Burn With Me (Legend of the Sun Whisperers) (2 page)

“Where is it, Maddie? What made all that noise earlier, and that light we saw?” Serra’s lilting voice tinkled like bells in the air.

Maddelyn
’s gaze roved over the area. Dark shapes in the distance revealed more of the same rock piles, interspersed with even more dirt and piles of rubble. The glow had pretty much faded, but tendrils of it still extended toward the sky. Nothing but blurry black night below it. 

How is this possible?

Maddelyn stepped tentatively ahead, caution guarding her steps. “Stay here, Serra,” she said as an afterthought, her mind fully on the mystery before her.

Serra grumbled in disapproval as Maddelyn moved further away. A slight vibration rumbled under her feet again, much weaker than the one before, but still as perplexing. The ever-present wind swirled the dirt around her feet as she walked, the vibration ever so slightly stronger with each step. Maddelyn pressed on, and collided with something so hard she fell a few steps backward.

“Hey…” Maddelyn mumbled, rubbing her shoulder. Whatever she’d hit sent a stab of pain down her arm, a trail of pins and needles chasing it. But when she looked ahead, there still was nothing there.

“What the…?” Moving slowly forward again, Maddelyn’
s hand shot out in front of her body, fingers splayed. Her palm connected with something smooth, though her eyes still registered nothing but empty landscape. The invisible object hummed under her fingers and pulsed with a steady rhythm. Ripples of shock flowed down her spine as she reared back in alarm.

“What is it? I can’
t see.” Serra’s voice echoed behind Maddelyn, jolting her briefly.

Maddelyn
’s mouth worked a few moments in confusion before she found words. “I’m…I’m not sure. It’s like, whatever it is…it’s
invisible
or something.” She turned to look at Serra as she spoke.

The child
’s eyes grew wide as saucers as she pointed ahead, over Maddelyn’s shoulder.  “Maddie, look.” Serra’s voice was so hushed, it was almost lost in the wind-laden night air.

Icy fear made Maddelyn turn around slowly as panic blossomed in her gut and made her heart thump so hard it might just burst through her ribcage. 

A dark figure stood off to her right, silent and ghostly among the surrounding ruins. As her eyes adjusted past the darkness and her panic, Maddelyn realized it was a man. A rather large, hulking man, to be exact. His eyes were closed, and he swayed on his feet, as if he might collapse at any moment, despite his massive frame.
Where did he come from?

“Are…are you all right?” Maddelyn’
s voice was an unsure whisper as she cautiously stepped closer to the man, her curiosity once again overriding any good sense.

The man fell to his knees and Maddelyn rushed forward, awkwardly catching his shoulders. Heat emanated from his body so intensely it nearly burned her, and she grimaced in pain, barely fighting the urge to pull her hands back. He lifted his head and opened his eyes briefly, locking onto her gaze.

“Please...help…me,” he croaked in a gravelly voice, as he closed his eyes and slumped forward. His bulk nearly knocked Maddelyn over, but she managed to regain her balance, planting her feet squarely in the dirt to keep them both from crashing to the ground in a heap.

“Who is he, Maddie?” Serra asked, suddenly by Maddelyn’
s side.

“I don’
t know, Serra. But I think he’s hurt.” Maddelyn struggled to find purchase as she balanced the weight of the mysterious man with her own. The heat coming off of him was starting to become unbearable, and her breath hissed through her teeth as she weighed the options. Their lives were hard enough without adding the difficulty of another person to the mix. But she couldn’t just leave him out here to die, either.
What to do?

The stranger
’s muscles flexed under her fingers as thoughts see-sawed inside her head. He was strong, but obviously in need of help. “We have to try and get him back to our place.” Might not be the smartest decision she ever made, but Maddelyn had a feeling deep down in her gut that this man would do no harm to them.
Hope I’m right.

