Seared by Desire (11 page)

His words were harsh, his tone desperate and Sara backed out
of the room though she wanted to touch him, hold him close and
reassure him. She shook her head trying to dispel the strange
thoughts.
Where did that come from? I only
need his help to keep me alive, what does it matter to me if he’s
worried about something?
Even to her own
ears the words sounded false. There was something about Lucian,
something that drew her back to him, made her want to be near him
and whatever it was, she had a strange feeling he felt
too.

******

Sara, in many ways was the complete opposite of normal fire
elementals but in other areas she was exactly as they were and her
patience, or more specifically lack thereof, was one of those
areas. Patience was for people who weren’t likely to explode in a
fiery conflagration of heat, killing all those around them.
Patience was for people who weren’t living on borrowed time. In
other words, patience was not for her. But since her brief meeting
with the dark vampiric Lord, her patience was being pushed to new
limits. Day had turned to dusk, dusk to evening and evening to
night all with no sign of Lucian, instead she’d been surrounded by
giggling women who she supposed were there to help her but instead
were only succeeding in bringing out another fiery trait, anger.
They seemed intent on asking her pointless questions.

“
How do you want your hair styled today?”

“
What colour clothing do you want to wear?”

“
Breeches or a dress?”

“
What’s your favourite flower?”

What’s your favourite bloody flower?!
The last question was the final straw. Seraphina’s episode
was edging ever closer; she didn’t have time for this. “Enough,”
she grumbled, standing up. The women surrounding her stopped
talking at the sudden move, looking up at her with curiosity in
their bright eyes. “Enough,” she repeated, her voice stronger,
louder. “I’ve had enough of this. Where’s Lucian? I want to see
him.”

“
You can’t my Lady,” one of the attendants whispered, her face
paling at the mere idea.

Sara’s eyebrows twitched in annoyance. “Why not?” she
demanded.

“
Lord Lucian said…”

Her body temperature skyrocketed, flames beginning to crawl
along her skin.
If Lucian planned for this
to happen, I’m going to really hurt that man.
“Lord Lucian said what?” she snapped.

Gazes were averted at her question, serving only to confirm
her suspicions. Lucian was behind this. “I’ve had enough of this.”
She swept from the room, the long skirt of her dress trailing
behind her making her departure seem all the more dramatic. The
attendants flitted around her as she walked down the long corridor
to reach the centre of the staircase. Heat filled her vision, there
were clearly no vampires on this side of the manor.

“
Please my lady, let’s return to the room.”

“
No and if you ask me that question again, I will roast you
alive.”

Flames leapt from her skin. The fiery cocoon enveloping her
skin expanded past the boundaries of her body to provide a warning
to all around her, she was not in a mood to be taken lightly. She
glanced at the door hiding the other corridor, expecting to see the
lack of heat a vampire gave off instead there was nothing, not even
a modicum of residual coldness. She scowled before heading down the
staircase, her eyes watchful for any sign of vampirism.

The corridors were full now, bustling with life both human
and vampiric but they quickly moved aside when they saw her coming,
afraid of being burnt by the fire surrounding her. As her walk
continued, the human heat began to dissipate and her strides
lengthened, her step quickening as certainty filled her. She was
going the right way. A large door appeared before her and with her
eyes seeing only in terms of heat she quickly noted that vampires
filled the room behind the door.

Her steps sure and confident, she pulled the door open,
unprepared for the affronted stares she received when she walked
inside. Her step faltered and her flames died down as she searched
the crowded room for Lucian. All gathered sat around an enormous
table, their heated discussion falling into silence as soon as
she’d walked into their midst. Her heart was pounding wildly as
fear and uncertainty beset her.
Maybe I
should have waited for him to come to me. He promised didn’t
he?
A body pressed itself against her back
and she relaxed, remembering how Lucian had pressed himself against
her that morning. Her body tensed quickly as soon as she felt a
sword pressed against he throat. Whoever was holding her wasn’t
Lucian.

“
What do you think you’re doing?” Gareth hissed coldly in her
ear.

She was on the verge of struggling until she saw the familiar
crest emblazoned into the sword’s handle and then a smile curved
her lush lips. “I think you’re mistaking me for someone who isn’t
prepared to char you to a crisp. Did no one tell you that you
should never try to turn a word against its maker?”

The gleaming silver blade of the sword glowed red hot, heat
travelling up into the handle, making Gareth drop his prized sword
to the ground with a loud clatter. Cursing, he pulled away from
her, nursing his burnt hand. Sara reached down, picking the burning
sworn form the ground to run her hand over the fine edge. Smiling
fondly at the blade, she swung the sword through the air, testing
its edge before spinning it calmly in her palm, testing its
balance. Gareth watched the display becoming less concerned with
his injured palm as he became engrossed in what looked like an
intricate dance. He watched as Lucian rose from his seat at the
head of the table and made his way over to them, Sara’s movements
stopping the instant she saw him.

“
Lucian,” she murmured.

“
Yes, Sara?”

“
Where have you been? I told you this morning I needed to talk
to you.”

“
I am not at your beck and call Sara. I have a people to lead
and a war to win. When I’ve finished here, I’ll come to you and we
can talk about whatever it is you deem so important as to interrupt
my meeting.”

“
You make it sound as though I’m trying to make problems where
there aren’t any. I don’t have the time to wait for your meeting to
be over, I need to talk to you now.”

“
No, what you need to do is return Gareth’s sword to him
before he tries to take a healthy bite out of your neck.” The very
thought made Lucian’s stomach churn though not as much as the sight
of his friend pressed so intimately against his bride.
She’s driving me crazy. She needs to leave before
I take her neck myself. No one ever gives me time to feed and her
presence is only making things worse.

