by Casey Hays
Rylin sits across from me, wading in the depths of his own inner fire, and I’ll admit it: I’m jealous. I want to swim deeper into the heat that is just now beginning to swirl like a boiling volcano deep beneath the surface. I want to shed this shell and feel the lava in my blood, and I want to explode—just for a little while. What’s the harm in it? Kane and his tracker are miles away. The Contingent will never know. This is why I don’t take Mr. Sensible’s advice. I slide my eyes up to meet Rylin’s, pleading for his help with one single glance.
His eyes simmer, escalating in a slow burn toward brilliant flame. He knows what I want, and his smile proves he’s going to enjoy dropping the veil. The orange markings come next, slow and steady, lining and accentuating the bulk of his muscles, and I shiver as I watch his full transformation, an angel exploding in fire and light. He slides to his feet in one smooth motion and unfurls his wings. In their wake, a whirlwind kicks up, ruffling all the bed sheets… and a couple of papers on the nightstand too. My hair dances in a weaving motion, tangling over my face. I sweep it out of the way quickly, gawking at Rylin and his tall frame and glistening feathers. I don’t even blink; I don’t want to miss a thing.
“You want me to finish what you started?”
The words stream from his lips in Jezik, and I find myself nodding. Not calmly either. Vigorously—unable to contain the anticipation. Rylin doesn’t touch me; I simply feel a tug on my skin, like a peeling away of the epidermis. Its surface buzzes in misty white as he teases it, and decamouflaged freedom is all I can think about. But I tense, holding up a hand in a quick moment of clarity.
“Don’t link with me,” I warn.
“Jude.” His skin eases, and the fire in his eyes loses a bit of its power. “I don’t break promises.”
Satisfied, I give him the go-ahead. He takes his time, allowing me to feel each tiny shift as the layers of my camouflage fall away piece by piece. There’s a skill in it, an artistry. He’s experienced at transforming to his natural form, and he exercises every bit of this on me.
It’s… magnificent.
Twenty-three
First the heat swarms in, followed by an ever-growing glow of my skin. The tiny, orange markings skim to the surface. And finally, my mantra, low and humming in the back of my head, reaches for me. I choose to leave it there to quietly serenade me because I can. It’s the one thing I’m able to command out of all my qualities.
Rylin clicks off the lamp without moving a muscle and sinks onto the edge of the bed, his knees an inch from mine. We light up the room with our dual glimmer. Well, mine is a glimmer; he’s all fire, and the sizzling of his skin echoes in my ears. I fall into the pillows, pulling my legs up off the floor and sinking into the warm, fuzzy sensation swarming through me.
“What are you thinking?” Rylin finally whispers. He lies down on his side, facing me stance for stance, stretching to his full length and bunching up a pillow under his head. Mint floats on the air. Strong and rich.
“I’m thinking Kane isn’t going to like this.” We lie face to face, a mere three feet and a nightstand separating the beds. The fire singes me. “It feels like I’m cheating.”
“You’re not,” Rylin assures. He closes his eyes. “You just need to enjoy the freedom of your natural form whenever you can, Jude.” A smile flashes in the fire. “It’s good to be a Fireblood.”
“It is,” I breathe.
My music lulls me toward sleep, and I close my eyes.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?” I mumble. Why is he talking? I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to move. I inhale and my blood warms again.
“I want to show you somethin’.”
Begrudgingly, I pop open one eye. The room is ensconced in our light, brilliant and hot, as if all the lights in the universe are shining out of us. I hone in on him.
“You know, you’re really interfering with the enjoyment of my freedom,” I growl. It’s only a half-growl, really. I’m too content to be grouchy.
“Sorry,” he laughs. “I’m just trying to be helpful. You know, expand your freedom a little further.”
He gains my full attention with that statement. I follow him with my eyes as he gets up and moves to the window. The curtains part all on their own, and his fiery face reflects off the glass, a twin image. I pull up on an elbow, tense, and a little bit frantic.
