Open Flame (Dragon's Fate) (13 page)

“Well then.” Madoc pushed to his feet. “Shall we?” He held out his hand.

Fina’s fingers trembled as she placed her hand into his palm. “If this does not work?”

“You can come back here anytime. I will wait for you. Always.”

“So I should stay with my pa, then?”

“That is up to you. I will have to take a ship back to England.” He reached up and touched her face. “You will be fine.”

She nodded and entwined her fingers with his. “Maybe we should both say
I wish
together?”

“If it will help. I see no harm in that.”

She stared into his eyes, and they both said, “I wish to go home.”

The
tick tick tick tick tick
of time slowed down, and a flash of light shimmered in the room. When she had done this before in his hotel room, time had not slowed.

Something was different.

They stepped into the light together. The light faded, and Madoc glanced around. Fire burned in three large sandstone hearths along one wall. A trough of fire burned in the floor along the outer walls in the room. Wide, warm stone arches reached up to the ceiling like lungs to breathe with. His room. Home.

The large bed made of black lava with nothing but silk sheets covering the mattress sat off to the corner. His elemental room on the Isle.

They were home.

“Where are we?” Fina spun about. “This is not my home.”

“It is ours. This is my room on the Isle. It’s not where you wanted to go, but it is our home. Let’s try again, shall we?”

“I-I want to look around, but I need to get to Pa first.”

“Quite so. We need to ensure all is well before we indulge in what our life will be.”

He grasped her other hand and pulled her to him. “I look forward to showing you the Isle and introducing you to my brothers. All that can wait.”

She nodded again. “This is all so overwhelming.”

Their gazes caught, and he knew everything was as it should be. They belonged together.

“I wish to go to my room in my father’s home.”

Time slowed down again, and a flash of light illuminated the room. The light faded, and they stood in a small room that had a simple bed made up with a yellow-and-blue quilt. He raised his eyebrows. The same colors as the hotel.

“My room.” She pulled from him and headed for the door.

“Fina.”

She turned back toward him.

“Remember to concentrate on your feelings as you are speaking to Catherine. You are in control of your elements and strength. No one else.”

She nodded. “Are you coming with me?”

“Quite so.” He walked up behind her. “We are much more together. Though if your father remembers me, my presence may make things more difficult.”

Fina slowly opened the door to the hall. Her heart hammered in her breast. She grasped the iron door handle, pulled the door wide, then shut it. “I’m home,” she yelled into the hallway.
Calm, stay calm.

“Fina?” Catherine called from the kitchen.

“Indeed, and I have a friend with me.” She nervously glanced at Madoc. The top of his head almost touched the ceiling. His shoulders filled the width of the hallway, yet his relaxed smile indicated an ease in the small space. His presence here would keep her mind and emotions level. The last thing she wanted was to lose control and burn the shop to the ground.

Catherine walked out into the hall. “Welcome home. Your father is in the kitchen at the table.” Catherine stopped and stared at Madoc. Her gaze traveled his length, and then she did the same to Fina.

“Catherine, this is Madoc. I met him in Paris, and after some trouble there, he accompanied me home.” Catherine didn’t need to know the rest. “We need to talk with Pa.”

“A pleasure to meet you, sir. Are you well, Fina? Where is Jonathan? Where did you get that dress?”

Her stomach tightened. Catherine had no right to question her. “I am quite well.”
Keep the fire at bay.
“Jonathan stayed in Paris for the rest of the Spectacle.” Fina walked down the hall to the kitchen. The pouches in her cheeks grew with pressure.
Concentrate on Madoc’s presence.

Madoc’s heat stayed with her the entire length of the hall. Without even looking at him, he was there. He would always be there. The knowledge sat in her gut and anchored her. She would do no harm here today. He was all she needed.

Catherine scurried into the kitchen before them. “I don’t understand. You could not have even made it to France if you are home now. What is on your nose?”

She reached up and ran her finger down the ruby scales and glanced at Madoc. He winked at her, and his lips curled up. “I tripped again. Madoc took me to the doctor, and the cut is healing.”

They entered the kitchen. Pa sat at the kitchen table as he always had. Her chest tightened, and tears of happiness moistened her eyes. Fina ran to her pa’s side and knelt down next to him. She picked his hand up and placed his curved, wrinkled fingers in hers. “Pa.” She stared at his face. “How are you doing today?” Green eyes stared back at her, and he smiled.

“You are home. Daughter.” He tipped his head and looked back toward the door from the hall. “Who do you have with you?”

Fina looked at Madoc. “This is Madoc.” She bit her lip. Did he have a last name? Or did they call themselves Zir? Fina stared at her father’s weathered face. No recognition of Madoc shone in his emerald-green eyes.

Madoc inclined his head to Catherine. “May you give us a few moments alone, Mrs. Byron?”

Catherine’s brown eyes widened. “I should not leave my husband’s side.”

Anger welled in Fina’s stomach. The unpleasant nausea of the fire threatened to overtake her control.

Madoc stepped closer to her. His spicy-pepper-and-sweet smell floated about her as if he had hugged her himself. Her angry urge eased from her body.

Concentrate on my feelings.
Madoc’s voice threaded through her memory. Anger wound her stomach tight. Fear for her father made her heart pound against her ribs. Gooseflesh washed her arms.

Indeed, her strength and the love of a powerful, caring man wrapped around her tight. Did he love her? She looked at him, and their gazes met. His lips tipped up in a smile that spoke to her soul. Even if he had never said the word, his love danced in his every touch, word, act.

She would concentrate on that. Everything she cared about was protected in this moment. The pouches in her mouth eased, and she released a small amount of smoke through her nostrils. “It is all well, Catherine. I am here if Pa needs something, and I know you won’t go far.”

