Destiny's Fire - By Trisha Wolfe
Chapter One
I WAS LOSING CONSCIOUSNESS, becoming lightheaded and dizzy. If I could just wedge my fingers beneath his arm, maybe I’d loosen his hold from around my neck.
“Don’t fight it,” he breathed into my ear. “Just fall to the floor, Dez.”
I attempted shaking my head defiantly, but the movement only helped his arm squeeze tighter. Panic—squirming in my stomach like electric eels—enveloped me. The walls around me blurred. Get a grip, Dez. And then I did—right on the sleeve of his leather jerkin. I pulled it over his head and blinded him.
“I just knew you wanted to rip my clothes off,” he mocked, struggling to right his jacket.
I rolled my eyes. Finding a hold on his arm, I hauled him over my shoulder, and he landed on his back with a hard whack.
I ran for my weapon, but he grabbed my ankle, tumbling me on top of him. I straddled either side of him and used my knees to anchor his arms to the floor. “Looks like you lose this time, Jace.”
I kept him pinned while reaching for my Charge Dagger. My fingertips grazed the bronze hilt, but Jace clutched my thighs, refusing to let me stretch far enough to grasp my weapon fully. With a grunt, he rolled on top of me and secured my arms to the cement floor.
“Why didn’t you go for it when you had me?” he asked, catching me off guard for a moment. I held my breath, staring into his blue eyes. Not blue like the color of water or sky, but electric blue—glowing. “You could have just snapped my neck, you know?” Jace let out an exasperated groan. “Tilt your head back. This time I’m teaching you a lesson about losing focus.”
His condescending tone pissed me off, and I squirmed beneath him. It was no use. I was trapped and not getting away. He clasped my hands above my head and nudged his face between my cheek and shoulder.
“No!” I screamed.
His hot breath fanned my neck as his lips parted against my skin. A tremor rocked my body, and I fought to free my hands. His teeth grazed my skin. I froze. I felt pressure, heat, and the slide of his tongue. I shivered and reminded myself this was Jace…
His hold on my wrists weakened for a second, and I took advantage, wiggling my wrist free and nailing him across the head with the back of my hand. He grunted and rolled to the side.
I got to my feet. “I can’t believe you guys let him mark me!” I cupped my neck, glancing around the room at the guilty faces.
My best friend Lana held back a laugh, audibly shaking with a scrunched up face. “Sorry,” she choked out. “It won’t be there for long.”
I rolled my eyes at her, then widened them at Nick. “And you? You couldn’t do anything about your brother?”
Nick held up his hands in defense. “Hey, you have to learn to take him. Maybe this will light a fire under you to kick his ass next time.”
I scowled and he averted his eyes, adjusting his faded brown double-lapel jacket and smoothing back his dark hair, ignoring my glare.
Whipping back around toward Jace, I flashed him a sardonic smile and then swept his legs out from underneath him. “Next time,” I warned, staring down at him.
Jace’s eyebrows furrowed. After quickly picking himself off the floor, he grabbed my arm and led me across the room. “Look, I got carried away, but…” His face reddened. Was he embarrassed now? Marking was a training method, a humiliation method rather, used to remind Kythan to guard their ink—their power. “I shouldn’t have gone that far, but what if I was Narcolym? You wouldn’t be sporting a hickey right now. Your throat would be ripped out.” He released a heavy breath. “I wanted it to be real so you could attempt to defend yourself. After your birthday, you’ll have your tatt and your power and…” He shook his head, backing off.
I witnessed the panic in his eyes, something I’d never seen from him before, and realized how scared he was. We were all scared, though. Hence the secret fight club. The Narcolym Council was about to invade our haven—under the Treaty Act, of course. But the thought of them in our city was disturbing.
Although we were all Kythan—shape-shifters descended from ancient guardians who had watched over Egyptian pharaohs—the Narcolym race had waged a war, taking out the only other Kythan race, and nearly wiping us—the Shythe—out completely. The Narcolyms’ bloodshed had been worse because all Kythan were endangered already before the centuries of warring. That’s why Jace was so adamant that we train, even while the Shythe Council ordered us not to. He believed the Treaty Act was bogus, and he wanted us to prepare for the worst.
After a long pause, considering his fear, I nodded. “I get it, Jace. It’s cool.”
