Born in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy Book 1)

by K. F. Breene

  “Something about you makes me thirsty beyond my control, Reagan. The human last night did nothing to curb the insatiable need that you inspire within me. It made me want you more. I will not last as long as you believe.”

  “That is an extremely poetic way of saying you’re screwed, isn’t it?”

  “I will screw you, yes. Very softly at first, until you are mewling and writhing. Then, when you beg me just right, I will screw you hard, deeply, until you are screaming for holy damnation. I will be the only thing you think about for the rest of your life.”

  “Sounds horrible. Remind me—did you like getting shot in the leg, or no?”

  His hand left the bubble of the spell.

  “That’s what I thought.” I let my own heat coat my body, fire not quite realized, dissolving the spell. “This neighborhood must be a coven, but their combined power is nothing. Pooled together, they would barely get through to the Realm. What were they doing with a powerful mage living among them?”

  “You know about magic, but you do not know the culture of mages and witches?” Darius turned as a deadbolt clicked over. “The house is now unlocked.”

  “Thanks for actually doing something. Other than pissing off a powerful alpha and hanging me in the air by my butt, that is.”

  “I have also made sexually explicit verbal advances on you.”

  “Inappropriate sexually explicit verbal advances, at that. That’s a mouthful of awful, is what that is.” I walked up the steps as the deadbolt clicked over again. I sighed and cocked a hip in annoyance. “Really, Darius?”

  “That wasn’t me. The human must be by the door.”

  “Ah. Which means she knows a vampire is outside. That’s got to be terrifying.” I knocked. “It’s me from the other day,” I called. “The girl who took out that mage.”

  I heard heavy footsteps before a curtain in the window at the front of the house shook. I stepped down two steps so she could better see me.

  After squinting in the window for a moment, her face disappeared. The porch light blazed down on us and Darius flinched away before he could stop himself. Margaret’s face appeared in the window again. Her eyes shone in recognition as she scrutinized Darius. A moment later, the deadbolt clicked over and the door shimmied open. As if on cue, the sound of more locks clicking and doors opening drifted over the quiet street. All the neighbors were up and watching the intruders.

  “The spell woke them,” Darius muttered as he looked behind.

  I nodded, though he couldn’t see, and resumed my place on the porch.

  “What are you doing here in the dead of night?” Margaret asked me in a hushed, disapproving voice. “You gave me a huge fright.”

  “I’m working. You have a minute?” I took a step closer.

  “In the middle of the night? Absolutely not! Come back in the daytime, young lady. You ought to be—” She cut herself off as Darius appeared beside me.

  “You are being rude,” he said in that cultivated and eloquent voice, clearly displaying his own disapproval. We might be pushing ourselves on her in the middle of the night, but his tone was so convincing, he made her seem like the barbarian in this situation.

  It seemed to work. Half sputtering, she backed up out of the way and held the door for us, her face pink. As we entered, her gaze shot past us, to the people obviously watching.

  “You can invite some of your friends, if that would make you feel more comfortable,” Darius offered gracefully.

  “Yes, of course,” she said, as though she hadn’t meant to. “I’ll just…do that.”

  “Maybe first you would prefer to show us to our seats and inquire after refreshments? Reagan would probably love some coffee.”

  Margaret stared at Darius like he had two heads. “Sure. Yes.”

  “You’re laying it on a little thick,” I murmured to Darius as Margaret ushered us into her home and planted us on the fluffy couch in her living room. The layout was very similar to the mage’s house next door.

  “While she is probably an excellent hostess, given the strange crocheted items—”

  “Those are doilies,” I supplied.

  “—and full tea set, she is frightened and displaying signs of guilt. She is not at her best. I am merely shepherding her.”

  “I see,” I said as she stood in front of us, wringing her hands.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” she asked.

  “I would love tea, please,” Darius said pleasantly.

  “Actually, we won’t take up much of your—”

  “Tea would be fine, thank you.” Darius used his soft though forceful voice to cut me off. Margaret disappeared with a sigh of relief.

