Kindling Flames: Flying Sparks (The Ancient Fire Series Book 2) (30 page)

“I’m going to get some coffee and lunch, did you need anything?” Vicky asked as she gathered up her bag.

Phelan looked up from the game he was playing as he processed the question. “Lunch.” He nodded, closing the laptop to join in on her quest for food.

“You don’t have to leave your game.” Vicky hadn’t meant to disturb him. “Just tell me what you’d like, and I can bring it back.”

Phelan chuckled. “I wouldn’t be a very good bodyguard if I didn’t stay with the body I’m supposed to guard.” He smirked at her.

Vicky opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She had not realized he was here to protect her. Closing her mouth, she led Phelan out of the office in silence.

***

“Is there anything else that you needed me to reschedule for the week?” Vicky asked as she walked into Darien’s office, looking at her notepad. It had taken her most of the morning and into the afternoon to get Darien’s week cleared.

“No.” Darien shifted papers around on his desk, preparing for the next meeting. “Were there any problems?” He glanced up at Vicky, who was still looking over her notes.

“Not really.” She started to look up from her paper. “Mr. Tyler didn’t…” Her words faltered as her eyes shifted up to something behind her boss. The shocked expression that crossed Vicky’s face made Darien spin around to see what had caused her to stop talking.

A handsome man dressed in a sleeveless red tunic and pants stood on the ledge outside the window. He had a yellow sash tied around his waist that flapped in the breeze along with his long, ash-gray hair. Smiling in the window, he waved to Darien.

Darien growled as he recognized the ifrit and launched himself at the window, intending to tear the creature to pieces if he could catch him.

The ifrit blew Vicky a kiss and stepped backwards off the ledge as he disappeared, laughing.

Darien wrenched the window open and screamed in fury at his missed target.

Phelan rushed into the room and dropped to check on Vicky as she lay on the floor. The ifrit had sent a touch of power down their connection when he blew his kiss. It burned in the mark on her hand. Between the pain and the roll of energy flooding the room from the pissed vampire, Vicky had passed out without a sound.

Darien slammed the window shut, nearly breaking the tempered glass, and turned around. His anger went cold when his eyes landed on Phelan rolling Vicky over. “Victoria!” he gasped, and rushed to her side. His eyes found where Vicky had clutched her left hand to her chest when the pain struck.

“She’s alive.” Phelan moved back to give Darien some room. “What happened?” He looked around the room for any signs of danger.

Darien ignored him for a moment as he rolled Vicky into his arms. He carefully lifted her left hand to look at the burn. It had started to heal, but the red mark now had fresh blisters on it. He growled his anger. Had she not been wearing the medallion, the magic the ifrit sent could have burned a hole in her hand. “It was here,” Darien finally said in answer to Phelan’s question. “Just outside the window.”

The wolf stood up to look over at the windowsill.

Darien patted Vicky gently to wake her up. “Victoria.” He breathed her name.

She shifted in his arms as she came around. Her brow wrinkled as she tried to deal with the headache the magic had caused her. Lifting her left hand up to rub her temples, she hissed in pain as the burnt skin moved. Vicky tried to open her eyes but groaned as the light stabbed into her, intensifying the headache she already had. She quickly closed them and rolled her face into Darien’s chest, trying to escape the pain.

“Is she okay?” Phelan asked as he came back from checking the other windows for any signs of the ifrit.

“I think she caught a little backlash from the magic,” Darien said. “She should be fine in a few minutes.”

Vicky groaned into his chest as she rubbed her face into him.

“Can you get the first aid kit from the closet?” he asked Phelan before sitting back and pulling her deeper into his arms. “Be still, and I’ll see what I can do.” Darien whispered to her. Leaning over, he kissed her softly on the head and pushed a little power into her.

That warm sensation flowed through her head, chasing out the pain the rampant magic had caused.

He pulled back when Vicky’s breathing evened out. She blinked up at him slowly.

“How do you feel?” Darien asked her softly.

“Mushy,” she slurred slightly.

A grin turned up the corner of Darien’s mouth as he shook his head lightly. He let out a relieved sigh at seeing her safe.

