Of Flame and Promise (12 page)

“Motherfucking, dipshit, fuck-loving whore. Don’t you
ever
do that to me again!”

I might have said more. Mostly I just cried.

Despite Momma’s and Pop’s audible gasps, and our current situation, Gemini pulled me close and chuckled against my ear. “I love you, too,” he murmured.

Gemini held me, until a cougar in beast form stirred in front of us. Pop shot it, the bullet striking its hide, but since he missed its skull and heart by a mile, the
were
didn’t die. Pop mumbled something in Japanese and tossed his last rifle aside. Momma barreled forward in her wolf form, ripping into the cougar and killing it.

The moment she dropped the cougar’s limp form, her head whipped in the direction of the road. She growled and yipped. Pop stripped out of his dress shirt and passed it to Gem. Gem quickly tied the shirt his father had given him into a makeshift loincloth. “More are coming,” Gem said. “We have to leave now.”

A few feet from us, more
weres
began to stir. I nodded, knowing he was right, but that was all I could do. I slumped to my side and into a pile of leftover demon bits.

My sunlight born of magic obliterated all the vamps and demon children in the vicinity, but it had no affect on the
weres
. They were waking, healing, struggling to rise. And although I couldn’t hear any vehicles approaching, Momma’s increasing yips warned something else was closing in.

She dashed forward, allowing Pop to climb on her furry and blood-smeared back. She waited for Gemini to wrench me into his arms before taking off in a mad sprint and disappearing into the dense forest.

I couldn’t have ridden him as wolf. The magic I used to produce the sunlight left me debilitated. “Call the pack,” I mumbled. “We need help.”

“I did, Taran. But that’s not them coming.” The branches slapped against his arms. “We’re too far in enemy territory. Our only choice is to run.”

“The fire,” I rasped. “They’ll see my fire and know.”

“Maybe. But we can’t wait for them to arrive.”

I tried to say more but failed, my body appearing to sink inward. I slumped against Gem’s chest, vaguely aware something was off in the way he ran, before I closed my eyes and surrendered to my exhaustion.

I don’t remember sleeping. There were moments I’d wake only to be lulled back to sleep by the motion with which Gem carried me. What I remember is the moon. The sun was shining high above us when we made our escape, but now only night reigned. I remember thinking I should eat, or drink, or speak before fatigue gripped me and my eyelids drooped once more.

The next time I opened my eyes, the dull light of the autumn sun greeted me on the horizon.

“Gem,” I whispered, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “Where are we?”

“Close,” he answered, his voice oddly choked.

I lifted my chin, my eyes widening. The sunlight beat against his face. But instead of bronzing his olive skin and enveloping it in its welcoming glow, it cast a spotlight on skin as white as bleached wood. I reached and stroked his sweat-soaked cheek, his skin so cold and drained of color I didn’t know how he could stand, much less run.

“Baby…” I began, but my breath lodged in my throat. Gem was so pale, and the circles ringing his eyes were so dark, he was almost unrecognizable.

“Baby, stop.”

Sweat poured down his face. “No,” he panted. “We’re close to Tahoe. I can sense its energy.”

“Then
call
to the pack—or put me down. Jesus, you look like death.”

“Still too far to be heard by our friends, and too close to our enemies,” he bit out. “I need to get us closer to call for help.”

I craned my neck enough to see his mother racing in her wolf form beside us. Her stare remained focused ahead, but his father managed to toss me a glance. Worry creased his brow. I thought he nodded in agreement with me, or maybe I only imagined it. I muttered about six more swear words, which did nothing of course.
Damn
. I felt so helpless!

Gemini continued to move fast, but his speed was significantly slower than I remembered it. I’d known him to run all night and into the dawn with only determination fixed in those dark eyes. Now all I saw was excruciating pain twisting his features. Perspiration cut lines down his face and his breath released in quick, labored bursts. His condition wasn’t due to exhaustion. My wolf was sick. Really sick.

“Is it your heart?” I managed, fearing the worst.

“No.”

“Then what’s happening?”

His skin alternated between shades of white. “I just need to keep going” was all he’d say.

I wriggled in his arms. “Put me down. I’ll walk. You can’t keep carrying me in your state.”

“No.”

“Gem—”

“You can’t walk with bare feet on this terrain, much less run as fast as me. I don’t know how close the Tribesmen are.” He swallowed, struggling to form his words. “What I do know is we need more miles between us and them.”

