BEEEEEP!
Uncle Wen leaned on the horn, stomping on the brakes. “What in the heavens?! What is he doing? I almost ran right into him.”
Lucien ripped away from me, his eyes locking on the roadblock.
An old man stood in the middle of the narrow road, his chest heaving as if he’d run to intercept us. Barefoot with his trousers rolled up to his knobbly knees, his hands were covered in soil as if he hadn’t had time to dress or wash.
His gaze locked onto Lucien. His white-streaked hair blew in the breeze, and he took one step toward the jeep before his knees gave out and he kowtowed in the middle of the road.
“Nowwhat is he doing?” Uncle Wen unclipped his seatbelt. “I’ll go and make sure he’s okay.”
“I’ll do it.” Lucien opened the door and climbed out before anyone could stop him. Whisper growled as his master moved toward the old man bowing with his forehead pressed to the dusty road. The faintest tendrils of steam appeared from his shoulder blades.
I went to join him without thinking.
“Stay here, Whisp.” Darting out of the jeep, I caught up to Lucien, my borrowed blue dress slightly too long and trailing behind me.
Lucien bent to help the man up, but the moment he touched his shoulder, the elderly villager shot upright and grabbed Lucien’s hand.
The air shifted.
The gravel beneath Lucien’s boots smoked.
My body reacted instantly.
The hem of my dress crystallised, stiffening as ice conjured from nowhere. Cold lashed outward to counter him, meeting his heat in a crackling hiss that made the old man wobble on his knees.
Lucien tried to break the man’s hold on him, but he scrambled to his feet, clinging to Lucien with both hands. “Luxin? Master Luxin?”
Lucien nodded, his blazing fingers curling around the man’s wrist. Gritting his teeth, he plucked his hold off him. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s dangerous to play in the road?”
The old man gasped, shaking so badly he almost fell back down. “I...I need to talk to you.” Shooting a panicked glance around the busy village, he winced at the happy children, almost sobbed at the young adults making lanterns for their lost ones, then grabbed Lucien as if his heart had given out. “I’ve been waiting twenty years. I knew an Ashfall would return. I knewit would be you. You have to listen to me. Have to trust me.Please.”
Another waft of heat came off Lucien as he disengaged again and stepped away. “What’s wrong? Why are you in such a state?”
The old man’s eyes filled with frantic desperation. “Please.” Backing toward the small pathway where he’d come from, he put his dirty hands together in prayer. “Pleasecome. Youmustcome. Please? But not here.” His gaze darted to the convoy—to Uncle Wen and Dillon who stood beside the vehicles with questions on their faces. “Not in front of them. Just you. Only you.”
Lucien didn’t answer, but I felt his control fraying.
Fire coiled beneath his skin like a dragon straining at its cage. The air around him shimmered, distorting the sunlight, just as hairline cracks splintered the road as if the earth itself couldn’t bear his power.
The old man stiffened, staring at the heat bending light around Lucien’s shoulders.
We both tensed to see how he’d react but...there was no surprise in him. No fear. He merely sagged with weary confirmation as if his long wait was finally over. “Please...” He held up his hands again. “Please come with me. Let me speak.” Staggering toward Lucien, he tried to grab him again, only for Lucien to jerk back.
A pulse shot through my heart—the bond delivering echoes of Lucien’s dislike at being touched by strangers.
Without looking in my direction, Lucien extended his hand to me. The tips of his fingers glowed, barely there but growing worse each moment I didn’t touch him.
I went to him.
The moment my ice-laced hand slid into his, he shuddered.
The frost inside me arrowed into him like a dart, delivering an antidote to the flames poisoning him.
Inhaling sharply, his fingers crushed mine. “Just tell me here—”
“No, no, no.” The old man shook his head. “Not here. It can’t be here.” He flinched as he looked at the Snowflake Corp guards. “Just you.”
