Cursed by Fire (Blood & Magic Book 1) (11 page)

I
narus tracked me down a few days later. I wasn’t surprised when he made his way into Sanborn Place. Dressed in low-cut jeans that hugged his hips and a formfitting black shirt, he looked every bit as attractive as he had the first day I had walked into him in my apartment complex hallway. Didn’t mean I trusted him any farther than I could throw him. He couldn’t expect me to trust him just because he saved my life, right? It was going to take more than that.

He walked into the office with a casual gait, eyeing his surroundings and taking everything in. I watched him from the corner of my eye stop by Mike’s desk and speak to him for several minutes. I pretended to be busy, shuffling papers around and typing the same word over and over again on my keyboard when in reality, my attention was solely on him. My skin prickled with awareness and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, not to mention the stupid buzzing in my head.

After roughly five minutes, he headed for my desk and I kept my gaze locked tight on the screen of my computer.

“Hey, can we talk?” he asked, pulling out the chair in front of my desk and taking a seat. I glanced up, giving him a brief look before focusing my attention back on my
“work.”

“Can’t, I’m buried in work right now,” I told him, shrugging my shoulders and offering a small smile in apology.

“Really, work huh?” he said, his tone filled with skepticism.

“Yup, I’m so behind, it’ll take me weeks to get caught up.”

“You know, I was talking to your boss, Mike.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Where was he going with this? “And he said that you’d been complaining all morning about how you didn’t have any fresh leads for whatever it is you’re working on and how you were bored out of your mind, thinking of taking off early.”

I shot an accusing glare in Mike’s direction and he had the good sense to turn around and walk to the back of the office.

Coward.

“Is that so?” I said in a sugary sweet voice. I was really going to have to remind Mike not to tell complete strangers that I was available.

“Mmm hmm,” Inarus said. A wide smile spread over his face. The bastard had me and he knew it. I heaved a sigh, resigned to my fate, and powered down my computer.

“Let’s get this over with,” I told him, getting up from my seat.

“Don’t sound so excited,” he said. I waved a hand over my shoulder and walked outside, the crisp fall air whipping across my cheeks. Looking around I noted the streets were fairly empty. Few people walked down the sidewalks and even fewer cars were parked at the surrounding shops. I checked my watch, it was only three in the afternoon. An unusual time for it to be so quiet. Walking a quick block with Inarus beside me, we made our way to a local coffee shop and bakery.

The door chimed as we walked through and we were quickly greeted by the barista. A young woman in her late teens with bleached-blond hair and hot pink highlights stood behind the counter with a wide grin on her face. She was covered in tattoos, and several facial piercings and dermals adorned her features. Back before the Awakening, things like tattoos and piercings had still been frowned upon but now even a barely over sixteen-year-old with a Cupid’s bow mouth and baby blue eyes had them. Gods she looked so young. I wasn’t one to judge though. Even I had a bit of ink. I’d gotten my first tattoo at seventeen, shortly after the death of my parents, a dagger on my right hip. The artist that did my tattoo left out the fact that he was a mage. He had woven a touch of magic into the blade, something I’m grateful for to this day though it hurt like hell.

When I’d questioned him about it afterward he said he knew my father and that I was down on my luck. My dagger came to life when I pushed my fingers against my flesh. In a slow pull of magic the blade would detach itself from my flesh, becoming solid and unbreakable in my hand. It was a magnificent piece of metal but its magical qualities made it priceless. I kept it on me at all times though chose to use the more traditional daggers I carried sheathed at my hips unless I had no other choice.

That tattooed blade has been with me for the last six years and left me feeling naked and vulnerable when it wasn’t resting beneath my flesh.

Placing my order for a large black coffee, I took my steaming mug to a table in the corner, positioning myself against the wall so I had a good view of the entrance and no one could sneak up behind me. Inarus followed with his own cup and stood for a moment contemplating where to sit. He frowned when he realized he was going to have to place his back to the entrance and I filed that tidbit of information away. Seemed he didn’t like leaving himself vulnerable either.

I took a large swallow of my coffee, savoring the flavor when Inarus began.

“So what’s your story?” he asked. I quirked a brow over the edge of my cup and took another drink. Did he really expect me to be so easy? That I would just unfold for him like a book and share my life’s story?

“Why don’t you share yours?” I suggested, turning away to scan the coffeehouse. The Rocket Bakery was a comfortable coffee shop with eclectic furniture. Mix-matched tables and chairs lined the perimeter of the room while the center housed a small collection of upholstered chairs surrounding a small coffee table. It was cozy and casual and the strong smell of coffee gave it an inviting atmosphere. The Rocket Bakery happened to be my favorite coffee shop in town, and they made one heck of a blueberry cream cheese tart.

Silently I debated ordering a slice. Maybe if I was too busy eating, Inarus would take the hint and decide against asking me so many questions. I eyed him once again. Judging by the determined look in his eyes, I had a feeling that he wasn’t going to give up.

“Is this going to turn into a ‘I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours first’ type of conversation?” he asked me, a sly smile on his face.

“If only you were so lucky,” I offered back.

Letting out a chuckle Inarus leaned back in his chair, eyeing me over the rim of his cup as he took a long pull from the mug. I watched his throat work, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed before setting the cup aside.

