Fire and Fantasy: a Limited Edition Collection of Epic and Urban Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  “Nothing is too fast for you to catch, Kian. Nothing will ever be too fast for you,” Lucienne said. “But you know a shielded life is never meant for me.” She halted as she caught sight of the Red Mansion a few blocks away with its red tiles. The dawn’s pale light gave the tiles a shadowy look, but soon the sun would rise high, and the roof would shine the color of blood.

  “Who did this to my grandfather?” she asked.

  “It was an ambush,” Kian said.

  “Bring me the assailants. I’ll skin them!”

  “The attack was an indirect hit on you.”

  Lucienne took a moment to digest that. “They believe once Jed’s out of the way,” she said coldly, “they can all come get me.”

  “As the Czech boy said, they’ll have to crawl over my dead body to get to you.” Kian’s voice was even colder than Lucienne’s. “And I plan to live a long life.”

  At Kian’s promise, Lucienne’s blood warmed in her veins. “A bloodbath is not my way, but let them come.”

  “They’ll come,” Kian said. “Jed won’t hang in there long. Your rule has begun. They’ll seize the opportunity to try to push your half-brother back into the Siren’s seat.”

  “Any news on Hauk?”

  “That coward hides deep.”

  “He’s twenty-two now, isn’t he?”

  “You should have taken him out when he placed a bounty on your head years ago. You had the right.”

  “He has Jed’s blood, too. Killing him then would have turned even more of the family against me. And I wanted to give him a chance to walk away from this.”

  “Rumor has it he vowed never to rest until he erases you from the face of the earth.”

  “Then he’ll continue living a sad, disappointed life.”

  “The attack will come sooner. Perhaps sooner than we expected,” Kian said. “Before it comes, we’ll remove you to Sphinxes.”

  Sphinxes was an uncharted Pacific Island that a former Siren bought centuries ago. For years, Kian and their loyal team had been secretly building their future headquarters on the island.

  “No, I’ll stay for the war.”

  “Not this time,” Kian said. “As your security chief, I overrule you on this matter. You’ll follow my plan.”

  Lucienne pouted, but Kian wasn’t compromising. In the end, she sighed, “What’s the progress in Sphinxes?”

  “Labs and military bases are all complete, but there’s still too much to do.”

  “The work never ends. How are the soldiers?”

  “Watchful and loyal,” Kian said. “An elite team is on their way here. Our enemy won’t expect that, though Jed won’t approve of the warriors coming to the complex either.”

  “I’ll work on Jed. He wants to keep the Lams together, but he desires to preserve the next rightful Siren even more.” Speaking of her grandfather, Lucienne dropped her gaze, staring at the ground. “Will he wake up?”

  Kian sighed. “He’d better.”

  Kian accompanied Lucienne into the Red Mansion. When they stopped before her room, Jonas was right behind them. Kian eyed the guard, and Jonas darted inside for a security sweep. When Jonas came out and resumed his station at the door, Kian kissed the top of Lucienne’s head. “Good night, Princess.”

  Lucienne grinned. “You should shave more often, Kian McQuillen. Hygiene is required.”

  Kian shook his head. “Stop talking like that peacock prince you fancy too much.”

  Her smile dimmed. She was sure that beautiful peacock was going to dump her at the first opportunity he got when he woke up in the morning.

  Six

  As soon as Lucienne heard Jed Lam was asking for her, she went directly to the medical facility at the west side of the complex. Standing in the doorway of the room, Lucienne watched a nurse adjust fluids flowing into Jed’s vein as Kian and Jed spoke.

  “I should have gone with you,” Kian said. “I failed you.”

  “No, you did right.” Jed’s voice was feeble. “Lucienne is your responsibility. Her day has come; mine has passed. I don’t matter. Protect her.”

  Without Lucienne’s control, her throat made a sobbing sound. She approached Jed, whose eyes were now riveted on her. “Leave us,” he said to the nurse.

  She greeted Lucienne and quickly departed. Kian followed the nurse out and closed the door behind them.

  “Lucienne,” Jed said. “You’ll move to the island after I’m gone.”

