The Call of Fire: A Natura Elementals Novel

by Sloane Calder

  “Let’s get you cleaned up.” He came up behind her.

  She took several deep breaths, then straightened. “I’ll do it. Cleaning up vomit and hot messes isn’t in your job description. Give me some space.”

  He moved back, eyeing how small she looked with her shoulders slumped and her hair in a sad swath cutting across her face.

  “Do you see? Do you see now why I’m giving up everything to save him? Do you see what Lach’s going to become if I don’t do something?”

  Streaks of black trickled down her cheeks, her irises a brilliant green against the red rims of her eyes. He should honor her request to stay back, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t leave her standing there in tears. He couldn’t leave her alone. He looked over his shoulder toward the door. No one had followed to check on her, but it wouldn’t be long before someone did.

  “I got you.” He dabbed at the trails of mascara with a cloth.

  “I can’t let Lach get like that.” Her folded arms tightened at her midsection. “I can’t…that can’t happen to my brother, and I can’t fail. This treatment is the one thing I can do to help not only him, but our race. I’ve grabbed the only straw there is.”

  His heart faltered, and he remembered all the things he’d assumed her to be. She was supposed to be a penthouse rich bitch, draped in diamonds and makeup and attitude, with standing appointments and a staff. Like he was a straight-up killer with no heart, no emotion, no humanity.

  He’d judged her, expected her to be Seanair’s protégé, a typical Lennox who cared about power, not people. Yet, here she was, wanting to save not only her brother, but their race from a dreadful, debilitating disease.

  “Come over to the sink.” He took her arm and walked to the wide basin.

  A chime sounded. Elspeth reached beneath her arm into the dress and pulled out a phone. Questions pelted him about how she’d stashed a phone there, but her exhausted sigh had him bending to get into her sight line.

  Her head fell forward, and her phone hand dropped to her side. He grabbed the cell to see what had upset her.

  You look gorgeous. I’m excited to finally meet you next week and finalize our plans. Yuri

  “Looks like he passed Zum’s text test. It’s not racy, though.” Elspeth turned on the water, leaning over the sink and rinsing out her mouth. She checked her face in the mirror and shook her head like she was a hopeless cause

  He frowned at her Lennox-like tone and the stiff-upper-lip posture he didn’t like on her.

  “Why didn’t Seanair buy the treatment?” He placed the phone next to the sink and swept her hair over her shoulders. The strands were thick and soft, and he remembered how his Air energy had stuttered when he’d braced himself above her, all of him, in awe of her.

  “The Russians refused money. They want powerful heirs, and that requires me.” Her chin quivered, and her nose had reddened. “I know the treatment only buys time, but it’s better than the alternative.” She picked up her phone. “What if I don’t feel anything for Yuri? What if there’s no chemistry at all? I want my brother to live until we find another option or a cure.” Her expression crumpled, her eyes pinching shut. “But a part of me doesn’t want this. At all. How can I be so selfish? This is life-or-death for Lach, and I’m worried I won’t fall in love.”

  She put her back to him, grabbed the edge of the sink, and started to sob. Her shoulders rounded, and her head hung in misery.

  The weight of her sadness tore at him, his Air ability to sense others’ emotions suddenly cranked up. He put his hands on her shoulders, turned her, and pulled her against him. She stiffened, and he tightened his grip.

  “Breathe. I’ve got you.” Frustration boiled inside him. All he could do was hold her, and Goddess, why couldn’t he do more?

  Her hands rubbed up his chest, a guarantee she’d push him away. When her fingers closed around the lapels of his jacket instead, something loosened inside him.

  “I’ve got to find a way to accept this. Yuri’s going to be here next week. My poker face only holds for so long.”

  He cringed at her flat, hopeless tone.

  The idea of her faking anything with the guy she was going to marry ripped off the internal duct tape he’d slapped over the memories of his sappy-in-love parents. There was something comforting to a kid to see his mom’s coy smile and his dad’s cocky grin. To watch his dad sneak up and wrap his arms around his mother’s waist while she was making dinner.

