Hidden Carmina

by Adri Sinclair

  “You’re dangerous for me,” She tells him with heated words, sending shards stabbing at his resolve.

  “And you, Carmina, are dangerous for me.” The warning is sharper than he intended.

  Liam closes his eyes, groans and then pushes Carmina away from him firmly. He ejects himself from her embrace to the opposite side of the room, his back against the wall and both his hands resting on the nape of his neck. The wild look in Carmina’s eyes lures him towards her, the seductive sway in her body seducing the creature he carries inside. The gold is back in her hazel-green eyes again, and it is welcoming him nearer; fearless and sensual.

  Liam takes a step towards her just to stop in his tracks when the kitchen door opens and John shouts from inside.

  “Break it up, we’re hungry.”

  Roland’s unmistakable laugh follows John’s words.

  Liam speaks to his brother: “Carmina… needs a little more time.”

  Carmina’s head lifts towards the kitchen and Liam fears the worst for a moment. His body tenses as he watches the huntress turning her gaze back on him.

  John sticks his head around the corner. The grin on his face twisted.

  “Bro, what did you do to her?!”

  “More like, what she is doing to me?”

  “Yeah. I smell blood? You didn’t…?”

  “She did. She’s … electric. Thanks for coming; I might have lost this round. She’s precarious”

  John laughs and withdraws into the kitchen. “Is this a bad time to say ‘I told you so’?”

  ***

  I hear John and Roland and I want to tell them to leave. I want Liam to give up control. I want him give in to the creature he is meant to be. My hand moves to wipe over the inside of my mouth. The bleeding has stopped. Why do I wish it hadn’t? I keep my eyes on Liam, watching the wolf behind his eyes retreat and the burning golden orbs return. The coil inside my belly unwinds and my muscles relax. Slowly, my body returns to itself and I get up. I shuffle towards Liam, who’s holding his arms out to me. What is happening with me?

  “Liam... I hate you.”

  I mean what I say but the meaning is understood between us. I hate that Liam has so much control and won’t give in to his desires. It is a hate that burns my craving for him brighter. It is a hate laced and lined and dunked in love.

  “I hate you too, especially right now...” Liam laughs.

  He takes my hand and drags me into the kitchen after him. John opens his mouth but Liam points a finger in his direction, which shuts him up.

  Roland dances closer to me, giving me a hug to say hello and breathing the air around me.

  “You two are remarkably clueless!” He says, turning back to Liam and John.

  Liam’s eyes widen and John erupts with laughter. I know Roland speaks to them privately in this way, by choice and permission. I wasn’t invited to the inside joke.

  I lean against Liam who pulls me in closer to him with one arm, holding a dish with cold meats and cheese to me with the other.

  I feel the warm emotions bubbling from him and try to eat away the new surge of yearning being shaped.

  “Fill me in?” I ask.

  Roland puts his hands up. “Not me, I may get slugged again.”

  “Nature is taking her course, my Rockflower. You are in… spring.” Liam answers with a peculiar, concerned look on his face. I sense the context before the meaning registers in its entirety.

  John near falls over and Roland is folded double, holding onto the table.

  “Oh! Oooh!” I catch on and blush, turning my face into Liam’s chest.

  “Yeah… we will need… supervision,” Liam is chuckling and I can’t help but see the humor in it all as well.

  There are no guidelines to our relationship, no psychology or physiology to explain it. We will have challenges to face which, bond or no bond, couldn’t have been foretold. And this is one of many. I thank John and Roland for their help and understanding when they offer to hang out a bit closer to home for a few days. Of course, they don’t do this without lamenting about the danger they put themselves in for our pleasures.

  Liam changes into his wolf and we go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be yet another tough day, having to come to terms with Jackie in the backyard, as it were.

  Getting up is a slow process. I feel like a teenager wishing for a holiday. I want to tell my mom that I don’t want to while pulling the blanket back over my head.

  “Your mother isn’t here. Morning, sleepy head.”

  I hear Liam’s mocking words and growl under my breath. When I turn my head, he’s already changed back to his gorgeous bulk. I take a moment to drink in the view and, when Liam turns to face me, my heart refuses to settle down again.

  “Hmmmm? Why do I get the feeling you’re sizing me for a spit roast?”

  I don’t know where the energy comes from, or when the thought took hold of me, but before Liam could turn away again, I’m moving fast at him. My body rushes into his and he takes a step back, bumping against the dressing table sending every item on it into a rattle. His arms spontaneously fold around me and the opacity in his eyes burn down on me.

  “Carmina….”

  I refuse to let him drive me away. Talking is highly overrated. When pulling his head to me does not work, I hoist myself up using his body. My lips finds his and I close my eyes in delight. Liam’s response was instant. His kiss a frozen promise on my burning lips. A minute later, “Oh the gods give me strength…” I hear him breaking through the mist in my head before I feel him marching us both off. Too late do I realize we’re in the bathroom. Liam walks us both into the shower and opens the cold water.