“Fine, I’ll bite. I’m a Psyker like yourself. My abilities manifested when I was eight years old and I’m what you’d consider a seven on a ten-point scale. Your turn.” he said.

I eyed him skeptically and decided to give him as little information as possible but a part of me was curious so I wanted to give him enough that he’d continue with this game.

“My abilities manifested when I was thirteen and I have no idea what level I am. You’re the first Psyker I’ve met in person.”

“Really?” he asked, surprised by my answer.

“Yes, really.” He seemed to mull that over for a moment, like Psykers were a dime a dozen and he was so surprised that I hadn’t run into another before. I was pretty sure by the buzzing going on in my head that had I ever been near another Psyker, I would have noticed. Granted, I may have been avoiding my kind for several years now. Not that I was going to tell him that.

“Do you know anything about the Psyker community?”

I barked out a laugh. A community? You mean people like me what, banded together and sang songs? If I’d learned anything after the Awakening, it was that everyone looked out for themselves and those with power, stepped on anyone they could to gain more of it. My abilities were different and could be catastrophic in the wrong hands. I didn’t trust people. They lied and manipulated to get what they wanted.

I shook my head and waited for him to continue, he seemed so excited to share this information, as if it were some gift he was bestowing on me.

I watched in skeptical fascination as his mouth moved, the full line of his lip quirking when he realized I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying.

“Aria, this is important.”

I waved my hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. There are more Psykers out there and everyone is the best of friends.”

He frowned at my sarcasm. “Aren’t you the least bit interested in knowing about your own people?” he asked.

“I have my own people already. I have Mike, James, and Melody. Plenty of people to drive me crazy. I don’t need any more.”

“Aria, you don’t know what you’re missing. When Psykers get together, amazing things can happen. Just think of the all the possibilities. Wouldn’t you like to be somewhere where you didn’t have to hide what you did, what you are? Where you were respected for your powers? Look, there’s this group…”

As soon as he said group, my attention fixed. I squared my shoulders and gave him my full attention, something prickling, letting me know that this was important.

“It’s called PsyShade and is a human organization but Psykers are at the heart of it.”

Yeah, I’d heard of them before. A few years back when a strange man came knocking on my door. Instantly my hackles rose. This wasn’t good.

“You’re one of them?” I asked, unable to tone down the accusation in my voice. “You’re a part of this group, this PsyShade organization?”

Inarus shook his head. “No, I’m not part of it, but I’ve heard about it. I figured you’d want to know more since it’s run by people like us.”

I nodded for him to continue, my every sense now on high alert. After seeing my initial reaction he seemed to choose his words carefully, making me wary.

“Look, I’m going to a gala tonight. Several prominent people in the Psyker community will be there. Come with me. It’ll be good for you to mingle and get to know others like us.”

I frowned and considered his offer, really considered it. I was interested. I wanted to see this other side that had never been open to me before but the voice of reason in my head was telling me this was a really bad idea. I’d run from this very thing before. Why wasn’t I running now? Biting my lip I looked into Inarus’ eyes. He offered me a smile, his eyes pleading, and I melted. Dammit.

“Fine,” I said, under my breath.

“Great,” he said, jumping from his seat. “I’ll have a dress delivered later this afternoon.”

“You don’t need to do that,” I told him.

“Yes, I do. I insist.”

I grumbled a bit more before finally conceding. Having him send a dress was probably a better idea than trusting me to shop for one on my own. It’s not like gala-ready dresses were something I stockpiled in my closet or anything. The closest thing I had to a dress was a black leather mini skirt from my younger days and I hadn’t worn that thing in years.

Inarus smiled mischievously and I reconsidered my decision.

“I’ll swing by your apartment at 6 p.m.,” he said, making a hasty retreat before I could change my mind.

At 5 p.m. there was a knock at the door. A delivery boy around seventeen stood in the doorway when I opened it, his arms full. Two gift bags hung from either arm, with several boxes stacked between them in his outstretched hands. I lurched forward, reaching for the packages as he wavered in front of me under the weight of his load.

“Here, let me take those.”

“Thank you,” he said, sweat dripping from his brow.

“Did you carry all of this up the stairs?” I asked. “All four flights of them?

At his nod I added, “Why didn’t you just take the elevator?” Guessing that maybe he had a phobia of enclosed spaces like I did.

The boy wiped his sleeve across his forehead as I placed the final bag on the floor just inside my apartment.

“There was a woman downstairs who told me it was out of order.”

I attempted a laugh, my ribs aching with each breath but I couldn’t help it and the small sounds of a giggle escaped me despite the pain of my previous injury. His gaze was perplexed and when I got my pained laughter under control I asked, “Did she happen to have long black hair, green eyes, wings, and around my height?”

He nodded enthusiastically, a wide grin on his face. “And she was really pretty,” he added. I laughed again, yes Melody certainly was pretty.

“You realize she’s a harpy, right?”

His face grew serious. “My mother taught me that we are all equal—”

I raised a hand, cutting him off. “I wasn’t implying that she was unworthy of your attention for being a harpy,” I said, watching as he visibly relaxed his shoulders. What a sweet kid, he was going to defend Mel. Little did he know, she would chew him up and spit him right back out.