Branded by Fire: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Series (Blood & Magic Book 4)

by Danielle Annett

  I glared at him and, without conscious thought, used my new telekinetic abilities to drag the bench from the wall behind him in a rush.

  The bench collided into the back of Declan’s knees and toppled him over backwards.

  He recovered quickly, rolling to his feet in a graceful sweep but not before I saw the flash of surprise wash over his face.

  Not so fun, is it?

  I smiled and then shoved at the bench with my mind to put it back.

  It didn’t move.

  I scowled and tried again, but the stupid thing still wouldn’t budge.

  What the hell?

  “What’s wrong?” Declan asked. He eyed the bench apprehensively as he moved closer toward me.

  "It won't move," I told him without taking my eyes off of it.

  “You should relax. We’ve been at this for a while. You’re just tired.”

  If I’d been too tired, it shouldn’t have moved the first time. Right?

  I wasn’t sure. I wanted to ask Inarus but considering what had happened earlier today, I didn’t think now was the right time to call.

  I pushed again and cursed the damn thing when, instead of sliding back into place, it burst into flames instead.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  Declan started laughing beside me. I struck out and smacked him in the stomach.

  “You’re not helping.”

  “Would you like me to put the bench back?” he asked with a grin.

  “No. I can do it myself.”

  I concentrated harder and then spun on my heel. Screw the bench. Declan could deal with it while I showered.

  9

  Aria

  Opening the glass door to my ensuite shower, I groaned as I stepped inside and the hot spray hit my back, lighting every nerve ending on fire. Everything hurt, but despite the dull ache in my bones, I felt better. I’d needed the fight, and Declan had given it to me.

  I leaned against the tile enclosure and let the hot shower steam engulf me as my mind wandered to thoughts of Declan.

  His hot kiss, the feel of his hands on my bare skin. Even his firm grip on my hips as he slammed my body to the mat had left me aching for more contact.

  Maybe things could work between the two of us. He was working his way under my defenses. Saying and doing things that left me unbalanced.

  Was I a complete fool for wanting to give our relationship a chance? I didn’t know. My heart wanted to fall for him, but my head was telling me to run far away.

  Declan had already hurt me once. Would I be able to take another betrayal?

  I didn’t think I could.

  The thought of falling for Declan terrified me.

  But what if he didn’t ever betray me again? What if things worked out? What if the bond between us was as real as he kept trying to convince me it was?

  That terrified me even more.

  I sighed and reached for my citrus scented soaps. “You’re overthinking this,” I chided myself.

  I lathered and rinsed with quick efficiency then turned off the shower and stepped out to wrap myself in a thick, fluffy white towel.

  I wiped the fog from the mirror over the sink and gave myself a good look over.

  “Give him a chance. A real one,” I said to my reflection. This could work.

  I opened the door leading to my room and stopped cold in my tracks.

  “What are you doing in here?”

  Inarus sat on my bed, his hands folded in his lap.

  He had looked up when I’d come out of the bathroom, and his mouth now hung open as his eyes roved over my towel-clad body with unhidden interest.

  I suddenly felt exposed.

  “I—umm …”

  I ignored his stammer and headed straight to my dresser. I pulled out one of Declan’s navy cotton tees.

  He’d clearly decided to make himself at home in my room. There was a whole drawer of his clothes in here. How had I missed them before?

  Slipping the shirt over my head, it fell down to my knees, covering more than the towel had. I dropped my towel, and it fell in a heap at my feet.

  I padded back toward Inarus but thought better of it and shifted direction, instead taking a seat in the nearby armchair.

  “So—?” I waited.

  He opened and closed his mouth two more times before clearing his throat.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to, err—”

  “It’s fine. What’s up?”

  “Does a guy by the name of Twitch sound familiar?”

  Twitch? He was definitely familiar. Twitch was an informant of sorts. I’d met him on the streets, and we’d kept in touch ever since. He was eccentric, to say the least, but his information always panned out.

