Dark Burn: Fated & Forbidden

by Decadent Kane

  Maneuvering his hips up, his pants slid free and he slipped out the rest of the way. His heart sputtered in his chest as he took several deep breaths and lay on his back. The cool of the floor penetrated through his shirt. Not a feeling he felt often, as his trench usually blocked out such things. After a few seconds, he flipped over, pushed himself up, and stood.

  "Looking for this?" Marcus asked. He held the trench up with one hand, the bottom dragging on the tiled floor. A smug smile played at his lips. He shook the material as if encouraging a bull.

  Doulzen's entire body raged. The man had touched his trench. No shade ever touched another's trench. To shadow hunters, the items they wore specifically to hunt were like talismans, sacred articles, and they never messed with each other's talismans. His hat was another such article, but thankfully, he hadn't needed to remove it to get out of the cage. He shook with a ferocity he wasn't used to, mostly disbelief followed by anger.

  "Drop it." The tone of his voice had dropped so low, become so vicious, Marcus did as he was told. Before he could slip away, Doulzen reached out with a quick hand and snagged him by the throat.

  Marcus squealed, unable to scream or yell or speak because Doulzen had his windpipe. He picked Marcus up, his toes flailing above the floor, drool sliding out of his open mouth, and he scratched with both hands at Doulzen's arm, trying to get free.

  If he killed the hekan sorcerer, they wouldn't get out.

  Doulzen scrunched his nose. He really wanted to just break the man, but he threw him backward, toward the women instead. Marcus landed with a hard crunch on the floor. Priya's head shot up with the sound. Doulzen bent down and retrieved his trench, flinging it behind him and around his shoulders, then shot both arms through their respective holes. The coat settled on him as if it belonged, resting, but ready when he needed to hide in the shadows. Doulzen resettled his hat and walked through whatever barrier had kept Priya from seeing him.

  Nothing would come between him and his mate again.

  Chapter 17

  Priya jumped back when a man hit the floor a few feet away. She took a tentative step forward to get a better look. It was the hekan! Should she go check on him or not? Then, as if a specter, Doulzen walked through the white wall. He'd set himself free. "How did you . . ." Her voice trailed off when his eyes met hers. There was an intensity there that shot straight through her. She heated under his gaze.

  "Let's get out of here. Marcus, buddy. Do us a little spell and you might yet live." Doulzen looked down at the hekan.

  Capri's face went white with Doulzen's words. Priya grabbed ahold of her and said, "It's okay. We will be free." But Capri kept pointing at Doulzen, who had picked Marcus up and was walking toward them.

  "Magic us out of here." Doulzen stepped to Priya's side, and the air thickened around them all as Marcus started chanting under his breath, presumably summoning his magic. Capri shook beside Priya, staring at Doulzen as if he were a monster. The world began to spin as Nicholas's voice trailed after her, a tilted world of white, then blue, then trees, and when she found her feet, she could still hear him . . .

  "You only hurt the ones you love." And then he was gone.

  Capri lost her balance and fell. Priya went to grab her, but the other woman backed up, scuttling away, her eyes stuck on Doulzen.

  "It's okay. Tell me what's wrong." Priya moved her eyes from Capri to Doulzen and back.

  "Shadow hunter."

  Priya stilled. No. That wasn't possible. "It's okay, he's not. He wouldn't hurt you. You're safe." She tried to coax the woman as a cold finger of dread ran up her spine. Priya reached for her, but Capri kept backing away, looking between her and Doulzen as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

  Capri's color returned, and as if she had reached inside and found some last ounce of courage, she jumped up and grabbed Priya's hand, pulling her away from Doulzen and Marcus. Priya let herself be led a few steps before stopping and pulling back. "Stop. Please, you don't have to be afraid. He's not a shadow hunter. I've spent a couple days with him. There's no way . . ."

  But her words fell short. She'd never really known him, had she? He hadn't eaten anything on the trip. He'd wanted her feathers . . .

  Priya looked back at Doulzen. Their eyes met, his pleading. Her heart thundered in her chest. She needed to know.

  "Are you?"

  She wished for him to answer . . . and not to answer. Could she handle it if he was? Why would it matter to her? He meant nothing in the long run. They had been traveling companions, nothing else. Then why did she feel this pull toward him?

