Fire Within

by Ella M. Lee

  But it was strange to receive that treatment from Daniel, who was still ostensibly my enemy—or something similar. I glanced at him. He seemed calm now, less tense than before.

  Today was going much better than I had expected it would when Nicolas had left me here. Nicolas had been right—Daniel could be open-minded about this situation.

  Would I ever run into a case where Nicolas wouldn’t be right?

  “I’ll be fine,” I said, sniffling. “Well, according to some definition of fine, anyhow.”

  “Thin? Sharp? Impressive? High quality? Intricate?” he asked, amused. “Fine has too many definitions.”

  “You forgot delicate. Like your nose and cheekbones,” I said, poking his face.

  He smiled. “No need to get fancy. I just call myself handsome.”

  “So what are you insecure about? Anything?” I asked, leaning back. Daniel’s hands fell away from me quickly.

  He frowned. “My height. I hate being short and small.”

  I shrugged. “You’re taller than I am.”

  He rolled his eyes. “By like a millimeter,” he said. “It’s just one of the few things that I can’t change about myself, you know? That bothers me.”

  I nodded. I felt like I had a lot of those—things I couldn’t change about myself. Maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough? Daniel seemed to think there were very few things he couldn’t change.

  I stood, feeling restless. I walked to the windows again, looking out. More clouds had gathered, and it had started to rain. The magical shield on the glass was a thin sheen in my vision that made the water droplets sparkle.

  I squinted and reached my hand out to touch it.

  “Hey, can I ask you a question? Why is your magic so weird?” I inquired, confused by what I was feeling.

  Daniel looked at me, his gaze sharpening in surprise. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s almost like it’s not Water magic. If someone told me to blindly say what clan I thought made this shield, I don’t think I’d pick Water. Maybe Sky? Or… or… Meteor?” I guessed. “And your wards are laid in reverse form. I’ve never seen that in practice.”

  Daniel’s eyes had gotten wider. He was studying me intently now. “My teacher taught me that technique with the wards. It makes them harder to unravel, although not everyone can do it.”

  “Nicolas?”

  “No. Ryan taught me most of the interesting stuff I know,” Daniel said. “You know, your magic detection skills really are great.”

  I shrugged. “I’m from Flame. We have the best detection skills, and it was a specialty of mine. I guess I’m not surprised it carried over to being mortal.”

  “Tell me more about my shield. What do you feel?” he asked curiously.

  I put my hand on it again. It tingled against my skin, my mind weakly recognizing it as magical in nature. “I don’t really know specifically—my detection skills aren’t exactly intact. But it’s not normal. It’s not just Water. Do you have two magics?”

  It was extremely rare but not unheard of to either be in two clans at once or to have another clan’s magic “stick” to you for some reason. But that didn’t make sense—Daniel’s first clan had been Water.

  He laughed. “No, not that,” he said. “Do you know what transmutation is? I don’t think it’s a Flame thing.”

  “No,” I said, confused. I understood the word, but not in the context of magic.

  “We don’t really know why, but Water magic is a bit more, uh, mercurial than other types,” he said. “Sometimes you’ll find a person whose raw elemental Water magic can form itself into the raw elemental magic of another clan.”

  “Interesting,” I said, still touching his shield. “So what does your Water magic like to impersonate?”

  “You can’t tell?” His smile was teasing.

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a bloodhound.”

  “Come here, Fi,” he said, patting the couch next to him.

  I went to join him, and he held out his hand to me. I took it, and a sudden jolt went through me, almost like a static shock. Not painful, just a strange feeling of current dispersing through me.

  “Electricity?” I asked.

  “Yeah, like lightning,” he said.

  “But… lightning magic isn’t part of any other clan,” I said, confused. “Not even Sky.”

  He tilted his head at me. “What can I say? I’m unique.”

  My eyes widened. To have raw elemental magic outside of a specific clan’s magic? I had never heard of that before. Daniel essentially had his own magic, new magic. Lightning.

  That was incredible.

