Of Flame and Promise (4 page)

“All right, I get it.” I gathered the collar of my coat around me when another gust of wind blew through the pines. I did sort of understand where the blood squad was coming from, and if I were one of them, maybe I wouldn’t have been as skeeved. But I’m not a vamp, so yeah, I was pretty creeped out. “Seems like a real cozy place to live, Ceel.”

Celia stared ahead, offering me a weak smile. “It’s not usually this violent. The vampires feed away from me, and Misha’s family is so devoted to him, he rarely needs to enforce the rules.” She prowled ahead. “But like I said, thanks to the war, nothing’s like it once was. It’s just what it needs to be.”

As the trees thinned, I caught sight of the guesthouse and the sprawling view of Tahoe. “Home sweet home, then?”

She didn’t bother to smile when she answered. “Misha has gone out of his way to make me feel welcome, yet despite his kindness and good intentions, this will never be my home.”

“Then why do you stay?” I asked.

“Because for good or for bad it’s my new life, and one I willingly chose. I know it’s hard for you to understand,” she added when she caught my frown. “But I’m trying to embrace it for all the good I can do, and see it as a gift to help others.”

Celia meant what she said, yet the sadness in her voice was as palpable as the snow the wind brushed from overhanging pine branches. Regardless of her intentions, we both knew if Aric hadn’t left her, no way would she be here with Misha.

“I wish things could be different,” I told her. I meant that. I was close to all my sisters, but Celia was my best friend. Nothing was the same since she’d moved out. It was as if there was a piece of me missing. But damn, I still had Shayna and Emme. Celia had Agnes Concepción, Edith Anne, Liz, and Maria—the vamps who dressed like naughty schoolgirls and rarely wore panties.

She pushed open the door to the guesthouse and stepped through.

I quirked a brow. “You don’t lock your door?”

My comment made her laugh. “I have vamps capable of filleting beings with their fangs guarding the grounds. Trust me, they’re more effective than a deadbolt.” She kicked her old canvas sneakers off while I stomped my leather boots clean. Celia’s inner kitty made her metabolism ridiculously fast and kept her warm despite the frigid temperature. But even she had her limits. For crying out loud, she was only wearing a tank top.

She crossed the kitchen and into the small family room, slumping onto the couch perched directly in front of the fireplace. I placed my coat on a hook by the door and sat beside her. “So,” she said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

I didn’t realize how upset I was until I spit the words out. “Gem and I had a fight.”

She pulled out the hair band that was barely containing her long curls. They spilled over her shoulders in a cascade of loose ringlets. “About what?”

“Well, he’s hurt that I still don’t want him to claim me and upset because I don’t want to meet his parents.”

“He wants to introduce you to his parents?”

“Yeah. He does,” I admitted quietly. I lifted my head to find Celia staring back at me like I was too stupid to breathe. “What?”

She crossed her arms. “Is this the part where you expect me to feel sorry for you?”

Usually I was the pissy one, so her reaction rekindled my anger. “What’s your problem?”

Angry tears brimmed in her eyes. “No, Taran. What’s
your
problem? Jeez, you can be so completely selfish. Here you sit, all upset because the guy who’s madly in love with you—who treats you like angels dropped you in his arms—wants to commit to you forever.”

“Celia—”

She pointed at me. “And not only that, but he’s so proud to have you as his partner, he wants to show you off to his family.”

“But—”

She stood then. “Do you know that I would do anything to have what you have? Do you know you’re living my ultimate fantasy, but are too dense to appreciate it?”

My jaw dropped. I should have talked to Shayna and Emme rather than dumping this on Celia’s lap. Although it was close to Thanksgiving, and Aric had cut her loose almost three months ago, the pain was as raw as the day he told her goodbye. She was right. I was pretty selfish.

“Sorry,” I said, my voice cracking.

She gathered her long mane, holding it back and appearing to think things through. “I’m sorry, too. It’s hard for me to be objective. And I shouldn’t be shoving my problems onto you.” She dropped her hands and lowered herself beside me. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t care, or that your situation is any less important.”

