Flicker and Flame: Magic Bound Book One

by Willow Hayes

  “Luka.” Her choice is not all that unexpected, given Koa gave her a shiner this morning, and she just cussed Callum out.

  I laugh at the look of determination on her face. “Alright Spitfire, Luka it is.” Right then the guys walk in with their hands full, and Kenna pops up to help grab the dinner and snacks. There’s a collective low groan as we all watch her perfect tits bounce in her tight tank top.

  She appears not to notice and goes to grab a bag from Koa. He hands it off, and he, along with all the other guys, do what I did when she walked in. Their eyes scan her curvy body, and I have to laugh because I now see what I looked like after doing the same thing.

  Kenna helps get the food distributed, and when we settle at the table I turn to Luka and say, “You’ve been claimed,” motioning to our spitfire and myself then to the other two and say, “against Callum and Koa, and we’re gonna kick your ass.”

  Luka

  Walking in the door to find Kenna with more skin exposed than covered, and then to watch her jump up to help nearly has me grabbing her to show her exactly what I’d like to do with her. As we get settled at the table Teo says she’s claimed me as a teammate. My mind is quick to conjure up all the ways I’d like to claim her, and the thought nearly has me groaning. Fuck, it’s going to be a long night trying to keep my hands to myself and thoughts out of the gutter with Kenna sitting nearby. The need she stirs has me discreetly adjusting myself under the table.

  When we get settled on the couch I sit in the back corner, Kenna next to me. She turns to me and smiles her heart-stopping smile, and with excitement in her voice she says, “I’ve never played this game before. Do you guys play often?”

  “Occasionally, but when you’ve been together for as long as we have it makes it seem as though we’ve played a lot.”

  “How long have you guys been together?” she asks interestedly.

  “Oh, about 500 years,” I deadpan. I laugh at her gasp and huge eyes and say, “I think it’s been about 20 years.” She reaches out and lightly smacks my chest. I feign injury, but she only laughs at me. “What would you say, Koa?”

  “I’d say that’s about right. It’s been a few years anyways.” He chuckles at his definition of a few years, but when you’ve lived as long as Callum and Koa have I imagine time tends to blend together.

  Kenna leans forward with excitement sparkling in her big blue eyes and asks, “You’ve really been a team for that long? Wait, how old are you guys?”

  I can only imagine what our fiery girl is going to think about our ages. “I am 75.”

  I wait for her freak out, but all I get is an excited squeak before she exclaims, “By the gods! That is so awesome! What about the rest of you?” Every time I think I have this woman figured out she turns around and surprises me. Her enthusiasm about almost everything is undeniably attractive.

  “Well, Koa is 227, right?” I look to him for confirmation, and he nods. “Teo is 175, and Callum is the oldest at 250. He’s the granddad of the group.” I wink at him and laugh when he flips me the bird. I turn back to find Kenna grinning, her eyes sparkling with awe.

  “I can’t imagine living so long. The things you must have seen and done. The knowledge you have acquired. It’s crazy to think I could live that long too! As a human I knew my life would be limited, but now…gods, I can’t even wrap my brain around that.” She shakes her head smiling wide.

  The game kicks off after a brief description of the rules. We are a few rounds in, and I find that my eyes keep gravitating to her. The past few weeks have been hard on her and watching her struggle with everything has been difficult. Her beautiful smile hasn’t graced her face nearly as often as it should, so seeing her laughing and smiling has me breathing a bit easier.

  I tear my eyes away from her smile once more to find that it’s Teo’s turn to draw. He’s pretty good, so this round will be a breeze. As I watch him draw I throw out a few guesses, and then I feel her weight press against me. I lose all interest in what Teo is doing, and my focus zeros in on where our bodies meet. We’ve touched many times in the weeks we have known her, but it never gets old, and it always leaves me wanting more.

  She shouts a guess, and it yanks me out of my reverie. Her guess is correct, and my gaze lands on Teo’s, and the little shit quirks an eyebrow because he knows exactly where my thoughts were. Shit, he would know better than the rest of us because she’s slept in his bed a few times. Lucky fucker. I raise mine right back, and he only laughs.

