Forged from Flame

by Kasey Mackenzie

  “Don’t think you four aren’t going to give us all the juicy details later, but for now let’s keep it short and sweet. Why the hell do you want these three to swear fealty to me, of all people? I barely know how to use Fire; I don’t know the first thing about being a liegelord. Liegelady?”

  “Liegelord is gender neutral,” Breena confirmed. She gestured to Ju Hai, who had remained silent up to this point. “As for why these three will swear fealty to you and no other: Ju Hai has Foreseen it.”

  Jake’s ridiculously young-looking aunt nodded serenely. “Foresight rarely shows us anything that is 100% fated to occur—but for the second time in my life I have Foreseen something that must come to pass. Either these three swear fealty to Cassidy Grant—or Elijah Garrett will use them and the unborn babies to completely destroy the Beholden Clans in this country, starting with ours.” She swung a penetrating gaze upon each of the three potential liegesworn. Where she normally reminded me of a gentle stream babbling through a forest, her fierce expression and gleaming eyes now more closely resembled a raging river. “So you see, you will swear fealty to Cassidy tonight or we will execute all five of you. If we do not, everyone in this room except you and Cassidy will be dead in a month—and the rest of you will wish you were.”

  Funny that this was the first time I’d ever heard my father’s full name out loud. He’d always just been Garrett (or my psycho father) to me. Funnier still in a very not ha sort of way that that was the initial item my brain latched on to, instead of the very real possibility that the people I loved in this room could be dead in a month.

  Over my own dead body.

  Bianca huffed and tightened her fingers on the chair back. “Somehow I knew it would come to this.”

  That had me screwing up my face. “How could you have? I’m still confused as hell.”

  Rather than answer directly, she turned her gaze onto Breena. “Tell me. Did the man you swore fealty to carry the gifts of both Elemental and Mindbender?”

  Breena nodded, appearing unsurprised that Bianca had put two and two together when I kept coming up with five. I’d never heard the term Mindbender before, at least not in the way they seemed to mean. It kind of sounded like a good word for my...

  I felt like a huge lightbulb clicked on above my head. “You mean our psycho father’s not the first—Mindbender—to walk the earth?”

  Wen shook his head. “No, Mindbenders have walked the earth as long as Elementals, although they are much rarer. Some claim they control an invisible fifth element—you’ve heard people refer to Spirit or Soul?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, but I didn’t think it was an actual element.”

  “We aren’t entirely sure whether it’s a true element or not. Most of us believe that Mindbending is a matter of psychically manipulating the minds and wills of others rather than using Elemental bands of magic. The truth is that they’re so rare and tight-lipped that we just don’t know. We hear stories about weak ones who never cause much trouble appearing every few generations. The most powerful tend to bring the most chaos. They’re typically born into Elemental families with no apparent ability to channel the four physical elements themselves. I believe your father to be one such, especially considering his cousin Keith is a Dragon.”

  I assumed Keith had regenerated by now and found a way out of the shallow grave we’d buried him in over two months earlier. The only question was whether he’d run straight back to Garrett or made a break for it. It still hurt to think of Keith betraying both my mother, once his bondmate, and me, briefly his lover after he became convinced I was my mother’s daughter. Until I’d called things off because he felt more like my brother than boyfriend. Finding out we’d been kissing cousins had made me glad I’d dumped his ass.

  I gave another nod, thinking over everything I knew about both Keith and Garrett. It wasn’t the time to get into it now, but I also wanted to know why none of my new Clan had seen fit to explain the whole Mindbending concept to me if that’s what they thought Garrett was. I also wondered whether or not Keith had been a willing accomplice to Garrett’s schemes.

  Wen continued. “Even more rarely, a Mindbender and Elemental will produce a child that can channel a single element and Mindbend. These individuals generally become great leaders among the Beholden, trained from birth to use their powers but, more importantly, to consider the moral ramifications before using those powers.” He paused, regarding me with more intensity in his eyes than he’d ever before displayed. “Each of these rare individuals has been born during our darkest times for a specific purpose—to stop their powerful Mindbending parent from enslaving all of Elemental kind.”

