“As long as I’m on the vessel, I can do some damage, incapacitate it, make certain it needs to be towed to shore. Once he nears or hits land we have him, and you can call the coast guard to take him in. I’ll disable their communication so they can’t radio for another of Barkley’s vessels. Just keep it monitored and wait until it looks dead in the ocean. Maybe I can damage it enough so it will take on water,” Flame said.
“I don’t think I like this idea much,” Ray grumbled.
Flame didn’t like the idea any more than Ray, but this was their best plan and the easiest way to keep an eye on Barkley. Sam lit up a smoke and for a second, Flame caught sight of Fire’s furious expression in the lighter. The lighter was snapped shut and Flame breathed a sigh of relief. But at that moment the deck under her feet was pitched sideways by a large wave. They all gripped the rail to keep from stumbling.
“Where the hell did that come from?” Sam shouted.
Flame knew. It was Nimbus giving her a message from Ignis; he was pissed she hadn’t waited. She wasn’t worried; Flame knew Fire’s brother would watch her if she was set adrift on a raft. She just had to convince Fire she would be fine. Flame knew it wouldn’t be an easy task.
Later that night, in her cabin, Flame took some pieces of crumpled paper and set them to burn in a cigarette holder. Fire appeared instantaneously, his face a mask of fury. He couldn’t board the boat with so little fire, but she definitely heard his annoyance as his voice thundered in disapproval.
“I have a mind to send you back in a storm that will rock your insides,” he bellowed.
“Keep it down,” she scolded. “This is my job. I need to get Barkley before he finds his wife and kids. I know once he’s in custody his wife will come out of hiding to testify against the allegations of death threats.”
“Nimbus can board Barkley’s boat with the portal of a wave.”
“Barkley can’t be arrested by an element. I have the warrant.”
“He can drown the bastard.”
“No, Fire. This is my job.”
“You need to return to dry land.”
“I don’t understand why you can’t just board the vessel, if you’re so worried, and agree to stay out of my way.”
“I need a portal of fire, without one it’s trickier. To open a dimension that borders both worlds I need a major disruption. Your fireplace holds a fire large enough that can take me anywhere there will be certain flames; I can travel on lightning but I’m guessing you wouldn’t want a bolt to hit the vessel. There are those of my brothers who work better together. The sky, as I mentioned, has lightning; my brother, Fulgor, when the lightning strikes, he can open me a portal and the volcano is well—a volcano. You are on water, Nimbus’s domain. Each element is sacred, we must not interfere; we may ask, but ultimately this is water. Nimbus cannot open me a portal, nor can I open one for him. Ventus can lend a hand because he may push vessels through the water with wind. As long as it remains above the water. I have asked my brother’s help to keep an eye on you.”
“But what about Melinda Barkley and her children?”
“Fumus is watching them.”
“Fumus?” To say she was skeptical would be putting it mildly.
“Fumus is an element and is very eager to please our mother at this time. You are in more danger than the Barkley woman.”
“Ignis, I can take care of myself. Plus, I thought not all of you got along.”
“We coexist. To coexist we must respect each other’s element, it is necessary. Mother incorporated the law because when we fight there is an ice age. The first occurred as children—the damage was horrific and Terra suffered the most; I will not hurt my brother again. He loved the dinosaurs, and it was millions of years before Mother allowed us humans. Again we fought, but the damage wasn’t near as bad because most of the brothers matured before too much damage was done. Humans adapted. And as annoying as they are, we are all fond of them. Some more than others.
“I am the oldest and most powerful, but Mother Nature tempered us all with some humility. Water can put fire out, yet I can boil water. To mix us will cause smoke and trust me—you do not want Fumus here, he is better on land where our mother can keep an eye on him. I don’t have time to put up with him.”
“Why don’t you and Nimbus get along?” Flame asked as she placed more paper on the fire.
