27
I bit my cheek to keep the frustrated words in my mouth. We had the semblance of safety and security. Sitting around that table was about as comfortable, intimate, and relaxed as we could get under the circumstances. But it was all an illusion, and as we dined on Tess’s fantastic meal, I couldn’t help but envision the next horror to appear, most likely something with fangs.
I wasn’t the only one. Zarya toyed with her food when she should have been ravenous. I chalked it up to her having survived an incredible trauma, which was only the truth.
She finally pushed her food aside. “Listen,” she said. “I don’t mean to be rude. I’m grateful to you for saving me. And I know Kamila, obviously. We used to sail around the Caribbean together, plundering from those we didn’t like and freeing enslaved people.”
Kamila blushed and let out a little laugh. “That was a long time ago.”
Zarya looked at her and smiled, eyes soft, before turning back to me. “My point is, I’m willing to trust you to a large extent because you’re both here with Kamila and she hasn’t killed you yet. She doesn’t do groups. But I don’t even know your names.”
Tess blushed, and I looked down at the table. Being put on the spot like that after so many months of mandatory secrecy felt weird. Kamila finally scoffed at both of us.
“Look at the two of you, acting all shy. You’re absurd. Zarya, this is Tess. She’s Ferin, and she’s a combat specialist. I’ve never seen anyone fight like Tess does, and I don’t think I ever will. Jason is… different.”
“Thanks. I think.” I made a face at her.
Tess snorted. “Jason is a Lifebringer.”
Zarya sat up a little straighter. Her eyes got wide. “Are you serious? An actual Lifebringer?”
I smirked and poked at my rice. “That’s what they tell me, at least.”
Kamila beamed. “Jason’s still a little new at this. He was made sometime this fall, but yes, he’s got fire and water abilities. Impressive ones too. I’ve trained him with fire, but truth be told, he makes me look like one of those people who does parlor tricks at county fairs.”
Zarya was still staring at me. “I never thought I’d see an actual Lifebringer, live and in person. You know, your kind are very rare. It’s not something that just happens.”
That piqued my interest. “Do you know how it happens? What causes it, I mean?”
She laughed. “No. I’m a witch, and I know my way around a drop of water, but I’m not much of a scholar. For that, you’d need this guy who was hanging around with Margaret for a while. What was his name again? Mort, I think. He knows pretty much everything there is to know about Ferin: how we’re made, the differences between us, everything. I’m sure he could figure it out.”
I ground my teeth and looked away. Tess looked down at her hands. Zarya looked at Kamila. “Did I say something wrong?”
Kamila shrugged. “They know Mort. He disappeared after the compound in Maine fell. He told them he was going out to Idaho, but he never made it.” Kamila bowed her head for a moment. “Jason received word that Mort was alive while we were in Cuba, but that was it. There was no contact information, no word on his condition, nothing. There wasn’t even proof of life.”
“He could be anywhere,” I said. “And we have no way of knowing if he’s being held captive somewhere like you, or—”
Tess glared up at me. “Don’t finish that sentence, Jason.”
I didn’t need to. The way Zarya pursed her lips told me she knew exactly what I meant. I cleared my throat. “Anyway, Mort’s not very useful to us in his current location. I’d love to find him and bring him on board, but I don’t feel we can count on him right now. For what it’s worth, he’s the one who sent me to Kamila, him and Margaret. And Kamila is the one who aimed me at you.”
Zarya turned to look at Kamila. “Oh really?”
Kamila blushed. “I know we haven’t seen each other in… oh, what is it, a hundred years?”
“Give or take a decade, but who’s counting?” Zarya put a hand on Kamila’s arm, a playful smile hovering around her lips.
“Jason’s having some trouble with his water ability,” Kamila said. “We’re not necessarily safe to be around. I wouldn’t go bringing trouble to your door like this. You came down here to be safe, not so you could have vampires chasing you down all the live-long day.”
