by Lea Kirk
TRIAL by
FIRE
SILVERSTAR MATES
Intergalactic Dating Agency
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
LEA KIRK
TRIAL BY FIRE
Silverstar Mates
Intergalactic Dating Agency
True love only happens once in a lifetime, right?
Nixy Vogel waited a long time for wedded bliss, only to find herself widowed two years later. Working for the Silverstar Agency has helped ease her grief. So, why is the alien who’s trying to put them out of business stirring such a longing in her shuttered heart?
Waiting several lifetimes for “the one.”
The ancient mate-matching tradition of Kai Firewing’s clan could end unless the Silverstar Agency is exposed as a fraud. Simple enough to do…until his rival lights a fire in his heart as only the soul mate of an immortal phoenix can.
Will Nixy embrace her second chance before it—and Kai—goes up in flames?
Welcome to the Silverstar Agency, specializing in intergalactic love matches for those over fifty.
CONTENTS
About Trial by Fire * Chapter 1 * Chapter 2 * Chapter 3 * Chapter 4 * Chapter 5 * Chapter 6 * Chapter 7 * Chapter 8 * Chapter 9 * Chapter 10 * Chapter 11 * Chapter 12 * Chapter 13 * Chapter 14 * Chapter 15 * Epilogue
Note to my Readers * Excerpt from Prophecy * More Intergalactic Dating Agency * About the Author * Other books by Lea Kirk * Copyright
Chapter 1
Elder Kai Firewing tread light-footed along the path to the meditation garden, alert for the presence of others in his clan. The sun-warmed Bezchian desert sand pushed between his toes with each step, a familiar comfort that did not soothe his anxiety today, or any day. He should not be here in this oasis at the center of his colony. The meditation garden was for deserving elders, and he was not deserving. Had not been so for the last fifty-five sun migrations.
A puff of a breeze flitted over his bare chest, rustling the lightweight fabric of his billowing yellow leggings. He flattened his lips into a straight line. How had everything gone so wrong so suddenly? For three lifetimes, he had excelled at matching mates for the four mortal clans of his home-world. Had joined families that would thrive together, be stronger in their collective attributes. Fulfilled his role in the ancient Bezchian tradition upheld by the elders of the Firewing clan: the long-lived phoenixes.
One day he had been fine. The next, every couple he had attempted to join lacked…something. An element, a spark, a flame of the heart…something utterly unnecessary to a successful mating. Yet its absence had crippled his ability to unify any couples, over and over, until Most Esteemed Elder Uri had stopped giving him assignments. That decision still stung worse than a fire wasp. But Uri was the eldest of the elders, and the final word in such decisions.
Still, the memory of that missing element left a bitter taste in Kai’s soul.
Seventy-three sun migrations into your third incarnation, and you are as useless as a…a…a sun roach.
He had been born to match mates. His failure to do so—multiple times—was tantamount to a scandal. He ground his teeth together. The elders of the Firewing clan had a reputation to uphold, by the air currents. How did such a malady—because there was no better word to describe it—happen to an otherwise young, healthy phoenix?
“Greetings, Elder Kai.” The soft, murmured words snapped Kai from his thoughts.
A fledgling-sized elder approached from around the fountain at the garden’s center, her golden-eyed gaze on the ground instead of meeting his.
He pulled his wings in close to his back, the tips of his primary feathers brushing the backs of his leggings, and gave her a respectful nod. “Greetings, Elder Ena.”
Even though she presented as no more than ten sun migrations, she was older than him by three hundred, thanks to the miracle of rebirth every one hundred sun migrations. Some in the Firewing clan had lived as long as two thousand sun migrations. It was understandable why off-worlders were often confused by this, and hence the reason his kind preferred the solitariness of the Bezchian deserts.
“May your meditations be insightful.” Ena quickened her pace as she passed him, her red and orange leggings molding to her spindly legs with her burst of speed. No doubt eager to avoid conversation with one as fallen as he.
“Aye, and your matches always strong.” Unlike his.
Ena continued along the path, and Kai turned his attention to finding an available white stone meditation perch to sit on. There, the one snuggled between two ember-berry bushes seemed to be waiting for him. And it would be in the full sun for a while, which was always nice. His current form was not old enough to regenerate yet, but was old enough to appreciate the warmth provided by Bezchi’s star.
He settled on the warm stone, pulled up one leg at a time to sit cross-legged—not an easy feat for one his age—and sighed out loud in bliss. The stone’s heat penetrated the wispy fabric of his leggings and eased into his muscles. He rested his hands on his knees and closed his eyes. The familiar sensation of calm settled over him as he slipped into a trance.
The trick now was to connect with his own elusive inner peace through his nearly four lifetimes of memories. Easier to anticipate then to achieve, as usual…but wait. There was something…wavering mirages of green. That was different. There was not much that was green in the desert.
The mirages solidified into…bushes? Yes, they were bushes dotted with some sort of deep red, layered flowers unlike any he had ever seen before. He lowered his gaze to the ground under his feet. Also green and lush in a way that his home was not.
