by Bonnie Vanak
Obviously frustrated, she buried her head into her hands.
“This is pointless. How are we supposed to find this crystal when there’s miles of beach to explore? It’s not like it will pop up with a metal detector!”
Kieran closed her laptop lid. “Let’s take a break and go for a swim.”
He went with her to the beach. As she sat in a chair, enjoying the sun and the refreshing breeze blowing off the Gulf, Kieran stood on the sand near the dunes. Sea grass swayed in the breeze. A gull flew overhead, giving its haunting cry. Or was it something more than a seagull?
This world with all its peculiarities remained a mystery and he hated it. He felt ill-equipped to handle emergencies in his Skin suit. The swim trunks hugged his male parts a little too tightly. Terrific. Now he had sweaty balls. He’d be fortunate if he ever got to father any kittens.
Restless, he paced back and forth, his jaguar growling to be free, run down the sand, perhaps play in the surf.
“I’m going into the water. Want to come?” he asked Ella.
She waved the paperback she’d been reading. “You go. I’ll watch. I’m at the good part.”
Reasoning he could keep an eye on her, he waded into the water. Bits of sea shells peppered the smooth sand, and green seaweed drifted on the incoming tide. He smelled brine, a dead horseshoe crab nearby, the suntan oil Skins used to cover their pale flesh, and in the distance, gasoline from a passing boat.
Kieran dove in. Salt stung his eyes, but he relished the feeling. It made him feel awake, aware and alive. He swam in the surf, strong, steady strokes, wishing he could shift into his jaguar form.
And then he stopped, treading water, keeping an eye on the shore.
Something disturbed the water next to him. He whirled, and saw a dark-haired, bearded man, floating on his back. The man had bright blue swim trunks.
“Kieran, the jaguar. So, big cats do love the water,” the man quipped.
“Who are you?” He tensed, uncertain if this were friend or foe.
“Drust. The Coldfire Wizard. I’m here to check on you. Xavier and Gideon are busy, and Tristan wants to spend time with Nikita.” The dragon shifter lay on his back. “This feels most delicious.”
“Which wizard are you?”
“I keep watch over dragons. Right now my charges are all behaving.” Drust flipped over to his stomach. “I warned them if they did not, I would turn them into crispy tater tots.”
He didn’t know whether to be grateful or annoyed at the presence of the powerful wizard.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” he confessed, deciding he might as well ask for help as long as it was offered. “I can’t protect her in this…” He plucked at the flesh on his arm, though it was tight against his muscles. “Skin suit. I have no claws, no fangs.”
Drust stood up, water beading in the thick, black hairs of his chest. “You have the most important weapon of all.” The wizard tapped his own dark hair. “Your brain. Your beast cannot think as well in animal form. But in this form, you can, and use the beast’s intuition and senses.”
“But I can’t. In the Winter Kingdom, if I felt the need for the jaguar, I simply shifted.” It had been as fluid as the water now lapping up against their bodies.
“You are not accustomed to this world, Kieran. But it will come to you. You are intelligent and filled with courage. The goddess would not have chosen you otherwise. Look upon this as learning for yourself, to adapt to remaining in this world.”
He didn’t wish to remain. He wanted to return home after his assignment ended, though the thought of leaving Ella here, alone, pained him.
“Is there something you’re neglecting to tell me?” he demanded.
Drust did not answer at first, but stared intently at the northern part of the beach.
“Dark creature on the beach, coming up fast. Damn, I didn’t think they were out this early. They’re nocturnal.” Drust frowned.
Kieran craned his neck and his blood chilled.
Walking on the beach, seemingly innocent, was a woman with a bright pink stroller, the top pushed back. Inside the stroller was a small furry dog. People smiled at the woman and the dog.
“I don’t see it,” he told Drust.
“Use your jaguar senses. Close your eyes and open them again. He’s well-disguised, this one.”
Kieran did. What he saw punched him in the stomach with worry.
