Licked by the Flame (26 page)

“You look beautiful. You look…glowing. And hot.”

“And you are a terrible liar. I totally do not look glowing
or
hot right now.”

“No, I’m serious. Lianne, look at yourself. Your skin…it’s glowing. You’re becoming red hot!”

He was right. She glanced down at herself and discovered the pores of her skin seemed to be emitting a strange red glow. She was on fire! Her clothes—what was left of them—suddenly burst into flame and burned entirely off her body. She danced around, desperate to get away from them, but oddly enough nothing hurt.

She looked to Nic, frantic for him to tell her things were all right. She felt itchy and prickly all over, and suddenly the heat rolling off the lava pool started to lose its pungent sting. Despite quite literally combusting a minute ago, she felt suddenly chilled. She met Nic’s eyes and wondered why he was shrinking in front of her.

No, wait. He wasn’t shrinking—she was growing! Her head was suddenly rising higher off the chamber floor. She felt as if she could stand up halfway to the immeasurably high ceiling. She threw her shoulders back and…holy shit, she had wings!

“Oh my God, Nic. What’s happening to me?”

He opened his wide dragon mouth to speak but he could not. He rose up with her, his eyes scanning over her head to toe, and his wings unfurling in wonder. She blinked and let out an amazed breath. A puff of steam blew out of her nose.

“Steam, Nic. I’ve got steam coming out my nose. What the hell is going on?”

“Well, it appears to me you’re turning into a dragon.”

“A dragon? I can’t turn into a dragon! You can turn into a human, but I absolutely cannot turn into a dragon.”

“I believe you just did.”

“Well, undo it! How did this happen, Nic?”

“I don’t know. It must have been the combination of Fairy Dust, wishes, and the dragon blood you got on yourself. It must have mixed with your blood and the magic just let it co-mingle—probably it had something to do with that flower bloom magic, I would guess.”

“You would guess? But what does this mean?”

“It means I’m not toxic to you, Lianne. We’ve got the same blood now.”

She was twisting, thrashing her long neck around to look at her terrifying new body from every angle. No matter how she viewed it, she was a dragon, not as dark and scary looking as Nic, but truly a dragon. She had leathery wings, sharp pointy talons, and a long snakelike tail. Damn, but it was going to take her a while to get used to
that
.

“Do I…do I look okay like this?”

He laughed at her again and she noticed that the heat behind his scales flamed brighter. “Yes. You do. You are one very sexy dragon.”

“Don’t lie to me, Nic. If I’m some dumpy, awkward-looking dragon, you’d better tell me now.”

“You are beautiful, Lianne. I promise. If you’d like, though, I can teach you how to return to your usual form. It won’t be easy at first, but you’ll get the hang of it.”

“So I don’t have to always look like this? Well, that’s a relief. Not that
you
don’t rock the dragon skin, but…damn it, Nic, how the hell did I turn into a dragon?”

“Maybe we’ll find those fairies again someday and force them to tell us.”

“Do you think we can make them reverse this?”

“Do you want them to?”

She had to pause for a moment at that. Did she want them to? This was quite a lot to take in all at once, sure, but if she let herself think about it for a little bit maybe it wasn’t so frightening, after all.

Nic was a dragon. He was one hell of a dragon, actually, and she was crazy for him. He was still running his eyes over her and he didn’t look at all freaked out by the dramatic change in her appearance. He liked it, in fact, and she didn’t need telepathy to know what the steamy look in his eye and the lazy smoke seeping out of him meant.

But if she was a dragon now, then she would have that telepathy thing. He could teach her to do his mind-control trick! And if she wanted to go shopping for cute shoes, she could still do that once she mastered the knack of changing her form. Most of all, she and Nic could be together wherever he needed to be. She could stay here with him and take care of his clutch.

And there would be lots and lots of ragingly hot sex, that went without saying.

“Yeah.
Lots
of hot sex,” he assured her, obviously reading her thoughts.