  He was also twitchy as hell, hence the name, and his paranoia of strangers ran deep. If he’d stopped into Sanborn Place and spoken to Inarus, whatever he’d shared was important.

  “Yeah. We go back. What’d he have to say?” I asked.

  Inarus leaned forward, a look of worry washing over his face.

  “Not much. He couldn’t seem to sit still, and he kept asking for you. I explained you weren’t in. He just kept asking to speak with you over and over. I tried calling but—” he shrugged his shoulders.

  Shit. I'd wrecked my phone. I'd need to replace it. Just one more thing to add to my never-ending to-do list.

  Learn to control my abilities, figure out my love life, deal with the Alpha a-hole that had abducted me, oh and deal with my psychotic mother. I’m sure I’d find time to get a new phone somewhere in all that mess.

  “Yeah, sorry about that. I need a replacement.”

  “It’s fine. It’s not like it takes me long to track you down.” That was true enough. Being a telekinetic, Inarus could port just about anywhere he pleased with little more than a thought.

  I wondered when I’d be able to try something like that.

  “So where is Twitch now?”

  “Still back at Sanborn Place. I told him to stay put, gave him a cup of coffee, and then came to get you.”

  I groaned. “You gave him coffee?”

  “Yeah. Was that not okay?”

  “Twitch is a bit twitchy, if you hadn’t noticed,” I said.

  Inarus stood. “Oh, I noticed.”

  “Yeah well, coffee doesn’t help. We’ll have a hard time getting much of use out of him until the caffeine works it way out of his system, but give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”

  I pulled a pair of jeans out of my dresser and, as modestly as possible, shimmied into them. Inarus had the decency to look away, and I knotted Declan’s, oversized shirt at my waist with a hair tie before pulling on a pair of socks and slipping my feet into my black leather boots.

  I cursed when I realized I didn’t have my daggers and made a mental note to add get new daggers to my to-do list too.

  Shit. I couldn’t believe I’d lost them.

  They’d likely been confiscated by my mother when she’d taken me in, and I doubted I’d ever see them again.

  They’d been a gift from my Papa and were irreplaceable. I sighed. Now wasn’t the time to feel sentimental.

  I finger combed the wet strands of my hair before throwing it up in a quick knot on top my head.

  “Okay, I’m ready.” I held out a hand since Inarus needed to make physical contact in order to take me with him for a port.

  He ignored my outstretched hand and instead stepped forward and pulled me into a warm embrace.

  Just as I felt the distinct tug of Inarus initiating the port, my bedroom door opened.

  Within seconds, we were standing in front of my desk in Sanborn Place. I pulled away from Inarus and gave him a quizzical look, then gasped as a turbulent rage rolled through me. I reached out my hand, needing to steady myself against my desk.

  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it’d been Declan who’d opened my bedroom door and that he’d seen Inarus wrap his arms around me.

  I felt where Inarus had touched me as though I
’d been burned by ice.

  I rubbed at my arms.

  Inarus usually just held my hand or placed one of his on my shoulder before a port. Why the full embrace this time around?

  I shook the thought away when Twitch poked his head around the corner, his straw-colored hair sticking out in messy spikes.

  “Ari!” He shouted. “You’re here. He told me you weren’t here but you’re here.” He pointed an accusatory finger at Inarus. “You shouldn’t be with strangers,” he chided. “Good, good. This is very good. No, wait. It’s bad. I’m sorry. Very bad. I have to tell you. Important things. I have a lot of important things. Must tell Ari.”

  I rushed forward and put my hands on his shoulders. Listening to Twitch was like a never-ending run-on sentence that you had to dissect and piece back together in order to make sense of it.

  “Breathe,” I told him. “What did you need to tell me?”

  “Soldiers. Psyker soldiers.” My stomach plummeted.

  “PhyShade?” I asked.

  He frantically nodded, his hazel eyes wide and full of exuberance.

  "Yes, yes. Have you seen them? So many of them.”

