Playing With Fire (Power of Four Book 2)

by SF Mazhar

  “Uncle Mike,” Aaron breathed, and in an instant he had his arms around him.

  Michael hugged him back. “How you doing, kiddo?” he asked.

  Aaron didn’t answer, choosing instead to tighten his arms around Michael. When Aaron pulled away, he saw the fatigue on his uncle. Michael’s vibrant, bright blue eyes were dull, with dark circles under them. His face seemed thinner and his usually neat hair was dishevelled.

  Michael looked around the busy street before back at Aaron. “What’s going on?”

  Aaron didn’t know what to tell him.

  “Where are your mum and dad?” Michael asked.

  “They’re inside,” Aaron replied, nodding in the direction of the cottage. “Where were you? Why didn’t you come back with Mum and Dad?” Aaron hadn’t seen his uncle in four months. Michael had left with Chris and Kate, but he didn’t return until now.

  Michael closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. “In hell,” he muttered. Opening his eyes, he saw Aaron’s expression. He smiled, reaching out to ruffle Aaron’s hair. “Not literally, Aaron. Don’t look so scared.” He grinned at Aaron’s messy locks. “You need a haircut.”

  “It’s the last thing I need,” Aaron said.

  “Seriously, what’s going on here?” Michael asked, glancing up and down the busy street.

  Aaron opened his mouth to try to start explaining.

  “Aaron Adams!”

  The shout had both Aaron and Michael looking around at the open Gate. Aaron spotted Patrick Sweeney, the Lurker he had met only a few days ago, standing with fellow white-robed men. Patrick broke away from the group of Lurkers to hurry down the street towards Aaron.

  “I just heard,” Patrick said, coming to Aaron’s side, looking rather ashen-faced. “Kyran – he’s the Scorcher? I can’t believe it.”

  Aaron couldn’t find anything to say.

  “Scorcher?” Michael’s eyes widened. “As in, the son of Hadrian?”

  Aaron looked around at him. “You know about him?” The fact that Hadrian had a son was only discovered two years ago, when Michael was still in the human realm with Aaron and his parents.

  “I heard the stories when we were looking for Neriah,” Michael explained. “Horror stories,” he corrected.

  Aaron’s heart twisted as a mental picture of Kyran flashed in his mind. A part of him was still in denial, refusing to believe that all the death and destruction accredited to the Scorcher had been carried out by Kyran. Aaron couldn’t bring himself to think Kyran could be that cruel.

  “Is that why there’s so much commotion?” Michael asked. “We found the Scorcher?”

  Aaron shook his head. “He escaped.” Then taking in a deep breath, he added, “He took the key to unlock Hadrian’s power.”

  Michael’s eyes widened, his face rapidly losing colour.

  “What?”

  “He was living here,” Aaron continued. “He stayed in Salvador for a year, waiting for a chance to get to Neriah.”

  “The Scorcher was here? In Salvador?” Michael asked. “How is that possible? He can’t get past the Gate.”

  “He’s not a vamage,” Aaron said. “He’s a mage.”

  Michael looked like he was struggling to speak. His mouth opened and closed a few times but no sound came out. He ran both hands through his hair. “I...How? I – I don’t understand.”

  “None of us do,” Patrick said. “But we don’t have the time to work it out. Hadrian’s got the key; he’ll have his powers back in no time.” He looked to the Gate, through which more Hunters were arriving. “Neriah’s gathering all the teams. Hopefully we can get together a decent defence before Hadrian attacks.” He turned to face Michael. “I don’t think we’ve met.” He held out a hand. “Patrick Sweeney, Head Lurker, rank twelve.”

  Michael shook his hand. “Michael Williams,” he said. “Ex-Hunter.”

  It took a moment for it to hit Aaron. “Wait.” He turned to Patrick with a frown. “You don’t know him?” he asked, gesturing to Michael. “You said you knew my uncle, that you worked with him and my dad.” It was only a few days ago that Aaron had met Patrick, and he remembered their conversation well.

  Patrick looked confused. He glanced to Michael before looking back at Aaron. “I meant your other uncle,” he said. Seeing Aaron’s confusion, he elaborated. “Your paternal uncle, Alex Adams.”