“I think I’m kind of warming up to this,” she said. “I can’t really see a downside. This might not be a bad way to spend my last few months.”

“Sorry, I have to correct you there,” he said, shaking his head.

“What, you think this will alter my life expectancy now?”

“I do. Dragons live for centuries, my dear.”

“Dragons like
you
live for centuries, Nic.
I’m
kind of a special case,” she reminded him, tapping her head where that damn brain tumor waited to ruin all the fun.

He just smiled at her and puffed out a white smoke ring. “There’s one more detail you ought to know, darling.”

“Oh? What’s that, pookey bear?”

“Dragons don’t get cancer.”

No cancer?
Oh hell, yes. She was totally on board.

“Okay. I’m sold. If you’re feeling up to it, buddy, you’d better either teach me how to shift back into my regular body, or tell me where dragons keep their erogenous zones, because you and I are sooooo going to party right now.”

R
aea made herself comfortable in the tuft of moss in the sheltered cleft of a rock where she and Kyne had decided to rest and wait out the last bits of the storm. They’d used so much of their dust on assisting the woman that they would need to fly home using wind currents rather than magic. It was worth it, though. By all appearances, their efforts worked. She glanced back toward the distant silhouette of the mountain.

“Still no sign of an explosion,” she noted.

“But of course,” Kyne said with a yawn. “You grant good wishes. I’m sure everything worked out just fine for them. Now settle in here and get some rest. We’re out of dust, so it’ll be a long journey home.”

“Swift said we should have no trouble getting to the land of the Celts,” she pointed out. “He says there are plenty of local fairies there to give us some dust for the rest of the way.”

“If we think we can trust that. I’m not ready to put Swift on my list of best friends.”

“I know he wasn’t very nice to us before, but maybe he’s changing,” she offered.

Kyne grunted in response. She decided to drop the subject. Their green companion had returned to his ship, insisting that he wouldn’t mention anything about them or what had really happened inside the mountain. He planned to say that unknown forces had destroyed the equipment and everyone inside the mountain. Clearly that place was too dangerous to return to.

Raea and Kyne had gone to the jobsite where the humans had been staging their research on the mountain and surrounding areas. They used the last bit of their dust to allow seeds of panic to germinate among the group, convincing them all that the mountain was unstable and that cave-ins had taken the lives of all three humans who had gone there. No doubt the project would be canceled and the humans would vacate the area. The clutch of dragon eggs would be safe. Nic and his human would survive their ordeal, and the plot against the dragons would fail.

But now Raea’s eyes were heavy and she could hardly keep them open. Kyne was right. She really should get some rest. The sun was already up over the horizon, breaking through the clouds as they swirled and dissipated overhead. Soon it would be fully daylight. They would travel then. It would be warmer, and their auras would not glow so conspicuously when they approached populated areas. She snuggled closer to Kyne and took his hand.

“I hope she’ll be okay with him,” she mused.

“You saw how they looked at each other,” he replied, wrapping his other arm around her. “She’ll be fine.”

“How do you suppose our magic will work on her? We didn’t heal her, you know.”

“We bought her some time. Who knows how the human body will react to magic? She was pretty clear in her wish, so at least that much will work in her favor.”

Raea nodded. “A human and a dragon. Who would have thought?”

“It seems like the world is full of unlikely pairs.”

She studied him, his strong features, the size of his not fully fairylike hands, the beautiful golden glow that surrounded him. She would have never guessed she could love him this much, yet she did. Somehow, against all the odds, they’d found each other.

“We’re not so very unlikely,” she said. “You and I. Neither of us quite fit the life we tried to belong in, but we fit each other perfectly.”

His eyes had been shut but he cracked them open enough to look down at her. He smiled, his fingers trailing over the sensitive skin at her shoulder and collarbone.

“Sometimes we need a little help from Sizing Powder to fit entirely perfectly,” he commented.

“I know,” she whispered, kissing his ear. “I saved us just a little bit of it.”

