Seared by Desire (9 page)

“
What are you talking about Sara? They aren’t ‘my enemies’,
they’re your enemies as well.”

“
These people have never done anything to me and I’m not going
to do anything to them.”

She needed to find her vampire; her time was up. She wouldn’t
find sanctuary in this city now that Abi had found her. More fire
elementals would be called if she wasn’t returned and the longer
she stayed out of their grasps, the more that would be called until
the city was overflowing with them. Summoning the flame within her,
Sara created a wall of fire around the hunting party, sealing them
within its fiery walls. There was no time to wrestle with Seraphina
to make the fire do more than simply burn until it was out of fuel
but there was also no time to regret her lack of care. Throwing
herself into Lance’s saddle, she reached for David and pulled him
onto the horse before spurring the horse into a wild
gallop.

“
Where are we going David?” she demanded, running blind.
People jumped out of the way, terrified of Lance’s powerful hooves
and the scenery blurred as she ran past it.

“
What’s going on?”

“
I asked you a question David, where are we going?”

Realising that he wasn’t going to get answers to his
questions and wanting to get out of whatever dangerous situation
Sara had dragged him into, David directed her to the nearby tavern.
They dismounted quickly, Sara pulling David by his cold hand into
the building. The inside was well lit, with boisterous men
proceeding to become increasingly inebriated as they threw back
pint after pint of rich ale.

Feast. Hungry. Ten minutes.

What?
She cursed.
You told me that I had at least two hours! What
happened?

Want more fire. More flames. Burn everything.

Sara groaned, cursing her rash actions. The fire she had
started to give her time to escape had backfired, slashing away at
the time she had left to search. With only ten minutes until
another episode was upon her, she would have to find Lucian and
hope he could fly her out of the city. She knew older vampires had
the ability to fly and quickly reasoned that as the leader Lucian
had to be the oldest of them all.
No more
fire then.
“Do you see him?” she demanded,
her heart racing.

“
Yes, over there.” David raised a hand, pointing to a tall
figure in the distance, surrounded by many others.

Abandoning her guide, she walked towards him realising with
every step that she took that there was something familiar about
the man. He turned to look at one of the people that surrounded him
and his face became visible. Her heart stopped as she gasped. She
had come looking for the leader of the vampires to help her find
the one that was destined to help her. She had never for even a
second realised that they were one and the same. The doors flew
open and Abigail’s hunting party poured inside, Sara’s flaming red
hair giving away her location instantly. Her eyes flickered between
her friend and her saviour.
This could get
tricky,
she sighed dejectedly.

Chapter Six – The Problems a Bride
Brings

Lucian had known the instant his bride had stepped into the
tavern. The blood coursing through her veins sang out to him,
urging him to sink his teeth into her neck with each beat of her
heart. It was a struggle to keep his mind on the words that were
floating around him, his fangs practically salivating at the
prospect of the taste of her exotic blood on his tongue. He
couldn’t afford for anyone here to know who she truly was to him.
He suspected that the tavern was a meeting ground for Malachites
and a bride was a weakness they would exploit to the fullest. The
conversation around him faded as she approached him, the ache in
his fangs multiplying. He let his head turn slightly, watching her
progress, she was headed directly for him and he briefly considered
the notion that she knew just what she was to him. The idea was
dismissed quickly, no one but he knew that she was his bride, not
even his closest friends were aware of her existence.

The large bar seemed drastically smaller when a group of fire
elementals poured in, blocking the exit. They approached his bride,
a heavy set man placing a beefy hand on her shoulder and stopping
her progress. For a moment Lucian contemplated putting the meeting
on hold temporarily so that he could tear the man’s head from his
shoulders. No one had the right to touch what belonged to him. His
bride saved him the trouble of a messy clean up, spinning so
quickly she was like a blur before stabbing the man in his hand
with a small dagger. He howled, staggering away from her and
clutching his bleeding hand in agony. His cries quickly attracted
the attention of the bar’s patrons who stared at Sara as though she
had suddenly sprouted multiple heads. Fire elementals may have been
a vicious and dangerous people but they never hurt one of their
own, one of the hard and fast rules of their existence had just
been broken.

“
Sara, what do you think you’re doing?” Abigail
screeched.

“
I think you should ask yourself that question. We’re friends
Abi, friends don’t try to kill each other.”

“
I’m not trying to kill you,” she complained.

“
By trying to take me back that’s exactly what you’re doing. I
found him Abi, he’s right there.” She pointed at Lucian's tall
frame. “He’s standing right there, he can save me Abi, just let me
go.”

“
I can’t.”

Sara shook her head in disappointment but her sword was
already out of its sheath, the solid weight pressed against her
palm.
I can’t afford to use my fire
anymore, it’ll only bring on an episode faster.
“You’re my friend Abi so I don’t want to hurt you but my good
will doesn’t extend to the rest of them.”

Her sword gripped firmly in her hand, Sara sprung forth,
wielding the large sword gracefully as she swung for the nearest
fire elemental to her. The tip of her blade made contact with his
torso and she pulled down hard, slicing open his flesh before
moving on. His companions had learned from the man’s mistake and
were no longer underestimating her, wary now of the sword she
carried. Trying to keep their distance, they let their fire rein
down on her. She tried to avoid the flames wary of coming into
contact with anything that could encourage Seraphina to begin her
episode early.