  Jump right down my throat, Lucienne thought. The worst fight she had ever had with Jed was over the Sphinxes project. “Grandfather, we can talk about that later. I have something more important to show you.”

  “A secured island is safer for you,” Jed continued, “but I want you to remember the Red Mansion is home to all Sirens.”

  “Red Mansion will always be my home, Grandfather,” Lucienne said. “I’ll not abandon it, and I’ll not tear the family apart, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Jed sighed. “I deeply regret that none of my sons or grandsons was destined to be Siren. But selecting the true Siren is bigger than my preference. You’ve proved no less than any of us. Stronger, in fact.” Jed’s eyes locked with Lucienne’s. “I know what you need to do to secure your rule. But when you clean house, promise me you’ll show mercy.”

  “I’m not heartless. You know that.”

  “You’re never heartless to your friends, but to your enemies, you’re merciless.”

  “I’ll give them a second chance if they repent.” Lucienne looked miserable. Her grandfather wasn’t dead yet, and here they were, discussing how she’d run things after he was gone. Lucienne pulled her chair closer to Jed’s bed. She inserted her hand into her coat and took out a scroll holder. She retrieved the content, flattened the scalp map, and held it for Jed to see.

  “Feel this, Grandfather,” she whispered. “The second scroll. Through this map, we’ll find the Eye of Time.”

  Jed’s aging, shaking fingers traced the map. Lucienne could see that Jed knew the artifact was authentic. All the Sirens had the uncanny ability to recognize the three ancient scrolls.

  “You secured it, Lucienne Lam, my heir, my Siren,” Jed said. Tears of tremendous joy gathered in his eyes. Lucienne felt her own tears welling behind her eyelids. Wasn’t that what she always wanted—to make him proud? Make him never regret his impossibly difficult decision to choose her as his heir? She was the chosen one, through and through. Even the I-Ching 易經, the oldest oracle on Earth, had validated her.

  Eight years ago, when the Siren candidates failed to grasp the concept of I-Ching—an imperative for the Siren—she had begun to establish herself as the brightest. In the packed classroom, the contest turned out to be an I-Ching tête-à-tête between Dr. Hsi—the I-Ching master—and an eight-year-old Lucienne Lam. Lucienne tossed a few questions out on the eight primal forces of the universe and the moves of the sixty-four hexagrams. The male candidates and their supporters looked as if they believed she and Dr. Hsi were conspiring in a coded language.

  “I consider the I-Ching more of a spiritual guide than a device to predict the future.” Lucienne smiled confidently as all eyes were on her, especially Jed’s hard, distrustful ones.

  “I’m glad you resist the temptation and choose the higher path, Miss Lam.” Dr. Hsi nodded in appreciation.

  “It wasn’t easy, Dr. Hsi, but thanks to you and the oracle I made the right choice.” She reminded herself to remain in control. “I-Ching comes from China. Its concepts are difficult for people used to the Western mode of thought. Oriental philosophy holds that absolute reality is beyond human thoughts, and that the highest form is formless and abstract. So, I translated the basic concepts of yin and yang into Western physics: each action has an equal and opposite reaction.”

  “It depends on how you attune all the elements,” Dr. Hsi said. “Everything in the universe is connected in a spiral web, but very few can read the code.”

  “Speaking of the code, I still have difficulty grasping th
e deep connection between Wu Ji, the Way, and Tai Ji, the source of time and space. Are there deeper meanings beneath the symbol of two eyes, one black and the other white, forming a circle? How can the ultimate nothingness contain the supreme ultimate?” she asked, batting her eyes, her voice innocent and sincere. “Maybe the candidates can enlighten me? They’ve been awfully quiet, and I absolutely have no intention to be rude and steal their thunder.”

  “Very considerate.” Dr. Hsi clasped his hands with a knowing smile, turning to the boys in the class for the first time. “Does anyone have any idea how the ultimate nothingness contains the supreme ultimate? Boys?”

  Lucienne could almost hear every candidate cursing her in his mind. An innocent, encouraging smile danced in her eyes. As she intended, she had led Dr. Hsi to ask an impossible question that elicited complete silence from the boys and their supporters.