Zarya waved that away. “Well, it looks like I was taken before Jason was even made, so don’t go worrying about that. And I’m not the only one who chose isolation for safety’s sake. What is it you think I can do for Jason?”
I leaned forward a little. “Look. I know you saw me using my ability, and I’ve had some training. I won’t deny that. But I’m still not fluid with it.”
Tess tilted her head at me. “Was that pun intended?”
“Is it better if I say yes or no?”
She grinned. “I’m not sure.”
“Then I plead the Fifth.” I turned back to Zarya. “I don’t feel as though I have control over it. Sometimes, I’m doing fine, and I can do things like build a wall of steaming water around an entire island. And sometimes, I do things like have dreams and wind up soaking the bed. From clouds at ceiling level.”
Zarya nodded. “You want me to teach you to get that level of control.”
I took a deep breath. “I killed the one who made me. He was a Dread Blood, whatever that means, and that’s when my water ability came out. I wasn’t in control of anything then. It all just happened. I was like a passenger in my own body. I never want to feel like that again. Not ever. I want to be the one driving the bus, and I need someone to teach me how to do that. I went to the water Ferin compound in New York City, and they taught me some things—even some subtleties, but they couldn’t give me what I needed most.”
“They couldn’t give you your life.” Zarya reached across the table to take my hand. “I think I understand what you need.” She gave me a little squeeze.
“What I want to know,” Tess said after a moment of silence, “is where we go from here. Do we go looking for this mythical Patagonia that isn’t Patagonia? Or do we try to find someplace new to work on training? Do we try to find more Ferin and bring them in on this?”
I drummed my fingers on the table. “Having a plan to get to Patagonia, or at least to find Patagonia, wouldn’t be a bad idea. We’ve done mostly okay on the stuff we’ve had to wing, but I’d rather have at least some kind of a vague idea of what’s going on before we just hop on into a foreign country.”
“Spoilsport.” Tess leaned against me. “You just want to ruin all my fun.”
“It’s what I live for,” I told her in a deadpan voice. “If we can do some research and figure out a way to narrow down the possibilities for where their Patagonia might be, I think we’ll be better off.”
“I might have a book around here somewhere.” Zarya scratched her chin. “My question is whether or not we shouldn’t be focused on something else. Specifically, on you.”
I felt like a bug under a microscope. “Me?”
“You’re the Lifebringer. That means there’s hope for us, but it’s not a guarantee we’ll win. Wouldn’t it be best to train you in your abilities and make you the strongest Lifebringer we possibly can before we face a final confrontation with the vampires?”
I squirmed. “Yeah, of course. The thing is, we could spend the rest of time hiding out and training, couldn’t we?”
“Possibly. Are you in that much of a hurry to die?” She leaned forward like it really was just a matter of intellectual curiosity for her.
“No. Not at all. But I’m also not so keen to see other people die, especially not my friends. I want to train. I’m willing and eager to train.” I met her eyes. “I just don’t want to get so lost in looking for perfection that we let things slide in the rest of the world. They slaughtered over thirty Ferin in Maine. They want to kill more.”
Zarya nodded. “Oh, I know. They weren’t all that interested in talking about their
overall plans, but they were more than happy to tell me about what they wanted to do to all of us.” She tightened her jaw. “But if you want to have control over your body when you reach a moment of desperation, you’re going to need to train some more. If you’re willing, that is.”
I’d just told her I was willing, but apparently, she needed to hear it again. “I’m in. A hundred percent.” I met her eyes.
“All right, then. We can start tomorrow. As for the rest of it?” She looked around and sighed. “I have to admit I’ve gotten used to this place. And I’m grateful to you ladies for cleaning it up for me. I don’t think I can stay here anymore, though. It’s too…” She trailed off. “I had to watch those animals destroy everything I built, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was powerless, completely powerless, for the first time since I was a little girl.”
Kamila was right there, ready to wrap Zarya up in her arms. “I understand. We’ll get you out of here and bring you someplace else. Your choice, or you can come with us. Anything you need, we’re happy to do.”
