Drowning in Fire
Authors: Hanna Martine
PRAISE FOR
A TASTE OF ICE
“On my must-read list . . . Such a great read!
A Taste of Ice
is a perfect spring read while the ice outside melts. Xavier is a beautiful, intensely sexy hero with just the right touch of achingly tormented soul that you can’t help but want to heal . . . Cat is a wonderful heroine, she’s lovely, strong, talented, intelligent . . . and she’s fun to read.”
—The Romance Reader
“Hanna Martine did not disappoint as she continued to make the world of The Elementals even more intriguing.”
—Under the Covers
“Savor the journey again and again. The characters are deep, with multifaceted loyalties, pasts, and personalities that drag a reader into the story . . . These books totally rock and I cannot wait for the next one!”
—Coffee Time Romance
LIQUID LIES
“An amazing start to The Elementals series and one I recommend.”
—Under the Covers Book Blog
“A different spin on the paranormal.”
—Dark Faerie Tales
“A really fun, sensual book. I’m excited about this world and I’m already eager to get the next one. A nice debut.”
—Smexy Books
Berkley Sensation titles by Hanna Martine
The Elementals
LIQUID LIES
A TASTE OF ICE
DROWNING IN FIRE
The Highland Games Novels
LONG SHOT
DROWING IN FIRE
HANNA MARTINE
BERKLEY SENSATION, NEW YORK
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China
A Penguin Random House Company
DROWNING IN FIRE
A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2014 by Hanna Martine.
Excerpt by Hanna Martine copyright © 2014 by Hanna Martine.
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.
BERKLEY SENSATION® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-0-425-26753-0
eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-62183-7
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / April 2014
Cover photo © Conrado/Shutterstock.
Cover design by Jason Gill.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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CONTENTS
Preview of Hanna Martine’s next Highland Games Novel
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to Cyndi Culhane, Lynne Hartzer, and Erica O’Rourke for writerly help in the developmental stages; and to Eliza Evans for her ever-insightful input on the completed manuscript.
Also, thank you to my husband, who really took one for the team and made a brave, brave sacrifice when he brought me to the Big Island of Hawaii for “research.”
PROLOGUE
Three years ago
KEKO
“I’m not a damn babysitter.”
Keko stomped after the Chimeran
ali’i
, her bare feet kicking aside old, brown leaves and crunching through patches of crispy April mountain snow. This was a shit assignment, one far below her well-deserved and hard-won position, and she’d growl at the retreating bare back of her uncle until he realized that.
“Chief, wait.”
He finally stopped, one big hand on the flap of his tent, his dusky shoulders sloping under the weight of a sigh. Slowly he turned around to face her, his black eyebrows, dusted with silver, rising with growing impatience. At least he wasn’t deaf. There was still a chance.
“Send Bane,” Keko demanded, moving as close to the
ali’i
as was allowed by clan law. “Or Makaha. I’m the general, for fuck’s sake.”
Someday, after she threw down the challenge and wrested the position of
ali’i
away from her uncle, she would delegate assignments appropriate to a Chimeran’s worthiness. Until that moment arrived, she would forever argue to get her way.
A gust of frigid Utah wind swept down the mountain and raced through the leafless spikes of the tightly packed stand of trees. Keko mentally reached deep inside her body, touching the heart of her fire magic, and turned up her inner heat. The
ali’i
did so as well, and wispy layers of steam lifted off the exposed skin of their torsos like wings.
“You’re impertinent is what you are,” he replied. He wasn’t that much taller than her, but there was a reason why he’d been
ali’i
for nearly two decades. The way he commanded respect with a simple stare was unmatched. She consistently tried to emulate it.
“And difficult,” he added. “But you’re also my second and you’re the most capable, the most skilled.”
Damn straight she was. “So—”
Chief lifted a hand, his palm a paler shade than the native Hawaiian tint to his skin. “The Senatus deliberated for a hell of a long time before finally agreeing to grant the new Ofarian leader an audience. There are reasons we’ve kept our distance from the water elementals, not the least of which being they are historically greedy, pompous, and want to control everything. There’s no one we trust more than you to shadow him his entire time here, make sure he doesn’t overstep his bounds.”
The flame inside her flared in frustration. “That’s babysitting.”
“It’s guarding,” he snapped, and she was forced to take a step back. Only for him would she do that. Chief drew himself up. “You will bring him to and from Senatus gatherings. You will explain to him the group’s procedures and history, what we do and don’t cover. You will keep him within range at all times and monitor any communications he has with his people.”
Yes, sir
was on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn’t bring it out.
“And you will report back to us everything he says or asks, and your answers. Tell us how he is different away from the meetings, if there are any contradictions to his behavior. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious. This is an evaluation period for him and his people before we consider giving them a seat around the bonfire.”
“Do I have permission to kick his ass if he falls out of line?”
Chief gave her a rare grin, one that pulled at the deep lines around his eyes. “And that’s exactly why we chose you to do this, Keko.”
She ran a hand up and down her bare arm, dragging little orange sparks in its wake. The mid-day sky looked heavy with snow. “What’s he like? What do you already know about him?”
Chief shifted, his big feet making new prints in the old snow. “A limited amount. He is new to the leadership, having been part of an overthrow of the Ofarian government two years ago. Only after he took over did he learn his former leaders had been hiding knowledge of other elementals’ existence.” Chief let out a huff of breath, bathing her in a wave of Chimeran heat. “He’s been pursuing contact with the Senatus for over a year. He’s persistent, I’ll give him that. Determined. Very serious.”
“Great.” Keko rolled her eyes. “Sounds like a blast.” She waved a hand in the direction of the large olive-green tent she, her brother Bane, and the warrior Makaha shared. “So are we all supposed to cuddle up with this Ofarian at night and make him feel warm and snuggly so he spills his secrets?”
Chief snorted. “He’s Ofarian, which means he’s spoiled and arrogant. He’s taken a hotel room in town at the base of the mountain. You’ll be staying in a room next to his.”
“What?” She would miss sleeping in the night air, no matter how cold it was. Temperature didn’t mean much to her kind.
“I’m done arguing. It’s an order.” Stern brown eyes, the nearly black shade all Chimerans shared, nailed her in place. “Now go pick up Griffin Aames from the airport, get him to his hotel, and bring him to the gathering tonight.”
Chief disappeared into his tent, the flap snapping closed behind him.
Keko marched to her tent, grabbed her small, threadbare duffel of clothes and things, and started on the two-mile hike down to where they’d parked the car. Despite her reluctance over the assignment, at least she got to drive. There were only a few vehicles in the entire Chimeran valley back home and very little need for them, but she loved getting behind the wheel. It felt so free. So very modern. So outside her own culture.