Maddelyn shifted her weight and tried to lift the man to his feet as she gripped his broad shoulders harder. The tips of her fingers burned where they made contact with his skin. He slid back to the ground with a loud grunt.
Damn, this guy is heavy
.

“Is there anything I can do?” Bewilderment and shock permeated Serra’
s question.

“He’
s very heavy, sweetie. Too heavy for you to help.” Maddelyn’s words came out through gritted teeth as she shifted her weight again, throwing the man’s arm around her neck for leverage as she tugged upwards on his bulky frame. The heat from him intensified, surrounding her in a warmth that did its best to combat the chill in the air.
He must be running one hell of a fever.

She leaned so that her lips were close to his ear, catching the musky scent of sweat and man from the intimate position.
“I want to help you, but I can’t do it all by myself. I need you to at least try to walk.” She hoped he wasn’t too far gone to hear her whispered plea.

With a groan, the man pushed off his knees to his feet, while Maddelyn roughly yanked his weight onto hers. He stood on wobbly legs and leaned into Maddelyn. Their balance was a shaky truce with the ground, but at least it seemed they were making progress.

Maddelyn’s chest heaved with exertion. How were they going to make it all the way back to their home?

She took a deep breath.
“Serra, I need you to walk ahead and make sure no one sees us.  It’ll be slow, so don’t over exert yourself. I can’t carry you both.”

Serra nodded, and her little feet plodded slowly back the way they had come earlier.  Maddelyn grimaced, pulling the man forward with each wobbly footfall. He groaned softly with every step, making her wonder what had happened to him, and why he was in such pain.
What have I gotten us into?

The walk back to the house was excruciatingly slow, each step filled with enough agony and effort for five steps. But finally, with Serra panting a little, and Maddelyn panting a lot, their small house loomed into view, its crooked outline a small relief.

Serra nudged the lopsided wooden door open wide, giving Maddelyn the space needed to get them all inside. Maddelyn shuffled to the back of the tiny shack, her destination the bed in the rear of the room. Hearing the door close quietly behind her, Maddelyn swiveled and deposited the man solidly on the bed, which groaned in protest under his weight.

His feet dangled limply over the side of the mattress. Maddelyn stooped, picked up his legs and swung them onto the bed with the rest of his body. He stirred briefly, moaned, and then grew still and silent, his chest moving evenly as he breathed. Maddelyn bent, her hands braced on her knees, while she struggled to even her own breathing. That walk drained her energy something fierce.

Serra moved quietly, lighting a few candles around the shoebox of a house so they could see.  She was careful and slow, just like she’d been taught. The child brought one of the candles and placed it on the bedside table. The flicker of the flame cast the room in a soft glow and Serra gasped. Maddelyn glanced over to the bed and straightened, her sharp intake of breath echoing Serra’s.

“What happened to him?” The little girl’
s voice was filled with pure horror as she stared at the man on the bed.

In the light of the dancing flame, Maddelyn saw what the night had kept hidden. The stranger
’s face was scratched and bloody, a mottled bruise covering his entire right cheek. His clothes were torn, long bloody gashes that left most of the fabric in tatters clotted with dried blood. Whatever had gotten hold of this man, he was lucky to be alive.

“Did you see where he came from, Serra?”

Serra shook her head, her eyes still glued to the man’s bloodied form on the bed. “One minute, there was nothing. Then, he was right there. It was like he appeared out of nowhere, you know, like
magic
.”

Maddelyn glanced back to the man. No form of magic could have done this. Wherever he
’d come from, he was lucky they’d found him, and not someone else. She needed to clean him up, and dress his wounds.

Serra coughed, forcing Maddelyn to notice the labored sound of the little girl
’s breathing again. All the excitement, paired with the long trek, had aggravated Serra’s already irritated lungs.

“We need to get you into bed, young lady.” Maddelyn took Serra’
s hand and tugged her over to a tiny cot beside the wall of the cramped room.

Serra yawned, but tried a protest anyway.
“But you’ll need help cleaning him up.”

