Rhuul's Flame (2 page)

“I cannot eat gold, Rhuul. It is illegal for my kind to have money in Akash. We are seen as servants at best.”

Rhuul curled his fingers into his palm, making the gold disappear. “Then what do you eat?”

Ghena tilted his head to the side, watching with a quizzical expression. He remained silent for a few moments, as if he was unsure of what to say. “If I have the choice, I do enjoy haraka berries.”

Rhuul frowned in confusion and stood up straight. “Haraka berries?”

“Over here.” Ghena led him to a nearby stall, loaded with exotic fruits and vegetables.

Rhuul watched as Ghena pointed to an assortment of plump, purple berries, speckled with sparkling white spots. “I’ll take all the haraka berries you have.” He pulled conjured coins from his pockets and paid for the strange fruits. He passed the parcel to his new companion and watched him eat several berries at once, leaving a ring of dark purple juice around the fur of his muzzle. “You have your berries. What do I need to know about Kref?”

*

Ghena looked up at Rhuul, noting his strange appearance in comparison to the rest of the people in Kref. Rhuul was taller than most. Ghena estimated his height as easily over six feet, with large, leathery wings on his back, their tips resting near his ankles. He was dressed in leather from head to toe. There was no way of knowing what animal supplied the skin, but what was clear were his rippling muscles beneath the garments.

His shoulders, biceps, and forearms were developed, but not massive. The planes of his chest and abs flexed with his breaths and tightened with his speech. Strong thighs and toned legs supported his sculpted torso, completing his long, lean frame.

His skin was bronze and looked smooth. He had a strong jaw with straight, white teeth, his canines slightly elongated. His eyes were the color of dying embers and appeared to smolder when he was angry. There was no hair on his head, save for his eyebrows and thick lashes, which were dark and shiny.
What exactly is he?

Ghena wondered about the stranger from the moment he saw him, but up close, he was unlike anything he’d ever seen. His peculiar appearance didn’t seem to bother the females in Kref. Their eyes were glued to Rhuul, resulting in a din of tittering and conversation in multiple languages.

Ghena couldn’t focus on them right now; there were more important things to take care of. He pointed a clawed finger, making a sweeping gesture around him. “This is where the people of Kref come to buy food, trade, and meet. You will find many items here, but we must not linger. It is late in the evening, and you’ll need a room.” He popped another haraka berry into his mouth, delighting in the sweet juice coating his tongue before he swallowed it down. “There are rooms to rent. This way.” He loped toward a grouping of short buildings, their roofs angled toward the ground.

“Evening?” Rhuul looked up at the orange sky, turning to his right and then his left. There was a sun on each side, seemingly splitting the world in half. “The two suns are high in the sky.”

Ghena stopped in his tracks, pondering Rhuul’s confusion. “Ah, I understand. You’re expecting the sky to darken. That doesn’t happen in Akash. The two suns provide continuous light. Come, you must find a room. If we are found outside after the hour of plenith, the magister’s enforcers will come to collect a tax from us.”

“These enforcers will not take anything from me.” The smoldering look returned to Rhuul’s eyes, and Ghena snorted in response.

“You are not in your realm, Rhuul. Enforcers have binding abilities. They can block your magic and absorb your strength. If you aren’t careful, they could kill you.”

Rhuul’s jaw tensed, the tiny muscles flexing under his bronze skin. “I will not die so easily.” The tall stranger ended his words abruptly, appearing to think on something.

“That’s good to know, but you are not the first to arrive here with those thoughts.” Ghena walked toward the inns, enjoying haraka berries as they went. “Do you remember what I said? Here in Kref, you must watch and learn”
He’s going to be trouble.

* * * *

After stopping in two buildings, Rhuul settled on the inn with the least repugnant smell. The first building had an odor he could only describe as rotten, while the second smelled of death.

The third building had a thick, musky aroma. As they made their way up the creaking stairs, he understood why. The sounds of moans and grunts greeted his ears when he reached the landing, reminding him of how long it had been since he’d lain with a female.

