“I didn’t have any choice, Bianca! He…he has my parents, okay? He used them as hostages to make me swear an oath to him.” Tears shimmered in his eyes as he dropped to his knees. “And now they’re as good as dead!”
Part of me wanted to sympathize with the man I’d already come to regard as my baby brother, but we had no time for that. Ju Hai’s dire predictions still rang in my ear. Just because this oathtaking had cut off one branch of total disaster didn’t mean we weren’t still in a world of trouble.
“Pull yourself together, Nic!” I snapped. “You’re not doing your parents any favors sniveling on the ground. Stop crying, stand up, and help us do what we can to save them. To save us all!”
The liegebond must have considered my words a direct command, because Nic jerked to his feet and swiped his tears away. His expression wavered between resentful and relieved, with determination finally tipping the balance. He gave a forceful nod. “You’re right.”
“Garrett is ruthless and will stop at nothing to achieve whatever twisted goals he has in mind. Even if you hadn’t taken your oaths to me and the Clan, there’s no guarantee he wasn’t planning to kill your parents anyway. At least by helping us, you give them a chance.”
His nostrils flared, but he nodded again. His silence punctuated the fact that all eyes were now glued on me. All of those from Clan Zi—my new Clanmates the same as these three were my new liegesworn—were looking to me for our next step. That was both a disturbing and humbling realization.
Disturbing because I was the newest member of this Clan. Hell, the youngest adolescent present knew more about using their Elemental magic than I did. That scared the shit out of me. The fact it didn’t seem to scare the shit out of everyone else humbled me. They trusted me to figure out the best course of action. Or at least they were willing to go along with that façade while my new liegesworn—and potentially our psycho father—were watching.
I glanced at my new Clan mother, who had stepped close in a show of moral support. Chin gave a fierce smile as if she’d heard my thoughts.
Another supportive presence made itself felt in the form of Jake’s frustration that we were still physically separated. His emotions were leaking through our bond like crazy. “Can we lower the circle before my bondmate tries something stupid like bashing his brains out to get in here?”
Chin laughed silently before gesturing to the other members of her Quatrain. The two who could speak aloud murmured the ceremonial words that drew the Oathtaking to an official end, each of them banishing their element until the circle abruptly winked out of existence. Jake reacted in a flash, tugging me away from Nic. Liam shadowed him. He didn’t do anything more sinister than loom over my brother, but that intense broodiness he breathed as naturally as air had Nic shuffling back a few inches. The nervous Selkie could go no farther, because several Clanmates formed a line of expressionless guards just behind.
“Severing Nic’s other oaths seems to have worked. I don’t feel Garrett’s psychic presence anymore. But he definitely felt close.”
Jake’s lips twisted. “Best we assume he could step onto our land at any moment if Nic’s wearing a tracker.”
Liam gave a smile that was far more scary than cheerful. “I would be happy to take care of the extraction personally.”
Nic’s face grew still paler. I shook my head. “Tempting as that is, Liam, we’ll have to worry about removing the tracker after we secure our borders. Or are we going to evacuate instead?”
The four Firsts stepped close, followed by the members of Breena’s Quatrain. Ju Hai was again the one to speak. “We have spent decades fortifying this location against potential attack. There could be no better place to serve as our headquarters for the coming war. I agree we should secure our borders, as you suggested, and send scouts to determine whether Garrett is in the immediate vicinity.”
She leveled a serious expression my way. “It is imperative that you work with Jake and your new liegesworn to discover the extent of your magical abilities. Our survival as a Clan depends on how well you master all your powers.”
I swallowed, gaze moving along the faces of my ragtag little army. Bianca, a former enemy I still wasn’t sure could be trusted. Dia, a woman who acted like a sister was the last thing she wanted. And Nic, a Trojan horse planted by my father, who might betray us at any moment if it meant saving his adoptive parents. How could I possibly trust these three enough to experiment with powers I didn’t even understand? Even with the help of Jake, who I did trust implicity.