  Aaron stood still. Patrick’s words echoed in his head, fighting to make sense. Slowly, Aaron looked over to Michael. His uncle was staring at him, his face shadowed with guilt. He couldn’t hold Aaron’s stare for long. Patrick was looking between them in confusion.

  “Did I miss something?” he said. “Aaron, you okay?”

  Aaron didn’t say anything. He took a step back and turned, walking away.

  “Aaron! Aaron, wait!” Michael hurried after him. He grabbed Aaron’s arm, and forced him back around. “Listen to me.”

  “Why?” Aaron snapped, pulling himself out of Michael’s hand. “Do I have more family I don’t know about?” he seethed. “More uncles? Aunts? Grandparents, even?”

  “I know you’re mad,” Michael said. “You have every right to be.”

  Aaron shook his head, moving back a few steps. “You know what? I get that mum and dad didn’t tell me about being a mage. I get that they kept this world from me, kept the fact that I’m an Elemental hidden, but not to tell me about my own family?” Aaron was so angry his hands were shaking, his fingertips buzzing. “That’s it. I’m done with them. I’m done!”

  “Don’t say that,” Michael pleaded. “At the very least, hear them out–”

  Aaron let out a bitter bark of a laugh. “Hear them out? Yeah, okay, I’ll hear them out. Problem is, they won’t tell me anything.”

  “Yes they will,” Michael said. “This time they will. And if they don’t, then I will.”

  Aaron paused, staring at him, unsure if he believed him.

  Michael took a step closer. “I’ve always wanted to tell you, Aaron. I urged Chris and Kate to tell you the truth but they couldn’t bring themselves to do it. It’s not my place to tell you what happened.” He reached out to hold on to Aaron’s shoulders. “But if they don’t give you answers today, then I will. I’ll tell you everything, I promise.” He held Aaron’s gaze. “But give your parents one last chance to do right by you.”

  Aaron tried his best to push his anger down, to bury it for now so he could face his parents. He stuck his trembling hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders before nodding.

  ***

  Sam and Rose were still upstairs – whether or not they were packing, Aaron didn’t know. He was in the living room, seated on the sofa with Michael. Both his parents were in front of him, apparently too wound up to sit. Aaron didn’t say anything. He sat in silence as his mum and dad shared uneasy looks. Neither of them started the conversation. Aaron turned to give Michael a look.

  “He’s waited long enough,” Michael said to both Chris and Kate. “Don’t make him wait any longer.”

  Chris nodded at Michael before looking at Aaron. He shook his head slightly. “I don’t know how to start this,” he said, betraying his honest hesitation.

  “How about you start with family?” Aaron said, trying and failing to hide his anger. “Why don’t you start with Uncle Alex?”

  The colour faded from Chris’s face.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Aaron asked. “Why keep family a secret? Why not just tell me I have an uncle–”

  Michael reached out and held on to Aaron’s arm. He shook his head at him. Aaron looked back at his dad, to see what could only be described as pain flash across his features.

  “I’m sorry,” Chris said, his voice reduced to nothing more than a whisper. “I should have told you.”

  Kate came to his side, her hand slid into his and Chris closed his eyes, drawing quiet strength from her.

  “Alex,” Chris started, “was my brother.” He opened his eyes to look at Aaron. “You had an uncle, Aaron, but we lost him.” C
hris struggled to go on. He dipped his head and his grip tightened on Kate’s hand. When he looked up, Aaron’s breath hitched at the raw pain glistening in his eyes. “I lost my brother,” he continued in a strained voice, “the same day you lost yours.”

  2

  The Past

  It took Aaron a moment to fully understand what his dad had said. Brother? He had a brother? No, he’d had a brother.

  Aaron looked from his dad to his mum. Both had the same look – pained expressions and shadowed eyes. Chris sat across from Aaron, pulling Kate with him, but she refused to sit. She stood by her husband’s side, her hand clasped in his.

  “I promised you I would tell you everything,” Chris started, fighting to compose himself. “God knows I never wanted to hide any of it. I was only waiting for the right time, for you to be older when I told you.” He took in a deep breath. “I lost both my parents when I was ten. The only family I had was my younger brother.” Aaron could read the grief on his dad. “Alex was only three when our parents died. I brought him up, looked after him. The other Elementals looked out for us.” Chris paused. “Do...do you know about the Elementals?”