“Someone out there is going to see you,” I whisper.
“Maybe.” He gives me a half-tilted glance. “But trust me, it’ll be worth cleaning up the mess later.”
With that, he clenches his fists against his sides, and without a single drop of hesitation, he flares—full and hot. I pull up, awe and fear simultaneously rippling through me. I’ve never seen anything so dangerously beautiful, and excitement bubbles inside my fear until it drowns it right out. My heartbeat thumps, a trampling of blood through my veins, and I shake my head in wonder.
Rylin’s body is on fire. Literally. Flames whip at the curtains and spread out around him on the carpet, but he doesn’t burn up. The carpet doesn’t singe. The walls don’t catch fire. The sprinklers don’t hiss to life. It’s insanely incredible. I scramble to my knees, and his heat blows straight into my face. It should singe all my hairs and melt my skin. It doesn’t.
“How are you not catching the whole place on fire?”
“My shield contains it all.” His voice crackles out of the flames.
“Wow.” Just wow. That’s all I’ve got.
Rylin extends a burning hand. I fall back on my heels. Unh-uh. No way. He wiggles his fingers at me.
“I can’t hurt you, Jude. You’re a Fireblood.”
I’m a Fireblood. That’s right. Still, I hesitate another few beats. I mean, sticking my hand into an inferno seems a little stupid from my human perspective.
The moment I take hold of his hand, I feel the burning. His flames transfer, dancing along my arm, upgrading the beat of my heart. There’s no pain in the lick of the flames. But there is joy. Barrels of pure joy. I want to laugh and cry and dance and sing. A peace washes over me in fountains. Happiness blazes through me, bigger than life. This Fireblood identity—there’s more to it. More than I’ve even tasted up to this point. I sense it in the fire—a perpetual promise—and I laugh out loud, which causes Rylin’s burning lips to twitch into a white-toothed smile.
It hits me that I’ve come close to feeling this way before. Close, but not quite there—on the night Kane first decamouflaged me. A gradual movement over the hours and hours that we lay in each other’s arms, learning to be Firebloods together. We never reached this point, and I didn’t know then that a barrier stopped us from moving any further. I see it now, as clear as a blue-skied day. If Kane had flared, this is what we could have had that night.
My gut wrenches. Because now, I experience it with Rylin, and the Fireblood in me is torn. I should break away, but I want to move closer—to be consumed by the power of the fire igniting every inch of Rylin’s body. It’s such a powerful sensation that it pulls up tears. They sizzle to nothing on my hot cheeks.
Thankfully, Rylin makes the decision for me with a quick release of my hand, but it takes time for my arm to absorb the flames. They seep into my blood, adjusting and shifting on the inside until the heat is at a comfortable level.
“How was that for a trick?” he winks.
“Not bad,” I sink onto my heels. “You have anything else up your… boxer shorts?”
I blush. Did I just say that? Geesh! He laughs, but his eyes turn serious pretty quickly. He takes one backwards step and sits down on the ledge of the window.
“I do,” he whispers.
And then, with a huge grin plastered across his face, he thrusts all of his weight backwards… and melts right through the glass pane.
Through it.
Without breaking it.
Literally.
With a gasp, I scramble off the bed and press my face up against the pane, scanning the ground, the sky, the trees. He suddenly swishes up into my
view—clad in just his boxer shorts and his wings of fire—and waves at me. I shake my head, my smile invading. He actually defied the laws of nature and walked right through a sheet of glass.
Unbelievable.
I press my white-hot hand up against the pane. It’s cool to the touch, but my flesh warms it up in seconds. Rylin’s wings flame and his body burns, and somebody is definitely going to see him. He doesn’t seem concerned, so I find myself not caring either. This is classic! I beam at this fresh new revelation of what a monumental thing it is be a Fireblood. The room shimmers in orange striations as my own body gives off its light, and I shake my head in awe.
“How did you do that?”
He can’t hear me through the glass, so I press into his thoughts.
“How?”
He smiles at the sound of my words in his head.