  “Liam!” I scream as the cold hits my body and soaks straight through the clothing. He lifts his face into the water, still holding me to him. When the fire in me is well and truly put out and my teeth start clattering, Liam opens the warmer water and leaves me standing there. At the door, he turns to look at me and I feel happy to see he is struggling too. His eyes brush over me with absolute precision, taking in every line.

  “ARGH!” he yowls and slams the door behind him. My eyes follow the wet line from the shower to the door and I can’t stop giggling.

  I manage to pull myself together and get out of the shower just in time to hear the breakfast gong. Liam is changed and dry when I find him standing on the front porch. He turns and the big, knowing smile, a mixture of pride and humor, sends butterflies into my stomach. Liam holds his hand out to me and we play around the snow towards the hall.

  After breakfast, Liam joins John and Roland in a run. John has been teasing all morning about spring dances, spring in steps and spring blossoms and Roland backs him up all the way. I am glad that Liam is getting away from me. It is hard to concentrate with him around when what I want to do is not control myself.

  In Momma’s kitchen, I bring out the ledgers that need work and dump them on the table. Instead of starting on them, I first pull the project paper out to rid myself of a gift design I want to style. Uncle Darious finds me there, as I hoped he would.

  “Busy already?”

  “Only with pictures.” I wave my hand over the ledgers, “This stuff can wait.”

  “May I?” He eagerly offers and I find it difficult to hide the smile.

  “Will you? Oh please, thank you Uncle Darious!” I jump up to make him a warm drink and load the woodstove. I listen for Jackie, who is suspiciously absent.

  “Margarith should work in an office. The kitchen is no place to conduct business.”

  “If Momma’s not happy, ain’t nobody happy, Uncle Darious. The month she tried working from the office, she was so grouchy we begged her to work from the kitchen!”

  “Are these all the ledgers?” He asks. I’m scanning his thoughts and I know what he is looking for.

  “It is what is here.” I answer, truthfully.

  “I see. Well, it shouldn’t take long to update them, then.” He pretends not to be bothered but I do know better.

&nb
sp; “Uncle Darious, why is Jackie with you?”

  “She’s… been advising me about our clan business. Jackie has a good head on her shoulders.”

  I don’t need to read his mind to pick up the scheming undertones.

  “Well, I’m glad she has you. I feel sorry for her.”

  Uncle Darious looks up at me with surprise. “Why?”

  “She’s a woman, Uncle Darious, and she’s been hurt. Hardly fair that she is punished for that.” I am sincere in my thoughts and Uncle Darious knows this.

  He may not like me much but he knows me pretty well. “She does not feel any pity towards you, my girl.”

  “I know.”

  I put my head back and concentrate on my design. For all his annoying habits, Uncle Darious is thorough and, as promised, finishes the work before lunch.

  I miss my mother a lot, and the stress of playing cat and mouse with the Lynx girl and my Uncle is weighing on me. I try not to let their thoughts shake my calmness, but it is hard sometimes. Thankfully, Lady E and Uncle Will are my rocks. Liam is a great distraction too. I can’t help but feel the uplifting smile when I think of Liammmmm.

  I excuse myself from dinner early. Liam is spending time with his family and I seize this opportunity to do some research on the bonding thing.

  It turns out that humans have an innate ability to ‘soul bond’ with entities. These entities can advise them, speak to them telepathically and, while not always, can at times take on physical appearances. It is advised that a ‘soul bond’ is not confused with soul mates, but can be likened to twin souls. It is not the answer I was hoping to find, so I turn to the books on my shelf.

  It is in the gipsy’s book that I find an answer. It describes in detail a ritual that would bond two people together on a soul level. It speaks of this rite solely performed by the Ancients due to their shifting ability. The Vampire has no soul to bond it to the other, and therefore the bonding is between the animal souls. While I completely disagree on the statement about the vampire soul, I do not dismiss the information outright. It cautions against trying such a rite amongst humans or half-breeds, as it entails a deep connection that cannot be severed easily, if at all. The fears among the travelers are in the return of the dead, who would then raise armies of corpses to avenge the party responsible for separating the bonded.

  The book also shows that the bond between two is deemed sacred and, therefore, the Ancient Houses are the protectors of the law prohibiting interference of any kind. The penalty of said interference is death – this includes the members of the Ancient houses, too.

  I put the book down in my lap and inspect my wrist. It is throbbing slightly and I close my eyes, enjoying the feeling. Since Liam has told me about the bond thing, I have taken comfort in the pain. It is a tender reminder that I am loved – by someone dangerous. When I pick up the book and read the rite, I decide that I want to do this. I want to make our bond an official understanding between the two of us. I want it to be an agreement, not an accidental love-curse. I will have to speak to Roland as there are some words I don’t understand the meaning of that he will have to explain it to me. I wish Lilly was here; she’s good with this stuff and would have had it sorted in a few minutes.

  When Liam walks through the door, I practically mew at him and bounce over. He looks happy to see me too and twirls me around the room.

  “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too, my Rockflower…” Liam picks me up over his shoulder and marches me into the bedroom. His hands rest on the doorknob as if deciding what to do. He leaves the door open before dumping me on the bed.

