Frozen in Flames

by Brandy L Rivers

  “Don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Come with me. I have something that should take care of the mess.” Kevin started for the door and held it open for Lonny.

  At the cruiser, Lonny looked down the road, searching for Alenathos, but the bastard had disappeared.

  Kevin leaned into the cruiser and dug around a hidden compartment. “Didn’t the King of Fire make arranged marriages a thing of the past?”

  Lonny nodded. “Look, can we not? Delnias still thinks he can get to her. The question is why. The debt was taken care of. She’s unawakened, and the half-blood daughter of an Earth Fae.”

  “How did her family get into debt?”

  “Not totally sure.” Lonny’s best guess was that it was set up to force Divad’s hand. Delnias had to know something about Lana to make her a worthwhile investment. Which brought him back to Alenathos and his presence in the bar. Was he there for Lana? If he were…that might be the reason Divad was willing to trade her to get out of debt. But who was her mother? He had exactly one guess, but that made her far more important than a half human, half earth Fae.

  Kevin’s comment snapped him back to reality. “Lana wanted to help you with your hands.”

  “They’re fine.”

  “She seems to be changing her tune with you.”

  “Look, can we not get into my personal life? Can we stick to the fact some asshole tried to kill her, then wound up frozen and shattered?”

  “Who froze him?”

  Lonny lifted a shoulder. He couldn’t say it was Alenathos for sure, but that was his best guess. The shapeshifting dragon had many forms, and he wasn’t one hundred percent sure.

  Lonny sighed. “How long before you can get someone here to do a proper investigation?”

  “Sometime early tomorrow. That work? In the meantime, I need to figure out what to write in the report, but I’ll wait until Robert and Preston can show us what happened with a handy spell.”

  “That’s good.” He headed back inside.

  Kevin brought a bottle half-filled with purple liquid inside.

  * * * *

  Lana glared at Lonny as he left.

  Only, Lonny wasn’t the problem. She was mad at herself. He was right. Her father sold her out because he got in over his head. She’d never been the favorite. So why not sell off the weak daughter.

  The debt was taken care of now. She was supposed to be off the hook. And still, the bastard hadn’t given up.

  Her buzzing phone pulled her attention. She picked it up with a cocked brow. Isa. Lana pressed talk and put it to her ear. “Hello, Isa. Shouldn’t you be resting or something?”

  She sighed. “Hard to do with this little guy moving so much. Besides I saw something…” Isa groaned. “Was it my imagination? Or something else? Like some creep coming in to shoot you and Lonny saving you?”

  “You saw what happened.” She kicked the counter. “Look, I’m fine, the guy is dead. I don’t think anyone can put him back together. But it was weird. He froze solid, then fell and shattered. There are shards of him all over the floor.”

  “But Lonny saved you,” Isa pointed out.

  “I said I was going to talk to him.”

  “Why haven’t you?”

  Lana groaned. “I was working. I figured I could after closing, then this happened. Now, I need to convince him to go out to eat, come over, something.”

  “Shit, Lana, why do you keep putting him off?”

  “Fuck, Isa, I was closing.” She rubbed at her face. “I got this.”

  “I hope so. You’re breaking his heart.” Isa sighed.

  “Yeah, got it. I’m going to fix it,” Lana snapped.

  “So what happened to this asshole?”

  “He froze, then shattered when he fell.”

  Isa sucked in a breath. “That sounds like something out of Alenathos’ play book.”

  She snorted. “Somehow, I don’t think the dragon is lurking around watching me.”

  “Maybe not. Don’t lose your words when you talk to him.” Isa hung up.

  Kevin came back with a bottle with iridescent purple liquid that swirled around. He set it in the middle of the mess and popped the cork. The icy shards of the prick were swept up in a whirlwind and sucked into the bottle. Then he grabbed the gun, taking the last of the evidence.

  Lonny stepped inside and met her gaze. A second later, he dropped his eyes. She’d made him give up. Could she fix her mistake?