“A Fireblood’s will is stronger than any object. You’ve got a lot to learn, Jude.”
He presses his own palm to the glass, flat against mine, and a strange vibe shifts the room. I glance over my shoulder, certain I’ll find a maid frozen in terror and gawking at me in shock. I’m alone, of course, and when the window seems to melt away between our palms, I whisk my eyes toward Rylin. The glass is still there, solidly separating us, but Rylin’s fire-tinged flesh bores into me. He weaves his fingers through mine and gently tugs. A bout of cool air caresses my hand.
“Let me show you something else.”
Slowly, he pulls on my hand, easing it right through the glass. One look, and I plain freak out. My hand is outside. A double take, and my heart accelerates. My hand is outside!
I try to pull out of his grip. I can’t. I might as well be stuck in cement. I brace my free hand against the window, frantic fear moving in.
“Jude, look at me.”
I pierce him with wide, panicky eyes.
“Concentrate on my heat.”
“What?” I tug again. “How?”
“Look at me.”
I do. He smiles.
“Feel my hand. Focus on it.”
Okay. Deep breaths, Jude. Deep breaths. Focus. I close my eyes. Concentrate on his hand.
I find my heat first. That’s easy. So I focus on the other heat—the incoming heat. I separate it out in my mind. Rylin’s grip tightens; I hook on like a fish after bait, and in one mass movement, I’m sucked through. Did you catch that? My entire body slides right through a pane of glass as if it’s not even there. A gasp escapes—followed by a squeal—and then, I’m in his arms. I cling to his neck, giving my surroundings a sweeping glance. I check myself over, looking for cuts. I’m fine.
I cannot believe this!
Our orangey reflection in the window shimmers and shakes like water in a pool, and a breeze shivers across my hot skin. I laugh, releasing all my nerves at once.
“Oh my gosh! That was insane!”
Enjoying my reaction, Rylin flaps his wings, raising us above the window a couple of feet. I pummel a playful fist into his chest.
“You could have warned me.”
“That’s no fun.” He’s in my head. “I’d rather show you what you’re capable of because of the fire in you.”
“That wasn’t me. I’m a hybrid.”
“So what? That doesn’t hinder you.”
We alight onto the roof, and he drops me to my feet. The huge city stretches out from us, full of insomnia, perpetual lights in every direction. A lone car works its way up the street a block over. I wonder if they can see us. What do they make of the two orange figures on the roof of the Fairfield Inn?
“We just went through glass.” I throw a hand over my forehead, dazed. “How the hell did we do that?”
Rylin laughs, ruffling up his feathers until the fire eases off in sparks. He simmers down out of the flare, and takes a seat as casual as can be on an air conditioning unit.
“I told you: potential.” He leans, propping an elbow on his knee. “Flaring has a lot of advantages. But the window trick is easy.”
“Trick.” I lift my brows. “That’s how you got into my bedroom, isn’t it?”
I cross my arms disapprovingly. He pinches his lips together. And… that’s an admission. I knew I locked up the house before I went to bed.
“I can’t flare.” I pause, thinking this through. “Can I?”
“I don’t know yet,” he admits. “Maybe you can. Maybe next time you won’t need my help to walk through a sheet of glass.”
“But—how?” I point downward over the edge of the roof.
“My shield covered you, and I pulled you through with my own energy.” He stands, comes to me. “I can teach you a lot o’ things, if you’ll let me.”
He pierces me with eyes that hold me fast to my spot. Eyes that challenge, that dare me to brave the unthinkable. And I’m tempted. I am so tempted to take him up on the offer. I’ve been tempted since the moment I stepped into his hotel room. I swallow, edging back a pace, and gathering the little resistance I have.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Look, I’m going to be straight with you. Kane doesn’t like you.”
He crinkles his brow. “You’re being straight with me over somethin’ I already know?”
“No.” I release a huge breath and take another one in. “I can’t do this.” I waggle my hand back and forth between us. “Because I need to think about him. About his feelings.”