  “No wonder Nicolas likes you,” I said. “That’s insane. How did you learn it?”

  “It just came to me. Shocked the hell out of Ryan and Nicolas,” he said. “You know, you might be able to transmute with Water magic. It’s usually seen from people who have had other types of magic before.”

  That was an interesting thing to learn. Flame magic was very rigid in nature and stuck firmly to several classifiable norms. It favored sheer consuming power and quantity over any sort of subtlety or flexibility. But even from my brief experience with Water, I could see it would be different than Flame.

  “If I live long enough to join Water,” I reminded him.

  But my thoughts lingered on his words. It would be nice—comforting, even—to have that piece of my old life. I missed the beauty and majesty of my Flame magic, missed how it felt knowing I had fire within me.

  “One day at a time,” Daniel said. My hand was still in his, and he squeezed it gently before letting go.

  “One minute at a time is what I’m aiming for right now,” I said. “I think exhaustion makes time move slower. The clock says 11:47 right now, and I feel like it’s said that for hours.”

  He grimaced. “You need to get some sleep.”

  I laughed. “That’s hilarious. You think I can sleep? My brain won’t stop reminding me of my current situation.”

  “You have nothing to worry about right now. Nicolas said that I should take care of you until dinner, so nothing bad can possibly happen to you until at least about…” He studied his watch. “Seven or eight or so. Nicolas considers any time before that too early to eat.”

  My eyes caught on his wrist. His watch was beautiful, black and heavy looking and complex.

  I reached out tentatively. “May I?” I asked, pointing.

  He held out his wrist, and I turned it carefully so that I could see his watch.

  “This is lovely,” I said, studying it.

  It had several dials, but the most eye-catching one was a moon set against a blue sky. The maker was some German company I had never heard of before.

  “Thanks,” Daniel said, and his tone was genuinely appreciative. “Nico gifted it to me a couple of years ago for some intense work I did on an operation.”

  “The window with the moon is gorgeous,” I said.

  “Yeah, that’s a great complication,” he said. “It rotates, so at night it shows a starry sky. That’s what caught my attention. My last name means ‘star.’”

  “Oh? What is your name?” I asked.

  “Shing,” he said. “Although it’s said more like sing in Cantonese.”

  I released his wrist, but he didn’t draw away from me immediately. He was seated cross-legged now, casually leaning against the couch not far from me.

  He had warmed up to me considerably, and it was nice to see him happier and more expressive. It made it easier to trust that I might be safe with him.

  Daniel stood up and went into his bedroom. When he returned, he tossed a blanket to me. I gathered it close, desperately needing more warmth. He leaned in and put his hands on each of my shoulders gently.

  “You look half dead. Relax. Sleep,” he said. “I told you you’re fine for now, and you are.”

  His definitive tone made him sound a lot more like Nicolas than usual. There was nothing to do except nod in agreement. I lay down, pulling one of his pillows under
me and curling around it. He watched me for a moment longer before returning to the other end of the couch and opening his laptop.

  Breathe, I told myself. Just get through one moment at a time.

  Daniel’s presence wasn’t as imposing as Nicolas’s. It wasn’t easy, and it still took a long time, but I eventually managed to slip into sleep.

  When I woke, Daniel had moved. He now sat on the floor at my feet, earphones in, hyper-focused on his laptop, which currently displayed a confusing array of text in little boxes. I had stretched out, taking up most of the length of the couch, which meant I had likely displaced him. I shifted, sitting up. The clock on the stove read 15:26, so I had gotten at least a few hours of sleep. I felt better, more alert and less hazy.

  I brushed my hand tentatively over Daniel’s spiky hair. He tilted his head toward me and smiled slightly, holding up a finger in a “one moment” gesture.

  I let out the breath I’d been holding, happy that he was not offended by my playful touch. I watched his delicate fingers fly over the keyboard. He was obviously very competent, juggling several tasks at once, on top of needing to babysit me all day.

