Forged from Flame

by Kasey Mackenzie

  I would have to be very careful using Spirit to enhance firewalls in the future. There must be a way to gain the concealment without adding the burning rain of death. For now, however, at least we knew what was possible. Even if it did scare the shit out of us.

  I mentally quoted the line we’d read earlier just to bolster all three of us. Our father may be the master of the fifth element that runs through every fiber of creation, but we are masters of all the elements—or will be. Come the dawn of the day we choose, we will inhale; we will exhale; we will strike—and he shall fall.

  I just prayed like crazy that neither we nor the world would fall along with him.

  To my intense relief, we discovered that my channeling Spirit into their bodies while they embraced their elements allowed them to heal the terrible burns covering way too much of their bodies. The mere thought of being unable to help them had me shaking and dreading how to tell Jake I’d killed his mother and aunt, until I’d struck upon the idea of adding Spirit to the mix.

  I expected Breena to turn the heat of her tongue upon me but instead, once she and Ju Hai had been fully healed, she flashed a proud smile in our direction. “That was amazing! A level of invisibility not even my Fire-enhanced senses could discern.”

  Ju Hai’s lips twisted, and she rubbed her arms ruefully. “I haven’t been so terrified for my own life in over a century. And the pain. Like nothing I’ve ever felt.”

  Dia, Nic, and I exchanged surprised glances. The two women we’d nearly burned to an agonizing crisp sounded extremely proud of us. Like parents-at-a-college-graduation proud. It was such a new feeling for me. Most of the time during training sessions, Breena played bad cop without a corresponding good cop.

  Breena caught on to our surprise and let out a laugh. “We knew very well what we were getting into when we brought you in here to experiment. Remember that we were once liegesworn ourselves. And while Hikaru was a Dragon, so his powers often manifested differently than yours, he was capable of awe-inspiring magic when we worked together. And remember also,” her voice grew more somber. “The dire things that Ju Hai has Foretold will require every measure of strength we can muster.”

  Ju Hai nodded emphatically. “Yes, and for all his might and control, when all is said and done, I think you may be stronger than Hikaru.”

  Breena shook her head with a wry smile. “I agree, although I wasn’t going to risk swelling her head by telling her that, Ju Hai. Given that you only have two liegesworn here today, what you just did is…remarkable.”

  “Gee, Breena, that’s the most gushing you’ve ever done after one of our practice sessions. My overblown ego just might fly away.”

  She flipped me the bird, something so out of character that the four of us laughed until tears ran down our faces. “Come now, children. To make up for nearly burning us to death, you can take cooking and cleanup duty for lunch.”

  Ah now, there it was. I knew she’d take revenge somehow. Still, given the hunger pangs now wracking my body, that worked for me.

  We took the easy way out by sticking with grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit, crunchy veggies with dip, and a huge tray of cookies we found in the cupboard. To make up for the simplicity, we made plenty, used a ton of gourmet cheese, and added premium deli meat to half. There were no complaints about the simple yet delicious meal after we carted everything to the conference room; just a lot of chowing down and fine-tuning our plan to turn the tables on Dorian. During a lull in the conversation, Breena and Ju Hai ran everyone through their near-death experience.

  Jake’s eyes widened as his gaze locked onto mine. “Wait…did you work all four forms of Elemental magic into your firewall along with what you’re now calling Spirit?”

  I bit my lip and nodded. “I pulled Earth through my bond with you.”

  He looked equal parts impressed and worried. “I didn’t feel anything when you did. Not like usual.”

  Breena raised a hand. “Given that she interwove Spirit throughout the firewall, making it—and them—completely invisible, that only makes sense. Spirit seems like the most insidious of elements, especially in her hands.”

  I frowned, swallowed the sudden lump in my throat, and wrapped my arms across my chest. “You make me sound like some diabolical evil overlord in the making.”