Maddelyn peeled the clothes from Serra
’s frail body, and replaced them with her nightgown. “I can do that by myself. Besides, he won’t be doing much but sleeping, the state he’s in. You want to be well rested to hear his story tomorrow, don’t you?”

Serra cocked her head to one side while she considered Maddelyn
’s statement, and then gave a little nod. The little girl climbed into her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Her eyelids drooped as weariness replaced the excitement of their escapade.

“That’
s my girl.” Maddelyn tucked the covers around Serra as she drifted off almost immediately. Each of the child’s shuddering breaths resounded in the room. That sound made Maddelyn’s heart lurch in her throat at the same time it sent reassurance blanketing over her.  Hearing that noise made Maddelyn aware of the life and death of the child at the same time. A conflicting set of emotions that Maddelyn was certain would come to a violent head soon enough.

Maddelyn turned back to the man she
’d dumped in her bed, finally able to concentrate and process the night’s events, but finding only more questions.
Who is he? And why did he ask for her help?

She shook her head and pulled the makeshift curtain that served as a thin veil of privacy inside their humble abode. She poured water from a pitcher at the foot of the bed into a bowl and dropped a cloth inside. She set the bowl on the table and sat down lightly on the edge of the bed.

The light from the candle flame flickered over his features. Even through all of the blood and bruising, Maddelyn noticed that he was attractive. Broad shoulders, muscular chest, large thighs. His hair just skimmed his shoulders and appeared to be a shade of light blond, though that detail was difficult to judge accurately. Blood and dirt had matted the strands together in dark clumps. She brushed some sullied strands away from his face. Her finger lightly traced the line of his brow, creased in sleep. Heat still radiated off him, warming Maddelyn to her core. A deep, empty longing laced with regret bubbled to the surface of her heart, but she pushed it away.
No time for that, right now
.

She reached for the cloth, wringing the excess water out into the bowl. Attractive or not, the man needed mending. And even though a lot had been taken from Maddelyn over these last horrific years, she refused to let her compassion disappear entirely.

Maddelyn brought the cloth to his face and gently wiped away the blood and dirt. He moaned as the water made contact with his skin, almost making her stop, but she soldiered on. Dirt meant infection, and infection meant death. Maddelyn was so very tired of death.

The bowl of water grew cloudy with debris as she repeatedly rinsed the rag. He did look much better, but her work was far from over. She still had to deal with his ruined clothes.

Maddelyn’s fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, her hands suddenly trembling.  It had been so long since she’d touched a man, even a bruised and battered one. She had to take a steadying breath as the cloth of his shirt fell aside, affirming her previous deduction of a muscular chest.

But the muscles were marred by lengthy gashes, bisecting the sculpted planes of his abdomen. Bright pink scar tissue from what looked like burns ran across his chest, from shoulder to shoulder. Black streaks of ash also marked his torso. Maddelyn
’s chest filled with pity.  He had to be in such pain, she had to be extremely careful.

As Maddelyn rinsed the rag out once again, strong fingers circled her wrist, making her gasp in surprise.

Her head whipped in his direction as she deftly yanked her arm out of his grasp. His eyes flickered open and he shot up from the bed, in a sitting position. His gaze darted wildly around the room before it finally came to rest on Maddelyn, pinning her in place.

A cold wave of panic gripped Maddelyn as the stranger studied her, inches from her body. As her blood throbbed in her ears, she stared at him, mesmerized. His eyes were a golden-bronze
—the color of molten topaz. They simmered with a wild beauty, untamed and untempered. She’d never seen eyes that color before.

He raised a hand and brought it to her face, cradling her cheek.

“Thank you,” he whispered hoarsely.

Heat seared Maddelyn
’s cheek where his hand rested, like holding her face too close to an open flame. She flinched.

The stranger tilted his head up and groaned, falling backward onto the bed. His back arched, then he fell silent and completely still once again.