Forged of Fire (12 page)

Stefen sat forward in the large leather chair. “What do you mean? The girl is here and safe. I have done nothing wrong.”

Alaric steepled his hands together and brought them in front of his mouth. “You interfered.”

“A young woman walked naked out of a burning fire, which she created from the clear night sky and fell into my arms!” Stefen stood. “I would hardly call that intervening! More like divine placement. What do you think would have happened to her if the local authorities had arrived to find her passed out at the crime scene?” He could feel his blood simmering. “What good would it be if your little element bender was in a cell right now? A man made one no less.” He waved his hand in an arching fashion. “Hell, why not put a sign on her that reads, chosen one, free to a good fucking home! A perfect fucking immortal buffet!”

“I agree.” Stefen froze. “The alternative was worse.” Alaric took a seat. “However, you should have brought her to me.” He leveled his eyes on Stefen. “Not shut off all communication with me and stolen the girl.”

“I did not steal her…I took her to the place she belonged.”

“Right. Because you believed the word of a dead mythical Oracle.” Alaric sighed. “Stefen, it’s your word against the councils that this being even exists and if she does, why did she show herself after all this time to you?”

Stefen mentally rubbed off the sting of his brother’s words. He was used to being judged and found lacking. Especially when compared to his brother. “I know what I experienced. I know what energy I felt from her. Let them say what they want about me but you know my instincts are never wrong. Self-guided and belligerent perhaps, but deep down, you know I can see truth.”

“I know you do, Stefen. You have always had that gift but your blatant disrespect for my ruling is once again placing a negative light on you.” Alaric looked him in the eyes. “For just once can you think about what your headstrong actions do to me?”

“Nothing affects you Alaric! You’re the fucking golden child! They adore you!”

“And just when I believed that you have truth as a vision on your side.” Alaric shook his head. “You have missed the greatest truth of all, little brother.” He pushed up to the edge of his seat. “I have been judged since the day I was born too. Only I was the one that had to be perfect! Whatever pressure you have felt is nothing compared to the weight that was placed on my head and now here I am… A blasted King that cannot even get the simple respect I am due from my own blood!”

Stefen sunk back in the chair as if he had been physically pushed there. He never considered how his defiance affected his brother, other than to annoy him. Stefen had always placed Alaric on the pedestal, same as everyone else. It never occurred to him that Alaric might not wish to be on that pedestal or that anyone would view Alaric based off Stefen’s actions. They were like night and day. But, it made sense, how could Alaric be seen as good ruler if he could not even command his little rebel brother.

“I am sorry,” Stefen offered after a long pause. “I never saw any chink in your armor. I always viewed you as impervious to judgement for I never thought you gave anyone an excuse to doubt you. I have never seen you make a wrong move. Not once!” Stefen scoffed. “And here I am, your biggest flaw.”

Alaric reached over and clasped Stefen by the back of the head, dragging him forward in his chair until they were nose to nose. “Don’t ever say that again brother! You may be my greatest challenge but you’re still my little brother.” A smile lit in his eyes. “Now, tell me about LaGoryen.” He leaned back grinning.

“How did you guess?” Stefen asked, utterly perplexed. Other than the speed of light introductions before Alaric had closed them off, his brother knew nothing of the Fire King.
Or did he?

“Come now Stefen, you yourself just said I was basically perfect.” Alaric chuckled. “I felt his energy from the door. He is everything his legend predicts.”

“His legend?” Stefen tilted his head. “I know his backstory and how he came about. I also know how strong he is, but there is more? Legend implies that his story has already been written and told. That immortal in the other room is hot tempered and still very much in existence.”

“I am sure you read about his bloodline, the house of Ushum?” His brother stood.

“Yes?”

Alaric walked to the sidebar and filled two glasses of wine before turning back to Stefen. “There is a myth, as abstract in thought to our culture as your Oracle is.” He handed Stefen one of the thin stemmed Waterford crystal flutes. “But as you have seen, there really are no myths are there?”

Stefen took the glass. “Are you saying that Ashdon is more than what he appears to be? More than just some badass royal Vampire-bender with a knack for fire manipulation?”

Alaric nodded. “I am saying exactly that.” He took a sip of the chardonnay. “He is the same as his mother and three others from that family tree.” He smiled knowingly. “Ashdon LaGoryen, of house Ushum, is more than a Fire King by birth… He is a Dragon...”

****

Alaric, same as his brother, was beautiful in a way that only paintings could capture. Kielyn’s curious eyes scanned the room to land on the other four that had arrived with the King. Sure enough, they each seemed to carry an otherworldly glow about them she noted. They were not as magnetic as the two royal brothers but they would never be turned down for dates back on her college campus either. Kielyn wondered if all Angels were so… Angelic.

Ash told her that Vampires stayed as they had been born in terms of looks. He must have just had exquisite model-type parents. Marcus too for that matter. Even Bane was attractive in his own right, but each of the bender Vampires were individually attractive, like humans. Stefen and his imposing brother, while both very different looking, appeared as if they had been carved from marble by a craftsman’s hands. Alaric was taller than Stefen though, with blonde hair and green eyes so light that they almost appeared translucent. Stefen also had the same haunting clear eyes but they were crystal blue and his hair was a rich chocolate color. Stefen was smaller than Alaric in size too but the general cut of their physiques was identical. Anyone could tell they were brothers even though Alaric was all business and Stefen, by contrast, seemed to only ever be half interested in anyone else.

