Marked by Fire (Dragonkeepers Book 3) Page 2

  “You pack a punch,” he said. He offered me his hand to help me to my feet. I almost took it, but drew back. No. Whatever the hell was going on with me, touching this guy might short-circuit my magic all over again. I stood.

  “You really shouldn’t be out here,” I said. “These are…” I stopped myself. What was I about to say? These are coven lands? They were, of course. I’d already nearly blown my cover by zapping the guy with a bolt of flame. I could at least keep my mouth shut about where he really was.

  “It’s just dangerous out here,” I said, trying to force a smile. “But...what are you doing out here? Are you lost?”

  It was an innocent question. The moment I uttered it, I knew it couldn’t be true. This guy exuded raw power. He stood with a straight spine, shoulders back, surveying the woods around us in a sort of alpha male threat assessment. Except, I knew I’d posed a bigger threat to him than anything that could have burst through that tree line.

  “Not lost,” he said. “But looking for…”

  His voice trailed off. For the first time, I realized he might be trying to hide something too.

  “Looking for what? Or who?” I asked.

  He shook his head, brushing off the question. “It’s nothing. You’re right. I must have gotten turned around back there.”

  “Were you camping? The public grounds are about twenty miles to the west.” The minute I said it, I knew it couldn’t be true. The guy didn’t look like a camper. Those looked like motorcycle boots on his feet, not hiking gear. And he had nothing with him. No backpack. I just saw the outlines of maybe a cell phone in his back pocket. How in the hell had he managed to find his way back here?

  He looked clean. No scratches on his arms from pushing through the thick brush. No dirt embedded in the treads of his shoes. I’d seen those when I knocked him on his ass. And he’d barely broken a sweat. If I didn’t know better, he looked like he’d just been dropped down in the middle of the forest. I realized he was looking me up and down in much the same way.

  I had to seem even more incredible to him. I was barefoot, wearing a thin, cotton dress with nothing underneath it. Most of the time, I came out here naked. It saved on my clothing bill because lately I kept catching my stuff on fire.

  “I’m on my way to Durness,” he said. I nodded, as if that made perfect sense.

  “Ah,” I said. “Well, you’re not that far. Durness is five miles to the east.” I pointed toward the clearing. “If you keep walking that way, you’ll come out just near the town square. There’s not much there. Just one street light. One hotel. One gas station. Two diners. Do you mind if I ask what business you have there?”

  He smiled, his eyes twinkling. “Just passing through,” he answered. “Are you sure you’re okay? You kind of … went…there for a minute.”

  I put my arms around me. “I’m fine. You just startled me. That’s all. I come out here to get some peace and quiet. I like to meditate. I didn’t expect to run into anyone.”

  He nodded, seeming to accept my answer. It was weird. It seemed we were both pretending that I hadn’t just shot lightning into his chest. What was stranger, he got up. How the hell had he gotten up? I’d let off enough power to kill even a shifter. I knew it. But, he was no shifter. I could usually sense their animals shimmering just below the surface. And he didn’t have that earthy scent of a bear or a wolf.

  He was something though. I just couldn’t figure out what. His eyes glinted gold as he looked at me. No, he looked through me. He was still trying to figure out what I was. I had enough control over my magic to throw off a barrier. Any other mage would recognize that as a warning. Stay back. Hands off.

  He had magic in him; I just couldn’t place my finger on what kind. For now, I guess we’d just both pretend we were two people who just happened to run into each other in the middle of nowhere. Casual. Normal. Nothing to see here.

  “Well, as long as you’re sure you’re okay,” he said. “I’ll just keep on walking. Do you know your way out of here?”

  I straightened my back. “Of course. I don’t mean to be rude Mr. er...I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

  His face split into a mischievous grin. He wasn’t going to tell me. “Right,” he said. “It seems I’m the one who’s lost. Well, I hope to see you around…”

  “Gemma,” I said. It just burst out of me. How the hell could he stay so cool when I was all swirling emotions and heat?