  “You are,” she stated bluntly. “Or rather, you could be. I suspect Hikaru had similar abilities when he worked his Mindbending gifts, but he was fairly reticent in discussing specifics. His mother had spies everywhere, and her own use of Spirit far outweighed his abilities. However, I do believe your biological father’s manipulation of you—of all three of you—in utero means you are capable of feats Hikaru could never even have imagined.”

  Jake reached out a hand to squeeze my own. “Never fear, Cass. I’m here to help keep you on the straight and narrow.”

  “As are we, big sister. I didn’t run from our father’s evil ass to end up chained to an even bigger evil overlord.”

  I squeezed Jake’s hand in return and tossed a sardonic smile in Dia’s direction. “Thanks for keeping me humble.”

  Dia raised both hands with a glint in her pale blue eyes. “Just keeping it real, Firebird!”

  Conversation drifted back to ironing out the remaining details behind our plan of attack. Afterward, Breena’s Quatrain disappeared to do something they wouldn’t disclose. Avani and the other Freeholders went shopping for enough groceries to get us through the next couple days. This left Nic, Liam, Jake, Dia, Isaac, and me sitting around the oversized conference table, at least until Liam and Jake decided to head up to the workroom for some martial arts practice. Decades and centuries of life provided most Elementals the ability to perfect hand-to-hand combat skills for those moments when magic was impractical or downright impossible.

  Nic took one look at the determined glance Isaac sent our sister and then scrambled after Liam and Jake. “No time like the present to take a karate crash course!”

  The door slammed behind him, and I couldn’t help but laugh my head off. I was pretty sure he didn’t want a private karate lesson, even if Jake was one of St. Louis’s best martial arts instructors. Dia shot me a confused expression. “Did I miss the joke?”

  “Kinda. You’re actually part of the joke.”

  She gave a head tilt that broadcast an Alert! Alert! message loud and clear. I inched my chair another foot away from her but otherwise ignored the blaring alarm. “Nic didn’t want to have any part of watching his mentor and sister going at it again.” I explained with a very fake innocent expression.

  “G…going at it?” Dia sputtered, steam practically curling from her ears.

  I snuck a peek at Isaac, only to see humor glinting in his eyes. He caught me peeking and winked. Dia must have followed my gaze, because she also saw the wink. Her hands slammed down on the table, and she shoved to her feet. “How nice to see my sister and my…my…”

  “Ex-fiancé?” I helpfully supplied.

  “My ex-fiancé laughing at me behind my back!”

  “One,” I said with a raised finger. “We are definitely not behind your back. Two. Neither of us is laughing. And three. I’m amused by Nic’s lack of balls, not by either of you.”

  That deflated the heat from her eyes. “Oh.” Suddenly she caught the humor and allowed herself a little grin. “He just doesn’t want to think about his sister and teacher having ever…gone at it. It might give him the vapors.”

  Isaac and I outright guffawed, and I scooted close enough to give her a high five. “By going at it, I meant the knockdown, drag-out you two had in the hall last night.”

  Dia turned the full force of a sultry smile straight on Isaac, which had him literally licking his lips. “That’s not what I meant at all.”

  “Oh my,” I deadpanned in my best George Takei voice. “Do I need to leave the two of you alone again?”

  “Yes,” Isaac said at the same time Dia said, “No!”

  My gaze bounced from Dia to Isaac and back again. “On the one ha
nd, I feel like my sisterly duty is to be loyal to my sister.”

  “Damn right,” she growled. “Sisters before misters!”

  Isaac let out another laugh, proving that he very much got my sister’s humor, which was so like my own. Something that made me even more determined to keep pushing these two to resolve things between them.

  “On the other hand, Isaac did help save my life over two months ago and is hella hot.”

  “I helped save your life last night!” Dia said. “And you already have a hella hot man!”

  “Ooh, that’s another excellent point. Just like the point you made last night about your life being too overwhelming three years ago, especially for a 23-year-old whose mother—her sole living relative as far as she knew—was dying from cancer.”

  Isaac’s eyes widened slightly at my accidental revelation of just how young Dia had been three years earlier.