It was hurting him even to speak, so for once in my life I didn’t argue and shut my trap. My hands linked around his neck and I simply held him, trying to give him the strength I’d replenished during sleep, though I knew that wasn’t possible. For all the magic I possessed, I could do nothing to spare him from his pain.

I closed my eyes, struggling to stay strong.
Don’t cry. He needs a fighter, not some whiner,
my mind insisted.

I don’t know how much longer he ran—an hour? Maybe more. I only remember the pine branches slapping and whipping Gem’s arms seconds before we broke through the brush and into a wide clearing.

Gem stumbled onto his knees, grunting when he landed on a cluster of flat rocks, trying to protect my body from falling forward. I would rather have taken the brunt. If anything, he’d damaged his body worse than it already was. I kissed his cheek. “I’m okay. Let me go.”

At first he wouldn’t ease his hold. It was almost as if he couldn’t hear or didn’t understand. Slowly he released me, keeping his position as I hurried to stand. Stumbling away as I tried to balance, I lost my footing, my muscles tight and stiff from being carried so long, and landed on my ass. Gem reached to steady me when I tried to stand, despite his slumping form and blatant pain.

“I’m fine, baby,” I insisted.

I ignored the fiery sting as my bare feet stomped across the ground and huddled against the blistering wind, drawing enough fire around me to heat my legs and help me stagger to Gem’s side. God, he appeared seconds from keeling over.

His father left his mother’s back, the poor man crawling to Gem’s side. Unlike me, he hadn’t slept, the night’s ride and his age taking their toll on his battered body. I reached for him, but he shook his head. “My s-son,” he stammered.

Momma circled in her beast form keeping guard, but she was also racked with fear.

“We’re not far,” Gem spat. He repeated the words like he hadn’t said them before. I think he meant to reassure us, but his condition was nothing short of unbridled suffering.

He swiveled his head from side to side, scrunching his face, kneeling with his hands out in front of him. That familiar sound of Velcro tearing filled my ears as his twin wolf’s head punched through his back and broke free of his shelter.

Gem’s body buckled when his wolf’s hind legs hit the ground. I’d barely managed to put out my fire and curl my body around his in time. I dove to protect his head, its weight crushing my forearms and my motions scraping my arms along the rough terrain.

He lay there, with wide, unblinking eyes. If it weren’t for the large gulps of air he was taking, I don’t think he would’ve moved at all.

The separation from his wolf morphed his skin tone from alabaster white to a nausea-inducing gray. That was bad enough, but when his large beast collapsed beside him, I couldn’t help but scream.

I clutched Gem’s head, bringing it to my lap and reaching out to stroke his wolf. My fingers passed along his dense fur, his skin feeling cold against my touch. The beast panted heavily beside me, his dull eyes lacking the strength that warned those who dared to cross his path.

“Get up,” Gem grunted through his teeth.

The wolf whined and twitched his muscles, every torturous movement clenching my lungs and robbing me of air. “Babe, don’t.” I shook my head. “Please. He’s hurting, too.”

Gem ignored me.
“Get up,”
he growled. “She needs you.”

I wiped the tear I allowed to escape as I watched the wolf struggle to rise. He swayed more than once, yet somehow managed to keep his feet. Gem’s brow cooled beneath my touch. “You need him back inside you,” I stammered. “Please don’t make him go.”

“We’re close,” Gem slurred, dragging out his next few words. “We can feel them.”

My body shuddered with cold, every emotion raking down to my core. “You’re not going to make it, love. Not if he goes.”

“None of us will make it if he doesn’t. Go,” he whispered, his breaths so shallow they were barely visible in the cold air.

The wolf met my eyes briefly before he limped across the clearing and back into the forest. As he disappeared, I watched my lover fade into darkness.

Some women could cry, and cry, and cry, allowing those around them to coddle them and surround them with their strength while they did nothing more than unleash their grief. Sure, there were moments when they should: a death, a fatal diagnosis, a severe illness, or uncontrollable pain.

But I didn’t have the luxury of tears, or the help of others. Instead of crying like I would’ve preferred, and hating myself for it later, I acted.

I kissed Gem’s shoulder and motioned his father closer. “Stay with him; keep him warm with your body. I’ll gather wood to start a fire.” To his mother I said, “Guard them—I won’t be long.”