Kielyn felt eyes on her. She looked to her right in time to catch Kizer staring at her from further down the dining table. She quickly feigned interest in her lobster. The blonde Water-bender looked like he could be related to Alaric, she realized. He did not have the same energy that seemed to make his skin glow but he was like them in that he looked as if he had stepped off the pages of a Ralph Lauren catalog. Maybe it was a trait of all beings, human and Angel that were born of a water element. Perhaps the fact that she was of both fire and water explained why she was not as attractive she thought.

Her eyes lifted, as if commanded, to find Ash’s penetrating gaze directly across the mahogany table.
Then there was him.
She felt a blush rising in her cheeks and she mentally fought to quell it. He was the most handsome of them all. He was equally as regal as the Angel King but he was harder and more rugged around the edges.
The sexiest male in existence.
She lifted her glass to try and hide the grin threatening to tattle on her wanton thoughts.

She must have not hidden the evidence in time for he grinned which reminded her of another difference between him and the two Angels. The tiny scar that was barely visible on the left corner of his mouth. When his lips curved up, the action caused a perfectly placed dimple to highlight the old injury.
God she wanted to kiss that perfect imperfection.
No, Ash was not angelic in the least and to Kielyn that made him the most gorgeous man in the room. That, and the fact he did things to her that made her toes curl with desire.

“You fancy him, don’t you?” Kielyn jumped and Stefen laughed beside her. “We really need to work on your masking abilities dear.”

“I, er…” Something told her that a lie would be futile with him. She sighed. “He intrigues me.”

“We all intrigue you.” He smiled. “But be honest, he does more than that. Doesn't he?”

Kielyn cut into the lobster tail. “I suppose there is no getting out of that question.”

“Not in the least.”

She faced him. “I feel a certain connection to him, yes. A rather strong pull that I can’t explain.”

“It’s called attraction.” The rotten male chuckled. “But fear not.” He lifted his glass, took a long sip then lowered the crystal. “The feeling is mutual.”

“How do you know?” The question spilled from her lips.

Stefen grinned a grin that reminded her of the Cheshire cat. “Trust me, it’s obvious.”

The words were like a gift. Her pulse sped up and her skin heated. She felt like a teenager with a crush. Stupidly giddy and equally terrified. Kielyn lowered her eyes and pushed a stalk of asparagus around her plate. “Well, he is a King. An immortal one at that and I am only a human.”

“Kielyn.” Stefen leaned forward. “Has no one told you?”

“Told me what?”

Before Stefen could answer, Alaric rose from his chair at the opposite end of the long dining table, effectively interrupting all surrounding conversations. Everyone followed suit, setting down their silverware, placing their linens on the table and rising with him. Kielyn mimicked the others, trying her best to not miss a cue on how to proceed. The ancient customs and forms of respect everyone had here were far from the world Kielyn was accustomed to. It was stuff she had only read about in fairy tales. It was as if she had traveled back in time to an era when grace and manners were not just expected but demanded. A time of extremes. Equal parts of mystery, danger and romance.

The Angel King nodded and everyone began to sit, all except for Alaric who remained standing. “Thank you all for having me and my entourage here today.” He raised a glass to King Bane at the opposite end of the table. Glasses lifted up and down the dining table. “To our hospitable host. Thank you.” He smiled then fixed his eyes solidly on Kielyn’s. “More importantly, thank you for securing my bride.”

****

The surge of energy raced like wild electrical currents up Ash’s spine as the black began to dissolve away. Around the corners of his vision a new hue drew to life… Molten gold.

As his focus began to return all Ash felt was an unquenchable need to kill. His hands were wrapped tightly around the Angel King’s throat. Something feral, dark and fueled by rage was lapping at Ash like the icy tides of the Arctic’s biting and slicing spray.

Around him paper thin voices began to grow into varying degrees of panic. Ash was sure he felt hands being laid on him. It mattered not. Only one thing mattered now. “She is not yours!” Ash heard himself growl but his voice sounded deeper, rawer, and nothing like his own.

“Whose is she then?” The Angel barely whispered in a language Ash had never heard before, yet, understood perfectly.

“Mine!” Ash stared into Alaric’s clear eyes and what reflected back caused him to loosen his grip. “What…” He took a shaky step to the side. Suddenly the room was chaos. He was pushed backwards by the edge of a blade, Marsala was screaming and color returned to the room.

Ash’s body connected with a wall. “Don’t!” Alaric commanded the three of his men that had Ash surrounded. The fourth was currently trying to hold Marsala back. Ash’s eyes darted around the room.
Where was Kielyn?
“She is safe.” The Angel King said, effectively reading his mind. “My brother removed her the moment you turned. She is in her room.” He stepped forwards rubbing his neck. “I am not going to take her from you. I only wanted to see if the myth was true and if indeed, you are the one.”

Ash’s mind reeled.
When had Stefen removed Kielyn?
He could not remember what had transpired between the moment Alaric said he was going to marry her and seconds ago when Ash found his hands on the Angel’s throat. He must have blacked out. Ash’s mind latched onto one word, turned. “What do you mean, I turned? What myth?”

“Stand down.” Alaric’s soldiers did as ordered. The Angel walked up to Ash. “What did you see when you looked in my eyes?”