Instead of a blonde woman in a blue floral print dress and bare feet, he saw a creature about seven feet tall, with gnarled hands ending in pointed fingernails. The creature had wisps of yellow hair sprouting from its scaled head, a snout with two large nostrils, and a mouth filled with teeth. Drool dripped between its teeth, splashing on the sand and making a little hiss.
Acid mouth. In the Skin world, the acid would look like small man-of-war jellyfish. Touch it and you would get stung. But he knew this creature would spit acid, and use it as a weapon.
In the stroller was something far more worrisome. It looked like a bare-skinned dog, until you saw the elongated snout and the teeth exposed as the creature bared its jaws.
“Hellfire Hound,” Drust muttered. “Spits fire, so it comes under my jurisdiction. I can aid you this time, but after, you are on your own. Stay here. I cannot eliminate them until they pose a real threat.” He gave Kieran a cynical glance. “You think your balls are sweaty now? Try getting near a Hellfire Hound. They will turn into coals. Its heat is too intense for cats.”
“You’re going to confront them? As dragon? A little obvious.”
“I have the power of invisibility.”
Nice. He wished he could have that power. Would be useful as a warrior, and fun as well in bed when seducing…
“I will uncloak myself only to you, so you may watch and learn for the future.”
“What future? I can’t breathe flames and fry them like you,” he protested. But Drust had vanished.
The water around him frothed and boiled.
Drust rose out of the water as dragon, and flew over to the sand. Instinct urged Kieran over to Ella to stand guard.
Fighting the violent urge to turn, rush up to the creatures who dared to walk near his Ella, he pretended to be an ordinary Skin. Just a guy, stretching his arms, smiling at his lady love as he waded out of the Gulf.
The Coldfire Wizard landed on the sand in back of the deadly pair. They did not seem to notice him.
Heart racing he sloshed out of the surf. Ella remained in her red beach chair, reading intensely. Keep reading. Keep reading.
But suddenly she glanced up and saw the woman and the stroller. Her eyes widened. She bolted to her feet, the book spilling to the sand.
He groaned. Hell of a time for her Other sight to kick in.
Ella did not react as most Others would—fleeing in fear. Good. That would trigger an enemy’s instinct to chase. But what she did next was far worse.
She went toward them, her hands fisted and trembling. Not with fear, but pure rage. He could feel the emotions pouring out of her, as if they were intimately linked.
Stretching out a hand, she stopped a bare ten feet from the creatures. He started toward her, inwardly cursing. Even from here—thirty feet away—he could feel the intense heat pouring off the pair.
“Get off this beach, you bastards,” Ella snarled. “Go back to hell where you belong.”
Kieran groaned. Brave, but foolhardy. She had no powers to fight the creatures. He ran up to her, scooped her up by the waist, grinning at the startled Skins walking by.
“She’s practicing. Actress in an upcoming Renaissance Fair.”
The words made the Skins smile, but the dark creatures did not. They looked at him and suddenly he knew they knew. The Hellfire Hound climbed out of the stroller.
He turned, feeling the heat gather on his bare back to take the brunt of the flames the Hellfire Hound was ready to release at Ella and walked quickly away, but did not run. He knew their abilities, knew they could run faster than he could in this
Skin suit.
It would hurt like a bastard, but he would heal.
“Let me down, Kieran. I have to fight them!”
“Not now,” he muttered.
A hissing sound filled the air, like a gas line opening. He knew what was coming. With all his might, he threw Ella into the surf, covering her, and taking the flames on his bare back.
Searing heat scorched him, along with white-hot pain. Kieran gritted his teeth and then turned as the Hellfire Hound opened its mouth to blow fire again.
“Not on my watch,” he muttered and drew back his arm.
Sparkling ice sailed out of his hand, landing on the Hellfire Hound. It encased the creature in pure white, immobilizing it.
How had he done that? He could not throw ice here, only in the Winter Kingdom. He didn’t care. Kieran did it again and an iceball landed on the taller creature’s head. It clawed at its flesh, trying to scrape it away. The ice melted quickly, but the creatures squealed, backing away.