The answer to that was simple enough. I didn’t have any other choice.
I met Ju Hai’s serene gaze and nodded. “We’ll get started practicing tomorrow.”
Ju Hai flashed a grin and gestured to the rest of her Quatrain. “We four worked closely with Hikaru and will gladly share what knowledge we have as you experiment. Shall we meet back here at 7 in the morning?”
I opened my mouth to suggest a later hour only to remember the nightmare visions my father had forced upon me. Even if artificial rather than prophetic, they showed the kind of monster we were dealing with. A monster I was determined to slay.
My nod was grim but firm. “We will see you here at 7.” I glanced over to the Firsts. “Until I am more experienced using my powers and develop the leadership skills I’m going to need, I’d prefer to leave organizing the Clan’s defenses in your capable hands. Will you see to securing the borders and sending out scouts while I focus my attention in that direction?”
It was the right strategy, because the four Firsts bowed to me with proud smiles and began to do just that.
And let’s be real, they’ll do a much better job than I would.
Jake sensed my sudden flood of self-doubt and leaned close to whisper, “All the greatest leaders delegate, Cass.”
I took a steadying breath and gave him a grateful smile before turning to my three liegesworn. “Since we’re going to start so early in the morning, let’s get you settled in the cabin next to ours. It’s still unoccupied, right?”
Jake nodded. “Yep.” He glanced over to Liam, Rhianne, Ju Li, and Mei. The quartet had moved close after a murmured conversation with Jake’s parents. “These four will make sure you have everything you need tonight.”
Translation: They’ll be your watchdogs since we’re not yet sure you can be trusted.
Everyone kept up the pretense that this wasn’t the case as we walked the half-mile along a lakeside trail to reach the group of cabins where the one that Jake and I called home perched. It’d been a long, intense afternoon and evening, so we let Liam and company lead my liegesworn into their larger cabin before the two of us slipped inside our cozy little abode.
Sugar the Siamese cat we’d inherited from her previous owner—the woman from the adoption agency murdered after trying to help me—purred insistently as she twined around my legs. I leaned down to lift her onto my shoulder, her favorite place to perch. She butted my head in an imperious signal to worship her with caresses and wet food, which I did in quick order. I left her daintily inhaling her version of lobster and caviar before joining Jake in our bedroom.
He’d already turned down the colorful quilt that had been a gift from my new clanmother when we’d moved into the cabin. I smiled at the sudden memory of her insisting on helping me make this bed on move-in day. Even then she’d already been taking care of me. Jake had confided that I reminded her of a daughter she’d lost in the war with Yukari, in personality and Phoenix abilities if not in looks.
My bondmate had also lowered the overhead lights and lit several of my favorite scented candles. His eyes latched onto me as I entered the room, and he watched as I changed out of my clothes and into the satin nightie and panties that had become my custom because I knew how much he liked them. He’d also adopted the habit of sleeping in the boxer briefs (and nothing else) he knew I preferred. Once I’d finished changing, he stepped forward to wrap me in his arms. My smaller, curvier body fit against the harder planes and angles of his b
ody perfectly. I sighed and closed my eyes, reveling in how perfect his arms felt. That higher power the Beholden believed in that I struggled to find faith in myself had sure known what they were doing when they matched my mercurial Phoenix self with this strong and steady Dragon.
We stood that way for long, silent moments; hands caressing each other’s hair and skin softly without anything more urgent. He finally broke the silence by asking the million-dollar question, “You okay?”
My breath exploded outward as I met his concerned gaze. “Hanging in there.”
He shook his head with a rueful smile. “So, not really.”
All the emotions I’d been bottling up suddenly exploded outward. “I’m inwardly freaking the fuck out, Jake. Liegesworn! Liegelord! Long-lost siblings I’ve been longing for forever and then! Then! To top it off, my father damned near severed our bond. So no, not okay at all.”
