Fire and Fantasy: A Limited Edition Collection of Urban and Epic Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  “She works at the local diner. It is one of the only restaurants in a two-hundred-mile radius. Most local folks prefer to stay on their property and do their own hunting and foraging. We do have a local market, and now with the way technology is, a lot of us order half of our staples on line.”

  “On what line?” The concept of ordering food was familiar, but I had never had to stand on a line to receive my meals. They had always been hand delivered whenever and wherever I chose.

  “What?” He laughed. “You are funny.”

  I smiled back at him as if to go along with the joke I’d unknowingly made. He seemed pleased by it, and that gave me an overwhelming amount of satisfaction and an awkward level of undeserved pride.

  “What is left to do?” I joined him in the kitchen, close enough to signify I was ready to get my hands dirty.

  “The bird is already in the oven, roasting. I am going to just throw these veggies in the pan with it as soon as I finish chopping them. It should be ready in about ten minutes.”

  “Is that it?” I asked.

  “Is that not enough food for you?” His eyes narrowed, and his stance stiffened.

  “Oh, no. It is. I just meant is that all there is to do. I wanted to be of assistance.” I hadn’t intended to insult him or his meal. My accommodations back home were considerably more lavish, and meals were layered in courses from small plates of samplings to rich meals that took hours to prepare. All were served with soup, bread, salad, and an assortment of fruits, cheeses, and pastries. I had to remember that life on Earth, and for those that were not gods, didn’t have the same luxuries.

  “Okay, for a minute there I thought you were expecting more. I am a good cook, but this ain't no restaurant. We do the best we can with what we have up here in the mountains. We are very rural. I don’t know where you come from and apologies if you are used to fancier meals.”

  “Not at all. It actually smells divine so far. You seem to have everything under control, and had I helped more, I might have screwed it up.”

  “I doubt very highly that you screw up much, kitten.” He reached behind him and grabbed two glasses and a dark bottle of what appeared to be wine. “I can’t imagine that you don’t know how to open this?” He quirked his eyebrow at me.

  He would have had to envision far beyond his imagination to grasp what my norm was. My inner truth meter was dangerously high, and I hated not being able to be honest with him about who I was.

  Xander didn't have to trust me with his true identity, but he had. I wished I could have paid him the same courtesy. Maybe, in time, I could find a way to explain. Probably when I said my final goodbyes to him and his sister. My heart suddenly felt as if it were about to crumble.

  “So, the wine? You do know how to open a bottle, don’t you?” He pulled it back, along with the tool he had handed me. His eyes pinched in at the sides as a grin stretched one side of his mouth nearly up to his cheekbones.

  “Why are you messing with me so much, kitten?”

  “The better question is why not, honey bear?”

  “Touché, pussycat. I might not admit it to anyone else, but I think I like the way that sounds rolling off your tongue. A sweet and tasty tongue at that.”

  My face flushed with heat, and what little was inside my stomach swirled upside down. He had a power over me that no one had ever had—that I had never allowed anyone to have.

  “You can pour wine though, right? I don’t take you for the kind of woman that expects everyone to serve you.” He passed the bottle back to me.

  Pouring the wine, I could handle. His comment was another thing altogether. It cut in a place I hadn’t known resided in me. Expecting others to serve me was everything that made up who I was.

  Sure, I served many, but all under my terms. Many of the women I had rescued over the centuries had become near and dear to me, but as confidants who followed my every thought. They were indebted to me in a way that would never allow them to go against me.

  I was a fierce warrior and would never expect someone to fire my bow for me. That was my job. So why was it, when I ate, I expected others to do the work involved for me. They even cut my food into bite sized pieces so I didn't have to.

  I was a woman, a goddess of privilege, and I liked it. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Being judged by mortals was not something that bothered me or that I cared to harp on. I didn’t need them, but they most certainly needed me.

  After Xander finished putting the veggies into the oven, I handed one of the two full glasses to him.

  “Oh, this is very full.” He chuckled. “I guess we are going to get a little blitzed tonight.”

  Unsure of what he meant, I toasted anyway. “I will drink to that.”

  As far as I knew, I had never been blitzed. I didn’t even know if I wanted to get blitzed. That didn’t stop me from raising the glass to my lips and sipping on the wine.

  “You like it?”

  “It has a strange undertone of blackberries. Or is that cherries?” I smacked my lips together, tasting the remnants of the wine in my mouth. It had a very smooth and not overly sweet finish. “It is quite good, actually. Better than most I have had.”

  “My cousin has a large plot on the other side of the mountain where the sun seems to shine all day long. He makes most of the wines for Callisto Falls. His best buddy makes the only local beer, which is also hoptastic.”

  I nodded my head in approval.

  “We may be rural, but we are by no means savages.” He took another sip and started to clean up his cooking mess.

  “Let me,” I offered, reaching for the cutting board at the same time as he did. His hand covered mine, and my knees instantly went weak.

  He dropped the cutting board, causing it to tumble to the ground, and pulled me into him. Still holding me by the hand, he held our grip against his heart. His breath was slow, and it scratched at the back of his throat.