  Dia narrowed her eyes and flashed me what I was coming to think of as her patented Death Glare. “What happened to sisters before misters?”

  I placed a hand upon her arm and let every ounce of the affection I was quickly developing for her show on my face. “Sometimes the best thing a big sister can do for her little sister is give her a push.”

  “We’re not on a playground, and this isn’t a swing,” she muttered, although I could tell she was more than a little touched by my gesture.

  “No, it’s something way more important. Life. And if we’re going into battle together, I think it’s vital we get everything sorted out now.”

  Isaac shifted in his chair, and I glanced over before continuing. “Now, I’m not saying you two are destined soulmates who belong together no matter what! But what I am saying is that a little honesty goes a long way. If you two decide that you truly are history, it should be because you’ve shared the actual truth with each other first. You both deserve that.”

  Dia’s features softened slightly, no doubt because I let my affection and empathy shine with every word. “I’m starting to think having a sister is gonna be a huge pain in my ass.”

  Isaac laughed and shook his head. “Welcome to my world. Try having three sisters and no brothers. A huge pain in the ass indeed. But also completely amazing when they beat up your bullies or push you to be better.”

  She arched a brow and opened her mouth, but Isaac rushed to clarify, “I’m talking about what my sisters did for me. You’re already the best in my book.”

  Her lips twitched for a good five seconds before she allowed her own smile to show. “Tall, Dark, and Handsome always did have a way with words.”

  He wagged his eyebrows. “Can I just say I approve of this new nickname?”

  Dia jerked a finger in my direction. “She’s who you have to thank for that. And I guess you can also thank her for the fact I’m about to do the last thing I expected. Agree to what you asked before I slammed the door in your face last night.”

  My eyebrows shot up sky-high only to have her punch me lightly on the arm. “Not that, you perv! When this is over, and we have your mom and friend safe, I’m going to give him the chance to prove he and I really do belong together. Assuming,” she added uncertainly, “the fact I lied about my age isn’t a deal breaker?”

  Isaac focused an expression of such pure smoldering desire upon Dia that my cheeks turned red. “Amadia Patterson, I’ve been in love with you for the past five years. Am I happy you lied to me about your age? Hell no. And you better believe we’re gonna chat about that when the time comes. But we’re both fully consenting adults, so no. It’s not a deal breaker. More like a deal-delayer.”

  “Under the circumstances,” she admitted. “That’s probably for the best. We’ve got a whole lot of shit to sort out.”

  Understatement of the century! “All righty then,” I said with cheer oozing from my voice. “That’s my cue to vamoose the way Nic did so you can have a little alone time.”

  Dia gave me another exasperated look. “We’re not just looking for a moment alone to jump each other’s bones.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Isaac murmured with a devilish smile. When Dia threw a crumpled napkin at him, he gestured toward where I had just swayed slightly after pushing to my feet. “I believe your big sister is the one in need of a little nurturing right now. She’s practically dead on her feet from all this crazy new magic she’s been channeling.”

  Concern had Dia jumping up and hovering over me, but I waved her off. “Isaac’s right that I’m in dire need of a nap, which is what I’m going to get right now. But I’m perfectly capable of tucking myself in.”

  She bit her lip and then nodded. “Okay. I better not catch you doing anything but resting. Big sister or not, liegelord or whatever, I can still kick your ass if I need to.”

  “Suuuure you can,” I scoffed, and then made my way toward the basement so I wouldn’t have to find out whether she was right until I’d had about a million more hours of sleep.

  Chapter 10

  I only managed about four of those million hours before Jake gently shook me awake, nuzzling my neck when I sleepily protested. That had my eyes blinking open and discovering late afternoon sunlight filtering in from the room’s narrow window high above our bed. Jake gave me a soft kiss on the lips before urging me to sit up.

  “Everything’s in place, sweetheart. We just need to get dressed and get this show on the road.”

