Fire Stones (The Fire Wars #2) (9 page)

            I gritted my teeth. Chance or Varun – it didn't seem to matter now. My destiny as Vesta had laid a challenge in my path: get my mother well, embrace my destiny, find the stones...

            ...
or pay the price.

Chapter
10

           
A
week after my mother first became ill, I saw Varun walking in the gardens in front of our house. I had spent the week by my mother's bedside – leaving school in order to bring her soup for every meal and let the doctors in and out of the cottage – but she showed no signs of improvement. If anything, she was getting worse. She was skinnier than I had ever seen her; her skin had gone yellow, with a faintly green glow. Whatever was wrong with my mother, it wasn't a normal illness. And if I wanted to have any hope of treating her, I knew, Varun was my only option. I would have to swallow my pride and ask for help – but that, I knew, was only the beginning. My journey with Varun would mean risking my life. But as I saw my mother lying in bed, so weak and frail, I knew that I didn't have any other options.

            Varun was sunning himself in the gardens, his shirt off. The sight of him left me breathless. I knew he was beautiful, but in the past few weeks I'd made myself forget just how much. Now as I saw him again, the same old feelings of desire took hold. But it wasn't lust I felt. It was love. As he looked up at me, I saw the kindness and warmth in Varun's eyes – as calm and cool as the placid lakes of my old hometown. He was looking at me with pure adoration. He raised an eyebrow in surprise as I approached – after all, hadn't I been avoiding him for weeks? - but looked happy to see me, his lips spreading across his face into a gentle smile.

            “Long time no see, stranger,” he said. He took a step towards me and for a moment I thought he wanted to hug me, but Varun held back. I could see his muscles tensing from the effort. Instead, he softly brushed a single strand of hair out of my face, pushing it back against my forehead. I looked up at Varun, stunned. I had forgotten how sweet he could be, how gentle and unexpected. It was the first reassuring touch I had received since my mother had gotten sick. My breath seemed to stop in my chest.

            “Varun,” I whispered, “I have to ask you something.”

            “Anything, Mac. Just ask.”

            “It's about my mother...” I could feel my lips trembling; I ached from the struggle not to cry. “She's sick, Varun.”

            “I know.” His voice was soft as he stroked my hair. “I heard. Mac,
I'm so sorry.” He gathered me to his chest at last, holding me so tight that I felt as if I would burst. His fingers caressed my chin; he pressed his lips against my forehead in a chaste, kind kiss. “She'll be okay, Mac, I know it. She's a strong lady.” I let my head rest against his chest. I wanted to believe his words. I wanted to believe his firm, strong voice that made me feel so safe.

            “I missed this,” sighed Varun.

            “Missed what?” I looked up into his blazing blue eyes.

            “Being here. With you. Just holding you like this. No pressure. Just...together.”

            “Varun...” I tried to steer the conversation in another direction, but I couldn't. Feeling Varun against me was like feeling warm waves wash over me – calm, reassuring, beautiful. He made me feel so safe, so soothed. If Chance's touch set me on fire, then Varun's calmed me down again. I couldn't resist it. All my fears and worries seemed to wash away with the tide. I trusted him. I trusted him to do the right thing.

            “Varun,” I continued. “I need your help. The second stone. The sapphire. It heals, doesn't it?”

            Varun nodded his head. “That's what they say.”

            “I need to get it. For my mother.”

            He looked grave. “I'll do whatever it takes,” he said. “I'll do what I can to help you.”

            “But I know what Chance said – about going into water. About letting Water take hold of me. How dangerous it is. Can you help me without my having to take on those qualities?”

            Varun almost looked hurt – he frowned. “I can try,” he said at last. “You don't have to be afraid of your destiny, Mac, whatever it is. Fire or water. But this stone, it's in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean, and unless you can survive in water – unless you have water qualities – you'll never get to it. Only the strongest water creatures can get down there; I can't get you there safely unless you use the abilities that I know are there inside. Water abilities.” He sighed. “You can trust me, Mac. I said I wanted to prove my love to you and I will. You don't have anything to fear from me, Mac. You can trust me, one hundred percent.”

            “Varun,” I started, “I have to find those stones – one way or the other. You're the Water God. Can't you figure out a way to get me down there without my changing?”

            “I have – and if you knew what the other option was, you'd rather get water qualities.”

            “What are you talking about?” I looked up at him, perplexed.

            “We'd have to become one,” Varun said quickly, his ears turning pink as he looked down.

            “We'd have to what?”

            “Become one. Fuse together – my powers covering you like a second skin. A sort of temporary way of getting you water powers – but not permanently. But it's intense, Mac. And...more than a little...physical.”

            I didn't have time to consider. If I really was Vesta, I couldn't compromise my Fire abilities, not without risking my ability to stop the Erosion. “I'll do it,” I said, nodding my head against his chest.

            Varun nodded too. “Then so will I,” he said. “Whenever you're ready. Whenever you want.” His face was strange – a curious and inexplicable mixture of joy and pain mingling in an enigmatic smile. He took my hand and squeezed it.

            “Isn't that what you wanted?” I couldn't resist asking. “What you've always wanted? The two of us – going into the ocean together?”

            Varun shook his head. “Yes,” he said. “But no. I mean – yes
and
know. I've always wanted that. But now these memories of her. Of how much she hurt me. I can't get those out of my head either. Memories from the past; I'm not sure if I want them back or not. I miss her – you – whatever – but she can't come back.”

            “Unless I find this stone?” I ventured. “Then surely...”