“By the Skies, I do love you.” He pulled her more tightly into his arms and brought her lips up to meet his.

She kissed him with all of her soul. “Now that sounds entirely perfect.”

Serena Gilley grew up reading fantasy and fairy tales, and believing there was a distinct possibility that both of them were real. Somewhere. Even all these years later, Serena’s belief in magic and mystery hasn’t diminished. In fact, she is living out her own happily-ever-after with a handsome prince in a beautiful castle, taming dragons and granting wishes every day. Okay, so the prince is a regular guy, the dragons are really just teenagers, and the wishes she grants are as spectacular as frozen pizza on Friday night, but it’s a fantasy world just the same.

Learn more at:

SerenaGilley.com

Twitter @SerenaGilley13

Facebook.com/SerenaGilleyAuthor

Please turn the page for a preview of the next novella in the Forbidden Realm series,

Available early 2016

I
t was good to be back in the familiar Fairyrealm. Summer was lush and green here, a far cry from the cold, bleak terrain Swift had encountered in Iceland. As a fairy, Swift had not been negatively affected by the harsh weather in that desolate land, but his recent assignment had been unsettling, to say the least.

Swift had seen far too many disturbing things…
felt
too many disturbing things. He was still not quite sure what to do about them, either. He had devoted his life to serving the Fairy Council and what he had been taught that they stood for. Now not only had his perception of that changed, but his body seemed to have been altered as well.

These new, unusual sensations concerned him. Had his unexpected close proximity to humans on his assignment caused some damage to his system? Perhaps it was only temporary. Perhaps being home, away from corrupting influences, would purge his mind and his body of the unwanted thoughts, the vile urges that had crept over him lately. The last thing he needed was to be a fairy who struggled with the most forbidden of flaws—a fairy who knew passion.

His promotion to full agent within the Department of Restraint and Obedience had been something he’d long worked for. He hadn’t questioned the council when his first assignment had seemed somewhat out of the ordinary. He probably should have, though.

By the Skies, what had he discovered? He couldn’t make sense of it, but he knew what he had seen: fairies secretly working with humans and strange machinery that affected the very fabric of magic. Even the ancient and illusive dragons had been involved! Yet the council assured him it was all perfectly safe and necessary. If only he could believe them.

But he couldn’t. It was nearly impossible to know what he
could
believe anymore. He’d thought it a high calling to serve the council, to track destructive behavior and rogue fairies like Kyne and his sneaky little friend Raea…but nothing was certain now. Swift was unaccustomed to questioning himself or the council. Today, though…

“I can see that you’re feeling a sense of inner conflict,” Dorn, the Council Leader, was saying as his regal, gray aura emanated around him.

It was an understatement, of course, but Swift dodged the question. “There is no evidence to prove that Pimma helped the fugitive Kyne escape. You’ve questioned her enough, Dorn. Why has she not been given back her magic?”

“The council is restricting her magical privilege for her own good. We’ve not taken away her wings, simply her access to Fairy Dust.”

“Which she needs to go about her daily life. How is she to protect herself if humans wander into our Realm?”

“The usual safeguards will protect her, as they do all of us.”

“And if they don’t? You forget, Dorn, that I was made privy to some of the council’s concerns.”

He was careful not to speak any specifics, but Dorn would know exactly what he meant. Something was happening; magic did not have the strength that it once did. The powerful Veil that kept the human world separate and unaware of their Forbidden Realm was failing. The council had tried to keep it a secret, but with their drastic decision to involve certain humans in an effort to bolster the magic that kept the Veil in place, every day they were in increasing danger.

“The council has decided that Pimma must be considered a suspect. There is simply no other way that renegade Kyne could have broken free from our custody,” Dorn said with firm finality.

Swift was careful not to let his disgust show on his face. If anyone in this Realm was innocent of wrongdoing, it was Pimma. The very idea of holding her on suspicion was ludicrous. And very likely illegal.

“Who is her advocate?” he asked.