I stared out the large picture window. Small flakes floated gently from the graying skies only to spin in the passing breeze. “It’s not that I don’t love Gemini, or that he’s not the best thing to ever walk into my life. It’s just that…” I couldn’t finish my thought. By that point, I was simply too embarrassed. Compared to what Celia was going through, my issues seemed so stupid.

“It’s just what?” Celia asked. Her husky voice had softened. She didn’t like fighting with me, either.

I gnawed on my bottom lip. “I don’t want to get hurt,” I blurted. “You know that this thing with him could crush me if it becomes too serious and it doesn’t work out.”

Her full lips formed a thin line. She knew what I meant because things hadn’t worked out with Aric the way she’s hoped. “It’s already serious, Taran.”

“Not as much as it could be,” I admitted. “I haven’t let him in all the way. My past—our past—I…The walls are up, and I prefer them that way.” I didn’t look at her as I continued. “You told Aric
everything
—what you went through—what it did to you. He saw how it affected you, and he knew what it must have taken for you to let him in.” I stopped right there because I knew I’d said too much.

“And he still walked away,” she finished for me.

I glanced up in time to see her heart breaking. She may have been facing me, but the distance in her expression told me she was remembering. “Yeah,” I said.

“So if you give yourself completely to him, it would hurt that much more if he left you.”

I nodded because that was all I could do then, considering the agony in her voice. “What if he doesn’t leave you?” she asked. “What if this is forever and you’re giving up the opportunity to be happy?”

“Ceel, if life has taught me anything, it’s that happiness can be ripped away in a second. Pain is raw, real, and can last forever.”

Shayna would have argued that happiness could last forever, too. But this was Celia. What happiness she’d managed was stolen from her even though she didn’t deserve the loss. For a moment, we waited in silence, the crackling flames from the fire the only sound.

When she finally spoke, she managed a small smile. “Is there someone else?”

I tilted my head, surprised she’d even ask. “Of course not.”

Her widening smile made it clear she was trying to make a point. “Do you want there to be?”

“No.”

She hugged her knees and rested her chin against them. “Then let me ask you again: What’s your problem? I get that you don’t want to get hurt. I get that you’re scared. But you have to give me a little more than that.”

“I’m not ready for marriage,” I added truthfully. My eyes stung when I caught the hurt that erased her smile. Maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did, but I couldn’t help it. “The claim, the bond it creates, in the end, it won’t mean anything if he leaves me.”

“Maybe not,” she said slowly. “But I think you owe yourself, and him, that chance.”

I locked stares with her. “This could end really badly, couldn’t it?”

She bowed her head, taking a moment to gather herself. “It could, but maybe in your case it won’t.”

I swore and rubbed my eyes. “I wish I could go through with this claim, Ceel, but I’m afraid I can’t.”

“Then don’t, Taran. If it feels this wrong, you’re clearly not ready.”

It did feel wrong, and scary, and—yeah,
scary
. “The thing is, I don’t think I’ll ever be ready,” I admitted.

She tilted her head as she considered me. “Maybe. Maybe not,” she said. “But I hope so, because I think a lot of good can come from it.” She leaned in closer. “The one thing I’m sure of is that if that moment comes, you’re going to know it, and you’re going to own it.”

“But if it doesn’t come, where will that leave me and my wolf?”

“Still in love,” she said, her resolve seconds from crumbling. She swiveled in the direction of the fireplace, watching the flames dance in the hearth. “Claim or not, your love will remain.”

“I’m not so sure Gemini would agree.”

She faced me then. “Taran, despite Gem’s frustrations and the needs of his beasts, he would never force you to do anything.” She watched me for a beat. “But at the very least, meet him halfway and allow him the honor of introducing you to his parents. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Maybe she was right. Relationships were all about give and take. So that meant maybe I needed to give, at least when it came to his folks. I sighed. “Can I ask you something that will likely skewer your heart and roast it over the fiery pits of hell?”

She laughed despite herself. “After that setup, sure, why not?”

“If you could go back to the night Aric claimed you, would you change anything?”
Like kick him in the balls when he tried?

Celia’s devastated expression met mine, but she managed a small smile. “Not a damn thing,” she said.

