Ever Fire (9 page)

Soap’s eyes drew her in; they looked like they were shining beacons in a dark night. He let his skin of glamour slip away as fire began to burn with the crackling of lightning and blue-white fire that licked along his skin and down his body. It did not burn his clothes or her as it flickered along. Shade drew in her breath, always amazed how a Teleen could burn so intensely, but not affect her at all. He laced his fingers through hers and pulled her up to stand with him. He looked down at her. His face lit up in blue-white light as he was tightening his warm embrace around her.

She buried her face in his chest, smelling sage and fire on his skin. She ran her hands up his back and stroked his long hair that fell down his back in long straight ribbons. She rubbed her cheek along his warm chest, feeling his heart racing under his fiery skin. Shade lifted her head up towards his and watched his face turn down in response. His face was an ocean of calm while his eyes burned with desire. She watched his lips, perfect and lush, begging to be touched.

She sighed,
what the hell
. Giving in, she leaned towards him. She kissed him, feeling the warmth of his mouth press back on hers. Softly at first, then desperately as if they were about to inhale each other in. His arms pulled her towards him and his hands cradled her head, holding her so tight that she felt breathless.

Shade suddenly pulled away and slipped onto the bed. Soap reluctantly let her, but not without a longing sigh as he continued to glow on fire. She watched him coming to kneel before her again, waiting for her next move. His flames crackled and flowed up his body like liquid flowing the wrong way. He let her collect her thoughts, still breathing hard.

“Soap, I–I can’t do this. We have to stop. I don’t know what’s going on but I–I need more time. I don’t know what to say, I’m sorry.” Shade shifted back further onto the bed.

“What’s going on here?” Dylan’s serrated voice startled Shade as she turned to see that he had slipped past the door so quietly that neither of them had even noticed his presence. His eyes were dark and his face was seething. He stared at Soap, who still glowed afire, and let his eyes move to Shade who remained frozen on the bed, her cheeks pink and lips red from kissing Soap. His eyes narrowed at her as his eyes darkened even more, turning into a gleaming onyx. She sucked her breathe in, alternating her glance between Dylan and Soap.

“Dylan, nothing’s going on,” Shade stammered. “You scared the crap out of me! What are you doing here?” She scrambled to stand up and stood beside Soap as he wove his glamour around him; a quivering mist that pulled together tightly until it became solid, leaving no sign of the blue-white fire on his tanned skin.

“It doesn’t look like nothing to me, Shade.” Dylan’s voice felt like poison as he spoke her name. Shade winced and started shaking her head.

“Dylan, it’s not what it looks like. I–I mean. He just came to see if I was okay.” The words choked in her throat as she lacked any better words to say.
So busted!

“I bet you’re better than okay now, right, Shade?” Dylan’s voice was flat and almost melancholy. “So this is how it is then, you and Rylan? Of all the Fey, I’d think you would have chosen better than a savage wildling. You can’t trust him Shade. You don’t know what he really is. Changelings are traitors and thieves, infiltrating Fey families like Cuckoo birds. Just because he
could
be part Teleen doesn’t change that. He will hurt you the moment he gets what he wants, won’t you Rylan?” He snickered at Soap.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Shade’s surprise made her voice squeak. “Soap has been nothing but loyal to the Queen and to the Seelie Court. How dare you say such things! He’s also my friend, and your jealous rants need to quit right now!” Shade felt her chest tighten as her anger spilled over her self-control along with hot tears swelling in her eyes. She felt like running over to Dylan and smacking him across his face. Something stopped her though. The fact that he was not even paying her any more attention, but was in a stare down with Soap concerned her.

“Haven’t told her have you,
Rylan
?” Dylan hissed. “You wouldn’t dare ruin your chances with the lost Queen of the Scren Seelie Court would you? Lose a chance to be a King? Very unlikely for you, right? Well maybe I should inform her of your little misdemeanors. Unless, of course, you want to enlighten her yourself right now?”

Shade stopped what she was about to scream out at the Teleen Guard and switched her eyes towards Soap. His face was dark and still. He was also staring down Dylan, but did not refute what he had just said.

