HEALED BY FIRE
(Artemis Lupine #3)
Catherine Banks
eBook Edition
Copyright 2011 Catherine Banks
Cover design and artwork by Avery Banks
This book is also available in print.
eBook Edition License Notes:
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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ARTEMIS LUPINE SERIES
1. Song of The Moon
2. Kiss of A Star
3. Healed by Fire
4. Taming Darkness (2013)
Check http://www.catherinebanks.blogspot.com for updated book information.
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Chapter One
The sun was just cresting the mountains as I walked down the concrete sidewalk towards Preternatural Potions, the best magic shop within one hundred miles of the coven where I lived. I admired the buildings around me that still looked freshly painted even after thirty years, and I wondered which spell was used to protect the paint from dirt and sun bleaching.
I didn’t remember what the human world looked like before the uprising, but from the pictures I’d seen I agreed with Selene that the preternaturally run world was definitely better looking. The leaders, however, were not better for the world. Now we not only had monarchs heading each of the races, but we also had a dictator who was worse than any human politician could have been.
A tall, light-skinned, red-haired dhampir stepped out of the store in front of me. I forced myself to lower my eyes respectfully and move out of his way instead of reacting as I desired.
“Good morning, miss,” the dhampir said kindly.
“Morning, sir,” I replied as I continued past him.
I snuck a glance back, but thankfully he was still rooted in the spot, following me only with his eyes. Only a few more blocks and then I’d be safely at my destination.
The sun rose and the true beauty of the town was revealed. Every vampire noble was given executive rights to decide what their territories would look like, except for specific restrictions that the Vampire King, the dictator of the world, gave. The buildings were constructed from wood and painted in what looked like a light blue color at night, but when the morning light hit the buildings it revealed its gorgeous bicolor. The paint was actually a dual tone of blue and purple, which changed continuously depending upon the way you looked at it.
“Owner?” asked a short, burly goblin at the crosswalk in front of me.
The goblins had been in the deserts of the Middle East and Northern Africa during the human reign. I wasn’t sure if their resilience had come from living in the deserts for thousands of years or if their resilience had allowed them to adapt to living in the deserts, but the fact remained that they were a preserving and strong race which could adapt to any climate quickly. Once the preternaturals had taken over, the goblins spread out from the deserts to the more temperate climates around the world, mainly living in the Northern Hemisphere.
“Selene, leader of the Western Coven of Witches,” I answered automatically.
The goblin, an enforcer for the vampires, nodded his head and waved me across the street.
How nice of you to let me pass. I continued on my way. Little did the goblin know that I could toast him out of his boots faster than he could yell for his mother. I was glad that he hadn’t asked to see my brand since the one I had tattooed on the back of my neck wasn’t the witch’s. I actually didn’t know whose it was.
I finally arrived at the store and pushed the door open. The scent of jasmine flooded my nose and the sounds of a rainforest inundated my ears. For a moment I was teleported to a tropical forest where animals much different than the ones I was familiar with ruled and where humanity hadn’t been able to overwhelm. The door closed behind me and the spell broke slightly, allowing me to regain my senses while still being able to relax. It was one of the best spells I had ever encountered, and it did its job of allowing shoppers to browse stress free.
The store was large, but seemed small due to the wall to wall, floor to ceiling shelves. The shelves were lined with various sized glass vials, bags, boxes and cages which held everything from toad tongues to herbs to test rats. Each had elegantly written labels hanging from them with product descriptions and prices. In the center of the store was a large circular wooden table which had sale items as well as the most commonly purchased potions, charms, crystals and other magical artifacts. I knew this was only a sampling of what Preternatural Potions offered and you only had to ask the clerk to run to the back for other items.
I looked towards the front counter, which was nothing more than a white elm trunk shaved into a rectangular shape. Not surprisingly there was no one behind the counter. The clerk, Dionysus, had a drinking problem and was either drunk, crabby because he needed a drink, or passed out in the back of the store. I was actually pleased that he wasn’t there to pester me. He was constantly toying with me and hiding ingredients that I required on a weekly basis so that I had to ask him, and ask him politely, for them.
One of the witches in my coven told me that he had interfered with something the Queen of the Sidhe had been planning for months because he had been intoxicated, so they sent him to operate the store. He hated every moment of it, especially since the vampires refused to let him decorate the interior in a more pleasing, non-sterile manner.
I walked to the first shelf and grabbed three vials of ingredients I needed. I should have grabbed a basket from the stack sitting beside the door, but I moved on to the next shelf instead, grabbing another vial and cradling them all in my arms.
“Hello,” said a voice like bottled sunshine.
I jumped in surprise and caught three of the four vials I’d had in my arms. I could have grabbed the fourth, but I was supposed to be playing human so I couldn’t use my preternatural speed. I waited for the sound of shattering glass, but was greeted with only soft laughter.
