Kindling Flames: Stolen Fire (The Ancient Fire Series Book 4)

by Julie Wetzel

  “For years I have come when you called,” Darien reminded her. He focused all of his attention on her as his voice dropped in pitch. “I have done your bidding, fought your wars, run with your hunts, and I have asked little in return. I have been confidant and advisor, friend, and yes, even lover.”

  Vicky looked at him, wide-eyed, as he went on.

  “I come to you now in my time of dire need. I implore you: find it in your heart, in all that we have shared, in all the future possibilities that may be, grant me this one request and help me.” The urgency and need etched in his voice rang throughout the room.

  The queen sat up in her chair. She had not expected such seriousness from him. He had always been such a lighthearted soul. “Well.” Wiping her palms on her skirt, she looked from the normally indomitable man begging, to the shocked woman holding his hand, then down to the hellhound joining the two. “How can I say no to such a passionate plea?” The queen waved her hand at them. “You are safe, for your stay, to come and go in the normal time of mortals.”

  Darien relaxed a little and dropped her a deep bow. “Thank you, my most benevolent Queen.” His voice showed his relief and gratitude.

  Darien’s actions pulled Vicky from her surprised stupor, and she dropped another curtsy to the queen.

  “Don’t thank me so quickly, Kian,” Lady Aine warned. “I have promised my protection, but my help is never free.”

  “I am fully aware of that.” Darien nodded his head. “Once we know the source of the problem, I am prepared to negotiate terms for your assistance.”

  The queen cocked her head at a curious angle. “Then by all means.” She waved her hand to Lord Dakine, who was waiting. “My Lord, if you would, please.”

  “But of course,” Dakine answered.

  Darien released Vicky’s hand so the fay could examine her further.

  Vicky looked to Darien for reassurance. When he nodded, she stepped into the circle of the elf’s arms.

  Dakine’s hands slipped inside her jacket and pushed it off her shoulders. He let it drop to the floor, forgotten. His fingers found the knot on Darien’s medallion and pulled it off.

  Zak caught it in one of his grasping ends as the elf lord dropped it.

  Dakine fitted Vicky against him as if she were a lover.

  She stiffened at the close contact.

  “Relax.” He breathed the word into her ear as he shut his eyes and pressed the side of his face into her hair. His warmth enveloped her, making her muscles slowly lose their tension, until they were molded together.

  After a few more moments, Vicky closed her eyes and wrapped her arms up around Dakine’s back, burying her face into the crook of his neck.

  He made a pleased noise and held her just a little tighter. The world seemed to back away, leaving the two of them tangled together for all time.

  Darien watched the fay lord wrap Vicky up in his arms. His heart jumped at the sight of his love in the arms of another man. In his mind, he knew Dakine was searching Vicky for the enchantment, but it killed him that the fay had to get that close to her to do it.

  “Jealous?” Lady Aine whispered into his ear.

  Darien jerked back from where his mind had been at the queen’s unexpected presence at his back. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed her move from her chair. He didn’t want to admit to being jealous, but he couldn’t lie to her; it wasn’t part of the game she played. And he could tell that she was still playing from the way she leaned into and caressed him.

  “He may hold her close, but he will never touch her heart.” Darien spoke the words softly, more to remind himself than for the queen’s benefit.

  She laughed and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her ample chest into his back. “I could always take your mind off them…” Lady Aine nuzzled the nape of his neck as she ran her hands over his chest and down the smooth planes of the coat covering his stomach.

  Darien moved to take her arms and hands before they could drop below his belt. “Thank you, but I must decline.” He turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

  Lady Aine studied his profile for a moment before letting out a tinkle of laughter. She raised her arms to a more appropriate level and rested her chin on his shoulder to watch the elf lord work. “Zak’s mark must be so infuriating.” She smiled as she spoke.

  Darien chuckled. “It drives me nuts.”

  Zak gurgled from the floor next to Darien. The hellhound had not taken his eyes off Vicky.