His arms guided me toward the bed, where we crawled beneath silken sheets to curl around each other while he allowed me to reveal my vulnerabilities. Something that had taken me a long time to feel comfortable doing with him. It said a lot for how much I’d come to trust him that doing so now felt like second nature. Going through foster family after foster family had done a number on me. One reason I’d been so eager to find my long-lost siblings, hoping that blood would tie us together in a way I’d never before experienced.
There’s a reason they say be careful what you wish for, I reminded myself ruefully.
“Let’s focus on the positives, then. Your father didn’t sever the bond between us. We have a million times better chance of defeating his evil ass than he does of destroying our bond. Your long-lost siblings seem as unsure of themselves around you as vice versa. They hate your birth father as much as you do, so that speaks well of them. And bonding liegesworn, becoming a powerful liegelord, is only going to strengthen you once you learn how to use your abilities. That gives you an edge over Garrett that will mean the difference between winning and losing.”
He planted a quick, hard kiss on my lips. “And I’m going to be here to help every step of the way. You don’t have to do this alone.”
“I couldn’t do this alone. Without the support of both you and the Clan, he would have taken me prisoner the same day he killed me that first time. Dia, Nic, and Bianca would still be his prisoners. And then we’d all be doomed.”
Jake let a smug little smile touch his lips. “Yeah, I know you’d be nothing without me.”
His words had the intended effect, causing me to slug him in the shoulder. He chuckled and rolled over to pin me to the bed. “That goes just as true for me as you, sweetheart. In fact, I’d be a raving lunatic by now if you hadn’t agreed to bond me.”
Just the thought of that had shivers running down my spine. I reached up to touch him much more gently, fingers running along the warm flesh and rock-hard planes of his bare chest. He had become so precious to me in the few months since we’d been thrust into each other’s lives: him by the magical wildness that had drawn him toward me, an unbound Phoenix whose magic was compatible with his own; me by my biological father burning me to death to prove I had the Elemental abilities he’d hoped. Jake had strode through those flames to save me like a hero from one of those big fat fantasies I loved to read, but we’d definitely had a hard road to find our happily ever after. Or perhaps it was more fair to say a happy for now. My father could still ruin it all.
Fierceness lit inside my chest and my fingers began caressing with more intensity. My father could try all he might, but he could never touch this love and desire that danced between my bondmate and me. Circumstances might have thrown us together, but we had made the conscious choice to stay together. And right now I wanted to show him how very much he meant to me.
A matching heat pooled inside his eyes as the inferno blazing inside my veins sizzled through our bond. His lips descended upon mine, tongue plunging inside my mouth with firm pressure that made me gasp. His hands moved to stroke my skin instead of playfully pinning me to the bed. Each caress touched me both outside and inside. Making me feel more cherished than I could remember. Safer in his arms than anywhere else on earth, and not because he could channel that element. This came from the pure primal feeling of being a woman safe in the arms of the person she treasured above all others, who valued her just as completely.
He didn’t give me time to bask in that glow, however. Molten lava exploded across my body as his fingers dipped inside my panties and began stroking my damp flesh. I whimpered his name and writhed beneath him while his fingers skillfully wove their magic that had nothing to do with any of the five elements.
He stopped just short of making me come, choosing instead to shove my satin nightie up to my neck, lips moving from mine to nibble and suck on my breasts. Dizzying sensations swept across my skin and inside my mind, amplified by the Elemental bond tying our souls together. Sex had always been pleasurable for me, even if I had rarely taken lovers, but this bond had made it even sweeter. An unexpected but very welcome side effect. Still, he was driving me crazy rather than giving me what I want, and I cried out in frustration.
“You’re such a tease!”