  No freaking pressure.

  Jake’s hand settled into mine when I reached for it. I bit my lip. “But...but I wasn’t naturally conceived between an Elemental and Mindbender. How could I be the same as these others?”

  Ju Hai fielded that question. “We Beholden know there is some great mystical force that governs magic and mankind alike. Some call it God, Goddess, or gods; and some do not name it at all. We do not presume to understand its will but one thing is certain: When great threats arise, it steps in to provide a counterbalance. Nothing says that this force cannot use science as easily as it does magic to accomplish its goals.” A hint of humor touched her voice. “Indeed, it would be sheer arrogance to assume only mankind can harness the power of science.”

  I let out a laugh. Considering I had been the poster child for scientific skeptics before being plunged deep into the realm of magic via a funeral pyre that turned into fiery rebirth, it did seem arrogant to make such an assumption.

  Bianca licked her lips and removed her hands from the chair to place upon her still-flat stomach. “Did your liegelord succeed in stopping his Mindbender parent before he died?”

  Ju Hai’s husband Shan spoke up with pride dripping from every word. “He most certainly did. Hikaru dedicated his own life to stopping his mother, Yukari, who came close to enslaving all the Beholden Clans of East Asia centuries ago. It took him decades, and he had to commit kamikaze to stop her, but he finally ended her bloody reign.”

  Bianca moved her gaze to me. “And would you give your life to stop your own father?”

  I bared my teeth much like Wen. “I’ve already given my life several times to stop that sadistic bastard. I’ll give it up however many more times it takes to stop him for good. Even if I have to go kamikaze to take him out.”

  Surprisingly, this had Dia stepping up and declaring, “I will swear fealty to my—my sister if that means killing our father’s evil ass.”

  I blinked and tightened my grip on Jake’s hand. She would have been the one I thought least likely to volunteer first; especially considering she didn’t seem to like me.

  Bianca reclaimed my attention. “My own Clan...I left them when I was still young, so they didn’t have the chance to explain everything about swearing fealty. Freeholder rumors suggest that a liegelord’s affinity for Mindbending will help protect a liegesworn’s mind from further manipulation. Is that true?”

  Wen nodded. “It is one of the reasons we took our own oaths. It is the exact reason you three will swear yours.”

  That had me shaking my head. “This is even crazier. I don’t have an affinity for Mindbending.”

  Breena rolled her eyes and bit out sarcastically, “Of course you don’t. It was your weeks-long training as a Phoenix that let you shake off the same mind control that our daughter who had trained her powers since birth could not defeat. Just what do you think allows you to commandeer the magical abilities of other Elementals whether or not they wish to cooperate?”

  My voice sounded quiet even in my own ears. “Oh.”

  Ju Hai shot her bondsister a reproving look. “You may or may not have the same affinity your father has for Mindbending, but it does seem clear you have at least some skill in that regard. That is why these three must swear fealty to you. Now.”

  “Now?” Nic squeaked. “Can’t we talk about this some more?�
��

  Shan shook his head. “We’ve spent too much time talking already. Come, the rest of the Clan awaits. We asked them to prepare for the ceremony.”

  Dia placed her arm around Nic’s shoulders. “It’ll be okay, Nic. Just knowing he won’t be able to crawl inside our minds again is more than worth it.”

  I fought the urge to point out they could still wind up showing the same Mindbending affinity I apparently had. Jake’s family was right. These three were loose cannons. We couldn’t just send them away if they were sincere and leave them to a horrible fate once Garrett and Dorian tracked them down. On the other hand, neither could we afford to trust any of them. The Clan had children of its own to protect.

  Bianca stepped around the table to touch Nic on the arm. “Your sister’s right, Nic. Just think: Garrett won’t be able to control any of us again.” She threw a look at me over her shoulder. “Who knows? Maybe it will also free me from Dorian’s Elemental manipulation as well.”

