Burned by Fire (Blood & Magic Book 3)

by Danielle Annett

  Declan turned back to me, clearly intending to pick up where we’d just left off, when my phone began to ring. He cursed.

  I yanked the sheet off my bed, wrapping it around my body, and retrieved my phone from the pile of clothes that had been discarded on the other side of the room. He growled in frustration, but I ignored him.

  “Hello,” I answered. Declan’s eyes were tracking my every movement, and suddenly I felt like prey. He licked his lips, causing my pulse to jump. Yep, I definitely felt like prey.

  “The HAC has her,” Inarus said. I hadn’t been the only one to hear his voice, because suddenly the expression on Declan’s face was pinched. He wasn’t exactly Inarus’ biggest fan. Something I’d been meaning to talk to him about.

  “Uh-huh. Can I—?”

  “She isn’t just a witch. I finally realized where I remembered her from.” I turned away, my entire focus now on Inarus’ words.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I remember Aiden talking about her. He had a photograph of her, an old school picture or something. A few months back, he said we’d have to collect her soon. It took me a while to put all of the pieces together and realize it was the same kid.”

  “What could they possibly want with an eleven-year-old witch?” I asked, still confused.

  “Aria, she isn’t just a witch. She has psyker abilities. She’s been on the HAC watch list for years. They’ve just never had the opportunity to grab her. I’ve heard so many stories about what this kid has the potential to do; she’s a legend within the corps.”

  “There’s no such thing as a witch/psyker hybrid.” At least, I didn’t think there was. I felt Declan come up to stand beside me. He’d thrown on his jeans, but his chest remained bare. A light dusting of white-blond hair covered his chest. He leaned against the wall, his strong arms folded across his chest and his gaze on me as I listened to Inarus. I clenched my hand into a fist to keep from reaching out and touching him. Declan smiled, his eyes all too knowing.

  “I don’t know how much truth there is to it all, but rumor has it if a witch and a psyker have a child, there is a possibility that the child will be able to manipulate time. The witch has to come from a line of seers; I don’t know if it matters what the psyker’s ability is, but blend the two and you get something we’ve only ever heard stories about.

  “Psykers fall into one of seven categories: Telekinetic, Pyrokinetic, Hydrokinetic, Aerokinetic, Geokinetic, Electrokinetic, and Vitakinetic. But there have always been whispers among other psykers that there was once a Chronokinetic. To the best of my knowledge, no one in our time has ever encountered anyone who is a Chronokinetic, but that is because they need more than just psyker blood for their abilities to manifest. They need witch blood as well, and the witches aren’t fond of those with magic unlike their own.”

  “So, what, a psyker and a witch have to shack up and decide to make a baby for a Chronokinetic to be born?” I could hear the skepticism in my voice.

  “It doesn’t work that easily, for the same reason that psyker abilities can often skip generations. The abilities manifest where they want, without any sort of pattern or ability to predict.” That much I knew was true. Both of my parents had been unremarkably human, but I’d had a grandfather on my father’s side who’d been an Aerokinetic.

  “What could the HAC want with her?” Aside from the obvious. A psyker with the ability to manipulate time was an asset to any army. How could you possibly lose a budding war when you could just go back in time over and over until you knew every strategy your enemy had? Suddenly I felt like I was watching Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise. It was the last big box movie I’d seen before the Awakening, and it had left an impression.

  “I don’t know exactly. I do know that they’ll first try and break her. She’d be an asset, but if they can’t…” He trailed off, not bothering to finish. We both knew what would happen to her if the HAC couldn’t get her on their side.

  “How long does she have?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. They’ve already had her for a day. They wouldn’t give up on her that easily. Maybe a year, maybe more. She’s valuable. If I had to guess, they’ll keep her until she caves or they break her beyond repair. Look—” He stopped for a moment and I held my breath. “I know that they were wrong to take those kids. I get it now. I’d been drinking too much HAC Kool-Aid to realize at the time just how messed up they were. If they have her, and I’d bet my life that they do, if it takes more than a few days to find her, the damage will be irreversible. They’ll brutalize her both mentally and physically. The HAC doesn’t start out slow; they’ll give her a choice, and then they’ll go right into torturing her until she breaks. The things they do…no kid should have to experience what they’ll stoop to.”

