Of Flame and Promise

by Cecy Robson

  Each push off the stone wall caused snow to drift on their heads, and while the high incline appeared long and treacherous, it seemed to tempt the Hamamatsus closer. From where we stood, I could hear the weres laughing, drawing more of Momma and Pop’s attention. They watched in keen fascination as the weres propelled downward and disappeared behind a large mound of snow.

  Lex beamed. “You want some of that?” He didn’t wait for us to answer. “I can tell that you do—whoo! There’s three tiers to climb and land on. That there’s the longest.” He pointed to where the trail grew steeper. “Follow that path—it’ll take you to the highest peak, where you can take in the view and start your adventure. One were’s positioned at each post, ready when you are—whoo!”

  Lex ran ahead of us when we didn’t “whoo” back, appearing only slightly deflated, which was more than I could say about me. I looked to Gem’s parents, hoping they were willing to go forward.

  A small conversation ensued, in Japanese of course. I might have been mistaken, but I thought I heard my name followed by something that sounded like “whore.”

  I glanced at Gem when they stopped yapping. “Did your mother just call me a whore?” I whispered.

  “Ah, no.”

  “Oh, good.”

  “But she can hear you.”

  Her glare told me that yeah, she could.

  Awesome.

  Gemini grimaced before speaking carefully. “Mother is concerned the climb may be too much for Father, but finds the region beautiful and would like to take in the view. Once there, they will consider descending down the wall.”

  “Oh, that’s what I thought she said.” I turned to his folks and forced a grin. “Ready to rock and roll?” I asked like a moron.

  Their knitted brows told me no, and that I was a skanky liar they’d like to leave here to die. “Hai,” they said in the same tone I used on Mancuso.

  Gem said something else and crouched. A glimmer of mischief sparkled in Pop’s eyes. He said something in a low voice and patted his wife’s back. For just a split second, I thought I caught Momma’s smile.

  Nah. That had to be my imagination. Until Momma took off like a bullet, with Gem speeding after them. Sweeps of snow drifted along my hair. I huddled closer to him, laughing as he surged forward. “You’re going to let her beat you, aren’t you?”

  Gemini chuckled. “I’m not trying to. My mother was the fastest she-wolf in her village. I doubt she’ll give up her title now.”

  Maybe this was what we needed—some were muscle flexing to break the ice. I had a guy carry me once while running on the beach. I didn’t weigh much. But even though the guy was fit, he didn’t make it far, and it was a jarring run to say the least. With Gem, it was different—smooth and fluid—similar to how I pictured a stream of ink flowing through clear water.

  My wolf became one with nature—leaping, pushing faster—his beast embracing the wilderness like he belonged. It was similar to me at a mall. Hey, we all have our strengths.

  I blinked back the snowflakes cloaking my lashes from the small wisps Momma kicked up. Although their backs were to us, and Pop mumbled in Japanese, I sensed his exhilaration and the encouragement he gave his mate.

  “I want that to be us,” Gem said quietly. “You and me. I want us to grow old together.”

  I huddled closer to him, wishing I could promise him forever. But my life had been filled with too many disappointments and more pain than anyone deserved.

  He tucked me closer to him. “Do you want that, too?” he asked. When I didn’t answer, he pressed a little further. “Have you given it any thought?”

  I was hurting him without even trying, but I couldn’t ignore my fears. “Aric told Celia he wanted to grow old with her, just a few weeks back.” Despite my prickly tone, I wasn’t made of thorns. It hurt me to say what I had to. “At Shayna and Koda’s wedding, while they were dancing.”

  His voice quieted. “I know. He told me.”

  Although the knowledge shouldn’t have made me more sad, it did. “Did he also tell you what else he said—about wanting Celia as his wife, and as the mother to his children?”

  “He did.”

  “He shouldn’t have told her,” I said. “All it did was hurt her more. Because despite what he said, he’s still marrying and having children with someone else.”

  Whatever Gem was feeling gave him an extra boost of speed. He leapt onto a boulder and pushed off another, landing just in front of his parents, never breaking momentum and sprinting ahead. “Aric didn’t share those words to hurt her,” he said. “He was trying to explain what she means to him because he never told her.”

