Dark Temptations Volume I: A Collection of short stories

by K. A Knight

  It takes a while, but with two of us with claws, we get through it quicker than I would have thought. Nixon gently picks up the tree like a newborn baby before placing it over his shoulder and starting the short walk back to the circus.

  Blain was right, Alcide’s face when we bring the tree back is a sight to behold, and I have to fight back the laughter while Blain tells him that we are going to be taking the tree with us everywhere we go. Eventually, I can’t hold back anymore, and Alcide soon realises we are teasing him before his eyes hone in on me and the look on his face lets me know I am in trouble. He strolls towards me and pulls me into his arms, holding me close before whispering, “I’ll get you back for that,” with a look that makes my desire flare. One of the others, I’m not sure who, coughs awkwardly before Jesse explains what we are really going to do with the tree. Alcide turns quiet and thoughtful while Jesse explains, before looking at me with an expression that I can’t identify.

  We plant the tree together as a family, in the middle of the campsite. The rest of the circus crew all join us, and it makes me realise that my family is bigger than just the guys around me, and that perhaps home isn’t where you are, but who you are with.

  Chapter Nine

  Sitting around the cook’s tent, eating breakfast the next morning, I can’t help but keep looking at our tree standing proudly in the centre of camp. I bring my gaze back to my porridge and notice that many of the others sitting with me are doing the same thing. I quickly finish off my food and hurry to the training tent where the guys are waiting for me. I had slept in this morning without meaning to, the strain of using my powers yesterday taking its toll on my body. Alcide had met me when I walked out of Jesse’s empty tent bleary-eyed, and explained that everyone was training today and I was to join them once I had eaten.

  I hurry past our tree, glancing at it with a smile once more, before I stop in my tracks, my eyes falling to the ground. There, in the dirt, next to the base of the tree, are little green shoots growing up out of the ground. I drop to the ground, eyes wide as I look at the impossible. Somehow, our very own little oasis is growing. I must have been right, it’s not the ground that has magic, but the plants. This was an ordinary piece of dirt until we planted the tree yesterday.

  I jump to my feet and hurry to the training tent, eager to tell the guys what I have seen. All thoughts of plants slip from my head as soon as I walk into the tent. All of the guys are here training with each other. Shirtless.

  Alcide is watching Jesse and Rex sparring and giving tips as they fight, when he notices me first. His eyes turn molten as he watches me staring at them, sending a bolt of desire straight to my core. As if they can sense it, the others turn to see what he is looking at.

  I bite down on my lip, my cheeks heating at being caught ogling them, as the weight of their gazes fall on me. Blain’s wicked grin has me biting my lip even more as his eyes roam up and down my body.

  “What wicked thoughts are going through your head, Harpy?” His cocky words have me snapping out of my daze, the cheeky sod acting like he is the sole reason I’m horny as fuck.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know, Blainy?” I goad, placing my hands on my hips, a taunting smile on my face.

  I fight to keep that smile in place as he starts to stalk towards me.

  “Don’t pretend, Harpy. I know you want me. Us.”

  I don’t know what would have happened if he had reached me, but Alcide interrupts us by walking to my side, throwing Blain a warning look first.

  “Rhea, we need to train.” His words are firm, but he can’t hide the desire that is plain to see in his eyes.

  The sexual tension in the room is high but Alcide is right, we need to practice. I nod towards him and walk into the centre of the tent, looking around and trying to work out what is in store for us.

  “Alcide, how are we training today?” I ask, shaking off the simple shawl I had thrown over my shoulders.

  Our training pretty much always involves physical exercise as well as working on our powers, so I have my loose clothes on.

  “Self-defence first. Then powers,” he calls out, his sharp tone causing me to frown. Something is obviously bothering him today, he doesn’t usually talk to us like this.

  I glance over at the others and see Jesse and Rex shrug their shoulders, none the wiser. Walking over to the training mats, I start to go through a series of warm up exercises that the guys had taught me, wondering what could have Alcide so worked up.

