Embraced by Embers

by Kasey Mackenzie

  “Ding, ding, ding,” Lily said without a trace of humor. “Mariana manifested her both her Dragon and Mindbending abilities early like Drew, about a year before he found out about her. Simon began channeling Air and Spirit a few months before his murder. Father was just about to arrange for both to be adopted by Elementals when...when Drew had them killed.

  “He would have had me murdered as well when we were younger—and I easier to kill—if he’d known about my Mindbending ability. But I kept that secret as long as I could. Unfortunately, about a year ago he caught me using my ability to teleport when I didn’t realize he was there. So I’ve done everything I could since then to show him I’m not a threat. And I’m really not! My Mindbending strength is so low that I can barely teleport a few hundred feet. My ability to disguise myself is top-notch, but that’s such a minor thing. I’ll never have the strength to bond liegesworn of my own. That became key to his deciding not to murder me. Especially when he realized they could put my skills to good use as a spy.”

  The Clan Firsts and Jake had remained silent during this discussion. Jake must have felt how upset I was by Lily’s revelation, because he stepped over to claim the hand Dia wasn’t holding. “It’s been an extremely long day, and I think we can all use some rest. Especially your sister.”

  He said it smoothly, as if having Lily here were no big deal, but I became aware that the Clan Firsts were preparing to hunker down in this room for the night. They’d had a couple cots pulled into the room so they could take turns sleeping, with two of them claiming the chairs Dia and I had vacated. Several monks remained outside in the hall to help keep watch over our patient.

  I let out a deep breath. “That’s true. We can talk more about this tomorrow, after everyone’s had a chance to sleep and eat.”

  Dia managed a half-hearted snicker. “But mostly the eating thing, right?”

  I released her hand so I could poke her in the arm. “Everyone has to eat, little sis!”

  She gave a slightly more sincere smirk. “True, and some of us take that to a whole new level.”

  Lily reclaimed our attention by speaking up. “I—I don’t suppose I could at least get a chance of clothes for the evening? These have about had it.”

  I glanced at her and winced. Her clothing had not survived her murder, teleportation, and dive onto the rocky cavern floor to save me well. “We look pretty close to the same size. I’ll have someone bring you something of mine to sleep in. And then we’ll talk more in the morning.”

  She nodded, appearing forlorn but accepting that she’d be sleeping here tonight under the watchful eyes of strangers. “Thank you. I’ll see you then, I guess. And—thank you. I know you didn’t have to save me.”

  “True. But then—you didn’t have to save me from Drew’s death spell, either. So I guess we’re even.”

  That had a small smile touching her lips. I gave a little wave and turned to follow Jake out of the room. Dia, Melody, and Theo fell in step behind. We stopped by Nic’s bed to check on him. Liam had taken up residence in the hospital bed next to him, and Rhianne had positioned herself to the other side. That made me smile and feel less guilty about retreating to my private quarters to catch some shut-eye. Dia volunteered to take my extra pajamas back to Lily. I suspected she also had plans to visit the room of a certain Tall, Dark, and Handsome Selkie.

  That left Theo and Melody standing uncertainly in the doorway of the fancy liegelord suite Jake and I were sharing. Apparently all my other liegesworn had been given rooms among the other monks of the monastery, since they were going to be training with them for the next few weeks. Until we were more certain of their battle skills—and that we could trust them. Melody was supposed to be among that number. Something that had my eyebrows raising in sudden realization. Things had been so frantic all day that I hadn’t quite put the pieces together earlier.

  “Shit, Melody. Weren’t you supposed to lay low here rather than put your kids at risk? What if Drew recognized you back in the cavern?”

  She let out a shaky breath, but a steely glint lit in her eyes. “He may well have done so, and that will suck if he does. But...but I couldn’t just stand back and do nothing. I’ve seen how most of the people around here trust and believe in you, Cassidy. I felt your honor and determination to do the right thing when we bonded. I will hold to my vows no matter the cost. And I—I trust you to help my family.”