  “Gemma,” he repeated. The sound of my name on his lips sent a new shock of flame straight down my spine. It settled low, bubbling in my core. I wanted to hear him say it again.

  “Right,” I said. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

  What the hell was I even talking about? But, before I could recover, the call hit me square in the chest.

  Gemma! You better get back to town. Now!

  It was the Five. The Coven. I’d been gone far longer than I planned. If even one of them figured out where I’d gone or what I’d nearly done, there would be hell to pay. I said nothing, but this guy seemed to sense a change in my mood.

  “See you around,” he said, shooting me a devastating wink. Then, he turned and disappeared into the thickest part of the forest.

  Chapter Three

  Finn

  “If there’s anything you need, I’m just next door.”

  Mary Harris hovered near the bedroom door. She moved with surprising agility for someone of her advanced human age. She had to be eighty if she was a day. She had a mass of gray curls that she held back in a girlish ponytail. Her face was kind, with the deep dimples and lines around her mouth of someone who’d spent a lifetime smiling more than frowning.

  “I’ll be fine, Mrs. Harris,” I said for the tenth time. “Everything is perfect. You’ve done amazing work with the house.” The instant I said it, I wished I hadn’t. In the thirty minutes since I’d known her, I’d learned the woman could go off on a dizzying tangent. She didn’t disappoint. She gave me five minutes on all the things she and her late husband had done to restore the house to its Victorian-era charm.

  I smiled and nodded in the appropriate places. I didn’t want to be rude. She was a marvel of a woman and I liked her. But, more than anything I wanted time and space to myself just now. My skin still sizzled from my encounter with Gemma last night. Whatever spell she’d cast still warmed my blood and called to my fire. It meant something. And I’d blundered my way through the whole thing. I was supposed to blend in here. Not draw too much attention to myself until I knew the players. God. I was no good at this. This should be Loch.

  Miss me already?

  No sooner had I thought of him before my brother’s distant voice filled my head. He was on his way here.

  “Amazing,” I said, putting a light hand on Mrs. Harris’s back, guiding her back into the hall. She kept chattering away, describing every detail of the work they did on the foundation to keep the house from falling in on itself.

  “Oh, my Bernard was something to see in his day,” she said. “Wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix with his bare hands. Gave one heck of a back massage too.” Her cheeks reddened as she said it. She paused for a moment. We’d reached the stairs.

  “Well, like I said,” she told me. “You should be all set. I live on the ground floor of the house across the street. My grandson and his wife live in the upper. B.J.’s not as handy as his grandpa was, but he tries. I’ll have him over in a jiffy if you find something that needs fixing.”

  “Will do,” I said. She made her way down the stairs and stood in the foyer. I heard the distant flap of my brother’s wings. He circled far above, cloaked from any prying eyes below.

  Two minutes. I answered back. There’s an airing deck off the back of the house. Land there. Gently. Look for the one with the slate roof and the spire. It’s gray with white trim.

  “Alrighty then,” Mrs. Harris said. “Welcome to Durness, Mr. Brandhart. You sure you don’t want meals? They come with the rental price.”

  “I’m sure,”
I said. “I’d rather cook for myself. I keep odd hours, I’m afraid. It’s why I wanted to rent the whole house.”

  Her face lightened up and I assumed it was the reminder of the five thousand dollar check she’d cashed this morning. I paid for the entire month but hoped to be out of here in no more than a week.

  “You got it. Quiet. Seclusion. That’s what you’re after. Well, you couldn’t have picked a better town for that. Durness isn’t flashy. We do all right, I mean. Folks love the old rail station that never was. Couple of storefronts downtown are still in their original Gold Rush condition. Kids get a kick out of it. Zeke Dwyer does this routine outside the General Store. Old-timey prospector. I don’t know how accurate it is, but it draws the crowds.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “I’ll be sure to check it out.”

  Loch was itching to land. Mrs. Harris opened the front door and felt a blast of heat she wasn’t expecting.

  “Oh, lord,” she said. “The wind’s changed. Hope we’re not in for another wildfire. Last year was tragic.”

