by Kate Kelley
I adjusted my katana on my back and took several steps forward, feeling the torch lights warm my skin as it washed over me.
The men didn’t even look up. They continued their conversations as if I wasn’t standing in plain view at the foot of the drawbridge. That was good.
My breath became shallow as I tried not to breathe too loudly. If I could sneak in between the pairs of men, I could slip through, provided no one moved toward me.
I advanced toward them, and the men in the middle moved toward each other sightly, laughing at something as they rocked on their heels. I froze a foot away and backed up slowly, holding my breath.
The pair in the middle reconvened and the more fit one on the left slapped his thigh. “Hey, Randy, I’ll bet you five beers you won’t fuck that girl, let alone get her to notice your nasty, hairy ass.”
The other man laughed, but anger burst his irises bright orange as he pulled a cigarette out of his mouth and blew smoke. “I don’t need her to notice me to fuck her, jackass. I’m stronger than her. She don’t even need to see my face.”
A series of “Ohhh’s” broke out at that rapey comment, and I flipped the sicko off. The fit man backed up and shook his head, nudging the other guard with his shiny black gun. “And here I thought Randy was his given name.”
He’s just casually waving that thing around.
I stared at it for a a few more seconds, and a light sheen of sweat broke out over my skin. I didn’t think I’d be able to stop a bullet with my powers.
I tore my eyes away from the gun and took my chance, bolting through the opening between the men.
I bolted right, sidling close to the stone wall, hoping I hadn’t been obvious. I slowed down when I realized the ground was dry dirt and I was kicking dust in my hurriedness, the debris flying up and catching the torchlight.
Stupid, Rai.
A peel of raucous laughter sounded from the guards and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I kept my eyes wide open, surveilling my surrounding as I made my way stealthily toward the corner of the wall, which faded into the fog, using the wall as my guide. Wolfram had said walk the perimeter and count the buildings. So far, I’d seen three. They were modest-sized metal buildings with high, small ceilings. Wolfram had said they were houses.
Another chill ran down my spine at the eerie silence of the place. No one was about, and there were no sounds from within the houses--none that I could hear, anyway. It felt and looked like a concentration camp.
The corner appeared, rising out of the fog, and I reached it quickly, then turned. Six houses on that side.
The length of that wall was longer this way by double, and I counted twelve houses before reaching the next corner. A muffled shout from the keep sent my nerves into a frazzle. I suctioned myself to the wall and stilled. Another shout rang out from the keep, then another. I made out the words, “shut up,”--a female voice, then a laugh.
Domestic dispute then.
Boy was I paranoid.
I continued my crawl, my thighs burning with the effort of quick but silent footfalls. Six houses.
Twelve on the next.
I was almost back to the drawbridge when I stopped, remembering what Wolfram had said about the middle building. I backed up, looking through the houses to the interior of the courtyard until I glimpsed something that looked bigger--an expanse of siding that glinted differently off of the torchlight. I checked my walkways and, noting they were clear, strode into the shadows of the buildings toward the middle building. What if I could catch them unawares? Take out one of them now, and run away? They would never know who hit them.
The idea thrilled me, and surprised me at the same time.
Who am I?
No. No killing today. I just wanted a peek, just to see the leaders we were up against.
The building sat in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by an impressive lot of empty dirt. I assumed this was where they trained with their bodies and their magic.
The building was two stories, and probably the size of eight of the houses put together. The siding was copper--or maybe just painted. I wiped my fingers down the exterior, the solid metal smooth and cold to the touch.
A single metal door of silver hue stood at the front of the building, oddly small for a building of that size. The windows were high and small like the other buildings, making it hard to spy. Well, maybe I could just go through the front door to take a peek. I tiptoed around the corner to the front entrance, the door fitting into the siding almost seamlessly, except for the different color. I pressed my ear up against the door, mentally craning for noise, speech. I thought for a moment that there was a mumbled word, and I listened harder, closing my eyes. Nothing, save for the thumping of my heart.