“We get along fine, but in our early years we were all headstrong. I would make fire and Nimbus would douse me. I would scald the water, boil the fish with volcanic eruption and infuriate Nimbus. We couldn’t find a way to work together and so our annoyance turned to tolerance and our tolerance turned to acceptance. When we fight, things die. If we were to fight all the time, everything would die.”
“Fire, I need to get aboard Barkley’s vessel. This is important to me. You are always asking that I trust you, now it’s your turn to trust me. I’ve made love in a volcano; this should be a walk in the park.”
She could hear him grumbling from the ashtray that she was important to him. “I have no way to protect you or come to you without causing the destruction of everyone else on board. You know what will happen if I feel you are in danger—consider yourself warned.”
His words made her shudder, Flame had no doubt he would sacrifice any and all for her. “Will Nimbus help?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you so worried?”
“You are mine to protect.”
“Part of protecting someone is knowing when someone else can do a better job…for the moment.”
“Nimbus will take your raft safely to Barkley, but make no mistake, any threat to you and I will incinerate the vessel. Once you reach dry land, the bastard is mine.”
“But, Fire…”
The contents of the ashtray burnt out on a popping sizzle and poof. He was gone. Flame felt a shiver run up her spine. There was no doubt her element was deadly when pissed; for Barkley’s sake, he had better behave. She jumped when water splashed against the porthole, then again when a gust of wind ruffled her hair. Nimbus and Ventus were making their presences known. Flame had the strangest sensation engulf her and she gasped for air. Another was also keeping a close watch, something so powerful it gave her goose bumps. Either Father Universe or Mother Nature was there for a split second—no doubt checking up on their sons and the turbulent emotions that electrified the air.
Flame curled up under her blankets. She had an odd thought. If Fire grew desperate, he would send a lightning bolt from Fulgor to open a portal. Or he would appear in a fireball. The boat would burn and Fire would end up in the ocean with her. She knew he wouldn’t die; Nimbus would escort him to Terra where another blaze would be started with Ventus aiding. Since she was Fire’s lover, she knew the other elements would keep her safe. But there were others aboard the yacht, Ray and Sam on this one, and though Barkley was a waste of skin, Flame was no murderer.
Flame tucked her arms beneath her head and stared at the ceiling. She was a ticking time bomb. Flame had no control over when or where her firewall would activate. Internally, she damned herself for not even experimenting to see if there was any way she could control the intensity. And what would happen if—God forbid—she did find herself in danger and Ray and Sam were privy to the outcome. They’d either think they had gone nuts or think she was a freak. Was she a freak?
The idea was thought provoking. Maybe not a freak, but a force to be reckoned with.
Damn
. Flame had always taken care of her own troubles. Or had she? Flame had turned a blind eye when an arsonist turned up burned by ‘accident.’ In her heart, she knew Ignis was responsible for fire. Oh, perhaps there were times when an arsonist got careless, but Flame wondered if their carelessness was spurred on.
Sighing, Flame rolled over. Human laws couldn’t incarcerate an element. If that were so, tornados would be prosecuted for first degree murder, willful planned destruction. How would you jail a tsunami? An avalanche? Why not lock up a blizzard?
Flame sighed; her pondering would get her nowhere. It was apparent at an early age Flame’s ability to see the elements in human form was a rarity. Only Mother Nature and Father Universe governed their sons. The only reason Fire hadn’t already burned the vessel and taken her home was because he respected her love of her race—humans.
How long would Fire keep that respect?
Chapter 7
Flame was settled into the large raft. Ray was giving her last moment reminders of her duties, but it was hard to concentrate on what he was saying when every so often Sam’s cigarette would catch the breeze and flicker to life—offering a narrow-eyed, disapproving glimpse of Fire. Flame was feeling lucky the small ashy blaze wasn’t a big enough portal; she had no doubt Fire would climb through it and scare the shit out of everyone on the yacht.
