Wicked Flames (Solsti Prophecy)

by Sharon Kay

  The longer his trial program stayed in place, the greater the chance of reaching more humans. And after signing off on these latest test results today he would travel to yet another facility, this one a bit farther south. A short drive down the interstate. His computer pinged again with an email alert. This one was from the hotel downstate where he would stay while implementing his work at the new plant. The gaudy yellow-labeled logo announced his check-in time.

  He rubbed his hands together in the cold office. Farther south, but still not warm. Not in this region at this time of year. The cold didn’t bother him, exactly, he just preferred warmth.

  He closed his eyes and pictured the black sand beaches of the peninsula he wanted to control and live on when Elegia’s plan was fully realized. It was either that, if he carried out his task successfully, or death. If Elegia wasn’t happy with him, she’d kill him. She didn’t waste time.

  So he’d visit more treatment facilities. He would succeed. Earth would become Elegia’s. And he’d own the balmy peninsula he visualized, as well as the demons that lived there.

  CHAPTER 18

  BROOKE ADJUSTED THE VASE OF fresh stargazer lilies on her corner table for the tenth time, then moved a bowl of holiday candies closer to the flowers. Straightening up, she spotted a speck of dust on her bookshelf and walked over to wipe it away.

  Kai leaned his hip on the half wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. “Baby, it’s fine. This place could be in a magazine.”

  Brooke frowned and moved her favorite Ray Bradbury novel into its proper spot. “I know. I just can’t sit still.”

  Kai’s attention swung to the door. “Thank the gods,” he muttered. “They’re at the front door.”

  Brooke didn’t hear anything, but Kai’s enhanced senses told him more than hers did. In a minute she heard the elevator ding and voices coming down the hallway. Unable to wait a second longer, she flung open the door.

  Nicole walked down the carpeted hallway, her arm linked with a slender ebony-haired woman. A towering male walked behind them, long hair tied back.

  “Hi!” Brooke’s voice came out high-pitched and excited as she closed the distance, throwing her arms around both Nicole and Ashina. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

  Ashina laughed lightly and embraced Brooke, then pulled back to study her face. She smiled, warm eyes assessing. “I’m delighted to visit. You’re doing okay?”

  “Better than ever.” Brooke guessed Ashina’s innate healing skills never left, even when the woman was on vacation. She looked up at Ashina’s mate. “Hi, Raniero.”

  Dark eyes twinkled down at her. “Nice safe place you’ve got here.”

  “We took care of that.” Kai snaked an arm around Brooke and reached out to clasp Raniero’s hand. A Watcher like Kai, security would be his first concern.

  “Let’s go inside.” Brooke asked, “How was the drive?”

  Nicole snorted. “Well, you know, the usual. There was congestion from holiday shoppers, and the typical traffic slow-downs for like, one little inch of snow. But it wasn’t bad.”

  “I’m so intrigued with the transportation system we drove under. The...” Ashina looked at Nicole. “What did you call it? The M?” She handed her coat to Kai and walked into the living room.

  Nicole dropped her purse next to an armchair and giggled. “The El. Elevated tracks.”

  “Torth doesn’t have those.” Ashina looked around the yellow living room. “Your home is so cozy.”

  “Thanks,” Brooke said. “We’ll make sure to take you on the El before you go back.”

  Raniero and Kai ambled into the kitchen, discussing Raniero’s latest assignment on Torth. Brooke followed them and busied herself at the stove, heating hot apple cider. “Make yourself at home, I’ll be there in a minute,” she called to the women.

  When the cider was ready she filled mugs for everyone. Setting two down on the kitchen table, she dropped a kiss on Kai’s head and brought two mugs to the living room.

  “So you used to live here?” Ashina asked Nicole.

  “Yes, until Gunnar and I became mates. Then I wanted to move in with him at Demon Central. Brooke wanted to stay here, at least part of the time, so Rilan warded the heck out of the whole building.”

  “Demon what?” Ashina’s eyebrows shot up.

  “That’s our nickname for the house you arrived at,” Brooke said as she retrieved the last mug for herself and sank onto her couch. “At first, they thought they could tell us what to do.”

  Nicole snorted. “Yeah. We set them straight pretty fast.”

