Fervor (The Fervor Chronicles Book 1) (15 page)

A horn sounded, and the women scattered, some moving forward, the others shimmering and fading, seeming to blend into the jungle. Had they become shadows? Caprice knew they were still there, yet couldn’t quite pinpoint their location.

The roar of a male’s voice boomed across the jungle, and Caprice’s heart sank. She knew what that sound meant.

The green-eyed warrior, who was obviously the leader, pointed at the redhead and said, “Watch her. And whatever you do—
don’t
touch her.”
She melted into the jungle, slowly morphing, taking on the characteristics of the dark bark and green trees.

She disappeared! Sort of. Right before Caprice’s eyes. The whole group of women was gone, leaving only herself and the half-naked Cameo. Squinting her eyes, Caprice tried to find the warriors. If she concentrated, she could just make out shapes. The women could be seen as they moved, but only if you knew where to look.

“Why can’t I touch you?” Cameo asked with an odd expression on her face, as if determining whether she should take the chance and try.

Time to take control of this situation. Wrapping the cold around her, feeling the ice creep into her heart, her lungs, she transformed into the Ice Princess she’d been trained to be her entire life. “Because I am Glissante, and if you do, you die.”

‡

G
one!
He felt
her absence in his bones.

He’d asked one thing of her, to stay put. He’d woken up … she was gone.
Gone
. It had taken hours to get the energy under control. He’d returned to the hut after discovering he could release the current into the air around him. Only collapsing next to Caprice when he knew he wouldn’t explode with tension.

Why the hells did she have to make everything so difficult? His worry ignited the power, a deep swirling ache that traveled down his chest, occasionally sparking from his fingers. His erection was rock hard and scraped against his pants, throbbing in anticipation. He needed release, an outlet. He needed Caprice.

He vented a small burst of energy, trying to maintain control on the power so he didn’t go blind. It was an experiment he’d repeated minute after minute the night before. He had to control himself, somehow harness this awesome power without losing his sight. One of the stone walls of the small structure, came crumbling down as he purged electricity.

Doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except finding Caprice.

Grasping the wooden frame of the door, he looked out and couldn’t find her anywhere.

She had run. From him.

He heard pounding footsteps through the brush, and high pitched bays. They were his only clue of an impending attack. Shuffling sounds, soft whispers and then a solid blow knocked him square in the chest. The force sent him reeling, but it wasn’t enough to knock him to the ground.

Where are they?
His eyesight hadn’t failed him, but he couldn’t make out his attackers. Strange shadows, camouflaged against the green-brown trees, shifted around him. He sensed them, but he couldn’t pinpoint an exact point of attack.

Straightening, he felt another blow, one on his back, the other against his knees. He came crashing to the ground, but righted himself immediately. He cracked his knuckles and waited, grim-faced. It looked like he was going to get the release he needed after all. A good fight would do just fine.

Arun cocked his head to the side and listened for the shuffling again, raised his hands and took aim. The energy burst from him, a living current, seeking its target. One lone scream pierced the air and then a thump; he heard several shouts and gasps. But the sounds made him hesitate, were they…? It couldn’t be. They had sounded high-pitched and feminine. Like women, but not Caprice—he’d heard the sound of her screams too many times to count.

“You will die for this, pig.” A harsh but very female voice uttered the oath.

“Face me!” He stopped himself from shouting for the princess, praying she had hidden herself before the attack. Just the thought of her ratcheted him up, and his palms filled with a white light.

Damn, damn, damn!
How was he supposed to fight women? He had all this power at the tip of his fingers, and he couldn’t use it. The sound of the woman’s scream still pierced his mind. He would
not
die this day, but if his opponents were women, neither would they. Unless they had his princess. “Are your men so weak they have women fighting their battles for them?” The shuffling continued, and he circled slowly, feeling them closing in, seeing shadows coalesce then retreat. How many were there?
Nine hells!

“You think we need pigs to fight our battles?” A harsh laugh followed the question. “You will go down like all the rest.”

A shadow blurred past, striking him in his stomach. He lumbered forward, but couldn’t get his arms around the women. One blow followed another, the last striking him in the face, over and over, rocking his jaw, smashing in his eye. He knew several ran by, punching then retreating, their speed so impossibly fast he may not have seen them even if they weren’t camouflaged.

He changed tactics. He held his arm out straight and felt the blow as the woman’s soft middle come into contact with his arm. Her body slumped then fell to the ground.

One down, how many to go?

Another jumped on his back, he felt the press of feminine softness against his hard skin. She wrapped her hands around his neck and cut off his air. Simultaneously, he felt blows against his knees and head. Energy surged and bled through his skin, shocking the woman, the smell of burnt flesh stinging his nose.
Not too much, not too much,
he chanted, trying to maintain control, trying to keep these damn violent women alive. Finally her grip loosened, and she fell to the ground. A scream of frustration now sounded from the distance.

“Lay another hand on me, and you’ll die,” he bellowed.

A soft gasp pricked his ears. Caprice! He knew it was her, felt it in his bones. The sound of her voice ratcheted up the
fervor
further, and nothing could stop him. Growling, the power undulating around him, coating his skin, he felt the hair on his head rise. He lifted his hands and blasted the energy into the air, high into the trees, his last hold on sanity preventing him from frying the women on the spot. Or more importantly, Caprice.