The lines in his forehead relaxed, revealing the squinty-eyed gaze I’d become accustomed to over the years. He ran a hand through his disheveled, dirty-blond hair. “Yeah, well, at least for the next day or so that mark on your neck is a reminder of who won…again.”
I pushed against his hard chest. He didn’t budge. “Next time I’m going to make you eat those words.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Come on. Devon will be closing the club soon. Let’s get out of here.”
Lana scooted up next to me and handed me my Charge Dagger. “Here, Dez.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Wow, I thought you guys were going to break into a hot make out session for a minute.”
I scoffed, glancing over at Jace. “Right.” I shook my head. “And eww. You’re talking about your brother like that?” I turned a gear on my weapon, and the Charge disabled as the blue glow surrounding the blade went dark. “Besides, Jace doesn’t care about things like that. He takes everything else way too seriously.”
Lana shrugged. “Whatever, come on. I want to get my dance on before we leave.” She grabbed my hand, threading her fingers through mine, and edged me toward the stairs.
I surveyed the basement one last time, making sure all the weapons were hidden away. I sheathed my dagger into its holder against my ankle, hidden beneath my leather breeches, and nodded to Nick. He climbed the stairs and lifted the hatch as I pulled the chain, outing the gas lamps.
As I ascended the rungs, the music that had been a low, hollow boom in the basement was now loud and deafening. I lowered the hatch, stomped on the floor door, and slid a brass barstool over it. Nick pulled back the heavy black curtains, revealing the club. A swaying and bopping crowd cluttered the dance floor. It was almost closing time, but the club was still at full tilt—Shythe and humans dancing. Though the humans were unaware of the shape-shifters in their presence.
Lana bounced up and down, her black and too-short mini-corset barely concealing, well, anything. She latched onto my hand and steered me toward the dance floor as Nick rolled his eyes at his sister. He cocked his head in the direction of the door, holding up five wriggling fingers, indicating he and Jace were stepping out for five minutes. I nodded back.
The beat abruptly changed as Lana batted her eyes at Devon, the lead singer of Current, the band working Cogs’ music scene. Devon was Shythe like us, and he also ran Cogs. Humans didn’t question how the bar operated with its high voltage chemical light show, or instruments that wailed out sounds from a steam pipe no violin or guitar could emulate. Devon boasted that most were all too happy to hide away in the club and dance, content to get lost in the industrial music and booze.
I marveled at all the disguised devices in the bar. Devon ran the majority of Cogs on Charge—Shythe power—secretly cloaking it behind pistons, gears, and makeshift contraptions, while the rest operated on steam power—the Narcolym-forged technology that had shaped our world.
He tipped his top hat and winked at Lana before adjusting the knobs on his guitar. Guys were putty in Lana’s hands when she wanted something, and Devon was no exception. For months now, when she made her way onto the floor, he’d play whatever song she deemed hers at the time. This week, it was a fast-paced urban melody. She squealed and grabbed my hands once again, pulling me along to join her in the jumping throng.
I shook my head, but couldn’t help being tempted to dance as the adrenaline from sparring coursed through my system. I stepped onto the slippery metallic floor and glanced around at the flailing bodies. A guy with long, dark dreads, wearing a black leather military jacket and gloves, turned toward me and gave me a slight nod. I bounced alongside him.
Brass and copper pipes decorated the walls, snaking above the bar and pumping out puffs of steam from the contraption Devon had built to dispense beer more efficiently. Low hanging chemical lamps were scattered along the rafters, and beams of blue, green, and purple jumped out of them in pulses that matched the beat of the synthesized music.
Lana’s long blond hair glowed white against the backdrop of the dark club, her two pink dreads becoming tangled as she whipped her head back and forth. Matching her rhythm, I tossed my head, my dark strands lashing my shoulders as I raised my hands above me. I closed my eyes and danced freely, caught up in the music.
Someone bumped into me—breaking the trance—and my eyes snapped open. My breath hitched as a pair of glowing red eyes caught my attention from across the room. Three Narcolym sauntered into the club through the side entrance, their heads held high.
What are they doing here? They didn’t look like Council members. They looked our age. The Narcolym leaders were supposed to meet with ours, and only at the Shythe Council Building. They were to hash out whatever they had to discuss about the Treaty Act. And that wasn’t supposed to happen until next month. Or so we thought. So why were they here?