“
I think you’ll find that this sword is mine so I don’t need
to return anything,” she countered, stepping closer to him.
Seraphina could erupt at any moment; she needed to be close to him.
The words were rational, they made sense but she couldn’t help but
think there was something more at work. She wanted to be close to
him, he called to her like no one else and judging from the way he
was unconsciously edging closer to her, he wanted it
too.

“
That sword is mine,” Gareth hissed, slightly unnerved by the
way he had been so effectively excluded from the discussion as
though Sara and Lucian were the only two people in the room. Their
eyes were focused only on each other, their perception of the
outside world dim.

Lifting the sword, Sara ran an assessing eye over it. “You’ve
taken good care of it,” she complimented. “But the sword is still
mine and always will be.”

“
What makes you think that?” He moved closer to her preparing
to take the blade from her hands by force if necessary. The red
glow in Lucian's eyes at the move though was making him nervous,
Lucian had never directed such an angry look at him
before.

“
I made this sword, so by any law it’s mine.”

Gareth paused letting the words sink in before boisterous
laughter spilled from his lips, even Lucian could barely resist the
urge to laugh at his bride’s words. Hot, dark eyes ran over her
petite frame assessingly. Her slender arms barely looked able to
lift the sword let alone craft it. Sara’s face flushed red with
embarrassment as the laughter spread around the room. Her eyes
narrowed angrily before she swung the sword, narrowly missing
slicing Gareth’s head from his shoulders and pointing the tip of
the sword at his throat. His eyes widened at the sudden
move.

“
My name is Sara Quicksilver and this sword, a Quicksilver,
was made by me, don’t make me have to bring out the sword’s true
potential to let you see the truth in my words.” The angry words
were hissed from between clenched teeth. Her swords were the only
things she could take pride in; no one insulted her work. She
lowered the sword, sure that her point had been made. Clenching the
handle for a second, she handed the blade back to Gareth confident
that he would continue to take care of her work. “You still don’t
believe me.”

“
It’s hard to imagine,” Lucian began, “that someone as
delicate as you could make such a weapon of
destruction.”

“
Fine,” she huffed, extending her open palm to him. “You want
proof, then take a look.” His eyes fell to her open palm, finally
noting the comet embossed on her skin, the symbol of the
Quicksilver.

Lucian’s eyes widened upon seeing the symbol amazed that his
bride was the legendary sword smith. No one had ever laid eyes on
the maker of the Quicksilvers but the swords were worth their
weight in gold despite that. Honed to such a fine edge that they
cut through almost anything, the swords never dulled, the blade
remaining sharp throughout the years, facts that made them
priceless in battle.

Sara clutched her head as the pain began to build, Seraphina
was almost upon them. “Lucian,” she whispered as flames sprung from
her body, “take my hand.”

There was something strange about his bride and he had every
intention of finding out what it was immediately. “Get out!” he
bellowed.

Gareth moved to Lucian’s side, tugging on his arm and pulling
him away from Sara’s dangerous flames. “My Lord, you want us to
leave? The meeting is still going on. We need to discuss our next
move against the Malachites. Is something wrong?”

“
I thought I had made that quite clear, I want you and
everyone else to leave. Leave NOW!” His voice was angry and those
in the room rushed to comply with his orders. Gareth stepped away
from him, confused by Lucian's strange behaviour but his leader’s
hand gripped his arm tightly preventing him from leaving.
“Gareth?”

“
Yes my Lord?” he answered hesitantly.

Lucian pulled his friend closer, whispering in his ear, “If
you ever get that close to her again, I’ll tear your heart out.” He
released him abruptly, glaring intently at him as Gareth backed out
of the room.

Now that they were alone, he let his attention return to his
bride. The flames on her skin were spreading, covering her entire
body in a bright orange fire. Without any hint of hesitation, he
walked into her flame, pulling her body close in a tight embrace.
The fires died down and her breath caressed his cheek as she
relaxed against him.

Sara wrapped her arms around Lucian's waist unwilling to let
him go. This was the first time since Seraphina had made her
presence known that she hadn’t blacked out after the flames began
to wash over her. “Thank you.”

“
I think we need to talk.”

She laughed. “I told you that this morning.”

“
There’s something wrong with you isn’t there?”

“
Well you’re direct aren’t you? Straight to the point but was
there really a need for you to say it like that? I’m not
contagious.”

“
There’s no need to beat around the bush, you’re a fire
elemental yet you can’t control your flame, there’s something wrong
with you.” Her body was beginning to affect him, the sweet smell of
her enticing him to take a bite out of her flesh. Her soft curves
encouraging him to ruthlessly plunder her body. She was holding on
to him so tightly that he knew she wouldn’t release him.

“
What do you know about the ancient oracle?”

The question surprised him but Lucian recovered quickly. “I
know about as much as every one else. She was an oracle and could
see into the future, her predictions were never wrong.”

“
Is that all you know?” Her voice was desperate. Lucian was
old, how old she didn’t know, but it was entirely possible that he
was alive at the same time as the ancient oracle. He might have
even known the woman for all she knew.

“
Yes. Why are you so interested in the oracle? Weren’t we
talking about your problem?”

She sagged against him, weakness overcoming her. Lucian was a
vampire, he wouldn’t know anything about elemental prophecies and
he knew nothing about the oracle either. He might be the one who
was meant to save her life but that fact was of little use when
neither of them knew how he was meant to go about it. “Trust me
when I say that the two topics are one and the same.”