  “I really could help you with her,” the queen offered.

  Darien cocked an eyebrow at her. “At what cost?” Freely given help was never to be passed up.

  “Nothing that you haven’t already done.” She smiled up at him, a wicked gleam in her eye. “Although, it might be a little outside your lady’s comfort.”

  Darien chuckled and patted her arms. “I’ll have to pass for now.” He turned his attention back to Vicky. “I’m sure I can deal with her issues once my power has been restored.”

  The queen shrugged and looked back to her lord. “As you wish.”

  Darien knew he was a fool for passing up the queen’s offer of help a second time, but it wasn’t something he felt Vicky would freely accept. Given enough time, he was sure that he could unravel whatever spell the lesser fay had placed on her. Plus, this one was not hurting anyone, or at least not as far as he could tell. Lord Dakine would be able to tell them better once he had worked out what enchantments had been placed on her and when.

  After what seemed like forever, Lord Dakine let out a long breath and eased himself away from Vicky. He placed a soft kiss in the center of her forehead and supported her by the upper arms as he stepped back.

  Lady Aine released Darien as he came to take Vicky from the elf lord. The men’s eyes met for a moment of silent understanding before Darien parted his trench coat and pulled her into the warmth of his body.

  Vicky’s mind was hazy as she wrapped her arms up Darien’s back under his coat. She rested, her face pressed into the side of his neck, as the magic Dakine had searched her with drained from her system.

  Lady Aine stepped around the pair to her lord. “And?”

  “There are many layers of magic on cailín.” Dakine pulled Lady Aine in against him as he spoke. He turned her so her back was against him and wrapped his arms around her chest. They studied Darien and Vicky as Dakine went on. “The strongest and hardest to see past were the spells placed on Halloween, but they were all in good fun.”

  Vicky snorted her amusement at the fay’s idea of fun into Darien’s neck. Her head was feeling better, but she stayed in Darien’s arms for support.

  Darien patted her on the back, showing his own amusement.

  “The most intriguing is the mess Kian made trying to mark her. How she survived that one, I will never know.”

  Darien tightened his hold on her as he was reminded of his near-fatal error.

  Zak rubbed against their legs reassuringly.

  “Oh, you have been a bad boy,” the queen scolded him mischievously.

  Darien chose to ignore the comment.

  “There were a few broken enchantments scattered here and there, making the path hard to follow, but I think I found the bit of mischief causing the issue.”

  Darien looked up, hopeful for an answer.

  “A spell, laid by the lesser fay during your first visit, drains your power.”

  “Just as we thought.” Darien swallowed back his frustration with the situation. “Can it be undone?”

  Dakine took a deep breath and let it out. “The spell is interwoven with cailín’s life force. It draws out your power and transfers it to another,” he explained. “I dare not try to break it without first knowing how the little ones spun it.”

  “Then I think we should find out.” Lady Aine pulled herself free from Dakine’s arms and returned to her seat by the fire. She drew a deep breath and started into a song.

  Vicky closed her eyes and let the haunting sound drift
over her. She didn’t understand the ancient words, but she could feel the call in them. After a few bars, the soft rustle of wings drew Vicky’s attention, and she turned in Darien’s arms to watch as the lesser fay fluttered into the room.

  “Our lady calls.”

  Vicky picked out the English words in the white noise of the fay’s chatter.

  “Dubhlainn is mortal!” another excited voice cried as the flock of lesser fay swarmed them. “Let us play! Let us play!” The demand echoed through the group.

  “Please,” Lady Aine held up her hands to suppress the excitement, “my children, calm yourselves.” The deafening roar tapered away to excited babbles as the lesser fay tried to contain themselves.

  “Who is responsible for Kian’s mortality?” she asked the group in general.

  Whispers ran the gaggle for a moment, but no answer was given.

  “Come forth or all will be punished.”

  Finally the flock drew back, leaving three small fay grouped together with their heads hung low.

  Lady Aine looked over the three guilty fay. “I should have known.”

