“That didn’t come out right.”
“Okay, why don’t you try again?” I folded my arms across my chest. Attractive or not, I didn’t take orders from
him.
Declan looked flustered. He frowned and opened his mouth to speak before closing it. Good for you. Think about what you are going to say before you say it. I had a feeling that I unnerved him as much as he did me, which I found to be hilarious. He ruled the Pack with an iron fist and always exuded confidence—until now.
“Would you like to go have dinner with me tonight?” he asked.
“Are you asking me out on a date?” This was a first. It had been, what? One, two, three…almost five weeks that I’d been living in the Compound and he’d yet to ask me out. Instead, he had stomped around and made demands that I had routinely ignored. As if being his mate meant he didn’t have to put in any work.
“What if I am?” His face was expressionless. Before I realized what I was doing I agreed to go. An instinctive part of me wanted to make him happy, even if I didn’t really consider him my mate. Declan smiled. It was a brilliant smile that lit up his entire face, taking years away. My heart contracted and stupid butterflies danced in my stomach.
“I’ll meet you out front at six?” he said.
“Sure.” My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw an unknown number lit across the screen. I opened the display and read the text.
“I have to go,” I told him. I turned back to the bed. “I’ll pay for it. Sorry.”
Declan shook his head. “It’s not a big deal. You can burn as many mattresses as you’d like, though preferably not mine. I’ll have a new one brought in this afternoon.”
“Thank you.” I grabbed my blades and slipped past him out the door. Dammit. I’d really wanted that nap.
I’d only driven a mile or so from the Compound before I texted Inarus and asked if he could port me in, hoping he had enough juice to actually do it. The Compound was twenty minutes or more, away from my apartment. If Aiden was already there, driving wouldn’t get me there in time, and even if Inarus left, I didn’t like the idea of Aiden or anyone else within the HAC snooping around my apartment.
Inarus was by my side within seconds after I’d hit send on the text. Without a word, he reached out and placed his hand around my upper arm, and in a pull of blurring motion, I found myself inside the living room of my apartment. My insides rolled and I had to brace my hands on my knees for a moment as I struggled to catch my breath and retain the contents of my stomach. I was beginning to regret my chocolate-filled breakfast. After several seconds passed, I stood to my full height and was handed a glass of water.
“Thanks,” I said.
“No problem. Porting can take some getting used to,” he commented. His voice was grim. Inarus’ jaw was clenched, and he had already turned his attention to the large living room window, looking through the curtains. His body was angled just out of view of anyone who may have been looking towards my apartment. I walked towards him, careful to keep out of sight. Thankfully I made it a habit to keep my curtains closed. Inarus shifted to the side, allowing me a small bit of room to peek through the side of the curtains. Four black SUVs were parked outside. All of the windows were heavily tinted, but just as I was about to pull away, several of the vehicle doors opened in unison, spilling out a group of men heavily clad in tactical gear.
I spotted multiple tactical vests but surprisingly very little weaponry. Two had swords strapped to their backs, but the others had nothing that I could see.
“Where is the gear?”
“Stupid humans. They came to a fight without weapons,” Melody said. I scowled and she offered an apologetic shrug. “What, these humans are stupid.”
“Most don’t need them.” Inarus tapped his temple. I could hear the faint buzzing that was almost like background noise in my ears whenever a psyker was close, but I’d assumed it had been coming from Inarus alone. I swore under my breath.
“Meet the face of PsyShade,” Inarus said with bitter laughter. I swore again. Inarus hadn’t been kidding, they really did want him dead. PsyShade was an elite group of soldiers, most of whom were psykers who worked for the HAC. I didn’t know what the Human Alliance Corporation had done to earn their loyalty, but PsyShade was the muscle behind them.
“What the hell is PsyShade?” Melody asked. Shit, so much for keeping her in the dark.
“They’re just the assholes trying to kill him,” I said, gesturing to Inarus, and hoped she wouldn’t fish for more information.
“Obviously not very hard if this is all they bring to a fight.” Melody dropped onto the sofa without a care. She wasn’t concerned one bit. I wished I shared that feeling.
“Can you tell how many of them are psykers?”
Inarus peered over my shoulder.
“All but two,” he reported. I didn’t know if he could differentiate the psychic sounds they made or if he just knew their faces. It all sounded like a muffled and annoying buzz to me. I counted the men outside.
