Winter Fire (Witchling Series)

by Ford, Lizzy

  “Life ain’t always pretty,” he quipped.

  “Don’t I know it,” she murmured.

  He held her gaze, until she was way too self-conscious about standing so close to him. Morgan held out her hand, where a pink flame burned. She offered it to him.

  “It’ll make you feel better,” she said.

  “Really? How?”

  “Trust me.”

  Beck looked at her again. “I trust you, Morgan.”

  He meant it. She didn’t know why the small admission made her fire dance. He accepted the flame, and they both watched it burn in his hand. It sank into his skin, and Beck smiled.

  “I call them candy flames,” she explained. “They look pretty and make you happy. It’s like an energized hug.” She felt it counteract the phone call. Beck’s body relaxed as the warmth of fire magick worked through him.

  “That’s really incredible, Morgan.”

  “I have to take care of you.”

  He tilted her chin up, so she could see his eyes.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly. “You don’t have to take care of me, though.”

  “Someone does,” she countered, caught up in his beautiful eyes and masculine scent. She never noticed the smell of anyone else, even Connor. Something about Beck made her want to bury her face in his sweater, where she could breathe him in and soak up his warmth. Her fire magick responded to his earth magick, playfully pushing at the calmer element.

  When Beck’s direct look grew too intense for her, Morgan ducked her head.

  “Hey, Beck.”

  Beck’s touch slid away as he turned, but he took her hand instinctively, as if not wanting to let her go. The couple approaching made Morgan look twice. The guy was almost identical to Beck, except his eyes were dark and his aura shadowed. She knew without asking it was his twin, the Master of Dark. The beautiful girl in his arms glowed with Light and happiness, her dark eyes dancing.

  “Morgan, this is my brother, Decker, and his girl, Summer,” Beck said. “Decker, Summer, this is Morgan.”

  Morgan caught the curious look Summer gave Beck and wondered why both seemed surprised to see Beck with anyone. Given what she had heard, he got around.

  “Fire,” Decker said, his assessing gaze on Morgan.

  She nodded and held out her hand, a pink candy flame in her palm. Summer glanced up at Decker, who released her with one arm to take the flame. He smiled faintly at its effect and passed it to Summer.

  “She’ll keep you warm at night,” Decker said.

  Morgan flushed. Beck winked at her, and Summer smiled.

  “You got a minute?” Decker asked.

  “Yeah, sure,” Beck answered.

  Morgan glanced up at him then at Summer, who moved away from the Master of Dark.

  “We’ll take a walk,” she said and held out her arm cheerfully. Something about the pretty girl made Morgan relax. She looped her arm through Summer’s, and they walked down the boardwalk, away from the twins.

  Morgan took in the lights, comforted by Summer’s warm magick.

  “I know I’ve seen you around, but you haven’t been here long, right?” Summer asked.

  “About three weeks,” Morgan replied. “I got here with my brother, Connor.”

  “I’ve met him in magick class.”

  “Yeah, he’s the ideal student.”

  “You don’t sound happy about that!”

  “Apparently, I have issues adjusting.”

  “You’re not what I expected.”

  At the puzzled note in the girl’s voice, Morgan focused on her.

  “Beck normally chooses stupidly,” Summer said and rolled her eyes. “But you’re … cool.”

  Morgan laughed. “Because I’m not a hot model?”

  “Oh, no,” Summer said quickly. “Because he swore off girls a few weeks ago, and he was serious this time.”

  “Not that serious, if he’s here with me.”

  “Morgan, his last girlfriend got killed.”

  Morgan stopped walking with a gasp. She stared at Summer, not expecting the news.

  “They weren’t serious. In fact, they just started dating,” Summer continued. “But there were some other circumstances behind what happened to her. He swore off all girls, so if he’s here with you…”

  “He fell off the wagon,” Morgan said promptly, still panicked by the idea that this was a real date. One that meant something.

  Summer smiled, but didn’t object. They started walking again, and curiosity drove Morgan to ask more even though she didn’t really want to.

  “What happened?”