  After a couple of minutes, he removed his earphones. “Hey, Fi,” he said. “Feel better?”

  “A little, thanks,” I said. “Get anything done?”

  “Yeah, lots of stuff,” he said. He paused. “Do you like oranges?”

  “Yeah,” I said, a little confused.

  “Oh, good,” he said, standing up. “Ryan dropped off about a million of them, and they need to be eaten. He says they are really good.”

  Daniel’s kitchen counter now had a large bowl piled high with huge oranges. He tossed one to me and then took two for himself.

  He joined me on the couch, and we watched one another peel and eat our fruit slice by slice. When he got to his second orange, he moved closer and handed me several pieces. I was touched by the gesture—it was friendly and intimate in a way I hadn’t expected.

  Somehow I’d shifted over the course of the day from not really caring for Daniel to somewhat liking him. He’d taken care of me as promised, he’d wanted to get to know me, he’d given me a chance to tell him how I felt, he’d protected me from Derek, and he’d been understanding about my life and circumstances. I hadn’t expected to enjoy his company as much as I did.

  “Do you want some real food?” he asked.

  I hesitated. “I don’t really want to go back upstairs. Nothing good happens to me when I’m there.”

  He laughed. “It’s the afternoon. Hardly anyone will be around. Certainly not Derek—most commanders here are busy in the afternoons and evenings. You’ll be fine, Fi. I’m still your shield.”

  To my surprise, when Daniel touched me to bring me through his floor’s shield, he didn’t roughly grab my wrist. Instead, he held my hand, twining his fingers among mine. Another heartening friendly gesture. It was something I would have done with Violet or Damon as a showing of love or support.

  True to Daniel’s words, the atrium and cafeteria were quieter than in the morning. There were some people and groups spread among the comfortable seating, but the whole atmosphere was calmer and less bustling.

  Our meal was mostly uneventful. I couldn’t talk to Daniel here—not that I had terribly much to say—and he primarily just studied his phone. Eating was easier, thankfully, and I finally had more of an appetite.

  We were just about to leave when a lanky blond man bounded toward Daniel and caught him up in his arms, hugging him from behind and upsetting his spiky hair.

  I froze, unsure what would happen, but Daniel’s face broke out into the most radiant smile I had seen on him yet.

  “Jacks!” he cried, elated, spinning around to embrace the newcomer.

  “Dan!” Jacks responded, equally happy.

  “You didn’t mention you were coming back,” Daniel chided.

  “Sorry, short notice,” Jacks said, gracefully flopping into the seat next to Daniel. His eyes wandered to me. “Who’s this?”

  “Jackson, Fiona,” Daniel said, gesturing. “Fiona, Jackson. Jackson was Nicolas’s lieutenant before me. Fiona is a new acquisition from Flame, up for clan candidacy, possibly my group.”

  Was that true? Nicolas hadn’t explicitly stated it, but he had alluded to clanning me to Water if things went well. Daniel knew him better than I did. Had he already come to this conclusion himself? And was he right?

  Jackson studied me, his eyes narrowed. “Hmm. It’s been a while since Nicolas found anyone new to be interested in. Seems like your group has gotten more selective. I’m not sure I’d even get in myself anymore.”

  Daniel laughed. “You know I’d take you back in a heartbeat. Please tell me you will spend less time in Dublin and more time here?”

  “No can do, little brother. David needs me,” Jackson said. “But I wish. Come to Ireland? There’s always a place for you.”

  “You know I can’t,” Daniel said, smiling sadly.

  “You and Nicolas—inseparable,” Jackson said. “How many commanders ask you each week to switch groups to theirs?”

  “Usually at least one or two,” Daniel said, amused.

  “That’s my boy,” Jackson said, grinning. “Soon enough, those will be alliances rather than job offers. When is Nico putting you up for commander?”

  Daniel shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s been saying ‘soon’ for the past fourteen months.”

  Jackson clapped him on the shoulder fondly. “I can’t wait for that. I’ll be back for your promotion.”

  “How long are you here?” Daniel asked him.

