Up in Flames

by Trista Ann Michaels

  “You were under for over forty-five days. I’m amazed you even remember anything at all.”

  She tried to sit up. “I need to get home. I need to…” Sobs again racked her body. “I need to bury my dad.”

  Hayden pushed her back down. “Cara, listen to me. You’re very weak. Your muscles have atrophied. It’s going to take a few days to get you back on your feet.”

  Cara shook her head and swallowed back another round of tears. Why couldn’t she stop crying? And more importantly, why was she crying to begin with? Mundi didn’t feel emotion. They kept them buried too deep inside. “I can’t stop. Make it stop.”

  “I can’t, sweetheart, and my guess is neither can you.”

  Cara rolled to her side and lost herself to the overwhelming sadness. She cried till her whole body ached. Hayden stayed with her the entire time, his hand softly rubbing her back, his soothing voice telling her everything would be okay. Why didn’t it feel like it? And why was she feeling anything at all? What had that vorshune gas done to her?

  HAYDEN WATCHED CARA with mounting concern. After arriving at home on Daego, he’d done some research on the Mundi. Their ability to suppress emotion was impressive to say the least. Mundi who had grown old and lost the ability to control the emotions usually went mad. Would that be Cara’s fate, or once she became stronger, would the ability come back to her?

  She was young. Theoretically, she should be able to integrate emotion back into her life if she wanted. More than likely, she’d lived without emotion for so long, the ones she experienced would be incredibly overwhelming to her. He would need to figure out a way to help her.

  Now that she was awake, he needed to call Ambassador Dorn.

  * * * *

  Cara held on to the railing as she very slowly made her way down the stairs on shaky legs. She felt so weak, so unsteady on her own feet, she had to stop every couple of steps to catch her breath and allow her muscles to rest.

  She’d never been this weak in her life, and the feeling of helplessness angered her. She’d called for Hayden, but he never came. Where was he, and for that matter, where was she?

  She stopped two-thirds of the way down and took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure she could make it the rest of the way. Her legs were shaking so hard she could barely keep herself upright.

  “Hayden?” she called.

  The last couple of days were nothing but foggy memories and jumbled nightmares. Raw emotions had left her feeling beaten and confused. But through it all, Hayden had been by her side. He was the only anchor in her mental storm.

  Was this what it felt like when the older Mundi lost their minds? Was that what was happening to her?

  Taking a deep breath, she made her way down the last few steps. Finally at the bottom, she sighed in relief and looked around the room.

  She stood in what appeared to be an entry hall. A massive double door led outside, flanked on either side by two large windows that overlooked a yard and trees.

  She remembered Hayden saying they were on Daego. She’d heard of the small resort moon but had never visited. She’d also heard of the name Marcone but couldn’t remember from where. Part of her wondered if maybe she should be concerned. Had Hayden kidnapped her? Were they just waiting for the opposing side to show up and kill her?

  That idea just didn’t feel right. She felt safe with Hayden. He took care of her, held her when she cried, soothed her fears when she would awaken from a nightmare. She’d never had nightmares her entire life, but now she seemed to be overwhelmed by them. Violent, harsh images that left her shaking and terrified.

  Behind the stairs was a hallway. Noise came from that end of the house, so she began to very carefully make her way there.

  The first room to the right was large with bookcases and a fireplace. A warm fire burned in the box, inviting her inside. She decided to get closer. She couldn’t seem to shake this cold.

  “What the hell are you doing up?”

  Cara spun too quickly at the familiar sound of the deep voice. She lost her balance and began to fall. Two strong arms snaked out, catching her around the waist and pulling her back up. She lifted her head and stared into the handsome face of her rescuer. She knew it was the man who’d helped her, for she recognized his voice, but she’d never really gotten a good look at his face. She’d been too out of it.

  At least until now. Now she got an excellent view, and the chiseled contours of his masculine face left her feeling very much out of sorts.

  He had long, thick platinum-blond hair that just reached his wide shoulders. Gray eyes the color of storm clouds watched her with concern, and full lips tilted up slightly in amusement at her speechless perusal. She had the oddest desire to run her fingers through that hair and see if it felt as soft as it looked.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Cara licked her lips, unsure what to say as an unusual sensation coursed through her body. She’d never felt this and wasn’t sure how to handle it.

  “I’m, uh… You’re that doctor that helped me.”

  “Yes. Do you remember my name?”

  “Hayden Marcone,” she whispered.

  Hayden smiled and pushed her away from him. “That’s good.”

  “The name Marcone… I know it from somewhere.”

  “Probably the senate. My brother is Christian Marcone, the senator from Tilarus.”

  “That’s where. My father’s mentioned him.”

  “What are you doing out of bed?” he asked again.

  Watching her closely, he kept his hands at her waist as she steadied herself. Now that she had a little breathing room, his proximity didn’t affect her quite as badly.

  “I think if I had to lay in that bed another minute, I was going to lose my mind. Even more than I already have.”

  He chuckled, and the deeply masculine sound made her stomach flutter. She turned and very slowly made her way to the fireplace. She sat on the hearth and sighed at the warmth.

