“A baby? With you?” Flame was incredulous.
“You say that like it would be a bad thing.”
“Ya think? I can’t have your baby; I can’t raise a child of an element. I didn’t know an element had kids.”
“An element is constantly creating.”
“Yes, storms and floods and disaster.”
“Elements aren’t only destructive.” He sounded a bit hurt.
“But a child of yours would be half-element half-human.”
“I’m afraid not,” Ignis said. “Humans would call the effect the dominant gene. Such as eye color or hair color—my element is stronger than an entity. The child wouldn’t be half—he or she would be a full element. He or she would bring a new type of element into our midst.”
“Fire?”
“Of course, fire. Like his or her father, but there would be more to the child than just fire. The child would need to be watched closely, a young element can be somewhat dangerous.”
“Why did the movie
Fire Starter
by Stephen King just pop into my head,” she grumbled.
“Your child could never harm you, even if there is subtle change, I am more powerful. Nor could the authorities ever touch a child of ours, not only I would never allow that, but my mother is somewhat unpredictable when annoyed.”
“No, the baby couldn’t hurt me at all; I would enjoy being burnt to a crisp the first time she burped.” She could see her sarcasm was lost on him.
The pond came into view and Flame stood looking at the green, brackish-looking water. Ignis encouraged her further. Once submerged to her knees, she washed the lava from her body. The liquid sizzled when it hit the surface, making ripples; the hard pebbles that formed sank to the bottom of the pond. Flame scooped larger amounts and splashed between her legs until the hissing stopped. Bending double she checked herself out. She still looked normal down there. She continued to examine herself until she noted the pond scum moving eerily towards her. Flame straightened, took a small step then came to a standstill as an anaconda slid near her. The massive creature stared vacantly up at her with soulless eyes as Flame backed up onto the pond edge. The massive snake was poised to strike, and Flame was amazed Ignis stood staring smugly at her without interfering.
“Fire?” she whispered in fear.
Flame screamed when the snake pounced. Half of its body was incinerated by a wall of fire suddenly burning brightly all around her. Flame blinked hard and turned slowly as she gazed at the solid mass of death hissing and flickering, surrounding her. The fire danced in oranges, reds and blues, a foot over her head, swirling around her, enclosing her like a safe box. It crackled, the sounds suspiciously smug. She could almost feel the menacing undertone, life-like in its fiery fury. The remains of the charred body of the snake rolled and spun in a death dance, the smell was hideous.
Ignis walked through the burning wall and stood grinning before her. “You have been claimed by fire, nothing can harm you—I forbid it.”
“A fire force field?”
“Yes, this cocoon of flame will rise anytime you are in danger. It can’t be penetrated, except by me.”
“How do I get out?” Flame asked as she took in her protection from every angle. As she moved the fire moved with her. Flames danced around her calves, she couldn’t see her feet through the fiery mass. The sound emanating from all around her was a roaring growl of fury.
“It will lower when the danger has passed,” Ignis said. The body of the snake stopped twitching. As Flame watched, the cloak of fire disappeared; the ground around her feet was ash.
“I flow through you, the fiery lava proves it. I warned you that I would claim every inch of you. We belong together; I can feel if you’re distressed. No matter where you are, that cloak of scorching protection will ignite if you are ever in danger.”
“Great,” Flame grouched. “What about my co-workers?”
“As long as they don’t try to hurt you, they will be fine.”
“I need to go home, Fire. I need to get back to work and locate Melinda Barkley. Can you at least tell me if she and her kids are still safe?”
“They are being well cared for.”
“If you would just tell me…”
“I’ll show you.”
Ignis scooped Flame up into his arms and took to the sky on a blast of light. Within mere moments, he set her down behind a tree that split in half with the impact of the lightning bolt as the two dimensions collided to give entry. Flame looked about, it was eerie, the flash of lightning looked frozen on the tree, as though time stood still. Tendrils of smoke sat suspended, unmoving. A limb on the verge of collapse hung, floating. The air was thick, as though there was no movement to it. Not one animal sound could be heard. Fire gripped her arm and dragged her away from the curious site. As they moved, the vegetation beneath their feet made no sound.
They walked through the dense forest until hiding behind a massive oak, where she heard children’s laughter coming from before her. Dismayed, Flame realized she couldn’t show herself—she was still nude. Her arms pressed to her breasts and Ignis chuckled.
“You’re not in their dimension; they can’t see us. I have opened no portal; the dimensions co-exist.”
Flame frowned, she blinked hard when her hand lifted to touch the tree before her and it went through it. She didn’t exist in their dimension; it was akin to watching a 3-D movie. Flame watched as the Barkleys’ nine-year-old son, JJ—James Junior—picked up sticks until his arms were loaded and headed inside a small cabin where she could see smoke swirling from the chimney. The two younger children, Lisa and the toddler Dominic, were trailing their mother in a garden bursting with fruits and vegetables.
“You did this,” Flame said in awe. It looked like the Garden of Eden might have.
“I had help. Now trust me, she and her young ones are safe. You find their bastard father—then let
me
deal with him.”
“I can do my job; I’ll deal with the prick,” Flame complained. “Don’t get all primal on me.”
Fire gripped her chin, his look was dead serious; his eyes were alive with sizzling flames. “There is no element more primal than
Fire
.”
Chapter 6
“Are you feeling better?”
“Hmm, let’s see,” Ray said looking sarcastically serious; it had been a week since he had been at work and only just returned. His face was a little more pale than usual and he looked like he had lost a couple of pounds. “We know the Barkley home was set on fire, we know the bastard father did it, we know why he did it, and I’m sure we can prove he did it. The problem: he’s surrounded by lawyers wherever he is, he’s worth billions—and he’s suing for custody of his kids because his terrified wife has disappeared with them and he’s howling foul.