  “I don’t know what heaven you fell from, but I am beyond grateful to whomever sent you here. I wish you were staying longer so we could get to know each other better.”

  Gazing up at him, close enough that we shared one breath, I truly wished for the same. I longed for a reason to spend more time with him. But I was there, on Earth, for a mission to make a man fall in love with me for a day or two at best. A man with little or no attachments. One I would have no problem leaving behind.

  Having deep rooted feelings for a human had never ended well for any immortal. At least not that I could recall.

  The silence between us was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Words didn’t formulate in my mouth, only the desire to taste his kiss once more. My lips pressed together as my gaze drifted from his eyes, to his lips, and then nervously back up to his eyes again.

  My heart thumped so hard I could hear it beating in my ears like a drum. Thump thump. Thump thump. How was it beating in such a way? It sounded loud and slow, but I felt my blood coursing through my veins at an alarming rate. So much so that it went to my head.

  The room felt as if it were going to spin out around us, dumping us into a black hole—an oblivion that there would be no returning from. How bad could that be?

  I wanted him to take me there—to tie me to a place where there were no longer any rules, no more divides, and no one to answer to or to make bargains with to get what we wanted most.

  Just one more kiss, was that too much to ask for? Was it too much to allow myself to relish in? What would my handmaidens think of me if the goddess of chastity gave into the very core of what I preached was all that was wrong in this world?

  How could one man's lips be so fiercely eatable and delicious? So sweet and heady? Eliciting explosions of desires, the need for more, wanting to explore what I have denied myself.

  No!

  I couldn’t allow it.

  Stepping back, I slid my hand out of his grip. “I better go get Xena if dinner is about to be ready. She must be starving. I know I am.”

  Eight
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br />   “I hope you ladies are hungry.” Xander may have had a big smile, but his eyes were different. They were not illuminated in the same way they had been when I’d come out of Xena’s bedroom the first time.

  My actions and reactions to his advances were confusing enough for me, I couldn’t begin to understand how they were affecting him. All I needed to do was get through the meal and be on my way. Everything else would fall into place as it needed to. I had roughly two more days to complete my mission. It was doable. At least that was what I kept repeating in my head.

  Xena waddled her way over to the dinner table behind me. Xander had already put out place settings and dinner plates. If nothing else, he worked very efficiently. I found it hard to understand how mere mortals weren’t that way. Their lives were so precious and short. So many of them wasted their time with petty nonsense like holding grudges and flat out being lazy.

  Lounging around eating grapes and being entertained was for the immortal gods and goddess. We had an eternity to get things done—if an oracle didn't give one of us an ultimatum and a time crunch. Two days to a human was a fair amount of time, but for me, it went by in a blink of an eye.

  Almost a full day had gone by since I’d arrived in Callisto Falls, and I was no closer to where I needed to be. The next day had to be distraction free.

  “Please—” he waved a hand in front of the table “—take a seat, ladies.”

  “I am assuming that giant glass of wine isn’t for me?” Xena chuckled.

  “Absolutely not!” Xander answered. “You can have water or juice.”

  “You can have a small glass of wine at this point in your pregnancy. It won’t hurt the babies, but it is always good to err on the side of caution and avoid anything that can cause complications.”

  A scorned look darted across the table at me. A thanks for nothing look for sure from Xander as he sat down in front of me.

  “Thank you so much for welcoming me into your home and allowing me to stay to share this meal with you. And, if I may, I would just like to offer a special toast to Callisto. May she continue to look down on her children and keep them safe. There was a time that I was good friends with a Callisto, and I would imagine she would be thrilled with how this town is thriving under her name.”

  Xena and Xander looked at each other and shrugged simultaneously.

  “It is amazing that you had a friend by the same name. I have never met another by that name,” Xander commented after lowering his glass.

  “My friend also had a son. His name was Arcan. Perhaps you have a building or something named after him too,” I said, jokingly.

  Again, the twins made eye contact.

  “You must be shitting me. I swear you must be the queen of messing with people.” Xander’s chest heaved from laughing. “I would say you can’t make this stuff up, but you are….”

  “How so?”

  “Arcan is the next town over. A different bear clan lives there. They live by a slightly different set of rules. Legend has it that the town was named after Callisto's son. The bears here, in our town, believe he took her life in a hunting accident because he didn’t know his mother had become a bear or that his bloodline would produce shifters as we know them to be today.”

  I nearly dropped my glass. How can this be? How can these stories be a part of the history and culture here in this rural mountain community? The legends are not far from the truth. Although, it seems I don’t know the whole story myself. She and her son must have come down here at some point and managed to populate and mix breed with humans.

  That would make Xena and Xander descendants of gods. Many, many, times removed, but still immortal blood coursed through their veins. It tempted me to ask them how long they lived and what unique abilities they possessed over other humans.

  It didn’t seem polite to ask. and how would I even inquire those questions without encouraging them to have more for me that I wasn’t prepared to answer?

  “Hmm. That is an uncanny story. Maybe my friend heard the same tales and decided to name her son after him since she shared the mother’s name.”