  I closed my eyes and scrubbed my free hand over my face. Marcella was only eleven years old. I didn’t think it would take much to break her.

  “Where would they have taken her?” I asked, praying that there was a silver lining to all of this and that Inarus had a bead on where she could be.

  “There are five buildings within a close enough proximity to where she was abducted that she could be in. They could have taken her further, but it’s doubtful. They’ll want her broken before they risk transport so she isn’t tempted to run. They would have found a hole to lay low in until the search ended. I can send you the address, but I can’t port into them. All HAC safe houses are heavily warded. I wouldn’t be able to port within a two-mile radius of any of them. I don’t know how we’ll manage to—” My eyes locked on Declan’s. He nodded.

  “The Pack has offered its help to the witches. If you can get me the addresses, I can get enough feet on the ground to sweep each building. We’ll go in groups of two to three until we find her.”

  “Aria, what’s going on between you and—?”

  “Later. Right now, we need to find that girl.”

  Inarus had provided me with five addresses—five possible locations—and instead of going to them, I was here, in the Pack commons area, sitting on my hands. It was killing me. Robert the damn coyote just had to be the voice of reason and suggest that we wait to search the buildings until later tonight when dark had fallen. When I’d mentioned it to Declan and Inarus, they’d both agreed. Each facility was likely to be heavily guarded. We’d have better luck of getting in and out undetected once it was dark. So here I was, eating a bowl of cereal for dinner and staring at the clock as it ticked at a snail’s pace. It was just after 6 P.M., and I had a good four hours before it’d be time for us all to move out.

  The plan was for us all to go in groups of two to three and call for backup if we found her. I knew Declan wanted to go with me. He’d hadn’t been thrilled when I’d said Inarus and I were going to go in as one of the teams, and had made a growly sound in his throat that I’d done my best to ignore.

  He had suggested we take Hannah with us as a compromise since I had outright refused him coming along as our third. Hannah was a Pack soldier, and one of the few Pack mates who I was pretty sure didn’t hate me. At least not entirely.

  I’d tried to say no to her as well, but Declan had made a valid argument.

  If Inarus couldn’t port in, then I likely wouldn’t be able to use my fire, either, which left both of us without our strongest weapon. I didn’t think it would be an issue, but Declan made it clear I had two choices: him, or Hannah. In the end, I had chosen Hannah.

  I didn’t think having Declan and Inarus together would be a good idea. Let alone having the two of them cramped inside my little two-door Civic. That was a recipe for disaster.

  I should probably have mentioned to him that I’d hired Inarus and that we were going to be working a lot more cases together moving forward. I pondered how that conversation would go.

  Maybe I’d just wait until he eventually figured it out on his own.

  Brock took a seat across from me with a bowl of his own. His short brown hair was swept to one side, and he sported a single gold stud ea
rring in his left ear. At twenty-five, he still had a boyish charm to him. He hadn’t finished bulking up, though he was slowly filling out more, not that looks meant anything. Even the smallest adult shifters carried enough strength in their bodies to take down an elephant.

  He was in charge of Pack security, which I found surprising since he seemed to be one of the youngest Pack guards, but when I’d asked James about him, he’d said Brock had proven himself at an early age and left things at that.

  “You look agitated,” he said as he spooned cereal into his mouth. The frosted flakes he ate made a loud crunching sound as he chewed.

  “I am. How can you sit there so calm?”