“She’s not been formally charged with anything, Swift.”

“Fairy Code specifically states that any fairy who is held under suspicion by council will be allowed an Advocate for the Accused. I believe Pimma is the designated advocate for our Realm, but she can’t very well advocate for herself, can she? So who have you assigned to be advocate for her?”

“By the Skies, Swift, these are tenuous times. Exceptions must be made.”

Exceptions?
All the years Swift had defended the council, danced to their bidding without thought or question, not once had he seen Dorn allow for any exceptions. Now Dorn was calling for the council to be exempted from their own law? No, Swift couldn’t go for that. Things had gone too far; he couldn’t convince himself the leaders knew best. He’d seen what had come of their secret plans and unquestioned alliances.

It had led to humans playing with magic, veiled creatures battling among themselves, and fairies dallying in passion and desire. No wonder the Veil was shredding around them. Magic was mingling with the mundane, and the Forbidden Realm was falling apart. Clearly, until he knew where things stood here in his own local Fairyrealm, Swift could not allow for exceptions. Of any sort.

“I would like to see her.” He met Dorn’s eye and waited for an answer.

“You want to see Pimma?” the leader questioned.

“Yes. Now.”

Dorn scowled. He clearly did not like having his judgment or his actions questioned, but he knew Swift well enough to obviously not bother arguing.

“Very well. I’ll take you to her.”

“No. You’ll have her brought to me. You’ve had more than enough time to determine that she is not a threat, not a part of Kyne’s rogue activities. If you have cause to pass judgment on her, then you would have assigned her an advocate and followed procedures.”

“But she could be in league with—”

“She isn’t, but if she is, I will take full responsibility. Bring her here and set her free, Dorn. Prove to us all that the Fairy Code still means something here, that our leaders have not given up on the stability of our Realm.”

“Fairyrealm will go on forever. We are the very heart of the Forbidden Realm.”

“Exactly. So what could any of us possibly have to fear from some junior advocate who was betrayed by one of the first fairies she ever represented?”

“Unless she had a hand in that betrayal,” Dorn added.

“Then we will learn that when she tries to contact him. I promise you, Dorn, if there are things we can learn from her, we won’t learn them while you’ve got her locked up in some magicless room.”

Dorn clearly wasn’t fully convinced, but he’d obviously lost the battle. He cocked his gray head to one side and scowled at Swift. “You will assume responsibility for her?”

“I will. Now send for her and let’s make this right.”

The door to Pimma’s subterranean holding cell swung open. She’d been stretching her wings and wondering if she’d ever actually get the chance to use them again. The interruption caused her to jump. It wasn’t mealtime. What was going on? The young fairy who served as Dorn’s aide peered in at her and announced that she was being requested.

“What does the Council Leader need with me now?” she asked.

The aide shrugged and simply ordered her to follow him, so she did. He led the way up the narrow, muddy steps into the neat interior of the Council Hall. Pimma blinked when sunlight through the tall, narrow windows met her eyes. Her wings fairly vibrated as warmth and magic slowly seeped back into her body. It felt so good to be aboveground and to feel the familiar tingle of magic and freedom. She wasn’t ready to be too optimistic, though.

“Good afternoon, Dorn,” she said as the Council Leader met her in the main corridor. “Or good morning, or whatever it is. Sorry, but I haven’t exactly been keeping track.”

“The sun has not yet reached zenith,” Dorn replied. “I’m glad to see you’re looking well.”

She knew she did not look well at all. Her skin was pale and practically translucent, without a hint of her opalescent sheen. Her wings were sagging and crumpled, and her usual blue glow had faded to practically nothing. Dorn had just added “liar” to the long list of things about him that she’d recently found horribly disappointing.

“Have you brought me up here to finally charge me with something?” she asked, squinting into the brightness and trying to discern the identity of the other fairy in the corridor with them. She could see his colorless silhouette against the glaring light through the high windows above the grand entrance to the hall, but his broad-winged form was unfamiliar to her.

