Seared by Desire (29 page)

“
I’m proud of you Russell, I’d given up all hope on you as a
brother but you’ve come through for me this time. When I kill
Lucian, I will be King and you will be a prince.”

“
Brother?” Lucian hissed. His eyes wandered over Russell’s
frame, realisation dawning. The similarities were there if one was
actually looking for them but with Russell's short cut hair and
clean shaven face he’d missed them.

“
What are you talking about William?” Russell bristled. “I
brought Lord Lucian here to discuss peace. I don’t want to kill my
Lord.”

“
We will talk peace brother. Peace by way of the
sword.”

“
William, don’t do this. I believed you when you said you
wanted to end this pointless war.”

“
You were always very gullible,” he remarked
casually.

“
Russell,” Lucian began pulling his commander’s attention away
from what looked ready to devolve into a familial dispute. “I want
you to tell me honestly, is William your brother?”

He hung his head in shame. “Yes my Lord, but I swear I
thought he wanted peace, I would give my life gladly to defend
you.”

It may come to that.
“We will
discuss your punishment once we have dealt with the situation. Are
you prepared to kill your brother if the situation arises?” His
voice was hushed in an attempt to prevent William overhearing their
conversation.

“
I have always been prepared my Lord.”

“
That is good to hear.” He turned to William, his voice loud
and confident once more. “William will you step aside and have your
men stand down?”

“
No.”

“
More blood will be spilt needlessly,” Lucian pointed out
casually.

William laughed, the sound cold and cruel. “Look around you
Lucian, you are severely out numbered, you will die this
night.”

Dark eyes landed on every man present, assessing the odds. “I
have faced worse before and lived to speak of it. I cannot
die.”

“
Why? Because of your delicious little bride?”

The monster within him began to wake at the mention of Sara
from his enemy’s mouth. His eyes flashed a dangerous red causing
the more inexperienced fighters among William's group to take a
wise step back. “You have no right to speak of her.”

“
I have every right Lucian. The legendary Quicksilver has been
presented to me as a gift. Once you’re dead, I’ll take her for
myself. By day she will craft swords for my army and by night I
will take both her body and her blood.”

If I die so will she.
The thought
made his blood run cold and his hand fall to the hilt of the blade
Sara had given him mere minutes ago. Her beautiful face flashed
through his mind and his grip tightened in preparation. William and
all gathered were going to die. They were a threat not only to his
life, his desire for peace but to Sara; an unpardonable sin. “You
will regret your words William.” Lucian unsheathed the sword, the
solid weight reassuring in his hand. Sara wanted information on how
to better her sword; he would provide her with an abundance of it.
He spared Russell a cursory glance pleased to find that he also had
a blade in his hand. It was unfortunate for both he and William
that it had come to this.

Lucian almost felt sorry for his adversary; he had no idea
the destruction that was about to be unleashed but it was himself
he was concerned for. There was a monster beneath his skin, one
that wanted death and destruction and didn’t understand the
difference between allies and enemies, seeing only more bodies to
the slaughter more blood to be spilt and would not be satisfied
until he was drenched in blood. The monster was dangerously close
to the surface and in the heat of battle would surface to wreak
havoc. The danger he posed not only to the enemy, but to his own
people, was one of the reasons he was so intent on a peace with
William. His greatest fear was that one day he would lose control
to the monster during combat and never return to his
senses.

But it won’t be this day,
he told
himself forcing himself to believe in his own words. With a loud
roar, he let the monster loose. William had threatened his bride;
there was no method too underhanded, no weapon too dangerous to use
to prevent him from making good on his words.

Chapter Fifteen – When Everything
Burns

At first the intent stares the Malachites were directing at
her was a mere annoyance, but after thirty minutes of being stared
at as though she were an attraction at a fair Sara was sorely
tempted to walk over to them and ask them just what they were
looking at. Thoughts of Lucian had her gritting her teeth and
resuming her work. Gareth was kindly acting as a model for her but
she was unsure how far his good will would extend, already he
looked ready to flee. She ran her hands over his torso once again,
comparing the breadth of his chest to what she remembered of
Lucian's before jotting down the measurements on her small piece of
parchment.

“
I’ve just got to do your arms and then it will all be
finished,” she reassured, her hands traversing the length of both
his arms. More notes were scribbled onto the parchment and then she
pulled away from him. His deep scowl began to fade the moment his
body was his own once again and he stretched his arms above his
head, rolling his head to remove any kinks.

“
Remind me again why I agreed to help you,” he
groused.

“
It’s your own fault really, if you insist on calling me Lady
Sara then you’ve forced yourself to listen to my requests.” His
scowl failed to inspire any fear in her and she laughed, “It wasn’t
that bad. It was over quickly enough.”

“
For you maybe.”

“
Well I’ve finished now so you can go back to throwing evil
glares at the Malachites. If you need me I’ll be over there.” She
pointed to a small, secluded table, tucked away at the back of the
tavern.

“
Lady Sara I’m going to have to insist that you stay here. I
don’t trust those men and if something were to go wrong
–”

“
Nothing will go wrong,” she interrupted
cheerfully.

“
I’m not saying that it will but in case it does, Lord Lucian
would want you to stay close to us so that we could defend you if
the need arose.” There was something going on with the Malachites
he could feel it in his bones. Their eyes wandered to the clock on
the wall far too frequently to simply be waiting for their leader
to arrive. It was as though they were counting down to a specific
time and were anxious for it to arrive quickly.

“
I can take care of myself Gareth. I’m a fire elemental and a
swordsmith remember?”