At that moment, a bright light came into my upper peripheral vision. I tilted my head upwards, and what my eyes landed on took my breath away. A large white moth, slowly fluttered its wings as it clung contentedly to the door above my face. I stood transfixed, not able to look away. I’d seen a moth like that, just once before, at the inn while I was hanging out of the window, trying to cool myself down.
Why did the creature, with its black, alien eyes and furry body unnerve me, like it was trying to tell me something. And yes, I knew exactly how insane that sounded. I met the little moth’s gaze--yes, the moth was looking at me. My eyes widened as a rush of air swept up my body, breaking me out in gooseflesh. It was like I was hypnotized.
My insides threatened to spill out of me when a cold hand clutched the back of my exposed neck, icy fingers digging into my skin.
I managed not to scream, but another cold hand covered my mouth anyway, muffling any attempts at signaling my capture. My heart was racing as I stared into two ruthless, crimson eyes.
Chapter Twenty Four
Cole’s eyes flashed wildly as he looked over my face in the flickering torchlight. His already thin mouth was drawn in a tight line, and his brows crashed low over his eyes. He wore the same black, leather get up as the guards, and I assumed it was a uniform of some sort.
But how the fuck could he see me?
I tried to control my breathing, but it still felt like I couldn’t get enough air into my nostrils. All I smelled was smoke and the scent of steak on Cole’s fingers. Gross.
Cole backed me up around the corner and into the side of the building. “Well done, Aria, you can go home now.”
I blinked in response, and tried to shift my gaze in the direction behind his head, but he clamped more tightly on to my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure move--a dark-skinned girl turned her face from me, her eyes glinting white in the light. It took a moment for my brain to register that she glided instead of bobbed. I turned my head sharply and watched her feet, barely perceptible in the darkness. Her feet weren’t on the ground. She was flying.
My brain short-circuited as I tried to think of what was happening. They had an Air elemental here, in their camp?
Cole’s harsh whisper sounded again, eliciting another shock through my gut. “I’m going to remove my hand now. If you scream, my parents will come. My parents are the leaders, if you didn’t know. And they want you very badly.”
He looked at me as if I were a child, a disapproval in his gaze. I swallowed and he gently lifted his hand away, cupping it near my face as if he’d cover my mouth again should I start screaming.
“Why are you here?” Cole asked, his voice the same sharp whisper.
I didn’t have an answer he would like. What was I supposed to say? I shook my head, words caught in my throat. I almost didn’t believe what had just happened--that I’d been caught. My mind just reeled. I felt like a fish that’d just been dragged out of water, facing the man about to skin it alive.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. How is this happening?
Cole grabbed the straps of my thin tank top, yanking the material until it gouged my skin and creaked as threads threatened to tear. “I’ll ask once more, then it’s off to mommy and daddy.”
I opened my mouth, willing words to come. “I-,” my voice was hushed, choked.
He twisted the straps and pulled, breaking them. “Speak up, little girl.”
I clutched them to my chest, blinking. “I-I-I was thinking of joining you.”
Cole’s eyes dimmed, and his face pulled back into a neutral expression, almost bored. “Nice try.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and started tying the straps of my tank top back together. “It’s true. I needed to see for myself what it was all about. Now that I have, I’ll have to think on it and give you my answer shortly.”
Cole leaned his head back and crossed his arms, assessing me, as if figuring out if I was telling the truth or not.
After tying my straps, I put my hands on my hips and rose to full height, showing him that I wasn’t weak, that’d I could hold my own.
Even if that was a lie, too.
Cole’s lips turned up at the corners, mockingly. “How did you find this place? Only outsider who knew was Wolfram.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You didn’t see me follow you that day, then? That’s surprising. I didn’t think I was that good at spying, but it appears I am if I made it past your notice.”