  She kept right on talking as she walked down the porch steps and waddled across the street. Nothing in Durness was paved. They kept the town as close to its heyday during the California Gold Rush as possible. It wasn’t so much a main street running through town as it was a thoroughfare.

  The rafters shook as my brother touched down on the roof. I gave one last wave to Mrs. Harris. She shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked upward. Loch needed to be more careful. He should have waited another minute. But, the old woman couldn’t see the fearsome, gold and blue dragon who had just landed on the top of her house. Loch’s cloaking spell held. Still, too many takeoffs and landings in town were a risk. I wondered what was so urgent he insisted on chancing it.

  I closed the front door, locking it behind me. I heard Loch’s footfall on the hardwood floor as he came in through the attic window. I headed up the stairs. No reason to risk Mrs. Harris’s curious eyes if she decided to peer into the bay window at the front of the house.

  I met Loch at the top of the stairs. He was breathless, his dark hair windblown and sticking up in places. His magic poured off of him and knocked me in the chest. He didn’t let his dragon out very often anymore. The thrill of it crackled around him and stirred my own inner beast. I was itching to spread my own wings.

  “Not much room to land up there,” he said.

  “Did you bother looking around? This town is barely bigger than a postage stamp. Not exactly any high rises to rent.”

  Loch brushed past me, checking out the rest of the house. He had a keen eye for architecture and ran his fingers down the solid oak banister. “Did you buy it?” he asked.

  “Rented. For a month. Hoping I won’t need that long.”

  He went to the kitchen. The Harrises had brought in a massive cherry wood table that was really too big for the space. But, she usually had four of the bedrooms rented at any one time. Loch sat down and hooked his hands behind his head. He had a shit-eating grin on his face that riled me.

  “Make any headway with the locals?” he asked. “Avelina expects a report.”

  “I just got here,” I said. “The lady who owns the place literally just gave me the keys. It’s not time for me to start asking a bunch of questions that’ll draw undue attention.”

  “See?” Loch said. “You are getting the hang of this.”

  I took a seat opposite him. “I hate this. This isn’t my thing, and you know it. I still don’t get why our mother sent me here instead of you.”

  “Relax,” he said. “You can handle closing one business deal. It’ll be like falling off a log. All the hard stuff is done. You just have to put a face on the family and sign the paperwork. Not even you can screw that up. Just keep your dragon in check and you’ll be fine.”

  He must have seen something in my face. Loch’s fell. He leaned far forward in his chair. “Shit. You haven’t blown your cover already, have you?”

  I opened my mouth to deny it. Fire swirled inside of me. My protective instincts went into overdrive. I should tell Loch about meeting Gemma in the woods last night. But, something made me stop.

  “No,” I said. “I haven’t even shifted since I got here.”

  “Man,” Loch said, relaxing his posture. “That land is something else though. I did a flyover on the way here. Pristine pines. It looks completely untouched. I wouldn’t mind doing a little surveying myself.”

  “No!” I said, my voice coming out darker than I wanted it. “No. We can’t forget why we’re really here. These are still coven lands. It’s one thing for me to start snooping around. If the two of us get careless, it increases the odds of getting detected exponentially.”

  Loch raised a skeptical brow, but didn’t argue. “I suppose you’re right. But, don’t tell me you don’t feel it.”

  “Feel what?” I asked, feeling like I was lying to him. I wasn’t. Not really.

  “Oh, there’s fire magic in the air. It’s different though. I can’t really put my finger on why.”

  My dragon thundered inside of me. A vision flashed in my mind. What if Loch had made good on his plan to survey the wilderness beyond town? What if he’d been the one to run into Gemma last night? I clenched my fists so hard I drew blood. Loch knew something was wrong.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “The whole place feels different. The sooner I finish our business here, the better.”

  “Maybe,” Loch said.

  “What are you really doing here, anyway?” I asked.

