Death & Fire

by King Ellie

  ****

  When I entered into the training area, Asar stood with the other students just chatting it up as we had five more minutes before everything started. Asar had to be dramatic as he lifted his head up in the air and sniffed. He took a long sniff and turned his attention towards me with a smile on his face. I curled my upper lip and rolled my eyes as I threw my gym bag on the floor near the door with everyone else’s. I had to get even more training in if I wanted to be ready for whatever fight was brewing in the air. I held my head high and straightened my shoulders as I masked the soreness trying to walk properly towards Asar.

  The amusement was apparent on his face as I made it to Asar. “Really?”

  He chuckled as he leaned in kissing my forehead.

  “Finally, I can do that again without Xáne pummeling my head in.”

  I laughed lightly pushing him, “Now, you know damn well he’s going to come in here stomping like a psycho and try to kick your ass again.”

  “Speak of the devil,” Asar’s eyes looked up, and I turned coming face to face with Xáne.

  He leaned down, his face all up in mine.

  “I do not stomp like a psycho, but I will fuck you like one right now if you want.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, he wouldn’t dare.

  Asar laughed loudly behind me, “Leave her be, brother. She’s walking funny already. She still needs to get through this session.”

  Xáne’s face lit up as though Asar gave him a gift. He wiggled his eyebrows. I was confused by that but didn’t have time to think as I felt his arm around my waist, and he pulled me into a mind-blowing kiss.

  I melted into his arms forgetting how good of a kisser Xáne was. I moaned into his kiss, and Asar entered in both of our minds.

  The youngins’ are going to get a little too horny for this session if you don’t stop. Yesterday was enough. I’m sure everyone wanted to fuck a wall at that point. Cut it out.

  Xáne pulled away, and I stumbled for a moment. I eyed him up and down when I gathered myself again. Who the fuck is this man?

  Xáne smiled as if I said something funny, “I’m your husband, woman and don’t you forget it,” he stated as he passed me. I felt his hand on my ass as he smacked it and gripped it hard.

  My eyes widened. This was definitely not my husband.

  “Yes, it is,” Asar answered from behind me.

  I turned facing him, “I thought you’d be out of my head, now.”

  Asar snickered, “Nope. Just out of your private conversations, but you weren’t talking on that frequency now, were you, little girl?” He teased.

  I gasped with my mouth open, “You heard that? How? His room is sealed.”

  “Oh, thank fuck for that. I heard it in his head. He can’t stop replaying yesterday in that dirty ass mind of his.”

  I looked at Xáne as he was talking to the students and Jaya. He felt my eyes on him and glanced at me with a devilish grin on his face.

  I’m going to kick your ass.

  I spoke to Xáne privately as I conjured up a small fireball in my hand letting it wrap around my fingers.

  Oh, bring it, baby. I’ll fight you just like I fuck you, hard, rough, and at the end leave you sore.

  Oh, I was definitely in love.

  Chapter 11

  Xánur

  Cin’s plush ass hit the mat for the umpteenth time, and I almost chuckled, but because she was so concentrated on beating me, I kept a straight face. She narrowed her eyes at me and gritted her teeth. She looked ready to set me on fire. The look in her eyes was all that I needed to confirm it, and just like that, the flames in her eyes lit up. It was the color of my eyes, and I couldn’t help but feel my lips as they formed into a smile. I felt her fire within me. I exhaled missing this feeling. It must’ve been the years that we’d been apart, or else, I wouldn’t be feeling like her flames were a part of me. As the flames seemed to lick within me, there was something she was seeing. Cin’s flames were not burning me, but instead, they were caressing my soul. A part of me that no one but she had touched.

  I watched her in admiration as she caught on to what was happening. Cin couldn’t move from the position that she was in and neither could I.

  What do you think it means Xáne?

  She asked me.

  I shrugged my shoulders not able to formulate a full sentence on what was going on. This was new even for me because now just as I could feel her flames in me, she could feel both the vampire and the rare werewolf in me. It’s as if they were kindred.