Tightening his belt, he tried to block out the noises as he walked down the hall toward his room. One of the doors ahead was open, the sounds of passion rushing out into the hall as if to greet him with an embrace. He couldn’t keep his eyes forward as he approached the entrance.

The room was large, with several cushions and pillows piled into the center. Long, sheer fabric encircled the decorative pads, but these details were all but ignored. Four females moaned, writhed, and entangled themselves above the body of a single male. He pleasured two of the females with his fingers, sinking them into their depths, leaving them glistening with their pearlized juices. The third female rocked her core against his mouth, the single eye in the center of her face shut tight. The fourth bounced in his lap, his hips rocking up to meet her. Her head was thrown back, her breasts shaking with each descent.

Rhuul was transfixed. If the pulsing in his pants was any indication, he was more than just curious about the scene in front of him. He felt a compulsion to step into the room, pull one of the females from the pile, pin her to the wall, and show her what true pleasure was all about.

“Careful. In Kref, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.” Ghena’s voice sounded far away, and Rhuul didn’t even look in his direction.

Rhuul’s mind was in a fog; a thick haze of pleasure seemed to encircle him as he watched the nude bodies of the females in the room. He wanted—no, needed—a release, as the leather of his pants held his protesting flesh prisoner.

His mouth went dry as he watched the sheen of sweat on their bodies, shimmering seductively in the light dozens of candles. The undulation of their curves, the jiggles, the way they rubbed each other. It was like a siren’s call, erasing all other thoughts from his head.

One of the women looked in his direction and sauntered toward him, completely unashamed of her nakedness. If anything, she seemed proud, thrusting her pert breasts forward while running her fingers along the side of her neck. Her deep red skin and voluptuous frame tantalized him, and he stepped forward to meet her.

There were no words between them. She stared at him with deep purple eyes, parting her luscious lips to release a breath that smelled of sweet wine. She placed her palms on his chest before sliding them over the leather of his vest and down to his pants.

“Rhuul, you—” Ghena didn’t get to finish.

Rhuul’s thoughts of desire and need were quelled when he felt her slender fingers slide toward his pocket. He gripped her wrist, lifting his wings wide. “I may be new to this place, but I am no fool.” He drew her close for only a moment before he flung her back to her companions. The other females were startled when she landed on them, each gasping and complaining.

The lone male pulled his face from the body of the woman above him and turned to look at Rhuul.

“A word to the wise. Mind your coins.” Rhuul turned to leave and when he heard Ghena laugh, he shook his head, a smile spreading his own lips.

“Everything comes at a price.” Ghena munched on another berry as they stood outside the door to their room.

“Yes, even you.”

“I gave you my price up front.” Ghena held the bag of berries up to illustrate his point.

“Very true.” Rhuul chuckled as he opened the door. The room was slightly smaller than the one they’d just seen, but this one had three smaller rooms inside. Rhuul walked around the sparse space, noting the uneven stone table and wooden chairs in the main room. As they moved farther inside, he found two bedrooms and a bathing area. “I’ll take the bedroom on the right. The other one’s yours.”

Ghena’s eyes went wide before he nodded and ambled toward his room, gripping the bag of berries tight in his tiny hands.

Inside his chosen room, Rhuul removed his vest and stretched his wings. The room smelled musty, and as he looked at the bed, he wondered if the sheets had ever been laundered. “I could probably be impregnated just sitting on that bed.”

Conjuring weapons and gold was an easy task, but other items required more concentration. He closed his eyes, tapping into the magic flowing through him. He held his palms out in front of his body, his skin all but humming as the magic coursed through his system. A few moments passed before he felt the weight of fabric in his hands. He smiled and flung his conjured linens over the bed. The sheets were unique to him. They rose up several inches in the center. When he rested his back against this area, it supported his spine higher than the surface of the mattress, allowing his wings to spread comfortably beneath him without being pressed under the weight of his body.

The events of the day replayed in his head as he stared at the angled ceiling above him. Thoughts of his grandfather, Iethro, ruler of Karn, Braka, guard captain, and his father, Veen, swirled in his head. “One day you’ll regret crossing me.”