I turned around and made my way past leg muscles straining against jeans, to an incredibly muscled stomach and torso to a smile that stole my breath and to eyes that made my knees wobble. To say that the man standing in front of me was handsome was like calling the ocean a puddle. His blue eyes sparkled like a clear summer’s day. I dropped to my knees and bowed until my forehead touched the ground.
“I’m s-s-sorry, s-sir,” I stuttered fearfully. “I didn’t m-m-mean to l-look upon your f-face.” I hated it when I stuttered, but it was a side effect from having been in wolf form for over ten years straight. Selene, the leader of the witch coven I lived with, had found me and helped recuperate me back into a human, or at least as much of one as I could be considering I was half Sidhe and half werewolf.
He sighed. “Broken. How can you be so broken?” My wolf snarled softly and as I feared he’d heard. “Did you just snarl?”
I swallowed. “N-n-no Sir.” Words were still hard to say at times for me, especially when I was nervous.
He scoffed. “Stand up Chandra. I’m not going to punish you. As if that would work anyways. Are you here to shop or browse?”
I stood up slowly and whispered, “Shop.”
“How could this have happened? Doesn’t even recognize me!” I kept still since he was obviously talking to himself and I had no clue what he was talking about.
My body was shaking softly as I stood near him. He was the most dominant male wolf I�
��d ever met and he was calling to ever fiber of my wolf side. The urge to rub my face against his was almost overpowering for a moment as I fought with my animal urges. I knew he wouldn’t be able to sense my wolf since Selene had given me a necklace with a charm which concealed my true genetics, one so powerful no one except the most dominant of each race could break it, but I was worried. If he guessed for one second that I was a halfbreed, he would take me into captivity and never let me out again. I’d heard awful stories of halfbreeds seized from their home, their work, or even from the arms of their lover to be taken away and never seen or heard from again.
“Is this all you need or are there more items you need to shop for?” he asked, taking a step closer to me.
I stepped back from him and bumped into the shelves. “I have m-more.”
“Very well. Finish shopping.”
I waited until I heard and felt him walk away before looking up at the shelves again. I’d never felt somebody like I felt him. It was as if we were connected somehow. I shook my head and dismissed the ridiculous notion. I looked back up at the top shelf where Dionysus had placed my ingredient. I couldn’t jump up and get it. I looked toward the register where the alpha was watching me.
Why was one of the most powerful alphas working in a magic shop? Why did I feel so strongly towards him when I’d never met him before?
“S-sir?”
He nodded his head. “Yes?”
I pointed up. “I n-n-need that item. The usual clerk likes to t-toy with me by placing them out of reach. Could you perhaps…retrieve it for me?” The longer I talked with him, the less I stuttered and the surer of myself I felt.
He walked around the counter and towards me. I felt my heartbeat pick up as I watched his graceful movements, his feet light on the floor, barely making a sound as he stalked towards me. I forced myself to remain still as he walked up to me and stopped inches away. “Which item?” he asked softly. I inhaled the smell of him and closed my eyes in shock as a memory of lying against him and inhaling his scent played across my closed eyelids. A memory or a fantasy? I wasn’t sure.
I shook my body and cleared my throat before saying, “The bottle on the top shelf.” I took two steps back to give him room and watched as he jumped up and grabbed the bottle easily.
He held the bottle out to me. “Anything else?”
You. No, you in wolf form, running with me in my wolf form. I bit my lip as I stopped the whine trying to escape. I’d been a lone wolf since Selene found me and being this close to a male wolf hurt. I wanted a pack mate. I wanted a wolf to run with me.
I bit my lip harder, drawing blood into my mouth, which helped clear my head. “I just have a few more things to pick up.” I turned away from him and quickly grabbed the six other items I needed and set them on the counter in front of him.
He put the items in bags and set the bags on the counter. Since every preternatural group had slaves that contributed to the world, we no longer used currency. Basically, since everyone contributed no one owed each other money. It was the vampire’s ideal society, utopian socialism where they weren’t the ones who had to contribute, only their slaves did.
I reached out for the bags, but instead of pushing them towards me, he carried them to the door and pushed the door open for me. Warm air blew into the store and his scent into my face. I inhaled and rememorized his scent. Rememorized? When had I memorized it before?
“Are you feeling alright?” he asked softly.
“Y-y-yes. Thank you.” I walked and took the bags from him, being extra careful not to touch him.
“Broken. I don’t understand how she can be so broken?!” he said angrily as he gripped his black hair.
I should have been afraid, but instead I turned around and demanded, “Why do you keep calling me broken?”
His face went completely blank, becoming the type of mask people wear when hiding their true emotions. “I did not mean to offend you.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him. “Right, because calling me broken shouldn’t offend me. I know you’re a bigwig in the werewolf community, but just because you’re powerful doesn’t mean you can go around calling people broken, especially when you have no idea what kind of crap they’ve been through!” I was yelling by the end of my tirade and my face was red with anger.