“By the time we do prove his guilt, Melinda Barkley may have been found—incarcerated for child abduction and James Barkley will be half way around the world and untouchable.”
“Now
I
feel sick,” Flame muttered, when she had only wanted to know if he was over the flu.
“Our hopes are fading. We need to get Barkley before the wife will turn up. He’s slick but we managed to trace one text message from him to his wife before the fire. It sounds like a death threat. Melinda Barkley will be the only credible witness. Even if the nine year old testifies against his dad, the lawyers will scream coercion on mom’s part. They’d tear the poor boy a new set on the stand. If dear old dad gets hold of his kids, who knows what hell he’ll put them through. They’ll be too terrified to say anything. Can you imagine growing up like that? In a house of horrors.”
“The text was a lucky break. If I can get the right judge for a warrant…. If you were a billionaire in hiding where would you go?”
“Yacht, definitely head for the open seas, international waters, where I’d be untouchable.”
“I think I can get my hands on a private yacht,” Flame said.
“The man is dangerous,” Ray said in warning.
“So am I,” Flame replied.
“It will be tricky getting close to him.”
“There has to be some way. First let me get my hands on the yacht; I’m certain we can come up with a viable plan.”
Cell phone in hand, she began to call in a favor.
* * * *
Flame had just zipped her luggage; she gripped the handle, turned and face planted into Ignis’ chest. Ignis reached to steady her, but her bag toppled to the floor. Ignis lifted it and held it up.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
“My friend’s boat leaves in an hour. We’re not positive, but we have a lead on Barkley’s yacht. I need to move on this fast.”
Flame reached for her luggage, but Ignis refused to part with it.
“You
think
you found Barkley.”
“Not exactly.”
“How much not exactly is not exactly?”
“Fire, I don’t have time for games. Now hand me my bag and let me do my work.”
Flame squealed when her luggage burst into a million sizzling embers.
“I cannot go on the water; there is very little fire aboard a sea-faring vessel. You will remain on dry land where I can keep a close eye on you.”
“I have the firewall for protection,” she reminded him.
“And when you incinerate the vessel, you’ll find yourself floundering in water. Even the firewall can’t burn surrounded by ocean. I won’t chance you getting hurt.”
“That can’t be helped. And I’ll be fine. From your look, I’m guessing my great wall of protection will weigh the pros and cons of me bursting into flames.”
“If you go aboard the yacht and someone shoots at you, the wall will go up; unfortunately, the vessel will burn and once you hit the water the flames will be doused. I’ve warned you, a controlling alpha element can’t be everywhere at once. Nimbus does not spend every moment in one ocean or rain cloud.”
“Then let’s hope no one shoots at me,” she said and sighed.
Flame scooted around him. Fire followed her down the stairs; she knew he was fuming—she smelled it. When she turned to confront him at the front door she once more banged her nose into his hard unclad chest.
“If Barkley is on the water, I will ask Nimbus to search for him,” Fire said.
“This is my job,” she said through clenched teeth. “And what will Nimbus do? He can’t bring him in with cuffs on. I had to jump through hoops to obtain a warrant for Barkley’s arrest.”
“Where’s the warrant?”
“Oh no you don’t. I can’t have that going up in flames.”
“My brother can sink the craft.”
“No one would like to see the murdering bastard drown more than me. But I’m not a killer—you will not be my assassin. Barkley isn’t the only one on board.”
“You said the yacht leaves in one hour. Give me one hour. When Nimbus finds him you can get an escort.”
“Fine. Your brother has the time it takes for me to get to the boat.”
Fire disappeared up the chimney. Flame left. It didn’t take her long to drive to the harbor where the yacht was waiting. Ray was already on deck, a smile of relief lit his face.
“You travel light,” he mentioned.
“I do today,” she grumbled.
“I got here early figuring I’d need to make at least a dozen trips back and forth to your car,” he joked.
“Hopefully this won’t take too long. The longer Melinda Barkley stays in hiding with those kids, the harder it’s going to get,” Flame said.
Her hands clutched the rail for balance as the vessel moved from the dock and headed for open water. The waves were choppy and for a second her tummy rolled. No doubt Nimbus was spurred into action and the ocean was awash with his flurry of energy.
Flame smiled as her friend Samuel came over to stand with them. “I know it’s a bit choppy but no word of a lie; it just started a little while ago. I swear it’s like the ocean was just given a secret and is literally rolling with it.”
“Interesting analogy, Sam,” Flame muttered somewhat under her breath.
“So, what’s the plan?” Ray asked.
“As you both know, an arrest in international waters is tricky business,” Sam said. “I do have a suggestion, but it’s a bit dangerous.”
“What do you have in mind?” Ray said.
“We have the general location of Barkley’s yacht, even that bastard can’t see into planes. If we put Flame in a raft, monitor it closely from a safe distance, we may get lucky and have him pick her up. I doubt Barkley would leave a stranded beautiful woman alone in the ocean. Someone under his complete control would be too tempting to pass up.”
“And you can bet the bastard will expect her to be grateful,” Ray said, his tone was a storm of emotion.
“Well, we can’t go in with a war vessel, and you can bet Barkley has plans to make off to Argentina the second he has his kids,” Sam said.
“Is the coast guard on stand-by?” Flame asked.
“They are, but won’t move in until we get him out of international waters,” Sam said. “Planting you is stretching it, and I’m sure his lawyers will be looking for loopholes, howling foul, but hell, like Vegas—what happens in international waters, stays in international waters.”