  My breath shot out as the robotic expression Si Si had worn the last time I saw her swept across my mind. If that were true...if I learned more about my own Mindbending ability, maybe I could free her from Dorian more easily than expected.

  Nic scowled, seeming to have traded personalities with our other sibling. “Oh goody. We get to trade one evil overlord for another.”

  Jake narrowed his eyes and stepped slightly forward. “Did you just call my bondmate evil?”

  Not to mention compare me to our psycho father. I wisely kept that thought to myself and tugged on Jake’s arm. “Down, boy. He’s kind of got a point.”

  Jake tilted his head. “He does?”

  Nic blinked rapidly. “I do?”

  “Look, desperate times call for even more desperate measures. Either you three swear fealty to me—or you die. Either I accept that oath and the responsibility that comes with it—or my new Clan dies. Neither of those options is acceptable. Besides,” I slanted a sideways glance to Wen and Breena. “Nothing says the oath has to be permanent, does it?”

  An admiring smile crossed Wen’s face. “In less modern times, we always gave a lifelong vow. But the magic doesn’t require that it be so.”

  I let out a relieved breath. “So, we’ll just have you make the oath be until Garrett is defeated. And—and I’ll make an oath of my own.”

  Surprise flicked across Nic’s face. “You will?”

  “Yes. I will swear to allow you as much autonomy as possible and to only command you when absolutely necessary.” I shrugged and wrapped my arms across my chest. “I know it’s not much, but it’s all I got.”

  Bianca turned and gave a decisive nod. “I will also swear fealty to you. Provided nothing you command me to do would bring direct harm to my children.”

  I looked at Ju Hai and raised a questioning eyebrow. She nodded, so I gave a nod of my own. “Fair enough.”

  Dia nudged Nic none-too-gently. He raked a hand through his spiky fauxhawk before relenting. “Fine. I’ll swear, too, but I will not do anything that hurts my adoptive family.”

  “I would never ask you to. I have an adoptive family of my own.”

  Dia removed her arm from Nic’s shoulders and leveled a grim expression my way. “You better be for real, Cassidy Grant. And I sure hope you’ve learned enough since the two times our psycho father killed you to give us a snowball’s chance in hell.”

  I guess we really were sisters who shared at least some kind of wavelength, because I was hoping the same damned thing.

  Chapter 4

  We could have piled into Wen’s pickup to drive directly to the heart of Greener Pastures on one of several gravel roads, but that would have given our three uninvited guests a clear picture of the Clan’s numbers, security logistics, and escape routes. While the members of Clan Zi couldn’t hold a paranoid candle to the survivalist militia one pair of my foster parents joined, they weren’t far off. It was what had kept so many of them alive for centuries.

  I took a moment to enjoy the coolness beneath the forest canopy as we hiked through the woods, taking a circuitous route to confuse the newcomers. They’d be hard-pressed to retrace their steps without one of us guiding them.

  Piercing birdsong filled the air, bringing a momentary smile to my face. That same foster family had inspired my love for the outdoors. Other than the crazy obsession with hoarding supplies for the apocalypse and drilling children in the use of firearms (habits they’d picked up after the state passed me into their tender loving care), they’d been the first family since the Grants to act like they actually cared about me. Once they learned I loved camping, we’d spent a great deal of time backpacking our way across national forests. I would never have guessed I’d find myself using those skills they gave me in this new life of mine.

  Liam dropped back to step beside Jake and me. I nearly tripped when he did. Jake’s younger brother did not often seek either of us out. He came to a stop and motioned us to do the same. I watched my siblings’ backs as they drew farther away. This area of the forest was clear enough to see them winding up a steep hill, cursing now and again when they stumbled.

  Jake arched a brow. “What’s wrong?”

  Liam’s sharp eyes seemed even more piercing than usual. “This is too easy.”

  I blinked. “You mean them conveniently showing up on our doorstep or them agreeing to swear fealty to me?”

  “The first. They had little choice in the second and, truth be told, even I would rather swear fealty to you than allow that asshole inside my mind.”

