Wild Fire
Page 1
Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Acclaim for Ally Shields
Look for these titles from Ally Shields
Title Page
Copyright Warning
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Ally Shields
More Fantasy from Etopia Press
Acclaim for Ally Shields
Praise for Awakening the Fire (Guardian Witch #1)
“I can't wait for the rest of the series from this exciting new author because I will definitely be reading them all.”
5 Stars from The Romance Studio
“If you love paranormal and a good mystery, then I can't recommend this book enough.”
5 Stars from Paranormal Romance Guild
“Vampires, werewolves, and witches oh my! In a journey through a magical world...a witch named Arianna will have you lost under her spell.”
5 Stars from I Heart Books
For Burning Both Ends (Guardian Witch #3)
“[F]ull of action, romance, betrayals and lies. [A] wonderful series.”
5 Stars from Paranormal Romance Guild
For Fire Storm (Guardian Witch #5)
“...[A]n amazing addition to the Guardian Witch series. Ally had me hooked from the very beginning and, just when I thought things couldn’t get any more intense, she kicked it up a notch! It was one hell of a journey and I loved every moment of it.”
—5 Stars from Mean Who You Are Blog
Look for these titles from Ally Shields
Now Available
The Guardian Witch Series
Awakening the Fire (Book 1)
Fire Within (Book 2)
Burning Both Ends (Book 3)
Blood and Fire (Book 4)
Fire Storm (Book 5)
Wild Fire (Book 6)
Cross Keys
In Print
Awakening the Fire (Book 1)
Fire Within (Book 2)
Burning Both Ends (Book 3)
Blood and Fire (Book 4)
Fire Storm (Book 5)
Coming Soon to Print
Cross Keys
Wild Fire
Wild Fire
Guardian Witch Book Six
Ally Shields
Etopia Press
Copyright Warning
EBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared, or given away. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to or downloaded from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/).
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Published By
Etopia Press
1643 Warwick Ave., #124
Warwick, RI 02889
http://www.etopiapress.com
Wild Fire
Copyright © 2014 by Ally Shields
ISBN: 978-1-941692-24-0
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Etopia Press electronic publication: November 2014
CHAPTER ONE
Needlelike streams of magical energy—one pale blue, the other a shimmering green—arced upward through the cave’s darkness. Their glow reflected off stalactites, hanging from the rocky ceiling like boney fingers. The magics curved gracefully toward one another, guided by the man and woman standing below. At the moment of contact, a violent explosion shook the Chamber of Ages. Sparks shot down the magical trails. His wand flew into the air and dropped to clatter against one of the limestone projections on the floor.
“Damnation.”
“Ouch!” Ari shook her hands and danced away, causing the protective charms on her bracelet to jingle. Maybe she should consider using a wand. “That stung.”
Andreas swore again, softly this time, staring at the puff of smoke. An acrid hint of sulphur marked the area of magical collision. “I am certain that was not supposed to happen. Unless this was your idea of a ‘gentle melding’?” His voice barely contained his frustration.
“It was a little more forceful than I expected.” She examined her fingertips for blisters. There were none, but she stuck her stinging pinkie in the corner of her mouth when Andreas wasn’t looking. Controlling pure energy through her fingers was harder for her than the fire magic, and she hadn’t done it that way since she was a teenager—almost nine years ago. She’d hoped it would have made it easier to show Andreas what to do. But it didn’t seem to be working out that way.
He gave her a rueful look. “I don’t have much control, and this did not help.” He grimaced at the slender wand that he’d retrieved from the cavern floor.
They stood in the middle of a vast cave filled with stalactites and stalagmites. On a cold, blustery January afternoon, the interior of Riverdale’s vampire caverns was the only place they could safely practice their witch magic protected from the weather. Not that Andreas or any other vampire was bothered by the sub-zero wind chills and snow that blanketed the town, but a fire witch didn’t have the same kind of indifference to temperature. The caverns—so comfortably cool during the summer months—were barely tolerable now. Ari shivered from the chill.
“It wasn’t so bad. Every try gets better.” She stole a glance at her irritated mate. They’d been officially bonded for only a month, a rocky period of ups and downs as they adjusted to the new status. Their love hadn’t wavered, but the affinity their magics had for each other on the telepathic level was a complication. The mental link between them had grown so strong, so dominant, it made them both uneasy, and Andreas’s struggles to control his newly discovered warlock abilities often left him on edge.
Maybe a bit more than on edge. Andreas wasn’t embracing the witchcraft as easily as she’d hoped. This wasn’t his first complaint about the wand. Maybe it just didn’t fit his alpha male image. Her lips twitched. She’d never say it to him, but the wand-waving did seem a little out of character—OK, wimpy—for a badass vampire prince.