  Her simple faith hit me like a sucker punch. It felt weirder than words could say. How could someone who barely knew me come to believe in me so quickly? And what if she were wrong? What if Drew went straight to her family when he got back to Evil Central and punished me by hurting them? Because he had to know me as well by now as I did him. He didn’t really care about anyone but himself, but I was the exact opposite. Maybe detrimentally so. If Drew hurt Melody’s family before we could rescue them, it would devastate me.

  She must have seen that in my expression, or felt it through the bond, because her face grew even more determined. “Anything that son of a bitch does is on him, not you. The same way he murdered his own siblings. He is a monster, Cassidy. And we have to stop him. N—no matter what.”

  Admiration lit inside my heart for this woman who was such a kindred soul. So many people would take the easy path in trying to protect those they loved. They would do anything or sacrifice anyone to save their loved ones the slightest pain. But some prices weren’t worth paying, and you couldn’t wrap your loved ones up in proverbial bubble wrap in the vain hope they’d never be hurt. I was going to fight like hell to do the right thing for the greatest number of people. The stakes in this particular war were too high to do anything else.

  But damned well better believe I’d do everything I could to save as many people as I could when it was within my power.

  “Thank you for reminding me of that fact, Melody. You’re right that both of those monsters must be stopped. I think we’re just the knights to do the slaying. What do you think?”

  She gave a grim but fierce smile. “Hell yeah we are!”

  Jake placed an arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “I second that emotion.”

  Theo nodded emphatically. “Hear, hear.”

  “All right. The two of you can take one of the empty suites in this hallway. There should be multiple bedrooms in all of them. And tomorrow we’ll sort out our next steps.”

  Theo and Melody glanced out into the empty hallway and then back at me. “Is leaving the corridor to your bedroom unguarded really wise?” Theo asked with a raised brow.

  I blinked and gave an uncomfortable shrug. “It’s worked for me so far?” Yeah, I couldn’t help but make light of shit like this. Imposter syndrome hit hard sometimes. Who was I to need the entrance to my bedroom guarded like...like the President of the USA or queen of some monarchy?

  Melody winced, and Theo got a really disappointed expression that had me feeling something I hadn’t in quite some time: like a child who had earned her father’s disapproval. He promptly solidified that unfamiliar emotion with his next words.

  “With all due respect to my new liegelord, you’ve been extremely lucky so far. And to put it bluntly, your father and brother have been mostly feeling you out for weaknesses up to this point. You’ve been rightly proud to win back each of your loved ones abducted by those two and Dorian Garcia, but one of these days they will send abductors or assassins for you. If you aren’t prepared, there may be no one left with the strength to win back you from two such powerful Mindbenders.”

  His words stung because they also rang true. I had been lucky up to now. That we’d safely retrieved every loved one without permanent damage—even the two humans, Si Si and my adoptive mom—was a miracle. Few things in life were absolutely certain, but I knew this one was: Eventually, my luck would run out.

  Jake gave me a sideways glance like he expected me to erupt, but I took a deep breath and met Theo’s disappointed expression head-on. “So what exactly do you recommend? Riku has a ton of perimeter guards and mag
ical wards around the property. You think we still need extra guards in the hallway?”

  Theo’s tense posture relaxed as he realized I wasn’t about to read him the riot act. Now I knew how Liam felt earlier when I marvelled that he’d actually started being nice to me.

  “During the extent of this war we have going on now, I think it’d be a damned fool thing to not have at least two guards outside your quarters any time you’re sleeping or otherwise at your most vulnerable. Preferably four to cover all the elements—”

  “Five,” Melody corrected suddenly, lips twisting slightly. “Don’t forget Spirit, because Garrett and his hellspawn sure won’t. Plus it’s a good idea to involve both your own clanmates, liegesworn, and monks to help guard you. Something that can help draw them—us—closer together. That’s one of Garrett’s biggest blind spots. He rules through fear and intimidation rather than trying to inspire loyalty and a sense of camaraderie.”

  It went without saying that we’d have to involve the monks to cover the Spirit side of things. I was only one person after all. Couldn’t exactly guard myself while sleeping.

  I glanced toward Jake. “What do you think?”