            “It's a step,” said Varun. “For you to Awaken into Vesta. If that's who you truly are.” He reached out and pulled me in close. “I want so badly to shield you from everything that would happen when she returns, Mac...”

            He stopped then, agony upon his face. My heart went out to him. I wanted so badly to reach out to touch him, to soothe him, to stroke his cheek, to pull him into me. I could feel our cheeks touch, and I felt it as his cheeks grew hot with longing. My body was responding, too. I wanted him. I wanted to embrace him, to press his lips against mine...

            “Mac...” Varun murmured. “We can't do this. If we're going to go into the ocean together, we can't touch unless we absolutely have to. It's too dangerous. For both of us. I want to respect you – to respect your wishes – but being near you is driving me crazy. We need to stay strong.
I
need to stay strong. Because what I can't stop thinking about is the one thing I can't have.”

            Looking at him, I felt that what he said was true.
I wanted the one thing I couldn't have, too.
I wanted him.

Chapter
11

           
T
he water lapped at our feet. In the distance, I could see the waves turn purple and black – the sea was getting rough. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow of light over the sea-foam. The salt sprayed into our faces, scratching against our skin. It was beautiful. I let the moist sand rise and fall between my toes; I let the cool air blow against my face. Soon I would be entering this strange, dark place – soon I would be plummeting down to the ocean depths. Soon I would risk losing everything I ever loved forever.

            The man at my side did not look at me. His face was downcast; his eyes were solemn. I took his hand, aching alongside him. I could feel his pain; it was ripping me open. My heart felt as if it were locked in a vice-grip; I had never known so much sorrow.

            “You're really going, then?” He looked up at me with eyes filled with hurt. “You're really going to risk it?”

            “It's the only choice I have.” I pressed Chance's knuckles to my lips. “It's either that or letting my mother die – and I can't make that choice. I have to do this. We always knew I'd have to do this. But this stuff with my mom...it means I have to do it sooner, rather than later.”

            “With him,” growled Chance darkly.

            “He's the only one who can help,” I pleaded.

            “I know that,” Chance glowered. “If only I had the power over the oceans. If only I could be the one to take you down there, to those depths, to slay mermaids and sea-dragons...” he sighed. “But I cannot. It is not to be.”

            “It isn't like that...”

            “Varun can offer you what I cannot. That was always the way of things, my darling Mac. Thousands of years ago – I gave her fire...but Varun could give her the ocean.” He looked grimly out over the waves. “Something I could never give her. She longed to walk in the water. She longed to feel the salt water on her skin, to dance with mermaids. I could never give her such happiness...”

            “I'm not leaving you, Chance,” I pleaded. “I just want to save my mom!”

            “I know,” he sighed. “I know that's how you feel now. But when you get down into the depths of the ocean, with its rainbow waters and unplumbed mysteries, perhaps you will feel differently. Perhaps you will feel that you belong there, after all. The burning fires and warm earth of the land will not feel as vital to you as they once did.”

            “Never!” I took Chance into my arms, kissing his lips. How could the heat, the beauty of fire ever vanish from my heart. I remembered how it had been that first night on Aeros, when Chance and I had danced beneath the magical flames. I had seen those fires – although nobody else did but us – I had absorbed their power. “I'll always love you, Chance, and everything you represent. Fire. Passion. Mystery.”

            “I trust you, Mac,” Chance said, his lips so hot against my own. “I trust you to make the right decision. But the sea is a strange place. It messes with people's minds. It makes them...different. It made you different.”

            “I'm not like that,” I insisted. “I'm not like Vesta.”

            I spied Varun in the distance. He was waiting further down the beach, his eyes fixed upon me and Chance, watching our goodbyes. He was trying to hide it, but I could tell he was jealous. He wanted it to be him whom I loved, him who I embraced like I would never let go.

            My heart was breaking for both of them.

            I nodded to Varun and he approached, starring at Chance with daggers in his eyes. “I see you're ready to go,” Varun said to me, looking Chance up and down.

            “If anything happens to her, cousin,” Chance's voice was tight with rage. “If you let anything happen to her...”

            “Never!” said Varun. “She's safer with me than she is with you, Chance. Remember Jana...”         

            “How dare you mention her name!”

            “How dare you imply that
I
might be a danger to her?” Varun growled, doing his best to channel his anger into words. I could see Chance's fists clench, and I tried to alleviate the tension.

            “It'll be okay, Chance,” I said. “I'll be back soon. And I'll have the stone and I'll be able to save my mother.”

            “I told you, Chance,” Varun was getting cocky. “I'll have her back safe and sound. Better than ever, in fact.” He put a possessive arm around my shoulders. “You don't have to worry.”

            “I promise,” I squeezed Chance's hand gently. “I'll come back safe – and alive.”

            Chance nodded without smiling. Then, swiftly, he took me into his arms, pressing his hands around my cheeks as he brought me in for a kiss as passionate, as full of desperate urgency, as any he had ever given me. All of his love, all of his desire, his fear and his longing were contained in that kiss. Varun looked on, awkwardly, as Chance lightly brushed the tips of my teeth with his tongue, making me shiver in delirious anticipation as he pushed the small of my back into him, so that our hips were touching. I felt the pulsating heat of desire course through me once again. How could I spend so long without him, I asked myself? Surely every minute I spent apart from Chance would be pure, agonizing torture. And to spend it with Varun, who even now looked impossibility beautiful in his swimming-trunks and bare chest, my body wrapped against his – that would be another kind of exquisite torture. I looked up at Chance as he lightly moved his head away from me, my eyes filled with love and want.