by Kate Kelley
Several minutes later, he stopped abruptly in front of a house that looked similar to the inn. He got out and crossed to my side, yanking me out and throwing me over his shoulder again. I pounded on his back and screamed. He held me tighter. Once inside, he bolted the door and I punched him in the face, my fist landing with a thud. I then kicked him in the balls, but he sidestepped my attack, grabbed my wrists and twisted my arms behind my back in an iron grip. His mouth came close to my ear, tickling my neck. “I just want to talk. You’ll not be harmed here unless you provoke me.”
“Why did you throw out my phone!” I wrenched my arms, but he kept them firmly in his grasp.
“Calling your friends would help no one.”
“Why am I here?” I growled. Friends? I had none of those.
He let me go and I stumbled back. He raised in hands in surrender and slowly lowered onto a black sofa. He snapped his fingers and dozens of candelabras combusted, lighting the room.
My jaw hung open as I stared at the flames. This guy was super rich.
My blood felt like it was boiling, threatening to erupt as I stood abruptly on shaking knees. “Let me open a window,” I said, pleadingly.
He raised a brow. “Afraid of fire. Interesting.”
“What? No, I’m not. I’m just too hot.” I pulled at my damp tunic, tears ready to spill from my eyes.
Wolfram’s eyebrows came together as he watched me pull my tunic over my head, then tug my boots and socks off, and finally my leggings. I lay on his sofa in my bra and panties, happy at last.
At least for a few minutes.
“Why did you take off your--” Wolfram’s voice was strained he averted his eyes.
“Because it’s too fucking hot all the damn time and yes, there is probably something gravely wrong with me. I’m probably dying as we speak. I hallucinate almost daily, too, and now this. Just tell me, is there sweat on my skin or am I imagining the heat too?”
Wolfram’s dark eyes washed over my prone form, and his nostrils flared. I thought I saw the copper light his eyes for a moment before it flicked back to black. “I can smell the sweat on you. You're not hallucinating it. Are you ill?”
“Smell it? God, really?” I sniffed my arm. It didn’t smell bad to me.
“Which elemental are you, and what clan? Tell me quickly so I can figure out what to do with you. You don’t smell like Wildfire to me. Is there another underground clan rising up?”
“No idea what the hell you’re saying. I’m not rich enough to be a part of country clubs. Wildfire--is that some sort of expensive perfume or something?”
I sat up, distracted by the itchiness that was now spreading like a plague across my bare skin. I inspected it, expecting hives or pox or at least eczema, but my skin was clear. “Do you have a cold rag I can borrow?”
Wolfram crossed to me and knelt beside the sofa. He lifted his hand and let it hover over my stomach. Then his eyes drew to mine as if by a magnet. He looked...confused.
“You don’t know, do you?” He murmured, standing again. He began pacing, hands behind his back.
“Don’t know what?” I scratched at my arms, sure I was breaking skin. “I think I need to go to the hospital. I think I have a flesh-eating virus.”
Wolfram stopped in front of me, rifling his hand through his hair. “No. They won’t be able to cure this.”
“You know what it is? Ughh, God, I feel like I’m going to explode.” I doubled over as nausea hit me, so acute it felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.
Wolfram’s face set into a grim expression. He peeled off his jacket, tossing it to the floor, then began loosening his tie, pulling that off too. He untucked his shirt and unbuttoned it, revealing his chiseled abs. A tattoo of a black sun decorated his left pectoral. I hadn’t noticed that the other night.
I glared up at him through blurry vision. ‘What are you doing?” I asked through clenched teeth.
He took down his pants, leaving his black boxers on. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to work, but you’ll die otherwise, and I still have questions.” He swore under his breath before kneeling again in front of me. I had no presence of mind to fight back as he parted my knees and moved closer, his chest coming up flush against mine. He smoothed my back and unclipped my bra, letting it fall off before holding me tight to him again. He smoothed my back again, methodically, mechanically.
But, oh the sweet relief.
