Flame Caller (14 page)

Xander frowned. “No. Thanks, though.
If I can’t even carry my own lunch, I’m in for a world of hurt next
time I have to face off against a Fire Warrior.”

With their plates full, Xander led
them to a table adjacent to Giovanni and Alicia. He didn’t have to
ask Sammy to know she was nervous about interacting with the aunts
and uncles. She hadn’t really spoken to any of them since her house
caught fire, aside from the perfunctory and curt conversation she
had with Giovanni after he examined her in the hospital. She didn’t
seem eager to talk to them any further, at least not
yet.

Sammy pulled out a chair and sat down,
spreading a napkin across her lap. As Xander set his plate on the
table, he heard the scraping of a chair being pushed hastily back
and the rattle of a plate and silverware being tossed together. He
looked up to see Patrick standing from his table. His plate was
still half-full but his expression said that he had no interest in
remaining in the cafeteria.

“
I think I’m done here,”
he said loudly to Thea as he picked up his plate. “Somehow, I seem
to have suddenly lost my appetite.”

He stepped to the edge of the long
table and dropped his plate unceremoniously into a plastic bin. As
he turned toward the front door, Patrick paused beside
Thea.

“
Maybe we can continue
this conversation elsewhere.”

Part of Xander wanted to let the
Irishman walk away, to let him just disappear so he and his
girlfriend could eat their lunch in peace and quiet. The smug look
on Patrick’s face, however, set Xander’s blood boiling.

Xander slammed his hand down on the
table, startling the other aunts and uncles.

“
If you have something to
say, why don’t you just go ahead and say it to my face?”

Patrick paused and arched an eyebrow.
“I already did, lad. I told you everything I needed to say at the
funeral.” He pointed angrily at Sammy, who merely lowered her head
to avoid eye contact. “She’s a menace to everyone here and she
doesn’t belong.”

“
And I told you then that
she wasn’t going anywhere,” Xander retorted. He was practically
shaking with anger. “She’s staying for as long as I say she
is.”

“
Aye, because you love
her,” Patrick smirked. “You have some deep connection that
simple-minded folk like myself just couldn’t possibly understand.
Aye, I got that. It’s touching… and absolute crap.”

“
Both of you just need to
settle down,” Giovanni said from his seat in between them. “We’ve
all had a rough time over the past few days. It’s set everyone on
edge. Let’s just take a deep breath and—”

“
And nothing,” Patrick
said. “If none of you will be man enough to say it, I will. You
little bird set fire to her room. Burned the whole thing
down.”

“
It was an accident,”
Xander snarled.

“
Was it? Was it now? And
you know this how? Because she told you it was an accident? Well,
I’m prone to believe her, since she’s been nothing but trustworthy
so far.” He turned toward the other aunts and uncles. “Everyone
else feeling very reassured because the Fire Warrior promised that
her setting fire to the island was just an accident?”

“
Shut your mouth,
Patrick,” Xander threatened.

He clenched his hands into tight
fists. He could feel his nails digging into the palms of his hands.
Deep within his gut, he felt a stirring as some primal power
yearned to be released.

“
And what happens when she
accidentally
burns us all to death in our sleep?” He turned
his attention directly to Sammy, who still refused to look at him.
“Will you feel really bad about that accident too? Will you cry
yourself to sleep before or after you slaughter the last of
us?”

Patrick slammed his hand down on the
table in front of him, startling Sammy. “Look at me,” he yelled at
the Fire Warrior. “Tell me all about how sad you’re going to feel
when you finally finish what you started at the dance.”

“
Enough,” Xander
yelled.

The power inside him broke free of its
own volition. The wind tore through the open windows, pulling the
shutters free from their moorings. It scooped up a chair from the
far side of the room and flipped it into the air. The chair crashed
onto the table in front of Patrick, who stumbled backward in
surprise.

Patrick sneered and stepped forward
dangerously but Alicia leapt to her feet before the incident could
escalate any more.

“
Stop it, both of you,”
she yelled. Her stern tone, so different from her normal matronly
demeanor, startled both Xander and Patrick.

Almost immediately, the wind faded and
the room settled into its previously quiet disposition.

“
If you two want to act
like children, you can do it outside,” she continued once she had
everyone’s attention. “It’s Patrick’s day to train you anyway,
Xander, so go train.”

Xander shook his head. “I think I’ll
pass.”

Patrick snorted derisively. “Of course
you will. You’re about as committed to our cause as your little
Fire Warrior. You’re perfect for one another.”

“
You want to train?”
Xander asked. “Fine, let’s train.”

“
I look forward to it,
lad.”

Patrick turned away and walked out the
door. The door swung closed behind him as he walked into the warm
sunlight.

Xander seethed at the Irishman. His
hands dug into the table as he glowered at the man’s departure.
Within him, the power boiled and churned, yearning for a
release.

He felt a sudden tug at his sleeve and
he looked down to see a very concerned expression on Sammy’s
face.

“
Xander,” she said
breathlessly, “your eyes.”

Xander blinking heavily and the power
within him seemed to subside as the anger left him
temporarily.

“
What’s wrong?”

Sammy furrowed her brow as she watched
him. “Your eyes were glowing bright white a second ago, like you
didn’t even have a pupil. I saw your eyes do something similar when
you were fighting General Abraxas.”

