The Lick of Fire Trilogy

by Bianca D’Arc

  What had truly amazed him was the way his people had come together to stand with him as they attempted to bring on his first shift under controlled circumstances. The idea had been something Tina and Stone had come up with between them, and Lance was happy to humor them if it meant figuring this whole thing out sooner. He was feeling the pull of the sun more strongly than ever—the temporary relief Tina had given him had worn off over the day, and as the sun started its descent, Lance wanted nothing more than to follow it.

  Such a weird thought. He still couldn’t really wrap his head around it, but the gathering of his employees and Tina out in the wasteland behind his house said that they certainly believed it was possible. Or, maybe they were just humoring him.

  He didn’t think so, though. They certainly seemed to be taking this seriously. In fact, Stone had started barking orders to his guys, stationing them around the perimeter of the yard like sentries. Lexi had taken up a position next to Tina, as if watching for Tina to make one false move. Lance had to shake his head at that one. Lexi was a kid, not even out of her teens yet. She was good at answering phones, but a badass, she was not.

  Or was she? Stone had seemed dead serious when he’d said Lexi was a lynx. Lance didn’t know much about them, but he thought they were some kind of oversized cat with tufted ears. He also thought maybe they lived in Canada, so Lexi must be an anomaly if she preferred the desert. If she even was a lynx. Lance hadn’t seen anything yet to prove all the claims Stone and Tina had made between them.

  “I’m going to cast a circle of protection,” Tina said, coming up beside Lance as they all took their positions.

  Lance was in the center of a circle of his employees. Stone stood back, watching, and he nodded at Tina’s words as if he agreed with her idea. Lexi followed Tina around like she had appointed herself Tina’s guard.

  “How are you holding up?” Tina asked as Lance took it all in.

  He was beginning to feel light headed from the noise in the back of his skull. He squinted, holding the bridge of his nose. “I’m okay. Just not really sure what’s happening.”

  “Okay. Hold tight for one more minute. The circle will prevent evil from sensing you while you are within it, and it will offer some protection for you and your people,” she told him.

  He wasn’t sure what it all meant, but the pounding in his temples was starting to get unbearable.

  Tina shot him a worried look and took off for the perimeter of the circle of his mechanics, sifting something through her fingers and onto the ground as she walked the circumference. He thought she might be chanting or singing something, but he couldn’t tell for sure. The noise in his head overpowered almost every other sense at the moment. It hurt like a son of a bitch.

  Tina came back to him, and Stone was with her. He reached out to touch Lance’s shoulder and pulled his hand back as if he’d been burned. Lance felt hotter than normal, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

  “Okay, boss. Time to get this party started,” Stone said quietly. “I don’t know how your kind does it, but the rest of us have to strip so we don’t ruin our clothes when we get furry.” Stone gave his guys the nod, and all around the circle—unbelievably—everyone was taking off their clothes.

  Everyone, except for Tina. Sadly, he realized, she was really the only one he was interested in seeing naked. He smiled a little at his own absurd thoughts as he caught her eye.

  “Suddenly, my entire staff are a bunch of nudists?” he quipped. She smiled at him, but he could tell she was nervous.

  “It’s the shifter way,” she said softly. “Try to relax. Don’t fight the sun’s song, and when it happens, remember, we’re waiting here for you to come back. I’m here, waiting, Lance. I want you to come back to me.” She reached up and touched her palm to his cheek.

  She was cool to his warmth. Soothing. Right.

  “I’ll do my best,” he promised. Then, he bent to kiss her softly, just once. She made everything feel better, and for a moment, the noise in his brain lessened.

  He drew back and stiffened. A fire was building in the pit of his stomach and wanted out. Tina, bless her, didn’t flinch from him. Instead, she stood there, watching him with those beautiful green eyes that now were glowing with power, reflecting the rise he felt within his own soul.

  Holy shit. Maybe they were right.