  An hour or so later, I lay on the mats on my back, panting for air, with a scowling Alcide standing over me.

  “Again,” he demands, walking back to his position on the side of the mats where he has been directing our training.

  I sit up and look over at him in bewilderment, my temper flaring.

  “No. Not until you tell me what’s going on,” I order. When I first joined the circus, I never would have been able to speak up like this, but they have encouraged me to speak my mind around them. Although, Alcide looks like he may be regretting that decision right now. Before he can open his mouth, Blain, my training companion, speaks up.

  “She is right, Alcide. Besides, Harpy isn’t going to get this move today, she needs more practice. Let’s move on to something else.” Blain surprises me, since he is usually the first to criticize, and works me until I either master the move or can’t physically move anymore. I glance back at Alcide and think over our session, seeing him get more and more frustrated when I wasn’t mastering the moves.

  “You can’t always rely on your power to save you, Rhea. You need to be able to fight.” Alcide’s words cut deep. I thought I had proven last month that I was able to protect myself, but I suspect that there is something else going on here, so I don’t react to his words.

  “I’ll keep working on it,” is all I say, before picking myself up off the ground and walking over to where Nixon is lifting weights.

  At my approach, he puts down the huge barrels filled with water he’s using as weights, and places his hand on my shoulder. I smile at the gesture and glance over my shoulder. Blain is talking to Alcide, their words quiet, but Alcide is frowning and then reluctantly nods at whatever is being said to him. Alcide rubs his hands over his face in what looks like frustration, and as his hands drop his gaze land on me. Our eyes meet, and I can feel the tension between us. What on earth have I done?

  “Harpy,” Blain calls, dragging my attention to him. “Powers.”

  I nod, and we all make our way over to the centre of the tent to see how we will be developing our powers today.

  “Nixon, you can carry on with what you were doing last time. Rex, keep trying to build up your speed. Blain, knives. Jesse, you stay here with me, I have something I want you to try. Rhea—” I glance up as he calls my name and I smile softly at him, hoping to break the tension. “You will be working on water again.”

  The smile drops from my face at his words, he is definitely punishing me for something.

  Before the circus, I had never learned to swim. The guys were teaching me, but I’m not very good at it, and after an incident where I nearly drowned and then grew gills thanks to my protective powers, I have refused to go back into the tank of water that Alcide had made for our shows.

  “Alcide—” Rex speaks up, trying to save me from the anxiety this is obviously going to cause me.

  “No, she has to learn to protect herself!”

  I take a step back at the anger in Alcide’s voice, and I see him flinch at my submissive behaviour.

  “What is going on? Why are you acting like this?” Jesse demands, the anger in his voice obvious, and I notice signs in the others that this could soon turn into a fight.

  “Fine,” is all I manage to get out between gritted teeth. I walk over to the hay bales, leaning against one as the stagehands, who were waiting in the tent entrance for instruction, start hauling in the large glass tank full of water.

  The sight of it instantly brings back memories of being trapped, stuck, my lungs
burning for air until the sharp pain in my neck alerted me to the fact I’d grown gills. It was not an experience I was eager to repeat, but I had a point I needed to prove to Alcide. I’m not exactly sure what that point is, but it needs to be made all the same.

  Jesse and Alcide were talking, and I can tell Jesse is mad from the way he is gesturing. Rex, Blain, and Nixon have gone back to training, but from the way they keep shooting me glances when they think I’m not looking, I know they are anxious.

  One of the stagehands comes over to let me know that the tank is ready for me, and I thank him with a curt nod, my nerves making me short for words. I walk up to the tank, might as well get this over with quickly.

  Climbing the ladder, which is leaning up against the tank, I clamber over the edge with my legs dangling in the water. I look over at Alcide and see that his eyes are locked on me. Grabbing the lid of the tank, I pull it as I drop into the water, feeling more than hearing when it closes above me. I open my eyes, the water stinging as I look around. I see the blurry shapes of Blain and Nixon moving closer, and I can hear muffled shouting. Trying to follow the sound, I notice Jesse and Alcide are arguing. I can’t make out the words, but I see the moment that Jesse flings out his arms and a bright light shoots from his hand. Heading straight for the tank.

