Ember's Kiss

  “Darkfire,” Sloane breathed. “I didn’t know anyone but Marco could do that.” He gave Liz an assessing glance.

  Brandon didn’t know what that meant, but he was relieved that his heart was matching its beat to hers again. The sensation made him dizzy, and he hoped that the strength of his pulse would feed her own. “She’s the one who can break Chen’s spell over me. She’s the one who understands it. That’s the gift of the firestorm.”

  He heard the smile in Sloane’s voice when that dragon replied, “You sound like Rafferty.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “One of the Pyr who believes very strongly in the firestorm.”

  Brandon looked down at Liz and acknowledged that there was a lot he didn’t know about his own nature. Liz had been right that he needed to find out more—and she was probably right that he couldn’t just make his dragon go away. “I’d like to meet him,” Brandon said quietly, knowing that Sloane would hear him.

  “You will eventually, I’m sure. I’ve asked for help from Erik and the others. Some of the Pyr will arrive soon.”

  It was new to feel such relief in the promise of dragons arriving, but Brandon already understood that these Pyr could help him. “Not my dad?”

  “Not your dad.”

  That was a relief. He wasn’t ready for fireworks just yet.

  “You don’t look so good yourself,” Sloane commented. “But I can’t believe you got free of that dragonsmoke barrier without being incinerated. How did you do it?”

  Brandon quickly updated Sloane on his battle with Jorge. “I’ve got that vial, too. Maybe there’s some residue of the powder in it.”

  The other Pyr nodded with approval once he’d heard it all. “Good. We’ll have a day, maybe more. Let’s get a hotel room, a suite with two bedrooms. Somewhere private and expensive. You spend the time with Liz—do some healing—and I’ll defend the perimeter. My treat.”

  Before Brandon could thank Sloane, the other dragon descended in a slow spiral over O‘ahu. Brandon recognized the north shore and directed him to the beach for the best resort in the area.

  They both shifted shape in the shallows on the beach, but Liz didn’t stir. Brandon carried her in his arms, he and Sloane striding out of the surf and toward the hotel. They must have made quite a sight, but Brandon didn’t care.

  Liz was okay, and he wasn’t going to leave her again.

  Liz’s nostrils were filled with the smell of ash. She could taste cinders on her tongue and she was sure she could feel her skin sizzling as it was touched by fire. She cried out, fearing that she had been claimed.

  Instead she was nude in a luxurious king-sized bed. The crystal that Marco had given her was on the nightstand. She looked around herself in astonishment, wondering how she had managed to move from the ocean’s depths to a hotel suite.

  The room was large and beautifully decorated, and an entire wall of sliding glass was opened to the warm breeze. She could see the sea and the faint tinge of dawn at the horizon. The balcony had planters along the railing, and they were filled with lush growth. Liz took a deep breath and tried to release some tension.

  She was safe.

  And relatively unscathed.

  Back in paradise again.

  That was when she realized she wasn’t alone. Brandon, also nude, was stretched out beside her. He was watching her with a mixture of amusement and concern, his gaze warm upon her. “Always a surprise to survive a dragon attack, isn’t it?” he asked, and Liz couldn’t help but smile in return.

  “Yes.” She took another deep breath, not quite ready to change the mood in the room. She was glad to be safe and glad to see that he was okay, although the bandages on his abdomen and shoulder hinted that he had also survived a dragon attack.

  There was fresh blood seeping through the two bandages on his abdomen, and she guessed that this was where his scales were missing from his dragon form.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, taking her hand in his. He was warm and his touch was gentle. “I was totally wrong about Chen.”

  “He tricked you,” Liz said.

  Brandon nodded. “And he did it again. I wanted to ask if he had some more of that powder, but he got very weak. I offered to help him get home.” He winced. “Then I saw what he really was.”

  “He attacked you?”

  “And trapped me. I’m only here because I got lucky. He pursued Jorge when Jorge went after you.” He kissed her fingertips, his gaze meeting hers in a silent query.

  It was time for Liz to tell him the truth. She nodded and swallowed.