  It took us a while to snap out of it. It was like the time went on without us noticing as we just stood there trying to comprehend what had just transpired between us two. I knew what consisted of mating, but this was more than that, it was as if our souls had traded places. I saw myself in Cin much more than I could ever before.

  ****

  The training session ended, yet I wasn’t feeling like myself, so I didn’t see it when someone rushed me the moment we stepped out of the Sentinel building. I was picked up like I weighed nothing while Cin screamed my name as though I had died in her arms. I wasn’t thinking as I began to move out of the hold trying to swing on the being who could remain incognito enough to run up on me. Then, when I heard his laughter, I stopped fighting.

  “Really dad!” I shouted. “Put me down!”

  If I didn’t know this old bastard, then I would’ve never been ready for it when he let me go, and I dropped. I didn’t even realize how high up we were until I looked down, he brought me so high up, you couldn’t see the building anymore. I shut my eyes as I fell down with my arms wide open missing the air up here. It was weird. It’s as if my father knew that I hadn’t done this in so long and it brought a smile to my face as the wind blew through my hair at the speed that I was free falling.

  When I got closer to seeing the building, my wings sprung out, and I flew over to where the building was. This had to be the best moment of my life besides seeing Cin again. I finally reached the ground with a thud that shook the ground. My eyes found what they were searching for, there my father was smiling proudly at me. The old man hadn’t aged a bit, since I’d last seen him. I was the spitting image of him from the dark blonde hair to the pale blue eyes, except, his hair was longer than mine. His was down his back like Asar’s and his father’s as well. I was taller than my father by a few inches, but we were the same build.

  The cheerfulness on his face was the opposite of what death represented, but I knew it was because he came to see me. Other than that, he’d be whispering the last words to souls, and none of them would be a gentle departing. I had as normal of a childhood as I could have for the era that I was born in. We were Vikings at the time, and my father adored me showering me with love so that I couldn’t feel the loss of my mother. Majority of human women died during childbirth, especially, to beings like us. My father was not a Nephilim, he was a true, fallen angel, but others saw him as a god, the god of death. We never corrected them because more than half of what they said about him was true.

  “My son,” my father proudly said as I stood walking over to him. “You’re a little slower than before. I might have to retrain you.”

  I scoffed, “Look here, you ancient being, if we ever fight, I’ll drop your ass so quick that you wouldn’t even know what happened.” I couldn’t help but join in when he started laughing. I missed that. Damn, how long has it been, since I’ve last seen him?

  “Says the bastard that I snuck up on. Now son, I do forgive you,” he stated as he turned to his left where a burning Cin stood. She was staring at me as though I had grown a third eye. My father kept talking, “I would be distracted, too if I had her walking with me. My dear, you are fascinating to look at.”

  I finally clued into what my father was saying as I stared at Cin. Were those wings? It was like the moment I noticed her fiery wings the crazy color that matched my eyes and hers. I blinked not sure what I was seeing, yet I don’t think Cin had noticed. As I took a step towards her, my entir
e body felt like a heat rushed from my toes to my scalp. Cin stared at me with her mouth open as though she saw something I couldn’t see.

  I heard my Uncle Magni’s voice, he sounded as though he was in awe.

  “I told you, Xánur, that your son, you're last born, the only one to carry your own name, would change everything.”

  I turned. It was as if I didn’t realize that my uncle had been standing there the whole time right next to Asar, whose hair was ruffled, which means my uncle caught him by surprise, too. I looked at my uncle who anyone could’ve mistaken him for being Asar’s older brother, right along with my dad. Asar was an even more spitting image of his father than I was of mine. From head to toe, everything was the same, except, Asar had deep dimples that could be seen from miles away.

  I faced Cin once more. She looked terrified much more than before.

  “You’re like me Xáne… ” she stated.

