Kindling Flames: Stolen Fire (The Ancient Fire Series Book 4) (4 page)

Darien stepped back to where Vicky was looking into the darkness between the vehicles. “Come out,” he demanded of the dark shape hiding there. A tawny wolf slunk out into the light. Darien relaxed as he recognized the werewolf cowering before him. “What are you doing here, Sue?”

Sue whined a little and limped over to huddle against Vicky’s leg.

Shock filled Vicky as her eyes found dark patches of blood in Sue’s orangish fur. “Darien!” Vicky gasped, bending to look for the source of the blood. There was a nasty bite mark on Sue’s hindquarter. “What have you been up to?” Vicky asked the wolf.

Sue whined and shivered in the cool air of the garage.

Darien looked down at the wounded wolf. “Come on. Let’s get her home, and I’ll call Rupert.”

Sue whined again and leaned on Vicky as Darien led the way to a metallic-red Range Rover.

Pushing the button to pop the back hatch, he stuck the flowers inside. “Come on, girl.” Darien reached down to pick Sue up into the car. He staggered under her weight, and Vicky grabbed him to keep them both from going over. Sue whimpered as Darien manhandled her into the back, where she curled up and looked out at them.

“Can you do something for her?” Vicky asked, worried about her friend.

Darien reached his hand out to touch the wound, and Sue snarled at him, hunching up away from him. He quickly pulled his hand back from her.

“It’s all right, Sue. He won’t hurt you,” Vicky said, trying to calm her.

Sue growled a little and laid her head down.

Darien sighed deeply. “I don’t think she wants me to help. Let’s just get her home. It’s won’t take much time for her to heal that, anyway.” He shut the hatch down and ushered Vicky around to the passenger’s side.

She nodded and got into the SUV. She couldn’t help but wonder how her friend had come to be here in that condition.

Darien shut her door and made his way back to the driver’s side. He looked down at his hands, thinking. What was going on? Sue couldn’t have weighed more than two hundred pounds. That should have been easy. He’d never had a problem lifting anything in the past, why did he now? His mind left that problem and slipped to another. What had happened to Sue? If she was hurt, shouldn’t she have gone home to Rupert? Darien took a deep breath and let it out before sliding into the driver’s seat of the unfamiliar SUV. He was going to need most of his concentration to get the much-larger vehicle safely through the streets of the city.

Letting out a long sigh, Darien slipped the key out of the ignition of his new Range Rover. The drive through city traffic had been grueling this evening. An ambulance and several police cars near the city center had slowed the normally heavy traffic to a crawl, making the already-long day longer. Darien just wanted to go inside and lie down for a while. Glancing at the wolf curled up next to the roses in the back of the SUV, he drew another deep breath before getting out. He still had to call Rupert before he could rest.

By the time Darien reached the back of the car, Vicky had the hatch open. Sue slipped from the vehicle with ease. Her fur may have been coated in drying blood, but the oozing wound had nearly healed. Retrieving the flowers, Darien led the way into the building.

Ethan greeted them with his normal, warm welcome but raised an eyebrow at Sue. He had gotten used to some of Darien’s eccentric ways, but the large wolf leaning against Vicky’s leg was definitely noteworthy. “Excuse me, Mr. Ritter.” Ethan pinned an awkward smile to his face. “You really need to have that animal on a leash.”

Darien shot Ethan a piqued glance. “It’s okay.” He pushed the suggestion out to the concierge and turned his attention back to where he was going.

“Pardon me, sir, but it’s not okay,” Ethan reprimanded. “I know I haven’t enforced the rules for your Shih Tzu, I mean, how much damage can such a cute thing do?” A stifled laugh from Vicky drew Ethan’s attention for a moment. He looked at her curiously before turning his attention back to Darien. “But, you
are
required to have pets on a leash in the common areas.”

Darien just stared at Ethan, confused. Why hadn’t Ethan bent under the suggestion? The man had had his will bent so many times that it shouldn’t have taken anything to bend it again.

Vicky stepped in when she sensed Darien’s confusion. “We’re sorry.” She sunk her fingers into the thick hair at the back of Sue’s neck. “We hadn’t expected to bring her home with us.” Vicky gave Ethan her warmest smile as she went on to explain. “See, she belongs to a friend of ours, and when we found her injured, we couldn’t just leave her.”