Somehow, whatever he was doing was calming me, the itchiness fading, the heat dissipating slowly until it was only a low burn, and hardly noticeable. I cuddled in closer to him, laying my cheek on his shoulder. His entire body stiffened in response, but I didn’t care. The unbearable frenzied heat was gone. For some reason, his touch was the cure.
I wrapped my arms and legs around him, pulling him closer, my nose tickling the side of his neck. He tensed even more, an odd sound resembling a growl escaping his throat in a low vibration against my breasts.
He held me for a long time before finally pulling back. When he peered into my eyes, I was startled to see the copper burning there.
“Your eyes…” I whispered.
“Who are your parents?” He asked me, his expression guarded.
I swallowed. “I just have an adoptive dad. I can’t--I can’t go to him.”
His eyes narrowed. “What kingdom?”
I frowned. “I don’t know what that means.”
He reared back, studying me. “You really don’t, do you?”
He swore bitterly before pulling back completely and standing, donning his pants and shirt again. “You’re an elemental, that much is clear, though which kingdom I can’t tell. Your powers haven’t bloomed yet, but they’re close. I can scent a little bit of fire, but that’s it, which doesn’t make any sense. I’d know if you were fire. I’d definitely know if you were Wildfire. I’m sorry, for accusing you.” His eyes were full of regret.
He buttoned his last button and pulled his sleeves up to his elbows.
I stretched my tunic over my head, letting the hem fall softly on my bare thighs. “Either I really am crazy, or you are.”
Wolfram sat down across from me and leaned forward, his eyes intent on mine. “There are four elemental kingdoms. Fire, Air, Earth, and Water. I’m from the Fire Kingdom, Tungsten Clan.”
I sat dumbly, blinking.
Wolfram swore again and rifled through his hair, leaving it disheveled around his shoulders. “Before humans were created, there were the Elementals. We descended from the gods, and ruled the earth, sea, air, and fire. The one true God then created humans, wanting more pure, innocent beings to care for Earth. We were forced into a separate realm when it became clear that we could not live among the frailty of humanity.”
He looked at me to see if I was paying attention. My head swam but I listened, enraptured in the story as if a part of me knew it was true.
He licked his lips. “You’ll have heard stories passed down through generations, though the names they call us and the details are different. Demons, Angels, Mermaids, Fairies. The kingdoms live separately, and mostly in peace, as long as we don’t interact.”
I found my leggings and pulled them on, wiggling my toes through and ignoring my heart that told me Wolfram spoke the truth. I found my socks and pulled those on too, then my boots.
Now that the heat had left me, I could think more clearly. I could apply to the newspaper. I now had some major dirt on a high-profile man in this little town that I was sure was lacking real, interesting news stories. With my journalism background, I was sure I’d get hired.
I strode toward the exit and Wolfram blocked me, stepping in front of the door. “You can’t leave. You’re an elemental. We have to figure out which kingdom, which clan, and why you’ve been misplaced. And if you’re fire, Wildfire will find out soon enough and drag you into their cause.” His eyes darkened.
I narrowed my eyes at him as my heart beat out of my chest. “Move, now, or I will call the police.”
Wolfram smirked. “With what?
I don’t keep a phone here. No electricity, no internet, no phones. Middle of nowhere. You’re trapped.”
My chest heaved as panic clawed at me. I struck out and he grabbed my wrist easily, inches from his face. His touch seared my skin and he let me go.
Suddenly, his hand burst into flames in front of my face and I jumped back with a scream. His other hand burst into flames and my eyes nearly popped out of my head as the flames rose higher, licking an inch away from the ten foot ceiling.
The heat rose inside of me again and he abruptly cut off the flames, a faint scent of smoke the only indication he’d created fire and held it in his palms.
I fainted.
Chapter Seven
I sunk into a soft surface as something wet and cold touched my forehead. My eyes fluttered open. An old woman’s face hovered over mine. I wouldn’t have called it a hag face, because that would have just been mean, but…
The hag clutched my cheeks in a death grip, turning my head side to side. My vision cleared enough so that Wolfram materialized behind her, his eyes shaded in darkness.