  She was tired of lying awake, wishing she wasn’t so damned stupid. There were so many stupid little things in her head, and she needed reassurance that he wouldn’t bail when he realized how insignificant she was. She couldn’t even perform the smallest spell in her own element. Most half-Fae could do something with plants or earth before being awakened, but the best she could do was manipulate temperature slightly.

  “Is there anything I can do to help, Kevin?” Lana asked.

  He lifted a shoulder. “Access in the morning. Either you, Isa, or one of the guys, if you trust them to let us in.”

  “Yeah, one of us will be here. I’ll figure that out in a bit and send a text.”

  “Thanks. Maybe I can have one of the guys in the lab figure out this.” He held up the bottle and swirled it around. Now inside the swirling purple liquid were icy chunks of a person that had shrunk down to fit.

  Lana moved around the counter and crossed the room to Lonny. “Can we talk in a few?”

  He shook his head. “No, I have stuff to do.”

  Kevin glanced at the door and moved toward the exit. “I need to go. Let me know who will meet me here and when in the morning.”

  “See you then.”

  Kevin slipped out the door and Lana stepped in front of Lonny, touching his chin.

  His gaze swung back with a slight shake of the head.

  “I’ve been a fool, ignoring what was growing between us. I want to talk, to explain what has me freaked out. You can answer my questions.” Then ease the ache between her legs.

  He shook his head. “I can’t tonight.” He blew out a breath and glanced away.

  “Why not?”

  He turned away, focusing out the window. “Doesn’t matter.”

  “You want me, right?”

  His eyes narrowed as he glared back. “You know I do, but I’m not going to take advantage of your gratitude for saving your life.” He stepped away. “I’m sorry, but if we go there, it’s not going to be like this.”

  He hurried out the door.

  “Well fuck,” Lana muttered. She locked up and then sent a text to Isa. Please, please, please, show up at the bar a few hours early and text Kevin to let him know they can investigate. Looks like it’s my turn to chase Lonny,

  She threw her phone in her purse, yanked on her jacket, and locked up. Then she drove as fast as she could to his house.

  Chapter 3

  Lonny’s heart couldn’t take another conversation with Lana. She would only push him away again in the morning. And he was having a hard enough time respecting her boundaries.

  He stormed into his house and pushed his fingers through his hair. The hair he grew out when Lana told him she wanted to see it down. And once it reached his shoulders, she told him how gorgeous it was. He hadn’t cut it since.

  Pathetic.

  Fuck his promise to Reance. His heart couldn’t take another night of the push and pull. He picked up the phone and called Scotty. His two closest friends were Scotty and Toryn. Scotty was a wood nymph who Saressa had claimed, even though he was meant to mate Paineater. They were finally together and happy. Something Lonny didn’t seem to be destined for.

  He’d grown up in Scotty’s home, his family were technically slaves to gain protection from an earth dragon who wanted to kill all Hyter Sprites. He was treated more like family and had grown close to Scotty from the very beginning. And when his parents died, he was free, though hired by Reance.

  It only rang once. “W
hat’s up, Lonny?”

  “You still plan to keep an eye on Lana?”

  “Of course. What’s going on?”

  “I’m leaving tonight. I’ll take a break until Toryn gives me an assignment. I can’t play this game with Lana. Reance was right, someone came for her. I protected her. Now I’m leaving before she rips my heart to shreds.”

  “What?”

  He gave Scotty a brief rundown of what happened. Including the detail about Alenathos leaving the bar. He kept it from Lana because he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure what it meant. “Reance can be pissed, but I can’t do this anymore. Tell me you’ll keep an eye on her.”

  “You can’t stay one more day?” Scotty asked lightly.

  “I just saved her life, and she’s acting like she might actually give me a shot, but I don’t want to get my hopes up just for it all to come crashing down.”

  “She’s going to have to stop running from you sooner or later. Maybe it’s now.”