  Doulzen dropped Marcus and took a hesitant step forward. He put his hands out before him and never stopped looking at her. "I am."

  Those two small words stopped her heart. The world spun in an entirely new way. How could she have been so stupid? Capri tugged on her, but her feet seemed cemented to the dirt. Fear and disbelief consumed her as his image blurred. Hot streaks fell down her cheeks. Why was she crying? "No," she heard her voice say. The word shook. It shouldn't matter. She should run. Why didn't her body fucking move?

  Heat enveloped her form, white feathers springing up as her emotions overruled her control, as she was unable to comprehend the truth. Capri changed to bird form beside her, bright orange and yellow. Priya's tail exploded into flames as she flapped. She just needed the sky. Her eyes zoned in on the clouds, the memory of her gran, the promise of safety and family and love, and pain flooded her heart. She flapped and flapped until she breached the skyline of blue and fluff as far as her eyes could see.

  Priya dove into a cloud and let go of her thoughts. Her body responded, going through the motions as always, soaring, diving, and boring holes through the clouds. Too much had happened. She didn't want to acknowledge any of it. She could just fly, fly until her wings hurt, until her body refused to move.

  It didn't matter what direction as long as it was away . . . away from him.

  Had he known she was a firebird the entire time? Was that why he'd never said anything? Had he planned to trap her in some kind of cage just like Nicholas had and drag her back to his clan and murder her as they had so many of her people?

  She let the wind cool her overheated body, combing through her feathers like soft fingertips. She dove and soared in zigzags, her tail feathers flaming all the way up to the middle of her back. She closed her eyes and could only see his face.

  Priya felt movement beside her, a presence she hadn't been aware of, and her eyes popped open. Capri flew beside her. Having made her presence known, she pulled in front and encouraged Priya to follow her. As Capri turned toward the east, Priya drank in the beauty and grace of Capri's movements, thankful for something else to concentrate on. She'd leave and never think about him again. She'd escape and once she found the others like her, like Capri, they'd be safe. They had to be.

  Capri's orange colors burned in the sunlight, and when her wings lifted, bright yellow covered the downy feathers of her underside. Such burning beauty. She flew as if it were a dance, an intricate weave between her and the air, swirling and twirling between each other. Priya dipped into a cloud and it danced for her as well, turning its puffs into circles and twists as she shaped her own creations from the mist. A sense of belonging and awe fell over Priya as she let Capri and her bird form take all of the ugliness of the day away.

  She inhaled fresh, cool air and let it out slowly, letting go of the cage, getting rid of Nicholas from her mind, and banishing what she'd done from her thoughts. She'd follow Capri and she'd be home.

  Priya closed her eyes and allowed the sunshine to warm her, giving her strength even as Doulzen's image followed in her wake.

  Chapter 18

  The flames engulfing the white firebird's tail feathers enchanted Doulzen as he watched his fated and more than forbidden mate fly away. Taken by her own will. He reached out for her, unable to fly after her; all he could do was watch as she disappeared into the clouds. He tried to process what he'd seen. When Priya had shifted, it had happen
ed suddenly, but not so fast that he hadn't seen the shadow nicking her wing.

  She'd been the one he had hunted like an animal.

  Bile coated the back of Doulzen's throat and he threw up, letting it spill on the ground. He'd consumed living people. His clan had murdered living people. Why hadn't the elders told them they were people? He had been so sure the doc had changed the other woman into a bird, but when Priya had shifted . . . he'd known deep down in the very depths of his shadows: all of them were human shifters. He wiped his mouth and spied Marcus slowly backing away. Doulzen's hand shot out and grabbed the little bastard by the arm.

  "Take me back to him." Doulzen would have to figure out where the other bird had come from because if his training had taught him anything, she would lead them somewhere safe. But he'd already vowed nothing would get between him and his mate again, and he wasn't about to let a little sky break his vow. Nicholas would answer all his questions.