  “I could give you some story,” Loch said. “But this is you and me, Finn. Avelina was just worried. She wanted to come herself, but Grace needs her. She had the baby. A little girl. She’s beautiful. Healthy. Both mother and daughter. Her name is Amelia, after Grace’s mom.”

  My heart swelled with both pride and a tinge of jealousy. Gideon had a mate. He had a child. His sickness was cured.

  “She sent you to check up on me,” I said. “Avelina’s worried I’m getting worse.”

  “Something like that,” Loch answered. “It’s really Kian it’s to do with. He’s moody as hell. He’s had some new...trouble...lately.”

  I felt a little sick to my stomach. Our brother Kian was suffering the worst from lack of a mate. He’d hidden much of it from our mother, but Loch and I knew differently. Someday very soon, Kian wouldn’t be able to control his dragon at all.

  “Well then, the sooner I get to work here, the better.”

  “Have you made any contact with the coven?” Loch asked.

  Again, I felt that protective wall go up. What the hell was wrong with me?

  “Not yet.” It was a truthful answer. Whatever or whoever Gemma was, she couldn’t be a representative of the coven. She was far too young. Still, echoes of her power thrummed through me. She was strong with it. Even now, I felt a pull that threatened to wake my dragon. I went rigid, focusing on my breathing. I couldn’t let Loch see that anything was wrong.

  “Well, it’s early,” Loch said, rising. “Just, don’t wait too long. No matter what Avelina wants, it’s not good for you to be off by yourself.”

  “Understood,” I said. “Now, you better get going. The landlady sensed something when you landed just now. I appreciate you checking up on me. But, I can handle things here. Much as I hate this kind of crap.”

  Loch put an arm around me. “We’ll make a proper businessman out of you yet, brother.”

  “It’s enough I have to put on a damn suit,” I said, growling. Loch laughed. He more than anyone knew how much I hated this stuff. I’d much rather take flight and use my fists and fire for the good of the family. Boardrooms and business deals were more Loch and Gideon’s strength, even Xander’s. But, for whatever reason, my mother wanted me here. So, here I was.

  Loch said his goodbyes and headed back up to the roof. I went out on the front porch, not wanting to be too close to him when he shifted. As it was, I had to grip the railing to contain my dragon as I watched my brother take flight.

&nb
sp; He was showing off, gliding into a looping arc high above the rooftops of Durness. On a clear, crisp day, there were plenty of people out walking. Not a single one looked up as my brother’s dragon flew above them. His magic was strong.

  I felt a second pull. It hit me in the chest. Turning to my right, my gaze went to a small shop at the end of the street opposite my temporary home. The front door opened and I could hear the faint tinkling of a bell above the door.

  Then, Gemma stepped out. Her blonde hair whipped around her, as my brother’s massive wings kicked up the wind. Warning bells clanged in my heart. I was far out of her line of sight. Surely, she couldn’t see my brother. Maybe he sensed something too. He banked hard right and picked up speed, becoming nothing more than a dot on the horizon.

  There was...something though. Gemma cocked her head to the side and took a deep breath. I ducked slowly back into the house. Every instinct in me told me she would have seen me if I’d stayed on that porch a second longer. And though she hadn’t pierced a hole in my brother’s cloaking magic, I knew in my heart she sensed him. She just didn’t understand it.

  It made her dangerous. And my heart was just starting to figure out why.

  Chapter Four

  Gemma

  “I don’t know what this town’s coming to,” Delia said. Actually, she said that every morning as she fiddled with the spinning display toward the front of the store. It was filled with postcards. Scenes of Mount Shasta. The downtown area. Historical photos from Durness, California’s momentary brush with fame nearly two centuries ago.

  “People don’t buy postcards anymore, Delia,” I said. Delia Bradbury was pushing ninety. She was tall, frail, but with a temper on her that still made men three times her size quake in their boots. “If they want to show friends and family where they are, they take pictures with their phones and post them online.”

  “You can’t tell me there isn’t dark magic at work there,” she said, lowering her voice. I had no idea why; the gift shop was completely empty but for the two of us.