  He shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat, his focus on the bowl resting atop the smooth table top. “We do what’s smart. No one is ready for a war, but we all know one is coming. We wait, we get the girl, and then we continue planning.” War was a dark cloud looming over all of our heads. The Awakening had happened almost seven years ago, but rather than adjusting and finding a new normal, factions had fractured and hate brewed. We as a society couldn’t seem to get along. Shifters, vampires, and witches had always been on opposing sides, but with the rise of the HAC, humans were a formidable threat too. I wasn’t foolish enough to think all humans were anti-paranormal, but it was looking more and more like those with power certainly were.

  “I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” I said.

  “You’re not doing nothing. You’re eating. You’re conserving and building your strength, and you’re making sure that you’re ready to fight if it comes to that.” He was so calm. I didn’t know how he did it.

  Brock polished off his bowl of cereal before setting it aside. His cognac eyes were calm, his expression neutral. “How are things?” he asked. The question was simple enough, but I’d learned to listen for what wasn’t spoken aloud. He tried for casual; I knew better. Shifters were worse than high school teenagers when it came to gossip.

  “Fine,” I said. I finished my own bowl and set it aside as well.

  “Care to elaborate?” He raised a single eyebrow. Damn shifters were so nosy. Brock smiled. His teeth were pearly white, and the sparkle in his eye probably had most girls swooning. Good thing I wasn’t falling for his pretty boy charms.

  “Not really,” I said with a smile. Brock laughed and I scanned the room, noticing two women who were staring right at us. Their gazes collided with mine. Both looked pissed as hell. They stood from their tables and began heading my way. I heaved a sigh, knowing that whatever they wanted, it couldn’t be good.

  Brock noticed the direction of my gaze and turned to see what was coming. His expression grew concerned. I turned my head left and right, popping my neck as they came to a stop a few feet away from our table, hands on their hips.

  I waited.

  “You don’t belong here,” the first said when she realized I wasn’t going to acknowledge her. I recognized her from earlier, when she’d run into me in the halls. I turned my attention back to Brock, choosing to ignore her again. The commons quieted, and I felt everyone’s attention turn towards me. It was the calm before the storm. I clenched my jaw.

  “Nothing to say, human?” the other spat. She slurred the word like it was an insult. Brock began to stand, his eyes hard, but I kicked him under the table, stopping him. He looked at me with a frown and I shook my head. I didn’t need him to fight my battles. He sat back down, but clearly wasn’t happy about it.

  “Just because our Alpha decided he’d be the one to fall on the sword, it doesn’t mean we have to like it. He should have let one of the others claim you. He probably felt awful asking that of any of them, though. I mean, look at you.” The smile she flashed was full of malice.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I glared at both of them and waited.

  The first made a sad face as she looked down at me with so much contempt, flipping her jet-black hair over her shoulder. “You know why he saved you, don’t you?” she mocked, clearly amused with herself. A small knot formed in the pit of my stomach. “I mean, really, you didn’t honestly believe you were some special snowflake?”

  “Brianna, Jess, you two need to leave. Now.” Brock’s voice was filled with hostility, but there was a familiarity in the way he referred to Jess and the look her gave her. They were friends. Figured.

  “We don’t answer to you, Brock. Stay out of it,” Brianna said. Jess, the second woman, smiled smugly, and I had to fight the urge to punch her in the face. Just ignore her, I told myself. You’re just starting to fit in. The Alphas respect you. The rest of the Pack will eventually too. I just had to give it time and not make too many waves. I could be the reasonable adult here.

  “What the hell is your problem? What did I ever do to you?” Okay, maybe it was easier said than done. At least I hadn’t punched her. Yet.

  “You’re our problem. Declan’s miserable now and it’s all because of you! He might think we need you, but we don’t. You’re not worth giving up his chance at a real mate. One of the others should have stepped up like he’d asked them to.” She sent an accusatory look Brock’s way.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. My blood began to boil, the knot in my stomach slowly growing. I tried taking deep breaths, fighting the urge to let my fire come out. I was hated enough within the Pack because I was an outsider. It wouldn’t help anyone if I hurt either of the women in front of me. I might not have liked them, but I’d paid enough attention to know that they were well liked by the Pack.

