Frozen Heart of Fire (3 page)

Chapter Four

“An Ice Witch..?” Noah froze, and his voice dropped too. An Ice Witch. How could that be possible? “That’s not
possible. They don’t exist any longer. What is he playing at?”

Joshua sighed because Cousin Prince was famous for his careless decisions and was forever trying to discredit the two brothers on his journey to become everything his father desired of him. Noah and Joshua exchanged a dark look before quickly glancing at the woman who obviously wanted to conceal that she was listening.

“Delay Prince. I don’t care what you do. Just keep him away for as long as possible.” Joshua was the one to make the decisions regarding their troublesome cousin who’d been named for the position of power his father believed he deserved. But the truth was, all three cousins were heir to that honor and it was the power of their genes that would determine who would inherit the empty throne. Only the production of a child, who could be proved beyond doubt to be his, would elevate them to that coveted role. But even then, there were restrictions holding them back. Only the true soulmate of each man would conceive his child, but soulmates weren’t exactly thick on the ground. None had yet produced the required child, although it had been rumored that Prince declared his latest mistress as his soulmate and that she was already pregnant with his son. Of course, this was the sixth time he’d made such a declaration and the world had stopped holding its breath. Perhaps this woman would prove just as barren as her predecessors.

A bloody Ice Witch. Don’t tell me you think this is all some huge coincidence?
Noah repeated, his tone a low hiss and his dark eyes following Brendan as he entered the lift to carry out Joshua’s orders.

We don’t know what this is yet,
Joshua reminded him, but this wasn’t how he wanted this to turn out. The woman interested him; her face was a magnet for his eyes, her pale skin a temptation for his fingers.

An Ice Witch turns up out of the blue in a club you own and then our mad as hell cousin appears only moments later? Ice Witches are supposed to be extinct. I thought we killed them all. This is no coincidence. It can’t be.

“Let’s ask her, shall we?” Joshua turned back to the woman awaiting the confrontation. She knew what they knew now, although she obviously knew a lot more too. She sat tense, her eyes checking every corner of the room in case there was an escape route she’d missed. One half-opened door led to a bedroom. She could make out the messy shape of a huge bed where someone didn’t like to sleep alone. Maybe he’d had two or more sleeping companions. The bed was certainly big enough. Strangely, she didn’t like that thought and vaguely hoped it would be the younger brother who would be a lothario.

“Ask her? We could just beat it out of her.” Noah snarled loudly, enough to frighten any woman, but Eva wasn’t just any woman, as she glanced disdainfully in his direction. Her mouth moved in a grimace, white teeth bared like a cat preparing to defend itself.

“Noah, I can handle this. Why don’t you go placate Prince before he gets himself overwrought?” Joshua sat down next to Eva— close enough so he noticed the tiny movement she made away from him. She didn’t look up at either of them, but he knew she wanted Noah to leave. She probably believed her escape would be easier with just one of them in the room.

My place is here with you; this Witch could be dangerous,
Noah replied.

“Well, that answers one question. We all know what you are,” Joshua spoke gently, almost tenderly. “Could you try to answer me another? Did you come here to kill me?”

Eva looked up, her indignant stare captured by the authority of his beautiful face. Whoever deemed that only women could be called beautiful had never met this man. His looks improved the darker his mood became and she was disturbed at how easily he affected her. The sound of his deep voice sent little shivers travelling along her backbone and his laugh caused ripples of she didn’t know what, to twist and mix inside her stomach.

“I helped you,” she muttered low, as though she already knew they wouldn’t believe her. She couldn’t tell them the truth for she was sure they would declare her a liar and do to her what their clan had done to her elders, and her parents. Did they believe she didn’t know?

“Yes, you did, and I’m very grateful, but I need more than that.” Joshua leaned in close, his breath warm on the skin of her throat, causing more vibrations to tingle through her body. Was this another spell of his making?

“We don’t need anymore. We know what she is and why she’s here. We should just kill her,” Noah grumbled, but Joshua’s furious look was enough to remind Noah of his brother’s famed rages. He would be wise to keep his opinions to himself.

“Then just get on with it and kill me.” Eva stared defiantly into Joshua’s stern face, ignoring the brother who threatened her. If she had to go, she’d rather be looking into his gorgeous face than any other.

“I’m not going to kill you,” Joshua flashed the beginning of a smile. He wanted her at ease. She didn’t need to be frightened any more than she already was. “Let’s try this again… are you an Ice Witch?”