  I squeezed my eyelids tight. I wouldn’t cry. No. I wouldn’t cry. “You’re missing the point. Regardless of what he feels, they’re no longer together. It would have been better to keep those thoughts to himself.”

  “Maybe. But Koda and Shayna’s wedding triggered feelings he could no longer suppress, especially with Celia so close.”

  “He should have tried.” If I could have, I would have glued my lips shut instead of saying what followed. But maybe Aric wasn’t the only one incapable of holding back. “You ask me about forever, when nothing guarantees past today. If your Leader taught me anything, it was that.”

  Chapter 10

  My words slowed Gem’s pace as we reached the mountain’s peak, allowing his parents to gain the lead. He skidded to a stop a few paces behind them.

  Momma lowered Pop to the ground, barely out of breath. For the first time since I’d met them, they beamed back, until they saw the hurt shadowing our faces.

  I forced a smile. For all I’d insisted we enjoy the day, it took all I had not to walk back to our SUV alone. “Your agility is impressive,” I said to Momma. “Tomo says you were the fastest were in your village.”

  Her stare bounced to her son before fixing on me. Her nostrils flared discreetly, but I noticed the motion all the same. Instead of simply asking what was wrong, she attempted to use her senses to figure out what happened.

  I expected a cruel reprimand, or harsh words. In fact, I steeled myself for it. Instead she nodded. “Shall I tell you about my village over the feast you prepared?”

  I didn’t move right away. Maybe she was throwing me a sympathy bone. But in her own way she was trying, despite knowing I had probably hurt her son.

  So I bowed, and reached for the pack. “I’ll do it,” I said to Gem when he tried to help. His dark brows knitted close. “Please. Let me do this, for you, and your family,” I whispered.

  For all my insecurities, and despite my defensiveness, I was determined to make this a nice day. Not just for his folks, but because my wolf deserved kindness, too.

  I released a breath and pulled the thick flannel blanket from just beneath the flap. I’d likely never be able to give my lover everything he wanted, but I could give him this moment between us.

  I spread out the blanket with Momma’s help. As she took her place beside Pop, she shared her memories of her beloved first home.

  “Our village was set in a valley between mountains.” She tilted her head. “Not like these, but just as beautiful. Human and weres alike worked the rice fields. Wolves like me would race back and forth with baskets filled by hours of hard labor.” Her stare grew distant, as if remembering. “We didn’t have much, no toys to play with, no pretty dolls, so we made our own games. The one who returned with the most baskets at the end of the day would win a small sack of oranges.” Her voice trailed. “To this day, oranges remain among my favorite treat following a meal.”

  Her voice carried all the warmth of cold lead. But her recollection and the fondness it stirred demonstrated a tenderness I hadn’t yet seen. Frigid demeanor or not, this woman did have a heart. I saw it then, and in the way she loved her husband and son.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Had I known oranges were your favorite treat, I would have brought some along.” She held out her hand and shook it like it was no biggie, but given how she seemed to che
rish the memory, I think it would have meant a great deal to her. “They mean a sweet life, don’t they?” I asked.

  “Yes.” She looked to her husband. “And it has been.”

  The exchange between them was brief, but so filled with intimacy I turned away as if I were intruding. I rummaged through the pack and yummy, yummy, handed her a bear-liver sandwich. She immediately passed it to her husband.

  I reached for another to pass to Gemini, but he shook his head. “It’s a custom to feed the elders first.”

  “Oh, okay.” I distributed the remaining sandwiches, bottles of water, and potato soup I poured into cups from a thermos.

  Pop frowned. “You’re not eating liver?” he said.

  Again there was my good ol’ forced grin. A liver sandwich sounded about as appealing as bread stuffed with bear toes. “I’m good with just soup. Thank you.” I lifted my steaming cup. “Bottoms up.”

  We sat in what I first interpreted as miserable silence until I glanced up and saw the way Momma and Pop took in our surroundings. In my lingering sadness, I hadn’t bothered to notice where I sat, and how truly beautiful the scenery was. Those pics on the Net didn’t quite capture the ambiance.

