How long had he been kissing her? A minute? A day? Nothing mattered but his gorgeous mouth. Except her hand wouldn't stop itching and it was getting worse and it was seriously affecting her ability to be in the moment. Annoyed at the pins and needles, she shook her hands. Out of the corner of her eye she saw it. On the tip of her right finger was a velvet orange flame. All thought of flesh and fantasy fled.
Collum grabbed her before she could jump out of the car. “Wait a minute, babe. Don’t stop yet.”
“Really? Look.” She shoved her hand in his face.
Smoldering eyes dropped from her face to her hand. He exhaled slowly. “It's okay, Alex. We knew this would happen. We’re on the ferry now, and have a little breather. It's only one flame. I promise, you’ll eventually grow to love that tattoo. Now, let's go use the bathroom, wash our faces, get a coffee, and regroup. It's a short trip. Once we hit land we have a long way to go before we can stop.”
She yanked her hand back to examine the tattoo. “Maybe you knew it would happen, but I sure didn't.” She noticed the people in the other cars. Nausea climbed up her throat. She wanted to be one of them. “I can't do this. I have a job, and a deadline coming up. They’ll fire me. I worked really hard to get this story.”
“Your aunt will let them know you're sick. It’s all covered.”
“How can you be so calm about this?”
“Honestly, babe? Because this isn't the bad part. You're turning into who you are meant to be. Evolving. Go look in the mirror, Alex. Besides, in a couple of days we will be so knee deep in shit, it'll make this look like a walk in the park.”
“Right—good way to keep me from freaking out. And why do you keep kissing me? You have to stop doing that. I mean, I’m in a state of serious stress right now. I can't be held accountable for my actions around a guy like you. You are supposed to be making sure I'm okay, not ravishing me in the front seat of the car.”
Collum laughed. “Sweetheart, if I can figure out a way to not want you, you'll be the first to know.”
Alex punched his shoulder, hopped out of the car, and wound her way through the other vehicles to the ladies’ washroom. After taking care of business, she washed her hands and studied herself in the mirror.
Collum had been right. She could see the transformation taking place, and it wasn't just about a tattoo. Her skin glowed; her hair was thicker and more crimson in color. Not that it stopped the tangles. She pushed her fingers through the mass wishing she had silky hair like her aunt. The color of her eyes was shifting. Her lips were fuller. Her cheekbones seemed higher. It was subtle but Alex could see it all. She could feel it. Everything seemed firmer, healthier, stronger. She felt powerful.
In the mad dash from her aunt’s and the insane connection with Collum, (a fucking dragon thank you very much) Alex hadn't had time to connect with what was happening to her. Now, here it was, staring her in the face. Of course, there were questions. She needed to know what she’d be capable of. She needed to know what her father’s blood would bring to the table. Would she be able to control whatever urges bubbled to the surface? And how would it manifest itself physically? After the ferry trip, they’d head for the airport hopefully find the witch that could answer some of her questions. With any luck, she'd make it to her twenty-sixth birthday.
~ ~ ~
Collum knocked on the bathroom door. “C'mon, Alex. I picked you up a coffee and it's getting cold. We'll be docking in half an hour. It's time to suck it up and get back in the Hummer.”
She pierced him with an annoyed glance as she exited the restroom.
“Check you out,” he drawled. “Those eyes are ready to spit flames.”
She arched a brow. “Yeah, I've decided to seize the moment and go with it.”
His lips quirked. “Stick with me, baby, in case you need someone to reel you in. With eyes like that, you'll be sending out death rays pretty soon. Try to not to get pissed at anyone, okay?”
Alex grabbed her coffee and weaved in and out of the vehicles parked on the dock to follow him back to the car. She refused to notice the number of appreciative female stares Collum was getting. “Ha, Ha, warrior guy. I think they look cool. Where are we going anyway?”
