Through the Fire (Daughter of Fire, #1)(22)

“When the moment comes, take it. Don’t look back.”

“I don’t understand.”

He stepped closer to me, drawing me to him with his steady grip on my arm. His other hand caressed my cheek again, and a moment later his soft lips were on mine. His lips dragged over mine in gentle, sad movements. His fingers twined into my hair, and he drew my face closer to his. He placed his forehead on mine for a fraction of a second. “I love you.”

Without giving me a chance to respond, he let me go. He took a moment to run his fingers through his hair to tidy it. With a sigh, but not even a glance back at me, he shoved both hands in his pockets and casually strolled out toward his family.

All I could do was stare after him as my heat rose by the second.

How were we going to get out of this?





CHAPTER NINE


LESS THAN a minute later, he was greeting them as if he hadn’t just declared his love to a monster. “Eth, Dad, what are you guys doing here?”

“Lou said you might be in trouble,” the younger voice—the one I assumed must have been Ethan—said.

“No trouble,” Clay said in response. “I just needed some time to myself.”

I had no idea how he planned to get us both out of the situation, but I was willing to trust that he would find a way.

He loves me.

I kept that thought running as a mantra in my mind as I tried to find another escape path from the tiny office, just in case Clay’s plan didn’t work. There was only one—up. Unless I suddenly discovered I had an unknown ability to climb walls, it wasn’t going to happen. My eyes darted around every part of the tiny space, cursing the smooth walls and lack of hiding places.

“Why don’t we go get some coffee and breakfast?” Clay said. “This place is a dump.”

“Then why are you staying here, bro?”

“I told you, I needed some time alone. That means away from people. You don’t get more away than this.”

Ignoring Clay’s instructions, I crept forward toward the door to the room. I hoped I could get out of the space and hide somewhere in the labyrinth of corridors around the warehouse, but I couldn’t risk being seen—or heard—leaving the room. Peering out into the hallway, I saw the shadow of the three men flickering over the graffiti on the walls. Then my gaze was drawn to my own very obvious shadow in the outline of the open door and I jumped back inside the room. It was my worst fear—I was trapped.

The thought made the tips of my fingers prickle instantly with heat. The warmth licked up my arms as if the flames had already leapt from my body and were burning their way over my skin. The heat was more intense than anything I’d experienced. Deep within me, a strange voice whispered undecipherable things.

At first, the speech terrified me. It wasn’t something I’d experienced before. The stories Dad had told me about the sunbird came back to me as if planted in my mind by someone else. As those images flittered through my mind at a rapid pace, I understood. Almost by instinct. The quiet utterances were a form of encouragement.

The sunbird, or whatever it was that the voice belonged to, would keep me safe.

A renewed confidence rushed through my limbs, and I breathed out my fear. Closing my eyes, I surrendered myself to the meaningless words. Once I had, they were no longer meaningless.

You’ve never been in such danger before, the voice whispered. I’m here to help.

How? I asked silently.

You know how. It was my own thoughts that bubbled up in response to my question. The invisible flames that licked along my arms burned hotter for a second.

Surrender to me, and they will pay.

The unveiled threat in the sunbird’s words terrified me, but then she moved within me. My heart beat a little faster, and my stomach clenched.

If you need me, I will take control.

“I’ll be okay,” I whispered to myself to silence the voice. The thought of something else—even something within my own body—taking control of my actions terrified me. It made me consider the fact that maybe Clay was right—maybe I was a monster. Or at least I had one residing just beneath my skin.

I moved into the corner of the room closest to the door, hoping I could at least surprise them from behind and gain some advantage if it was going to come down to a fight. In the seconds that it took for the three voices to fill the corridor outside the room, I wondered what they looked like and how strong they might be. They were both seasoned hunters—I remembered Clay telling me his brother was a few years older than him. Even if Clay was willing to fight against them, making the fight two on two, would I have enough strength to fight off a fully-grown man?

You don’t need strength; you have fire.

I nodded in response to the voice inside me. She was right; I did have fire. I could make them burn. The thought terrified me as it ran through my mind, mostly because I recognized that it was not my own. I didn’t want to deliberately hurt anyone, but she would if it was necessary.

It won’t be necessary, I thought again to pacify the sunbird. It didn’t seem she could come to the surface unless I let her, so I didn’t have to be evil. I couldn’t stoop to their level; it would make me no better than them or the creature they believed me to be.

Closing my eyes, I tried to retrace the steps back out of the warehouse and cement the escape route in my mind. When I opened them again, I was looking at three backs: Clay and two other men who had entered the room. Clay’s head immediately turned, and his gaze sought me out.