  I was confused by her words, until I focused on the reflection in her eyes. I was consumed by the flames, but I was not burning like before. No, somehow whatever Cin was, I became, and whatever I became, Cin was.

  “They are finally complete,” my father said, and I had never felt like such a child at this moment.

  ****

  Lucinda

  Staring into Xáne’s eyes always made me feel like I would never worry about him falling out of love with me. Nothing he could ever do would make me feel that way, but the way he was gazing into my eyes as he transformed before into what I never knew existed, shook me to my core. I had never seen love personified in anyone’s eyes, but in Xáne’s that’s where it morphed into more than just a feeling. This was a lifetime situation with us. I had never felt a soul, not even my own, but I knew it was there. I could feel Xáne inside of me from every cell, through my bloodstream, and I knew at this moment as we became the true meaning of kindred that we were never going to part. Someone would have to kill me to get me away from Xáne, and even then, my soul would always chase him because nothing in this world or the next, could rip it from us again.

  He was beautiful. I had never seen anyone but myself that was engulfed by the flames, and they didn’t burn, yet here my husband was matching me from head to toe.

  “Your wings,” Xáne said as he stood in front of me now.

  I was confused, what was he referring to. What wings?

  As I asked, it was as if I was seeing everything through Xáne’s eyes. I saw how he saw me, and it was beautiful. The adoration in the way he watched me warmed me inside causing my flames to expand higher and higher. I reacted to what I saw from Xáne, and when I saw what he was talking about, I audibly gasped.

  Wings! I had wings just as big as Xáne’s flapping on their own in their glorious state. The way they moved, it was in unison with his. The pale blue of Xáne’s eyes matched the flames. It was gorgeous, and I could feel as the tether between us became tighter. It was much more restraining, and it was as though the warning of the tether was spoken out loud to us.

  Who you are is who I am… We aren’t two separate entities because we were never separate to begin with.

  We both took a step back not sure what the fuck that was! It was as though we unveiled another piece of the puzzle to whatever the hell was going on with us.

  Just as I exhaled, a pain so fierce ripped through my body, and I threw my head back as I opened my mouth, screaming as though my heart was being ripped out of my body. I didn’t realize at first what it was, but then, when my screams sounded deeper, rougher, and the scent of brimstone that I had never smelled before prompted me to open my eyes. I looked around trying to gauge what was happening, and then, there it was again. I saw myself through Xáne’s eyes. The shock of what I saw caused me to stumble back knocking into whatever was in my path. I was too big to be out here. I had now become something that was impossible even for supes.

  Before I could figure out how to formulate the words to say what it was, Xáne’s father uttered them out loud causing everything in me to freeze.

  “My God! How is this possible?” He exclaimed as though in awe. “She’s a Dranix.”

  I clutched my chest, my eyes shutting from the sudden news. Right before I fainted, it occurred to me what it meant. I was the one supernatural that all of the supes were hunting for; a Dranix. A mix of a dragon and a phoenix.

  Chapter 12

  Xánur

  I sat in my living room that felt way too small for us four now; Asar, the two old bastards, and I. Sitting back, I took a sip of my whiskey because I needed it, especially, right after what just happened. We wanted to talk while Cin was still passed out. I could feel how much that transformation took a toll on her. It drained her energy, and she needed to recharge.

  “When were you going to tell me that she came back, son?” My father asked.

  I turned to face him. I shrugged my shoulders, “Honestly, I don’t know. I wasn’t ever going to tell you because I thought I’d never forgive her for how she left me. Then, I found out the truth.”

  “What truth?” He asked.

  “Someone made her leave. She didn’t do it willingly, and in her mind, she was looking for her parents. Cin is an orphan. She never knew them, nor does she have any memory of them.”

  Both my father and uncle exchanged a look,

  “What is it?” Asar asked. “What are you guys not telling us once again!” He shouted.