  “Don’t fight it, boss,” Stone said. “Follow us into the shift. Let it flow over you. Just let it all go…”

  And as Lance watched, one by one, his staff went from human to animal form. A fierce lynx sat on her haunches slightly behind Tina, standing guard over the sole human form in the circle. The men all around the perimeter were now wolves, standing guard. There were also a few bears, a fox, and a few other animals he didn’t have time to identify with his human consciousness before something…other…took over.

  Something burst out of him, becoming him, turning his arms to great wings of fire and his legs into taloned claws. The lower part of his face elongated into a beak, and his hair turned to feathers. The sun’s call was triumphant. Welcoming. Luring.

  Lance couldn’t hold it back any longer. He jumped from the ground and leapt into the sky, beating his arms—wings—to attain height. The sky was his home in that moment as he trailed fire out behind him.

  The roar of the wind was all he heard as he chased the sun, wanting nothing more than to become part of it. One with the flame that lived in his soul.

  And the power! The strength was like nothing he’d ever experienced. He felt invincible. Magnificent. Completely different than he’d ever been before.

  The song of the sun was part of him now. It wasn’t something he would ever fear again because he understood it now. It was welcoming him. Singing to him. Calling him brother and son, origin and rebirth. It all made sense now, and he wanted to go to the sun…

  But then, he heard something else, and his heart tugged him back toward the Earth. No! He was finally free. He wanted the sun. He wanted to be free. But he also wanted what waited for him far below.

  Friends. People who cared about him. Responsibilities that he enjoyed. His beloved engines… And a woman…

  Tina. Tina was down there, and her magic was calling just as strongly to him. She was cool white ice in the center of a hot desert. She was ice. He was fire. They were opposites, and they belonged together.

  Lance made spirals, heading for the place from which he’d started. He wanted to be with his friends. He wanted to be with Tina, most of all. He liked the sun, but he loved his people far below. There would be time later to seek the sun. Much later.

  “He’s coming back,” Stone said at Tina’s side.

  He and Lexi had shifted back to human form and dressed, keeping her company as she tried to follow Lance’s flight. He lit up her magical senses, but she couldn’t see him with her eyes. Her vision wasn’t as acute as the shifters’ abilities.

  “Thanks be to the Mother of All,” Tina breathed, feeling an enormous amount of relief.

  “Could he really have taken off for the sun and never come back?” Lexi asked, at her side.

  “That’s what my priestess friend told me. He needed us to ground him. To make him aware that he had a reason to come back,” Tina said, watching the fiery trail of magic that was the only trace of Lance. He was so immensely powerful—and so new to the unseen world. “He’s going to need us more than ever now that he’s out. His magic is a tasty target for the forces of darkness.”

  “We’ll look after him,” Stone promised. “He’s been good to us. Looked after us when we were on our own. He’s given us sanctuary and allowed us to form bonds we never would have otherwise. We take care of our own, and he’s one of us, whether he ever realized it before today or not.”

  Tina was really glad to hear the Alpha werewolf say that. Lance would need all the help he could get while he learned the ways of his incredible power.

  “We’ll run patrols around his house from now on at night. We won’t leave him unprotected,” Stone pro
mised.

  “Good,” Tina said, watching Lance approach. “Though, I’m not sure what he’ll think about that. You know Lance. He always thinks he’s invincible.”

  Stone chuckled. “So, we won’t tell him. At least, not at first. He’s going to have a hard time harnessing that beast, I think. We’ll keep an eye on him until he gets it sorted out. However long that takes.”

  Tina turned a quick glance on Stone. “You’re a good friend,” she told him. “Thank you for standing by him.”

  “He means a lot to you, huh?” Stone asked.

  Tina merely nodded, saved from having to give a full answer by the rather awkward flight pattern of the streak of magical fire that was Lance.

  He didn’t so much land as crash, but the wolves were there to catch him. After a few false starts, the wolves realized Lance was too hot to handle, but Tina went over. She had no fear of his magical fire. Her power was ice-like, so they complemented each other.