Phelan dropped down in front of them and proceeded to bandage Vicky’s hand. She looked at him groggily as he worked.

“Is she all right?” Phelan took in the slightly glazed look in the woman’s eyes. She giggled at him a little.

“She’s very sensitive to magic,” Darien explained, lifting her from the floor. “She should be fine in a few minutes.” He carefully set the addled woman on the couch to recover.

Phelan nodded and packed the first aid case back into the closet. “When’s your next meeting?” He had listened to Vicky pack several of the meetings set for the next few days into this afternoon.

Darien looked up at the clock and cursed slightly. “Mrs. Robinson will be here in about ten minutes.” He glanced over at Vicky resting on the couch. “And she has a bad habit of being early.”

Vicky pulled herself in to a sitting position. “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” Darien asked, concerned.

“I’m not about to let that woman catch me sleeping on the couch.” She tried to stand on shaky legs. “She already doesn’t like me because I didn’t come through HR.”

Darien stepped over to give her some support. “I haven’t heard anything about this,” he said, surprised. “Did she say something to you?”

Vicky chuckled as he helped her from his office. “She didn’t have to.” She smiled weakly. “I can tell. Sue may have also mentioned she heard a few of the girls from HR gossiping about her displeasure with the ‘inexperienced skirt’ you were chasing, and how her department could have found you someone better suited to your needs.”

Darien was completely shocked by this. Mrs. Robinson had been disappointed when he told her he was going to a temp agency for his PA, but she never let on that she felt so strongly about it. He clenched his jaw as his surprise turned to minor annoyance. “It’s none of her business whose ‘skirt’ I’m chasing, and she blew the six chances I gave her,” he said indignantly. “How the hell does she know what my ‘needs’ are anyway? I happen to like the assistant I ended up with, no matter how ‘inexperienced’ she was.”

Vicky’s smile turned real, and she laughed lightly. “Thank you,” she said as Darien sat her into her chair. “Do you say that to all the women you help stagger from your office?”

“Only the special ones.” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind Vicky’s ear.

She grinned shyly as her boss turned away from her.

“Stay close to her.” He patted Phelan away from his study of the ceiling tiles as he passed back into his office to prepare for the meeting with the head of HR. There had been several complaints from some of the other departments, and they needed to discuss policies. Maybe he should talk to Sue himself. If the woman was that opinionated about one hire that didn’t go through her, maybe she was causing problems for some of the more timid department heads.

***

“Is there anything I can help you with?” Phelan asked, picking up the laptop he had dropped on the floor. He placed it on Vicky’s desk before making his way into the corner behind her to lean against the wall.

She plugged the cable into the back of the computer. “Not really.” Vicky opened the top and looked at the puzzle that the wolf hadn’t finished. “We just have to wait for Mrs. Robinson to arrive.” She clicked on one of the jewels to switch them and clear the line from the game.

It was only three minutes before Mrs. Robinson stepped through the door. She looked at Vicky, then to Phelan leaning against the cabinet behind her, with disapproval. The smile she shot the pair didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m here to see Mr. Ritter,” Mrs. Robinson said as she stepped up to Vicky’s desk.

Vicky gave her a smile just as fake and waved her to the couch. “Please have a seat, and I’ll announce you.” It took everything in her, but Vicky rose very professionally while Mrs. Robinson stood defiantly in front of her desk. Phelan glared at the woman as Vicky forced herself to not show how far out of it she was.

“Mr. Ritter.” She knocked on the door and opened it up. “Mrs. Robinson from HR is here.”

Darien shook his head at Vicky’s posturing and told her to send the woman in.

“He’s ready for you.” She turned around and left the door open so the Human Resource director could go in. Making her way back to her desk, Vicky dropped herself into the chair as Mrs. Robinson went in and shut the door. She was sure the woman was in for a good chewing out. Sue kept her up on the gossip of the building, and that woman was the most complained-about person around. Vicky didn’t feel bad that she told Darien what Sue had overheard; the woman had given her a really hard time since he had informed HR that she was permanent. She did, however, hope he didn’t take his frustrations at the ifrit out on her. Darien mad was something she wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Vicky laid her head down in her arms on the desktop and tried to breathe deeply and evenly. Her head was still swimming a little from the magic. What she really wanted was some water, but she couldn’t walk that far yet, and she wasn’t about to ask Phelan to go and get her some. Even if he was willing to take her cup to the water fountain in the hall, she didn’t want him to leave her alone for that long. Her mind pulled up the face of the man who had been standing just outside Darien’s window, and she shuddered.