  He folded both arms across his chest and nodded thoughtfully. “I agree with them both completely. It was something I planned to bring up when we got home—having your liegesworn guarding you 24/7 until this war ends. But Theo’s right that we shouldn’t wait until then, even with monks guarding the monastery. Not when you’ve proven yourself how easy it is to sneak past magical wards cloaked by Spirit. Attacks typically come when you least expect them. And Melody is right that we should cover all our Elemental bases by involving all who now owe you allegiance.”

  My breath whooshed out as he echoed my own sentiments. “All right. Let me send word out to Riku and Ju Hai. I’ll ask them to send people to keep watch tonight.” Theo opened his mind to protest, but I raised my hand with a Don’t Even Argue look. “You both just revived from death hours ago and got in a nasty battle to take back my brother. After you’re both back in tip-top shape, then we’ll add you to the guard-duty roster if that’s what you want. Agreed?”

  Melody elbowed the scowling Theo in the side, and he suddenly gave in with a grin. “You drive a hard bargain, but agreed.”

  I winked and then sent mental requests for what we’d discussed to Riku and Ju Hai. Within 15 minutes, a quintet of two Clan Zi members, two monks, and one of my new liegesworn stood watch in the hallway. The liegesworn apparently had a talent for fast magical recoveries and had gotten plenty shut-eye while we were tracking down Nic. She assured us she wouldn’t need sleep for at least another 12 hours. Plenty long enough for us to sleep and send her back to dream her own little dreams.

  Once Theo and Melody were satisfied with our hastily-assembled guard squad, they claimed the next-door suite and went to make good on getting that beauty rest I’d mentioned.

  Considering the sheer hell we’d been through that day and the exhaustion shadowing my every move, I had the best of intentions to snuggle next to Jake the short moments it should take to fall asleep. But those good intentions flew out the window when he slipped into our bed buck naked and pulled my equally-naked (since Lily had my pajamas) close. His warm skin felt delicious next to mine. I shamelessly rubbed myself along his body, tiredness momentarily forgotten as heat cascaded along every nerve ending. He let out a choked breath and murmured, “Mmm, sweetheart, we shouldn’t do this. You need sleep.”

  His tone was nowhere near convincing and his obvious arousal belied his words. “Yes we should, because this will help me sleep.”

  A throaty laugh escaped my lips when he proved easy to convince, shifting to cover my body with his own. Heat and love glowed in his eyes as he stared down at me. Nobody could make me feel as cherished and sexy as he could. I wanted to make him feel the same, so I leaned up to nip his lips with my teeth and whisper, “You taste so good, baby.”

  He growled and claimed my lips with his own, teeth and tongue giving me a far more thorough tasting than my little nibble. My moans echoed in the air moments later when he trailed his magic teeth and tongue down my neck, raising goosebumps as he went, and then stopped to nuzzle and taste my breasts. I managed to find enough willpower to glance down and saw him smile slightly as my moans increased in frequency and intensity. Smug bastard. Not that I minded!

  My hands busied themselves stroking and tugging on his silky hair, encouraging him to speed up or slow down depending on whatever felt good at the time. He allowed me to direct him for a few moments, and then he growled again and eased himself downward once more. I gasped in anticipation and held my body stiff, letting out a soft cry when his mouth closed upon the moist heat between my thighs. His tongue and teeth worshipped me there even more thoroughly than they’d feasted upon my breasts, and the first orgasm hit me hard and fast a couple minutes later.

  “Fuck, sweetheart, you taste so damned good,” he muttered and then moved back to my mouth to kiss me long and deep. Tasting myself on his tongue had me panting in renewed desire, and I wanted to please him as much as he had me. He sensed that need and delayed no longer, positioning himself to plunge inside me and stroke with strong, steady pressure. I tried to encourage him to speed up, but he was in no hurry. His strokes remained forceful but slow, ratcheting up the tension between us until I quivered from reawakened need. Finally, after a moment that lasted an eternity, he began slamming against me as quickly as possible. Molten fire flowed between us and I came again just seconds later. The sound of me coming was what pushed him over the edge, and we cried out together as heat and sensation flooded both our bodies and magical bond. We basked in the glow of our shared orgasm by softly caressing each other’s bare skin and murmuring soft words of admiration. And it really did help me fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  Pounding on the main door to our suite—which I locked both physically and magically in light of Theo and Melody’s valid concerns—dragged me awake the next morning. I blinked blearily at the bedside clock and realized it was barely morning in my book. Six a.m. was for the freaking birds, especially before caffeine. Not even the double orgasms that had soothed me to sleep the night before could make up for my early-morning grumpiness.