  Marcus nodded and started chanting his magic again. The world spun and Doulzen wanted to reach out to make it stop, to grasp something physical, but knew he couldn't. She was just beyond his reach. When the desk appeared, Marcus collapsed to the floor, probably spent from all the magic he'd used. Doulzen looked down at the man. His breathing was a bit labored, but otherwise he seemed unharmed. Magic could take a lot out of a guy.

  "Thank god you finally showed back up. Get me out of this, Marcus. Where have you been?" Apparently Nicholas had found his voice again after what Priya had done to him.

  Doulzen smiled. He was going to enjoy this. "Sorry, Marcus is taking a nap. You and I need to have a little chat though." Without the bright lights from the other caged room, Doulzen was able to gather the shadows in this area under his trench. He walked through puddles of water, glass crunching beneath his feet. Nicholas tried to turn around, but the rope tying him to the bottom of the cage kept him in place.

  "You're free. What more could you want?" His voice shook.

  Doulzen hoped he was afraid. He should be after everything he'd already put his mate through. The man would give him answers or he'd break each finger one by fucking one until he did. He never liked harming others, but he wasn't a beginner at torture either. Shadow hunters went through rigorous training not just to hunt, but to keep their clan safe, to be ready for what he needed to do next. Though it hadn't readied him for a firebird being a person. "Where did you find the firebird?" Doulzen kept his voice low to intimidate the man.

  "Priya?"

  The cage rattled when Doulzen slammed his hand down on the bars. Nicholas whimpered with the pain as it shook his roped-up broken arm. "The other one."

  "Ovander. She lives in Ovander. Well, actually Luna Peak, just beyond the river. But the birds are careful. They don't let people in." Nicholas met his eyes.

  "How did you get her, then?" It irritated Doulzen just to look upon the man. His anger flared. He should take revenge for them both. He took a small breath, calming himself, steeling his rampaging thoughts. He willed himself calm.

  "I waited. Accidentally ran into her a couple times. Talked her into a few dates. Let me go and I'll help you get one."

  Doulzen raised an eyebrow. "I'm a shade. I hunt firebirds for a living. What would make you think I'd need your pathetic assistance?"

  "What—" Nicholas gulped. "What will you do with me, then?"

  Doulzen considered his options for a moment. He could leave him here . . . Marcus might eventually come to and help him. Doulzen intended to make quite an exit by killing the magic holding this place. He'd gathered a lot of shadows and they wanted revenge as much as he did. "Perhaps I'll drop you off at their doorstep?"

  "You wouldn't."

  "Are you afraid of them, Nicholas? You didn't seem so afraid earlier, when you had not one but two trapped down here."

  Nicholas seemed to struggle with something. His face turned red and a vein popped out on his forehead. He hissed. "And what will your clan think, oh mighty shadow hunter, when they find out you have it in for food?"

  Doulzen punched him in the face. The man fell back, then whiplashed forward as the rope on his wrist refused to let loose. Doulzen clenched his jaw. He had no idea what his clan would do. He'd talk to his elders . . . perhaps they didn't know? Though he knew in his heart that was unlikely. She wasn't food, and he couldn't bring himself to think of her as such. The very thought made his stomach roil. "Watch your mouth."

  Blood gushed from Nicholas's nose, and yet he smiled. A creepy little pull of his lips as blood spread along his teeth. Doulzen resisted the urge to punch him again.

  How to find his way into the birds' home? He truly had nothing going for him. He was a shadow hunter, apparently one they knew on sight, after the way the orange bird had reacted to him. He couldn't blame her. He was her boogeyman in the night, the shadow stalking her people . . . waiting to devour their souls. They likely told stories about his cruelty, and they were right to. He had nothing they would accept. Not his word, not his being. Could he pop in and steal Priya from them? If he did, then it would not create the bond he'd hoped for with her, the bond required for the woman who wanted to make him human, to take everything away. No, he needed an in. Perhaps Nicholas as a present wasn't the worst idea after all.

  Doulzen stalked over to Marcus and slapped the man in the face to wake him, tugging Nicholas behind. "Let's go, magic man."

  Marcus's eyes popped open, bloodshot. He looked at Nicholas, then Doulzen. "I can't use my magic. I've used too much."

  "Get us out this one last time and I'll give you a break." Doulzen's voice came out harsher than he'd intended. The poor guy was using quite a lot, but he'd chosen to side with the bad guy.