  Brandon lifted the sheet and with a gesture invited her to curl against him. He tucked the sheet over them, and Liz found it very reassuring to lean against his heat. It made it easier to confide in him. He kept his hand locked around hers and his other arm around her shoulders.

  “Jorge appeared in Kane‘ohe and attacked me.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry, too. I had to use my powers to survive, and I did.” She looked up at him. “I should have told you about my family legacy, but I really didn’t want to be a part of it.”

  “I guess we have that much in common.” Brandon kissed her temple, and Liz tingled at his touch.

  “Except I thought my powers were gone. I gave them away fourteen years ago. I didn’t think I had them anymore, so I didn’t think it was important that I remembered any of it.” Liz shrugged, then touched her lips to Brandon’s chest. “I didn’t think I could do anything about it.”

  “What were your powers?” Sloane asked quietly from the doorway.

  Both Brandon and Liz started, but Sloane smiled. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and his feet were bare. Liz realized that the room must be part of a suite.

  “I can hear you from the other room,” he said. “But it seemed rude to eavesdrop. I’ve breathed a thick dragonsmoke barrier and everything is quiet. I think both Chen and Jorge have been weakened. They’ve both drunk the Dragon’s Blood Elixir, so they will heal, but we have a bit of time to compare notes and figure out what to do.”

  Liz was relieved to have another Pyr in the vicinity, especially since he had said he was the Apothecary. To her surprise, Brandon didn’t seem to have a distrust of Sloane anymore.

  “Give us a minute,” Brandon said, and Sloane turned away. Brandon went to the bathroom and returned with two plush white bathrobes. When he and Liz had put them on, he summoned Sloane back to the room.

  Brandon sat on the bed again and leaned against the headboard. Liz perched on the mattress near him, and Sloane stayed in the doorway. Brandon’s next words revealed the change that had occurred in his thinking, much to Liz’s pleasure. “How about the others?”

  “Erik Sorensson is on his way.” Sloane smiled at Liz. “He’s the leader of the Pyr and lives in Chicago. He’ll arrive tomorrow morning with his partner and their daughter. I asked him to talk to Quinn, the Smith who repairs our scales. I’m not sure whether Quinn will leave Sara undefended or if he will bring her and their two sons. He might decline to come.”

  Liz hugged her knees. “Then who will fix Brandon’s armor?”

  “Let’s take it one issue at a time. If Quinn comes, we won’t have to worry about an alternate solution.” Sloane held Liz’s gaze. “The darkfire has changed many things.”

  Liz didn’t understand that, but Brandon snapped his fingers. He went into the bathroom again and returned with a familiar silver vial. He tossed it to Sloane. The Apothecary caught it, then opened it and grimaced. He capped it again quickly and tossed it back to Brandon. “Just what we thought. Dragon Bone Powder.” He shuddered, then turned to Liz with a smile. “I’d really like to know more about your powers.”

  “Like I said, I thought they were gone.”

  “You did really well against Chen,” Brandon said. “I’ve never seen anything like that lasso of fire.”

  Liz took a deep breath. “I’m a Firedaughter. I have a connection to the element of fire. I can command it and summon it, control flames—stuff like that. I can be
come flame for short intervals, by choice.” She frowned at her fingers. “I come from a long line of witches. The women in my family have always had special powers, and as soon as a daughter shows some ability, her mother teaches her how to manage and use her powers. I learned to cast spells when I was five, after my mother caught me playing with the flames in the fireplace.”

  “So the control of elements comes naturally?” Sloane asked.

  “Yes and no,” Liz admitted. “It’s a natural development in our family, a sign of how well we are attuned to the elements and the unseen. The women in our family are watched closely in case a connection does appear. Some are Firedaughters, like me. Others are Airdaughters, Waterdaughters, Earthdaughters. Some are just witches.”

  Sloane came into the room and sat down. “But you didn’t want to be a Firedaughter?”

  Liz frowned. “There is a test that comes to each of us. It’s announced by the appearance of a mark on our skin.” She smiled. “Some people call it a witch’s mark.”