  With every round, whenever she or I sit back down, she’s by my side. The long slender column of her neck begs to be touched, so I brush my fingers against her soft skin and watch goosebumps spread. Her breathing hitches, and she leans a bit into my hand, so I trace my thumb along her jaw and watch as her eyelids flutter then close. She opens her eyes and looks right at me. The pure hunger in her eyes nearly has my resolve to keep my distance snapping. I’m caught in her gaze and can’t break away, and she makes no move to either. Then laughter and clapping erupts on the other couch, and the moment is lost.

  Thirty-Six

  Kenna

  Sitting on the couch with Luka and Teo is about as close to perfection as one can get, well unless they were both naked and touching me, that would truly be perfection. I can still feel Luka’s fingers on my neck and jaw, and Teo’s strokes along my calf and ankle. I felt like a cat in heat. I wanted to rub myself all over them.

  Teo was right though, I needed tonight. I needed to feel normal and do normal things. Even if normal is only a lie. Normal won’t fix what’s wrong with my magic, and it won’t bring Callie back. But normal feels nice for a few moments.

  The guys have each said their goodnights, but I can’t bring myself to leave the couch. Each night since the attempted kidnapping my nightmares have gotten worse, and it’s fucking with my head. Every night it changes slightly, and it leaves me feeling as though I’m going out of my mind. Sometimes Rya finds her way into the scene, and sometimes she takes the place of Callie. When I wake up I can’t make sense of the jumbled images racing through my mind, making me question what was real and what isn’t. Sometimes the only things I feel certain of is I couldn’t save Callie, and I couldn’t keep Rya safe.

  Each night I sleep less and less, and the only time I don’t dream is when I’m in Teo’s arms. But I can’t bring myself to ask him again. Akito pushes me to go to him every night, but I refuse. I can’t look him in the eye and continue to keep the truth from him anymore, so I don’t go.

  Maybe if I tire myself out enough I’ll be able to go to sleep without dreaming. I tell myself the lie, desperately wishing it were the truth. I throw on some leggings and head back out to the gym.

  I punch the bag with everything I have for gods knows how long, but I can still feel his revolting hands on my body. Hear his breath in my ear. I whirl and with a grunt land a roundhouse kick on the bag that would have knocked him on his ass if the bag had been him, but he’s not here, despite permeating everything around me. It’s like ants crawling over my skin. I go to brush the feeling of them off only to see that my hands are bloody, even through the tape meant to protect them. As I stare at my hands my mind flashes to my dream of the hallway and the blood. Suddenly, I can’t take it anymore. I grab the nearest thing and hurl it across the room. It crashes into the wall, and I sink to my knees, unable to hold back the flood of emotions anymore, and the tears fall. I feel so lost and scared and so damn tired.

  “Do you feel better?” a deep voice asks from behind me, and I whirl to find Teo leaning on the doorframe, hands in his pockets with one foot resting on the other. Concern written all over his face. The sight of him only makes me cry harder.

  “I failed them! Callie is dead because of me, and Rya and Reg could have gotten hurt, could still get hurt. No matter what I do the people I love die.” At some point he makes his way over and pulls me into his lap.

  “Little Spitfire, you really do live up to your nickname. Why do you think Callie died because of you?” He gently sta
rts to peel the tape from my hands while he waits.

  I sit silently because I know what I should do, but it terrifies me. This group of men have become mine, and I don’t want to lose them, but I can’t keep going on like this either. I start slowly and haltingly, “Callie was a foster kid, like me. She and I were placed at the same home, and I loved her like a real sister. She became my sister. I taught her things, took her to the park, and made dinner when the bastard didn’t feed us. She was the first person I ever loved.”

  I breathe shakily and prepare myself to go further, “At first, he only knocked me around a bit. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t already experienced, and as long as it was just me, I would take it. But then it became more.” My voice cracks, and I have to swallow a few times before I can continue, “He would…touch…me, and when I would try to tell him to stop he would beat me.” Teo’s arms tighten slightly at my words, as though he can’t help himself. “He figured out that a beating wasn’t enough to demand my compliance anymore, so he found the one thing that would, Callie. I stopped fighting him because he told me if I did he would beat her instead.

