Blood Of Fire (The Blood Burden Series) (9 page)

Slade closed his eyes and took a deep
breath, slowly releasing his hold on Nicole.  He wiped the moisture from his
face with the back of his hand before letting his anger darkened eyes meet hers
again.  “You can love that traitor warrior but not me?” He stood staring at her
then he let his eyes drift over her shoulder.  After a few moments he shook his
head defiantly, “You need time to think my offer over.  After all, you are a
smart woman who doesn’t make rash decisions and I can respect that,” he walked
around her to the French doors that lead back into the living area of the hotel
room before he stopped, speaking over his shoulder, “I’ll leave you to your
thoughts but be forewarned, if you haven’t made your decision by the time Loch
calls,” he paused looking back at Nicole with a mixture of hurt and anger
written on his face.  “I will take you to him and your fate will be sealed.  He
will use you and you will have no choice but to obey him.”

Nicole watched as he walked out of the
room, shutting the doors behind him. 
Is this really what has become of my
life?
  She thought, turning to look back outside as she fought to form an
escape route in her head.  But as she stared movement among the green caught
her attention.  A large form materialized out of nowhere, its towering presence
was familiar and unsettling to Nicole.  The warrior that had left the party in
pursuit of Luke last night stood at the edge of the garden, hands locked in
front of him and feet shoulder-width apart.  He raised his chin so he was
looking down at Nicole.  When their eyes locked he shook his head slowly from
side to side, sending her a warning without saying a word.

“Damn it,” she cursed under her breath
as she slammed the patio door closed and locked it, blocking the chilling glare
of the warrior.  She leaned against the door and slid down to the floor with
her elbows on her knees and her hands gripping the sides of her head.  “Nice
job Nicole, you can’t even keep yourself out of trouble for two days, how in the
world are you going to save a kingdom?  And to top it all off, I chose the only
person in the world that could make my powers completely useless as my friend.”
She sighed deeply as she realized what kind of trouble she was in.  She had cut
ties with the only people who could truly help her: Luke, Sage, and Rhys.  She
thought it would keep them safe but she was more than wrong.  She could see
that now that she was a prisoner and forced to see the truth.  They were sent
to help her put an end to Loch, not only by training her but also by fighting at
her side.

Nicole rocked her head from side to side
in her hands, frustrated by her own stubbornness.  She didn’t know how to even begin
to fix this mess.  Luke and Sage were somewhere in Ireland but they couldn’t
get close enough to help her; not with all of these warriors who were on Loch's
side.  Plus now there was Slade to deal with.  How could anyone fight someone
who could make everyone’s powers completely useless?

Leaning her head against the cold glass
of the door, she could feel tears make warm trails down her cheeks as she
closed her eyes tight and prayed.

The next two days were a blur of
nothingness and self-pity for Nicole.  She believed herself to be a weak,
powerless woman who could do nothing to change becoming Slade's prisoner.  She
spent most of her time locked in her room, lying on her bed and staring at the
ceiling lost in thought.  There were times when she was forced from her bed to
accompany Slade into town when he had business.  Whenever they were out she
looked for any opportunity to escape but the warriors that went with them made
it impossible for her to try anything.

Several times each day a warrior would
enter her room carrying a tray of food.  The warrior, a new one each time,
would stand against the wall while she ate then after she was done, would
gather everything up and leave but not before asking if she had an answer for
Slade.

Today she had enough of the questions.
“I have a question for you,” she retorted, “Why do you serve a traitor to his
own people?  Slade isn’t a warrior, he’s a fae, and if you truly want a war
then why do you obey him?” Nicole crossed her feet underneath her as she leaned
back against the headboard of her bed.

The warrior in her room studied her face
for a moment before moving towards the door.  “Do you have an answer for
Slade,” he asked again with no show of emotion.

“You’re being controlled by the fae you
hate and it doesn’t bother you,” she chuckled hoping to get a reaction out of
the stone faced man.  She could see the tension flexing in his jaws and the
tightness in his muscles as he stood with a hand on the door.  “He keeps you
weak just like he’s doing me.  I mean really, how much good would you be if a
fight broke out while Slade was around to suck up all of your power,” she
clicked her tongue against her teeth, tsking him slyly.  “That makes you no
more than, I don’t know….Tinkerbell’s puppy, all bark and no bite.”

A change in the wind around her was all
Nicole registered before the warrior was next to her, towering above the bed
with a dark look filling his eyes and anger shaking his body with each panted
breath he took.  His hands were held out to his sides, both glowing with red
flames, and his lips curled into a smirk as he realized he had startled her
with his display.  “But I thought you couldn’t use your power if Slade was
around,” she stammered as she tried to hold her ground under his glare.

“Well, I guess you shouldn’t trust
everything that your told, now should you princess,” his smile became wide as
he realized that he had the upper hand in this conversation.  “Now, do you have
an answer,” he asked as he let the glow of his hands die out.

Nicole bit the inside of her cheek to
keep the arrogant warrior from seeing how much he had gotten to her.  She shook
her head from side to side and bit out her words slowly, “It’s the same answer
he’s been told for two days so stop asking and get the hell out of here,” she
pointed towards the door and was relieved when the broad, muscle bound man nodded
and walked out, carrying her half eaten breakfast with him.