“Soap, what does he mean? What’s he talking about?” Shade was getting tired of the games, but Soap did not answer her. He remained silent. He finally gave in and averted his glare to the stone floor. Shade watched him, her eyes widening and her mouth agape.

“What are you talking about, Dylan?” Shade turned back towards the former Captain of the Teleen Guard and waited impatiently as he turned his cold, grey, eyes towards her; nothing but contempt filling them, burning into her like fire. She hated to see him looking at her like that; especially after he had held her hands so gently earlier by the paintings. She flinched at his glare but flicked the thought away and waited for him to answer.

Dylan snarled again at Soap with ice picks in his eyes; his jaw hard with disgust. When Dylan finally turned back towards Shade, his eyes were emptied of fury and full of pain. He shook his head and looked to the floor.

“Soap has to be the one to tell you. I’m sure it will be a most interesting conversation, but I have to go now.” Dylan’s voice came out abrasive and quieter than before. He sounded defeated. Shade’s eyes widened as she watched Dylan turn and scurry out the door.

“What? Where are you going? Wait! Dylan!” Shade scrambled after him and caught the door before it slammed behind him. Slipping through she grabbed his arm, pulling him back and making him stop in the hallway. He sighed, letting his gaze fall away from her. When he finally turned his head towards her, she took in his eyes, now full of pain and broken. In that moment, Shade wanted to embrace and hold him tight. Somehow, she knew that he wasn’t lying about leaving. The door slammed behind her as she slowly stepped towards him, releasing her grip. He sighed as she approached, shaking his head again.

“Stop, Shade, please,” he whispered. She knew he ached to reach out and pull her into his embrace, but he held fast to where he was, refusing to give in.

“Dylan, where are you going? What’s going on?” Shade licked her lips, her mouth parched. She was afraid to look away from him; her breath caught in her throat as she waited for an answer she knew she did not want.

“I’m leaving, Shade. I’ve been summoned before my queen. Queen Gretel of the Teleen. I have to answer the summons or face punishment.”

“Why? She knows we’re bound, leaving will not be good for either of us.” Shade felt on the verge of tears at his words.

“I don’t know why, Shade. I received the message this morning, and I’m leaving right now. I–I came to say goodbye.” He watched her misery paint itself across her face

“But why? I need you to help me find out more about my father. You can’t leave now.” Hot tears filled her eyes and slowly spilled down in trails as her voice quivered with uncertainty.

Dylan stared at her, his eyes glassy and empty now. The hallway was dimmer than the brilliance of the glass lined rooms. The light of the oil lamps that burned along the walls flickered, making the lights dance across the walls and their faces. They lit his eyes, glistening with unshed tears that made her want to hold onto him so that he could not leave. He reached over to her and pushed a wisp of her hair back, letting it slip through his fingers slowly, watching it until it slipped out all of the way. He let his hand linger and caressed her cheek longingly.

“I’m sorry, Shade. It looks like this is the way it’s going to have to be. Goodbye.” With that he turned away and disappeared down the hall as quickly as he had come. Shade found herself left staring after him, hoping he would turn back. When he didn’t, she felt her tears flood down her cheeks and drip onto the floor. She let them run, and felt the sobs escape out from her chest, echoing around her.

How could I be so stupid!

Shade loved Dylan, and it hurt to see such disappointment burn across his face. She felt lost, and the pit of her stomach seemed to twist itself so hard that she felt like keeling over onto the floor. She reached out to grip the wall and balance herself out. She hated how everything was going. It felt like she couldn’t breathe, and it was all her fault. Shade slipped to the floor and buried her head in her hands. The cold, stone, wall against her back pressed uncomfortably against her spine, and the stone floor wasn’t any better. Somehow, though discomforted, she did not wish to move. She simply remained planted on the ground, and let the cold seep into her.

