On anyone else that would have sounded like the worst kind of arrogance, but for Lexen it seemed to be fact. Still, he was underestimating me and my need to get to Daniel, whom I didn’t believe for one second would hurt me. I trusted him.
Hoping to throw Lexen off, I relaxed my stance, taking a casual step closer to Emma. She caught my eye and I saw her grin. She already knew what I was planning. In an unexpected show of solidarity, she reached forward and wrapped her arm across Lexen’s bicep, distracting him. Before he realized what was happening, I dive-rolled right by the side of his leg, popping up behind him. I pushed off toward Daniel, determined to reach his side.
Before I could get close though, Lexen zipped forward and scooped me up, holding my struggling body against his.
“Stop it,” he demanded. “I’m trying to save your life.”
Flames burst to life across from us; the night air lit up, showcasing the rocky, cave-like structures around us.
Emma sounded a little nervous now. “Lex … babe, I think you should let her go now. Remember how you reacted when someone was holding me back from you.”
Daniel’s face was completely covered in flames, eyes glowing as they locked ominously on Lexen. I had stopped fighting, because I really didn’t want to get anyone burned, but it didn’t seem to matter to the Imperial overlord. With almost comical slowness, Lexen lowered me back to the ground and stepped away. He never took his eyes off Daniel, and I swore I saw something bubble under Lexen’s skin, but then it was gone. I didn’t even want to know what Lexen and the Draygo people did, because that bubble had not been human. Or Daelighter. It had been very animal-like.
No time to focus on that. I had a soulmate, or whatever the hell label we were putting on it, to talk off a proverbial ledge. “Dan, look at me.” I kept my voice low. “You need to calm down and talk to me, because I can’t stand not being able to touch you.” I was going to risk the fire in about five seconds. “I need you.”
I took another step closer, and as his intense heat washed over me I almost closed my eyes at the comforting sensation. It reminded me of the burning I had done in the dark lands. As I reached for him, Daniel sucked his power back in, the fire disappearing before I could make contact. But it didn’t matter. My fire was burning now too, whooshing up from my center, filling the world with warmth, life, and death. I lifted my arms, letting the red lick down my skin and light up the world, just as Daniel had done.
“Callie, are you okay?” His concern broke through my euphoria, and I couldn’t stop the brilliant grin.
“Better than okay, I’m a goddamn weapon.”
He had no qualms about touching me like this, and as soon as I was in his arms his body responded to my fire with some of its own.
“Well, I thought I’d seen everything, but this is new.” Emma’s drawled statement would have been hilarious if I wasn’t totally distracted by Daniel.
As our eyes locked, I was astonished to see that his were now a rich, molten red. Swirling. Mesmerizing. “What is happening to me?” I asked him, my voice a deeper resonance than I had ever heard before. “The fire … it fills me with life.”
Daniel shifted one hand underneath me, using his strength to hold me up against him. “You’re tied to the land of Imperial now. Fire is our specialty. We burn the dead and renew the souls.” As his voice vibrated with power, it sent my flames even higher. Along with the emotions in my heart.
I love him.
I might be a clueless, sheltered, naïve human, but there was no way I could deny the truth any longer. Daniel and me, we were a team. We had a bond that could not be broken. And I truly believed this had been decided on the day I was born in House of Imperial and assigned to be a secret keeper. I didn’t say those three words out loud, because it was too fast. We hadn’t known each other long, and I seriously didn’t want to freak him out.
But I could admit it to myself. Finally.
“We really have to go. Do you think you two could maybe quench that fire and pick this up later?” Lexen’s question sounded slightly amused and slightly intrigued. But it was enough to snap us out of our fire bubble.
The moment we separated, I managed to contain the energy back to my center, where it simmered away happily. What a relief to know I could access the fire outside of the dark world in my head. To test myself, I brought it forth again, directing it to burn in my right hand. Five flames sprung up on the end of my fingertips, nothing else on my body alight.
My wide eyes lifted to Daniel’s and a grin quirked up one corner of his mouth. “You learn quickly,” he said, dropping a kiss onto my forehead.
A breathy sigh escaped me, and I knew I was turning into one of those girls. But seriously … love was the best feeling in the world. And also the scariest.
My feelings gave him so much power over me and it was kind of terrifying.
Before I could dwell on it too much and freak myself out even more, we were moving again, this time with urgency.
13
The trip out of the secret brainwashing facility took a few hours. I asked them lots of questions, learning about how they’d tracked me down. Laous had been easy to follow, apparently, until they reached the part of Imperial where the network cut off. After this, they’d searched the old-fashioned way.
By the time they found me I had been in that tank for three days, the liquid keeping me alive, which was why I didn’t thirst or hunger. I was extremely lucky they got to me when they did; my mind had been so fragile. Even now I still felt a little strung out, thoughts wispier than usual.
When we finally reached the spot Daniel could call a transporter down to, I asked, “This tracker on Laous … is it a permanent thing?”
Lexen shook his head. “No, it was designed similarly to those computer viruses you get on Earth. It lay in wait, and when triggered silently, attached itself to Laous’ energy, leaving behind a trail. We’ll only get one shot. The moment he knows someone is tracking him, he’ll be able to find and destroy the trace.”
I didn’t pretend to understand how their network worked, but I liked that it was making it hard for Laous to stay under the radar.