  Aaron nodded. Rose had shown him the book she found that detailed the four Elemental families that descended from Aric. Each family had complete power over one of the elements.

  Chris went quiet, then pushed on. “We lived in the City of Marwa – the city of the Elementals. Both my parents had been Hunters, and when I came of age, I followed in their footsteps. That’s how I met your mum.”

  Aaron’s wide-eyed gaze darted to Kate. “You were a Hunter?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Lurker,” she said quietly. “I worked with your dad on his hunts.”

  “We got married and your mum moved to Marwa to live with me,” Chris continued. “Then we had Ben.” Aaron could see the small smile touch his dad’s lips. “Ben.” Chris uttered the name again softly. “He was...something.” His smile blossomed. “Always jumping around, could never sit still. He was so full of life.”

  Kate shifted, pulling her hand out of Chris’s and turning around, her back to them.

  “It was Ben’s fourth birthday,” Chris said. “He wanted to go to the Halloween fair. We went every year.” He fell quiet. His hand came up to rub at his forehead and he took in a deep breath. “Marwa was supposed to be safe.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “It had every Glyph known to magekind. But somehow they found a way in.”

  “Who?” Aaron asked, forcing the word out.

  Chris's pain-filled eyes locked with Aaron’s. “Lycans.”

  Aaron’s heart twisted with fear, his mouth suddenly dry. The image of the terrifying beasts flashed in his mind. With their deadly fangs and sharp claws, Lycans were one of the most dangerous demons the mages hunted. Aaron stared at his dad, not sure he wanted to hear the rest.

  “They came out of nowhere,” Chris continued. “There were so many kids at the fair, so many mages, but not enough Hunters.”

  Aaron saw his mum’s shoulders tremble a little.

  “They went straight for the kids,” Chris said. A muscle twitched in his jaw, his hands balled into fists. “We tried to push the Lycans back, away from the mages and the kids but–” He faltered, squeezing his eyes shut. “But we were outnumbered.”

  Aaron listened with mounting horror, unable to peel his eyes away from his dad’s agonised face.

  “Your mum,” Chris continued in a harrowing voice. “She...she was pregnant with you.” His eyes lifted to meet Aaron’s. “She tried to run, tried to protect Ben, but...but the Lycans surrounded her.”

  A stifled sob interrupted him and all eyes turned to Kate. Her shoulders were hunched, head dropped, and the way she was trembling made Aaron’s heart twist in his chest. Chris was up on his feet, both hands on his wife’s shaking shoulders as she tried to suppress her tears. Without a word, Aaron got up and walked over to his mum, coming around to face her. Her eyes were clenched shut but tears still managed to cut down her cheeks. It was the second time in his whole life that Aaron had seen his mother cry. The first had been a flesh memory, taken from the letter she had left for him. That time Aaron hadn’t been able to do anything. This time, she was standing before him.

  “Mum?” Aaron called, reaching out to her. His previous anger towards her had been washed away by her tears. “Mum?” He tugged at her arm to make her look up at him.

  Kate didn’t meet his eyes. “He took him,” she sobbed in a near whisper. “Right out of my arms.”

  Chris wrapped an arm around her, burying his face into her hair, kissing it.

  “It’s not your fault,” he whispered but it only made her cry harder.

  “I couldn’t stop it,” she said. Her wide, pain-filled eyes met Aaron’s. “They killed him. They killed my son right before me and I…I couldn’t do anything.”

  Aaron moved in and hugged her. Kate held on to him, tighter than she ever had and cried.

  Aaron felt, more than saw, Michael come to their side, to calm his sister down. It took several long minutes before Kate’s embrace loosened from around Aaron. Michael and Aaron led her to the sofa to sit down between them. No one spoke. The only sound was that of Kate’s hiccupping sobs.

  “Mages are all connected,” Chris said quietly.

  Aaron looked over at him, but his dad was focusing on the ground.

  “We have a connection, a bond that ties us all together,” he continued. “But when it comes to family, this bond becomes an actual presence. You know your family, you can sense them. You can feel their connection deep inside your core.” He faltered, before pushing on. “When someone...dies, their family feels it, feels that connection break.”