  “Then he took more than touches. I kept quiet and didn’t fight back, all so he wouldn’t touch her. One morning before school he came to my room. I knew what he wanted, but I still hurt from the last time he took from me, so I ran. I ran all the way to school. When I got home I knew something was wrong because he was never home that early.” My voice breaks, and the tears stream down my face.

  “I walked into the living room, and Callie...Callie was not moving. I tried to get to her, but he yanked me back.” I shudder as I remember his hands on me. “He told me that Callie was dead because I ran. Because she couldn’t handle his punishment like a good girl.” I gag at the memory. The next words come out on a sob, “Callie is dead because I ran. Because I was selfish and ran.”

  I can’t say anything more because I’m shaking from my sobs. I’ve never told anyone my story, and I don’t know how to feel now that it’s out in the open. My scar has been ripped open, and I feel as though I’m bleeding out on the gym floor.

  Teo

  It’s all I can do to keep from squeezing her painfully as she tells her story. I want to hunt the motherfucker down and rip him to pieces. By the gods, no wonder she’s terrorized by nightmares and why the incident with Rya seriously messed her up.

  She’s sobbing in my arms when I feel the guys shifting at the door. I meet their eyes in the mirror, and the rage I see in them reflects my own, and I know they heard everything. When she starts to quiet I say, “Spitfire, look at me, please.” She shakes her head, and I tell her the same thing I did in the hallway. “Kenna, please don’t shut me out. I want to help, but you have to choose to let me.”

  For a few moments I think she won’t, but then she shudders as she takes a big breath, lifts her head, and meets my eyes. Her blue eyes are full of wariness as she studies me. I haven’t pushed her aside in disgust or agreed with her guilty assessment, and I know that’s what she was expecting. “Spitfire, I need you to hear me when I say this. What happened to Callie was not your fault,” I emphasize each word clearly and distinctly. “That bastard is the one that made the choice. I know you don’t believe me, I can see it in your eyes, but I can promise you he would have found a way to hurt her eventually.”

  I see her gearing up with the argument I’m sure she’s had on loop in her head for years, and I gently place my finger over her lips. “What he did to you was also not your fault. You need to learn to place the blame where the blame deserves to go, on the sick bastard who preyed on young girls. I know you don’t believe me now, and I hope one day you will, but know this,” I tilt her chin to find the guys standing there. Panic fills her eyes, so I quickly continue, “we will never leave you. They came to check on you and heard your story. I know you didn’t mean for everyone to hear but take a close look at them. You will not find disgust or disappointment. What you will find is a deep rage for the one who not only hurt you for years but has haunted your every moment since.” I watch her eyes as she searches the rest of her Chosen, and I pray that at least some of it sinks in.

  Her quiet voice trembles when she finally speaks, “You truly don’t hate me?” At her words the rest of her Chosen pour into the gym and kneel by our girl, one by one. The hope in her eyes kills me because the question never should have needed to be asked to begin with.

  Koa reaches out first and cups her cheek. She nuzzles into his hand as she studies him. His voice is low and gravelly with emotion when he says, “I could never hate you, Firefly, and not because you are my Queen and I am your Chosen, but because you have done nothing worthy of hate.” He moves in, kisses her forehead, and steps away.

  Callum steps up, places his palm over her heart and looks her in the eye before softly saying, “Your magic is the core of who you are, and your magic is pure. It has not been tainted with the things you have endured. I have seen your magic, and to see your magic is to see your soul. I could never hate you, Ómorfos.” He too kisses her forehead. Damn him and his flowery words.

  He steps away and Luka drops to his knees in front of her. “Half my blood is demon blood, and I have spent my whole life fighting, so that single factor doesn’t define me, but when I told you what I was you didn’t blink. You didn’t falter. You accepted me as I am. Someone worthy of hate would not be able to accept others the way you do. So no, Princess, I could never hate you.” Luka leans forward and kisses her forehead.

