Fervor (The Fervor Chronicles Book 1) (16 page)

Close to twenty women materialized in a circle around him. Two of the girls were unconscious, smoke floating from their skin. Dear gods, had he—? They were being carried off into the dense jungle.

One of the blondes standing near Caprice ran to the injured women, kneeled down and brushed a hand against her cheek. Letting out a war cry, she palmed a blade and ran at him. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared, yet not, only the ghost of her form could be traced as she ran toward her captor at breakneck speed.

“No!” Both she and Cameo screamed and the giant’s head turned, zeroing in on Caprice’s voice.

Without thought, Caprice ran, arms outstretched, knowing she didn’t have a chance to reach him in time. She didn’t care if Cameo used her voice against her, didn’t care if the women came at her en masse, she had to get to him, warn him,
save him
. Her throat seized and her lungs lumbered, never having breathed so hard before.

Even as she struggled, she saw the blonde’s shadow jump, hand raised, the blade slicing down, carving a deep furrow through the his arm.

“Kona, no! I don’t want to be electrocuted. Damn it, Glissante, run faster!” Cameo shouted, as she shoved Caprice, pushing her from the middle of the back, careful not to touch her skin.

Caprice flew through the air, stunned at Cameo’s strength. The giant roared and swung wildly. The blonde’s blade slashed him again and again. He moved lightning fast bringing up his second hand, capturing the blonde warrior’s wrist as the blade pressed into his throat.

Battle cries pierced the air. Caprice tripped, and fell to her knees hard, the bite of rocks and dirt cutting into her skin. Desperate, watching as the blade cut deeper, she reached forward, grabbing hold of the blonde’s ankle. “Remove that blade. Now!”

“Never!” The blonde shouted, and the Giant let out another roar. Hunched over and shivering as he battled, Caprice realized he fought the energy more than the blonde at his throat.

Fury ran through her, and the cold gathered. She fed the feeling and gathered the ice from within, using up her small reserve of
freeze.
Unable to use the freezing temperature of her environment, she looked within. Her fingers tingled, and Caprice felt the sizzle of the woman’s flesh dying under her palm. The blonde’s scream pierced her heart, until she remembered the warrior’s intentions. She meant to kill Arun.

“Drop the knife now!” Caprice tightened her grip.

The blade fell with a thud, and the Giant grabbed the warrior woman under her arms and tossed her aside. “Caprice.” His voice was an agonized whisper.

“Release the power again, aim for the sky. I’m here.” She struggled to stand, needing to touch him. Blood gushed from his wounds, how would they stop it?

“Not… yet. Not… safe.”

The women circled, frenzied now that Caprice had joined the battle. Some even gasped, perhaps shocked that a woman would defend a man. Caprice stepped in front of the Giant, blocking him, her hands raised, prepared to fight if she had to.

Cameo came to a stop in front of Caprice, kneeling at the feet of the blonde, examining her ankle, watching as dry ice floated from the blackened wound. “What did you do to her?”

“I stopped her from killing him. He did not come here to hurt you. He was trying to get back to his people, the Fiera.”

“Oh sure, and now it’s a coincidence that he’s here, frying my sisters instead. I don’t think so.”

“You have to believe us. The Bicullis brought us here. We didn’t…”

Cameo looked shocked. “I helped you, I let you live, and you repay me by hurting my sister.
Look at her.”

“She will recover.
He
would not have if she’d taken his head from his shoulders!”

“Caprice, I am on the edge. I can’t—” His voiced was rough, strained. How much longer till he blew? Without thought, she half turned, placing a hand on his chest, to comfort him, forgetting she still harnessed the
freeze.
As her palm hit his silky chest, she fought back a moan. The warmth of his skin consumed the cold, drinking it in, greedy for more.

Heat pooled between her legs. She pulled her hand back from him. She couldn’t afford to become distracted, and she needed to avoid his warmth. The
freeze
was her only defense against these warriors.