  “Possible, but unlikely, unless she grew up here—which would then make her a bear shifter.”

  “You are the first two I have ever met, to my knowledge. That being said, I don’t think I would have known the difference if I had run into a bear outside of this community.” Not that they needed to know this was my first time on Earth in well over a thousand years. A lot had changed since then. So much so that it nearly blew my mind.

  I took my first bite of food and accidentally moaned aloud. “Mmm.”

  “I take it you like it?” Xena asked.

  “It is very tasty.” My first meal on Earth, and I was pleasantly surprised. I had thought Olympus had the very best of everything, but this of course was nothing but a misguided lie that was being supported by so many.

  “So, besides hunting and foraging, what do people do for fun around here?” Small talk wasn’t something I’d ever needed to initiate before, but it had its merits.

  “All sorts of things. But most of them involve beer, guns, and food.” Xena rolled her eyes. “Even though I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, it pretty much sucks living out here.”

  “If you hate it so much, we can leave. I have told you a thousand times, we don’t need to stay here. Mom and Dad have been gone for years. There is nothing else tying us to this place other than our roots.”

  “Well, like it or not, my roots have sprouted. Now, I have two more reasons to stay grounded in our home town. It is where our history is, and it is the safest place for cubs to be able to explore who they are without fear of judgement or rejection.” To pick up her glass of water, she put down her utensils.

  He growled at her through gritted teeth. I had only known them a few hours, but I knew what had triggered the reaction.

  “Some people go around making other people's lives a living hell too. Don’t try to pretend Bruno has any redeeming traits or that he will become a stand-up guy. That isn’t ever going to happen. He lies, steals, gets drunk, and picks fights with anyone and everyone. The only person he hasn’t laid a hand on around here is the children. But that doesn't stop him from talking to them like they are pieces of shit.

  “He and his crew are a bunch of narcissistic, self-serving sociopaths that have zero empathy for other people. They have no respect for other people's personal space or property.” Xander paused and reigned in his anger with a huff.

  “He knows better than to come looking for trouble around here. If he wants it, I will give it to him. I have been gone for a number of years, but so long as you are here, I am not going nowhere.” Xander dropped his fork on his plate and stood up. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

  “You said that most people hunt around here? What are they usually hunting for?” I asked Xena, attempting to shift the conversation.

  “Depends on who is doing the hunting. Some do it for sport and some for nutrient rich meals.”

  “Are there specific areas restricted or reserved for hunting?” Hopefully, she would give me something useful to guide me when I got back out there.

  “Of course. Most people hunt on their own property. Most families have a considerable amount of acreage, but there is also a hand full of people that all live in old beat up trailers a few miles from the diner. Most are good people, but there are a few rotten apples that give the neighborhood a bad name. Rumor has it that they make, sell, and do drugs. Not sure who they would be selling it to though. We have such a small population. Maybe to the folks over in Arcan, or maybe they drive farther down the mountain and sell it to the humans. Also, a handful go about hunting wherever they please. Problem is that no one wants the trouble of really dealing with stopping them. Violence is a common way of being for a few of the men.”

  Xander banged around in the kitchen, cleaning up. His frustration was palpable, and Xena flinched every time she heard a loud sound. Under different circumstances, I would have thought she was afra
id of him, but based on the way Xander had described Bruno, I knew she may be reacting to past levels of abusive behavior on his part.

  “Oh, hunting on private property is wrong. Although, I guessing I unknowingly trespassed on your family's plot. I do apologize for that. I didn’t realize how many rules there are here. Honestly, I just want to find my golden-horned stag and get him home.”

  “He belongs to you? The stag?”

  “He does, or at least I think so. My stag’s name is Ceryn, and he has been lost for some time. I got word that he was spotted by hunters in this area. That is the only reason I am here.”

  It was the only reason I wanted to be there, but Elysia had made sure that I had other plans while on Earth. Having Xander fall in love with me might not even work if I tried to go that route, considering he wasn’t fully human. As far as I knew, he was mortal.

  “Honestly, I didn’t want to say anything earlier because I know how much Xander gets upset whenever I bring up Bruno. But since he is already all worked up, I might as well. Him and his crew tend to set up target practice down past Swallow’s Creek. It is a sliver of land that doesn’t really belong to anyone, but they don’t seem to have any trouble trespassing to get to it.

  “That’s where they had been on the day I overheard them talking about the golden horns. Those dumb asses think it is a type of mystical creature like a unicorn. Bruno wants those horns and will be out there hunting for it whenever he ain’t working or getting drunk. They like hunting at dusk and dawn the most. Says the stupid animals are most vulnerable then.

  “He is a piece of shit, Xena. The only reasons to hunt an animal is to feed your family or if it is rabid and can spread disease or harm to the others in their forest.” Xander grabbed his glass of wine off the table and turned to point a finger at me. “And you, I see that look in your eye. I might not know you, but I know that look.”

  “Me? I have a look?” An expression wasn’t the only thing I had. My muscles were aching to get out there, and the stag wouldn’t be the only thing I would enjoy hunting.