The ifrit was nothing like Vicky had expected. She knew he was well built from the time he held her captive in the circle, but she didn’t expect him to be so handsome. The fine, olive skin and long, grayish hair were just too nice to be so evil. Vicky spent a few minutes thinking about the contrast and found she wasn’t especially surprised by this. She had met so many beautiful things that were highly dangerous in the last few weeks.

Laughing silently, she thought about the creatures that had come into her life recently—things like the wolf standing behind her, the vampire she was now living with, and the strange, doglike fay she had become used to. Vicky let out a long sigh. Something soft and warm wiggled up from under her desk to touch her face gently, and she sat up in surprise.

Zak gurgled at her from the darkness.

“Why are you here?” Vicky asked, rolling back in her chair so the small fay could wobble up in her lap.

He growled unhappily as he felt her to make sure she was okay.

“I’m fine,” she reassured him and ruffled his tips with both of her hands.

Zak took hold of her left hand and pulled it over to sniff at the wound. He growled at her again.

Vicky closed her eyes and tipped her head forwards, apologizing to the angry fay.

Whining, Zak rubbed his face into her stomach.

Phelan watched the pair from behind and shook his head at them. He didn’t understand how Vicky could have something like Zak around her and not be scared out of her wits. He was terrified just standing in the same room as the creature. Just the power he could feel from the small fay commanded respect, but she didn’t seem to notice in the slightest. If she was sensitive to magic, how could she not feel it?

“He may not want to be here when Master Darien gets out of his meeting,” Phelan warned. “I’m sure the human in there would react badly to your friend.”

Vicky looked down at the ball of tentacles wiggling in her lap.

Zak snuffled and shivered as his tentacles lost their shape and fell around him in long strands.

She watched in awe as he took the Shih Tzu form he used in public. The tips of his black and silver hair moved unnaturally, but he looked just like any other show dog she had seen. Giggling, Vicky pulled the hair on the top of his head up from his face, and grabbed the beaded thing from the brown vase on her desk. A while back, she had found that it was some type of stretchy band. She wrapped it around the hair so it was up out of Zak’s eyes.

Purring affectionately, he bounced down from her lap to investigate the rest of Vicky’s office.

Phelan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest to wait for the end of the day.

***

Mrs. Robinson came out of Darien’s office a little redder than she had gone in. Darien had obviously said something she hadn’t liked. She nodded curtly to Vicky before turning to head out. “Hey there, cutie,” Mrs. Robinson said when she saw Zak sitting in the middle of the floor. “Aren’t you darling?” She bent to pet him.

Zak growled lightly at her.

“Zak!” Darien cried out right before the fay took a chunk out of Mrs. Robinson’s hand.

She pulled her hand away from the danger she hadn’t realized she was in.

“I’m sorry about that.” Darien crossed the room and scooped Zak from the floor. “It takes him a little bit to get used to strangers.” He patted the fay’s rump, and Zak tipped his head forwards for the woman to pet.

“He’s just so cute,” Mrs. Robinson gushed as she petted the fay. “I didn’t know you owned a dog.” Zak snarled a little, but the woman didn’t pay him any attention.

“He’s Miss Westernly’s.” Darien chuckled and bounced Zak a little to remind him to be nice. Zak calmed, and Mrs. Robinson wrinkled her nose slightly in disgust. If Darien hadn’t been watching for the reaction, he might have missed it. She patted Zak once more, and Darien lifted him up to kiss his head like one would do with a beloved pet.

Zak turned around to lick and nuzzle him happily.

“Have a good week,” Mrs. Robinson tried to say politely, but it came out a little tart.

Darien dropped Zak to the floor as the head of HR turned to make her way to the door.

Zak followed her to make sure she left.

“She really doesn’t like you,” Darien said as soon as the door shut.

Zak shook off his hair and wiggled back to Vicky in his normal form.