  But proving to be a prodigy invited countless attempts at her assassination. Lucienne Lam had survived, but obliterating thousands of years of Lams’ tradition and accepting a female Siren had finally brought her grandfather to his death bed.

  Lucienne placed her hand on Jed’s frail one, her eyes glowing with a tender light. “I was lucky, Grandpa,” She said. “Vlad and I stumbled onto the second scroll.”

  “There is never coincidence in the universe, child,” Jed said. “You were meant to find it. That part of the prophecy about you has come to light. You must find the last one. Remake history. My dear child, how I wish I could be there to see it through.”

  Prophecy? What prophecy? She’d ask him later. She had a more urgent problem to solve now. “Grandpa, you’ll be there to see it all the way through,” she said, her mind working on how to introduce Vladimir to the equation.

  “I won’t live forever, but I’ve seen it in a vision,” said Jed, his eagle eyes piercing her, as if reading her mind. “Now tell me: how do you like the Czech prince?”

  “Vladimir.” A sob escaped her. “His name is Vladimir Blazek.”

  “Is he good to you?” Jed asked, then chuckled at his own question despite his poor condition. “I don’t think I should worry about that. My granddaughter would never allow anyone to take advantage of her.”

  “I kissed him and he collapsed last night,” Lucienne blurted out.

  “The boy got too excited?”

  “No! It was a bad fall.” Tears came to her eyes. “He’s allergic to my kiss.”

  Jed looked worried. “Did anyone else see that?”

  “No. Kian took care of it.”

  An appreciation smile floated to Jed’s eyes. “Good Kian. Always efficient.”

  “What am I, Grandfather?” Lucienne asked. “Why can’t I kiss a boy? I can never be with a man, can I?”

  “Did you kiss others before the prince or after him?”

  “Vlad was my first kiss.” She swallowed. “But, well—”

  When it came to Jed, the best strategy was to tell the truth. He expected it. He always knew if she was lying. “Two other guys after him also got poisoned,” she said reluctantly.

  “I take it they wouldn’t recognize you?”

  “They’d describe me as a tall blonde with a distinctive accent.”

  Jed nodded in approval.

  “The point is, Grandfather, I must find out why I can’t be with male.” A sob, again, stuck in her throat. “I don’t ask too much. I want only one boy.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” said Jed.

  “That I want only one boy?” Lucienne raised her head, staring down at the old man incredulously.

  “There’s a reason the tradition forbids a female Siren. The implant mutates Sirens, giving us superpowers, but at a cost,” Jed said. “The mark isn’t of modern technology, but ancient, before we conceived of a female Siren. It might not be compatible with your system.”

  “So I’m condemned to be a virgin forever because of a malfunction?” Lucienne let out a furious cry.

  “Remember what I told you at the ritual?”

  “You said I could no longer have a normal life,” Lucienne said bitterly, “but I didn’t expect this—a life without passion.”

  “Passion is a fleeting thing.”

  “Easy for you to say. You don’t need it anymore. You and all the other Sirens were married and had children; some of them married many times. And you’ve had many women in your life, Grandfather.”

  Jed glared at the girl before softening his expression. “The mark did something to all the male Sirens, too, not that we cared much. For thousands of years, none of the Sirens could produce female offspring, until you came along.”

  Lucienne had heard about the phenomena and wondered if that was the force behind the fierce resistance to her being Siren. But what if she—

  “You’re my bloodline,” Jed said. “I had the DNA test done before I brought you in all those years ago.” He paused for a few seconds, then continued. “I’d been searching for your Russian mother. I was mystified by the abnormality of a female offspring.”

  Lucienne held her breath. This was the first time Jed had told her about her mother. “She disappeared right after she gave birth to you, and any record of her was wiped clean. It’s as though she never existed, other than to be my son’s secret lover. Our network can find anyone, but not her,” he sighed. “She remains a mystery, and so is part of your heritage. Perhaps you’ll solve it one day.”

  “I don’t care about the woman who abandoned me. All I want is to find a way to be with Vladimir.” Lucienne looked at Jed pleadingly. “I can’t bear to lose him, Grandpa.”