  A blast of power rocks the tank, shaking the water and me within it. I need to get out of here, but as I swim up, I find that I am too weak to lift the lid. I had hoped that because I had been training since the last time I had been in here, that I would be strong enough to lift it, apparently not. My lungs are burning and I need to come up with another way out, I need time to think. I close my eyes and try to reach for my powers. I grew gills last time, I can do it again, I tell myself, trying to quell the rising panic that is threatening to overwhelm me. An icy tug pulls at my leg and my eyes fly open to see that the tank is covered in ice, frosting up the glass and my view of the guys outside of it. The water starts to freeze, icy splinters stabbing into me as the water thickens, making my frantic movements sluggish as the cold seeps into my bones. The voices outside the tank turn frantic, and I can hear a pounding against the glass, but I am completely frozen.

  I’m not sure if there is a way out of this. I’ve only ever been able to manipulate flame, never create it, and here in the grips of the ice, I am far away from any fire. I frantically reach within for my power, but in my panic, it keeps slipping away from me as if it too is covered in ice. I feel a ripple over my skin as it thickens, trying to protect me from the cold, although I soon learn that the cold is the least of my worries as the water fully freezes, crushing what little air was already in my lungs. My powers will protect me, they always do… The pain and the cold begin to dull as my vision dims.

  Vibrations run through the ice, and I see a blurry Nixon smashing his fists against the glass.

  “Nixon, stop! She is frozen, you could hurt her!” someone shouts, the words muffled.

  A figure runs towards the tank, pushing his hands against the cracked glass, hands glowing as the water vapour mists around them while the ice starts to crack and melt. Jesse. Pain greets me as my skin is exposed to the air and the heat coming from his hands, and I gasp for air when my face is freed. It seems to take an age, as Jesse has to be careful with how quickly he melts the ice so as not to burn me or break my skin, but eventually the last of the ice around my feet melts, and I collapse to my knees inside the fractured structure of the tank.

  “Rhea, I am so sorry—” Jesse’s voice cracks with emotion and his eyes line with moisture. My body is being racked with shivers, but it’s not from the cold. Instead, my body is changing, my skin shifting beneath me as my powers try to warm me, protect me. I can’t control it, but I don’t need to. I hurt all over, and the fluctuation of my skin is painful, pulling at the tears on my body.

  I stand, my legs shaking slightly under me, both from the ordeal and the sap on the strength from using my powers. I step over the broken frame of the tank, with Nixon instantly coming forward to steady me, which I am thankful for—pretty sure I would have fallen otherwise. Rex hurries to the side of the tent before running back over, carrying his discarded shirt from this morning. He wraps it around me and I smile at him gratefully. I will need to get out of my wet clothes soon, but for now my shifting skin is protecting me, while Rex’s shirt covers my modesty. I smile at Jesse so he knows I don’t blame him, before turning my gaze to Alcide. He is standing a little way from us as if he, too, has been frozen.

  “I am never getting in that tank again.” My tone is as icy as my body.

  Regret is clear in his eyes, and he just nods at me, like he doesn’t have any words left in him.

  “What the hell happened?” Blain demands, asking the question I also wanted to know.

  “It was me.” Jesse’s voice is quiet, and he is staring at his hands as if he doesn’t recognise them. The sound of a voice clearing has us looking over at Alcide again.

  “I had a thought about Jesse’s powers, and I wanted him to try something new. His powers seem to be linked to his emotions, so I was trying to make him angry, to invoke the other side of his gifts.”

  The tent is silent. Alcide would go a long way to make sure we are protected, even if that meant hurting us to protect us. But in this case, it nearly killed me. Now isn’t the time, but later we are going to talk about what happened.