  He pressed his lips to the top of her head. Kissed her hair. Didn’t move. He slid his hand up the dress to her exposed upper back and traced easy twirls beneath her hair. Rocking her slowly, he swayed, a dance to the world’s slowest music.

  She stiffened and pushed away. “I can’t be near you like this. You make me want things I can’t have.”

  “I won’t pretend I don’t understand, but we both know you and me, we…can’t.”

  “I can’t what? Want you?” She stuttered a harsh laugh and returned to the sink. “Too late, I’m afraid.” An eon, an eternity, passed as their eyes met in the mirror. “I want a chance with you.”

  He shut down his instincts, hard and fast. There was no chance. There was no want.

  “What we want isn’t in the cards, Elspeth. I’m sorry.”

  She grabbed a guest towel, dampened it, and swiped beneath her eyes and around her mouth. She tossed the used towel into the bin.

  “This is why I hate makeup.” She studied her reflection, taking another towel and leaning forward to touch up beneath her eyes. “Let me put myself back together. I have to get back, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to see me like this.”

  Her scent wove into him, a complex, strange aroma laced with hints of fresh air and flowers. If he hadn’t known different, he’d have thought her powered.

  “Don’t be embarrassed. You’re beautiful. And kind. Lach is lucky to have you.” He wanted to go on, but words weren’t enough.

  She held up a hand. “No more compliments. Please. You’ve done more for me than I deserve, and I can’t keep hoping for something that won’t happen.”

  The need to reassure her, something completely foreign to him, ran over his common sense. “No, it can’t happen, but I’ll always be here for you. Even after this is all over.”

  She leaned back against the counter, her Lennox game face back on. “You can’t promise that.”

  “I can. You can call me whenever, from now until the end of time, and I’ll come to you. Help you.”

  “Help me. How noble,” she scoffed softly. “Would it shock you to know what I want with you is far baser and more primal?”

  How little she knew him if she used noble to describe him. But he was deadly serious. Absurd as the truth was, he’d protect her if she asked for him, but he couldn’t give her what she wanted, no matter that his body was hard and straining toward her, willing to agree to whatever she proposed.

  She couldn’t understand how the ordeal in the alley had fused them, joined them in a way that could never be severed. He wouldn’t lie to her or give her false hope. Nor would he admit that, every minute, she peeled him like an onion, ripping away years of self-preservation and focus. He had to get her to that altar. He had to answer the Goddess’s call. He had to avenge his father.

  But for as long as he could, he’d be her watchman.

  “At the end of the day, how do you think this would work?” He wondered how she could ignore the obvious. “I’m working class, and you’re the granddaughter of the most powerful Natura in the world. If your grandfather discovered I’d laid a finger on you, what do you think would happen?”

  He gave zero fucks about what Seanair would do, but he had to distract her and get her focused on something besides him. And he needed to get his own body and wild-ass thoughts in line before he fucked up not only her world, but the plans that had ruled his life for the last twelve years.

  “I find I don’t care what my grandfather thinks anymore. All my life, I’ve tried to gain his approval. I finally
like myself, and I’m proud of who I am. I’m enough, even without power. I am enough.”

  No, she was everything. Everything he’d once hoped for and dreamed about. She was the future he’d once foreseen for himself, the embodiment of what he’d wanted from life. He’d longed to do a Fire job, siphon off the world’s rising heat, return the swamps’ temperature to normal levels, come home every day, steal up behind his wife while she was doing whatever, wrap her in his arms, and make love to her on the closest flat surface.

  “You are enough, and you’re also right.” He pulled out his phone and checked the time. “We’ve got to get you back to the table. But tell me, before we head out, how this treatment you’re trading your life for works. I’d like to run it by some friends.”

  She gave herself a final glance in the mirror. “I’m no scientist, but my understanding is they push the element into the patients to complement the third one that shouldn’t be there, effectively neutralizing the third power by giving them a fourth.”