  The three winged people trembled as they waited for her judgment.

  Holding up her hands, Lady Aine drew them closer to her. “And why would you do this to one such as he? You know my guests are not to be messed with for trivial matters.” The little creatures fluttered their wings as they worked up the courage to answer.

  “We had to,” the smallest of the three blurted out. “He wouldn’t release us unless we granted his wish.” The rest of the lesser fay picked up and echoed the first’s plea.

  “Quiet!” Lady Aine cried, and the fay fell silent. “Who would do this?” There was anger in the queen’s voice.

  “The mortal that caught us on All Hallows’ Eve.” The smallest fay’s voice was almost too soft to hear. “He trapped us with iron.” The fay’s voice grew with anger.

  “He threatened our wings.” The second fluttered her wings madly, rising a few inches.

  “He forced us to promise him magic.” The third dropped a few inches as his wings stilled in rage.

  “And what were you doing out in the mortal realm on All Hollows’ Eve?” Lady Aine asked, eyeing them angrily.

  The three fay sunk into silence, knowing they had done wrong.

  Seeing no answer was coming, Lady Aine let out a long sigh. “And what did this mortal want?”

  “The power of Darien Ritter,” the smallest fay answered again.

  “The keys to his life and empire,” the female answered.

  “But Kain was beyond your reach,” Lady Aine pointed out. “How did you plan to grant this wish?”

  “We only promised to do what we could,” the third answered. “We never expected a possibility.”

  “…And in steps cailín.” Lady Aine said softly.

  “So vulnerable,” cooed the first.

  “So mortal,” sighed the second.

  “So tempting,” giggled the female. The laughter ran throughout the room.

  Vicky’s breath caught in her throat as she listened. Why had the fay used her to get to Darien? They hadn’t been more than coworkers at the time, had they? She looked up at him, but his eyes were pinned to the three fay who had stolen his powers.

  “So, you set your spell on cailín.” The fay nodded their heads as Lady Aine spoke.

  Vicky turned her attention back to the inquisition taking place.

  “How did you plan for the spell to reach Kian?”

  The entire flock of fay answered, but each individual yelled slightly out of unison, so the word ‘kisses’ was hard to make out.

  Lady Aine raised her hand to calm them again. “But Kian didn’t play your games.”

  “He resisted,” one of the three grumbled unhappily.

  “Did you send Zak to help with this?” Darien’s voice was hard as he asked the question.

  Zak growled and thrashed his tentacles at the accusation in the question.

  “No,” the smallest one admitted. “He nearly ruined our plans.”

  Zak growled at them.

  Lady Aine smacked his grasping ends away from the three fay. He has slowly wiggled them out while the fay had answered. “I will deal with these little ones.” Pulling one of the tentacles up, she rubbed it lovingly. She looked back to the three fay that had raised up away from the floor now flowing with feelers. “You are lucky I don’t let the hellhound have his way with you.”

  Zak gurgled his anger at them.

  “I assume if Kian had kissed her, your spell would have been immediate.”

  The fay nodded their heads in agreement.

  “Then we could have kept him,” the smallest admitted.

  Darien rested his head on top of Vicky’s. He was starting to see the entire scope of the fay’s intentions.

  “And you let him escape?” Lady Aine sounded disappointed in the little ones.

  “Cailín’s protections were too great for the sleeping spell,” the female in the group admitted.

  “And that was why you enchanted her dress,” Darien added as he put things together. The giggles sounded again, and a few fay zoomed around in excitement.

  “Still, Dubhlainn was strong,” the girl sighed.

  “So how did you do it?” the Queen finally asked.

  “The spell was weak,” the smallest giggled.

  “It did no harm to any,” said the second fay.

  “It ties them all together,” the female added.

  “Can you undo it?” the queen asked. All three of the fay shook their heads.

  “We gave our word,” the smallest explained.