“England, The Isle of White. Don't worry. The irony of leaving one island for another isn’t lost on me, but you'll be safest there while we figure a few things out. No one would dare try to take you from a dragon’s home. Our best chance is to hunker down there while we look for the witch. I'm hoping we can get the two of you together before any of the Elementals figure out what's going on. For now, we have to get to the airport in one piece.” He smirked. “I hope you like private jets. I only travel my class.”
“A Hummer and a private jet? Why don't you just tattoo environmental disaster on your forehead and be done with it.”
“Ah, don't act out, little girl.” He tapped her forehead. “Remember—Lava Eyes—try not to burn me. Besides you'll get used to it soon enough. And we immortals, play by a different set of rules. I've been saving this planet for longer than you've been alive.”
“How old are you anyway? You had a crush on my grandmother?”
“I’m a little over two-thousand years old. Your grandmother was six-hundred when she died. Elementals stop aging when they reach their full immortality. Which for you should be in about six months, unless your father’s blood affects you differently.”
“And you descended from dragons?”
He straightened to his full six-foot six-inch height. “I am Dragon, Alex. For the first one thousand years of my life, I was only Dragon. Over time, I evolved to be able to transition to a human body. Now I am a blend of both. The beast lives inside me and I control the power of the dragon at will.”
Heat pooled in her stomach as he spoke.
They’d reached the car and he leaned over her to get the passenger door latch. He covered her body with his and exhaled hot air against her neck. “Any more questions?”
Alex pushed him back before they made fools of themselves again. When she saw the burning red in his eyes, she changed the course of their discussion. “Yes, you said my grandfather was really old? How old is that?”
He sighed. “Domhall is over fourteen hundred. There are only a few of his age left. Domhall’s time in battle and your mother’s and grandmother’s deaths scarred him deeply. He stays very secluded now; always wary that someone is out to end him.”
“Does he have a reason to feel that way?”
“Partly yes, I suppose he does. The power he has amassed during his life is immense. He’s an unstable threat, not only to the Elementals, but to other immortals as well.”
“What if he isn't as far gone as . . .”
“He is, Alex. Do not attempt something with him. He’s a zealot and half insane. He’s not your tie to a family torn apart. I don't trust him.”
“Do you trust anyone?”
“I trusted your grandmother and she's dead. And during the last years of her life, the man who was supposed to protect her was too busy getting lost to give a shit. He isn't worth your time.”
“Is that why Aunt Quinn never told me about him?”
“I don't know. Today is the first day I've ever spoken to your aunt. My time with Kaylen was before your birth. As far as the world knew, our friendship ended hundreds of years ago.”
They climbed in the vehicle and prepared to depart the ferry. A slow silence grew as Alex became lost in her thoughts. They were in serious trouble.
Too soon, Collum started the Hummer and pulled off the boat onto the dock.
The moment they touched land, a vibration began to pulse around Alex. Whatever it was, she was sending off waves of energy. There was no way the council wouldn't sense her. They raced to the airport, ignoring all mortal speed laws. When they pulled in the parking lot, Collum snatched her
out of the vehicle and they raced to the terminal.
Alex knew that if they made it to the plane they’d be lucky, very lucky.
Chapter 6
Lachon Findel stood outside a cave entrance in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, mentally preparing himself for the meeting he was about to have. The air was cooler here than in Vancouver and he was dressed in hiking gear. The wind blew his hair in wild waves around his face and he had a five o’clock shadow at nine in the morning. The mountains suited him.
Getting to the entrance to the cave was no small feat. He'd had to park his Range Rover two miles down the road and hike up the rest of the way. The two Elemental's inside preferred solitude. They relied on others to bring news of the goings on in the outside world.
Time to get this over with, he thought, as he squared his massive shoulders and walked into the cave to find Ealian and Taurin Gondien. You'd think as the oldest living Elemental he would be over getting the creeps. He'd seen it all—done it all, yet something about where these two lived still freaked him out. Because they were twins, they shared their elements.