Xander frowned and he felt the anger
rolling back to the surface. “That’s because I haven’t been this
pissed off since Abraxas. Man, that guy really gets under my
skin.”

Sammy pushed back her chair and stood.
“Just let it go,” she begged. “It’s not worth all this
heartache.”

“
Yes, it is,” he replied.
“He’s not going to let up until someone puts him in his place. He’s
just going to keep making both of us miserable.”

He lowered his tone until he was sure
he couldn’t be overheard by the other aunts and uncles in the
cafeteria. “He’s already got me so angry that I’m not even sure I
want to stay here anymore. Part of me just wants to get out of here
and go back to White Halls. Check on Sean and the rest of the town
and make sure everyone’s okay. You know what I mean?”

“
I’m not going to lie that
I hate being around some of your relatives,” she whispered in
response. “But that doesn’t mean I want you rushing off to defend
my honor every time one of them says something bad about me. If you
did, you wouldn’t have any time for anything else. Anyway, I’m
capable of taking care of myself.”

Xander smiled and took her hand. “I
know you are. But in this case, it’s not a fight you can win. If
you stand up to Patrick, it’s only going to give him the ammunition
he needs to have you thrown off the island. No, this is something
I’m going to have to do for the both of us.”

He turned toward the door but Sammy
didn’t let his hand go. He turned back to see her smiling
softly.

“
Was he right?”

“
About what?” he
asked.

“
Are you standing up for
me because you love me?”

Xander knew Patrick had said it just
to get a rise out of them both but he knew it wasn’t as far from
the truth as Patrick believed.

He reached up and ran a hand across
her cheek. “It sounds a lot better than saying we have some strange
infatuation with each other, doesn’t it? Yes, Sammy. I love
you.”

She leaned in and kissed him
passionately. As they parted, he could hear her exhaling
softly.

“
I love you, too,” she
said, smiling.

Xander took a deep breath to calm his
pounding heart. “You really do make me happy, Sammy. Now if you’ll
excuse me, I need to go beat that fact into an arrogant
Irishman.”

Xander had to duck underneath the
low-hanging archway that led into the courtyard. He had trained not
too long before with Thea in the same area. With the marble
archways lining the perimeter of the courtyard, it still looked
quite a bit like a modern Coliseum.

Red clay shingled roofs crowded the
tops of the arches. They were angled downward like auditorium
seating. Glancing at the surrounding rooftops, Xander could imagine
ghostly figures lining the sloped roofs, watching the ensuing
battle. The Wind Warriors of times past were the spectral
observers, watching as Xander and Patrick faced one
another.

“
Let them watch,” Xander
muttered angrily as he turned his attention toward the redheaded
Irishman.

Patrick removed his shirt and set it
on a sheered half-pillar that sat along the edge of the arena.
Despite his age, Patrick was still in incredible shape. He flexed
and his chest muscles swelled against his bare chest.

“
I didn’t figure you would
show,” he yelled, though he barely needed to raise his voice to be
heard.

Xander scowled at the older man as he
untied the cloth belt that held his tunic closed.

“
Got nothing to say, lad?
Cat got your tongue? Or maybe you need to ask your lady if it’s
okay to talk back.”

Xander tossed his shirt aside
unceremoniously, letting it fall in a crumpled heap underneath an
archway. “I don’t have to run my mouth for people to know what I’m
thinking.”

Patrick laughed derisively.
“Everything you do and say just reminds me of how much of a kid you
still are. You’re barely out of diapers and already thinking you’re
tough enough to play with the big boys.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he
watched Sammy cross her arms defensively across her chest. Her
mouth was etched in a permanent frown as she watched the exchange
between the two men. From behind her, the other aunts and uncles
emerged from between the pillars surrounding the courtyard, their
curiosity piqued by the gauntlet thrown down between the two men.
Xander knew what they came to see; both he and Patrick had their
axes to grind. He wasn’t sure how far this would go but he was
feeling angry enough to match whatever Patrick wanted to throw his
way.

Looking over his shoulder, Xander
looked into the faces of his aunts and uncles. They all watched
with general interest. He didn’t see sympathy or concern for either
of the combatants. They only saw two men eager to work through
their respective testosterone-driven frustrations. How quickly they
forgot that Xander just lost both his parents. It was infuriating
to see their generally dismissive attitudes.

Xander felt a swelling of anger in his
gut. The wind swirled around his legs. As it skimmed over the
large, flat marble stones around his feet, the wind seemed to
whisper to him. He couldn’t understand the words but he understood
its message well enough. The wind brought whispered, half-heard
promises of power.

“
This isn’t a training
session like you’ve been doing,” Patrick continued. “We’re not here
to teach you how to use your powers. You’re a smart young man who
clearly knows everything, so there’s nothing left to
teach.”

The wind crept around his body like a
serpent, climbing first up his legs before slithering around his
torso. The air drew itself up higher until Xander could practically
see it dancing in front of his vision.

Patrick smiled wickedly. “Don’t hold
back. I definitely won’t be.”

“
You just planning on
talking me to death?” Xander asked dismissively.

Patrick sneered and shoved his hands
toward Xander. A blast of dense air struck Xander in the chest and
threw him across the courtyard. He slammed painfully into a carved
marble pillar before collapsing to the ground.