Light the Fire

18

Now that we’d seen what my fire could do to the shades, I summoned even more of it. Blane grabbed a torch off the wall and swept it through my ball of flame, lighting it instantly. Falon picked up a discarded chair and broke it over his knee, splintering the wood into pieces. He tossed them to Derel and Roth, and they gestured for me to light their stakes as well. Roth hesitated as his stake lit up with fire, no doubt remembering how he got his injury, but then he guarded me from the shades with the others.

We backed up behind a discarded bookshelf and some tables, but the shades moved right through the furniture without slowing at all. Blane rushed the closest one with a roar, swiping his torch at it. The other shades surrounded us almost instantly, and I could barely summon fire fast enough to blast them before they got to me. The men fought them off with their improvised fiery weapons, although the shades' claws still managed to rip through their clothes and s***h their skin.

As another of my men cried out, fear swelled within me and I prayed to the Fire God for help. We were in his temple, doing his work, why wasn’t he helping us? Was this some kind of test? Were we on our own?

But he’d given me a gift, and even though I barely knew how to control it, I felt it flickering inside me. My fear and determination to protect my mates only made it flare hotter, and I let out a roar and spread my arms, calling forth the Fire God’s wrath with power I didn’t know I possessed. Each shade in the room suddenly burnt up with a piercing scream, turning to ash.

As the power left me, I crumpled to the floor, completely spent. Derel rushed over to me and asked, “Are you all right?”

I nodded. “Yes, although it seems I need a little more practice with my magic.”

The other men were immediately at my side, though they were all bleeding from various minor cuts from the shades. I was just relieved we were still alive.

Blane brushed back a damp piece of blond hair from my eyes. “I think you did a damn good job with your magic already.”

“You were incredible,” Falon said, touching my cheek lovingly.

Roth suddenly swept me up into his strong arms. "Let's find you somewhere to lie down."

"Really, I'm fine," I said, though I didn't protest too much because I liked being held like this against his hard body.

He grunted and carried me through the dark temple, while the others lit torches where we could find them to brighten the dark halls. The room with the shades had been some sort of grand entrance hall, with tall ceilings and a huge statue of a fiery dragon in the center. Other doors led down hallways to more rooms, including kitchens, storerooms, bedrooms, and washrooms. Tomorrow I wanted to fully explore, but at the moment it took everything I had to keep my eyes open.

I barely remembered Roth setting me down, or the others tucking some blankets over me. All I knew was that each one kissed me goodnight, and I fell asleep wondering if this would ever feel like home.

Chapter Twelve

I

n the morning I discovered I’d been placed in a bedroom that the men had prepared for me, although it needed more cleaning, as did the rest of the temple. Dim, murky light shone through the windows from the smoke-covered sky, reminding me that the volcano still raged on. We’d made it to the temple—would the Fire God speak to me soon and tell me my purpose?

I visited the washroom quickly, then began a more thorough tour of the temple. I barely remembered anything from last night after the shade attack, and now I surveyed the building with a more critical eye, making a mental note of everything I’d want to change or fix. Though the temple itself was all black volcanic stone and didn’t need any repairs, everything inside it required straightening, repairing, or cleaning. If we were going to live here for the rest of our lives, we had a lot of work to do.

I stopped in the kitchen, where Derel was scrubbing down the counters. “I had a feeling you’d be in here.”

He looked up at me with a wry grin. “Someone needs to cook for us. Unless you want to do it?”

I held up my hands in surrender. “I’ll help with the baking if you’d like, but you’re welcome to take over in the kitchen. That was more my sisters’ area of expertise.”

“Yes, I remember.” He propped his hip on the counter and offered me a bit of bread, ham, and cheese. “You preferred to hole up in a corner somewhere with your books.”

“That’s true,” I said, as I devoured the food. When was the last time I’d eaten? Lunch yesterday, perhaps? “Unfortunately I couldn’t turn reading into a profession.”

“You can now.”

“What do you mean?”

Amusement made his dark eyes dance. “Let’s just say you’re going to be very happy when you see the library.”

My eyes widened. “There’s a library?”

He nodded. “I’m pretty sure it has more books than all of Sparkport. It’ll take you years to read them all.”

I finished off his food and wiped my hands. “I’d better get started then.”

“Not yet,” he said, taking my arm. “There’s another place I think you’ll want to visit first.”

“What is it?” “I’ll show you.”

He led me out of the kitchen and down the halls. I spotted Roth and Blane arranging some furniture in another room, but Derel continued on. Soon we came upon a cave-like room filled with steaming water in a few different pools. Falon was already inside and turned toward us with a smile.