  Father rolled his eyes. His eye twitched as though he was considering reaching out to smack the shit out of Asar for yelling. I snickered masking it as I chugged the rest of my whiskey. Father cleared his throat as he continued, “Had you two little shits not hid the fact that you and she were mated or rather married,” he sent an accusatory glance both Asar and my way. “All your bastard ass had to do was let me meet her, and I could’ve told you everything about her. It’s like you forget how fucking old I am or who I am.”

  “We could never forget how old you are,” Asar joked, and father lifted his eyebrow as his eyes became black. Asar cleared his throat, “I’m messing with you Uncle X. Can’t you take a joke? Jeez!”

  “Boy… If I didn’t have more information for you guys, I would’ve kicked your ass into the new millennium. Ungrateful, little punk.”

  Both Asar and I couldn’t hold in our laughter. It felt good to see our family once more. The laughter died down quickly when we realized our fathers were close to really fighting us.

  “Alright, we’re serious… Go ahead, Father.”

  He scoffed, “Thanks,” he said dryly. “I wouldn’t have realized it nor believed her if I hadn’t laid eyes on her. Do you know how long I’ve been searching for her son? She was my best fighting mate’s daughter. Her name was Lissandra, the last of her kind, and someone, well rather the man who she fell in love with, used her. She was just as beautiful as your Lucinda is; from the straight black hair, the eyes, but the difference was that Lissandra was tall and almost as tall as us. She fell for someone who made her hide who she was. She shrunk in her size wanting to appeal to the human side of that monster, and in the end, he took advantage of her.”

  I was in shock. I had never thought to ask father if he knew of Cin’s birth parents. He continued,

  “Lissa was something else. You should’ve seen her fight, Son. We were all always in awe of her, but the moment that man, Victor, appeared into her life, we should’ve known. We were able to see everything else but that. By the time we found out what he did to her and how he took advantage of her, she was gone to us. Victor was what you would call a mad scientist even becoming much madder when your mother hid Lucinda from him. He wanted to experiment on her and see what would happen if he injected her with the virus.”

  I was trying to reign in my feelings of what I was learning about Lucinda’s father, “How did she hide Lucinda from that fucking piece of shit?” I could feel the shifting happening, and if I wasn’t careful, someone was going to die earlier than they should.

  Uncle sighed, this time he spoke up, “Lissa had a best frie
nd, Sirina, my ex.” The surprise on my face made Uncle clear up what he was saying. “Others called her Hina and some Sirina, and she had a daughter named Hina with that bastard Victor. There was a reason why she sacrificed herself for both her best friend and her daughter, but I don’t know why. We never found out why because we couldn’t find Sirina’s daughter or where Victor went. All we were left with were bodies of beings that we’d known since the beginning of our time.”

  I couldn’t take any more information as I shut my eyes running my hands through my hair. I gripped my hair hard feeling like I should rip it from my scalp, but then, I had one more question, “Dad? You know how you can always find me no matter where I am in the world?”

  “Yeah, what about it?”

  I deeply inhaled and exhaled with eyes shut so tight that I felt a headache coming.

  “I need you to teach me to find my son.”

  “Your son?” I heard the surprise in his voice.

  I opened my eyes, staring into my father’s eyes that were too much like mine, “Yes, I have a son, and he’s out there somewhere. Where? I don’t know, but as soon as I find him, whoever has hurt him will die by my bare hands, and I won’t have to shift to do it. I want their blood on my hands, Father.”

  My father observed me for a moment, and then, a smirk appeared on his face, “Just as long as you give me their soul. I want to feast on it because no one touches a Helson and breathes to tell about it.”

  ****

  Lucinda

  When I came to, I walked to the living room where I heard the men. Asar and Xáne’s fathers were a surprise for me to see. I had never known that they would be so damn sexy. I didn’t get a chance to really watch them, but now that I was standing there while they talked, they were as we would expect the product of two fallen angels to look like. They were full angels because of both of their parents. I had never thought any man in my life could be both gorgeous and rugged, yet here those two sat.