Ari hid a smile. No matter what his mood, she loved just looking at him. The fine, aristocratic features; the incredibly long lashes, the dark, brooding eyes that lit up when he caught her looking; the black lock of soft, gleaming hair that wouldn’t stay put but fell rakishly across his brow. But badass vampire or not, he needed the wand to channel his emerging magic.
She rubbed her hands, as much from the cold as the effects of the failed spell. “I’m ready to go. Before we try again, we should do more reading and talk with Zylla. This isn’t working
the way I expected.”
“I am sure the fault is mine.” Andreas frowned. “Perhaps this is all a mistake. If I were intended to have warlock powers, wouldn’t they have manifested when I was young?”
Ari slanted her eyes at him. “I can’t believe you keep bringing this up. It’s no mistake. You either are a warlock or you’re not, and you obviously have the power.” She quirked a grin at him. “Even when it comes out wrong.”
“Well, this thing is not helping.” He regarded the wand with distaste.
“Fine, I’ll take it back to the magic lab.” She held out her hand. “Good thing it was a loan.” She stuck the wand in the magicks’ pouch at her waist and took his hand. “Don’t be discouraged. We’ve made a lot of progress in the last three months.”
His fingers tightened around hers. “You’re cold. You should have said something sooner.” He picked up her heavy coat, draped it across her shoulders, and rubbed her hands to warm them. “If I’ve made any progress, it is due entirely to your perseverance.”
Andreas had been unaware of his warlock abilities before a trip to his estates in Italy last fall. They’d found his family’s Book of Shadows and a letter left by his mother. His magic had not manifested in childhood, but Ari believed it had been triggered during his vampiric transformation. For two hundred years, the magic had lain unsuspected, mostly dormant, until Ari taught him how to bring it forth. Well, sort of taught him.
His mood darkened again. “My control is not strong enough to help us in a fight…which may be forced upon us soon. Rumors from Europe are growing frequent. Instead of cooling off after our escape, the O-Seven are speaking out against us, naming names.”
“Then let’s see Zylla right now.” She tugged on his hand and turned away to hide a worried frown. A visit to the reclusive eight hundred-year-old vampiress, who had started life as a witch seer, was always interesting. And talking with her was infinitely preferable to dwelling on the vampire elders’ last attack and how close Andreas had come to dying.
In a swift but typical change of mood, Andreas ended his brooding, swung her around and kissed her.
“What was that for?” She grinned up at him.
“Because I like you.” His face lit up with mischief.
“Like me? Is that all?” She ran her fingers over his jaw and up into his hair.
He chuckled, the sound sending a fire curling through her belly. “Well, perhaps a bit more.” He pinned her against a large stalagmite, his body revealing just how much more he was feeling. “Perhaps the visit to Zylla can wait.” He bent his head and captured her lips again.
She pushed him away a little breathlessly. “I’m not making love on a freezing rock. Not when we have a nice, warm bed at home.”
“Point taken.” He laughed as she wiggled away. “I suppose this means Zylla is back on the immediate agenda.”
“If you can behave.”
“Oh, do not challenge me, Arianna. The cold does not bother me in the least.”
She loved the wicked danger in his voice. “OK, I’ll stop teasing…for now. Because I really think we should talk with Zylla.”
He sighed, taking her hand again as they started into the tunnels. “To be continued.”
* * *
The ancient vampiress lived deep in the caverns with a young werejavelina for company. When they arrived, she was alone, sitting before a conjured fire and wrapped in a shawl. She’d been seventy-eight when transformed into a vampire, and although she wouldn’t feel the cold or discomforts of age again, she enjoyed the familiar accoutrements of her former life and surrounded herself with magical illusions.
“Andreas, Ari. How delightful to see you.” She gave them a saucy grin. “But why are newlyweds wasting their time visiting an old woman?”
“Never a waste of time.” Andreas bent and kissed her outstretched hand. It was easy to see why he was her favorite visitor. “I trust you are well.”
“As always. Little changes down here. Please sit and talk with me. Would you care for tea? I was waiting until Mangi returned from the market, but the pot is always on.”
“Not for me, thank you. Arianna?”
She sat next to Zylla and shook her head. “Not today, but thanks.” Andreas settled on the mat beside her, and Ari cut through the small talk. “The wand didn’t work.”
Zylla shrugged her thin shoulders. “I warned you it might not. Without the De Luca magical items, it may take years to achieve the results you want.”
“But we don’t have that kind of time,” Ari protested.
“I understand the urgency.” Zylla’s eyes were kindly. “But Andreas’s warlock magic is wedded to the family heirlooms.”
