Blood Of Fire (The Blood Burden Series) (5 page)

Nicole made her way to a chair in a
shadow darkened corner and took a seat, afraid that if she didn’t get out of
sight someone would notice her distracted stare.  She could feel her power
starting to flow more freely with each passing second.  Her whole body began to
tingle as the energy crept through every vein.  It felt as though a giant
bolder had been blown to pieces, releasing the caged tiger that lay waiting
inside her.  The voices became crystal clear, like everyone was talking
directly to her, but uncaring about what they were telling her.
Our time is
finally here.
  Nicole could feel eyes on her as she sat wrapped up tight in
her mind.  She forced her staring eyes to scan the room, searching for voices
that matched the ones in her head. 
This will earn him a seat at Loch’s
right hand.  That should be my place,
came another voice, thickly laced
with venom.

Nicole’s heart beat quickened and a knot
formed in her stomach.  The mention of Loch’s name was the first clue she had
gotten that she was on the right track since she arrived in Ireland.  Her eyes
darted from face to face, meeting many eyes that quickly looked away. 
Him?
She wondered,
Are they thinking about Slade?
  Her mind was racing with
questions but was detoured as another of her keen senses kicked in
—
the ability to
feel the location of other warriors.  Her mind was instantly in a tug of war as
it split off into many different directions all at the same time.  It was an
ability that all warriors possessed, allowing them to coordinate attacks in
battles.  This room had at least ten warriors in it, half near all the exits
and the rest mixed in among the party goers.  The stone faced men and women
made her realize at that moment, she was in enemy territory.  There were people
in this very room who were on Loch’s side and that meant she was in trouble.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm
her nerves and decide what she to do. 
I’ve got the upper hand here.  It
seems they don’t know about my powers so I should be able to walk out of here. 
Yes, I’ll tell Slade that I’m not feeling well and that I’m going back to the
room…
she  told herself as she forced her legs to move from the shock frozen
state.  She started cutting a trail across the packed floor, doing her best to
be polite as she made her way through the crowd.  When Nicole spotted Slade her
mind began to spin an idea.  She reached her powers out to try to hear Slade’s
mind.  That would be the best way to get her answers so she would truly know if
he was on her side or not.  For all she knew she could be walking into a trap.

Nicole slowed her pace and wrapped her
power around Slade, only wanting to hear what he was thinking, not the rest of
the room for the moment.  She froze in her tracks as her energy hit an
invisible wall
—
a wall that
wouldn’t allow her inside his mind. 
He has something to hide,
her mind
screamed as the wheels in her head began to process everything. 
Slade seems
to be keeping her well under control.  Loch said she was powerful. 
Nicole
looked up meeting Mr. Casey’s stare as she processed his mind’s words.  “Slade
has been blocking my powers,” she mumbled to herself as she backed away from
the group.

Nicole frantically searched the room for
an exit fighting to keep her body from shaking and her feet from running.  She
needed to get out of this room and she needed to go now, before anyone realized
that Slade didn’t have her powers locked away any more.  She spotted two large
doors opening to the outside pool area with many people coming and going.  That
was her way out.  She started moving forward, mindful to keep each step slow
and steady as she came close enough to feel the breeze dancing in from the
night air.  “Nicole, wait,” came a voice from behind her but she kept moving,
pretending to not hear her name being called above the voices of the large
crowd.

She scanned the area as she stepped
outside, quickly noticing a softly lit, cobblestone path leading into a
garden.  She pressed forward, moving a bit quicker than she intended because of
her warrior speed flooding back into her body.

She moved forward in the shadows of the
tall trees using her speed and the stealth of night to stay hidden.  Soon she
found herself lost in a maze of green hedges and beautiful, fragrant rose
bushes.  The crescent shaped moon provided her only light as she slowed to a
normal pace but her mind continued to race miles ahead. 
Slade betrayed me. 
I thought I could trust him but he was working for Loch all along.  He’s the
enemy.
Her mind stated facts as she struggled to find a way out of the
maze.  She could feel the pain of betrayal cutting her heart deep.  She trusted
Slade and had been sure he was a friend and the way he looked at her made it
seem that he wanted more than friendship so how could he treat her like this?

“Nicole, please!  Just stop and hear me
out,” Slade’s voice rang out from somewhere behind her.  She pressed forward
again, working her way around the edge of the hedges, making turn after turn
trying to put some distance between her and the man she no longer knew.  The
man who just hours ago she believed to be her only friend in this foreign land.

She made her way to the end of the path
and took a left only to run into a dead end.  “Damn it,” she cursed, staring up
at the top of the hedges.  After a few seconds she shook her head at her lack
of thinking, “You dummy, you can burn a hole through the bushes,” she told
herself as she called her power to her hands and watched as her palms glowed
bright red.  Just as she reached forward to touch the bush a hand grabbed her shoulder
and spun her around.  Nicole was face to face with Slade and froze in place for
what felt like an eternity, staring into his eyes.

As she took in his pain lined face she
forced her hands to move up between their bodies and created a wall of wind that
shoved him backwards.  She couldn’t bring herself to hurt him even if he did
betray her.  Some feeling deep inside of her was stopping her from setting him
on fire so she could escape.  When she was sure the wind was going to hold him
she started inching her way around him.

“I wanted you to hear everything,
Nicole.  Don’t you understand?  I’m on your side,” Slade pleaded.  “I had to be
drunk for my power to weaken enough for you to use your abilities.  That’s the
only way to turn off what I have,” he struggled to turn his head toward her,
fighting against the winds that were holding him in place.