The hag released me with a sigh, standing up. “I’ll fetch the blade.”
That sounded promising.
I tried to sit up and the world turned to its side. Wolfram sat next to me. “You’re safe. We are in Helena’s care. She’ll tell us what Kingdom you belong to.”
I rubbed my eyes. “How did I get here?” My voice was a croak.
“You fainted after I showed you my fire and then stayed asleep for a couple hours. You have to be awake for the ritual.”
“The blade thing? I’ll pass. Take me home.” I shoved the scratchy wool blanket off of my legs and stood up. My head almost hit the wooden ceiling, which was ridiculous, because I was five foot six. All around me huddled stacks of books towered where there was space in the cottage. A wood stove took up the middle of the far wall, above it, tied bunches of drying herbs, and to the right a shelf full of mismatched, opaque glass bottles.
The hag appeared from a little door from the left, the cold air sucking in behind her and soothing my again-feverish skin.
She wielded a blade, as promised, holding it reverently, pointy side down. It was the size of my forearm and glinted off of the firelight wickedly. She approached me, a grim expression crossing her face. My heart leapt in my throat and I jumped up and around the sofa, stumbling into a stack of books at my feet, knocking them over, dust rising from the wreckage.
Wolfram rose, his form uncomfortably bent over so as to not bump his head. “She won’t harm you. All she needs is a single slice, and the blade will tell her what kingdom your blood belongs to.”
“A slice, huh? I don’t particularly buy it.” My vision went blurry again as vicious heat strained against my chest.
“If we find out what kingdom you belong to, we can make the pain go away. The heat, from inside.” He slowly approached me and placed a hand on my middle, sliding under my shirt. The skin contact soothed me, even if just a little. I looked into his black eyes, and glanced at the hag staring at me, pity of her features. I was, quite literally, backed into a corner, and no one else to turn to. And if I had to endure more of this fire inside of me, I was positive I would die.
I nodded imperceptibly and the hag came forward quickly, grabbed my arm and sliced, quick as a ninja.
“Ow!” I held my bleeding forearm, and Wolfram tore his shirt off, wrapping my arm to stop the bleeding.
The hag held up the blade and raised eyebrows as she glanced at Wolfram, who stared at the blade, now glowing violet.
“I’ve never seen such a color.”
The hag licked her lips as she inspected it, turning it in the light as if she could gain some extra knowledge if she leaned it the right way. “Air, certainly, but there’s something odd about it. What’s her last name?”
“Peterson,” I answered lamely, cradling my arm like a wounded animal.
Wolfram swiped a hand over his mouth, smoothing down the short beard on his neck. “She was adopted by a human. There’s no way of knowing who her real family is.”
The hag quirked her head. “There is a way. You need to go through the records--”
Wolfram steeled himself against her words. “I’m not going back there.”
The hag shrugged. “If we don’t find out who her clan is, she’s likely to die. That will be on you. See yourselves out, I have a meeting with a hot bowl of stew and a good book in three minutes.” She waddled around to her cauldron, stirring the contents with a wooden ladle.
Wolfram glared at the hag for a moment longer before gesturing me to follow him out of the door. I didn’t feel that I had much choice, and I sure as hell didn’t want to stay behind in the hag’s witch house, and so follow him I did.
I climbed back into his black luxury vehicle, my head buzzing and my limbs numb.
Wolfram glanced at me as he started down the road. “Buckle your seatbelt.”
“Why?”
He looked at me quizzically. “It’s the law.”
“Oh. I thought you were going to tell me the car was going to start flying or something.”
Wolfram gave me a look. “Flying, really?”
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t have been surprised at this point.”
Wolfram cleared his throat. “We’ll be going through a glamoured realm wall in a few minutes. It will take us to the Elemental World, and from there, I’ll transport us. Unfortunately, we can’t bring the vehicle onto the Fire Kingdom’s castle grounds.”
I gave him a flat stare. “Like that was any less weird than flying cars.” I buckled my seatbelt.