Her fingernails dug into her palms
drawing blood as everything started to become clear to her.  Slade had planned
this entire charade out so well.  Even the fact that they were seated together
on the plane had been planned so perfectly by him. 
He wanted me to feel
abandoned and weak so I would lean on him.  He made me think Luke had turned
his back on me at the airport and lead me to believe that he had no control
over his powers so he could keep me tamed.  I'm such a fool.  How could I let
him manipulate me like that
, she groaned banging her palm into her
forehead.  “Big, bad, city boy
—
one, sheltered, trusting Alabama girl
—
zero,” she
muttered to herself as she leaned back across the bed.

The day turned into evening as the light
in her room began to dim with the setting sun.  Nicole was vaguely aware of the
change as she lay unmoving on the bed.  She had settled into an unnerving
pattern of waiting.  Waiting for time to pass, waiting for an unknown hero or
waiting for the call that would send her into the hands of her enemy.  An
enemy, that at one time she was foolish enough to think that she could take on
alone.  Instead, she chose to ignore her years of police training that told her
how to research her target well: study his every move and desire before taking
him down.  Then there wouldn’t have been any surprises like this.  She would
have known what she was up against and avoided turning into a prisoner.

The sound of heavy footsteps approaching
her door drew her attention from her thoughts.  It was too early yet for her
meal to be brought to her so her body tensed for the unknown as the door swung
open.  “Shower and dress for dinner.  I will be back in an hour to escort you
down,” the same stone faced warrior from earlier informed her.  She noticed his
eyes were still tight and cold like they were earlier when she challenged him. 
He laid a long garment bag across the foot of the bed then sat a shoe box
beside it before turning on his heels and exiting without another word.

Nicole found a bit of joy in the fact
that she had gotten under his skin so easily.  “Nice talking to you again,
Rover,” she chuckled as the door slammed behind the gorilla-like warrior.  She
slid to the end of the bed and opened the bag to see what she would be
wearing.  She pulled out a blood red dress that bordered on hooker attire.  The
front draped around her neck with a sharp v-cut that barely covered her breasts
with silk strips of material.  The dress didn’t join together again until below
her belly button, leaving a lot of cleavage and most of her stomach exposed. 
The bottom half of the dress was much more modest in a length that reached to
her ankles but the long split that stretched to the top her thigh put an end to
any comfort she had put into keeping some of her dignity intact.

“You have got to be kidding me!” her
jaws clinched as she opened the shoe box.  She pulled out matching red shoes
with six inch heels that strapped around the ankle.  “Well if he wants to kill
me this is sure one way to do it.  I will break my neck in these trashy
things.”  She went to toss the death traps back into the box but an envelope
caught her eye.

My love,

I hope this letter finds you on much
happier terms than I left you.  I am sure you are shocked by the attire for
tonight but I must insist you wear it.  You see, this is not what I would
choose for such a beautiful woman, but it is what Loch would choose.  He has
requested you be brought to him tonight so our time together is running out.

I will see you at dinner and I hope,
with all that I am, that you will have reconsidered my offer otherwise you must
get accustomed to looking as you do tonight because you will forever be Loch’s
whore.

Slade

Nicole let the paper fall from her hands
and land silently on the carpet near her feet.  Her heart was beating so loud
that it drowned out the chaos in her mind.  The breath in her lungs came in
with ragged pants as she let herself sink to the floor.  This was it, the fight
she had been training for was finally here but she no longer had a weapon to
battle with.  All that training and preparations was useless without her
power.  "How in the hell am I going to win this now?"

**~***~**

Nicole entered the eloquent dining area
of the hotel on the bulbous arm of the warrior that hated her deeply.  She had
been given strict instruction not to try anything or she would regret it. 
Holding her head up high, even though she looked like she had just walked off a
street corner, she strode with confidence past the staring eyes of the other
diners.  There was no way she was going to let Slade have the satisfaction of
seeing how humiliated she was so she smiled confidently as they approached his
dimly lit booth.

Slade stood as they neared the table, “Thank
you for joining me, Nicole.”

“Like I had a choice,” she retorted
taking her seat across from him.

Slade smiled slyly at her as he sat back
down in his seat, “Well, I’m beginning to see that you don’t make very good
choices if given options.”  A waiter approached with a bottle of red wine and
two glasses, filling them promptly then walking away just as fast as he
appeared.

Nicole watched the nervous demeanor of
the waiter with interest.  It seemed that everyone took their job seriously
when Slade was around.  She found herself wondering if the reaction of the man
was because his boss was in the room or if it was fear because people knew what
type of deceitful and power hungry man Slade really was.  Finally, she let her
eyes turn back to Slade who was staring back at her with an unreadable look,
“When it’s a choice between the lesser of two evils, there’s never a good
choice.”

Slade nodded then took a slow drink of
his wine, savoring the taste.  “You look,” he paused, searching for the right
words, “ravishing tonight.  Red is a good color for you.  It matches the fire I
see in your eyes.”

“You want to see fire, then stop holding
my powers away from me,” she winked with a one dark smile curving her lips.

“Now, now, my love.  You know I’ve not
had enough of these tonight for you touch that caged beast.”

“Do I?  Well, you will have to excuse my
doubt in you now that I know what you really are,” she bit back the urge to
call him a bold faced liar, thinking maybe she should keep that information
under her sleeve for now.