  “How soon?” Brandon asked.

  “Usually within three days.” Liz looked down.

  “What happened to make you turn away from your powers?” Brandon asked, clearly guessing that the story wouldn’t be easy for Liz to tell. She glanced up at him, and he smiled crookedly. “Remember the heartbeat thing,” he said. “I’m feeling your anxiety as if it were my own.”

  Liz nodded understanding, liking the unfamiliar sense of not being alone. It had been a long time since she had had an ally. “My mother’s mark appeared when I was eighteen. She was an Airdaughter.” She reached for her mother’s pendant, only to realize that it was gone. Only the silver chain hung around her neck and there was a circular burn on her skin below her collarbone.

  “That’s where Chen’s lightning struck you,” Brandon said. “I was afraid it would kill you.”

  “Fight fire with fire,” Liz said with a wry smile. “That’s what I was taught. Fire cauterizes,” she said, remembering Pele’s words. “Fire purifies and fire heals.”

  “Your mother tried to prepare you for the worst,” Sloane suggested.

  “So, what happened?” Brandon asked. “What was the test?”

  Liz couldn’t look directly at him. She had condemned herself for so long and was afraid he would condemn her, too. “It was the sabbat, and my mother was casting a circle with her coven. Most of them were family—aunts and cousins. None of them would ever be as powerful as my mother was. The wind was up that night and the gusts made me uneasy. The circle was still being cast when we realized something was wrong.”

  “Her test,” Brandon said softly.

  Liz nodded. “All of the candles were immediately extinguished and the air became as cold as the grave. A cold flame lit, all by itself, in the middle of the circle. It burned like a tall pillar, taller than me, but threw no heat. The rest of the coven scattered in terror. There was just my mother, the flame, and me.

  “My mother showed her powers to prove that she could pass her test. She calmed the winds first, because her primary connection was with air; then she roused them to even greater fury.” Liz swallowed. “I remember the four winds tearing through the circle, creating whirlwinds and pressure changes that popped my ears. I remember my mother dismissing them abruptly, showing a control that awed me. I remember rain slashing down on us, changing from a hot shower to pelting ice to a gentle mist. She was completely in charge of all she summoned and radiant with her power. I remember the earth rumbling below our feet in discontent, stirring and shifting, then sprouting flowers in every direction. It was magical.”

  “Wow.” Sloane spoke softly.

  “And I remember that column of flame burning vividly through the entire display. It gradually filled almost the whole of the marked circle and seemed to reach the stars. I recognized that this would be my mother’s greatest test, her command over the element of fire. That’s why it was last. It was the element that she knew the least.” Liz swallowed. “I remember her hesitation when she faced it. I saw her swallow. I knew she believed that she might fail.”

  Liz pleated the sheet between her fingers, her voice becoming soft. “I wanted to help her.” She swallowed and looked across the room, devastated again by the impact of her choice.

  “I don’t understand. What did you do?” Sloane asked. “What could you do?”

  Liz appreciated the question. It gave her the chance to focus on the technicalities instead of her emotions. “I gave her my power. When I direct fire, I cast my will toward it. It’s similar to spellcasting but feels different. Hotter for me. Essentially, I toss part of my fire power in the direction of the result that I want. I’d done that before. My aunt, who was also a Firedaughter, taught me to do it once my gift was evident.” Liz smiled. “She’d line up burning candles on the mantle in her kitchen and tell me which one to make burn faster. Then she’d made me light and extinguish them. Eventually she’d command me to light the fire in the fireplace.”

  Sloane nodded understanding. “It’s great to have someone to teach you about your powers,” he said, and Liz felt Brandon stiffen a little beside her. Sloane glanced at Brandon, then nodded at Liz. “Let’s hear the rest of Liz’s story.”

  “So, I gathered up every scrap of will I could find in myself,” Liz said. “I was terrified that my mother might not pass her test.”

  “What happens then?” Brandon asked.

  “It’s like a final exam. If you fail, you lose it all. If you pass, you gain the fifth element, that of spirit.”