Right toward Drust.
As if sensing the wizard, they turned around.
“Kieran, step back, please,” the dragon wizard said politely. “Use your Winter powers to shield you both.”
He knew coldfire, knew it would penetrate salt water. Kieran grabbed Ella and jogged several feet away. Holding her tight, he thought of the coldest, purest ice and saw a white bubble encase them.
The coldness felt soothing on his burned, agonized flesh. He held tight to Ella and she did not shiver. Kieran watched Drust.
“Bye bye, assholes,” he told the dark creatures.
Drust opened his dragon mouth and blue flames poured forth. The two creatures were incinerated in seconds.
The ice shield faded around them, and as it did, the pain returned. He released Ella, staggered and sat on the sand, overcome by agony. He didn’t even want to know what his back looked like. Probably worse than the midsummer festival when the Winter King liked to fry effigies of his enemies.
“Son of a female feline,” he gasped, the pain making his eyes water.
Barely able to focus, he rocked back and forth, wheezing. Ella squatted beside him, her expression worried. “Oh, Kieran, I’m sorry. You protected me, took the brunt of the fire to save me. What can I do?”
Mustering a smile, he shook his head. “Naw, I’m fine. Just a bad case of sunburn.”
“Liar,” she said softly. “My brave, stubborn cat. What unique abilities you have, what amazing magick.”
Cupping his face, she pressed a sweet, gentle kiss against his trembling lips. Kieran closed his eyes. Burning pain in his back eased as he focused on the subtle sensuality of her mouth, on her fragrance of crisp snow and pure female, on the single tear that trickled down her cheek that she cried because he suffered.
He broke the kiss, tracing the tear with his thumb. “I will be fine, Ella. Do not weep for me.”
Eyes huge in her face, she gave him a woeful look. “I wish I could kiss your back and make it feel better.”
“It feels better now,” he murmured. Kieran gave her a hopeful look. “Can you kiss something else and make it better?”
Ella laughed, but the worry still shaded her gaze. “If only I had that power you keep saying I’ll have. I could heal you. Take away your pain.”
The pain in his back would not be as agonizing as the pain in his heart when he was forced to let her go, as she embraced her future. Kieran swallowed hard. When did I fall in love with you, Ella-mine? When did you take my heart and heal it with your laughter, your courage and your fiery independence and your willingness to live life to the fullest?
Lifting his head, he watched Drust walk past the two burned spots on the sand, and squat down beside him.
The wizard laid a gentle hand on his back and the pain immediately vanished. Kieran dragged in a deep, relieved breath.
“Thanks, dragon.”
Drust stood, dusting off his hands. “The Skins saw nothing more than two lovers frolicking on the sand. I used my powers to mask everything. I may be a new wizard, but I’m getting better. Practice makes perfect when it comes to killing dark creatures.”
Ella stared at Drust. “You’re another wizard?”
Drust gave a small, formal bow. “My lady, Ella. I am Drust, the Coldfire Wizard. A pleasure to meet you, although the circumstances could be more pleasant.”
“I don’t get it.” She looked at the black patches of sand, all that remained of the evil creatures. “What were those things? I felt only the need to challenge them, and fight them.”
“Of course. Your instincts are becoming more honed. The instincts come first, and then the powers.” Drust sighed. “It would be more useful vice versa. Next time, Lady Ella, curb your instincts. Consult with Kieran first as I will not be around to barbecue.”
Kieran stared at his hands, still stunned by this new ability to conjure ice and snow and cold. “What happened to me? Why can I summon the powers of the Winter Kingdom? Is this a new trait?”
For a moment Drust said nothing. Then the dragon sighed. “No. You always had it within you, Kieran. Every time you visit the Skin world, you could manifest it. It only appeared now, because you were in dire need.”
Shock slammed into him. All these years, he’d had this talent and no one told him?
“You bastard. You mean I could have used it to help Kiera?”
“The power is within you when you need it most.”