Momma stopped pacing, appearing to frown.

“No fire, Taran. The Tribe will find us,” Pop insisted.

“Our friends will find us dead if I don’t.” I motioned to Gem. “Just do what I ask.
Please.
”

His eyes widened at my desperation, and he exchanged glances with his wolf wife before crawling forward and huddling around his son. “Branches are too wet or too green,” he muttered. “They won’t burn.”

I rose, my numbing feet throbbing with each step. “I’ll make them burn,” I assured him.

Flames sizzled above my head, their intensity so fierce I barely heard the howl of the increasing wind over their hiss. It wasn’t intentional. I hadn’t called forth that power. I was simply that livid. I wouldn’t go down like this—in the woods, barefoot, half-naked—especially this close to salvation.

And neither would Gemini.

I stomped my feet, forcing fire to engulf my soles and ribbon my legs and thighs. I lifted my arms out. With a swoosh, my hands and forearms followed in a blaze of light.

Warmth wound along my extended limbs, reminding me just how cold the rest of me was. I shuddered and moved forward, my aching bones creaking in protest.

“Shut up,” I told them. “You’re acting like a bunch of bitches.” I cringed when Pop abruptly stopped speaking. I glanced over my shoulder, only to meet Gem’s parents’ stunned faces. “Not you. I meant my bones—
bones.
” With a defeated sigh I plowed forward. Would I
ever
get anything right with them?

Snow melted beneath my feet with each step I managed, my frustration burning an imprint down to the soil. I wasn’t stupid. I knew I was all but mapping out our location. But Gem couldn’t wait in the cold, not in his condition.

I shook out the flames in my hands as I neared the long stretch of trees and reached for what I thought was a branch buried in the snow. FYI, it was a root. And FYI, I landed on my ass again.

I had to surround myself in flame just to warm up again before I caught sight of a chunk of log. It wasn’t that big, but it would hopefully hold us over. I dragged it along the ground, my face scrunching from the splintering wood digging into my skin, yelling and of course swearing in the process. Thankfully, the only attention it drew was Momma’s. She bounded over the snow and raced to my side, lifting the piece in her powerful jaws with the same effort most would lift an empty box. I nodded. “Okay, girl, remind me never to piss you off.” It was a stupid thing to say, considering I’d flung her down a mountain.

I couldn’t be sure, but she might have grinned. She didn’t wait for me, though, and trotted off with the large chunk of wood in her mouth. My gifts included the ability to strut in four-inch platforms across a layer of gravel. But this wasn’t gravel, and my feet were bare. I stumbled, cursed some more, and wobbled my way back to them. I didn’t think I’d wandered far, but it seemed far just then.

In the time it took me to return, Momma Hamamatsu had dug out a small circle in the dirt and dropped the log dead center. Gemini lay unmoving, with his father’s small body trembling uncontrollably as he curled against his son. My need to warm them and the emotion the scene evoked made me careless. I concentrated my power into my palm and flung a softball-sized sphere at the log…which grew in size with each rotation.

“Son of a
bitch
!”

Momma soared across the space between the log and her family, shielding them with her massive body as my flaming ball struck the log in an angry burst. The log fired, spitting flames and roaring in a scorching F-you blaze.

I jetted toward them, falling more than once. Momma’s eyes narrowed as I batted out her fur with my hands, withdrawing the blue and white tendrils with each strike. “God, I’m, like, so sorry.”

She sneezed, likely because of all the singed fur drifting in the air as my hands continued to slap mercilessly against her hide. I coughed and gagged when some strands tickled the back of my throat. “Damnit. This shit’s everywhere.”

Believe it or not, it was more of a jab at me for my carelessness than anything directed at Gem’s mother. Of course Momma didn’t take it that way, her dark wolf eyes regarding me as if she’d like nothing more than to rip out my throat and roast my ass for breakfast.

Gem’s father poked his head out from her other side when the flames dwindled down to a respectable fire. He looked from me to the hairless patches of skin spreading along his mate’s body. I petted a particularly large bald spot. “I’m sure it’ll grow back.”
Maybe.
My fire generally had a freaky effect on preternaturals.

My shoulders slumped more the longer they scrutinized me. If so much as a toe had stepped onto the Taran Bandwagon, I’m sure that toe had leapt off so their bodies could moon me as the wagon sped off. “Sorry?” I offered.