Chapter Nine

THE TASTE OF
the honey wine at dinner made Shade want to drown herself in the glass as it swirled around. The food seemed intolerable, and sat untouched on her plate. Rubbing a finger on the edge of the glass she had refilled a few too many times, she watched the golden fluid ripple slightly. She was no stranger to intoxication; the wild parties after graduation had been a bit too much fun. Luckily, Dylan had never partook in any of the drinking, preferring to escort Shade home each time without a complaint. Shade had always been the responsible one before that, always taking care of her siblings and her responsibilities, never having too much to drink at other parties. Knowing Dylan would be there to take her home when she needed him to allowed her to let loose more than she probably should have at the end of the year school parties.

Shade chuckled to herself, remembering how she had taught Dylan how to drive the family’s minivan. He had not had a clue how to drive the massive metal machine, but had been determined to learn since Shade had insisted he should learn to drive if he was to spend any kind of time in the ‘normal’ human world.

Dylan had mastered driving fairly quickly. He even liked to drive her family around for errands, shopping, daycare, or whatever. Her mom had liked this quite a bit. Shade had loved having a ‘chauffeur’ too. It made it easy to relax and numb her mind to blow off the anxiety she had pent up inside.

“Shade, are you alright?” Sary’s voice broke her thoughts. “Maybe we need to give the honey wine a break.” Sary replaced her glass with a cup of water, shoving a plate of food closer to Shade, who was leaning on the table to keep from the swaying. The alcohol was definitely more potent in Faerie. Shade closed her eyes, feeling the room spinning, but at least she was feeling a lot less upset.

“Try to eat something Shade, for crying out loud. What is going on? I know I don’t know a lot about what is going on with you because I’ve been with Stephen most of the time, and I’m sorry about that, but you need to get a grip!” Sary’s frustrated, tensed-up, voice made Shade sit back up and stare at her friend. Shade’s eyelids hung heavy as she gripped the table even tighter to steady herself.

“I’m not hungry, Sary. I can’t really say what’s going on because if I knew what the hell was going on, maybe I would be okay. But I’m not, so there!” Shade sighed at her own childish rant and stood up. Her balance swayed, but she caught herself before falling.

Sary’s lips were pressed in a thin line as she watched her cross the room. Shade barely reached her room before needing to stop for a breather. She held the stone wall for support as her senses attempted to equalize. Hot tears were pouring out, streaming down her cheeks as she thought about Dylan leaving. She had told Soap to leave after she realized that Dylan wasn’t coming back. She had bawled her eyes out until she couldn’t anymore. Shade had barely made it to dinner, and only under Sary’s insistence did she drag herself to the dining hall.

There she had sulked in her chair for a while before drowning her sorrows in the wine. Her stomach was twisting in a knot now. She hadn’t even drunken much, but the lack of food was probably a very bad thing to mix in. Shade fumbled with her doorknob and entered her room. She thought of Ursad’s concerned eyes from his table at dinner. He looked like he was going to head over to her when she had shook her head towards him, warning him not to. He remained in his seat, but not without looking distracted and quite upset. Soap had kept his distance too, aware of her mood.

Shade flopped onto the bed and stared out the massive windows. The light of day was fading again into brilliant purples and reds, giving the clouds an almost ripped appearance across the sky. She buried her head in the pillows as she pulled the covers around herself. She felt like sinking into the bed and never arising.

Shade felt overwhelmed with the feelings flowing through her. She had messed it up for her and Dylan. She liked Soap, but it wasn’t the same for sure. How could she fix this? How could she atone for the pain she had obviously caused Dylan? Rubbing her face, she groaned. She had no idea how to fix anything. She had so much to do, and all she had accomplished was lose someone she cared for. She couldn’t even tell him now how she felt about him. She watched the sun bleed away into the dusk and prayed that Dylan would come back eventually. She guessed he would probably have to, especially with the blood bind still in place.

The shock of her sudden intense feelings for Dylan disarmed her. Hot, plump, tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over her reddened cheeks. She rubbed her face on the soft pillows, hugging them tighter as the sobs overwhelmed her. Her body shuddered with the effort as she let the crying run its course. The honey wine’s sleepy effects were now working on her, but she fought it, sitting up in the bed and staring out the windows again. She wanted to go home badly. This very instant, in fact.