The women advanced, running in circles, coming in closer with each pass. Cameo held up her hand. The women retreated, some covering their ears. “She’s mine! I’ve never used my voice against a woman, never thought I’d have to…”

Caprice wasn’t close enough to get her hands around Cameo. Even if she were, she didn’t want to hurt her, but what would she do to them? Turning to her, she said, “You don’t have to. Please, I didn’t tell you before, but at night I would dream too.” She caught the girl’s eyes, willing her to understand, “Wanting things I thought I could never have. Sometimes, those wishes are answered in the strangest way. I didn’t have to go looking for it, it came to me.”

The girl hesitated.

“He doesn’t want to hurt anyone.” The power of her words diminished as tiny flashes of electricity sparked around her, flying off his skin. It was the residual power he couldn’t control that was dancing around her, tiny reminders of how powerful he was. Strangely enough, most of them landed on Caprice, but she felt no more than a slight shock.

The blonde warrior moaned as her sisters lifted her, and Cameo’s head whipped around. Her eyes narrowed, and she advanced, stopping well out of Caprice’s reach.

What am I going to do?
The giant came up behind her and bent toward her ear. “Just point me in the right direction. This ends now.”

No
. “Wait. Just give me…” Her palms felt warm, the ice having melted because of his touch. The lapping sound of the brook caught her attention. The redhead started to run her fingers through her hair, her hands sweeping down, touching her breasts, between her thighs.
What?
Was this the only way she could access her power?

Thanks the gods the giant was blind right now.

Cameo opened her mouth, and the most dulcet tones Caprice had ever heard came flowing out, surrounding them in a warm wind, too beautiful to step away from.

“Caprice!” The giant shoved her aside, falling to his knees, patting the ground, his hand coming closer and closer to the blade the blonde had dropped. “I can’t stop! Can’t control my actions!”

I could make you take a dagger to your own heart
echoed through Caprice’s mind.

Cameo paced away from them as she sang, putting distance between herself and the battle. The music was enthralling, but Cameo must have been directing the melody toward the Giant—either that or it wasn’t as potent on Caprice. Maybe it didn’t work as well with women.

Searching around, desperate for a source of cold, anything to revive the
freeze,
she focused again on the water. It was cold, nothing like the temperatures at home but… Reaching forward, she tried to pull the cold from the stream into her hand. Her palm tingled, and a small slush ball, the consistency of melted snow, flew from the brook.

Did I do that?

“Caprice, get down! I’m going to…” His right hand held the blade while his left was wrapped around his wrist, fighting himself, doing anything to keep the knife from plunging into his chest.

“No! You will kill us all!” Concentrating, she stumbled to her feet, pulling the cold from the water with every ounce of strength she had left, running as she did so, imagining the water hardening, flowing out and toward…

A ball of ice flew from the brook and landed smack against Cameo’s face. The water was harder then slush, more like a snowball, not too wet but perfectly formed. It wasn’t hard enough to knock Cameo out, but it hit her right in the mouth, and it knocked her off balance, silencing her deadly song.

Caprice kept running, ready to latch onto Cameo’s arm, saddened at the idea of having to hurt her. The strange woman had sort of grown on her the short time they’d talked. Still, she was determined her Giant would not die tonight. Gods, did she even have anything left? Jumping on the woman, she wrapped her hands around her throat.

The
freeze
was gone.

“Stop!” A commanding voice cut across the melee. Cameo bucked, dumping Caprice on her back. Scrambling to her feet, Caprice returned to stand in front of the Giant.

The First strode forward, not stopping to acknowledge Cameo. Her body was shorter than hers, more compact, yet a more graceful woman Caprice had never seen. She was one with her surroundings, and she glided rather than walked.