“You expect me to believe that.  After
all I’ve heard tonight, the only thing I know about you is that you’re Loch’s
prized pupil,” Nicole sneered through her gritted teeth.  “You’ve been using
your powers to make me weak so I would stay by your side until you could take
me to Loch.”

“It’s not like that,” Slade yelled. 
“Give me a chance to explain, you stubborn woman.  Don’t you think I would have
already turned you over to him if that was my plan?  I would have driven you
straight to him from the airport.”

Nicole stood for a moment in silence,
processing Slade’s words.  Maybe that was true, he did have the perfect
opportunity then, especially since she didn’t know anything about Ireland.  She
wouldn’t have known until she was standing in front of Loch that Slade was the
enemy.  So why wait?  Why flaunt her in front of people who were loyal to
Loch?  She sighed with frustration when she realized nothing was adding up. 
“Why?  Why are you showing me off to his people then?”

“Because I need them to believe that I
am one of them.  They need to think that I am loyal to Loch so I can get close
to him.  The closest I’ve ever been is via phone call; the first call was when
he sent me to retrieve you from America and the other today when he called to
tell me we will be meeting in a few days.  I need to get close enough to kill
him.  Don’t you see, we want the same thing,” he pleaded with his eyes as he
searched Nicole’s face for any sign of understanding.

Nicole’s brows crumpled together as she
paced in front of Slade.  “How do I know you’re not telling me a lie?  You keep
me blocked from inside of your head so you must be hiding more from me?”

“Didn’t you hear me?  My power is always
on, like a constant protective force-field that I can’t turn off.  The only way
you were able to hear what you needed to tonight is because I drank so much
alcohol.  It dulls my powers, but it takes a lot for it to allow someone inside
of my head.” He sighed as he tried to shift his body into a more comfortable
position.  “You can think of me as a peace keeper.  I’m useful in heated
negotiations where people of both fae and warrior origins would be tempted to
kill each other.  I neutralize everyone’s powers so hopefully a peaceful
solution can be found.

“That still doesn’t prove I can trust
you, Slade.  It just proves that you can make me a weak lap dog if I stay
around you.  I can’t be weak, I can’t afford to be weak.  There isn’t time.”

“So you’re going to do this alone?  Just
go out there and try to find Loch by yourself?” Slade chuckled.  “Sage told me
you were hard headed.”

Nicole’s eyes widened at the sound of a
familiar name, “Sage told you about me?”

“Yes, my sister told me a lot about you
and how powerful you are.  And if you would let me go I will prove it to you.”

With a sigh Nicole sent the wall of wind
up into the star filled night sky. She watched as Slade smoothed out his tux
then faced her again.  She tensed as he slowly moved his hand.  He push back
the curtain of silky blond hair that covered his ear revealing a pointed tip
—
the pointed ear
that is found on all fairy kind.

“I guess that’s why I couldn’t do it?”
said Nicole softly.

“Do what?

“Hurt you.  I couldn’t figure out why I
hesitated but now I know it’s because you remind me of Sage.” Nicole smiled
softly as she realized she missed that crazy gothic fairy almost as much as she
missed her dad and her best friend, Kat.

Slade beamed a bright smile at Nicole as
he reached forward picking a small twig from her hair then let the back of his
fingers gently slide down her cheek, “Remind me to thank my dear sister later.”
He winked at her and gently said, “Come on, we better get back to the party
before we’re missed.”

“Go back?  You must be kidding?  How do
you expect me to go back in there when I know everyone is my enemy?”

“You’re safe, Nicole.  You are my guest
and no one would dare cross me.  They all know that I am expected to bring you
to Loch.”

“That doesn’t mean everyone in that party
likes it,” snorted Nicole as she started to pace the small trail.  “There are
people in that room who think you are crossing a line by having me here.”

Slade’s face turned hard as his jaw
muscles flexed with tension.  He was quiet for a few moments, lost in his
thoughts.  “I can’t imagine what you must have heard tonight already but I’m
afraid it may be a good idea for you to go back in there and continue to
listen.” After a few moments Slade’s face returned to its normal, confident
state. “Just listen for anything out of the ordinary.  You know, things that
will help us see if we have any allies who are looking for a way to stop Loch
too.”

“And what will you be doing while I’m
snooping?” Nicole asked reluctantly, giving in to the fact that she had to return
to the hostile party full of hate-laced glares.

The corners of Slade’s lips turned up
into a sly grin and a mischievous twinkle lit up his pale blue eyes, “I’m going
to enjoy a few more drinks as I mingle with my comrades.”  He flashed a quick
wink, “All in the name of helping you use your powers.  The foggier my head is,
the clearer yours will be.”

Nicole rolled her eyes at the obvious
joy Slade was getting out of being able to turn loose and drink all he wanted.
“Men,” she groaned letting him take her hand and lead her back through the maze
of tall shrubs.  When they stepped back onto the cobblestone path Slade stopped
and turned to Nicole.  He pulled her hand to his lips, kissing it gently, “If
the pressure gets to be too much in there, signal me and we will leave.”

Nicole took her hand back slowly, not
sure how to take his protective attitude and tenderness now that she knew they
were on the same team.  She thought for a moment that all the alcohol he had
downed was bringing a new side of him out.  But as she studied his face she
realized she had seen that longing look in his eyes before.  She smiled
nervously, “I will.”  She took a deep breath then started forward, “Let’s do
this.”