A large, stone-lined pond materialized several paces ahead, at the farthest end of which was a fountain of water spraying upward before falling back down in misty droplets. He should be able to hear its soft pattering, but only complete silence pressed against his ears. It was odd, and somewhat disconcerting.
What is this place?
An answer to that question seemed unlikely without so much as a hint of enlightenment or familiarity from this vision.
A patch of air between him and the pond shimmered and morphed into a figure, similar to a Bezchian female, but without wings. How odd. He studied her from behind. The garment covering her form was most unusual. A lacey, cream colored, body-hugging sheath of some sort. It clung to her curves, flaring over her shapely backend and full hips, before ending mid-calf.
Why was he sharing this space with one clearly not of his world? She had not yet noticed him standing behind her; her attention seemed focused on the pond. He really should not engage her, but a strange impulse too strong to ignore urged him forward. She drew him like a desert moth to a flame-spider’s web, one tentative step at a time.
The bubbling sound of the fountain reached his ear, finally coming to life for no apparent reason. And bird song. Not a lot, but there were clear chirps emanating from the tall, droopy tree on the pond’s opposite shore.
His attention was riveted on the sprays of tiny white flowers woven into the female’s brown…what was that on top of her head? Not headfeathers, obviously. Whatever the soft-looking strands of silk were called, they were elegantly swept up into some kind of fastener. Something deep inside him stirred, a strange aching around his heart that all but stole his breath.
Who is she?
He must see her face. Must hear her voice. Must touch her, because all that would be enough to explain why he was here in this place with her.
The soft intake of her breath echoed in his ears, and she straightened as if she had sensed him.
“Who’s there?” Her whispered words were odd, foreign, yet he understood.
He stopped, frozen by indecision. Should he touch her, or wait for her to turn around? She was already turning her head, the soft curve of her jaw holding his gaze, a breath away from revealing her face….
“Kai Firewing.”
The garden, pond, and female snapped out of existence, replaced by the familiar sands of the Bezchian desert. And the beloved presence of Fia Firewing, his first mentor and Most Esteemed Elder of his youth. The mother-figure who had found her soul mate nearly two hundred sun migrations ago, and left the clan to join him as a mortal.
Fia smiled. “Hello, Kai.”
“F-Fia?”
She presented as she had been the last time he had seen her: young, around twenty-seven sun migrations. Her brilliant red headfeathers curled up at the nape of her neck, and her equally red wings arched high behind her.
“Forgive me for pulling you out of your first dreamwalk, but there was no choice. My time is limited and there are things you must know.”
“I…how are you here?” He squeezed his eyes shut tight, then opened them again. She was still there, hands in the pockets of her baggy purple leggings—the ones shot through with silver threads—and her white leather flying leathers. “This is not possible. You left the clan two lifetimes ago.”
“Aye, I assure you it is possible. You just have not learned the art of timeslipping yet.”
So this place was not real, only an image of the shifting dunes of home.
Fia drew one hand from her pocket and tucked it into the crook of his arm. “Come. Walk with me, my friend.”
All he could do was abide by her request and fall into step with her slow, meandering pace. “You risk timeslipping from the past to speak with me?”
That was something phoenixes did not learn to do until they were eight or nine hundred sun migrations. It took a lot of energy and focus. And if he was not mistaken, she was projecting herself from two hundred sun migrations in the past.
“Of course.” She said it as if it was no great feat, but it was. Timeslipping took several sun migrations to learn.
“I am humbled.” He frowned down at the sand. “But, why would you do this?”
“To be blunt, there is change coming, and you, my youngling, will be at the center of the storm.”
That sounded dire. Especially when he had spent his life trying to stay out of storms, both real and imaginary. But timeslipping…amazing. When in the throes of matching mates, all phoenixes could see the shadows of the couple’s possible futures, which was why their services were so highly valued. But Fia had been a clear-seer. She could see all possible visions of the future exactly as they would play out if they happened. For anyone, not just her matching assignments.
Obviously she had seen his future, and deemed it concerning enough to risk a timeslip.
He swallowed against the growing knot of apprehension lodged in his throat. “What did you see?”
“Great happiness, or devastating loss.” She met his gaze, and there was no duplicity in her golden eyes. Only concern. “I know that sounds evasive, but the final outcome depends on your acceptance of your destiny. I cannot tell you what you should do, but I can warn you that the future of our beloved Bezchi rests on your choices.”
The urge to burrow into the sand and hide from the emotional repercussions of her declaration enticed his internal empath. “Is that all?”
“Aye. All I can tell you without influencing your freedom of choice, anyway.”
“Why did you not tell me this before you left our colony?” That would have been a simpler, and safer, plan.
She stopped and faced him. “Have you forgotten how poorly you reacted when you learned I had met my soul mate, Avok?”
Shame burned his cheeks, and he lowered his gaze to stare at his toes. “I have not forgotten.”
Her departure to become mortal had driven him into an immature rage. Avok Rockdweller, a male who he had never met, would take his most beloved family member to her death. She would lose everything, give up her very life to be with him. It was so final to one so long-lived.