I turned my back to them and latched onto Lana’s wrist, gripping it. Her eyes grew wide, and I jerked my head, nodding in their direction. Clutching her shoulders, I spun her around and pressed up against her back. “Don’t let them see your eyes,” I whispered in her ear. “We’ll stay here for a minute, then sneak out the way Nick and Jace went.”
She leaned the back of her head against my shoulder. “Are they full, or like us?”
Discretely, I tossed my head back and forth to the music while glancing at them. Great. One of the Narcos at the bar had a neck tatt, marking him as a full shifter.
“They’re full. Just do what I said.” Lana inched away from me, dancing with her eyes half-shut and head down.
One glimpse into our eyes would be all it’d take. They’d know we were Shythe. Humans couldn’t see our glowing blue irises unless we wanted them to, but other Kythan could. It was one of the features we couldn’t hide from each other. The other—our Kythan ink. I had no clue why the Narcos were here, or what they were up to, but I didn’t want to chance them seeing us and possibly having all hell break lose. And I knew if I didn’t get to Jace before he came back in, that’s exactly what would happen.
I reached for my analog communicator to send Jace a data message, let him know we were on our way out. But before I pulled it from my pocket, arms wrapped around my waist. Anger squeezed my chest. I was about to push the guy off me when I glanced into the wall mirror and saw his neck tatt. My breath and hands halted.
Lana saw him, too, and panic flashed in her brilliantly blue eyes. I bit down on my lip and slid my eyes to the door, signaling her to leave now. Her eyebrows knitted together, and she shook her head. I widened my eyes at her, tersely jerking my head toward the door. One of us had to get away. She reluctantly slipped off the dance floor, glancing back once. I gave a quick nod, letting her know I’d be right behind her as soon as I eased out of his grip—which shouldn’t be too hard, right?
There were plenty of other girls to distract him. All I had to do was hide my eyes from his and walk away, or dance away, as to not offend him. Narcolym were known for their hot tempers.
I danced with him for a moment, allowing his hands to roam over my body as I watched Lana dip out of sight. I breathed a sigh of relief and began inching away, but he pulled me to him and held on tighter, pressing my back against his chest. His hand brushed my hair aside, and he lowered his head. His lips skimmed my neck as he rested his chin against my shoulder.
Waves of fear and panic, and then anger, washed over me. I wanted to reach behind my head and snap his neck. I wanted to break his fingers, which were finding their way under the hem of my peasant blouse, grazing against my midsection. But I couldn’t give myself away. Not to mention cause a scene right in the middle of Cogs, and in front of humans.
“Name’s Reese,” he said, his warm breath brushing against my ear. “What’s yours?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. No way was I giving him my name. When his lips pressed against my neck, in the same spot where Jace’s had been moments before, I shuddered violently. The Narco’s body stiffened behind me. He gripped my shoulders and twirled me around—his face inches away from my mine. His eyes flared red as he stared into my blue flames. Then his lips curled back, revealing his now elongated eyeteeth.
I wrestled out of his hold and bolted for the door. I was almost there when he grabbed my waist. He hauled me against the wall and pinned my hands on either side of me. “You’re not full?” he said questioningly. His blazing eyes searched my neck.
I glared up at him. His black hair hung straight, just touching the dark lashes crowding his glowing red eyes. His face was smooth, fair, becoming fairer by the second. His lips parted, their flushed pink contrasting against his white, sharp eyeteeth. My breath caught as his ears shifted from rounded human ears to pointed as he revealed his Kythan form to me.
“Not yet.” I jerked my head away from his penetrating gaze. “But don’t let that fool you.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I’m not fooled. You’re plenty capable.” His red eyes flicked down my body. “But, no ink, no power. I wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt my new ally.”
I glanced around the dark room, struggling under his hold. “There’re more of your allies here, you know,” I told him, finding his eyes again. “Don’t want to threaten the Treaty Act in front of witnesses, do you?”
He laughed, a low, menacing sound. “Well precious, let this be a lesson.” He snapped my hands above my head, gripping them both with only one of his. Then he slid his fingers down my cheek, pausing to run his thumb over my bottom lip. “You shouldn’t come out to play until you have the power to party like a big girl.”
His eyes flared, and red, scorching flames burned into mine as his hands heated, warming my skin uncomfortably. “Take your hands off me before I drop you where you stand,” I threatened. “This is my city.” I glared back into his glowing eyes. “You’re the one who shouldn’t be here.”