  Jake jerked awake just after me but jumped out of bed much more gracefully, not to mention cheerfully. The bastard. He pulled on a t-shirt over the sweatpants he slept in and walked out into the living room with one small yawn. Meanwhile I was still gathering my wits so I could stumble out of bed and into clothes of my own. I’d slept naked after we made love since I’d donated my only pajamas to Lily.

  Jake remembered that fact about halfway to the front door. “I’ve got a couple extra shirts in the dresser, baby. Knock yourself out.”

  I finally managed to extricate myself from the tangled sheets and scurried to pull on one of the oversized (for me) t-shirts in question. This one had me waking up enough to grin. The shirt depicted Jareth the Goblin King from the movie Labyrinth as he directed a group of goblins and a baby to “Dance, Magic, Dance!” I grabbed my jeans from the night before and wriggled into them just as Jake reached the door. He checked that I was fully covered and then opened the door; only to find it wouldn’t budge a centimeter just as I became coherent enough to remember why.

  He shot me an exasperated glance when he put two and two together. “Really, sweetheart? What if there’d been a fire in the middle of the night?”

  I rolled my eyes and padded across the lushly-carpeted floor on bare feet. “A. You’re immune to Fire as long as you can channel Earth and B. I was here the whole time. You were never in danger of burning to death in some freak fire, babe.”

  Jake opened his mouth to argue, but by then I was using my magic to open the door. It swung open to reveal a wild-eyed Isaac flanked by Dia on one side and a wary Theo on the other. The same guard squad still hovered at the end of the hallway where a staircase lead toward the rest of the monastery.

  I rubbed sleep from my eyes and fought not to sound co
mpletely crabby. “Somebody better be in serious trouble or someone is about to be.”

  Okay, so I failed. Nobody would ever accuse me of being a morning person.

  Dia—who would normally be the first to crack up at my Inner Snark or else snark right back—only seemed more worried as Isaac’s expression became even more panicked. “Someone is in trouble, Cassidy.”

  Hearing chill-as-ice Isaac (when not going at it with my sister) call me by my full name illustrated just how serious the situation was. I stepped to the side and motioned him, Dia, and Theo inside. The other five pretended not to be disappointed when I waved and shut the door with a firm click.

  I re-engaged the wards to ensure complete privacy and motioned our guests to sit. Jake and I claimed the loveseat while the other three settled on the couch. Or at least they did until Isaac immediately popped back up and began pacing, panic still etched onto every inch of his features. Anxiety flared in the pit of my stomach. I had never seen him like this.

  Jake voiced that thought out loud. “Isaac, man, what’s got you so worked up? I’ve never seen you like this.”

  Dia caught my eye when she flinched, bit her lip, and a distinctly guilty look crossed her face. Isaac’s next words revealed why.

  “Avani’s in deep shit because of me, J. And I’m not exactly sure how to get her out of it without—without stepping down as Steward.”

  My breath hissed out and my gaze flew back to my sister. She met my glance with an even guiltier expression. I flashed her a sympathetic look. Once upon a time Dia had broken up with Isaac because she’d thought he was cheating on her with Avani. Only problems with that assumption were 1. Avani was a lesbian and 2. The sexy-time noises Dia had overheard came courtesy of a cheating spouse video the pair had been viewing before delivering it to a client. To this day, Dia still felt shitty for leaping to all those conclusions. Isaac and Avani had been BFF since middle school, when they’d amusingly vied for the same girl. That time, Avani had won the fair maiden. No surprise that he was so out of his mind with worry for her.