  “I can’t seem to get warm,” she said.

  “That will pass,” Hayden replied as he sat on the hearth facing her.

  She lowered her eyes and studied his wide chest and muscular arms visible beneath the short sleeves of his shirt. Even his forearms were strong, with thick veins running just under the skin. She swallowed and raised her gaze back to his face. His very gorgeous face.

  “Where am I?” she asked. “I know we’re on Daego, but…”

  “You’re at my home,” Hayden replied. “Or rather the family home.”

  She glanced around nervously. “There are other people here?”

  “Usually this place is crawling with people. This is where the family gathers.” He glanced up toward the ceiling. “It’s so big it can hold pretty much everyone in the immediate family plus a few others we consider family.” He looked back at her and smiled. “But for now, it’s just us.”

  “Why are we here? How did we get here?”

  “Your cryotube was found by the ship I was on. It had a beacon on it only a military ship would’ve been able to pick up. The message you had with you said to keep you hidden, so I brought you here for now.”

  She frowned. “What message?”

  “Whoever put you in the tube left a message about who you were and what had happened.”

  “Lenak,” she murmured as she tried to remember the events after finding her father. “I think he was the one who put me in the tube.” She raised her hand and touched her neck at the memory of a sharp pain. “I don’t think I went willingly.”

  Had he made it out okay? Was he still alive?

  “Did you hear what happened to my ship?”

  “There wasn’t a ship. Just the cryochamber.”

  Cara rubbed her neck as she tried to remember what happened to Lenak.

  “Are you worried about the person who put you in the tube?” Hayden asked softly.

  She nodded. “I can’t remember what happened or why he put me in that thing.”

  “Probably to save your lif
e. It was a risk, but you seem to be doing okay for now.”

  She dropped her hand. “I don’t feel okay. I shouldn’t be feeling anything at all, yet…” She looked at him, and her eyes narrowed. “Why am I feeling things?”

  “The effects of the gas possibly. When you first woke up, you seemed confused. Maybe the momentary memory loss was enough to open the floodgates. Now that they’re out, they’ll be much harder to control.”

  Cara licked her lips and nodded.

  “Do you remember living with emotion at all?” Hayden asked.

  Cara shook her head.

  “Do you recognize the emotion when you feel it?”

  “For the most part, I think.”

  Hayden nodded. “You may experience mood swings for a while until you become more accustomed to them or relearn to bury them.”

  Cara rolled her eyes. “Great.”

  Hayden’s lips twitched. “How do you feel now?”

  She frowned at him. “Confused.” She thought about it for a second. “Agitated. Frustrated.” Her gaze met his, and she swallowed at the tingling that worked its way through her gut. “Weird.”

  “Weird how?”

  Her frown deepened, and she felt the strangest heating in her cheeks. “I don’t know,” she snapped.

  “Okay,” he said with a soft chuckle. “We’ll let this go for now. I need to ask you something else anyway.”

  She sighed and nodded.

  “In the message, it said to contact Ambassador Dorn about your survival.”

  She sat up straighter as the mention of Dorn’s name made her heart skip in excitement. “Alex?”

  “So you know him?” Hayden asked.

  “Yes, he’s…he was the son of my father’s best friend. He lived with us for a while. He’s the driving force behind this treaty with the…senate.” She tilted her head and stared at Hayden. “Do you suppose they’ll go after him as well?”

  Hayden shook his head. “It’s doubtful. As ambassador, he doesn’t have the legal right to make decisions without your father present. Or now you.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not true.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My father gave him additional powers. Alex can act in my father’s absence.” She tried to stand but fell back down. “We have to get to him.”

  “Relax, Cara.”

  “Don’t tell me to relax,” she snapped.

  Hayden’s lips twitched in amusement, but other than that, he showed no sign of her words affecting him at all. “There’s that first mood swing.”

  “That’s not funny,” she snarled and tried to stand again. Her legs were just so damn weak. When she failed again, she sighed and glared at Hayden. “Do you mind? I could use some help.”

  “Alex is fine.” Hayden pushed her back down to the hearth. “I just talked to him not two hours ago.”

  Cara relaxed a little. “Does he know I’m alive?”

  “Not yet. I just told him I needed to talk to him and that it was important. If you had concerns about meeting him, then I would’ve kept your survival a secret for now.”

  She shook her head. “No. We need to tell him. He needs to step forward and sign that treaty with the senate.”

  Cara let out a tired breath and leaned back against the stone by the firebox. The heat from the stone seeped into her back, warming her. She suddenly felt very tired. “When will he be here?”

  “Three days.”

  Cara sighed and stared at the ceiling. “How well can you get me in three days?”

  Hayden snorted. “How hard do you want to work?”

  She studied his handsome face, and her stomach actually felt as though it flipped inside her. She’d never felt anything like this, and she didn’t like it. Not at all.

  “You can’t just shoot me up with something or give me a pill?”

  Hayden gave her a half smile that made her heart skip a beat. “It’s not that simple. Strength building is something you have to do. It’s not something I can give you.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “We work on building your strength and endurance.”

  “When do we start?”