  “You see?” he said, crossing an ankle over his knee. “She is already relaxing. The act of doing something habitual and expected calms humans’ nerves.”

  “Had a lot of experience calming humans down, have you?” I asked.

  “Yes I have, unfortunately. It is necessary to get the best results during negotiations.”

  “I always thought predators liked the thrill of the hunt.”

  “I am not talking about feeding, Reagan.” His gaze found my face. I felt a strange shiver at the unidentified look in his eyes. “In that, you are mostly right. The chase is one of my favorite things. Trying to best my prey. Dominating.” Hunger flashed. “But when she is caught, and under my control, force becomes cohesion. Passion is ignited. Fire. It is absolutely exquisite, Reagan, as good for the human as it is for me.”

  “What happens when you find a woman who doesn’t like to be dominated?”

  “Such as yourself?” A smile curled his lips. “That makes the hunt so much more thrilling. The complexity of a strong woman is intoxicating. I enjoy it immensely.”

  “So it’s a one-way street? She gets dominated, or you keep trying?”

  “You have not been listening. Once she submits, so do I. We form a bond, for a time. Pleasure is shared between us, as is power. The two components wrap us up and block out our surroundings, heightening the feeling. The taste.” I watched, mesmerized, as his tongue slid across his lower lip. “When the feeding is done, the bond will fade. Unless that bond is solidified.” His voice had softened. His eyes delved into mine, the fire and desire burning brightly.

  “How do you create a permanent bond?” I whispered. Staring at his lips. Wondering how they tasted. What they would feel like skimming over my body.

  He leaned toward me slowly. The air between us started to sizzle, electrified. “First, I—”

  “Here we— Oh!” Margaret stopped next to the couch, tea tray in hand.

  Reality punched me in the face, something that happened only after I did something stupid in Darius’s presence. I jerked back. “NO, YOU AREN’T INTERRUPTING ANYTHING!” My volume control was broken at the moment.

  “She didn’t ask if she was, Reagan,” Darius said, entwining his fingers in his lap.

  I nearly punched that stupid smirk off his face.

  I jumped up and shook myself out, seeking sweet, fresh air. Wishing it were much colder in the room. “That was not what it looked like,” I said, swatting my arms to rid them of the shivers. I’d have done the same to my nether regions, to rid them of the uncomfortable pounding, but it would have looked odd.

  Not like hopping around the room slapping myself was exactly normal…

  “They are beguiling, vampires,” Margaret said as she set the tray down on the coffee table. “Though often lovely…”

  “No, I’m just an idiot.” I wiped my forehead and sat on the love seat at the end of the table instead of returning to the couch. “I wanted to ask you a couple questions, Margaret, if you don’t mind.”

  She cleared her throat. “Do you take milk and sugar?”

  “One sugar and no milk for me, thank you,” Darius said.

  She’d brought both of us tea, so I said, “Same as that,” not really caring. I didn’t plan on drinking it, but Darius would insist that I take a cup.

  He leane
d forward for his tea, his face once again closing down into a flat expression. The arousal must’ve been wearing away, thank God. I took my cup and waited patiently until Margaret sat down in the recliner across from me.

  “I have a couple people coming over,” Margaret said, raising her chin as though she expected defiance.

  “Fine.” I deposited my untasted tea on the table in front of me. “First things first: what did you take from that house?” I raised my finger. “You know that Darius is a vampire. He can tell if you’re lying.”

  I had no idea if that was true, but I would know. I could read a liar from a mile away.

  She took a sip of her tea, clearly trying to appear unaffected. It would’ve worked much better had she not kept darting her eyes to the archway into the room. “I don’t know what you mean…” Her hands were shaking.

  I braced my elbows on my knees, studying her. The shaking got worse. She wasn’t just lying—she was afraid of admitting the truth. “Did you happen to catch me standing in your defensive spell?”

  Her cup clattered as she put it on the tray. She didn’t respond.