It didn’t take long for sleep to claim him, and he slipped easily into the world of dreams. He was inside the room with the four women from earlier, only he was the male beneath their wanton bodies. He hissed out a breath as one of the females sank down onto him, sheathing him in her slick passage. Before he could speak, a breast was pressed to his lips, and he readily suckled and teased the bright blue nipple.

He was surrounded by pleasure, enveloped in luscious heat, and enjoying every minute as he thrust upward into the almost delirious woman bouncing on his lap. One by one, he reduced them to quivering heaps of spent female. As he pumped into the last, he felt ready to explode, her body constricting around him with blissful pressure. He swore loudly as his balls tightened, feeling liquid heat in his veins.

“Rhuul! Help me! Please, I need you!”

He shook his head upon hearing the voice of a woman he did not know. He looked at the females, but they appeared to be unaware of anything out of the ordinary. He thrust harder, determined to feel his own release. “I’m—”

“Rhuul, please! They’re going to kill me!”
The voice sounded pained and desperate. It was as clear as a bell, and yet it sounded far away.

He couldn’t explain it, but he felt an urgency in that moment. His heart beat faster, his breaths quickened, and he pulled himself from the trembling woman above him, pushing her to the side. “Who are you?”

“Please help me! I can’t keep this up!”
Her voice was fading, and for some reason, the gods only knew why, Rhuul was terrified he’d never hear it again.

“Where are you? Tell me how to find you.” Silence greeted his ears, and he began to panic. In the space of a breath, he’d conjured his swords into his hands. “Answer me!” There was no sound. A quick flap of his wings and he was on his feet. Everything around him turned into darkness, but he ran forward, moving in the direction of the woman’s voice. “Where are you?”

“Rhuul!”
She screamed his name with a voice filled with bloodcurdling agony.

Rhuul sat up straight, his eyes wide. He was covered in sweat and breathing as if he’d just run a great distance. His swords were in his hands, and he gripped them tight. “I’m in the inn. It was just a dream.”

He made his weapons disappear, but there was no escaping the dread filling him. He’d never experienced something so strong, and as he lay back in bed, he tried to shake it off. “This realm is playing tricks on me.” He would say anything to alleviate the anxiety racing through his veins. For the first time in his life, he felt something strong for another person. Panic.

Chapter 2

“Did you rest well, Avalea?”

The sound of her captor’s voice jolted her into consciousness, making her aware of the arcs of pain dancing through her arms. She pulled at the chains above her, attached to thick shackles around her wrists. Her skin was raw beneath the heavy metal, and as she struggled, she felt fresh blood trickle down her arms. She’d been hanging there for what felt like days, losing track of time in the underground darkness.

The sudden light of lanterns being lit made her squint, reminding her how much she missed the suns. Down here, light meant pain, and she was almost at her limit. The small pools of light coalesced, allowing her to see the tomes of binding, still floating around her. The books lay flat in midair, their pages turning on their own as if someone was flipping through them at great speed. As long as those pages were moving, she couldn’t use her powers.

“I asked you a question. Do I have to repeat it?”

“If you’re going to kill me, Gali, just do it.” She tried to look defiant as she stared at the blue-skinned Corri walking toward her, but inside, she was terrified, feeling a lump in her throat as her mind tried to prepare her for what he might do next. His white Mohawk gleamed in the firelight, his deep blue eyes shining.

Corri were wellknown for their thievery. Like the Omala, Corri looked like humans, but their blue skin marked their heritage. For the most part, they were swindlers, troublemakers, and liars, but what made them dangerous was their knowledge of binding. They never worked alone and were avoided at all costs. The towns were the only safe haven for those wanting to steer clear of them. Guards and magical sentinels were trained with special techniques to overcome the tricks of the Corri, keeping the lawbreakers at a safe distance.

The Corri stalked the areas between the cities, making travel a risk for all. Of course, if onehad the coin, theycould hire Corri to guard themon their journey. One way or another, the ever-prowling Corri were going to get something from everyone.

“I’m not going to kill you yet. Not until you tell me where my
nystrum
is.” Gali moved closer, clutching a short, glowing metal rod in his hand.