  “And you can’t break your word.” Lady Aine sighed and nodded her head. “Very well, I’ll deal with you later.” She waved the three away. They fay zoomed up to the rest of the waiting lesser fay. They quickly scattered, leaving the air in the great chamber empty. Lady Aine turned her attention back to where Vicky and Darien were standing together. “Does that answer your questions?”

  “Some of them,” Darien admitted, “but how do we unravel the enchantment?”

  “Don’t you like being mortal?” Lady Aine smiled.

  Vicky shivered from the look in her eyes. The queen was definitely enjoying his plight.

  Darien drew in a deep breath and let it out heavily. “It’s not the matter of enjoyment,” he explained. “I have responsibilities to others that require my strength. Plus, there is a man out there using my powers to hurt others. He has to be stopped.”

  “Always the noble one.” The queen shook her head. “So, Lord Dakine, what do you think?” They all turned eyes to the waiting elf lord.

  “The only way I can see to break it is to destroy one of the anchors.”

  Vicky tensed up and shifted, uncomfortable in Darien’s arms. “What do you mean by 'destroy one of the anchors'?” she asked, not liking the thoughts that popped into her head.

  “Since the anchor is in the life force,” Dakine explained, “you would need to end the subject’s life.”

  “Like, kill them?” she said, shocked that he would even suggest something like that.

  “Yes,” Dakine clarified, “like, kill them.”

  “But, how do we find them?” Darien asked the question that he really wanted the answer to.

  “You have one of them right here,” Lady Aine pointed out with a wicked smile. “But, with so little of your power left in you, if you cut this end of the spell, you may lose the rest to your foe.”

  “Out of the question.” Darien shot down this idea before Vicky could process the suggestion. “How do we find the other anchor?”

  “A tracking spell is what you need.” Lady Aine stood up from her chair to bargain with them. “I could help you with that, for a price.”

  Vicky turned to look at the queen.

  Darien held her tightly to his chest as he considered the offer.

  Seeing how hard he was thinking about the possibilities, Lady Aine added, “I am sure your simple magics could get th
e job done, but how will you identify the culprit? I have the three responsible and everything they used to set the spell.”

  Seeing her logic, he tipped his head forward in surrender. “And what is your price?” Darien asked.

  “In a few months’ time, you will both come to me and submit to one request without question or pause.” Lady Aine held up her hand to stem the flow of Darien’s immediate refusal. “I give you my word that my request will cause no harm to you or yours, and it will not compromise cailín’s ideas of decency.”

  Darien bit his lip, considering the demand. To give this woman carte blanche on one request was just asking for trouble. He looked down at Vicky. “What do you think?” This was not a decision he was about to make on his own.

  Vicky looked up into his eyes. “I don’t see a problem with it if it won’t hurt anything.” She shrugged.

  Darien smiled at her innocence. He could think of a lot of things that wouldn’t hurt or cross Vicky’s sense of decency, but would be very unwelcome. “So trusting.” He kissed her on the side of the head. Darien turned his attention back to Lady Aine. “You price is within reason, and your help would be much obliged. What do you need from us?”

  “A dram of blood from each of you, to be used for this one enchantment alone.”

  Darien paused for a moment, considering her demands. A tracking spell should only require a few drops of blood. Why would she want a full vile from each of them? “And what happens to the leftover blood?” he asked.

  “Any extra will remain with me, not to be used in any magical context,” she reassured him.

  Darien studied her for a moment, trying to think of what she might do with the blood outside of a magical spell. He shuddered at the possibilities but could see no harm in letting her have a little blood. He had taken a lot more than that in his lifetime. Looking down at Vicky, he made sure she was okay with it.

  She nodded her agreement.

  “Deal,” Darien agreed.

  ***

  Vicky looked down at the red line on her hand as she leaned back in her seat. Things had happened rather quickly once Darien had agreed to Lady Aine’s terms. It had taken Dakine no time to produce an ornamental dagger and two vials. Lady Aine had tried to convince them to stay for the next feast, but that was a few hours away. Darien politely bowed out, using work as his excuse.