“
Yes I remember. You’re a very strange fire elemental who acts
nothing like the many I’ve met over my centuries of life and a
swordsmith who doesn’t want to fight. You may be capable of
protecting yourself but that ability is severely handicapped by
your unwillingness to hurt others. Did I forget anything?” She
shook her head. “Then if you wouldn’t mind, please take a seat
at
this
table.
There is plenty of room and plenty of men to protect
you.”

There was clearly no point in disagreeing with him and she
was wasting valuable time arguing with him. Sitting down at the
table, she gathered the small piece of paper with her measurements
on it and her tools to draw the image for the large final piece.
She worked silently, steadily translating the image that was in her
mind onto paper. She would need an accurate representation so that
she could purchase the necessary supplies and materials to complete
her task. Her mind was completely immersed in her task but when a
shadow crept over the paper, obscuring her work, she was thrown
back into the world outside of her thoughts.

She looked up at the person creating the shadow, a scowl
instantly forming on her face at the leering expression he was
using to look her over with. “Yes?” she asked
imperiously.

“
You’re Quicksilver?”

“
I don’t see how that is any of your business. Now if you
don’t mind I’d like you to move, you’re blocking the
light.”

He didn’t move and more Malachites approached the table,
effectively destroying any chance she had to work.

“
The Lady asked you to move,” Gareth hissed moving to stand
behind her. “Or did you not hear her?”

“
There’s nothing wrong with our hearing.”

“
Then move. This woman is Lord Lucian's bride and your future
queen. You will pay her the respect she is owed. Now
move.”

“
No.”

“
Do you not understand what we are trying to do here today?
We’re trying to make peace between our peoples, unify all vampires
under one leader…your actions are putting that plan at risk.” The
man smirked and the hairs on the back of Gareth’s neck rose in
warning, his hand automatically falling to his sword.

“
That may be your plan but it is certainly not ours. My orders
are to take this woman back to my leader.”

“
You’re mad. Lord Lucian will kill you.”

The man’s eyes wandered back to the clock and his smirked
widened. “By now Lucian is dead.”

Sara gasped, shooting to her feet. “What are you talking
about? Lucian's just gone out with Russell, what have you
done?”

“
I have done nothing but Lord William will have dispatched
with him by now. Now, come with us.”

Her flame was rising, her control slipping as her emotions
began to get out of hand.
Lucian can’t be
dead, he can’t be. I won’t let him leave me like that.
“I’m going nowhere with you and when Lucian
returns, and he will, he’s going to hurt you.”

“
Even if Lucian were to somehow escape from Lord William and
make his way back here, we will not be here, neither will you and
neither will anybody else.”

A dagger whistled through the air, missing Gareth’s face by
mere millimetres. He turned slightly, eyeing the blade embedded in
the wall with disgust. “This means war.”

Harsh laughter rent the air, “You act as though we ever
stopped.”

“
A mistake I’m going to rectify. Immediately.” He moved so
quickly he looked like a blur to the naked eye. One minute the
Malachite was laughing, confidently assured of his victory and in
the next second Gareth’s blade was embedded deep in his chest. The
laughter died as he coughed blood, the red droplets dripping down
Gareth’s cheeks. “Lord Lucian lives.” He thrust the blade deeper.
“The same however cannot be said of you and soon it won’t apply to
your friends either.” He pulled the blade free and the man crumpled
to the ground.

As though Gareth’s actions had been a signal, fights erupted
between the two sides, spreading like wildfire until the whole
tavern was filled with the sounds of battle. At first it was simply
steel on steel but as the noise quickly escalated loud battle cries
joined the throng followed by the unmistakable sounds of people
dying.

Sara stood, her body rooted to the spot, transfixed by the
wild savagery before her. Pulled from her state of frozen shock by
a body colliding with her own, she found herself staring at the
ceiling. Rough hands lifted her to her feet and she instinctively
began to struggle, the fire within her rising.

“
Calm yourself Lady Sara, Commander Gareth told me to take you
away from the fighting.”

Wrenching herself from his grip, she let her flames wash over
her, encasing her body in a protective shield. “And why should I
believe anything you have to say?” she screamed, struggling to be
heard over the noise.

“
Lady Sara please believe me. There is no time for doubt, you
must escape.”

The tavern was becoming increasingly crowded, bodies pushing
against her before pulling back when their flesh burned. Her eyes
were drawn to the door, a frown appearing on her face when she saw
more Malachites forcing their way inside.

“
That isn’t going to happen now,” she remarked ruefully. “We
can’t escape and I wouldn’t leave with you anyway. If we both make
it through this alive and I find you were telling the truth, please
accept my sincerest apologies.”

“
It is an honour to serve the Lady of Light.”

His words struck a chord with her. No Malachite would know of
her display of power, Lucian hadn’t allowed the messenger to return
to William's side and he’d been guarded by Gareth himself. The
stranger, whoever he was, was telling the truth. Before she could
form an apology, a knife sank deep into his shoulder. He roared in
anger, ripping the dagger from his body and throwing himself into
the melee.

More bodies pressed against her and she could feel her anger
rising. The peace talks were a ruse and had been from the first.
The Malachites had taken advantage of Lucian's kindness and his
desire for peace and were trying to kill him; they wanted to
separate her from him. It was unacceptable. Gareth had mocked her
for being different to other fire elementals but as her thoughts
churned and her anger rose, she felt herself becoming more and more
similar to the people she’d left behind. No one tried to take
something from a fire elemental, especially not someone as special
to her as Lucian without facing dire consequences. Her flames rose,
expanding past her skin as they became hotter and more intense. Her
eyes were drawn to the tavern door, to the Malachites struggling to
enter and cause more harm and her anger instantly found an outlet.
Summoning her flame, she created a wall of fire, her outstretched
hand pushing the wall back and forcing those nearest to retreat.
Angrily she walked over to Gareth, a path forming instantly when
people were confronted with the intensity of her flame.