  Aw, that was just about the sweetest thing he’d ever said to me. “So you don’t trust their motivations for being here?” Jake leaned forward, as interested in the answer as I was.

  Liam hesitated for a few seconds; something else I’d rarely seen him do. “Not exactly. I believe they are honest as to why they came here.” Powerful words because a Gryphon’s affinity for Air made it difficult for someone to lie to them outright. They could usually pick up on the subtle physical signs that accompanied someone trying to be deceptive. “What I do not trust is that they so easily slipped out of your father’s clutches. It seems to me he would be much warier after losing your mother. I would have expected him to learn from rather than repeat his mistakes.”

  Liam apparently judged there was enough distance between the others and us, because he started climbing the hill. My gaze zeroed in on Bianca’s back several hundred feet above as we followed There were a few similarities between her and my mother. Both Phoenixes far away from their birth Clans who Garrett forced into pregnancy; both choosing to love those children despite that fact; both breaking free from his clutches and running like hell.

  It kind of made sense that Bianca might have managed to escape on her own: she was apparently in thrall to Dorian more than Garrett and treated more like a trusted underling than a captive. But Dia and Nic had been depicted as much more like my mother: unwilling prisoners.

  I pursed my lips. “Good point. One would think he would have taken stronger precautions to keep hold of my siblings even if he still thought Bianca loyal because he granted her wish of bearing children. But...Ju Hai seemed certain that their swearing fealty now will come to pass.”

  Jake nodded. “Her gift of Foresight is stronger than any other Selkie I’ve ever heard of.” For my benefit, he added, “Normally Selkies can only see a variety of possibilities when they scry the future. Those who become the most skilled can narrow outcomes down to the handful that are most likely to occur. This time, though, she seemed absolutely sure of herself.”

  Liam hesitated again before nodding reluctantly. “Also true. Still, I think we should remain on high alert for the next few hours. I already called in all Clan members in the area. Some of our best guards have secured the farm’s perimeter, and others are watching over the ceremonial circle.” His dark brown eyes focused on me. “Stand ready with that firewall of yours. If any of them seem likely to betray us, cut them off from each other—and everyone else—until we can sort things out.
”

  A sensible enough precaution. It also seemed uncharacteristically merciful of him not to shoot first, ask questions never. Then again, Ju Hai had said all of Clan Zi would fall if this ceremony failed.

  “Consider it done.” I stared at the three who had caused such an uproar as we approached the edge of the forest that opened onto Clan Zi’s fertile farmland. “I know we got off on the wrong foot what with you attacking the man I would die—and kill—for when we first met, but remember this, Liam. I will always use my magic to protect those Jake and I love even if it means acting against those who share our blood.”

  Liam’s nostrils flared, and unexpected approval shone in his eyes. He knew I meant that threat for him as much as my siblings. “I am depending upon that fact, Cassidy. It is why I am sharing my concerns with you rather than my parents.”

  Within 10 minutes we left the forest’s refreshing shade to swelter under the August sun’s relentless rays. Never mind the fact the sun was on its downward arc and evening was drawing near.

  Gotta love Missouri summers.

  The fragrance of flowers inspired a smile as we crossed the grassy field bordering the forest and stepped onto a wide gravel road. Rocks crunched beneath our feet, and the chirp of insects buzzed ceaselessly. After walking a short distance, we reached a wrought-iron arch that curved over the road, high enough for the tallest of farm vehicles to pass beneath. Huge cursive letters had been etched into the center of the arch to spell out Greener Pastures

  We passed huge fields of corn, stalks shooting toward the brilliant blue sky. Harvesting would start in a month or two, and I found myself looking forward to it. This was my first experience living on a farm, and the scientist in me was having a field day. In contrast, my inner child perked up when cropland gave way to verdant pastures where horses whinnied and pranced. The crops that spread across the farm were kept for purely practical reasons, whereas the animals were meant for sheer enjoyment.

  Dia and Nic inspired another grin when I noticed them glancing longingly at the horses scampering nearby. Apparently we had a childlike longing for a pony in common.