Caprice tugged on a braid, for once not giving a damn if the habit was inappropriate. This woman scared the ice out of her. Placing herself directly in front of Caprice, the leader they called The First’s dark-green eyes danced over her, taking in every inch of her face. Her rapt perusal confused Caprice, leaving her immobile, simply waiting while the woman stared. Her hand hovered above Caprice’s cheek, as if to trace her features. “Could it be?”

“What?” Caprice’s voice wavered, unsure if that would be her last word spoken.

“How did you do that?” The warrior woman seemed distracted. She didn’t stop studying her, having moved down her body, looking at the fall of her arms, even stopping to look at her feet.

“What?”

“The water, how did you control the water?”

It was as if a wire held the two together, hooked on both ends and pulled tauter with each second that passed. Caprice felt antsy, uncomfortable. The First’s eyes were so familiar. Long buried emotions started to come to the surface. It was overwhelming, and Caprice fought to keep the ice firmly around her heart.

She held onto the cold, hoping it would remind her she was a princess. Sick to death of these strange women, Caprice refused to answer. Not that she knew the answer anyway. She met the woman’s stare, and waited.

Breaking her gaze, the woman looked over Caprice’s shoulder at the Giant and then back at Caprice. “Do what you have to, to control him. You and your man will join us. If you don’t, I will kill you both on the spot.” With her words, the spell was broken.

The Giant rumbled and sparks danced in the air.

The women in the outer perimeter lifted what looked like long wooden sticks, placing one end against their mouths.

“We concede your man is a fierce fighter, and he contains a strange power within. A power that could quite possibly kill us…”

Caprice cocked her head to the side, eyes narrowing, wondering why the The First would concede such a thing.

“Tell him, he may kill us, but we will take you both with us.”

“I’m not deaf,” the Giant growled.

“We don’t even need to be near you to kill you. One puff and you’re dead in seconds.” The leader gestured toward the women surrounding them with the strange sticks.

“The women are holding some sort of weapons,” Caprice whispered to the Giant.

“They could be lying.”

“Why would we go with you and leave ourselves vulnerable to attack?” Caprice called to the leader, her head held high. If she was going to die, it wouldn’t be as a coward.

“You have my word no one will die tonight
if
you come with us. If not, we end this. Now.”

Caprice tightened her grip on her braid and nodded, knowing she had no choice. The Giant could kill them all with the energy flowing through him, but they would all die in the process. She watched most of the women melt back into the jungle as if they were never there. A few remained, weapons in hand.
They must be our escorts.

Turning, Caprice said, “We have to go with them, but you can’t hurt them or we all die.”

“Would never… hurt you. This, I
swear.
Quick, get… back. Hurry, it’s back… where we…” Letting out a roar, the Giant released his energy, pouring white-hot electricity up to the sky. Pure warmth emanated from the blast, and she had to force herself not to step closer to the stream. It was his essence, his scent, his warmth, everything unique to him was wrapped into the blast.

With a wink it was gone, and he was on his knees.

‡

A
nona ran a
careful eye over the long wooden tables that stretched along the stone dining room. Glittering chandeliers made of white diamonds hung above each table, sending rainbow prisms dancing along the chairs.

The silk lining of her fur coat didn’t offer its usual comfort. For twenty-five long years, she’d waited to feel warm, and now a spoiled princess and a raging Fiera threatened to ruin it for her.

The scrape of metal silverware against porcelain brought her back to the present. Drudges bustled from the room, bringing in steaming bowls of soup, setting the delicate light blue china in front of each guest. If she saw one of the servants pause, if only to adjust her dress or wipe her brow, she gave a quick flick of the miniature cat-o’-nine-tails she kept hidden in the folds of her dress. Her usual sense of satisfaction escaped her today. The shocked gasps had never disappointed her before.

It was all these damned Vendris’ fault; they were supposed to have left immediately after the princess. Anona had made sure they understood the danger, told them the Giant could return at any moment. That should have been enough to make the meek, little ice-rats scurry home; instead, they buzzed and twittered as if they could smell a brewing scandal.