  Aaron wanted to tell him that he already knew this. But remembering who had told him made him change his mind. He didn’t want to mention, or even think about, Kyran right now.

  “The moment Ben took his last breath, I felt it deep in my core.” Chris raised his eyes to Aaron. “I felt my son die.”

  “We all felt it,” Michael said quietly.

  Aaron could sense his mum’s tremors at his side, but he didn’t look over at her. He didn’t have it in him to see her tears again.

  “I was trying to get to Ben,” Chris said, his eyes glazed over, no doubt replaying the horrific memory. “The Lycans were throwing him from one to the next like he was nothing more than a chew toy.” His fists clenched. “I was trying with all the power I had to get through the Lycans and reach my son. But when I felt him die, I stopped. It was just for a moment, barely longer than a heartbeat, but I came to a stop. The pain, it...it halted me, almost brought me to my knees.” He closed his eyes and a tear rolled down his cheek. “All I knew in that moment was that they had taken my son from me and I wanted to kill them, all of them.”

  Chris sucked in a breath and paused. The pain was evident in every line of his body. He looked up at the ceiling, as if asking an unseen force for help. “A-Alex,” he choked on the name. “I don’t know how, but he managed to get ahead of me. He raced after the Lycans, blinded by rage.” He stopped, unable to say what had happened but Aaron could easily figure it out.

  Chris kept his eyes fixed to the table as drops fell from them, trailing down his cheeks. “When I felt Alex die, it almost killed me too. It was like my back had broken. I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t walk. In a matter of minutes, I had lost my son and my brother.” He turned his head and looked at Aaron with bloodshot eyes. “All I had left was your mum and you.”

  Aaron stared at him, not knowing what to say.

  “The Lycans had attacked your mum,” Chris continued. “She was seven months pregnant with you. I had lost Alex and Ben. I wasn’t going to lose my wife and unborn child too.” His eyes steeled. “So I took my wounded, pregnant wife and I ran, leaving behind the fight, the city, this realm.”

  Aaron couldn’t hold his dad’s gaze. He looked down, staring at the ground.

  “Michael came with me,” Chris said, “and the three of us crossed the
mage realm through a tear and came to the human realm. We had no other choice. There were no portals open that could take us into another city and I was close to losing the rest of my family. The attack on your mum had put her life and yours at risk.”

  Aaron snapped his head up, his mouth impossibly dry as the timeline caught up with him. This had happened on Halloween, fourteen years ago...

  Chris nodded at his unspoken realisation. “You were born a few hours later.”

  Aaron couldn’t believe it. He came into the world hours after his family had suffered so much loss.

  “You were two months premature,” Chris continued. “At first I didn’t know what was going to happen, if you would make it, if you had suffered because of the attack. But you were perfect – healthy, tiny but breathing, safe and sound.” Chris’s expression hardened, his eyes darkened as he glanced at Kate and Michael. “And the three of us swore that day, that no matter what, you would always be safe. We would do whatever we had to, pay whatever price for your protection. We made the decision not to go back. We stayed in the human realm. We forgot we had powers and lived as humans, ignoring the world that we had left behind.”

  Guilt hit Aaron like a slap in the face. His parents had done so much, sacrificed their world and their way of life, all to make sure he was out of danger. And he had gone out with the mages, risking his life, hunting down demons with barely any training.

  “I know that everyone blames me for running out on them,” Chris said. “I know that I’m labelled a coward and a traitor, but I did what I had to, to keep my family safe. I’ve already lost half my family to this world.” His eyes glistened. “I don’t have it in me to lose any more. So if keeping what I have left of my family out of danger makes me a coward, then so be it.”

  Aaron shook his head weakly in protest. “You’re not a coward, Dad.”

  Chris got up, so he could kneel before Aaron. One hand cupped his cheek. “I don’t care what anyone calls me, or even thinks about me. The only thing I care about – what I have always cared about – is you,” he said. “Staying here in Salvador is no longer safe.” His eyes filled with desperation. “Please, Aaron,” he urged. “Don’t fight us. Don’t make leaving this place harder than it already is.”