This fact made the pair a thorn in his side he couldn't pluck just yet. He'd been telling himself that for thirteen hundred years. If only he'd removed them as a threat a thousand years ago, he wouldn't be in his current predicament. But hindsight is twenty-twenty, isn't it? At one-thousand, seven-hundred and thirteen years old, Lachon had outlived every member of his race. Taurin and Ealian rounded out the council of elders. After losing Domhall, it was important to keep the council strong for the race.
The council were the soul of the race, and in addition to their elements, each member represented a part of the soul. Lachon represented Justice and Water. Taurin was Choice and Earth, and Ealian was Passion and Wind. There should have been a fourth to balance them, Domhall. Domhall represented Love and Fire, but he’d walked away after the death of his daughter. Once, Domhall and Lachon had been the best of friends, but not for a long time, not since the night they’d all agreed with Taurin's choice to wed her to the dragon. After Domhall left, Taurin and Ealian changed. Domhall’s departure altered their ability to feel true love. Ealian's lust turned into something ugly and Taurin's choices became increasingly harsh. Lachon was left with law to keep them balanced.
He rounded a sharp curve and entered the largest cave. He’d never understand why they lived here. The damp cave was lit by beeswax candles that left every corner in shadows. Fires around the rooms sat in old metal brassieres. Thick pillows and blankets lay everywhere to try and stave off cold. He supposed it lent an air to their mysteriousness—if you went in for that sort of thing. Lachon didn't. As elders, they had more money than the human gods could dream of. They could have purchased a castle and lived like kings. But for some reason the two of them liked living in the shadows. That was also part of what creeped him out. Over the years, the siblings had gotten darker and darker. Lachon felt ill around them. They cast a pallor over everything they touched.
“Greetings old one,” Taurin said as he entered the room from a smaller cave off to the side.
That was the other thing that annoyed Lachon. Just because they were old, didn't mean they had to act ancient for God’s sake. No one was interested in the overblown persona Taurin and Ealian kept up. Taurin entered the space dressed like every Hollywood pirate over the last twenty-five years. His dirty blond hair left streaks of grease down his back and his frilled cream shirt was as grimy as his tan slacks. He wore varying amounts of leather cuffs on both wrists, plus scuffed riding boots. Lachon wondered if the man was trying out for a Jack Sparrow cabaret part. Having been around to meet some of the worst pirates in history, he couldn't imagine why Taurin thought he could pull this off. If he’d come face to face with Hayrettin Barbarossa looking like this, he’d have lost his head. Lachon almost pitied him, then remembered he'd stopped pitying others over a thousand years ago.
Ealian flowed into the room behind her brother, naked except for a pale green silk housecoat. It never ceased to amaze Lachon how similar the two looked. The fraternal twin’s hair, eyes, and bone structure were eerily close. Even their body type was the same.
Ealian inched toward him. Each step made Lachon’s skin crawl as he watched her hip-bones sway under the silk of her dressing gown. She'd taken to wearing only wraps about ten years ago and he wondered, not for the first time, if the brother and sister had resorted to drug use to try to add excitement to their lives. The two were private and thick as thieves.
Ealian reached him and rested her hand on his chest as she crooned. “Lachon, darling, you’ve come to visit us. Why, it has been ages since we last had the pleasure of your company.”
Lachon noticed her tongue was slightly blackened, her speech slurred, and knew he needed to tread lightly. “Ealian, I miss the company of you and your brother greatly, but you know how business takes me away for long times.”
“Ah business,” Taurin said. “Why do you insist on carrying on business in the human world? You don't need to run that business. You contaminate yourself by exposing your body to the humans.”
“I know you feel that way, Taurin, but I don’t. I believe it’s important for me to understand human ways and laws so that I can better serve our people. Though I respect your choice, it is not mine.” Lachon bowed his head slightly and glanced into Ealian's eyes as he spoke, as a sign of respect. He knew she was the one who held the power of the siblings.