  Ashina smiled and walked over to the bookshelf. Brooke and Nicole had packed it with framed family photos. Ashina peered closely. “Is this Gin?”

  “Yep.” Brooke walked over. “Let’s see….this one is recent, this one is when we were kids…” She reached for a photo of a pale blond toddler girl sitting on a blanket outdoors. “This is Alina.”

  “Ah, yes. I’m so sorry.” Ashina reached for the photo of Brooke’s youngest sister and paused. “May I?”

  “Of course.” Nicole said.

  Ashina held it reverently. Sunlight poured in the window next to her, making her straight ebony hair shine. “Did she have green eyes too?”

  Brooke exchanged a look with Nicole and pursed her lips. “Um, I think so…Yes. Yes, she did. God, I feel terrible that I had to think about it. She was a little over a year old when she died.”

  Ashina tilted her head. “Of course you wouldn’t remember all the details. You were only a child yourself.”

  “I know, but I try to remember as much as I can. Like Nic and Gin got their eyes from our mother, and I got our dad’s gray ones.”

  “Here’s one of our birth parents.” Nicole pointed to a faded photo in a silver frame.

  Ashina stared at it for several moments. “You both look like a perfect blend of the two of them.”

  “Don’t we have a wedding picture of theirs around here somewhere?” Nicole asked. “You’ll love it, Ashina. I don’t know if fashion changes as much on Torth as it does here, but wedding gowns are always a showcase for the latest craze.”

  “More like crazy, in our mom’s case.” Brooke giggled. “It was the early eighties and her dress had these huge puffy sleeves! I’ll get the photo box.”

  “I’d love to see it.” Ashina’s eyes lingered on a childhood holiday portrait. “And pictures from when you were little, too. You girls were such cute kids.”

  Brooke hurried to her bedroom and grabbed a shoe box of loose photos from her closet. Laughter reached her ears as she returned to the living room, and it warmed her heart to see Ashina in her home. Something about Ashina felt so comfortable and natural, like she’d known her for years, when in reality it had only been a few months.

  She sat down on the couch and placed the box on the coffee table in front of her. Patting the couch cushions on either side, she said, “Sit. You’re about to get a detailed history of the Bonham sisters. And Nic, you help me fill in the details.”

  For the next half hour they picked through dozens of family photos. There were school pictures, birthday pictures, vacation pictures and random silly ones. Photos with their biological parents and later with their adoptive parents. Happy memories bubbled up as Brooke and Nicole explained as much as they could.

  “This is amazing. I feel like I’m watching you grow up,” Ashina murmured. She reached into the almost-empty box. “What’s this?”

  “There’s the wedding picture! Why is it on the bottom?” Nicole leaned into Ashina’s side. “Check out those sleeves! Thanks goodness she didn’t get one of those tiaras that dip down over your forehead.” She made a face and drew an imaginary V with two fingers above her eyes. “Remember those?”

  “Yeah…” Brooke glanced at Ashina. “Ashina? Is everything okay?”

  The healer’s beautiful toffee colored skin had gone pale. She stared at the photo, holding it as though it might shatter.

  Raniero rushed out of the kitchen
and shoved the coffee table aside to kneel before his mate. Kai followed him, frowning, eyes seeking Brooke’s.

  “Sheena?” Raniero took her hand, and his gaze followed hers to the wedding photo. “Holy gods.” His deep voice was hushed, flickering with shock and…pain?

  “What? What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Nicole launched her barrage of questions, eyes huge.

  With a trembling finger, Ashina pointed to the lower right corner of the photo. “Their names…”

  “I guess it was in style back then to have names printed on wedding photos. What—what’s wrong?” Brooke asked. Her heart beat triple time, crashing against her ribs. A wave of raw emotion surged inside her, and she had no idea where it was coming from.

  Ashina’s voice was barely a whisper as she looked at Nicole. “You said your parents died in a car crash. Twenty-two years ago?”

  “Yes,” Nicole said softly, nodding. “The car burned up.”

  Tears pooled in Ashina’s bright green eyes. “You-you didn’t t-tell me her name...was Samara.”