  I turn to Jesse, and his dejected expression makes my heart break. Walking up to him, I take his hands in mine.

  “So, ice, huh?” I say, still trying to get my head around this polar opposite of his powers. I can see he is struggling with this, especially with how they manifested. “Hey, Jesse, I don’t blame you, I’m okay.”

  His hands go cold in mine, and I glance down at them, seeing that he is doing the same, shock and fear obvious to see on his face.

  “What is happening?” he asks, his voice shaking.

  Shouting from outside the tent grabs our attention. The guys stiffen, expecting an attack, but I frown as I listen to the sounds. They don’t sound scared or angry, shocked—yes. But more than anything they sound confused and...happy?

  One of the stagehands, Jacob, runs into the tent, and his hair is covered in white flakes of…something, but the thing that gets my attention is the happy grin on his face.

  “Alcide. Something is happening out here. The rain, it’s frozen,” Jacob tells us eagerly, and I can see his breath misting in the air before him.

  We all look at each other for a second before hurrying to the tent entrance. What we see has us frozen in shock, as every surface in sight is being covered in a fine layer of what looks like white dust.

  “Snow,” Jesse breathes out, his eyes wide with wonder before looking at his hands again.

  “Jesse, is this you?” Rex questions, his eyes looking up at the sky where the rain is indeed frozen.

  I put my hand out, trying to catch the frozen rain or snow, as Jesse called it. It’s cold, and for a moment I can see a beautiful star pattern in the flake before it melts in my palm. The guys are doing the same, but I can see how the sudden change in the temperature is affecting them, since they are still topless from our training, and even with my ever-changing skin, I can catch a chill in this weather.

  “Get wrapped up and meet me back here in ten minutes,” I say, my excitement showing through my wide grin.

  Everyone meets me back outside the training tent covered in layers of clothing, and I have to stifle a giggle at their appearance. We don’t get cold weather, which is probably why they seem to be wearing every item of clothing they own. I will admit that I am glad to be in some warm clothes, and I have indeed layered up, but Blain looks about three times the size he usually is. I must not hide my smirk well, since he narrows his eyes at me.

  “Something funny, Harpy?” he demands, and this time I can’t help the giggle that escapes my lips. “Right,” is his succinct reply, before bending down and picking up a handful of snow. He starts to pat it like he is forming it into a shape,
and I just begin to wonder what he is doing when he throws it at me. The ball smacks into my chest and showers me in snow as it explodes against me. I look down at it in shock and outrage for a moment, before a grin covers my face and I start to make my own ball of snow. Rex starts laughing evilly while he makes his own.

  “Oh shit,” Blain says, as he finds himself a target and runs for cover. Despite his words, a large grin is covering his face as he begins to make a pile of snowballs.

  The others jump into action, and the space is suddenly a battlefield as snow is thrown around. I watch as the guys laugh while they run around, a smile on my face as Alcide comes to stand next to me. Nixon throws me a wink as he lumbers past, his arms full of snow, which he is now gleefully aiming at Blain’s face.

  “I’m sorry.” The words are quiet, but Alcide’s voice is full of sorrow, and I know that he means what he says. I stay silent, knowing he needs to say this. “I am just filled with this fear.” His accented voice is tight, and I turn to look at him. He is gazing over the camp, at what he has created, at the people, his family within it. “I worry we haven’t done enough, and that the next time they come for us, we won’t win.”

  His words are true, since they will come for us again and it’s only a matter of time. I take his hand in mine and give it a squeeze to show that I understand. I may not agree with the way he has gone about it, I may not totally forgive him right now, but I do understand.

  He turns to look at me and his eyes heat as they run over me. I’m not sure what would have happened if Jesse didn’t choose that moment to interrupt us, grabbing my hands and pulling me away.

  “Rhea, I want to try this thing I read about! Snow angels!” he shouts, before throwing himself backwards into a pile of snow and starts thrashing his arms and legs around.