  “Not like this. Look, I love you like a brother, but I need to go. I need to be sure this is her choice, and not adrenaline or gratitude speaking. Just, keep her safe.”

  “You’ve got it, but keep in touch. If she’s legit coming around, I’m bringing her to you.”

  “How would you know?” he demanded.

  Scotty laughed. “Seeing what’s in someone’s heart is one of my few gifts.”

  “Fine, I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up.

  Storming into his room, he grabbed a bag and started shoving clothes inside. Faster he left, the sooner he could figure out a way to mend his bleeding heart.

  * * * *

  Lana pulled up in front of Lonny’s house and parked the car. She watched him loading up a duffel bag. Gripping the wheel, she closed her eyes and drew a deep breath to steady herself.

  This was on her. She needed to fix it.

  She marched up to the door and lifted her hand to knock but froze. A chill worked down her spine as she spun to find another man step through black swirl in the air. Her hands came up and instinct pushed fire from her palms, out, into a cone.

  The gun went off as he screamed, jerking away. Turning, he attempted to shield himself. In seconds he was engulfed in flames, convulsing on the ground.

  The fire came from her. She couldn’t deny that. Heat coursed through her blood, yet it was a comfortable sensation. And she was freaking out.

  Fear exploded in her head. What the hell had she done?

  The door slammed open and Lonny spun her toward him. “You okay?”

  “Uh…”

  He caressed her face, and she lifted a hand.

  Flames flickered along her fingertips. Stepping back, she shook her head. “Don’t. Don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Stay here.” He rushed into the yard.

  Her head spun in circles. She couldn’t get a grip on what she’d just done. She had burned a man alive. And fine, he shot at her, but she sent the fire before he pulled the trigger. What did that make her?

  * * * *

  So much for getting out of town and putting space between them. Lana showed up on his doorstep with some psycho trying to shoot her, once again. And she was straight up flipping out.

  He’d been packing when he heard the shot, then smelled the fire. Lana stood there, frozen, staring at her handiwork.

  And he got it when she realized her hands were flaming. She didn’t want to hurt him. Fine, so she needed to stand back while he hid the prick before the police came.

  This was solid proof her parents weren’t who she believed. And if Alenathos was her father, that left one person to be her mother. He’d once seen Fuerah and Alenathos together. It was well-known Fuerah hated the water dragon. No one seemed to know why, though he caught the two together on a few occasions and quickly went on his way before they realized he’d been there.

  The only thing he could imagine was that Alenathos took Lana from Fuerah. Probably to protect her. And pissed Fuerah off in the process.

  Lana believed she was an Earth Fae.

  Ha ha, fucking ha. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

  Lonny knelt beside the guy with the gun. He grabbed the weapon and took a look at him. The guy was smoldering, his skin blistered and cracked. Incoherent sounds came out of his mouth.

  The hair on his arms stood on end and he touched the guy, shifting him out of the plane, leaving him there. He rushed to Lana, who stood at the door, staring with her mouth hanging open.

  Embedded in the door was a charred dart. He pulled that out of the door and stored it and the gun in a pocket that wasn’t in this realm.

  He started to understand what Maddock Delnias wanted in Lana. A dragon of mixed blood would be a powerful tool. If no one else knew, how did he?

  Fucking bastard always used every piece of knowledge he could glean, usually through torture or blackmail.

  He rubbed his hand over his face, then really looked at her. “Lana, snap out of it. How did you do that?”

  She didn’t move, didn’t say a word, didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

  He shut the door and took Lana’s shoulders. “What happened?”

  She shook her head, blinking slowly. “I-I-I do-don’t kn-kn-know.”

  Lana was going into shock. No surprise there. Like any Fae or dragon her powers manifested when she was in danger.

  The person responsible for coming after Lana was going down. And he’d take great pleasure in making that happen, especially if Maddock was behind the abduction attempts.