  Confusion built in Brooke’s chest, creating pressure like a dam ready to burst. “Yes. Samara and John. Our parents.” Her eyes dropped to the photo in Ashina’s hands, to Raniero’s stunned expression, to the tears rolling down Ashina’s cheeks. “What is it?”

  Ashina finally looked away from the photo, only to meet her mate’s eyes. A flood of emotion passed between them, the depth of which she could only imagine. Both of their faces were stark with confusion and sadness. Finally Ashina spoke, her voice cracking as she turned the photo toward Raniero. “Samara. Look.”

  “I see.” His voice was rough. “It has to be her. Look at her hair. You said she had my hair, and those eyes, gods above, Sheena, those are your eyes.” Leaning forward, he drew Ashina into his arms.

  Brooke’s jaw dropped. She met Nicole’s eyes, certain her sister’s confounded expression mirrored her own. Turning to Ashina, she asked, “Your eyes? His…hair?”

  “I’m certain that,” the healer swallowed hard, “Samara is our daughter.”

  “What?” Brooke and Nicole shrieked in unison.

  “How is that possible? “ Kai stared hard at Raniero. “You said you were looking for her,” he jutted his chin at Ashina, “for a hundred years. You weren’t together.”

  “We had one night together before my father forced us apart,” Ashina said. “I got pregnant. I had a little girl.”

  “But your father made you live in that lonely realm all those years. And our mom lived here on Earth. That’s where she met Dad.” Nicole leaned forward and placed a hand over her heart. “Gunnar.” Her phone trilled from her bag. “He wants to know what’s going on. I still don’t get what’s going on. Did our mom come here from your realm?”

  “Yes, I sent my baby to live here. I didn’t want to let her go. Raniero didn’t even know about her.” Ashina straightened from her mate’s embrace but kept a grip on his hand.

  “What happened?” Nicole asked.

  Ashina took a deep breath. “A witch, who I trusted, had a vision that our child was the vessel that would bring light and balance to the realms, and said she had to be kept safe at all costs. My father would kill her if he ever learned of her, so the witch hid her with her own sister, on Earth.”

  “Vessel to bring light and balance?” Brooke echoed. “What does that mean?”

  “I always wondered. For decades, I wondered what that statement meant,” Ashina said, her green eyes boring into Brooke’s, then Nicole’s. “I know now.”

  Brooke sucked in a breath. “Oh my god. It’s us…our talents…” Tears unexpectedly filled her eyes.

  “Oh my god,” Nicole echoed softly. “Samara, our mother, was the vessel…and she had us….”

  “She was the mother of the Solsti.” Raniero’s wide eyes took in his mate, then swiveled to Brooke and Nicole.

  Silence hung in the room. Brooke looked at Ashina and Raniero, then turned to Kai. My mother was destined to have us. She swallowed a lump of emotion, eyes brimming with tears as the weight of history barreled through her. All that Ashina and Raniero had missed out on, so that she and her sisters could be born…

  Kai strode to the couch and pulled her up into his arms. I’ve got you, baby. He kissed the top of her head, right where the blond mate lock streaked through her dark hair. This shit is deep. You okay?

  “Yes.” She sniffled and dabbed her eyes on his T-shirt, sagging into his strength. Through their mate bond, her own surprised joy reflected back to her in a kaleidoscope of wonder tinged with loss. She turned her head to the side, still leaning on Kai’s chest. “I’m so sorry you had to let her go,” she murmured to Ashina.

  The healer’s lips turned up into a small smile, despite her tears. “Metoo, but now…I have something I never expected.” Her gaze swung from Brooke to Nicole.

  “That means you two are…our grandparents?” Nicole reached for a tissue.

  Raniero and Ashina exchanged a look Brooke could only describe as radiant. Ashina’s smile grew wider as she turned to Nicole and nodded.

  Nicole wiped her damp eyes. “That’s so cool. And amazing and unexpected. We never had grandparents. Mom told us her parents died when she was young. She grew up with her aunt, Carmen.”

  “Carmen? Does she live in the area? Can we see her?” Raniero’s voice was a gentle rumble above the happy female sniffles in the room.

  Nicole shook her head. “No, she was in the car with them. You know, that night…And, now that I think about it,” She rummaged in the picture box. “She wasn’t in any of our photos.”

  “So if Carmen raised our mom,” Brooke asked, “did you two know Carmen?”

