Page 1 of Of Flame and Fury
Chapter One
Love is bullshit.
Or so I thought.
My parents had love. Two rounds from a shotgun cut that love short and catapulted my childhood into hell. Am I okay now? I suppose you can call it that. I survived a childhood that would make the Brothers Grimm think twice about writing stories of scary beasties. To their credit, they were only human, and like most humans, they didn’t realize those famished monsters looking for kids to munch on actually exist.
Yeah, I survived my childhood and the monsters along the way. Then I met Gemini, and I learned how to live.
From the moment I met my werewolf lover, I knew I was done for. Forget his strength and looks. Forget that he possesses the rare ability to split into two wolves. These are mere bonuses on a long list of sexy points. His real gift is calming my temper like no one else can.
Usually.
“I think I may have to kill something,” I tell him. I give it some thought. “Any of the slutty vamps here yet?”
His chest rumbles where it’s pressed against my back, releasing a smooth, almost subtle laugh. He knows I’m kidding. Mostly. Except those damn vampires, who dress like naughty Catholic schoolgirls, have a gift for prancing on my last nerve with their stilettos.
“Not yet,” Gemini replies. “You’ll be the first to know when they arrive.”
His lips skim along the sweep of my neck. I shudder, the motion only briefly drawing my focus away from the terrace. I can’t see past the light bleaching the flat stone covering the small exterior space. I wish I could. Beyond, where the mountains of Lake Tahoe reflect on the water, scary creatures stalk, waiting for a chance to kill my sister and her unborn child.
Not that I’ll give them the chance.
It’s insanity, really. Anyone with a speck of reason would run screaming from this nightmare or fall into hysterics, pleading to be spared. I huff at the thought. I learned long ago pleading is for pussies, and no matter how fast you are, the monsters are faster.
“Are you all right?” Gemini asks.
“Peachy,” I reply, not even trying to mean it. God, I’m angry. No…I’m more than angry. I’mfurious.
Since Celia learned she and Aric were expecting the child destined to save the world, my fury has brewed to a deadly calm, more frightening than a horrific scream cut short or the hot breath of evil trailing over an innocent throat. It’s a good thing. This fury that stirs me from sleep and burns down to my soul is useful. Sooner or later, evil will lurk from that darkness and find Celia, targeting the little one growing inside her. When it does, my fury will unleash, and the remains of that evil will lie at my feet.
“Taran,” Gemini murmurs against my skin. “Our people are in place. We’ve planned for every possible scenario to protect Celia.”
“I know.” We plan all the time. Sometimes, we wake up planning. Except the bad guys plan, too, and tend to tuck cards up their sinister sleeves.
My right arm twitches in agreement. She doesn’t like anyone threatening us. Like a supercharged battery, Sparky is ready to blow.
“My love,” Gemini whispers against my ear. “It’s all right.” His hand strokes my agitated arm, his gentle touch soothing her in ways I’ve never quite managed.
I smile softly, feeling her settle with another pass of Gemini’s hand.
My zombie right arm is almost a separate entity. The bleached white skin and sickly blue veins that run the length clash against my olive skin tone, causing the suggestive glances I typically receive to avert quickly away. Can’t say I blame anyone. As much as Sparky and I have accepted one another, she doesn’t always listen, and her temper rivals my own.
Sparky here will fry you like bacon with a strong bolt of lightning or whither you to ash in a blaze of fire. It won’t be pretty or gentle. In fairness, neither was the way my original arm was eaten off.
The skirt of my white gownswishesas I turn to face Gemini. He’s in a tux he was born to wear, the shape outlining his long, lean muscles and broad chest. The dark whiskers of his goatee lie neatly trimmed over a chiseled jaw, and his dark, almond-shaped eyes shimmer as they take me in. He strokes the strand of hair that escaped my fancy bun, letting it curl around his finger. He’s so beautiful, and his heart so grand that sometimes, like now, it hurts to look at him. I look anyway, relishing this small pocket of time that remains between us.
My arms wrap around his waist when he kisses me. It’s not a sweet, brief kiss. It’s one that promises we’ll spend the night making love if everything goes well.Ifit goes well. With everything out there… Yeah, I really need this kiss.
Gemini pulls away before I’m ready to let him go. His gaze is sharp.
It takes a moment for my hearing to catch up with his supernatural senses. A floor below, voices ripple as the first of the honored guests make their way to the ballroom.
“It’s time,” Gemini says. The softness he demonstrated in my presence abandons him, leaving nothing but the devastatingly beautiful features of a predator readying to kill.
My hands slowly slip away, the bite of tension that consumes me finding its way into my throat. “I know,” I say.
The last few purebloodweresin existence arrived in Tahoe late last night. The vampire clans from Eastern Europe, three nights before. As head witch of the region and hostess, Genevieve has welcomed sister covens from as far as South Africa over the last few weeks.