  “At least a week, maybe two?” Jackson said.

  “Can we catch up tomorrow or the next day?” Daniel asked. He glanced at me. “I’ll have more time then.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Jackson said. “I’d love to.”

  He stood and made to leave but stopped. He rested his hands on the table for a moment, looking at me. “Good luck, Fiona,” he said kindly before walking off toward the buffet.

  I looked away, embarrassed by his attention.

  Daniel was still seated, leaning back, looking pleased and relaxed.

  Nicolas’s former lieutenant. This was the man Daniel had briefly worked for, someone formidable enough that Nicolas trusted him. He honestly looked as good-natured as a golden retriever to me. In general, I was surprised at how normal a lot of Water Clan members seemed. Based on what I had heard, I had expected more internal rivalry and violence, but Derek had been the only aggressive person I’d encountered so far.

  This clan was huge, but everyone seemed to know Nicolas and Daniel, making me wonder exactly how powerful they were here. It seemed like they were a strikingly imposing team.

  But Nicolas had been reasonable albeit mostly cold toward me, and now that he had warmed up, Daniel was being downright friendly and open. I wished I had more information about everything, and even just a few minutes by myself in which to process it all.

  The rest of the afternoon was boring but oddly comfortable. Daniel was content to leave me alone and do his own work. He appeared to have plenty of it, jumping from screen to screen on his laptop and chatting with multiple people at once.

  At one point, he took a brief phone call in Cantonese. When he hung up, he said, “I told Nico that you’re still alive and that I’m doing an amazing job taking care of you. I hope that’s accurate.”

  I pursed my lips. “Yeah, you’re okay, I guess,” I said.

  He gave me a dirty look and laughed, amused. “I can see why Nico has an interest in you—you’re bold,” Daniel said, giving my shoulder a playful shove. “He’ll come get you at eight, he says.”

  “Can’t I stay here?” I asked.

  However open and accessible he’d briefly been, there was no denying that Nicolas was a hundred times more intimidating than Daniel. I was sure I would immediately go back to being anxious all the time with him.

  “You want to stay with me?” Daniel asked, tilting his head. “How flattering.”r />
  “What can I say? It was a nice change to have a moment to relax and breathe. I’m pretty sure every second with Nicolas is some sort of test, and I hate the mind-reading thing.”

  Daniel frowned sympathetically. “Unfortunately, you’re stuck with him, but I’ll tell Nico to lighten up.”

  I sighed. That was fair. Daniel hadn’t signed up for taking on a new charge. Ultimately, I was Nicolas’s little experiment, and it was him I needed to impress.

  “How would you feel about spending some time together tomorrow?” Daniel asked me. “I’d like to see you use magic and get an idea of your other skills.”

  “Aren’t you meeting Jackson?” I asked.

  He laughed. “I don’t think you understand how many hours I work each day.”

  I could imagine. There was probably nothing harder than being Nicolas’s lieutenant. Nicolas had told me himself that Daniel managed a portion of his group. The fact that he’d done that and studied magic well enough for him to look absolutely stunning and graduated college early was unbelievably impressive.

  And now he wanted to run another little test on me tomorrow. Okay, fine, I could handle that.

  “All right,” I said, shrugging.

  He beamed at me, and I knew that had been the correct answer.

  I managed to get more sleep, grateful for every minute I could keep my eyes closed. It was almost possible to relax, to imagine this was a normal day for me—napping and drinking tea and reading and depleting Daniel’s mountain of delicious oranges.

  Daniel himself had an amazing and impressive capacity for being quiet and solitary. At first glance, I would have guessed him to be chatty and annoying. But no, he had Zen-like focus.

  Time passed faster than before, and I was startled awake by Nicolas’s knock on the door.

  A day away only served to heighten the effect of him—tall, cold, deadly. He had changed clothes to a casual T-shirt and hoodie and appeared to be in a reasonably good mood, but that didn’t make him any less imposing. His magic swept around him, sparkling and intense.