She hadn’t asked us, but I knew I’d be more than happy to bring Zarya with us. I certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone right now.
I cleaned up after dinner. Tess had cooked, and Kamila was helping to take care of Zarya. It wasn’t a big deal for me to wash a few dishes anyway. Once the dishes were done, Daisy and I headed back down to the beach. I told the ladies I wanted to keep an eye on the wall, but in reality, I didn’t want to crowd Zarya after everything she’d been through.
The wall was holding. It was wearing thin in a couple of places, but I didn’t have to move from my spot in the sand to fix it. I could extend my consciousness around the whole island, so long as I concentrated on the wall and the water. It was a strange feeling, and I started to get a little giddy. Easy, boy. I reined in my swagger and stared at the wall, looking for flaws rather than the simple show of power.
If I could see all the way around the island, I began to wonder how far my sight and power could extend. The entire concept of a spell that existed outside my sight meant I had to reconsider my ability. Water was fluid and would always adapt, always go wherever the space allowed. Fire was different. Even if I reached through the flame to see someplace else, I still had limits. I could see the area around the flames, and the limitations of that ability made it easier to grasp.
Water was everywhere. It could fill anything, take any shape. It could be a stream, a lake, or an ocean. It could go on forever. Projecting my spirit was now a viable option. It meant we had a way into Patagonia without setting foot there, and despite the overwhelming nature of this new magic, I felt a glimmer of hope.
Daisy nudged me, and I came back to myself. “The island’s safe, girl,” I told her. She settled in beside me, her head in my lap.
Part of me wondered how much of Daisy’s intelligence came from becoming Ferin and how much of it was just part of Daisy. The rest of me didn’t want to know. I feared the blow to my own ego. Instead, I leaned back and watched the moon rise over my wall of scalding water, the light coming to my feet in broken ripples.
For the moment, we could breathe.
28
Zarya came to me when the moon was about halfway overhead. She still wore that gray gown, but she’d wrapped a blanket around herself. Daisy saw her approach and got up, moving a few feet away with a little huff. I’d thought she liked Zarya, but maybe she just didn’t want to be disturbed.
I looked over while Zarya laid her blanket out on the sand beside me. She sat down on it and looked out over the ocean. “This wall is miraculous. . .and it’s superheated? How did you contain it?”
“I saw the edges and made them real. I know it’s vague, but it feels natural,” I told her.
“Instincts are good enough if that’s the result,” she said.
I nodded. It still felt like bragging, which had always been frowned upon in Maine. “Yeah. Only the strongest vampires seem to be able to hold up to it, and even they’d have a hard time standing up to the rough water. They can’t drown, but the laws of physics are still a thing.” I smirked. “Most of the time anyway.”
“True.” She chuckled. “It must take a tremendous amount of energy to keep something like this up, what with using two different abilities and everything.”
I considered her words. “I can feel it, sure. And I haven’t tried to fight or anything else significant since I set it up. I don’t feel tapped out or anything, though. I still feel invigorated at times, and barely drained at others. I could feel the wall, feel everything around the island. It was amazing. I kind of wanted to see how far the whole thing went, but I was nervous about overextending myself and not being able to pull back. I have this latent fear of creating a chain reaction that gets out of hand. Out of my hands, that is.”
“Smart.” She winked at me and then patted the blanket. “Come sit with me.”
I hesitated, but then sat. She was a grown woman, an adult. She knew her own mind. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” Something filled the air between us, and it wasn’t just the moonlight.
“Stunning.” She smiled at me. “Do you know when I first found this island, the moon hung overhead just like this? I slept on the beach, just like this, and it seemed like paradise. I’ll be sorry to leave it. I’m losing something important, I think. Rather, I’ve lost something important, and I can’t get it back.”
I bowed my head. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get to you sooner. We tried as soon as we got here and saw you were missing.”