  “Escape route?” I tease him, watching him remove his shirt.

  “Safety precaution.” He admits, sliding over me, inhaling from my feet all the way to my face where his lips lock to mine with a sigh.

  I want to stay like this with him, I want more. I want everything. I love this man so much, I am not afraid to hate him. His fists close in my hair and, rolling me onto his chest, he pulls my head back playfully.

  “Behave….” He teases.

  I claw my nails into his chest. “Make me.”

  ***

  Liam feels the change and knows Carmina is awake. Her lighthearted mood matches his perfectly. He did make her behave the night before – or, more to the point, he made himself behave. No small task at that. The beautiful image of this girl sprawled out all over the bed, flaming red hair set against the white bedding, brings a longing into his day. He waits before speaking.

  “Hello, trouble.”

  The setting of his mouth is a teasing crumple. Carmina’s stretching arm reaches for him and he takes it into a kiss.

  “Good morning,”

  Liam admires the coaxing spirit in her simple words.

  “It’s the weekend, what shall we do today?” Before she speaks, he puts a warning finger up, “Other than you testing my every last nerve.”

  “Oh.” She pouts and pulls the blanket over her head. “Then I’m not playing.”

  Liam laughs at the mischievousness and leaves their bed.

  “I see you were reading the gipsy book. Liking it?”

  “Hmmm, I don’t want to talk about that now. I’ll tell you about it later. You should go hunt with your family. Your Mother is probably fed-up with all the human stuff around.”

  Liam finds his shirt and walks out the door, Carmina short on his heels.

  “John and Pops are taking care of that. My mother is a demanding woman, but you don’t wait for her to issue a mandate first!”

  “Perhaps we could—” She is stopped mid-sentence by thundering approach to the cottage. When Carmina opens the door, she’s met with a young clan girl looking scared.

  “You have to come, Carmina!” She screams hysterically.

  ***

  It does not take long to see what the problem is. John is standing with Jackie hoisted by the throat, snarling. Roland is holding his side, blood seeping through his fingers. Uncle Darious is standing a short distance away with a conceited look. The clan members, who were on their way to breakfast, are forming up behind John.

  “John! Put her down!” I shout while catching my Uncle’s thought.

  “Girl’s got steel getting between those two, will serve her right if…”

  I turn my mind to John, laying a hand on his arm trying to change his attention.

  “John… She’s not worth it. Listen to Mina, put her down.” Liam lets his brother know when he catches up.

  Liam’s words seem to spur the fury in Jackie; she hisses and fights even more, clawing deep into John’s arm. I recognize the color in John’s eyes to be the same as Liam’s when he’s angry and it scares me.

  I leave John to his brother who is far better equipped to deal with him.

  I turn my attention to Roland. “What… happened to you?” I ask, moving his hand away to see the wound. It is not deep but it is clear that a human did not make it. My temper flares up viciously. A deathly calm sweeps in over my nerves and, for a while, I thought my blood was on fire. I get up from where I found Roland.

  “I caught a snooping cat and she didn’t like being caught,” He answers, mockingly.

  I wipe the blood from my hands against my shirt before tying my hair back. The clan women follow suit and the men put their palms up front.

  “Krista, patch that gipsy brat up.” I command the nearest clan girl. “John. Put that cat down.”

  Uncle Darious steps forward but I put my hand up. Not even he would dare interrupt me now. Liam looks at me in shock and the murmurs behind me blend into fading whispers.

  John is in a frenzy.

  Liam shakes his head while I move closer to his brother. “Careful Mina, he is fighting his own battle and not hearing us.”

  “Chantico, give me strength today…” I speak, referring to the Aztec Fire goddess of volcanoes.

  Holding my breath, I focus all my anger and energy into my next few words. It is not a scream or a shout that breaks from me; it is a deep,
commanding reverberation.

  “This ends now!” As the words rumble from my chest, the volcano rumbles from her depths and the earth trembles, smoke rising up into a dark shadow against clouded sky.

  Silence falls on the courtyard. Even Jackie stops her hissing and spitting and John drops her to the ground looking at me in shock. The trembles ebb away and I glare.

  “Those of you who are not witnesses or involved, breakfast won’t eat itself,” I speak again. The courtyard all but clears out; I look around at the few who are still stood and nod to them in acknowledgement.

  “Does anyone want to speak?” I ask. A young couple step forward as one and I open my palm to them.

  “Mikael and Tansin Grant,” they speak their names.

  “We heard the noise by the window and, when I looked,” Mikael explains, “A cat was stood up over our baby’s room. I was fearful and shouted. Roland confronted her and–” he looks to Roland, “–she hit him. I don’t know when Master John came because we went to check on our baby. We didn’t know it was an Ancient.”

  I look at Liam who nods. “Truth.”

  “And Margarith thinks this stupid girl doesn’t want her place? Look at her mighty majesty. This has to be stopped.” My Uncle’s thoughts drift towards me and I beat them into a corner.