The mention of an injury drew Ethan’s eyes to the dark bloodstains on Sue’s coat.

“Could you find it in your heart to forgive us just this once?” Vicky pleaded with him.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed a little as he considered his options.

“Please?” Vicky added for good measure.

Ethan let out a deep breath and nodded his head. “Sure, but just this once.” He held up his hand with one finger up as he spoke. “But, please make sure your dog is on a leash from now on.”

“Thank you.” Vicky nodded her head and reached up to push Darien back into motion.

Still in shock, Darien let Vicky push him to the elevator doors, where she punched the button and hurried them out of the lobby. “What just happened?” he asked, trying to process the events. He was sure that he had pushed enough power into his words to command the young man.

Vicky chuckled. “We got yelled at.” She patted Darien’s arm and smiled to herself. “I didn’t know there was a leash law in the building.”

Darien looked at her, confused. He shook his head, trying to clear the fatigue from it. “Yeah,” he answered as the rules of the building ran through his mind. “Pets are supposed to be on a leash at all times in the common areas.”

Vicky laughed at the idea of trying to put the wiggly ball of tentacles on a lead. “Oh, I’m sure Zak will
love
that.”

Darien couldn’t help but smile at that image as the door to his penthouse opened up. Sue leaned into Vicky as they led the way out of the elevator.

He pushed the failed suggestion to the back of his mind for the moment. Right now, he had an injured werewolf to look after. “Come on.” Leading the way into the kitchen, Darien set the large vase of flowers on the breakfast nook table. “We need to find Sue something to eat.” He stripped off his overcoat and folded it over the back of one of the iron chairs.

Vicky looked down at the blood drying on Sue’s fur and back up to Darien pulling off his suit coat. “But, shouldn’t we get her cleaned up first?”

Darien looked at the werewolf sitting by Vicky’s feet. “Healing such a wound takes a lot of energy,” he explained as he took the cutting board from its home. “It’s best that we feed her first.” Adding a large knife to the board, he turned to the cabinets on the wall opposite the sink.

Vicky considered this as she scrubbed her fingers into the fur at the back of Sue’s neck. “Is there anything I can do to help?” She stepped away from the patiently waiting werewolf. Dropping her bag onto the iron chair, she laid her coat over Darien’s.

Retrieving two metal mixing bowls from the cabinet, Darien added them to the growing pile of supplies. “Can you fill one of these with water?” He turned to the refrigerator, leaving the bowls for Vicky.

“Sure.” Vicky pulled the smaller of the two bowls to the sink and ran cool water in it.

Darien retrieved several paper-wrapped packages from the meat drawer. He placed these on the table with the cutting board and broke the tape. Rolling a roast out on the cutting board, he started reducing the meat to bite-sized chunks with the large knife.

Sue shifted when the smell of the meat hit her, but she stayed seated where Vicky had left her.

Taking the bowl of water over to where Sue waited, Vicky set it down in front of her friend. “Here.”

Sue sniffed at the water but turned her attention back to Darien dumping his work into the second bowl. He opened the second package of stew meat and added this to the first pile of chunks. Sue fidgeted more as Darien picked up the bowl and turned to her.

“Aren’t you going to cook that?” Vicky asked, horrified that Darien intended to feed her friend raw meat.

Darien paused and looked at Vicky, then Sue, and then the bowl.

Sue had stood up and was staring at the bowl intently.

He held it down for the wolf to see. “Do you want me to cook it?”

Sue gripped the bowl in her teeth and pulled it down.

Darien set it on the floor, and the hungry werewolf dug in with relish.

Vicky’s stomach flipped a little at the thought of eating raw meat, and she turned away.

Darien caught her eye and smiled as he went to clean up the counter. “Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “She’s a werewolf. She prefers it that way.”

Vicky looked back to her friend and nodded her head. It really did look as if Sue were enjoying the raw slivers of flesh.

Darien finished washing up and turned to look at the werewolf then up to Vicky. “Keep an eye on her. I’m going to go call Rupert.”