  Summer hesitated. “It’s a rather long story. Do you know about Dawn?”

  “The blonde girl he knocked up?”

  She nodded.

  “Not much,” Morgan admitted. “I overheard her threaten him when I arrived.”

  “Yeah. She’s Dark. She’s bad, Morgan. She had something to do with Tanya’s death. I don’t want to say more. I think, if … when Beck is ready to tell you, he will.”

  Morgan could hardly believe her ears. No wonder Sam wanted her to protect Beck. If his pregnant ex had something to do with hurting the girl he tried to date … he needed someone to protect him!

  “I’ll take care of him,” she said. “I’m not afraid of her.”

  “You should be afraid. She’s dangerous, Morgan.”

  “There’s nothing she can do to me that hasn’t already been done,” Morgan replied. “I’m not afraid of people like that.”

  At Summer’s quietness, Morgan glanced at her once more.

  “Someone hurt you,” Summer murmured. “That’s why?”

  “Doesn’t matter. He takes care of so many people. He should have someone to look after him, too.” Morgan shrugged, her defenses going up.

  “I think I see why he likes you,” Summer said, the concern passing.

  “I’m not convinced he does.”

  “I know him. He does.”

  Morgan looked away, flustered by the confirmation. It was just one silly date with some guy.

  Why did it feel like more? Why did his touch reduce her fire magick to smoldering embers that made her blood burn for him in a way she never experienced before?

  Chapter Six

  Beck watched Morgan move away with Summer, eyes sweeping over the flame-haired girl’s sexy frame. Decker’s sharp gaze was on his Summer. As soon as she left his twin, his shadows sprang up around him, filling the air with Darkness. Summer’s effect on him – the stilling of his shadows – left with her touch.

  “I thought you swore off girls,” Decker started.

  “So did I,” Beck returned. “I can’t get this one out of my head.”

  “It’s stupid, Beck. I delivered a not-so-subtle message to Dawn that if she gets near Summer, I’ll take her out, once your baby is born. I don’t think it’s enough; she went off the deep end. There’s no reasoning with her.”

  Beck’s jaw clenched. He was torn on the topic; it wasn’t the first time it had come up. Their mother wanted a similar end to Dawn, and Beck wanted her out of his daughter’s life.

  But he could never condone murder. It was the biggest gap between him and his best friend, Decker. Decker didn’t like killing, but he used it as one of the many tools in his arsenal to keep the Darkness – and Dark witchlings – in line. As the protector of Light, witchlings and everything good, Beck wasn’t able to tolerate the idea of killing.

  Even if Dawn deserved it. Even if she was between him and his daughter.

  His eyes went to Morgan. He could think of two reasons why he might turn the other cheek, if Decker decided to act. One was arm-in-arm with Summer. The other was not yet born.

  “There’s something wrong with me,” he said. “I keep telling myself to walk away. If Dawn found out, Morgan might end up like Tanya, and yet by noon, I had asked her out.” Beck ran a hand through his hair. With Morgan’s warm fire magick fading, he felt edgy, anxious. Her touch made him feel as if he stood before a cozy bonfire.


  “It’s like you can’t control it,” Decker guessed.

  “Exactly.”

  “Like it’s fate?”

  “Something like that,” Beck agreed once more.

  Decker’s laugh was dark and bitter. “Welcome to my world, Beck.”

  Beck looked at his twin, startled. He considered what Decker was telling him and then shook his head.

  “No way. It can’t be. I mean, for you it makes sense, because you have no ability to balance your magick, but there’s not a counterbalance for the Master of Light. I’m not going to destroy the world like you,” he said, shifting. “I mean, she’s not even … blonde …” He stopped. “My god. She’s not blonde.” Morgan was the opposite of every girl he ever dated, and yet, he couldn’t get her out of his mind or the effects of her magick out of his blood.

  “I didn’t know until I turned eighteen. Mom told me I had a preordained match when she transferred the Master of Dark duties to me. You don’t have Aunt Nora to tell you whatever it is you’re supposed to know.” Decker reminded him. “I’d say, if one of us has a counterbalance, it only seems natural the other does as well.”