  "No, Twitch. I haven't seen them. How many did you see? What were they doing?"

  Twitched jerked away and started patting himself down with frantic hands.

  “Picture, picture,” he muttered.

  Inarus stepped forward. “Aria—”

  I held a hand up. “Give him a minute.”

  “Got it!” Twitch shouted with triumph.

  He handed me a crumpled polaroid that he pulled out of his back left pocket, and I gave it a quick once-over. It was hard to know exactly what was going on in the image, but it showed a large group of men. All of them were dressed in black, and those whose shoulders I could see sported the PsyShade insignia—a circle with a white dagger piercing a full moon, red drops of what was meant to be blood dripping below it.

  I handed the image to Inarus, and he swore. “They’re organizing for something.”

  “Going to be a battle. A big fight,” Twitch said.

  “Do you know who they’re going to fight?” I asked him.

  Twitch pulled at his spiked blond hair. “Animals, always animals. She’s angry with the savages. Took her baby. She’s going, going to get her back. She’s going to get you back.”

  “My mother? You saw my mother?”

  He bobbed his head up and down. “She yelled. A lot. She's angry with you. Said you were an ungrateful brat. Spoiled. Insolent bitch" He covered his mouth with his hand.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled through his fingers.

  “It’s okay,” I told him. I didn’t expect my mother to have the warm fuzzies where I was concerned. Not after the realization that she considered me to be an abomination like every other nonstandard human in her eyes.

  Twitch continued pacing, his words no longer coherent. I watched him for several seconds. Sometimes Twitch just needed a minute to sort out all of the jumbled words in his head.

  He rubbed his arms and tugged at the collar of his forest green shirt.

  “Twitch?”

  No answer. I turned to Inarus and shrugged my shoulders. We'd just wait. I leaned against my desk and bit at my fingernails.

  Three minutes passed in silence before he froze, eyes wide, and faced me. “We have to go. Now.”

  Wait, what?

  Twitch grabbed my hand and jerked me towards the front door.

  “Now. We have to go now.”

  “I tried to pull my arm free from his grasp but he was surprisingly strong. “Twitch, slow down. What’s going on?”

  Inarus stepped in front of him, effectively blocking his path.

  “Hey! You need to let go of her.”

  Twitch struck out and landed a blow to the right side of Inarus’ jaw, sending him reeling back.

  I probably should have warned him that Twitch was a scrapper.

  Twitch flung open the door and dragged me outside before Inarus could right himself.

  He frantically looked both ways before jerking his head to the left, and with his hand still wrapped firmly around my wrist, he ran at a full tilt and dragged me along with him.

  “Twitch, slow down. Why are we running?”

  I struggled to keep up with Twitch’s longer-legged steps.

  “We have to get out of here. Now. She’s coming today.”

  I tried to slow my steps, but Twitch wasn’t letting up. I looked back over my shoulder to find Inarus close on our heels.

  We made a sharp left down an abandoned alley, and Twitch shoved me into a narrow doorway.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Inarus snarled when we finally stopped.

  Twitch moved to swing at him again, and I caught his arm.

  “Stop that,” I said.

  Twitch scowled down at me, but just as he opened his mouth, a series of cars zoomed past us down the street just outside the alley going a hell of a lot faster than they should be.

  We all froze in place for a heartbeat, then shoved ourselves farther into the doorway.

  “What the hell?” Inarus said.

  “She’s here,” Twitch whispered.

  I waited until it looked like there weren’t anymore passing cars before stepping forward to peek around the corner.

  I swore under my breath. Hulking men decked out in black tactical gear were spilling out of four SUVs in front of Sanborn Place.

  What the hell were they expecting to walk into?

  All but one of them assembled facing the doors. The last man moved to one of the SUV passenger doors. He opened it, and I sucked in a breath as my mother —Viola Reynolds—stepped out of the vehicle.

  She was dressed in a crisp burgundy pantsuit. Her dark hair pulled back into an elegant twist.