  Hayden stood and held his hand out to her. “After you eat.”

  Cara stared at his hand, wondering if she touched him again if that weird fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach would return.

  “I won’t bite, Cara,” he said.

  His voice held just a hint of amusement, but his eyes shone with compassion and understanding. He made her feel safe, which was odd. Never in her life had she needed to rely on someone else for anything, most of all safety. It was a very strange predicament she found herself in, and she wasn’t sure how to deal with it.

  She chewed at her lower lip. Hayden didn’t rush her. He waited patiently as though he knew how she struggled with her feelings. Either he was incredibly astute, or she was incredibly transparent.

  She lifted her arm and placed her fingers in his palm. When his warm hand closed around hers, a tingling began in her wrist that quickly traveled up her arm. She jerked her hand away, startled at the sudden hitch in her breathing and the way her whole body heated.

  He frowned slightly. “Something wrong?”

  She shook her head. Tightening her resolve, she made her best effort to shove those strange feelings to the back of her mind, to the deepest recesses of her consciousness. She placed her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet.

  Chapter Five

  Hayden watched the play of emotions across her blue eyes. He’d never seen anyone with eye color that matched their hair. The light blue was striking against her fair skin.

  “We’re going to walk slowly to the kitchen,” he said as he settled her hand at his elbow, then covered it with his.

  Her fingers were cold, and they trembled against his arm. Part of it could be weakness. Part of it could be the confusion and sparks of desire that occasionally ignited within the depths of her gaze. In truth, Hayden had trouble hiding his own attraction. She was beautiful—stunning, actually.

  Her hair hung halfway down her back and curled softly on the ends. She was about the same height as Miya and barely reached his shoulders since he was taller than average. Her muscle definition was obvious, even with the atrophy. It wouldn’t take her long to get her strength back.

  He had a hard time imagining this weak, almost meek creature as a trained, emotionless killer.

  “If you were the chancellor’s only child, why were you made a Mundi?” Hayden asked as they slowly worked their way down the hall toward the kitchen at the back of the house.

  “When it was discovered I had the power of telekinesis, he wasn’t given a choice.”

  Hayden raised his eyebrow in surprise. “You’re telekinetic? What can you move?”

  “Most anything.” She stopped and sighed tiredly. “Except myself, unfortunately.”

  “You’re doing fine. We’ll continue when you’re ready.”

  She drew in a slow breath, then took another step forward. Hayden stayed by her side, matching his pace to hers. “Today will be your roughest. Tomorrow you’ll be a little sore. We don’t want to overload the muscles, so when I say it’s time to stop, we stop.”

  “I’m very tough—”

  “I’m sure you are, but we still stop when I say so. You may be tough, Cara, but you still have human physiology, therefore, you can be injured. We don’t want to set you back.”

  “Fine,” she growled.

  Hayden pushed the door open that led to the kitchen. Four people stopped talking and turned to stare at them in surprise.

  An older woman smiled. “She’s up.”

  Cara frowned. “I thought you said we were alone.”

  “We are—well…except for the skeleton staff. They always stay here even if the family is out.” The older woman came forward, wiping her hands on the towel. “Cara, this is Beena. She’s over the staff. Behind her is the cook, Marcel, the gardener, James, and one of the maids, Kendra.�
��

  “Hello,” Cara said as Hayden led her to a table.

  Cara slowly sat down and stared out the massive window overlooking the back garden. There was a lake just a few yards away, steam rising softly toward the gray sky.

  “Is that lake heated?” she asked, genuinely curious.

  “It’s heated by the thermal caves. There’s steam this morning because the temps are very cool today.” Hayden took the seat across from her and studied the gray clouds. “It’s probably going to rain.”

  “No probably about it,” Beena said as she walked over. She smiled sweetly at Cara, reminding her of an elderly grandmother. “Are you hungry, dear?”

  “Starving, actually,” Cara replied.

  “That’s a good sign,” she said, then turned to Hayden. “I know you’re hungry.”

  Hayden grinned at Cara. “She thinks all I do is eat.”

  “Uh-huh,” Beena said as she moved to grab some things from the refrigerator. “He’s been that way his whole life. Just like his father, he is always eating. I swear, I don’t know where he puts it.”

  Cara fought a grin and turned to stare out the window. She knew where he put it—in all those glorious muscles. Why couldn’t she stop thinking about that? Before, she could look at men and not feel a thing. When she looked at Hayden, she felt things she didn’t understand…things that took her breath and left her shaking. What did it all mean? She needed to get her mind off it.

  She turned back to Hayden. “How is it that a doctor is so…” She raised her hands and held them up, measuring his shoulders from a distance.

  “Built?” he asked.

  “I was going to say muscular. Even Mundi are not built like that. They’re leaner. Fast.”

  Hayden took the cup of steaming liquid Beena handed him. “Thanks, Beena,” he said, then took a sip. “And what does being a doctor have to do with the way I’m built?”

  Cara shrugged one shoulder. “Nothing, I suppose. Just all the doctors I know are thin and scholarly.” Beena set a cup before her as well. “What is this?” Cara asked as she studied the dark liquid inside.