  Lance had shifted to human form once on the ground, and he was naked. The simple T-shirt and jeans he’d been wearing had been burned to cinders by his phoenix. Wow.

  “Let’s get you back to the house,” Tina said calmly, though inside, she was quaking. Lance looked really weak. So much so that he was trembling. She shot a questioning glance to Stone, who had followed at a slight distance.

  “First timers are often shaky for a while after. It should wear off with a bit of sleep,” he told her. “And food. Lots of food. I’ll send someone to get takeout. We know what he likes.”

  Tina helped Lance to the house, and the others gave them a wide berth. Lance was still kind of hot, but he was cooling rapidly now that his initial magic had been released. It had been like nothing she could ever have imagined. He’d been flame itself, streaking toward the stars, like a meteor traveling in reverse.

  He began to shiver long before they reached the house. Dark had fallen, and the outside temperature was dropping rapidly. Plus, he’d pretty much burnt out. His internal fire had been banked to a tiny ember. Tina had to get him warm, so she guided him to his bed. He collapsed into a sitting position on the side of the bed and insisted on wiping his feet on the sheepskin he kept on the floor there. She could always beat the dirt and sand out of it later. Better in the wool on the floor than in his bed sheets.

  Once he was satisfied with his feet, he allowed her to tuck him into his bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. A moment later, he was out like a light, sleeping off his first amazing shift into a mythological creature.

  Chapter Seven

  Tina answered the back door when someone knocked quietly. It was Stone, and he had a giant bag of takeout in one big hand. He brought it in and plopped it on the kitchen counter for her.

  “How is he?” he asked in a quiet, somewhat urgent tone.

  “Sleeping. He seems all right,” she told the big man. “Thank you for the food, and thank you for helping earlier. Lance has always been special, and I’m glad to see he’s got such a loyal group of friends around him now.”

  “You guys went to high school together?” Stone asked, sounding interested.

  “Yeah,” Tina replied. “We weren’t really friends in high school. I don’t think we ever even talked much, but we were aware of each other. Or, rather, I was always aware of him. He had that glow of magic around him, even back then.”

  “Did you know what he was?” Stone asked quietly.

  “Oh, no. Not at all. Heck, I didn’t even know what I was until I hit my twenties,” she admitted with a chuckle.

  “And what, exactly, are you?” Stone’s tone was challenging.

  “A witch,” she replied succinctly. She wasn’t going to tell this guy before she told Lance. No way, no how.

  “What kind of witch?” Stone kept pressing, but Tina wouldn’t budge. She would make one small concession, though.

  “Nothing bad,” she told him. “Nothing that would ever hurt Lance.”

  Stone eyed her for a moment, as if considering whether to push further, but seemed to take her words at face value. He backed off, heading toward the back door. “I’m right outside if you need help. I’m taking first watch, then my guys will work in shifts throughout the night. Someone will be available if you need anything. Just stick your head out the door and call out. A wolf will come running.”

  “I can’t thank you enough,” she said, meaning every word. Stone merely nodded and headed out, leaving the wafting aroma of barbeque behind.

  That takeout food he’d brought smelled darn good. If Lance didn’t wake soon, she might just break down and start in on it herself. It had been a long day, and she was getting hungry.

  “I heard voices.” Lance’s words came to her from the entrance to the kitchen. He was up and dressed in sweats. He looked sleepy, and a little haggard, but otherwise all right.

  “Stone just brought food. Are you hungry?” She went to the counter and put her hand on the takeout bag.

  Lance ran a hand through his hair as he yawned. “I could eat whatever’s in there and the bag, too,” he told her. “Have I thanked you for looking after me yet?”

  His voice had dipped low as he moved closer, and she didn’t resist when his arms went around her waist. She allowed him to draw her up against his body, enjoying the warmth of him through the layer of soft fabric against her hands.

  “No thanks are necessary,” she told him, wondering exactly what form his thanks would take.