Tension thrummed through him like a live wire. He could have saved his sister. Except he had not known he’d held this magick. He’d been too frantic, too upset.
Drust gave them both a long, meaningful look. “You are on your own now, cat. Be on guard. I warded this area with magick, but the dark creatures will know you are here, and find a way around the shields to get to you. The sooner Lady Ella comes into her powers and destroys the crystal, the safer both of you will be.”
Drust bowed again to Ella and then shifted into his dragon form. He flew into the blue sky and vanished.
Torn between needing to stay and guard Ella against the increasing threats surrounding her, and taking time to indulge his grief, he paced wildly. And then a man materialized on the beach next to him.
Tristan, the Silver Wizard. Dressed all in black, his dark hair tipped with silver, the wizard looked sympathetic.
“Go run, Kieran. I will watch over her.”
Tristan sat on the sand, hooking his arms around his knees. Ella sat next to him.
Kieran ran.
He raced down the beach, through the low surf, pounding the sand with his feet. He ran until reaching a grove of mangroves and the beach vanished. Kieran pushed past them and finally dropped to his knees in the water.
A single low, long howl came from his throat.
“Why? Why?” He shook a fist at the sky. “You bastards, all of you. I could have saved my sister! I could have given her a fighting chance with my powers! I hate all of you. You let her die!”
Tears streamed down his cheeks, mixing with the salt water sloshing against him. “She was so sweet, so innocent. Kiera never harmed anyone. I miss her so much. I want her back. Please, bring her back to me.”
Only the wind rustling through the mangroves answered.
“Kiera,” he whispered, his sobs wracking him. “Oh, Kiera. I’m so sorry. I let you down. I let you die. I miss you so much. I miss the way you used to laugh when the wind teased your hair, how you ran through the forests here, and climbed trees and pelted me with snowballs. I’m so sorry.”
He could not go on. It hurt more than the flames that had seared his back. This burning was inside him, a wracking grief as piercing as when he’d buried his little sister.
Because back then, he felt he’d done all he could to protect her. Now he knew that he’d held powers that could have let her live.
Back then, the Skins had weapons he could have frozen with a flick of his hand. He could have turned them into ice sculptures and spirited Kiera away.
A gentle voice spoke into his mind.
“You were always the strongest, Kieran. You are a survivor and you were meant to survive all.”
No. He wasn’t. It was a freak of nature that he lived, not because he was strong. He did not care that he could save the entire damn world.
“I give up,” he told the sky. “I’m not doing your damn dirty work for you any longer. You want Ella to find her powers and save the world and her mother? Do it yourself.”
For a few minutes, he sat in the surf, letting the grief work through him. And then he realized how foolish he looked and sounded.
Something had drawn him to Ella. She needed him, even if he didn’t think he could be of much use. And if he abandoned her now, she was good as gone. The connection between them was strong and solid. He didn’t like it, didn’t want it, but there was no denying the truth.
He might have failed with Kiera, but resolve filled now him. He would not fail with Ella.
Running away solved nothing. As much as he hated this world, and hated the fact he could have saved his sister and did not, he had a duty to Ella.
Kieran returned to Tristan and Ella. The Silver Wizard stood, brushing sand off his long legs.
He approached Tristan, who gazed at him with wise, ancient eyes. “I will return to my duties now, wizard.”
Tristan stood. To his shock, the wizard embraced him tight. “I know the pain of losing loved ones, Kieran. The pain of watching them die and blaming yourself. Trust me in this—there was nothing you could have done to save your sister. It was her time. All the powers in the Winter Kingdom could not have saved her. But you will see her again, one day.”
It felt as if Tristan sent soothing tendrils of healing magick deep inside him. The harrowing grief did not vanish, but it eased into the familiar, dull ache.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “You’d best return to your mate now. I will keep watch over Ella.”
Tristan nodded, gave a little bow to Ella and vanished.
Ella stood and went to him, sliding her arms around his waist. “Tristan told me about Kiera. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how sad her memory makes you.”