  “Lame. There’s no way I’m ready for this!” Beck replied. He gave a growl of frustration. “Now? When I’ve got Dawn and the Light receding again? What the hell?”

  “You said the Light’s receding?” Decker asked, frowning.

  “Yeah. No idea why. Sometime in the past three weeks, something ate a foot of Light. I asked mother, and she said it wasn’t you or her, or the Darkness or even me failing to do my job,” Beck summarized. “Which leaves another source of Dark.”

  Decker was thoughtful for a moment. “I wonder if it’s your girl being stuck between.”

  “She and her brother both are. But I can’t see that causing a whole foot of Light to be lost in three weeks. Even you killing witchlings didn’t cause that in three months,” Beck said. “There’s no way I’m sending her to the Dark campus.”

  “Yeah,” Decker agreed. “You don’t want Dawn finding out about this one, since she might be sticking around.”

  “You are not funny.” Beck was starting to panic. Realizing he was attracted to a girl beyond his ability to control was one thing; having a pre-destined counterbalance was another. Not only could he not guarantee he was able to protect her from people like Dawn, but was he ready to settle for one girl for the rest of his life? He had been playing the field since he was thirteen.

  “Anyway, I think there might be more to her,” Decker said, attention returning to the two girls. “Darkness clings to her.”

  “I don’t sense it,” Beck said, studying Morgan’s shapely body. Her hands were in the pockets of a heavy down jacket. Her slender, toned legs were clad in leggings that hugged her curves and emphasized her perky bottom and rounded hips in a way that made his hands twitch to touch her.

  “You wouldn’t, but I do,” his twin replied. “I don’t know what it is exactly. When she passed me the flame, I saw something.”

  Beck tensed, not wanting to learn bad news already about the girl he wasn’t able to get out of his head. He and Decker were able to read the thoughts or emotions of another witchling with the same elements that they had. A fire element himself, Decker would be able to glimpse into Morgan’s mind if they were in contact, or if she shared a spell with him, like she did with the flame.

  “What?” Beck asked when Decker was unusually reserved.

  The Master of Dark hesitated. He seemed -- undecided.

  “Dude, talk,” Beck said, pushing his brother’s shoulder. “If she’s another Dawn, and I’m totally missing the signs, you better tell me!”

  “Nothing like that,” Decker assured him. “I’d say she’s the only decent girl you ever dated.”

  Beck rolled his eyes, accustomed to his family’s digs at his choice of women. After Dawn, he now knew why they had been warning him to think twice before dating.

  “Someone Dark hurt her,” Decker said deliberately. “I’m not going to say more. If she’s meant to be with you, then it’ll come up.”

  “What do you mean?” Surprised, Beck searched his brother’s face. “Someone hurt Morgan?” Beck rarely felt angry, even dealing with Dawn. He normally just felt frustrated and disappointed.

  But the idea of anyone hurting Morgan infuriated him. He was speechless for a long moment, wondering how she insisted on defending him against Dawn, when she herself was a victim of someone else. Suddenly, he saw Morgan’s words and actions in a different light. Her poor performance in school, the instinct that told him she was running away when she turned eighteen, her insistence that she protect him from someone like Dawn. She didn’t back down from anyone, but he’d thought her fearlessness born of naïveté, not the anger of someone who spoke out of experience and didn’t want to see anyone else hurt.

  It’s not right to belittle someone else or to hurt them, just because you’re angry or upset. He had thought her overly passionate about the words and now began to understand why. Coupled with Connor’s anger over the idea of putting her in counseling or sending her home, the picture forming in Beck’s mind made him wish he paid more attention sooner.

  “I’m an idiot,” he breathed. “The signs were right in front of me.”

  “She’s not easy to read. I have a feeling she keeps a secret really well.”

  “I am so sick of women and secrets,” Beck grumbled. “How bad is it, Decker? Will you tell me that?”

  “Bad,” Decker replied softly. “I didn’t see everything. Has she said anything to you?”