  “You worked that out with the neighborhood, right?” I intentionally used a badgering tone. Usually I would start with more of a friendly demeanor, trying to get the person to talk to see if anything useful slipped out. This time, though, I needed exact answers, and I needed them quickly. I’d throw my weight around to get the job done. If she hated me after—well, I didn’t have any friends anyway. No big deal.

  Her lips tightened. She was trying to prevent herself from talking.

  I stood and crossed to the mantelpiece. “Look, Margaret, I know something was taken from that mage’s house. Based on the spell your neighborhood cast at a tenth of the necessary power, I’d say it was a book of spells, or notes of some kind. Am I right?”

  Her front door opened. I heard footsteps echoing down the hallway. Margaret straightened, finding some courage. A moment later, a man and a woman entered the room, both in their late fifties and dressed in yoga attire. The rings said they were both married, and the closeness of their bodies said it was to each other.

  “Welcome,” I said, stepping forward with an outstretched hand, asserting my control over the room. I was the boss here. “I’m Reagan. You are?”

  “Tamara Evans. This is Rodney.” She gestured at her husband, who wore a stern expression and followed it up with a stern handshake. He stepped a little behind her, a protective position signifying backup. He was the muscle. His wife was the talent.

  “Hello. Please, have a seat.” I gestured them to the couch. Darius quickly moved to the window, giving me space. He was a good partner when he wanted to be. Thank God. “Would you like some tea?”

  “Oh. Y-yes, please…” The woman, ruddy-faced and with light burns on her hands, looked at Margaret in confusion.

  I cocked my head and closed my eyes for a moment, feeling residual magic. Also an echo of power. I’d never felt something quite like it. I couldn’t tell if it was from spell working within the neighborhood coven, or if the power was individual to one or both of them.

  I lifted my eyebrows at Rodney, silently repeating myself.

  “Sure,” he said in something like a grunt, playing Mr. Tough Guy.

  He had no idea what a real Mr. Tough Guy sounded like, I could tell.

  “Fantastic. Margaret, if you would?” I waited for her to start on the tea before continuing. “I was just asking Margaret what she took from the mage’s house.”

  “She seems to think—”

  “I just told them what I think,” I said to Margaret, planting myself on the other side of the coffee table, staring down at the newcomers. “You will note that I did not ask if you took something. I asked what it was. Oh! Forgive me my rudeness.” I shoved my hand through the air at Darius, careful to keep my movements coarse. “This is my vampire friend. He’s hungry. Being that we saw Roger, the alpha shifter, earlier, and he didn’t detain Darius, you can be comforted by the knowledge that we are authorized to conduct business in the Brink.”

  Rodney swallowed, and his hand jerked toward his wife before he stilled it. He heard the threat loud and clear: We can and will kill you to get this information, and we’ll be operating within magical law.

  Naive people under pressure were largely stupid creatures.

  “What did you take?” I repeated.

  “It was just a basic-level book of spells.” Tamara shrugged. “It wasn’t worth anything.”

  “Just a book of spells?” I crossed my arms over my chest, studying her, noticing the tightness around her eyes and the thinning lips. Quarter-truths were the same as lying in these circumstances. “Get it. And before you do”—I put out a cautioning finger—“know that I am familiar with the defensive spell you cast as a collective. A few books have that spell, but none of them make it roll like that. So this book that you get should have some pretty high-level notes marking up the pages.”

  Tamara’s spine went rigid and her expression set in defiance. She opened her mouth to refuse, but Darius turned into a blur that ended in her dangling from the air by her neck. She flailed. Her husband started, his eyes widening.

  “Don’t make her ask again,” Darius said softly. The small hairs rose on my body.

  “Hey!” Rodney shouted, struggling to get up. Margaret clutched her throat, a defensive reaction that wasn’t helping anyone.

  “Don’t—” Tamara wheezed out of a constricted throat. Clearly he wasn’t cutting off all her air, somehow. “Don’t tell them.”

  Rodney hesitated.