  “Oh, yes, they are. You’ve gone above and beyond for me, Tina, and I shudder to think what would’ve happened out there without you. I came back because of you. Nothing else mattered when I was on the sun’s path. I wanted to chase it down. To merge with it. That’s all I knew. But then, I remembered my guys and my business down here. The cars I love and the work and the friends I’ve made. But even all that wasn’t enough. What tipped the scales and allowed me to break the pull was you. I wanted to come back to you.”

  Lance’s voice had lowered to intimate tones as he rested his forehead against hers. There was a little bubble of intimacy around them that felt special and pure.

  “I’m really glad,” she whispered, feeling the import of the moment.

  Lance leaned in and kissed her, deeply. It was a kiss of gratitude and care, tenderness and joy. When Lance pulled back, Tina didn’t want him to go, but she knew there were other matters to tend to now that he was awake. Food was the first item on the agenda.

  She stepped out of his arms and went back to the takeout bag. “Sit down. I’ll unpack this and put it on the table. You need to eat. Then, we have to discuss a few things.”

  “You’re bossy,” he observed with a grin, even as he sat down as she’d instructed.

  She stuck her tongue out at him playfully, unpacking and opening the containers of barbeque Stone had provided. She got plates down from the cupboard and brought it all over to the kitchen table over the course of several short trips. Surely, there would be enough here for Tina to have a few bites of something, just to keep her strength up.

  “Don’t wait on me,” she’d told him on her first trip to drop off the plates and a container of ribs. “What do you want to drink?”

  “Water,” he told her. “Lots and lots of water.”

  “Coming right up.” She bustled around the kitchen while he attacked the food she’d put out.

  Tina noticed that he’d put a small serving out of every container on her plate before he scooped a much larger portion onto his own. He’d provided a full plate for her, even as he took care of his own hunger. That was the mark of a true gentleman, as far as she was concerned—and a sign that he cared, which touched her heart.

  She joined him at the table after procuring two big glasses of water. She noticed that he had a pretty sophisticated purification system on his tap. She’d seen that kind of thing before, in shifter homes. They tasted the impurities more than regular folk and preferred the cleanest water they could get when they were in human form.

  She sat, and they ate in silence for a
few minutes. The food was delicious, and after the first few bites to sate her hunger, she slowed down and savored it. Lance was more in the mode of shoveling it into his mouth, chewing a little and swallowing to make room for more. He just kept going and going as she watched in surprise. But Stone had known Lance would be really hungry.

  Shifters must burn a lot of calories when they shift, and the mass quantities of food helped replace what he’d lost, she supposed. Flying like that had to take a lot out of a being. At least ground shifters could stop moving and rest a while, but when you were in the air, you had to keep those wings beating or you’d plummet. Maybe flight shifters burned even more calories than their land-based counterparts. It was a theory. She’d run it by Kate and see if she knew whether it was plausible or not.

  When Lance finally slowed down, most of the food was gone. He’d systematically gone back to the containers and cleaned them out, one after the other. She’d kept refilling his water glass too, which he drained with regularity. He’d asked her, each time he went for another of the containers, if she wanted any more of a particular dish before he demolished it, which she thought was very thoughtful, but she declined. It was clear he was in more need than she was, and to be honest, the plate he’d fixed for her when he opened everything had been more than enough to satisfy her hunger.

  “Were you able to get any more information on my situation from your contacts?” Lance asked at one point when his inhalation of barbequed meat had slowed to a more human pace.

  “I wanted to discuss it with you before I talked to them again. Now that we’re sure of what you are, the decision about who knows what and how they hear it is up to you,” she told him. “I didn’t want to overstep. I mean, Kate and Slade know it’s possible that I know a phoenix here in Phoenix, but they don’t know for sure, and they don’t know the particulars. I wanted to make sure you were okay with them knowing more before I said anything else.”

  Lance paused, lowering his fork, and looked at her. “Thanks.” His tone was pleased, and she was glad she’d decided on that course of action.