  She turns to look at me with her huge sapphire eyes as if to say, is this for real? I laugh quietly at her look and kiss her forehead too. “Spitfire, I hate that you have had to bear this burden alone for so many years, but you have us to help you carry it now. We cannot take it from you, but we can lighten its weight. I have watched you struggle with this, wishing you would let me in, and I’m glad you finally did. I have no room in my heart for hate when it is so full of fondness for you.”

  She blinks at me for few moments then plants her lips on mine, and all thought ceases.

  Thirty-Seven

  Kenna

  He tastes like cinnamon and berries, and his lips are so soft. I need this kiss. I need Teo. I’ve ripped open my soul, and I need to find reassurance that he truly doesn’t hate me after all I shared. He cups my neck and guides my head to deepen the kiss. His tongue moves along the seam of my lips asking for entry, and I greedily oblige. We devour each other with passion and heat. He nips at my lower lip, and we pull back, breathing heavy.

  I look into his hazel and gold eyes, desperate to know that my ripped and jagged soul is really what he wants. His eyes fade from their golden hue, his wolf slipping back under the surface once more, but all I see is passion and feelings I’m not willing to name.

  I hear a soft groan and am reminded that we are not alone. My eyes widen in an ‘oh shit’ look before I sheepishly look up to the rest of my Chosen, unsure of what I will find given I just kissed their brother right in front of them. What I see however, is not what I expected. Each of them is staring at us with heat and hunger. “Um, so that happened…” I throw out awkwardly. I’m not a prude, but this whole kiss thing has me more than a little flustered. I hear a few chuckles, and Teo’s chest vibrates against me with his laughter, bringing my eyes back to his.

  “Spitfire, you taste like oranges and chocolate, and I will have another taste of you very soon.” His words make me squirm, and I suddenly become very aware of his arousal. With a groan, his hands fly to my hips, holding me still.

  “But, um,” I stutter over my words and gesture towards the rest of my Chosen, unable to finish my question because frankly I have no idea what question to even ask.

  “We have shared women before, Spitfire, so don’t worry about what each of us is wondering,” Teo says with a smile, trying to reassure me.

  Luka clears his throat, and my eyes flash up to his. “I for one, was thinking just how fucking hot it was.” I flush at his words, unsure what to think of them. But when I think about being
watched my body floods with heat. Heat from desire. Not embarrassment.

  Teo groans again, and my eyes jump back to his, and he looks pained. At my concerned look he tightly says, “You were apparently very turned on by the idea of Luka watching because your arousal just scented the room. I’m trying very hard to be a gentleman, and you are making that very difficult.”

  My cheeks flame. “Oh.”

  Nakoa steps forward and says, “Firefly, you don’t have to worry about what any of us will think because we want whatever kind of relationship that you want to have. Remember, like Teo said, we will never leave you because we’re here for good.”

  I nod, his words comforting, though they give me a lot to think about. I’ll have to think later though because as the adrenalin and emotion of the night catch up with me my eyes seem to be closing of their own accord. I rest my head on Teo’s chest, and his hands move soothingly over my body. I mumble something along the lines of needing sleep, but I’m sure gibberish was all it sounded like. I feel Teo’s laugh more than hear it, and then I succumb to the clutches of sleep.

  Thirty-Eight

  Nakoa

  I’m looking over some payroll paperwork in my office when I hear a loud crash. I’m on the move instantly and follow the noise to the gym. I stop at the door and take in the scene swiftly. Kenna’s hands are bleeding, but likely from the bags as Teo is working on unwrapping the tape from her hands. Other than the blood on her hands though, she seems to be in no danger. Luka and Callum arrive just after I did. Now that I can see there is no imminent danger I’m able to focus on what Kenna is saying.

  As she tells her story fire rages through my veins. I have never felt such bloodlust, and I know from the energy coming off the guys we are all feeling the same. I now understand why she felt such guilt. Who could live through something like that, at the hands of a monster, and not become scarred and have her view warped. But our girl, she has been refined by the fire and not burnt. Her pain has made her see the good in people, even as she kept them at arm’s length.