  One, there were no quad-powered people. A Nexus was a myth, the biggest pie-in-the-sky dream in the world, the Natura version of every Marvel and DC superhero rolled into one. Two, there was no way to artificially augment a power. As a Natura, you were born with power, or you weren’t. If you were a witch or warlock, you either had an inner vessel to fill with called power, or not. Period.

  “How do they push an element into someone?” Thank the Goddess, his attempt to get her to change gears worked.

  “It’s closest to a human bone marrow transplant. They have to take a Natura’s inherent powers down to nothing, like lowering a human’s immune system, then they take the marrow from the bones and add the fourth element via some process they haven’t told us about yet, then slowly reintroduce the reconstituted marrow back into the patient.” She smoothed her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. “I’ve seen data on thirty people. The time to equalization’s different for each person, but they’re all stable.” She met his gaze. “Best of all, since they started the treatment, no one’s died.”

  He didn’t know what to say. If it were one of his brothers, he’d do whatever it took to help Emeric, Laz, or Zeph, estranged or not.

  Still, this “science” sounded more like a sham. “We can’t just add energy to our bone marrow like syrup on pancakes.”

  His second mantle wouldn’t have taken hold and bonded with his primary one if his father hadn’t died.

  “There’s more to the process, but they won’t reveal more than the basics until Yuri and I are married. Believe me, our scientists were skeptical too. This treatment is the one thing I can do for Lach, and maybe others. If sacrifice is my superpower, then I’ll be a lamb.”

  His brain stalled. A full-on time-out. How could he could have been so wrong about her? He’d gotten glimpses she was different, and he’d assumed her lack of power would have made her helpless.

  But then she’d turned the tables on him and made him want. Need. Desire.

  Damn it all to human hell. He had to shut down all the thinking and get back to doing. Get her back to that table. Get his priorities back in order.

  Get her to the chapel.

  Kill Seanair.

  Die in a firestorm of revenge by the North American powers that be.

  Simple, really.

  A knock sounded.

  “Elspeth? Are you in there?”

  A little zing zapped him right in the invisible friendship bracelet. Of course, Half Gallon would show up now.

  Elspeth caressed his cheek, the heat from her palm stilling him. “Thank you for this.” She gestured vaguely around the bathroom. “You’re a good man, Aleron.”

  There was only one good thing in that room, and it sure as hell wasn’t him.

  More damned knocking.

  “Just a second,” she answered, her tone pitched high.

  She flipped the lock and opened the door.

  “Holy wilted prom date. Girl.” Kazumi dug frantically in her purse and pulled out a long black tube. “Praise be for Chanel. Hold still.”

  Kazumi turned on the tap and got to work restoring Elspeth’s mascara, then pulled out small black cases of makeup, muttering under her breath as she touched up Elspeth’s face.

  Steam finally poured from the sink, and little HG shot him a glare. “Behold the power of water, Easy-Bake.”

  She did a voilà-wave thing and channeled the cloud of heated vapor toward the dress. The wrinkles vanished.

  “I’ve got soooo many skills.” Kazumi linked arms with Elspeth and headed out the door.

  He walked the required step behind, repelling the curious looks of passing guests with his trademark I-will-fry-you glare. The clamor of ballroom conversations rose higher, Seanair’s speech evidently over. Utensils clinked against plates. Waitstaff poured in and out of the room.

  You’re a good man, Aleron.

  No, he wasn’t. He was a machine. Paid to hurt others and eliminate complications. The one who was going to kill her grandfather without an ounce of remorse.

  Why had he held her, comforted her, wiped away her tears? She was inside him now. Her scent. Her emotions. Her laughter. Her kindness.

  Her heartache.

  He’d kissed her for much longer than he’d healed her, which made her a problem now on par with Seanair. The idea of killing the spark in her eyes when she looked at him…

  Goddess, how had he aced becoming his own worst enemy?

  They climbed the steps with Kazumi pulling him aside at the top long enough to whisper, “We need to chat later.” She proceeded to the table, going on about champagne and tequila and celebrating with the Costas.