  Marcus nodded and began weaving his ritualistic heka once more, the words shaking with fatigue.

  Chapter 19

  Priya flew over Ovander. The city was beautiful. So much bigger than the small community she had been brought up in. They had flown high, and she scanned the world below. She reveled in the very wonders of such a new place. Buildings rose high in the center of town, ringed by clusters of houses, mixed with trees, and split by roads. Parks with kids playing were scattered around the area, cars honked along bigger roads, and the sun's evening rays glinted off glass everywhere. They'd traveled via air the entire way. Her wings hurt from the amount of time she'd been flying, but her body was renewed at the sight of Ovander. It was more than she'd thought it would be.

  Capri looked back at her with an open beak, the avian equivalent of a smile, and then dove below into a cluster of trees. Priya followed. They landed in a covered area. Priya and Capri shook out her feathers, then turned human. Capri still wore the lab coat.

  "You're a white bird." Capri's voice cracked a little, in awe, Priya assumed, or so it sounded. "I've never seen one. We all assumed you were extinct."

  "We all?" Priya's heart fluttered. Did she know Shara Sullen? Priya would find them, others just like her. A place. A home. Tears stung the corners of her eyes and she dabbed at them with her pinkies, trying not to cry. She didn't want Capri to think less of her because she couldn't keep her emotions in check. She wanted the woman to like her, the other birds to accept her.

  "You must come and meet our elder. She will know what comes next. She keeps us all safe. Where have you been?"

  "Lost." Priya couldn't say anything else. All her bad moments had led her here, to a place where she belonged. Why had Gran kept her away? To keep her safe? Wouldn't this elder have kept them both safe? Capri grabbed Priya's hand and tugged her forward into Ovander. She followed, her heart filled with such hope.

  "Our elder spends a lot of time in the city. She has a home here, but we don't actually live in the city. We live up there." Capri pointed up to a high, distant peak overlooking the city and the river.

  "Why?"

  "Because we don't want just anyone to find us. The shadow hunters have gotten so numerous that we started to get really good at hiding." Capri flashed a smile over her shoulder and let go of her hand.

 
"Wouldn't they just find your hiding place? Isn't that what they do?" Priya walked on the sidewalk as Capri led her toward an old home with a small wraparound porch, other homes nestled on either side. The paint was peeling, but the house seemed otherwise in good repair.

  "They might know of us, but they could never get in. We use our feather magic to block the shadow hunter's dark magic. Anyone who has it within them can't enter. Though I haven't known of a single hunter who has found the place yet. So how effective it really is, I don't know. I've lived there all my life and no hunter has come. Just Nicholas. And he found me here in Ovander." Capri sneered his name as if it were poison in her mouth. Priya didn't blame her—the nasty slimeball had been a tricky one, working as a janitor near Priya and keeping a mad science torture chamber under cover. But now he was trapped in his own mad science lab, which suited Priya just fine as long as he couldn't come find her again.

  "How long were you with him?"

  "A few weeks. I can't wait to feel safe again. When I get back, I'm taking an extremely long shower and burning this retched lab coat." She bounced up the five stairs leading to the porch.

  Priya's heart ran rampant in her chest, beating so wildly that Priya swallowed to drown out the sound in her ears. She was about to meet more of her kind. Her palms were sweaty and she rubbed them along her jeans as they came to the door. Capri turned the copper doorknob and Priya tried to keep herself from passing out. She let go of a held breath and took a few smaller ones as dizziness set in.

  The door swung open. Priya walked in behind Capri, holding the doorway for support. Her feet sounded like they stomped over the old wooden flooring. A woman sat on a soft-looking brown couch, fiddling with her staff. Her platinum-silver hair was pulled into in a tight bun. Her gray pinstriped pantsuit was pristine and commanding. Her head swiveled toward them and her eyes, though smoky with what looked like cataracts, glinted when the sun's rays reached them. It had nearly set below the horizon, casting the sparsely decorated room in hues of orange and pink. Pictures of firebirds hung on all the walls Priya could see, as if surrounding the room in a cascade of orange, feathery fire. It complemented the woman sitting in the middle of the room.