Celia and I talked over lunch. Although she’d likely eaten a full meal with Misha, my girl knew how to put it away. Most of our conversation turned to small talk, but it was the advice she gave me that I clung to. She wanted me to meet Gemini’s parents. That much was clear. As I thought about how she looked in my rearview mirror as I pulled out of vamp camp, so physically strong but so emotionally shattered, I thought maybe girlfriend was kind of a masochist.

Loved sucked bear balls.

And Liam probably ate them.

Instead of heading back to Dollar Point, I cut left and toward the mountain. I needed to see Gemini and simply tell him I would…be honored— No, not
honored.
That I would
love
— Great, there was that word again. That I’d meet his folks. There. That was all I had to say.

Now, if only God could kill me before I actually had to say it.

My loyal Subaru trekked up the winding mountain path until I reached the Den gates. This was the only way in, at least for me. The hundred-plus acres encompassing the property were surrounded by high walls and guarded more heavily than Misha’s pad. I was allowed through without incident, but was then forced to flip off the
were
guard when he muttered something to his buddy about me being “the vamp tramp’s sister.”

With a poof of blue and white, I waved my flaming finger as I drove off. “Eat fleas and die, Marmaduke!” I yelled. Was it the classiest thing I could have done? Probably not. But like I mentioned, don’t mess with my family.

The thick pines cleared and sprawling grounds capped with miles of white greeted me as I made my way to the rows of three-story lodges divided by a main road. I didn’t like coming here. For the most part, the
were
students training to defend the earth, and those seeking asylum from the war, regarded Celia as some kind of evil slut trying to seduce their revered pureblood. My sisters and I were “welcomed” only because Koda, Liam, and Gemini weren’t pure. Each had a human parent, whereas Aric had descended from a line of
were-
only blood.

Barbara, Aric’s fiancée, was one of the last few pures left. Barbara rubbed this in our faces. Barbara used her status to her advantage. Barbara was a douchebag from the planet Bitch.

I rolled to a stop in front of the main building in time to see the local coven of witches hurry down the steps, the cloaks covering their medieval gowns fluttering around their ankles as they shuffled past me. The meeting between the
weres
and the witches must have just finished.

Oh, goody. Our first interaction with the coven hadn’t been friendly and ended with lots of bloodshed and the destruction of a dance club. The dance club was a total accident; the bloodshed wasn’t. It was safe to say the broom humpers didn’t like us. It was also safe to say that I didn’t care.

I strolled past them and up the stacked stone steps. “Waddup, peeps?”

Most paused and exchanged glances. A few actually scowled. Although I could stir flame and lightning, they would never consider me to be a true witch. Witches used talismans, staffs, or some other tacky costume jewelry to amplify whatever magic they were born with. They also relied on chants and words of power. I gathered my magic from the environment around me, by absorbing it like a sponge through my core. Many a wicked witch considered it “stealing” from the earth. Truthfully, I didn’t know how I did it, but I definitely wouldn’t have called it
stealing.
Maybe
borrowing
was a better word. Besides, I didn’t keep it. When I was done, I simply released my magic back into the world.

I crossed into the foyer only to have another witch stomp in front of me, glaring and blocking my path. Her blatant animosity sparked a warning and stirred my magic. “Problem?” I asked her, smiling.

“I’m Genevieve’s second,” she said, like it was supposed to mean something.

“So?”

Oh, she didn’t like that. Nuh-uh. Not one bit. “So I suggest you show some respect, freak,” she said, inching closer. “No one likes you, or your pathetic excuse for magic. Watch yourself or you will feel the wrath of my might.”

“ ‘You will feel the wrath of my might’?” I repeated. “Are you
trying
to sound like Thor— No, no, let me guess.
Game of Thrones
fan, right?” I kept my smile despite her darkening expression and the rush of power snaking around her. She was trying to intimidate me. But the Four Horsemen would gallop over my cold dead corpse in parachute pants before I’d let her push me around.

“I’m supposed to cower, right?” I asked. “Bow at your feet and maybe borrow your broom to clean your room or something? Sweetheart, that’s so not going to happen. You don’t scare me, and neither do your sorority sisters.” My voice tightened. “You want my respect, you need to leave asshole status behind and earn it. And if you ever threaten me again, you’re the one who’ll learn what
real
power is.”

“Taran,” a deep, rough voice called out to me.