  Lifting her chin and making eye contact, he asked, “You’re okay, though?”

  “Are you?”

  He dipped his head. “On one hand, I wish you hadn’t come here, but I’m glad you did. If you had gone home, or someone else…fuck. He wasn’t trying to shoot you. He wanted to drug you and take you back to Faery.”

  “How?”

  “He came through a portal. My guess, he had a way back through. Someone is tracking you somehow. Probably some spell. Did your father give you some jewelry? Your clothing? Anything?”

  She shook her head. Then her eyes bugged out. Lana pulled a necklace from under her shirt and looked at him, her eyes wide. She ripped off the necklace and handed it over. “You think this tracks me?”

  He held out his hand. She dropped it into his palm. He felt magic vibrating through the metal and stashed it the same place he stashed the asshole.

  Sirens rang out. “Shit, Lana, we need to go. They’re going to ask you too many questions, and you’re in no position to answer.”

  Someone must have called 911, which made sense considering his grass was still on fire. He just hoped there was no video.

  “God, how do we get out of here?” Lana demanded.

  Lonny dragged her back to his bedroom and called Kellan.

  Thankfully, he answered quickly. “Hey, what’s going on?”

  “Need a portal to the office, or somewhere I have access to a car that isn’t here.”

  “Uh, why do I hear fire sirens?”

  “My lawn is on fire. And explaining why to a bunch of humans will land us in the loony bin.”

  “Right. Where are you?”

  “My bedroom.”

  A portal opened, and Lonny pulled Lana through.

  Kellan stood there, bouncing Nyla, his baby girl. “I’m sending you to Toryn and Isa, since I heard some crazy tale about what happened at the bar, and I have a feeling she’s going to want to make sure Lana’s okay.”

  “Right. Fine. They might have an idea of what’s up,” Lonny answered.

  Lana nodded, no words leaving her mouth.

  Kellan opened another portal. “Good luck.”

  Lonny tipped his head and pulled Lana through the portal. They stepped into Toryn and Isa’s living room.

  Isa wrapped her arms around Lana. “Another asshole came for you.”

  Lana nodded.

  Toryn met Lonny’s gaze. “Do
n’t worry, we’ll take care of that. You take care of Lana.

  Lonny gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

  “Do you trust anyone else at this point?” Toryn countered.

  “No,” Lonny admitted grudgingly.

  Isa gave him a grin over Lana’s shoulders. “I only trust you to keep Lana safe.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck! He wasn’t sure how he could manage to keep his distance with her by his side until they figured out what the fuck was going on and how to stop it.

  Toryn caught his shoulders. “I’ll talk to Reance.”

  “She says she recognized the first man as one of Delnias’ men. I don’t think she had a chance to see the second, but if he sent one, he sent a second. And there was tracking magic on the necklace she wore.”

  “Where is the necklace?”

  “Wherever I take stuff when I disappear from sight.”

  Toryn snorted. “Right, okay. They won’t find him or the necklace. Now why are there firetrucks at your place?”

  “She set the lawn on fire when she sensed him.” He didn’t see what happened, but it wasn’t hard to fill in the details.

  Toryn shook his head. “Fire?”

  “Fire. It was her,” Lonny explained.

  “And someone froze the first bastard?” Toryn asked.

  Lonny lifted a brow but didn’t specify. He didn’t want to freak out Lana with who he thought he saw earlier.

  “Yeah, but could it have been someone through the portal?”

  Lonny shook his head. “The portal had already closed. The man had been kicking off dark magic, not ice. And if Delnias is involved it would have been earth magic.”

  “Okay,” Lana asked. “Then who?”

  “Someone left the bar after Kevin got there.”

  “No one else was there.”

  “Someone was. I don’t know who, but I watched him leave.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look.” Not good enough to know for sure, and the chameleon bastard could shift into damn near any form. He seemed to always have blue on him.

  “Great, maybe our video caught it.” Lana looked at Toryn and back.