  This was no mere mountain, nor was it simply a peak swathed in white. This was the Nordic equivalent of Julie Andrews’s wet dream. The hills were alive. To our left and right, snow-packed peaks reigned over the land, undisturbed by war or industry, time or torment. Despite the harshness of the world, this area had remained as it was, unaffected by the cruelty and pain man had inflicted over time.

  For a moment, I simply breathed, wishing I could’ve been a mountain, or at least shared its strength. Mountains overcame and withstood whatever crossed their paths. Me, I didn’t have that superpower. The trauma of my past continued to haunt me. In a way, I’d learned to live with it. I built my walls and muddled through, keeping those dark events from interfering with my life.

  Until I met Gemini, and he asked for more than my defenses would allow.

  I watched him as he carefully scanned the area. Always aware. Always vigilant. Always kind. God, I wanted him to be happy. But all I managed to do was to disappoint him.

  I meant to inch closer to him, until his parents stood and linked hands, moving toward the edge and disappearing near a patch of woods. What the…? “Are they going off to have sex?” I whispered.

  Gemini closed his eyes and took a breath. “No, Taran.”

  I tried to peer into the darkness where they’d disappeared. “Are you sure? They were looking kind of cozy.”

  “Yes. I’m sure.” He sighed. “Just like I’m sure they can hear you.”

  From a short distance away, I heard Momma say something that heated Gem’s face.

  I groaned. “Sorry, baby.”

  He didn’t answer, staying silent as we gathered our supplies. I removed my glove so I could squeeze his hand with mine and feel the touch of his bare skin. “I don’t mean to hurt you,” I admitted. “But it’s hard for me to believe in forever, when I’ve seen what love can do and how much it can hurt when it leaves you.”

  “It doesn’t have to leave you, or be as bad as you envision it to be. Look at my parents. They’re a prime example of how happy a mated pair can be.”

  Yet they weren’t the norm. I met his face then. “It’s hard for me to focus on the beauty of your parents’ love when all I can see is my sister’s pain.”

  “Why do you continue to compare us to Aric and Celia? We’re different from them.”

  I forced the truth out even though my mind told me to shut my trap. “Because Celia has shared the brutality of my life, and because we’re more alike than you think.”

  He leaned back on his heels. “So because your sister suffers, you will, too?”

  I played with the strands of hair that flowed from my hat. “She’s taught me a lot. One of those things being how bad it hurts when what you want doesn’t work out. I wish I could promise you eternity. But the best I can do is promise right now. Will you let me?”

  His dark eyes seemed to see right through me. “For now,” was all he’d agree to.

  Well, given the choice, it was more than I could ask for.

  My phone rang, giving me a good excuse to turn away. I unzipped my thick jacket and pulled it out from the inner pocket. “What’s this I hear about you taking on demons at a liquor store? And why did I have to hear it from Misha?”

  Celia was hissing through her teeth. That didn’t mean Gemini didn’t hear every word. His head whipped my way and he snarled. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Sweet merciful heavens, I so didn’t need this. “Not now, okay, Ceel?”

  “Not now? Are you kidding me?”

  “Ceel, I’m with Gem’s family,” I snapped.

  “I know,” she shot back. “But this is important.”

  Can’t be that important if her vamp waited a whole day to tell her. “I said not now.”

  “Taran, you don’t understand,” she said. “The vamps discovered something in the rear of the shop—something that shouldn’t have been there.”

  I shuddered, thinking back to that little naked creature and his set of nasty tongues. While I didn’t want to know what the vamps uncovered, I didn’t have a choice, did I? “More demons?” I guessed.

  “No, cages, Taran. The store owner had been keeping them…and feeding them. The vamps found four empty cages and leftover human parts.”

  It was a good thing I’d finished my soup because I didn’t think I’d be eating anytime soon. Gem caught my phone when it slipped from my grasp. “Celia, it’s Gemini. Where is the owner now?”

  “Gone,” she said.