Fia cupped his cheek, a gesture he had once thought he would never experience again. “You were a youngling.”
“It was my second younglinghood. I should have known better.”
“Yet you behaved as one of only six sun migrations should. And that is all right.” Her soft sigh had the same echoing quality as the whispered words of the unknown female from his vision. Or dreamwalk, if Fia was correct. “Even though we retain our memories from rebirth to rebirth, our bodies and minds do react age-appropriately, most of the time. I will never hold your actions from then against you, Kai.”
He caught her hand between his. “I did not want you to die.” Still wish you had not.
“I know.” The truth of her words shimmered in her eyes.
“And, I am very sorry for making your departure harder, and less joyful, than it should have been.”
“I know that too.” Her smile widened. “Last thing, before Most Esteemed Elder Uri interrupts us…the female in your dreamwalk is—”
“Kyzel Raptorclaw did what?”
Most Esteemed Elder Uri’s angry shout jerked Kai from the timeslip, and the reality of the meditation garden crashed back firmly around him. He grabbed the edges of the stone perch and flared his wings out to keep from toppling over. As with an older body of any species, falling from even a small height was not without risk.
What in the howling winds was the most esteemed elder fuming about now?
Kai tilted his head to one side, but no more angry words came from Uri’s white adobe nest on the far side of the meditation garden. The whisper of the hot breeze through the pyre fronds once more filled the air, unchallenged, as it should be.
Whatever the most esteemed’s problem was, it would not involve Kai. No one would want to risk further embarrassment to the Firewing clan by asking for his help.
He rotated his shoulders and shook the tension from his wings. Like Fia, Uri was a strong leader for the clan, the eldest of the elders—one thousand migrations around the sun—which was a long time to live. Could it be that living that long made a bird crankier?
I hope not. He scrunched his nose. The mere thought was unbiddable.
“The female in your dreamwalk is….”
Is what? If only Uri had not interrupted before Fia finished her sentence. Was the stranger—clearly an off-worlder—somehow connected to his life-path? If so, it would have helped if she had turned completely and revealed her face. All he knew for certain was she was female, had brown head-silk, and was not Bezchian.
And what about the rest of Fia’s message? It sounded like he could be a harbinger of change. A shudder went through his wings. As if being an outcast was not enough.
A flash of topaz drew his attention to the thumbnail-sized fire-beetle climbing along the patagium of his wing. A quick finger-flick sent the insect tumbling through the air, the sunlight catching its faceted shell in rotating glints before it landed in an ember-berry bush.
Kai studied his wing feathers. The frosty silver of age seemed heavier on his secondaries than his primaries now—the much-loved deep garnet red of his wings in his youths all but gone. The body of this incarnation must be too old to be a part of the change to which Fia eluded. Perhaps he would have an early rebirth? That would hopefully reset his mate-matching abilities, even if he came out of regeneration early instead of going all the way back to infan—
“El-der Kai.” Uri’s voice cracked through the peace, again.
Kai jerked his head around. “Yes, Most Esteemed?”
Uri leaned out an open window of the adobe structure, his brilliant red feather cap catching the sun
’s light in a glittering array around his head. “Attend me, please.”
“Aye, Most Esteemed.”
He lowered his feet over the edge of the meditation perch until he found the ground. Ah, the bliss of curling his toes into the warm sand. He heaved himself up to stand, flexed his wings, extending and retracting the stiffness out of them, then gave them a shake back into place. One of the downsides of aging: his body seemed to respond less and less favorably to prolonged periods of inactivity.
He approached the red gossamer veils of the entrance to Uri’s nest, the sand shifting and churning under the soles of his feet. The memory of lacey white flowers against soft brown head-silk rose up, and he stopped. Who was she? And why would he walk through the dreams of a female he had never met? A female who had stirred the most unusual, and pleasant, feelings inside him. Breathless feelings without names. Ones he had never experienced with any female before.
Of course, all the females he knew were phoenixes, like him. His sisters. And they were in no way breath-stealing.
He gave his head a sharp shake and scrunched his face in a scowl. If he dreamwalked with her again, he would pay closer attention to discern who she was, and where she might live.
For now, his leader awaited him. He stepped into the cool main room of Uri’s nest, and inhaled the sweet-musky scent of the sacred cinbin spice. The room was wide, narrow, and sparsely furnished. To the right, a handful of straddle-perches, arranged in a circle for casual seating, sat atop a woven mat over the rough-rock floor. To the left, a chest-high table surrounded by ten tall perches with crimson cushions dominated the dining/meeting area. Long, wooden storage chests lined the walls at various intervals on both sides.
“There you are, Kai.” Uri paced from one end of the room to the other. “The situation is intolerable.”
The most esteemed elder was a mere thirty sun migrations into his current incarnation, and moved with the natural fluidity of his physical age.
Kai glided deeper into the room, toward the meeting table, savoring the gentle abrasiveness of the course stones against the bottoms of his feet. “What situation, Most Esteemed?”