Great, this was just great. That meant I was up against, one, two…seven psykers with who knew what kind of abilities, and two others who I was pretty sure were equally as much of a threat. They wouldn’t have been part of PsyShade if they hadn’t earned their place. One of the men turned, and instantly I recognized Aiden. Inarus stiffened beside me.
“Stay here,” I warned.
“You’re good, but you can’t take all of them. You can’t take Aiden.”
I didn’t have to take anyone. I just had to scare the living daylights out of them. A little smoke and mirrors. Nothing I couldn’t handle. As long as they didn’t realize I was damn near burned out, everything would be fine.
“Aria, it’s too dangerous for you to go out there. I only brought you so you could see what I’m dealing with here. So you would realize the danger. Now let’s go. I’ll leave and you can go back to your life. I can stay hidden. Aiden only caught up to me because I was careless. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Melody watched the exchange, a curious look on her face.
“You think you can take all of them?” she asked, genuinely interested. I shrugged and Inarus narrowed his gaze.
“No, she can’t.”
“Look, I’m going to go out there and you’re going to stay here. If things go south, you can port in and port me out, but until then, stay put. You’re not going to run for the rest of your life, always looking over your shoulder. That’s not any way to live.” I would know. I locked eyes with Inarus, the crystal blue depths of his eyes filled with worry.
“Aria—”
“He’s right. I know you work out, Ari, but those boys out there can still give you a beating.” She pushed away from the sofa, coming to her feet. “Now I, on the other hand, I can send them home crying to their mommies.” She flashed a wicked smile and inwardly I groaned.
“You need to stay put and watch him.” I pointed to Inarus, “I’ll handle this. Just make sure he doesn’t show himself. Sit on him if you have to.”
Inarus wrapped his fingers around my forearm. “You can’t be serious. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“I’m my mother’s daughter, remember? And I’m betting that they won’t hurt me.”
“I don’t like that bet.”
“That’s too bad.” I pulled away from him.
“Not to play down your skills, Ari, but I’m siding with him on this one. Why don’t you let me knock the humans outside around a little?” I called fire to me and a flame erupted in the palm of my hand.
“I said I got this.” Melody’s eyes widened and a grin spread across her face.
“I knew you were a badass.” No more secrets; the cat was officially out of the bag.
It was biting cold outside. Wind whipped around my face and flurries of snow stuck to my lashes as I trudged through a foot of snow across the parking lot and towards the SUVs. Aiden seemed to be leading the charge, and stood apart from the rest of the men in front of the vehicles. I stopped when I was about ten yards away from him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice even despite the adrenaline running through my veins.
“
You haven’t see our boy Inarus, have you?” he asked. Aiden was Chinese, with sharp cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. He was handsome, but his current smile was cruel, making him appear more like a creepy stalker than an attractive warrior.
“Why are you asking me? He’s one of yours, isn’t he?” I said. Aiden frowned.
“Fan out,” he told his men. “I know he’s here, Aria.” He tapped his temple. “Buzz buzz, remember?” Yeah, I remembered. He shouldn’t have been able to discern me from Inarus, though. I knew I sure as hell couldn’t.
“You’re picking up on me,” I said, my voice full of bravado I wasn’t really feeling.
“We have people who spotted him in the area.”
“That’s cool. Inarus and I aren’t exactly buddy buddy these days, so good luck, but as I’m sure you’re aware, you’re not welcome here.” I glared at the others as they started making their way across the parking lot. I needed to keep them here.
“I don’t need your permission,” he sneered. I wanted to chuck a snowball at him and wipe his smug expression off his face. Instead, I spread my arms and did something I really hated doing. I opened myself to the mate bond, letting some of Declan’s strength pour into me and simultaneously calling fire to me. In a rush, my palms were filled with flames. Declan would know I was pulling on Pack magic, but I didn’t have much of a choice here, not if I wanted to keep Inarus from having to live his life on the run.
My own reserves were too depleted, and even with Pack magic, I wouldn’t be able to take them all on. I wouldn’t pull that much. It wasn’t right. I felt guilty enough taking this much. No, I just needed enough to make a display of power that would make Aiden think twice and keep the others from looking further. I could that.
Burned by Fire (Blood & Magic Book 3) Page 3