Vicky nodded as Darien left through the door to the foyer. Letting out a deep sigh, she turned to the coats stacked on the iron chair. “I’m going to put these up,” she informed Sue, picking up the pile of clothing and heading out to the closet. Hanging Darien’s suit coat on the end of the banister, she dropped her bag on the floor next to it.

Once the rest of the outerwear was stashed in the hall closet, Vicky returned to the kitchen. The growl from her friend made Vicky stop just inside the door. Her eyes came to rest on the tense scene in front of her. Zak had wiggled in from the living room and was gurgling while staring at Sue’s bowl.

“Zak!” Vicky reprimanded the small horror.

Zak looked up at her and chirped.

Vicky scooped him up and away from where Sue was eating. “That’s not for you.”

Zak wiggled intently towards the raw meat.

“If you’re hungry, I can get you something.” Taking the little fay over to the refrigerator, Vicky pulled the door open. She took out a package of sliced turkey and ripped it open.

Zak’s wiggling ends were into the package and shifting the thin slices of meat into his sharp teeth before Vicky could set him back onto the floor. He consumed the entire stack of meat and started chewing on the plastic.

“Bottomless pit,” Vicky grumbled as she found some more treats for the hungry fay. She dumped a packet of sausages out, and he nabbed them up before they could hit the ground.

Sue watched from her bowl as Vicky passed bits of food to the hellhound.

After a while, Vicky shut the door to the refrigerator. “You have had enough,” she complained, taking the many empty packages away from the little horror.

Sue snickered and nosed her mostly empty bowl towards Zak.

The little fay turned at the sound. Gurgling his appreciation, he wobbled over and buried his face into the remains of Sue’s dinner.

Vicky just laughed at him. “Thank you, Sue.” Reaching down, she tugged on a few of Zak’s writhing feelers.

The small fay gurgled his pleasure and licked the blood from the bowl.

“Let’s go get you cleaned up.” Vicky held open the kitchen door so Sue could lead the way out and up the steps to the bathroom. Snagging her bag on the way past, Vicky dropped it in her room before following them in to the bathroom. “Would you like a bath or a shower?” Vicky asked the wolf.

Sue hopped over the edge of the tub and sat down at the end away from the faucet.

Vicky looked at her, confused. “Do you want to shift back, so you can relax?”

Sue shook her head.

Cocking her head in confusion, Vicky started the water running. In a few moments it was hot, so she plugged up the drain. “Bubbles?” Vicky offered the rose-scented soap to her friend.

Sue let out a strange noise that sounded like laughter and shook her head.

To Vicky’s surprise, Zak wobbled into the room, right over the edge of the tub, and into the water. She hadn’t expected him to come in and help. Darien tended to yell at the hellhound for joining her in the bath. “Okay.” Vicky said, confused. When Zak grabbed the brush she used on him and started running it over the bloody area on Sue’s back, Vicky figured out what was going on. “Let me get changed, and I’ll be right back to help.” She left Sue in Zak’s care as she went to change. Obviously, Sue was not in the mood to shift, and it would be much easier to help her friend wash away the blood if she didn’t have to worry about getting her work clothing wet.

***

Darien lay back on his couch and studied the drifts of clouds painted on his ceiling. The phone call to Rupert had not gone as Darien had expected. Instead of being happy to hear his sister was all right, Rupert had been very abrupt. Darien could tell that his friend was pissed about something, but the alpha wolf didn’t stay on the line long enough to tell Darien anything other than he was on his way. Darien closed his eyes and let his mind drift over the day.

Something still bothered him about the bouquet of roses that Vicky had received. It wasn’t Elliot’s style to send that type of present, but the younger vampire was really the only person who knew about the wedding arrangements other than Vicky’s friends. If the flowers had come from either of them, they would have signed the card.

Pushing that from his mind, Darien next contemplated how his suggestion to Ethan had failed. Sure, he was bad with memory manipulation, but he had always been able to bend people to his will. What was happening to him?

Darien let out a long breath, relaxing a bit more. He was bone-tired and somewhat achy. The feeling of his menagerie pressing on the edges of his mind gave him a moment of thought. Maybe they were straining him more then he realized. He had almost dropped Sue when he lifted her into the car. Could the additional load on his powers be stressing him that much? It had been a long time since he had last supported a group as large as this, but he didn’t remember his fledglings ever being this hard on him before.