“Who was the hag?” I asked as we veered onto a long, narrow dirt road I’d never seen before. We were in the middle of nowhere, the night pitch black except for a sprinkling of stars and half a moon.
“She’s an earth elemental, living on the outskirts like me.”
“Outskirts of what?”
He glanced at me. A cloud of dirt surrounded the vehicle as we rumbled violently down the makeshift road. “Outskirts of the Elemental Realm.”
I’d decided to pretend that this was all real. Sure, it looked like Wolfram was leading me into the middle of nowhere to murder me and bury me in the woods, but I also had seen him shoot fire out of his hands, cure my odd illness by touching my skin, and take me to a witch with a glowing blood sword. Plus, I’d seen him enter a burning building and survive with no gear. He’d rescued people he didn’t know. He couldn’t be all bad, right?
“Why do you both live on the outskirts?”
Wolfram shifted in his seat as if uncomfortable with the question. “We both have our reasons.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. That’s not what I asked, but nice job evading the question.”
The vehicle stopped, and Wolfram waited for the dust to settle, leaning forward to peer through the windshield. I looked out too but only black night in the middle of a giant field met my eyes. Slowly, a sheen coalesced in the middle of the field, sort of like the glint you catch when a spider web blows in the breeze. There one moment and then invisible the next. Wolfram rolled the vehicle forward slowly and we passed through the shimmering barrier.
My body buzzed with a low, steady hum of electricity and I felt my hair stand on end, the only indication we’d crossed over some sort of border.
Wolfram glanced at me. “You alright? If you aren’t elemental, you’ll die in a few minutes.”
My stomach dropped and I punched Wolfram’s arm. “Are you fucking kidding me, jackass? We don’t know for sure if I’m--”
A ghost of a smile passed over his lips as the moonlight filtered through the window. “Yes, I’m joking.”
I sat back, disturbed. “Don’t do that again. It was weird.”
“Do what?”
“Joke.”
He smiled fully then, a flash of white teeth. I lost my train of thought for a moment.
Wolfram stopped the car again and I squinted out. Was that a…?
“This is the cave we wi
ll enter. When we come out on the other side, we will be in the elemental realm. Stay close to me, do you hear me?” He unclicked his seatbelt and turned fully toward me, making me feel the weight of his gaze.
“Yes, I understand,” I said earnestly.
I got out of the car, the cold air still doing wonders for my illness.”
We crunched across frozen foliage and earth, and came up to the mouth of the giant cave. I peered into it and couldn’t see a damn thing. This was where I had to draw the line.
I grabbed Wolfram’s arm, pulling him back. “Prove to me that this is real. Prove to me that I am an Elemental. No tricks. I want the proof to be undeniable, or I am not going into that cave.”
Wolfram sighed. “You’ll die, you understand? You’ll die if your magic doesn’t express. I have no idea how long you have. You’re, what, twenty-eight?”
I stood my ground, clenching my jaw. “Twenty-six. Thanks. Now, proof.”
Wolfram crossed his arms as he contemplated me. A whistle of wind caught my tunic and pulled it up slightly, revealing my belly. The flash of skin caught Wolfram’s eye and I smoothed it down.
“Any day now,” I said, tapping my foot.
Wolfram smiled a wolfish grin and stepped in closer, inches from me. I stepped back a pace. “Hold on. What are you doing?”
“Giving you proof,” he said. His voice had lowered an octave, and the vibration seemed to rumble over my skin, teasing the sensitive areas of my body. What the hell?
Wolfram closed the distance again and his hand slipped up my tunic to clasp my bare waist. I sucked in a sharp breath as his touch calmed my nerves and at the same time elicited something dangerous, something chaotic in my blood. His other hand cupped the back of my head and he brought his head close to mine.
He smelled like clean, fresh male and something darker, like a hint of smoke layered underneath. His lips hovered for a second before they claimed mine.
Utter shock stole my breath at the sensuality of his kiss, and our mouths were still closed. The heat that ravaged me disappeared completely, replaced with a different kind of burning--a need, a deep tugging need from somewhere primal inside of me.