The tavern around her was beginning to burn and the terrified
patrons ran towards the exit, pushing wildly at each other in an
attempt to escape. Sara’s heart thudded within her chest. Had he
left too? She pulled her mind away from her fight to search for
him, turning away from Abigail and her compatriots to look for his
face in the crowd. He was still talking to those that surrounded
him, acting as though their meeting ground weren’t burning around
them.
What’s wrong with them? Can’t they
see that this place isn’t going to last much longer?
The momentary distraction cost her dearly as fire
struck her, the heat seeping into her skin to fuel the fire that
was in her veins.

Now,
Seraphina purred.

Fire sprung forth from her, pouring from her skin and burning
all that it came into contact with. She glanced at the exit, but
her heart fell when she saw it was still crammed with people, there
was no way for her to leave. As she frantically searched for
another exit, Abigail and her search party began to surround her,
enclosing her within a circle made of their bodies.

“
You all remember what elder Geoffrey said? It will be just
like absorbing the flame of the ever-fire. Once we have done that,
we’ll take her home and fulfil the prophecy.”

Tears began to fall from Sara’s eyes at Abigail’s words,
Seraphina was nothing like the ever-fire. They would all be
consumed by her much too powerful flame. The fire racing along her
skin, reached forward, licking along the skin of those surrounding
her. Sara felt her strength increase even as she watched Abigail
and the others fall to the ground as weakness overcame them, the
essence of their flame being absorbed into Sara’s being to further
fuel Seraphina’s episode.

“
Sara?” Abigail pled. “Stop this.”

“
I can’t Abi, I told you to leave me alone. I warned you.” She
turned tear-filled eyes onto Lucian, using the last of her strength
to move towards him. “Please,” she begged. “Please help
me.”

“
Lord Lucian,” Gareth began, “do you know this
woman?”

“
Please Lucian, please help me.” She extended a hand towards
him, desperate for him to touch her and stop the fire that was
sapping her strength.

“
You’re on fire,” he commented coolly. “As a fire elemental
can’t you just turn it off?”

“
I can’t. Please, please help me. I don’t want to do this. I
don’t want to kill the people in this city. I never asked to be
like this.” She fell to her knees, her strength
depleted.

Even on fire, his bride was beautiful and Lucian took a step
towards her, uncaring of the fact that he would soon reveal a
weakness to his enemies.
We’re the only
ones left in here, it isn’t as though there are any Malachites
around to see this.
He sighed.
I thought I could just leave her alone until my
war was over but judging from what I’ve seen of my bride so far,
she’ll probably get herself killed before I can come back for her.
No, better to take her now, keeping her safe while keeping her
apart from me, that way I can drink her as soon as the Malachites
are dealt with. Even if they discover her existence, she’s a fire
elemental and judging from this, she can take care of herself. Her
skill with a sword is a beautiful thing and her flame, while wild
is powerful. Yes, I’ll take her with me tonight.

“
Lord Lucian,” Gareth scolded, placing a restraining hand on
his arm. “You can’t.”

His dark eyes flashed red in warning and Gareth removed his
hand. “I can do whatever I like.” He moved towards her, uncaring of
the fire burning all around him, until he stood directly in front
of her. Her blue eyes were aglow as she turned to look up at him.
“What do you want? How do you expect me to help you?”

“
Please, touch me. Take my hand.”

“
You’re on fire,” he reminded her.

“
I know but please, you have to touch me. I’m begging you.
Touch me.”

Lucian looked at the pale skin of his hand, regarding the
ligament carefully before turning to look into the tear filled eyes
of his bride.
The burns will heal after a
good feeding.
He knelt to be on the same
level as she and reaching forward with both hands, he cupped her
burning cheek with one hand, taking her hand with the other and
intertwining their fingers. She sighed in relief the instant their
flesh came into contact, her eyes sliding shut, an expression of
immense pleasure coming over her features. The fires died down,
those nearest to them, jumping onto her skin and seeping back into
her flesh. Lucian watched intrigued as her skin flashed red in the
places the fire touched before it paled. To his immense surprise,
her flames didn’t burn him, it was only a sensation of pleasant
warmth that filled him when their skin met.

Her eyes opened momentarily, the gratitude banked in their
depths, stunning Lucian. “Thank you,” she whispered before her eyes
closed and her mind slipped away from the realities of the
world.

Her body fell forward, sagging weakly against Lucian’s chest.
She felt warm against him, residual heat pouring from her soft skin
as he stood, lifting her into his arms.

“
Lord Lucian,” Russell began, moving to stand beside him.
“Isn’t this the woman from the other night?”

He looked over her lightly freckled face, a small smile
momentarily softening his hard features. “Yes, she is.”

“
Who is she?”

“
Would you believe me,” he chuckled, surprising all those
around him. Lucian rarely laughed but now the joyous sound was
flowing easily from his lips. “Would you believe me if I told you I
didn’t know?”

Russell cocked an eyebrow in disbelief, noting the careful
way Lucian was cradling her body and remembering the hours he’d
spent watching over her prone form even as the sunrise had crept
ever closer. It was impossible for Lucian not to know her.
Unless…
He gasped,
understanding quickly dawning. Lucian might not know her but he
knew she was his.

“
She’s your –”

“
Don’t say it,” Lucian hissed coldly, his dark eyes flashed an
angry red and Russell’s mouth closed with a resounding snap.
Satisfied, Lucian pulled her closer, smiling faintly as she reached
instinctively for him, her slender arms wrapping around his neck.
“We’re done here,” he commanded.

His bride safe in his arms, Lucian stepped forward trying to
reach the exit. The night was still young with ample opportunity
for him to find the Malachites and deal with them appropriately but
he needed to get her somewhere safe first. A strong hand wrapped
itself around his ankle and he looked down to see a woman, Abi, if
his bride was correct, trying to stop him from leaving.