Cole’s eyebrows furrowed momentarily and I hoped that he bought what I was selling. He sniffed. “What makes you think we want you?”
I smiled calmly, even though my hands shook when I crossed my arms and the vibrations made their way up my arms and into my chest. “Because you said you did, that night you so politely barged into the inn. You’ve been following me--the two fires, the creepy old guy who said something about me dying in the flames--ah-ha!” I pointed at him when the smile was wiped from his face in surprise. Confidence spurned me faster and the trembling lessened slightly. “See? I’m not as stupid as you would paint me. Wildfire wants me, because you guys know I am of use.”
Cole shrugged and examined his knuckles, smoothing his other thumb over them. “My parents want you, it’s true. Which--” he chuckled darkly, “Is just pure irony.”
“Ironic, because I’m Air, and you hate Air elementals? Well, I see you have an Air elemental working for you now. Does she always patrol at night?”
Cole leveled his stare at me, a soft smile playing on his lips. It was amazing how cruel such an innocent smile looked on him. “That’s not the ironic part. You see--well, I really shouldn’t tell. Sworn to secrecy and all that.” He examined his knuckles again and I twitched, waiting for him to continue.
If I could get a secret out of him and take it back to Wolfram and the boys...that would make their day.
If I ever got out of here. I glanced at my watch. Ten more minutes and Wolfram would come looking for me. And get killed. Shit.
I was furiously thinking of a quiet, non-violent escape route when Cole’s next words struck like an ice pick into my thoughts. “They’re not really my parents, you know. I’m adopted. They wanted me, saw the greatness in me, and took me. You on the other hand...well, they didn’t want you. They sold you to the highest bidder, and the funniest part is that no one wanted you! No Fire, Air, Water, or earth elemental wanted you. They had to go to earth to sell you. Some rich bloke needed a kid to make his image more family friendly, is how the story goes.”
I blinked at him, trying to figure out what he was saying, who he was talking about. I waited, searching his face.
Cole quirked his head to the side. “What, you don’t believe me? You’re the spitting image of your mother. My mother, rather. Your birth mother, I suppose is the term.”
I snorted. “You’re spewing nonsense.” I rubbed my arms, an unearthly chill slashing through my skin to settle over my bones, and the trembling began again, this time obvious. I scanned the area behind Cole, eyeing the drawbridge, my way out. I couldn't tell if it was open or closed, but if I could make a run for it, perhaps try to summon the glamour again...
“Your real name is Rai Black. You were born to two of the most powerful Fire elementals, but you came out with no Fire magic. It was disgusting, shameful. They would have killed you, but then they would have been in trouble with the law.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, staring into Cole’s red eyes that appeared like the pits of hell at just that moment. Surely this was a cruel joke…
Cole grinned, taking in my shock, seeming to get high from it. “Oh yes, but when you portrayed Air magic, that was the end of it for them. I think your father did try to kill you with some sort of poison, but your mother was gracious enough to revive you. They traveled all over, asking peasants in their sworn enemy Kingdoms to take you, but no one would. When your adopted dad took you, they needed a switcheroo. You see, it couldn’t be known that you were given up. They needed it to look like you were born Fire, like a proper Fire elemental. And so they took me from--from a lesserborn Fire mother, dying shortly after giving birth to me. Look how far I’ve come.” He held his arms out as if proud that he’d been kidnapped.
I clutched my stomach as it churned, and my mind became a block of ice. I didn’t want to think on it anymore. Didn’t want to look at him anymore, smell the thick exhaust of this place--that of blood and dry, lifeless dirt.
Cole was suddenly before me again, clutching my arms. “Don’t look so sad, little one. They want you now! They’ve forgiven you.”
I stared at his neck, the black collar that was snug around it.
Forgiven...forgiven me…
Through it all, my dry throat, the chills racking my body, I thought fast. I met his eyes. “I’m grateful to them. Tell them I’m eager to meet them. I want to make an offering. I’ll bring August Wolfram. Maybe then I can atone for causing them such pain.”