“I know. I’m not blaming you. Far from it. All I’m saying is I’m sad to lose something so beautiful, something I built for myself. But I suppose everything comes to an end eventually. We learn that, as Ferin, once we’ve been around long enough. The only thing that lasts forever is us, and even that’s a little dicey sometimes. I’ve seen some who simply lose their minds after the first century or so, although that’s rare.”
“Is it?” I looked up at the moon. “I can see how someone might. All the running, never staying in one place.”
“You’re a special case, Jason. You were born into your new life just in time for a war. The rest of us have had some time to get used to our new lives. We’re set in our ways, I suppose. Maybe congealed.” She laughed, like waves crashing onto the beach. Then she reached out for me, pulled me closer, and kissed me.
Her kiss was passionate, but it was also soothing. It was as firm as the tides and as gentle as a summer rain. Her soft fingertips brushed against my face, searching for something. I held her close, but I made every effort not to crush her. I would not cause pain. Not with her, and not for any reason.
I pulled back, exhaling. She looked up at me, confusion in her clear turquoise eyes, and frowned. “You don’t find me beautiful?”
“Not beautiful. Stunning. But you’ve just come through hell. I’m afraid of pushing you too far or hurting you. I’d rather die than do either of those things, you know?”
I stroked her hair. She’d seemed to like that, back at the house.
She smiled gently and pulled the gown over her head. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath, and pale skin glowed in the moonlight like a column of marble revealed only to me.
“Do you see any hint of injury?” She smirked and stood up, hands out to the side. I watched as she turned around, presenting herself for inspection, full lips curved upward in a bow of hidden laughter.
I did worry about what was going on in her head, given everything she’d endured. I stood up anyway. I was only a man, and she was an adult who could make her own choices. “As long as you’re sure.” I lifted my arms so she could remove my shirt. “Because I sure as hell am.”
She tugged at my shirt, bringing it over my head. “I’m sure.” Once I’d gotten rid of my shirt, she ran her fingertips down my chest and stomach, her touch light and maddening. “I’m more than sure. I want this, and I want you.”
I kissed her then, letting my hand rest on the side of her neck. I cou
ld feel her pulse there, strong and alive. That pulse sped up as we kissed. I felt something uncoil within me, a desire that hadn’t been there a second ago. Zarya was new and old, frail and eternal in my hands. She reached for me, and in seconds, my pants fell, freeing me to the ocean air.
“Like the day we were born,” I murmured. She smiled up at me, and my own pulse went wild as her hands slid around my hips and she knelt, lips closing around my erection in a silken fog.
I could hear her hum, and the sensation made my knees buckle. After a moment or a year, she pulled her mouth away and urged me to the blanket, sliding around me in a move that was pure poetry. I slid inside her and she set the rhythm before my shoulders were both on the blanket, moving her hips up and back in a flat circle that let me learn all her secrets at once.
I brushed her nipples with my lips, her nails driving into my scalp as she urged me forward. Her skin tasted of sun and salt. And lust. It was the flavor of two Ferin, together under a moon that made shadows of all her best places. I drove upward, then sank to the blanket where sand moved under us as we sculpted our own patch of the island. She fit me, but then, I knew she would.
“You fit me,” she said, her eyes bright in the moonlight.
“We both do,” I said into her hair. We kissed again, then I tasted her skin slowly, deliberately.
“Do you think you don’t deserve this? Because of your life before?” Zarya asked.
“Maybe.”
“You do. And this too.” She moved with more confidence after that, eyes rolling back as her goal came into sight. She cried out and braced herself on my knees, body shaking in perfect discord as her orgasm triggered mine, a sunburst of heat that made the moon seem shy and distant. “Keep on. They’re calling the beat.”
“They—oh.” I smiled, abashed by the realization she was moving to the waves. We kept the pace of the eternal surf—slow, varied—and then for a second time, we crashed together, our orgasms in unison as the air around us began to thicken. We lifted, we moved, and then, when we were finally spent, the blanket touched my skin again.
Forever Young - Book 2 Page 18