  After I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and took a much-needed shower, I discovered the four short hours of sleep had at least made me feel slightly more human. Slipping into a pair of black jeans, a dark purple top, black leather jacket, and the knee-high black boots Jake had bought me what seemed ages ago also boosted my alertness level. It was too damned hot for a black leather jacket, of course, but no way was I riding on Isaac’s loaned motorcycle without one. Especially not alone.

  Jake wrapped his arms around me before we left our room. “You sure you’re up to this?” His voice sounded one part confident I could do this and one part scared to death. So pretty much how I would feel were the roles reversed. But we’d decided the plan Jake had (ironically) been the one to suggest had both the greatest chance of success and the highest believability, given my track record. Especially now that I had a souped-up firewall in my arsenal.

  “Damn right I am. I’ve eaten enough food to fuel an entire basketball team and just got four extra hours of sleep. I could run a marathon if I had to.”

  Like if the zombie apocalypse occurred. Health nut I may have once been, but I was more a group exercise girl than a runner. Unless chased by something pretty damned scary.

  Jake pushed back to peer into my eyes. “I meant more than physically, Cass.”

  “Hey—I managed not to crash Rhianne’s Vespa last time! And you gave me lessons on Liam’s Harley on the farm.”

  Jake’s voice took on the same level of exasperation Dia had worn several times that day. “I don’t mean your ability to drive the motorcycle either.”

  I tilted my head and gave him a squinty-eyed look. “We both know I’d never admit it if I wasn’t up to this, emotionally speaking. Fortunately, though, I am more than ready to face that prick Garcia and take back what is mine.” My eyebrows rose again as I feigned surprise. “Huh, sounds like how you talked that time you took me back from him.”

  “Be still my beating heart,” he drawled after pecking my forehead. “You actually do listen to me every now and then.”

  “Only when you make sense.” I stuck my tongue out at him and then took a step back. “More seriously, my skill and range in channeling Spirit have already increased in just the past few days. So long as you stay within the distance we discussed, I have all the emergency escape route I need. Dorian made a huge mistake underestimating me. Tonight’s the night we get my loved ones back!”

  He flashed a fierce smile. “That’s my girl. Garcia’s not gonna know what hit him after we give him this one-two sucker punch!”

  “Damn straight! Now, let’s go.”

  A few minutes late
r found me perched atop the sexy-as-hell Ducati and feeling like a badass. Hopefully, I wouldn’t ruin my street cred by crashing on my way to the showdown.

  Isaac handed me the disposable cellphone he’d already used to confirm the meeting was a go. “Avani had the disposable cell couriered to their address as planned. She confirmed that Garcia was there, along with an army of bodyguards. She saw Si Si but no sign of your mom. I just texted pretending to be you, and Garcia verified that he was open to meeting at the park you suggested.”

  As if like clockwork, the phone buzzed and the name, “Garcia” appeared along with the confirmation text Isaac had just mentioned. “Midnight at park confirmed. Come alone, with no communication device except phone. Si Si and I look forward to catching up.”

  That had me letting out a deep breath. “He took the bait, just like we planned. Sounds like Si Si managed to keep my contacting her using Spirit secret.”

  Nic ventured an opinion from nearby. “Not a big surprise. It sounds like he can use Earth magic to manipulate people into following his orders like puppets, but he can’t actually read minds or implant thoughts like Garrett can.”

  And like I also could, at least with those I shared an emotional connection. Although with continued practice, who knew what else might not be possible? For now, though, we were sticking with the ability I was sure of using. Too much was at stake to risk otherwise.

  My gaze went from Nic where he stood next to Dia, Jake, and Liam before returning to Isaac. “Perfect. Then he won’t be able to tell what I’m up to until it’s too late. Although I’m a little surprised he’s dumb enough to think I’d sneak off without Jake again.”

  “I’m not,” Jake said dryly. “Garcia’s ego knows no bounds. He thinks you’re gonna choose him over me given enough incentive. And he obviously believes bonding with you will allow him to one-up your old man.”