I kept my gaze steady, unblinking, and Cole did the same. I itched to glance at my watch, but I kept my eyes on Cole. Finally, he dropped his arms and took a step back. I could have sworn I saw anger in his gaze, and my stomach flip-flopped. My fists curling at my sides, one hand flexing to grab the katana on my back.
Cole smiled. “Go then, and make haste to return.”
I dared not let out a sigh of relief as I inclined my head, and as I walked past him, I resisted the urge to bolt, to sprint as fast as my legs could carry me out of the gates.
“Wait,” Cole called out behind me.
Then he was beside me, flashing a grin. My blood turned to ice.
“I’ll escort you out.”
I glanced at my watch. Three minutes until Wolfram could come, and there was a chance he would come early. If he saw Cole with me, he wouldn’t hesitate to attack him, this I knew. My heart beat out of my chest as we approached the drawbridge and the guard named Randy turned with surprise on his face, looking me over from the top of my head to my toes. I rolled my eyes.
“New girl? Why haven’t ye shared her yet?”
“I’m not for fucking sale, dickwad,” I snapped, my anger and pent-up energy coming out of me in a violent wave.
Randy reared back, disgust on his face. “Bitch needs to learn to keep her mouth shut.”
Cole stopped me, then bid Randy come forward with a slight gesture of his hand. I was surprised when Randy did as he was told, stopping a foot away from us and standing alert, even if his adam’s apple was bobbing as he did so.
Cole turned to me casually, jerking a thumb at Randy. “Kill him.”
I froze, my eyes swiveling from Cole to the sweating, shaking Randy and back again. I then took a peek out into the darkened field across which I knew Wolfram and the boys were making their way toward me. I knew they were, even though I couldn’t see them.
“Not necessary, Cole.”
Cole’s eyes turned hard and he grabbed Randy’s leather jacket collar. “That is my sister you insulted with your vile words. Apologize, or I will cut off your dick, and then your head. And then your mother’s head.”
Randy swallowed, and his mouth opened, gaping, his eyes bursting from his skull. “S-sorry, miss. Miss…” He looked back to Cole, a question in his eyes.
“This is Mis
s Rai Black.”
Randy turned to me, bowing. “I apologize, Miss Black, for my vile words. Please forgive me.” Cole put a boot on Randy’s bent back and pushed him into the dirt, Randy landing on his knees with a thud and a crack. I winced.
I almost felt sorry for the wad of scum, except that I remembered what he’d said earlier about raping a girl.
I spit on the ground in front of his face, then turned to Cole. “I’ll return with August shortly. Brother.”
I bit back the bile on the back of my tongue and forced a smile.
Cole inclined his head, then swiveled to peer out into the darkness from whence I had come, and my heart leapt into my throat. Did he see them?
I kept my gaze on Cole a moment longer, and turned to stride away into the dark, out of the reach of the torchlight, and didn’t look back until I was almost to the woods. I ran smack dab into a body. Large hands clutched my arms in an iron grip, and I was hauled into the forest, twigs and thorns tearing my leggings. If I hadn’t smelled Wolfram’s scent, I would have screamed and thrashed by now. I grabbed at him, attempting an embrace, but he backed me into a tree, the rough bark scraping my back.
“What the f--”
Wolfram thrust his mouth near my ear. “What the fuck was that little chat you just had with Cole? I thought I told you to fucking stay away from the middle building--”
I growled, the night’s build up of anger and stress finally seeking a proper release. “If you don’t trust me, then you can release me now, and I’ll return to my father on Earth.”
Wolfram breathed out, the sound almost a growl. “What were you talking to him about?”
I paused. “I thought you could hear us?”
Wolfram paused. “I didn’t hear you.”
I blinked, not understanding how that was possible if he was close enough to see me. “I was talking to him about when I will bring you to him. I was bluffing as part of my escape plan.”