“Yes,” she answered honestly; she had nothing to gain from lying.

“Did you come here to kill me?”

“No.”

“That’s it. Everything is getting better as we speak.” Joshua increased the warmth of his smile. “Why did you come here? And don’t bother to lie about wanting a drink. I doubt if you’ve ever had an alcoholic drink in your life.”

The woman didn’t speak, but a look crossed her face as though deep thoughts were working their way through her mind. How much should she reveal?  How safe was she? They knew what she was; it was too late for lies.

“I hunt demons and was on the trail of a Trajien demon who decided he wanted a drink in your establishment,” she whispered finally. “There are twenty-seven women dead or dying because of him and you let him walk out of your club.”

“That’s impossible. The sensors would have detected him,” Noah blurted out although Joshua had distinctly warned him to keep out of it. Could a Traijen demon really get in with all the security they’d installed?

“He has a new and improved shielding, that’s why I was trailing him.” Eva stared into Joshua’s face.

“Noah, speak to Brendan, and have him run a full system scan… just in case.” Joshua waited only until his brother’s concentration was on the task he’d set him, before he turned his attention back to the woman. Her appeal seemed to deepen the more he found out about her and the fact she was an Ice Witch didn’t seem so important now. He stared at her, his midnight blue eyes drifting casually over her features. But she refused to meet his eyes, refused to acknowledge the fact that she was interested in him; that he fascinated her too. Her skin was fair like the finest porcelain but, in contrast, her eyelashes were long and dark, framing those impossibly pale eyes. Her throat sported darkening bruises where his heroic brother had wrestled her to the carpet and his eyes dropped lower where the shadow between her breasts could just be seen. He wanted to kiss away those bruises, to delve lower and see what delights could be uncovered beneath that dark clothing.

Chapter Five

“She’s right,” Noah spat after a few minutes’ tense talking into the walkie-talkie. He didn’t want to admit to this, but Noah had never been a liar and he wasn’t starting now. “Brendan’s launched an immediate quarantine. No one in and no one out, until the place has been fumigated. Miss, I owe you an apology.”

Eva lifted her head in response to the softly worded confession, her eyes narrowed in her lack of understanding, but that was the most she could expect from him as he continued in his explanation to his brother. Noah was a proud man and didn’t relish the fact that she, their enemy, had shown a lack in his security.

“They’re initiating a full sweep straight away.” Noah clarified their next move as a soft hissing sound could be heard.

“Keep your mouth closed and take slow breaths.” Joshua’s hand on her arm urged Eva to her feet. “It won’t hurt you, but it will eradicate any parasites you may have picked up.” Everybody knew of the invisible leeches attached to the skin of a Trajien demon, which would detach themselves and infect the bodies of anything warm and living in the vicinity. They particularly liked the warmth of females, it didn’t matter which species and, as they invaded the flesh of another, they gave off psychic pleasure vibes bringing the demon to a full satisfying orgasm. Once infected, there was no cure, no respite from the parasitic worms’ relentless occupation of every cell in her body. Any woman, once in contact with the recklessly handsome Trajien demon, was doomed to torturous agony until death offered its own relief.

A soft wet mist dropped from unseen vents in the ceiling, settling on her pale skin, drying almost on contact, but none of them could have imagined the effect it would have on a species like hers, which no one believed still lived.

Eva tried to listen but the unknown chemicals forcing their way into her unusual bloodstream frightened her beyond his belief. It began with a soft burning on the top levels of her cold skin, her face glowing pink, an unnatural color on her flesh. Her face was full of the fear she tried desperately not to show and, as Joshua noticed her unshed tears and soft shivering, he drew her into the protection of his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head.

“It takes sixty seconds,” Joshua whispered softly into her hair, his voice something she could use to anchor herself. “One minute. Just relax. I won’t let anything happen to you.” But he couldn’t promise that. She was an Ice Witch, a species which had been wiped out, eradicated, supposedly, from the planet. Who knew what could happen with these strange chemicals her kind had never encountered.

The soft hissing ceased and a flickering of the lights told them the procedure was over, but Eva’s troubles were just beginning. Her head lay against Joshua’s strong chest, his shirt soaked through from her tears as she failed to respond to his voice.

“Go run the shower,” Josh commanded his brother as he pulled the woman’s dark jacket from her shoulders. There’d had been this reaction only once before and the parasitisyde had resulted in the woman’s death that time. No one wanted to repeat the experience.