  “Your only chance is to find the Eye of Time and open the portal to Eterne. Only then will this curse be lifted from you.”

  “You make it sound like it’s as easy as finishing a dance.”

  “You can do it, Lucienne. You must finish the dance that we didn’t. You’re the only Siren who had the vision during the ritual.”

  “How could you—”

  “—know, despite you never telling a soul?”

  Lucienne stared at her grandfather with the worst suspicion, then her eyes went wild. “Grandfather, you are, you are—”

  “A mind reader with the power of persuasion. Just like you.”

  “How could I not sense that?”

  “I’ve shielded my mind,” Jed said, “though it’s getting difficult when you’re around. The mark and power have been transferred to you.”

  “I’ve never invaded the minds of those I care about,” said Lucienne. “And I don’t dig into others’ heads either, unless it’s a security matter.”

  Jed ignored Lucienne’s defense. “It’s time to learn the shielding.” His piercing dark eyes locked into Lucienne’s, trying to hold her immobile.

  Lucienne felt his power pulsing in the air, then the hiss of icy fog sinking into the back of her head. A pair of eyes emerged through the fog. Lucienne immediately recognized a mind invasion and fiercely pushed back, but Jed twisted deeper into her mind, right to the intimate moment when Vladimir kissed her.

  Her pain, her desires, and her shame were raw before Jed, and the old man wanted more of them. She could feel his cold hands tightening, forcing her to cough up darker secrets.

  Her head bent backward, Lucienne let out a furious howl. Power exploded within her and burst out. Red hot, merciless, and mighty. This power was her birthright, her Siren’s ride!

  And Jed was a bully and a liar! He only wanted her to concentrate on family obligations. Finding the Eye of Time might take decades. By that time, Vladimir would be long gone—basking in another girl’s arms—and she’d be all alone, cold, and heartless.

  She would never accept that. Not as long as she breathed. Vladimir was hers!

  Lucienne sharpened her claws. Jed tasted her pain and shame and fear, but now it was her turn to taste his and repay him. Let’s see how he likes it when I draw blood from him.

  Jed gasped as Lucienne slammed into his mind.

  Heartbeat. It was the old Siren’s heartbeat. It didn�
�t throb as powerfully as she assumed. And the formidable Jed Lam was sweating. Did he fear her? He was resisting her invasion.

  She expected that. Jed would never go down without fight, but his panic was surprising. Still, Lucienne wasn’t moved. She marched on, fueled by pain and fury and her determination to know the truth.

  Jed’s face distorted.

  “I’m the Siren with ancient technology inside me. You can’t fight me anymore. No one can.” Standing before Jed’s stone walls, Lucienne raised her iron fists and pounded on the wall, again and again, until she smashed the barricade.

  Lucienne stepped through the break and over the debris. She tramped inside the main frame of Jed’s complex mind, as a conqueror, searching for dark secrets, sorting out lies, and—

  The first thing she saw made her draw a shaky breath. Jed had known of her plan to go to Tibet all along. He had spread the word that he found the relic site for one of the missing scrolls. By bringing his team to the ancient Egyptian temple, he misdirected Lucienne’s enemies, causing them to cease-fire and give his granddaughter the opening she needed to escape.

  He was always true to her, to the very end.

  Her rage, which felt so righteous seconds ago, ebbed from her, leaving a deep void. Suddenly a burning candle ahead caught her attention. It was coming to an end; its flame would extinguish soon. Blackness was swallowing her. No, it was swallowing Jed. A sickening realization hit her. “No, Jed, no!”

  Shutting her eyes in remorse, Lucienne freed Jed’s mind. “I’m so sorry, Grandfather.” She gazed down at Jed in his bed in grief. “I hurt you. I lost control.”

  “The force is in you, Lucienne.” Jed looked very tired. His skin was gray now. “You’re the strongest among us, except for the first Siren. But you’re more ruthless than any other, and most dangerous—you need to learn to rein yourself in.”

  “I’m learning.” Tears of sorrow dropped from her eyes. “I didn’t know my mind could burn your energy like that.”

  “Practice shielding. Cover your bases first. I’m only a frail, old man, but one day, you will face a formidable enemy.”