  I clenched my fists, and fire broke out along my skin.

  “You can’t confront her. Not here,” Inarus warned.

  I knew he was right, but dammit. I shook my head.

  “Come on. Twitch is right. We need to go.”

  I watched one of my mother’s men raise his hand, and with just a thought, he shattered the glass on the front door. Psyker. Shit. He didn’t even try the doorknob before deciding to break it. Bastard.

  “Aria—”

  I knew now wasn’t the time. There were too many of them. I’d counted at least twelve men, and I didn’t have a good enough handle on my abilities to face them on my own. Inarus was with me, sure, but I wouldn’t risk him for my own stupidity.

  I turned to face him. “Okay. Let’s go.” I looked around the alleyway for Twitch.

  “Where’d he go?” Inarus asked.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. He does that sometimes. He came to warn me. In his eyes, he’s accomplished his mission. He’ll find me again if something comes up.”

  Inarus nodded and reached out for me. I tried to pull my flames in, but between my own frustrations and Declan’s anger rolling through me still, I couldn’t.

  Inarus cupped the back of my head, one of the few places flames weren’t licking, and we were tugged from the alley and back to my room in the Compound.

  10

  Aria

  Declan wasn't in my room, as I'd expected him to be, which was probably a good thing. Inarus was still with me, and I couldn't send him off considering what had just happened. He'd been living in the apartment above Sanborn Place, and the only other possibility was my currently uninhabited apartment, which was likely my mother's next stop if she hadn't been there already.

  I sighed and scrubbed my hands over my face. “Did you have any active cases you were working on?”

  “No, just the usual with Alyssa.”

  I snorted. Alyssa was a water nymph whose father regularly hired Sanborn Place to guard his daughter. She was eighteen and had a rebellious streak. As a Fae, her father Alexander expected her to date and eventually marry someone he felt worthy of her station. Instead, she dated swoon-worthy mermen to piss her father off. She was our regular
babysitting gig as far as I was concerned.

  Inarus was becoming her favorite guard, and Alexander seemed to approve of her most recent love interest.

  “You’re going to get yourself in trouble with that one,” I told him.

  He folded his arms over his chest. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

  “Right. Keep telling yourself that.” I mumbled under my breath.

  “Okay, no cases means we don’t have anything pressing that requires us to be in the office. We should stay clear for the time being. She won’t find anything of use there, but my mother will keep someone close by as a lookout, so we can’t risk going back. Not until we figure out what she’s up to.”

  Anger fueled Inarus’ voice. “We know what she’s up to. She’s trying to get you back. I can’t say I’m surprised. Viola wants you in her life, by her side.” He shook his head. “You didn’t hear the way she used to talk about you. I don’t doubt that she loves you in her own twisted way. But, Aria, you’ll never be safe as long as she’s alive.”

  I didn’t disagree with him. “But Twitch said she was going after the animals. That would imply that she’s going after the Pack.”

  “Is she that stupid? To risk a direct confrontation with them?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. But I need to find Declan. He needs to know what’s going on.”

  I moved to the door, and Inarus reached out, his hand wrapping around my bicep despite the flames. I felt the tug of his hold but not his fingers against my skin. I looked down and saw a thin gap between his hand and my arm.

  “Nice trick,” I said. Being telekinetic had its advantages when your friend tended to catch fire.

  He ignored my remark and stepped closer, invading my space. I felt his breath on my cheek and the scent of rain storms assailed my senses.

  “We don’t need the shifter. You and I, we can handle this.” His voice was velvet. I shook my head and pulled away from his grasp.

  “That shifter is…” I trailed off. I still didn’t know how to describe mine and Declan’s relationship, but the way Inarus had spoken pissed me off. Like Declan was somehow beneath him.

  “Look—Declan, he’s ... I don’t know.” I sighed. “He’s important to me. I don’t know what’s going to happen between us, but I want to find out. On top of that, going against my mother and the H.A.C. alone is just stupid. We need the Pack.”