He smiled and bowed at the waist. “My apologies.”
I thought I’d seen it all, but I never would have imagined that the Prince of the Werewolves would be bowing and apologizing to me. He straightened, and in doing so spied the charm sitting at the base of my throat. Before I could react, he grabbed it and growled. I gasped in shock as his eyes changed to golden wolf’s eyes and a blanket of some invisible force surrounded my body. I’d felt power being used on me before, but it had never been so much and as strong as his. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I was dying and he wasn’t even touching me.
Spots began to cover my vision as he fought to break the spell Selene had placed on the charm, and his power continued to suffocate me. A spark of lightning burst from the charm to his hand, making him yell out in pain and drop the charm. His power disappeared and I was able to breathe once again. I fell to the ground on my hands and knees, gasping and coughing for breath.
“Selene,” he growled softly.
I looked up at him and could suddenly see the ghost outline of his wolf’s face around his human face. Only werewolves could see the image, when a fellow wolf was close to changing. Against all warnings in my brain, I stood up, reached out, and touched the muzzle of the ghost wolf. “Black. You’re a black wolf.”
He spoke so softly I barely heard him, even with my enhanced werewolf hearing, “Yes.”
I ran my hand along the ears of the ghost wolf and swore I saw him shiver. “I…I’ve had dreams about a black wolf, but I was told there was only one pure black wolf in existence.”
His wolf side was close to taking over and his words were short and clipped as though he was having trouble forming them, “Only one black wolf. Only me.”
“Are there any white wolves?” I asked. I knew I shouldn’t be asking him, but I had to know.
“Only one,” he said. I looked up into his eyes and saw the smile I thought I’d heard in his voice. “Only you.”
Before I could jump back, he grabbed my wrist. I gasped in shock as he covered me in his power again. It felt like I was drowning in a sea of fire, making it impossible for me to breathe. The spell Selene had placed around me broke, the talisman around my neck shattered, and the world went black.
~~~
Chapter Two
I woke up slowly and realized I was in my wolf form. I opened my eyes and found myself looking into another pair of amber wolf eyes. I scurried back away from him and he whined softly. It’s alright. I won’t harm you.
My wolf whimpered and took control from me, running forward and rubbing our head against his chest. He licked my face gently and whined happily.
I regained control and pulled away. It had been years since I’d had problems with control of my wolf side. I wrestled with my wolf for one full minute until I finally regained control and changed to human form. I gasped from the quick changes and curled into a ball as the sharp tingling pains wore off.
His fur rippled like water and then he crouched before me as a man. “Are you alright?”
I backed away from him, covering my body as well as I could. “What did you do?” The desire to touch him was burning my fingertips. My lips burned with a memory of kissing his. “How do I know you?”
He held his hand out to me and I backed away until my back hit the wall. He dropped his hand and I could see the pain in his eyes.
“There is much to tell you. You and I are mates…”
I stared at him in utter disbelief, but my wolf side acknowledged him as our mate. How could he be my mate if I had never met him before? I shook my head. “No. You can’t be my mate.” I picked up my shredded pants and shirt and ran around him. He called after me, but I ignored his
calls. I stumbled into my clothes as I ran out the door and then yelled as loud as I could, “Draco-blu!”
I heard the flapping of large wings and then the generated wind pressed down on me, flattening me to the ground. The alpha crouched down, walking slowly towards me, but I knew he wouldn’t make it to me before Draco-Blu did.
Draco-Blu descended and I admired his beauty as he landed over me. He was the largest dragon I’d ever seen with the top of my head barely touching his underbelly. His build reminded me of a horse, four large, muscular legs which carried a sleek, but powerful body. Draco is the title given to the king of the dragons. Blu is the only blue dragon to be given the title in the history of the dragons. I asked him if there was a difference in power by their colors, but he simply answered that blue dragons are very rare. He is one of my friends and I have the special privilege of simply calling him Blu. His blue scales shimmered in the sun and the white talons resting on either side of me reflected my face.
“Oh shit,” said the alpha werewolf who had stopped advancing and now stood in front of Blu.
Blu roared, but the alpha held his ground. “Ares of the Werewolves! I challenge you…”
“Sorry, Draco, but I cannot accept. Chandra, we will see each other again. Soon,” the alpha said before turning and disappearing around the corner of a nearby building.
Blu snorted a puff of smoke. “Well, that was interesting. Are you alright, Hatchling?”
I shuddered as I stood up. I grabbed onto his head and he lifted it up, setting me down just in front of his shoulders, at the base of his neck. “I don’t know, Blu. I don’t know what happened. I think I might know him from before. He…he knew I was part wolf. He said we were mates.”
Healed by Fire Artemis Lupine 3 Page 1