  “She and her brother aren’t talking to me about whatever’s going on. I caused a fight this morning between them. I guess Morgan is rocking out of all her classes, and Amber wants to send her home or put her in counseling. Connor flipped out and then so did Morgan.”

  “Any indication whether she wants to stay here or leave?”

  “Both,” Beck said and laughed. “She doesn’t want to go home, but I’m pretty sure she’s planning on running away when she turns eighteen.”

  “Then I say to make sure she isn’t sent home. If you got her parents names, I’ll check up on them in my own unique way,” Decker offered. As the Master of Dark, he held dominion over all Dark witchlings and was able to check up on any of them he wished without needing an excuse to do so.

  “I’ll find out tomorrow and text you,” Beck said, thoughtful. “I think I have an idea of how to get Connor to crack.” He grinned. “He’s a black belt, so it might cost me an arm or leg.”

  “You survived me. I’m sure her fire magick will have you on your feet in no time.”

  “God, she’s killing me with it.”

  “Fire magick has the ability to arouse even the quiet earth magick,” Decker said, grinning.

  Beck rolled his eyes again. Decker’s girlfriend wielded earth and air magick, both of which were known to be the calmer elements. Fire was an instigator, passionate and warm, a source of emotion ranging from anger to empathy and love. It could lift spirits and invigorate someone in need of energy; it could also cause desire to burn hotter, more intense. Morgan’s touch had a dual affect on Beck: soothing his agitation and driving up his need to touch her to the point that it was almost painful to refuse.

  All while she gazed at him with those huge, innocent green eyes and sweetly vowed to protect him from anything out to get him. He found himself behaving much better than he ever had with any other girl, even when her touch ratcheted up his already high-strung hormones.

  “On another topic,” Decker started. “Have you thought about my proposition to get rid of Dawn permanently?”

  “Still thinking about it,” Beck replied. “It’s not an easy decision. How do I tell my kid I had her mom killed off? It won’t matter how bad Dawn was.”

  Decker nodded, as if expecting the answer. “She’s a menace, Beck. She’s a threat to you and Summer and anyone else we care about.”

  “The question for me isn’t whether I want you to do it,” Beck rep
lied. “It’s whether I can live with knowing I all but ordered a hit on the mother of my daughter. I’m the Protector of Light. I have to believe there must be some capacity for reform. I mean, look at you and our mother and Summer. All of you were given second chances, and you succeeded.”

  “I want her dead either way, but I’ll respect your decision.”

  Beck glanced at his twin and saw the Darkness flare in Decker’s eyes. He understood why Decker’s flat assertion was so strong. Dawn had tried to get rid of Summer not once, but twice. Dawn was behind Tanya’s death as well. Beck had been casually dating Tanya, more because he needed a distraction and less because he had any intention of being serious about her.

  He couldn’t say the same for Morgan. Hell, he already felt more for Morgan midway through their first date than he had any other girl except Dawn, who he foolishly thought himself in love with at one point.

  He wasn’t that blind now. He knew what Dawn was, and he knew Morgan was nothing like her. He now had the extra benefit of the senses he inherited upon becoming the Master of Light, the ones that were able to determine one’s character. He didn’t feel the Dark touch that Decker did about Morgan, but he knew her heart to be good.

  Unlike Dawn, who was rotten to the core.

  “Ask me after the baby is born,” Beck said at last. “I need some time to figure things out.”

  “Alright. Just know you only have to say the word. Or better yet, just stop saying no.”

  “I know. When you and Summer have kids, you’ll understand.”

  “If,” Decker grimaced. “We’re waiting until she turns eighteen to have sex again. It’s going to kill me first.”

  “Ouch. That’s like, what? Four or five months?”

  “Eight months, one week and three days.” Decker held up his smart phone. “I have a count down.”

  Beck burst into laughter, as entertained by the idea of Summer turning his brother down as he was his brother watching the seconds tick by. During his dark period when Summer was believed to be dead, Decker had slept with multiple girls a night to try and drown out the Darkness that wanted to consume him. Only Summer’s touch was able to quiet his mind, and he hadn’t been able to cope without her.