Aric abandoned the group of young
weres
he was speaking to and prowled forward. Despite the fact that he was a big boy and that my magic flared around
weres,
I hadn’t even noticed him. Too much mojo in the house, I supposed.

He stepped between us, taking in how the stupid ditz in front of me and I continued to watch each other. “Try it,” I told her, sensing her magic amplifying with her growing anger.

“Settle down,” Aric said, making it clear he didn’t want any trouble.

I cracked my knuckles and charged my fingertips with lightning, making it clear I wouldn’t back down if she started something. “You ain’t the boss of me,” I sang brightly.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, but then dropped his hand away and addressed Genevieve’s second. “The meeting’s over. Until next time?”

“You’re excusing this?” She motioned to me. “This disrespect?”

Aric didn’t flinch. “No. I’m ignoring the fact that you approached her unprovoked, and that you threatened her with harm.” Then something shifted in his gaze. “As I said, until next time.”

Aric had a way of growling without actually growling. The witch realized as much and stormed away. The remainder of the coven trailed behind her, not bothering to hide their frowns. “Don’t let the door hit your broom or your ass,” I called.

Aric crossed his arms. “Jesus, just let it go, Taran,” he non-growl growled.

Like Gemini, Aric was tall and muscular, but I couldn’t help noticing he had bulked up quite a bit since I’d last seen him. Still, that didn’t mean he looked good. Thick stubble blackened his jaw. He hadn’t bothered shaving, and dark circles shadowed his brown eyes. A heavy blue flannel shirt covered his chest, and wrinkled jeans ran the length of his legs. He’d thrown the clothes on without much thought or care to his appearance. That wasn’t like him. Well, at least when he was with Celia.

Being the sympathetic gal I was, I articulated my concern for his well-being. “Damn, Aric. You look like hell.”

He chuckled. “Thanks, Taran. Gem’s in my office, setting up the next meeting with Genevieve, the clan’s head witch.”

“Okay.” I turned on my heel to head down the hall, but then stopped. “What’s up with the dead bodies you found?”

He waited a beat, as if debating whether or not to tell me. “They were found devoured. Chunks of muscles ripped from their bodies in small bites—”

I held up my hand to stop him, and to keep the lunch Celia and I had shared down. “Got it, thanks.” Small bites could only mean one nasty thing. “Demon infants found those humans?”

“More likely Tribe
weres
or vamps found them, and offered them to the demons as food. In a way, it’s good news.”

Bile swirled in my belly and threatened to inch up my throat. “Tell me exactly how finding eaten and mutilated body parts is a glass-half-full kind of thing. You
weres
are a twisted bunch, you know that?” I brushed off the
weres
passing by, who snarled. “Oh, muzzle it—you furries know I’m right.”

Aric rubbed his jaw, trying to squelch his grin. He’d lived with us long enough to know I didn’t mean any harm. “The way I see it, to risk being discovered and venture out so close to Alliance territory means these Tribesmen are few, and desperate to keep their numbers,” he explained. “The bite marks had two distinct mouth shapes, which means only two demon children fed. That’s a lot better than the horde we faced a few weeks back.”

“The ones from your mission to Haiti?” I tightened my stance. “Or the ones who came after me and my sisters?”

Aric leaned back on his heels, his deep voice lowering further. “Both. But closer to the swarm that took Emme, Shayna, and Celia.”

The memory of that day enclosed the room around me all at once, leaving me feeling suffocated. I unbuttoned my coat and slipped it from my shoulders, seeking relief from the unease it stirred. Aric’s nostrils flared. As I carefully draped the heavy wool over my arm, I realized that after spending the last few hours with Celia, traces of her scent must have latched on to my clothes.

He closed his eyes and released a breath before opening them slowly. “How is she?” he asked. For an Alpha werewolf, he didn’t seem very dominant then. His stare softened to that of a tamed beast as he waited for my response.

Again, maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did. But I determined I just wasn’t good at keeping my mouth shut. “Considering how much she misses you, about as well as can be expected,” I told him honestly.

He squared his stance. “I miss her, too, Taran, every minute of the day. Don’t stand there assuming I don’t.”