“The gun is small, but it’ll stop someone in their tracks if you know just where to hit,” Sam was saying when he handed her a small black gun in a sealed water bag. She was able to stick the weapon in her sock under her pants; she grimaced knowing once the vessel was in sight that small weapon would have to be settled between her ass cheeks. Once she boarded Barkley’s vessel and made her way to a washroom, she would remove it from its protective covering.
“Got the warrant?” Ray asked.
“Of course, the second we hit land or the coast guard moves in, I’ll slap the bastard in the face with it,” Flame replied.
“Where is it?” Sam asked and gave her a once over.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” was her saucy taunt. Again, Sam’s cigarette blazed and she could see Fire waving a naughty finger at her.
Flame adjusted her bra, surprised neither man seemed to notice her bust line had grown a half size. The warrant had replaced the padding, it was a bit difficult to mold to her breasts and if Barkley caught her off guard and squeezed a tit she might crackle—or he might get a paper cut. Her t-shirt wasn’t skin tight but exposed a nice view of her tummy in a teasing fashion. Her tan-colored pants weren’t quite bell bottoms and fairly loose, but she needed to hide the weapon.
“Now remember, we’ll be tracking you; the device is in one of your ration packets. Make sure you cling to the rations once you board; they’ll think it’s just trauma. Do not lose it,” Ray warned.
“Something tells me you won’t lose me even if I do lose the device,” Flame said as Sam’s cigarette flickered.
The vessel was aimed in the direction of Barkley’s yacht. With the help of a plane, the yacht was spotted six miles off the starboard side. The wind was against them and yet the vessel had no problem veering in the right direction. Sam had marveled over the fact, but Flame had shrugged. The second she was pushed away from the vessel she too was headed towards the Barkley yacht with the wind in her face, without the aid of a paddle. Something told her she would make it within range in a short time. Fire couldn’t burst onto a raft; Flame knew he would be anxiously spurring his brother Ventus on.
Ray and Sam were waving at her as she slipped away. Once they were no more than ants in the distance, she pulled out a lighter and flicked it open. Fire appeared in the tiny blaze and with Ventus’ help the flame grew larger. Fire was definitely disapproving.
“There is still time to turn back,” Fire said.
“You know I can’t do that.”
“I can have my brothers steer this hunk of rubber to the nearest island where I can appear in a heartbeat and take you home to your fireplace.”
“And ruin my first sea experience,” she replied cheekily.
“Flame,” he warned.
“Let me try it my way, I’ll be on the yacht shortly,” she said in a reasonable tone. “At any time, you can burst onto the scene—literally, and save me.”
“If anyone so much as touches you…”
“You will obliterate them into the universe where they will spend eternity tormented and tortured.”
“Hmmm, I was going to say burn them to ashes, but I much prefer your thinking.”
“Just give me a few days; if you need to, you can explode onto the scene.”
“Get what you need to get done, Flame. Get it done fast.”
Flame closed the lighter. But not before a gust of wind hit her and she was forced to inhale the burning tendrils. She gasped for a second, invaded by Fire that slid down her nasal passages into her throat searing her to her core. There was no pain, just a deep sense of being claimed. Fire was inside of her. She felt the heat between her legs and Flame shuddered, wondering what just happened.
A wave splashed, soaking her and she gasped anew. A puddle of ocean water pooled near her feet and Flame scooted onto her hands and knees staring. She made out the shimmering image of a handsome man. She cocked her head to the side.
“Nimbus?” She had felt his presence in the rain forest but hadn’t caught a glimpse.
Ironic,
she thought,
he really is a tall glass of gorgeous water.
Ocean blue eyes gazed at her with intensity, his blue-black hair glimmered. Flame was mesmerized; she could only imagine the brilliance of all nine brothers in a room together. They would be stunning.
“Fire wants to give you a message,” Nimbus said. “There is one way he can eliminate your fear.”
“I’m not afraid.”
He gave her a cheeky smile. “
His
apprehension then. If any man on that vessel tries in any way to force you into sex—his cock will burn off the second he tries to plunge it into your heat, or should I say your volcano tempest.”