The ferocity in my voice had smugness light in his eyes, and I would have slugged him again except he finally did just what I wanted him to: pulled off his boxers with one forceful motion, tugged off my panties with another, and plunged inside my eager body to thrust up and down, in and out, over and over until we each burned with a thousand tiny fires that consumed us with liquid heat before finally, we cried out from the force of our orgasms. Only then did we snuggle close before falling into much-needed slumber...
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed were the last adjectives I would have used to describe myself the next morning. Six a.m. had come ridiculously fast, leaving me blinking blearily into the bathroom mirror and wondering why I felt like a freight train had hit me.
If this is how channeling Spirit makes you feel, I quit!
At least with a really bad hangover the day after an evening of partying hard, you had memories of the previous night’s fun to sustain you through the puking and wanting to cry. Well, assuming you didn’t get pass-out drunk. How I felt now was worse than getting pass-out drunk.
“You look like hell,” Jake helpfully volunteered, handing me an ice-cold Dr. Pepper; my caffeine of choice in the morning.
I kissed him for supplying the sugary goodness and then punched him lightly in the arm for the insult. “I feel way worse than that. Does hell have a basement?”
He snickered before trying to look sympathetic, only to fail miserably. “May I suggest a shower while I scramble some eggs? That should help you wake up and maybe...”
“Make me look like I belong in hell instead of its basement?”
His eyebrows wiggled as he walked off. “We can certainly hope!”
I glared at his back. “You sound disgustingly cheerful considering that you’re the reason I stayed up so late!”
He just tossed a smug, “You’re welcome!” over his shoulder before continuing into the kitchen.
Fortunately, a 10-minute soak under our fancy showerhead was just what the doctor ordered. That, or the 20-ounce Dr. Pepper I’d sucked down beforehand. I dressed in workout clothes and sneakers, pulled my hair into a messy bun, and joined Jake in the kitchen. The aroma of scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese had me sighing happily before digging in with gusto. We ate in silence for a few blissful minutes. But all good things unfortunately had to come to an end. At least when it came to breakfast food.
Jake waited until I’d chomped one last bite before speaking. “Your father scared the shit out of me last night, Cass. It felt like...like he almost broke our bond. And that should not be possible.”
My stomach went queasy, but that had nothing to do with the copious amounts of eggs and sausage I’d just inhaled. He’d glossed over that fear the night before to keep me from completely falling apart. “I was afraid you would say something like that. So Hikaru’s evil moth
er couldn’t do anything like that?”
He shook his head emphatically. “Nothing can break a matebond except death. Permanent death. Temporary deaths just make the bond feel muffled and kind of surreal until revival. Only true death severs a matebond.”
“What if you’re wrong? Or what if I’m not the only one who’s developed crazy new powers?”
Jake’s expression turned even grimmer. “Then gods help us all.”
My skin felt chilled even in the August heat as we returned to the ceremonial circle with my three liegesworn and their escorts a few minutes later. Jake’s ominous words seemed to etch themselves inside my brain, adding to the considerable pressure I already felt. Stopping my father was becoming more vital with each day that passed. I could only pray we succeeded before he grew too strong to defeat.
I cheered myself up with the thought that maybe somewhere, he was thinking the same thing about me.
That put a slight pep in my step as we approached the circle where Jake’s parents, aunt, and uncle already waited. They’d arranged several long benches around the firepit. The circle of sand around that firepit served the same purpose as the workroom inside just about every Elemental home, having been magically warded to protect anyone outside the circle from stray explosions of magic. Rhianne, Ju Li, and Mei cheerfully chirped out greetings and then excused themselves to report for guard duty. Liam settled his brooding self upon an empty bench to keep a watchful eye over my liegesworn, leaving the rest of us to claim a bench of our own.
Surprisingly, Ju Hai took point rather than Breena. Then again, we intended to work with the so-called fifth element of Spirit rather than Fire. It made sense that the Clan’s most talented Foreteller might be better able to guide us through using the most esoteric element, even if she couldn’t use Spirit herself.
Forged from Flame Page 5