He nods. “I won’t do a thing unless you ask for it. If you say no, then it’s no.”
“Okay. Then it’s no.” I hesitate. “To everything.”
He falters, his expression twisting with hurt. “I only want to show you your potential.”
“My potential.” I huff out another breath and ease down onto a peaked section of the roof near the overhang. “What does it matter? The Contingent has other plans for me.”
“You don’t have to give them control.”
“I don’t know how to prevent it, Rylin. So please, if you have any advice, give it up.”
He waits a few, then plops down on the other side of the peak, eases his fire off a bit. One wing fans out behind me, sheltering me from the roof’s edge.
“Don’t go to that hearing.”
The words are like a fresh drink of water agreeing with my own resolution.
“I’d made up my mind not to.” I study my bare, glowing feet. “But then, I get to thinking about what might happen to Kane if I don’t go.” I pin him, searching for an answer. “I can’t leave him out to dry.”
“Then convince him not to go either.”
“Right.” With a half-laugh I shake my head. “I don’t think that will happen.”
“You never know. Something could change his mind.”
“It’s easy for you to think that. You have no regard for any rules.”
He peers at me, a profound gleam shining out.
“Kane is not a stickler for the rules, you know. When he told you what you were. When he flared in anger. When he redirected Frankie. Do you think he was keeping rules?”
“No. But he didn’t intentionally break… all of them.”
“Now we’re getting into principles. Does it matter?”
It probably doesn’t, but I know Kane. Whether he breaks a rule or not, he’ll do what he thinks is right in his heart, even if it costs him. It’s what I love about him.
“I don’t think he’ll skip the hearing.” I sigh, long and deep, and my heart is heavy. So heavy with the weight of the one argument that always seems to jut up between Kane and me. A constant barrier and the only thing we tend to disagree on lately.
“Then you need to give him a reason to,” Rylin shrugs, and my eyes flick up to meet his. “Maybe after you visit your brother, you’ll have better clarity.”
“Maybe.”
I hope he’s right. I need some sort of ammunition to take home with me at any rate.
We’re quiet after this, the buzzing of our skin permeating the air, and my thoughts pummeling my
brain. Kane hasn’t budged—not enough to make a difference anyway. His whole family, as uncomfortable as the entire mess might be, thinks we’re better off complying with the Contingent.
Far away, the sounds of night traffic and a voice or two chime in my ears. It’s amazing what I can detect in my natural form. Sounds from clear across the city. I turn, peek around the expanse of Rylin’s wing to peer at the ground below where the dark bushes line the building. It’s not so far down. Three stories. Silent cars sleep in their designated parking spaces. The entire hotel, parking lot and all, is as still as can be, not a peep out of a single guest but us.
The gravelly roof is spotted with those little tar pebbles, rough against the bottoms of my bare feet. I rub a foot against it, just to feel the uncomfortable scratchiness on my arch that matches the uneasiness of talking about Kane like this with Rylin. It seems… out of place.
“I’d like to show you one more thing,” he whispers. When I look doubtful, he nudges me. “Just one.”
I blink, sweeping my gaze toward him. “I… don’t… know. I guess that depends on what it is.”
His laugh causes his wings to bounce. He folds them back out of the way. “Oh, I think you’ll like it.”
He offers his hand—like a prince reaching for his princess—eyes blazing and lips twitching on the end of his smile. I hesitate long enough for him to make the move to grab hold of it on his own. One touch, our orange-tinged skin collides in a river of tiny, veiny markings—hot and writhing, and I could swear mine deepen on impact. I’ve never seen them so distinct. Rylin pulls me to my feet, fluttering his wings a couple of times.
“I’ve lived more of my life in this form than in my human disguise,” he says, a full smile moving in. “I’m not a rebel, Jude.”
“Oh really?” I smirk. Right. “Okay.”
He hands me a sheepish smile. “But I am genuinely resolved to live as a Fireblood—without apology. It’s who I am. To stifle that would be like asking myself to stop breathin’.”