  Gemini frowned. “He escaped the vampires?”

  “No, Gem,” she answered. “He’s dead….”

  Chapter 11

  “How could you keep a demon attack from me?”

  For all that Gem was trying to be quiet, he wasn’t succeeding. “Believe it or not, I did it for you,” I muttered under my breath.

  “For me? How does this benefit me, or anyone—and how is it that your first call is to the leeches?”

  I glanced over at his parents. Lex was helping Pop with his helmet and his partner was securing Momma to the harness. Oh, and look, they were pissed, too. “Can we discuss this later? I’m trying to make this a nice day for you, damnit!”

  “No. We will discuss it now.”

  I tossed the rope I was instructed to wind onto the hard-packed snow. “Fine. It happened at the state store when I was picking up your father’s sake. I didn’t know the owner was housing them—feeding them—whatever he was doing with them. I just wanted the fucking sake!” I threw out a hand at the sound of Gem’s parents’ audible gasps. “Sorry, I meant—oh forget it,” I mumbled.

  It was too late; everyone was angry even before I “fucked” the sake. “Gem. He didn’t give me any indication he was a Tribe were. It was a liquor store—not some crazy prison camp stuffed with innocent people.”

  “It was a front,” Gem said. His scowl matched his parents’. In fact, the resemblance was uncanny. “A temporary place to house demons they were transporting.”

  “Well, yeah. I get it now.”

  Gemini snarled for all he was worth. “If you had called me, there wouldn’t be anything to ‘get’ now. I would have determined something was wrong upon my arrival. Did you even stop to consider why there were demons there?”

  “Of course I did. I’m not stupid. But I needed to get back to you.”

  For a moment he simply froze. “You’re angry at me?”

  “Of course I’m angry. You’re yelling at me.”

  “And why do you think I’m yelling? Taran, if you had called me, Aric, Koda, Liam—any were you know—we might have been able to track down their location. But you didn’t. You—”

  “I called the ‘leeches.’ Yeah, yeah, I know. You don’t like them, or trust them, and are convinced they’re out for prom queens and their own gain, and you’re probably right.” I shoved my hands on
my hips. “But you forget, you were picking up your folks. I couldn’t call Aric, or Koda, and especially Liam, because they would have run and told you. I didn’t want you dropping everything to rush to a situation I was handling. So I called the Alliance members who would help, who would keep it quiet and buy me the time I needed to do something nice for your parents.”

  Gem didn’t budge. “I should have been your first call,” he repeated.

  “Maybe. And I’m sorry. But I can’t go back to make this right.”

  I lifted the rope and edged to the cliff to look out, mostly because I couldn’t stand the hurt shadowing my lover’s face. Vamps had excellent noses, and could track to some extent. But they didn’t possess the hunting skills of a were.

  Gem was right, I should have called Aric. Yet as stupid as it sounds, I would have felt like I was betraying Celia.

  I meant well. But Gem couldn’t see past my call to the vamps, which sucked. I reached for the spare helmet close to my feet. Not the cutest thing I’d ever wear, but I needed to keep going. No matter how bad I wanted to curl into a warm bed and forget this horrible afternoon.

  Pop strode to my side. I almost smiled. He looked so cute in his safety harness and climbing gear. But his irate scowl made it clear he wasn’t happy with me, either. “Tribe weres are keeping demons in the area.”

  He wasn’t asking, he was informing me that he’d heard our chat.

  I kicked at the snow at my feet. “Yes. The store owner who sold me your sake and I were attacked yesterday—the day you arrived. He didn’t give me any indication he was a Tribesman; in fact, he was scared stupid when he saw them.” I shrugged. “But given how they ate his face and all, I can’t really blame him.”

  “What does he say about the dark ones?”

  “Nothing. According to my sister, he exploded to bits when the vamps questioned him.”

  Pop frowned. “When a stray were or outcast vamp is inducted into the Tribe, a spell is placed on him to keep their secrets and keep him committed. If he talks, he explodes,” I explained. “The vamps must have been very convincing. Too bad he detonated before they were able to get much out of him.”