  “So glad you could rejoin us, Elspeth.” Something dark cut through Seanair’s light blue eyes. “You missed my speech by two minutes.”

  “I’m sorry, Grandfather.” She sat after Aleron pulled out her chair. “I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m better now.”

  He took his seat, keeping his gaze on their leader, sensing the coming strike with no way to counter the cruelty.

  “Don’t worry, dear.” Seanair picked up his champagne and tilted the glass toward her. “I’m used to you missing the mark.”

  Elspeth didn’t respond but picked up her dessert spoon and tapped through the hardened sugar top of her crème brûlée.

  Everything in Aleron revved to incinerate Seanair right there. He met his boss’s gaze and cut his glance to Rob Costa, having to use a poor, dying man as a sickly scapegoat to explain his power surge.

  Seanair fired off a control-yourself frown, then resumed drinking and eating and charming the table’s guests.

  He schooled his expression and focused on his plate, adding one more thing to his list of problems. Something wasn’t right about the arranged marriage or the treatment, and the little spout of Water he’d made a pact with didn’t like it either. Then there was that cocked-up Astrux still out there.

  He’d kill Seanair, but first, he decided, taking a nice long drink of his water, he was going to make sure Elspeth Lennox wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life.

  Elspeth glanced at her computer calendar, which showed the week blocked off in solid purple. She hadn’t planned on working forty hours in three days at the office. But after a weekend of being only feet away from Aleron but a million miles apart, she’d take hellacious hours at Kindred over the torture of his silence.

  Aleron had canceled her Goodbye, Manhattan Tour, and the snowball of things she had to complete had started its final roll, and she felt like…stopping. Pushing a pause button on the world with only her and Aleron in it.

  Humans considered Mother Nature a cruel bitch, but Father Time was the remorseless thief.

  She closed her eyes, focused on the beat of the thing that kept her alive, and realized the one power she’d wish for over all others.

  Time.

  She’d stop time. Right now. Freeze it. Lach’s disease wouldn’t progress. Her marriage contract would remain locked in the Kindred database. And she’d hav
e Aleron all to herself. They could explore each other’s bodies, confide their secrets, fall asleep and awaken in the shelter of each other.

  “Want to order salad Niçoises from the new French bistro down the street?”

  She looked up, realizing Ross had walked in, and Goddess knew how long he’d been standing there. “How about cheeseburgers, fries, and lemon bars from the deli on the corner?”

  His mouth rumpled, his expression going full sour professor. “You had that yesterday.”

  “Comfort food.” She straightened the files on her desk, not about to mention she’d had a tough time buttoning her black, skinny jeans today—the ones with generous stretch.

  “You still planning on the lace mermaid gown? The one you selected prior to your French fry bender? It’s not boding well for the final fitting.” He held up his hands at her scowl. “No judgment. I do the same thing with chocolate, but we need to call the seamstress at Bridal Reflections to see about changing out the zipper for a medieval lace-up with an expansion placket.”

  Elspeth took a seat in her desk chair and put her hands firmly on the armrests. “You’re absolutely right. I’ll take a cappuccino and an order of lemon bars instead. Caffeine and sugar should get me to quitting time.”

  Ross winced. “I’m not sure that’s a better solution, but to keep you from turning into bridezilla, I’ll go place the order and check on Egan. He’s been digging in the basement files since the morning after the gala. Why did Kazumi ask me for—”

  She bounced a frantic finger against her mouth, cutting her eyes toward the lobby. “I don’t want him to know I’m looking into it,” she mouthed, him being Aleron and the issue being the Winter’s Hail Coup.

  Maybe there was nothing to the event, but the facts weren’t adding up. Aleron wasn’t listed in the database with the Foussés or anywhere. Guillaume Lucien Foussé was nowhere to be found either. In fact, she’d had to get his father’s name from Kazumi, and Bill, as the man had been called, didn’t exist in the Natura birth or death registries.

  Realizing Ross hadn’t left, she looked up.