  Sloane nodded understanding, obviously familiar with this concept. “The fifth point on the pentacle.”

  “The top one,” Liz agreed with a small smile. She sighed and squared her shoulders.” So I gathered my gift and I cast it to my mother. She sensed my choice. She turned to embrace it, but it was far too much for her. I can see the fireball that I flung through the air to her. I can see the look on her face when she realized she couldn’t harness it. I can still feel my own horror and helplessness—I knew too late what would happen and I couldn’t stop it. She was so strong. I thought she could do anything.” Liz’s tears fell and her voice caught. “I can smell her incineration.”

  “It killed her?” Sloane asked.

  “I killed her,” Liz corrected, her voice hard.

  “What about the pillar of fire?” Brandon asked.

  “It disappeared.” Liz snapped her fingers. “Just like that. Everything was suddenly still and dark. The winds were gone, like doldrums. There were no stars or moon, and the candles had long been gutted. Water was glistening on everything and it was cold, so cold that it chilled me to the bone. I was alone. All that was left of my mother was her pendant.” Liz touched the chain around her neck. “And now I’ve even lost that.”

  “What about your powers?” Sloane asked.

  “Gone, as surely as if they had never been. I couldn’t even light a match afterward.” Liz sighed. “It suited me to not be a Firedaughter anymore. I left home after my mother’s funeral, and I’ve never been back. I don’t keep in touch with my family at all, and I’m not interested in magic. I figured that exchange cost me my gift and my mother.” She turned to Brandon. “You can see why I’ve been determined ever since to never bear a child. No one should have to face that.”

  “I’m sorry,” Brandon said. “I should have told you.”

  She covered his hand with hers. “You’re such a romantic,” she said softly. “I like that the firestorm was everything you wanted it to be. It was magical for me, too. If you’d told me the truth, I’m not sure anything would have been different, anyway.”

  “Why not?”

  Liz smiled. “Conception from one night? At the wrong time of my cycle? I’m a scientist. I wouldn’t have believed you.”

  “Even given your forebears’ experience?” Sloane asked.

  Liz shrugged. “When I got to Hawai‘i, I was still convinced that magic couldn’t be part of my life. The marine biologist in me would have declared the odds too long—o
r maybe insisted on a condom, which, given your story, likely would have failed. I certainly wouldn’t have shared this story that first night.” She glanced up and met Brandon’s gaze. “I’m not sure I could have resisted you, either.” She smiled and saw his answering smile. “I don’t regret anything. I was just surprised.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said again, and bent to kiss her.

  Sloane cleared his throat. “Not to interrupt, but maybe we could clear up a couple of things.”

  “Maybe they could wait,” Brandon said, his tone so unwelcoming that Liz smiled.

  Sloane smiled, too, but he still asked, “Why are your powers back?”

  It was a good question. “I don’t know. I felt their return right after landing. When we drove through the tunnel, I saw Maureen’s aura. That’s how it started when I was a kid. First, seeing auras. Then hearing spirits. Then speaking spells.”

  “See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil,” Sloane murmured.

  “That was my mother’s mantra.” Liz made a suggestion. “I wonder whether it’s because the fire in the earth is so close to the surface here. It might be proximity that reawakened my gifts. Every time I drove that tunnel through the volcano, something else came back.”

  “Maybe the firestorm sparked your gift again,” Brandon suggested.

  Liz frowned. “Or maybe it was Pele.” The two guys clearly didn’t understand. “The goddess of the volcanoes. She appeared to me, again when I was in the tunnel, driving back to Kane‘ohe today, and spoke to me about my gift. She said it just needed time to regenerate, that I could never really give it away, that a connection to the elements is, well, elemental.”

  “Like I can’t ditch my dragon,” Brandon said, holding her tightly against his side. She looked up to find him smiling. “Now, who was the wise woman who told me that?”

  Sloane cleared his throat. “We Pyr each have an affinity to two elements. Usually, fire is one. The affinity often manifests in more intellectual or emotional ways, though. My own affinity to water, for example, appears as empathy. That helps with my ability to heal, because I can diagnose more effectively.”