I should have been more sensitive to his pain, but I could only sympathize with Celia. He did this to them, not her. “If you miss her so much, why don’t you call her? And maybe step up, grow some balls, and tell your Elders to kiss your ass and mine.”

Okay, maybe I could have been a little less harsh.

His expression wavered between fury and frustration. “Watch it, Taran.”

“It’s hard to watch what I say when I see my sister hurting as much as she is, Aric.” I gave him the once-over. “And truth be told, you don’t look any better.”

I closed the distance between us, whispering low. “Call her. Just pick up the phone and let her know you’re thinking of her.”

“I
can’t,
” he ground out. “The situation I’m in becomes more challenging if I see her or talk to her.”

“Or kiss her?” For all that Aric felt compelled to stay away from Celia and fulfill his pureblood duties, he and Ceel had made out like horny teens at Koda and Shayna’s wedding. And yeah, he’d instigated that one. “Aric,” I said quietly, unable to keep the bite from my tone, “she loves you. You can’t just let things end like this, especially when you’re both so miserable apart.”

“Taran, don’t you think I hate what I did to her, and what I did to us?” he growled. “It kills me to know how much I hurt her. If there were a way out, I’d take it. But there’s not. So I live with my choice and hope like hell one day she’ll forgive me, even though I don’t think I deserve it.”

He stomped away from me then. As furious as I was with Aric for hurting Celia, I wasn’t completely made of stone. In breaking her heart, it was clear he had shattered his own.

I groaned. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him to call her, knowing that if he did, it would affect them both. But there was a part of me that hoped they could somehow find a way back to each other. That wouldn’t happen if he kept his distance, though I was sure Celia would keep hers. No, for something to happen, Aric would have to be the one to come through.

I swept down the dark-paneled hall and toward Aric’s office in my quest to find Gemini, making enough noise between my swear words and stiletto stomps to wake the dead and probably most of China. Gem’s head lifted when I stormed in, his attention leaving the laptop perched in front of him. He sat behind Aric’s prim mahogany desk, surprising me with a warm smile. And although his alluring welcome heated me down to my toes, I couldn’t return it.

I ground to a halt. Head witch Genevieve was standing way too close to my wolf, the bodice of her crushed-velvet emerald gown threatening to choke the breasts hovering inches from Gem’s face. It was bad enough to find her standing so close. But her blatant flirting crossed a line.

She straightened at my arrival, albeit slowly, her fingertips leaving the strands of her ebony hair to brush against the large yellow stone anchored to her talisman.

If she meant it as a warning, she was threatening the wrong gal.

Gemini seemed oblivious to her advances, but I certainly wasn’t. My eyes remained trained on her sapphire irises even when Gem pushed away from the desk and walked around to greet me.

Her hair might have been as dark as mine, but she didn’t share my olive skin tone. Instead, ethereal fair skin covered her perfect heart-shaped face, contrasting boldly against her midnight brows and lashes. She wasn’t beautiful. Nope. Tahoe’s head witch was
gorgeous
.

Yet that didn’t make her less of an asshole.

Gem slowed his pace as my flames snapped, crackled, and popped above me. He glanced back over his shoulder. “This is Taran Wird,” he told her. “Taran, this is—”

“We’ve met,” we answered. Her tone was lovely. Mine bordered on deadly.

My wolf knew the story but skittered around it. “At another time and under different circumstances,” he said.

She abandoned her spot behind the desk, moving like silk as tendrils of bright yellow light swirled from her talisman to ribbon around her. “And under a different charge.” Despite her words and light tone, she was raring for a fight.

Well, so was I.

I rounded on her. “You may not have been behind my sister’s torture session, but you were part of the coven that was.”

“It’s a new coven, I assure you.”

I shook my head. “No…same balls, different prick.”

“Taran,” Gem warned.

Genevieve smiled. “Are you calling
me
a prick?”

I edged around Gem when he stepped in front of me. “Yup. And I’m calling you out for what your stupid friends did to my sister.”

Blue and white light crashed against yellow. The room rumbled. I don’t know what happened to Gemini; I only remember how heavy my legs felt as I forced my flaming body toward Genevieve. She squinted, trying to shield herself from the light, shoving her glowing body forward. I grunted as I felt my flames dwindle, calling them back, knowing she meant to silence me.