Must keep her safe. Must…

The energy moved out of him, exploding; he heard the sizzle of burning wood and the sound of a massive tree going over. More feminine screams, and then silence. “You will bring her to me
now,
or I will pick you off, one by one. I haven’t directed the energy toward you yet. If I don’t see her, you will die. Caprice!”

He was lost to the energy. But when he heard another small gasp—
Are they hurting her?—
his eyes blinked out.

Blind. Again.

‡

C
ameo narrowed her
eyes and placed her hands on her hips. “We wait here.”

“You may do whatever you like.” Caprice turned and ran, panic setting in. Where was he? What if the bloodthirsty women had killed him? Just the idea had the ice in her veins pumping. It wasn’t as strong as usual, the heat of her surroundings had depleted her strength, but it was still there. And she knew, in her heart of hearts, she would wrap her icy grip around anyone who harmed her Giant.

“Oh no. You heard The First Warrior. We’re supposed to stay here. Hey, wait!” Cameo ran, staying right behind Caprice. Every so often she’d reach forward as if to grab her and then pulled back her hand, remembering the leader’s warning.

“I have to see what’s happening.” Stones cut into her slippered feet, and leaves slapped against her face as she raced through the brush. Stopping, she gasped when a rush of white light shot into the sky, just beyond the small building where she’d stayed with her Giant.

“You care for this man?” The athletic woman kept pace but didn’t stop Caprice, apparently feeling comfortable enough to ask personal questions.

Yes.
“No. I-I don’t want to talk about it. It’s complicated.” The whole conversation seemed ridiculous. She’d never met anyone as strange as Cameo in her entire life. She obviously felt the need to chat with Caprice, even as they ran toward a battle.

“Why?”

“Just… because. Why do you hate men so much?” If Cameo could ask questions, why couldn’t Caprice? One particularly large leaf slapped Caprice in the face, and she fought to get through. She swore she heard a giggle coming from Cameo.

“I don’t
really
hate them. In fact, at night…Well, I wouldn’t mind cuddling up to one of the ‘big uglies.’ Of course, if you tell any of my sisters that, I will have to kill you. They say I’m too young to remember; I didn’t see the destruction they wrought.”

“Surely you can’t paint all men with the same brush?”

“Every man who has come through that portal has taken from us, stolen, even raped our women, our way of life. Over the years, our men were slaughtered defending us, and always by pigs who came through that portal—looking for
gods-know-what
. So yeah, I can pretty much safely say they are all bastards.” For once, the woman looked serious, the mischievous twinkle, gone.

“Then why do you dream of cuddling with one?”

“I thought maybe if I went through the portal, I could find one of the good ones. Anyway, don’t worry about my dreams. You need to ask yourself if you would die for this man, because when The First realizes you’re together, you’re a goner.”

“The First?”

“Our leader. The First Warrior. Stop changing the subject. We were talking about your man.”

“I never said we were together. What do you mean, when The First realizes we are together, he’
a goner?”

“History, finished, DONE! So choose what side you’re on now, because it looks like your man is about to go down.”

Rounding the bend, she saw her giant in the middle of a field. The lake had narrowed and become a meandering stream; he stood feet from the water. Flashes and blurs surrounded him.
Oh gods
. The women with shields slowly walked the perimeter while the faster ones blinked in and out, running toward the behemoth like streaks of light. Somehow they could blend in with their surrounding.

Her heart dropped when she heard him say, “You will bring her to me now or I will pick you off, one by one! I haven’t directed the energy toward you, yet. If I don’t see her, you will die.
Caprice!”

She went to rush toward him, but Caprice felt Cameo’s breath on her neck.

“Sorry, can’t let you go any further. I may not be able to touch you, but you’ve gotten a taste of my voice. If I wanted to, I could make you take a dagger to your own heart. Are you still so ready to rush to his side?”

The cold coalesced. Caprice paused, allowing the
freeze
to wrap around her. She believed the girl, realizing what a weapon Cameo had at her disposal. If she could direct her to harm herself, what of the giant?

He stood, chest heaving, blood dripping from the side of his head. How much more could he take? His eyes were pure white, and she understood at this point what that meant. He was full of energy, lightning,
power
—whatever it was called—and it was fighting to come out. These women didn’t know what they were up against. “Cameo, tell them to get back. You don’t understand, he’s trying to control that, that power but he doesn’t know how. He might not be able to stop. He could incinerate us all.”

“What is he?” She thought she heard a trace of awe in her tone. The woman’s eyes roamed his body, lingering as she glanced between his legs.

Curling her fists, Caprice fought the urge to slap the greedy look off the redhead’s face. “He is Fiera but something has afflicted him, he fights the
fervor…”

“The
fervor?
Oh, hot
hells,
I’ve heard about that. The First made sure we knew about all the strange maladies that befall the men of our planet. That way, we change our fighting style depending on the circumstances. Each kingdom has its own special name for it. The
fervor?
That’s powerful! Nothing will stop him. You could have mentioned this earlier.” She placed a hand between her lips and whistled.