  They must’ve known someone would come calling for the book, and they were prepared for that someone to use violence to drag the information out.

  I sighed, because that would just make all this take longer.

  Darius must’ve recognized it, too, because he changed tactics. “Thank you for this lovely meal.” He lowered her to the ground and opened his mouth, revealing his fangs.

  “Don’t tell them!” Tamara said through clenched teeth.

  They must’ve thought the book was only safe within their coven. Given the spell they’d tried, probably one of the few they could actually do with their power level, that book was a good find. Which made the one I’d taken a great find.

  Why would they assume that a bunch of lower-powered witches could keep a book like that safe?

  Like a flash of lightning, it hit me. “He was one of you, wasn’t he?” I snapped, walking toward the window to think. “He was at your power level, but he got hooked up with the more powerful mages, and they gave him a way to increase his power. Once he reached a certain level, he was allotted some learning material. I bet that book has sacrifices and possessions and…” I trailed off as confusion rolled across two faces. The third had a sort of dreamy look and a firm grip on Darius’s flexed biceps. He hadn’t even bitten her; he was just whispering into her ear while slowly stroking the skin over her vein with his thumb. The guy was good.

  “So then, just higher-level spells, I gather?” I saw affirmation in their expressions. “You want to keep the book to prevent other people from gaining a bunch of power and turning into a whack job, like your former friend and neighbor did. I see.”

  Darius pulled his head away from Tamara’s in order to glance at me. There was no hunger or arousal in his eyes; he was playing a strange sort of bad cop. Or a good cop on ecstasy. That worked, too.

  “Trust me, it is way safer in my hands than it could ever be in yours,” I said. “I already have that much power. I won’t go crazy, trust me.”

  “Don’t give in,” Tamara said, her hands now rubbing up and down Darius’s arms. He might’ve been applying a bit too much charm.

  “I want that book.” I leaned against the wall. “He’ll bite her to get it.”

  “Don’t give in,” Tamara said again, licking her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed as Darius ran his lips against her skin. Rodney shifted from side to side. His hands flexed and un-flexed. He did not like what was going
on, but had no idea what to do.

  “You guys didn’t prepare for this kind of torture, I’d bet,” I said, waiting patiently. This was way easier than busting heads and striking fear into their hearts. “Take notes, Rodney. All he’s using right now are words. Clearly you need to up your game in the bedroom. She’s probably bored out of her mind…”

  Insulting his prowess did it. Rodney cracked. “He did go crazy,” he said in a thick voice, watching as his wife traced the hard chest of a vampire. “He got hooked up with that crew, forgot we even existed, and the next thing we knew, he was plaguing the neighborhood with heinous spells. He called them practice spells. He had to be taken out.”

  “I get that. I took him out for you. You’re welcome. But Randy, I need that book.”

  “It’s Rodney,” Darius said. He traced a fang down the vein in Tamara’s neck. She moaned and slid her hands over his shoulders, trying to pull him in.

  Right! Rodney.

  “This is getting awkward, Rodney. You should probably do something.” I waited, but he wasn’t breaking. “Might I remind you, Rodney, that Mr.…” Damn it! I couldn’t remember Darius’s last name. The name thing was a huge problem in my line of work. “That Mr. Darius is a vampire. If he bites her, he’ll change her into a vampire. She’ll die. And become a vampire. And then the shifters will kill you all.”

  I could barely see Darius shaking his head. I tried to hold back the silent laughter.

  Rodney licked his lips. He bounced from foot to foot, not sure what to do.

  “Bite her, Darius,” I ordered.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The whole room paused. I’d been certain the threat would be enough to spur Rodney into action, but no one said a word.

  “What the hell is up with you people?” I stepped forward and grabbed Rodney by the throat. His eyes widened in surprise. “You’ll let your wife take a beating, but will you?” I threw him against the wall. “Keeping that book is just asking for someone to come and take it, moron. You are doing the magical world a disservice by not giving it to someone who has the power to keep it safe.”