“You’re a feisty one, I’ll give you that. But I’m not here to fight.” His free hand stretched down, and he kicked my legs apart. Then he ran his hand up my inner thigh. “You might like what my kind can do.” Heat spread through my body as his hand warmed my skin beneath the leather. It felt like liquid fire heating me, and I fought harder to free myself.
His face began to lower toward mine, as if he was going to…kiss me? I tried to concentrate, but his hand—the heat—was sliding up and panic distracted me, keeping me from tearing his red eyes out. He leaned in…but halted right before my face, his eyes growing wide. They shimmered as a soft smile replaced his sneer.
His lips passed mine, finding my ear instead. “Come find me after you go through the change,” he whispered, sending shivers along my skin. “You actually seem like a challenge.” He raised his head and shifted into his human form. No longer looking menacing.
I glared into his fire red eyes. Was that a threat or a come on? I shook my head, clearing it. And what the hell just happened? Why isn’t he ripping my throat out?
I was thrust forward by the force of him being ripped off me. “Get your hands off her, Narco Slime.” Jace stood between us.
I fell against the wall, slack, and took deep breaths to calm myself. Lana loomed near the exit door waving me over. Oh, no. Not before I get a piece of this guy. I pushed off the wall and knocked Jace out of the way as I went for the Narco’s groin with my knee. He blocked it, but I got another quick shot in and nailed him across the face with my fist. Damn. That stung. His head snapped to the side and stayed there.
Jace forced me through the door. “Are you crazy?” he said angrily as he ushered me away from Cogs. Lana and Nick came up beside us, matching our brisk pace.
As we raced through the cobbled street, I glanced back to see the three Narcos pushing through the door of Cogs. “Jace, what are we going to—” My words caught in my throat as I halted mid-stride.
We stared out over the bay. Airships hung over the harbor, their Daimler engines choking out black smoke, a dark haze conflicting with the purple-orange night sky. Giant, round swells above the ships reflected the lights of the pier against their shiny silver. And their canvas sails reached out over the inky water, beating in the breeze.
“They’re here.” I turned toward Jace. “And more than just their Council.” I glanced at the three huge airships in our harbor. “That Narco at the club had a neck tatt, and I felt the heat rolling off his hands. What are we…” My words died again as I saw the three Narcos making their way toward us. Crap. Why would our Council agree to a Treaty Act? And why the hell would they ever allow the Narcolym into Haven Falls?
Jace pushed me behind him. “Let me handle it.”
I attempted to get around him, wanting to hit the stupid Narco one last time. “I don’t need you protecting me, Jace. What the hell is all that training for, then?”
He shot me an impatient look. “Please, Dez. Just…look after Lana.”
I studied my best friend’s panic-stricken face, and gave her a weak smile.
The Narco that had pinned me to the wall, Reese, and his two thugs marched toward us.
“Great,” Nick breathed. “Guess it’s on now.”
Jace and Nick stepped in front of Lana and me.
Reese stopped right in front of them. “I guess you didn’t come out to play alone, after all.” He grinned at me, then looked at Jace and cocked his head. “Do you really want to do this?” he asked.
Jace cracked his knuckles. “Don’t see why not.”
Reese rubbed his hands together and they flamed red as heat built in their center. A red glow snaked around and up his forearm. “You’re not ready.” His eyes flared. “I thought you might have some tatts, but you’re powerless. And besides”—he nodded toward his two buddies—“we’d get in trouble for disturbing the peace. Though it might’ve been worth it if you were full shifters.”
The Narcos beside Reese waved their hands at us as if we’d wasted their time. I released a breath that I didn’t know I’d been holding. As much as I wanted to take the guy’s head off, I was more worried about my friends getting hurt.
I turned to Lana. “Let’s get out of here.” Then to Jace, I added, “Come on, let it go.”
Jace balled his hands by his thighs, white knuckled. “He can’t get away with treating you like that.”
I laid my hand on his shoulder. “Jace…” And with just his name, he relaxed his hands and turned to go.
As we neared the bike ramp, I glanced over my shoulder. Reese’s glowing red arms faded as he passed under dimly lit gas lamps. We were almost to Jace and Nick’s levibikes when I looked back one last time. Reese waved—a smile spreading across his face. Then he winked at me.
My birthday was right around the corner. I’d be seventeen and have my full power, and then I’d see that Narco hothead again. Treaty Act my ass.