“Very well. I will go and open the shop. Will you bring your father up to the shop after he finishes his repast?”

“Of course.” Madoc smiled at her.

Catherine grasped the brass key from the counter and her brown-and-gray shawl from the back of one of the wooden kitchen chairs. She glanced back once more and then strode down the hall and out the door.

Fina blew out a breath. “Pa, this is Madoc. He is a good man. He is here to help us.”

Her father rubbed his chin, and his gray-streaked brown hair slipped over his ear, half covering his eye. “Do we need help, daughter?”

“I have so much to say. I don’t know where to start.” She glanced at Madoc. “The beginning is best.”

“Indeed. Always is.” Her father squeezed her hand.

Fina told him of Madoc. Of him coming to the shop and of meeting him in Paris. She left out the bit about becoming Zir and distance jumping.

Her father stared at Madoc. “I had not been well for days before you came to the shop those years back.”

“I should have told you Franco sent me.” Madoc pulled out a chair and sat next to him. “But I didn’t know if you were aware of who Franco was.”

“Franco.” Her father nodded his head. Then shook it. “A fool with all his mad talk about time. But an excellent watchsmith.”

“Not a fool. He is a part of time that you know exists. Five ticks verses three.”

Her father made the tick for both three, then five with his mouth. “I met Franco years ago. His theories challenged my mind. He always believed there was more to time than what I saw. I decided to try to prove his mind either mad or sound. In doing so, I created some of the most beautiful, creative clocks in all of England.”

Fina squeezed his hand again. “Indeed you have.”

Madoc leaned in closer to her and her pa. “There is some unpleasant news that we discovered in France.” He glanced to Fina, then stared back at her father. “This is not something I am proud to say. Fina discovered your apprentice and your wife have—”

Her pa closed his eyes and shook his head. “I know.” He slammed his deformed hand on the tabletop. “I don’t want to know the specifics. We have struggled since my illness. They are not to blame.”

“But Pa—” Her eyes widened as she stared at her father. Stress weathered his skin. The texture stretched taut over his cheekbones. Thin wrinkled old lips turned down in a frown above his bony chin. It was his prerogative not to know more. “But, Pa, with Madoc’s help, there are other options now.”

“I will hear no more about this.” Soft, caring green eyes challenged her to say more.

Fina closed her eyes. It was his choice. She would not blurt out the details of the deception.

“Mr. Byron. There is good news to express today as well.”

Fina’s gaze shot to Madoc. His amber eyes met her stare, full of life, love, compassion and certainty.

Her pa looked at Fina and then to Madoc.

Madoc concentrated his attention to her father. “I am in love with your daughter. I realize how unconventional a man of my station asking for your daughters hand is, but I wish to marry her and take care of all who are dear to her.”

He said the word she had been feeling in his actions. He loved her. She stared at him, and her chest tightened, and her heart overflowed with joy she had no desire to hold in.

“Daughter?” Her pa squeezed her hand once more. “You wish this too?”

She stared at Madoc. Long black hair, and his knee-length vests, his lacy shirts and his crescent on his cheek. Everything about him defied convention.

He had bitten her without permission and thrown her into this new strange world. Yet she desired him. His strength now pulsed in her veins. She would learn this new life as his mate.

They were stronger together.

He wanted her and her family to be well. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

Madoc wet his lips. “There is no rush, of course. I wish for your blessing and your daughter’s full consent.” He closed his amber eyes. A lock of his shiny black hair slid loose from his queue and over his shoulder. “The offer is open ended. I will wait for her.”

Fina surged to her feet. “I do wish this, Pa.”

She walked to Madoc and angled her head up to stare into his amazing amber eyes. “I do want you. I have so many questions still, but I know with everything I am that you will teach me.”

She turned back to her pa. “I want us to leave this house and live with Madoc. He will take care of us in a way that Catherine and Jonathan cannot.”

Her father’s shoulders drooped, and his eyes shimmered with sadness. “Please understand, daughter. Catherine has only been looking out for our survival. No matter what she has done, I love her. I will not leave her.”

Fina’s heart sank, but she respected her father. He still surprised her with his knowledge and understanding. Fina recaptured his hand. “I will support your decision. I just can’t overlook everything she has done as easily as you can.”

He nodded. “I have no wish to know what she has done. My wish is that you never have to understand what this is like. My body does not work like it should. My mind and my emotions still run deep. I wish you a life of health and happiness, daughter.”

She hugged her pa’s small frame. “I love you. I only want you to be happy.”

“Seeing you happy and married…” His eyes glossed with tears. “A fine match indeed.”

Chapter Nine

Hudson walked from Franco’s shop on the Champs d’Elysee. The small sapphire working he and Madoc had commissioned he tucked into his breast pocket. He had never seen anything quite so beautiful. Tempted, he pulled the package out once more. He unwrapped the small gem and held it up before him. The shiny wheel the size of his fingertip glittered with night magic. The etching Fina had drawn glimmered to rippling life with each turn. Amazing. How she did that he would never know. Different from any other working they’d created. This would work. His lips tipped up with expectation and hope.

The journey home would be grueling and long, knowing he had the possible cure for his anguish tucked in his pocket. He returned the gem to his breast pocket.

Laura. Her earthy-brown eyes danced with love and life as she had opened the watch he’d made for her on her twenty-second name day. That watch had been the last gift he’d given her. They had loved each other like no other love he had ever known.

It had been hard to encourage Madoc in his blooming love when Hudson still mourned his own love. He pulled out his own pocket watch and flipped open the case. The image of two bluebirds and a flowering tree branch was painted on the inside cover. Laura’s sweet voice came back to him.