“Of course, dear Lachon,” she said. “We respect your opinion on the matter. I'm sure you must find all kinds of wonderful things to ignite your passions by interacting with the humans. Though I personally wouldn't wish to have my body infected by them.”
Taurin spoke up from across the room. “Don’t concern yourself, sister. I would never let anyone unworthy come near your sacred body.”
“Of course not, brother,” she said while continuing to stare at Lachon and stroke his chest. “I know you’ll always protect me.”
Lachon held his ground and his tongue, until Ealian tired of her game and moved away from him. He was going to have to take one hell of a hot shower tonight to wash the stench of her touch from him. “There are items of importance we need to discuss.”
Ealian lay her slight body in a pile of pillows by one of the fires. Her legs stretched out free of the gown she wore. Her tiny breasts were almost fully bared. Taurin sat closely beside her, motioned Lachon to a pile of pillows directly across. “Of course, what is of such import?” he asked as he absently began to pluck at the loose threads on his shirt.
Lachon slowly lowered his six foot, three-inch body down to the pillow and tried to arrange himself in such a way he didn't feel like he was lounging in an opium den. “My sources may have discovered something. There have been rumblings of an emerging Element.”
Ealian and Taurin appeared only mildly interested. “What sources, dear friend? We have heard nothing.”
“With all due respect, your sources are not mine. The Oracles have felt a shift. Someone is coming into power. Only they can't see who it is.”
Ealian sat up. “Who do we know that is of age to come into their powers?”
“None of our people, Ealian. I've discreetly checked.”
“Well, check again. Go ask your record keeper. She would have the answers we need. The Oracles talk in riddles. The record keeper knows facts.”
“We could do that but I fear we cannot ask her.” Lachon paused. “She called the dragon recently.”
Lachon braced himself for their reaction. Taurin finally stopped playing with his shirt to give Lachon his full attention. Ealian began to shake. Control over her passion was never held too tightly. He didn't want to be stuck in the cave with her if she came undone.
“Why would our record keeper call the guardian of the races? She's never met him. Why would someone from that family be reaching out to the dragon?” Ealian jumpe
d up to pace. Her dressing gown and need for seduction forgotten. “What are they playing at?”
Lachon remained seated so as not to add fuel to Ealian's questions. “I don't have the answers yet, Ealian. I've sent rangers to see what they can learn.” He leaned forward. “It is puzzling though. Domhall’s been quite quiet of late.”
Taurin walked over and rested a hand on his sister’s shoulder which she shook off with a look of disgust. He spoke with a deceptive mildness. “We need to gather all the information before we begin to guess what is going on, sister. Lachon is right in this. You are gathering to storm for no reason.”
“Do not tell me to calm, brother dearest.” A sneer curled her lip. “That family has been an inch from treason for years. Look what almost happened. A daughter with too much power betrayed her kind and Domhall left us.” She practically shrieked the last bit out. “Lachon, find out why she contacted the dragon. Or speak to him yourself if you must. He understands law.”
Finally, Lachon stood. His immense size dwarfed Ealian. “As I said, I’ll find out everything I can. I’ve never walked away from my duty to our race. I do not need you to tell me how to do my job, Ealian. Keep your temper. I came to you as members of the council to let you know of the strange power shift. I will take care of it—whatever it is.”
Chapter 7
Alex exited the Starbucks in the airport, thinking they were home free, when she felt eyes on her. Collum told her to wait outside the men’s washroom and she hadn't listened. All she'd ingested that morning was herbal tea. After all the crazy revelations and what she suspected awaited her, she wanted a Caramel Corretto from Starbucks. It wasn't that she didn't recognize the danger she was in. She did. Completely. But the caffeine addiction had taken hold. If she were entirely honest with herself, the little voice inside always pushing toward rebellion was screaming at the top of its lungs—They wanted to kill me. Screw them.
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