  Ashina sighed. “No. But I know who did.” She looked at her mate.

  Raniero nodded. “Rosa.”

  “What? The Rosa?” Nicole yelled.

  “Rosa the witch?” Brooke asked in a small voice.

  “Shit,” Kai muttered.

  “Yes, Rosa.” Raniero turned to Ashina. “She was the witch who convinced you to send Samara to Earth, in the care of her own sister.”

  “Oh my god!” Brooke gasped. “You mean Rosa knew…back then, when our mother was still a baby, that she would one day give birth to us?”

  Ashina sighed and rubbed her temple. “Maybe not specifically. I-I don’t know exactly what she knew. She just kept saying that my child was the vessel to bring light and balance. And her safety was paramount. My father—well, you know about him.” She flicked a glance to Brooke. “He had made it clear that if I had gotten pregnant, he would kill the baby.”

  “But he never found out.” Raniero’s eyes shone with tenderness for his mate. “Our child brought the Solsti into the world.”

  Ashina looked at Nicole, then at Brooke. “I couldn’t be more honored or proud. You’re my family. Family I didn’t know I had.”

  Brooke threw her arms around Ashina and was immediately enveloped in the warm familial feeling she had when she’d first met the healer. Comforting. Loving, in a fully accepting way. And like they had a connection. “Now I understand it,” she murmured aloud.

  “Me too,” Nicole said, squeezing into their hug. “Totally get it.”

  “Understand what?” Ashina asked.

  Brooke looked at Nicole. “I—We didn’t want to say anything at first, because it sounded kind of weird.” She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “But when I first met you, I felt like I knew you somehow. It was such a strong feeling, but it didn’t make sense. I thought it was the after effects of the attack we’d been through.”

  Kai’s love radiated through their mate bond. “That was a pretty intense situation.”

  “Yes, and then on top of that, your eyes look exactly like Nic’s,” Brooke stared into Ashina’s green eyes, then Nicole’s matching ones. “You two are a perfect mirror of each other.”

  “And to think you were in such grave situations?” Raniero shook his head. “Nicole, if I knew who you were, I’d have sent you straight back to Earth the da
y I met you. I can’t believe you fought Vipers!”

  Kai smirked at him. “That’s the thing, Grandpa. These two don’t listen. They get an idea in their heads and you can’t stop ‘em. So you may as well accept it.” He winked at Brooke. “It usually works out for the best anyway. Right, baby?”

  “Right.” Brooke smiled at him.

  “Yeah, and you don’t even know the meaning of the word stubborn until you meet Gin,” Nicole added.

  “Oh my god. Gin. What are we gonna tell her?” Brooke said. “’Oh, by the way, our biological grandparents are demons?’”

  Nicole grimaced. “Oh man. This isn’t good. I mean, it’s great!” She turned to Ashina. “I’m overjoyed to find all this out. But Gin…may not be.”

  “That’s okay,” Ashina said. “It’s overwhelmin—”

  “It’s not okay.” Nicole’s tone was grim and resigned. “She needs to understand her talent is a blessing, not a curse.”

  “Has anyone heard from Mathias?” Brooke asked.

  “No. But that’s not unusual.” Kai stretched his arms. “When he’s on a job he usually only talks to Arawn, and only if necessary.”

  “This is kind of important. Maybe you should call him,” Nicole said pointedly.

  “Then again, maybe we should not throw too much at Gin.” Brooke said. “She doesn’t have much time. It’s gonna be a fast learning curve for her as it is. Just getting her to accept her true self is a huge hurdle.”

  “I say we let Arawn know,” Raniero said. “I’ll talk to him, since I’m the proud grandpa.” He grinned at Nicole and Brooke. “And we’ll let him decide how to handle the information.”

  “Sounds good,” Nicole said. “But I can’t call you Grandpa. Isn’t there a Demonish word for it?”

  Raniero turned a sweet smile on his mate, then they both turned to Nicole and Brooke. “Yes,” he said. “Grandpa is Hoto.”

  “Hoto.” Nicole sounded out the unfamiliar word. “I like that, but I may stick to Raniero.”

  “Either one is fine, Khali.” Ashina smoothed Nicole’s blond hair.