  Brock crowded the women, getting in front of me. “I said leave. Don’t make me repeat myself.” Brianna and Jess both opened their mouths as though to argue, but something in Brock’s expression must have made them change their mind.

  “Fine, protect her. Eventually Declan will decide to take out the trash. It’s only a matter of time.” They walked away, laughing amongst themselves. I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands.

  Brock reclaimed his seat across from me. “Don’t listen to them. They’re just jealous. They’ve both been chasing after Declan for years. They’re just pissed he didn’t pick one of them.” I nodded, but at the same time I began replaying what they’d said. My stomach started to churn as my heart plummeted into my stomach.

  “Would you lie to me?” I asked, making eye contact with Brock and holding it. If what I knew about Pack hierarchy was true, then when I’d become Declan’s mate, I had also become the second most powerful person within the Pack, shifter or not. A pack member would never lie to Declan.

  Brock held my gaze for several seconds before blinking and averting his gaze. His mouth became a hard line. “Don’t put me in the position where I feel like I have to,” he said.

  “What did they mean when they said that Declan had asked someone in the Pack to step up?”

  Brock was shaking his head. “Aria, it isn’t like that. I mean—”

  “I don’t want the sugarcoated version. Was this planned? Did he—?”

  “Declan loves—”

  “Did he mate claim me to tie me to the Pack?” Brock was silent, but his silence answered everything. “He said he claimed me to save me. Was that the truth? Or did he claim me to control me?” My hands shook beneath the table.

  “I don’t know.” Brock was shaking his head. I thought back to when I’d first moved into the Compound. Everyone had been so nice. Maybe they’d been overly nice. The men within the Pack had brought me food and always checked in on me. James at one point had suggested that several were trying to court me. I’d assumed it was because I was someone new, someone different. I’d figured it would eventually pass once the newness wore off. I didn’t think there had been any ulterior motives to their actions. It had just been annoying. But what if…?

  “Did Declan ask anyone within the Pack to court me?” His jaw clenched. “Brock, I need to know.”

  “Aria, all you need to know is that he would do anything for you. You’re his mate. Isn’t that enough?” I shoved away f
rom the table, ignoring his call behind me. God, I’d been so stupid. I couldn’t believe I had thought for even a minute that he might actually care about me as a person. That I was more to him than someone to use for their abilities. Of course he’d see me as a weapon. His thoughts were always on what was best for the Pack.

  I clenched my jaw and held my head up high as I navigated my way through the hallways leading to the exit. I didn’t bother stopping by my room. I didn’t need to be reminded of what had almost happened just hours ago. Of how I’d let him touch me and how my body had responded.

  I furiously swiped at my eyes, chanting in my head as the door came in sight. Breathe, Aria. Breathe. Not here. Not now. I needed out. I needed to breathe. I felt trapped inside of the Compound. My heart accelerated and my palms became clammy.

  “Ari, where are you going?” James called out.

  I jumped at the sound of his voice but stopped for a moment, blinking hard to hold back the moisture threatening to escape. “I just need some air. Can you ask Hannah to meet me at Sanborn Place? I need to finish up a few things before we roll out.” I plastered a smile across my face. James didn’t look convinced, but he nodded and let me pass.

  The doors opened and the brisk evening air hit my face. I had a job to do. I had a little girl that I needed to save, and I wasn’t going to let my emotions get in the way of that. I’d deal with the rest of this later. I just had to hold it together long enough to save Marcella.

  Fire broke out across my skin as I stormed to my car.

  I stood in the parking garage connected to Sanborn Place, my palms engulfed in flames. I wanted to light every damn car in front of me on fire. I wanted to scream and yell and, if I were being entirely honest with myself, I wanted to cry. My heart ached to the point that I didn’t know what to do. How was I going to get past this? I sucked in a lungful of air and clenched my fists. The drive from the Compound had given me nothing but time to think.