He lifted her easily into his arms, her soft protest no barrier to his determination, and carried her through his bedroom to the steamy bathroom. He pulled at her dark trousers and skimpy sleeveless top, leaving only a dark pair of panties on her body. He tried not to stare at the fullness of her breasts; the perfect amount of flesh to fit his hand, although he knew his brother had no qualms about staring at the semi-naked woman.

“Go find out where Prince is,” Joshua hissed, his eyes narrowing at the liberties Noah was freely taking. “Stall him, keep him out of here.”

The water was hot but cooler than his shower had been as he set the woman under the spray of steaming water. She gasped in stunned protest but her eyes were glazed and unfocused as he forced her to stay under the water. Cooling shower gel lathered in one hand, he held her up with the other as he began to wash the parasitisyde from her skin.

“Let me go.” Eva’s eyes flashed open at the touch of his large hand on her trembling body.

“You need to cleanse your skin,” he explained, the bubbles in his poised hand washing away under the stream of water. “The parasitisyde is affecting you differently; it could be dangerous. I have to wash it off your skin.”

“I’ve been washing myself for many years,” she snapped, her cheeks burning. She stood almost naked in front of him and crossed her hands across her breasts, feeling the blush travelling down from her face.

Josh nodded, rinsed his hand under the water and backed away. He wanted to stay; he wanted to find out what delights lay beneath the cover of those skimpy, teasing panties but hadn’t his family been the ones to eradicate her kind from the world. What kind of hypocrite was he? He stepped out of the huge shower stall, his clothes wet and sticking to his body, his hair dripping. He pulled the shirt off over his head, tossing it into the corner to be joined next by the dark wet trousers.

Eva stared with unbelieving eyes. What the hell was he doing? But she couldn’t fault the view of his lean, strong back, his firm shapely behind. Not many men went commando under such tight-fitting trousers. Not that she was complaining; he was a damn handsome man with a body to cry for.

“I’ll fetch you a robe,” his eyes danced over her face, his smile showed he knew what she’d been thinking, as he turned to look at her and her eyes dropped. There was desire in her darkening eyes, in the intensity of her gaze and in the way she held herself.

Eva raised her arms again. She hadn’t realized how low they had dropped. Her nipples were hard and pointing toward the man who incited passion into her mind, her body as he stared at her. His wicked grin shook her right down to her wet toes. How could any man look so good and so bad at the same time?

Joshua left the bathroom with the grin still plastered to his face. He liked the way she reacted, how red her face blushed, how her body reacted to him, and to his touch. Eva was the first woman in far too long to create such a reaction in him. What fortune had brought her here today, to him?

“Is she okay?” Noah asked softly, handing his brother a dark blue robe. “The woman, is she okay?”

“Yeah sure,” Joshua nodded. She was more than okay, she was … Well, he couldn’t think about it now.

“Prince was already on his way up and asking a lot of questions about her.” Noah followed Joshua to the walk-in closet, his eyes on the cream robe Joshua lifted from the rack. The plastic wrapping was discarded as Joshua returned to the bathroom where the water had been switched off and the woman waited impatiently inside. “You know what he’s like, he won’t give up until he finds out everything he thinks he needs to know. Did you hear me?”

“Yes, I heard you.” Joshua slammed the door in his brother’s face before he could catch a glimpse of soft, white female flesh. “Put this on,” he snarled into the woman’s face. Unfortunately, she was wrapped in a white towel with only her shoulders and legs showing, but it was a sweet enough image all the same. Wasn’t it a shame he didn’t have only hand towels in here? This pretty, pale woman clad only in a tiny hand towel was a much better image.

“I need my clothes back. Don’t you have a dryer or something?” she snapped, taking the robe anyway

“It will have to do.” His voice was stern, but his eyes wandered over every inch of her pale flesh on show. “Hurry up, my cousin is on his way and says he knows all about you. How does he know?”

She pulled the pale robe about her before removing the towel. She wouldn’t allow him any sneaky looks and she ignored his question. His strong hand on the front of the robe pulled her to him, his face close to hers; so close she could feel the heat of his skin melting the frost of hers.

“I don’t know what you’re up to, but I know I feel you’re not here to cause either of us harm. Prince isn’t someone to mess with. Tell me how he knows about you. I can’t protect you unless I know it all.” Something tugged at a memory in the deepest region of his mind and he couldn’t shake the feeling it was important to them all.