“We don’t even know what they are.” Ari crooked her head toward Andreas. “Is there anywhere else we can look?”
“We’ve been through every box, crate, and piece of furniture I saved from my family. The Italian casa and its grounds were searched.”
“Are you sure there aren’t more hiding places?” she persisted. “Like the secret compartment where we found the Book of Shadows and your mother’s letter?”
He spread his hands. “Anything is possible. But if such places exist, they were not mentioned to me.”
“Then we’ll have to do without. We can work harder, faster.” Ari appealed to Zylla. “Tell us what we can do.”
The old woman reached out to take Ari’s hand. “My dear, you ask the impossible.” She hesitated, letting out a long sigh. “But who says the two of you cannot do the impossible? Your bond is powerful and may overcome other deficiencies.”
She leaned back and frowned at Ari. “Perhaps sharing control of your magics is not the answer. Why don’t you wield both of them? Did you not do something similar in Germany, when you stole the magic of the warlock twins?”
“But I don’t want to take Andreas’s magic.” Ari had a momentary urge to stomp her foot, but a married woman should be above such childish behavior. “I thought we’d be stronger together…with both of us controlling our powers.”
“Yes, of course you would, but if that cannot be achieved, then this is second best. You would have more power at your disposal than you do now.”
Andreas touched Ari’s arm. “We should try, cara mia. The O-Seven may not give us time for what you want.”
A chill of apprehension crept across her back. She’d tasted the O-Seven’s power, and her magic wasn’t enough against it. They’d barely escaped. She wasn’t skilled enough to be the sole sorcerer. Her own Book of Shadows had returned to her only two years ago, and she’d been too busy since then to spend time with Moriana, her mentor. Her witchcraft was limited to what she’d practiced on her own. The intended trips to St. Louis to learn the new spells and potions had been continually delayed. Something always came up.
She bit her lip. Usually that something was the damned O-Seven. The paranoia of the world’s seven oldest vampires had taken over her life.
“Do not worry, my child.” Zylla peered at Ari as if reading her thoughts. “There is a way, if you can find it. I have seen this.”
“A vision?” Ari shifted to kneel at the feet of the old woman. “Tell me what you saw.”
“Fragments. Tiny pieces of imagery.” Her gaze clouded over, and she lifted one hand to make stirring motions in the air. “Vague swirls of possibility—but I feel much. To reveal the future is to risk changing it, but…there will be another. Not yet, soon. Your life will be better and worse. Nothing comes without a price. I sense terrible, unrelenting danger.” The old woman let her hand fall back to her lap. “I need more time to think on this.”
“Are you talking about the O-Seven?” Ari’s stomach twisted into a knot.
Zylla gave a soft sigh. “Yes, but danger comes in many forms.” She stared off into space as if she’d forgotten they were there.
What the hell did she mean?
Andreas unfolded his tall frame and stood. “We will leave you to meditate.” He placed his hands on his wife’s shoulders and urge
d her to her feet. “Thank you for talking with us, Zylla. I lack your gift of foresight, but I too have sensed that danger is closing in on us.”
Ari hardly spoke on the way to the cavern entrance. Zylla’s gift of prophecy wasn’t infallible, but it always contained some truth. While Andreas’s growing unease might just be a natural reaction to the O-Seven’s past actions, Zylla’s vision couldn’t be explained as easily.
Yet Ari had felt no warning. No dreams, no stirring of her magic. It had never failed her before. So what was different this time?
Andreas broke into her thoughts. “You are quiet. Is it the vision?”
“In a way. If we’re in danger, why hasn’t my magic told me?” She stopped and looked up at him, struggling with her fear. “Is something wrong with my magic? Or with me? Maybe it’s my fault our craft won’t work together. I couldn’t stop the elders’ psychic powers last fall. Now this.”
He clasped her arms with his hands, dark eyes narrowed. “Arianna, this is foolish talk. Nothing is wrong with you or your magic. Tell me what’s going on inside your head.”
She buried her face against his chest. “You almost died. I don’t want to lose you.”
Andreas sucked in a quick breath and slipped his arms around her. “You will never lose me, cara mia.”
They stood quietly for a moment as Ari fought back tears. This was the downside of loving someone. She cared too much, and so many people in her life had died. Her parents, Great-Gran, her guardian mentor Yana, and most recently her childhood friend Brando. She hadn’t been able to save any of them.
* * *
By the time they reached the surface of the cliffs and came back into cell phone range, both phones were ringing, and in the distance the town sirens wailed.
What now? Ari zipped up her coat and grabbed the phone from her pocket. Caller ID lit up. Her partner, Ryan.