Until he spoke. Then she recognized him immediately.

“You are being released,” he informed her.

Swift
. He stepped forward and now she could make out his features. Well formed and powerful, he was the pride of the Department of Restraint and Obedience. He looked her over, top to toe, but she would be wasting time if she tried to read any emotion into his expression. He was too careful to give away anything that might be in his thoughts. Likewise, every inch of his solid body was a study in control. His deep, emerald-tipped wings were poised for instant action, yet Swift’s movement was smooth and relaxed.

As always, he set her completely off balance.

“I’m being released?” she asked, just to make sure she’d heard correctly.

Dorn replied rather grandly. “Yes. I’ve determined that you pose no immediate threat. You will be returned to regular duty, so long as you cooperate with us should we have any future questions for you.”

“Of course I’ll cooperate,” she said and probably wasn’t quite as successful as keeping her tone perfectly measured as Swift would have been. “I’ve
been
cooperating, Dorn, even though you’ve handled me like some sort of criminal.”

“We had to be certain you weren’t involved in Kyne’s escape,” Dorn replied, as if that was any sort of explanation for the uncivilized treatment she’d gotten.

“So what finally convinced you?” she asked.

“I did,” Swift said. “But until
I’m
totally convinced, you and I will be spending some time together.”

Together?
Oh no. That would not be good. She didn’t like Swift. He annoyed her, with his smug confidence and overly cool attitude about everything. He made her feel…small, incompetent, a little bit silly, even. She hadn’t been forced to work with him often in her short tenure here before all this mess, but the time she had spent with him was unsettling. He made her feel something very strange inside; something she didn’t know and couldn’t understand even a little bit.
Together
was not something she wanted to be with Swift.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she informed him.

“I hope that’s true,” he replied. “It shouldn’t take me long to verify everything you’ve told the council. Then we can all rest easy and get back to our business, right?”

Somehow, she doubted getting back to her business would be so very easy for her. Dorn may have suddenly come to his senses and realized that she knew nothing about how her client, Kyne, escaped confinement here, but it wasn’t going to be so simple for Pimma to forget being locked up—without magic—for days on end. Underground, of all places! She hadn’t even known the Council Hall had subterranean areas. Now she knew them too well.

“How about if I get my Fairy Dust privileges back, for starters?”

Dorn smiled at her like she was a petulant child begging for another honey drop. “Of course. Swing by distribution and collect what you need for your next assignment.”

“And just what is my next assignment?”

“In the city,” Dorn replied. “We have a report of unusual Fairy Dust usage and possible detection by humans.”

“Not another complaint about that Wish Fairy again,” Swift grumbled.

“No, not this time,” Dorn replied. “My associate Wain received a report of unusual activity and has gone to investigate.”

“Wain? He’s not a qualified agent. What’s he investigating?”

“I don’t have the details, but he’s been watching this business for some time. It’s a human organization…something called Sandstrom Industries.”

Pimma noticed Swift’s lip twitch just a bit. Did recognition flash over his face when Dorn mentioned that company? Pimma couldn’t be sure. Swift was such a puzzle to her it was impossible to know what he might be thinking. Maybe that dark gleam in his eye was nothing more than excitement at the prospect of heading out to hunt down another wayward fairy.

“Look into this matter with him,” Dorn was saying. “If there is a fairy out there acting carelessly, help Wain find him. Bring him—or her—into custody. Pimma, this will be a perfect opportunity for you to prove your loyalty and get back to work. As you know, the council is taking all Forbidden Realm infractions very seriously right now. When we find this offender, the sooner he’s assigned an advocate, the sooner we can process him.”

Process him?
More likely Dorn really meant
convict him
. Obviously their esteemed Council Leader had already decided the guilt of this unnamed fairy he was sending them after. Pimma had a pretty good idea just how Dorn expected her to prove herself, and it would not include assuring her newest client a fair and impartial hearing. What on earth could be going on that Dorn was so willing to ignore proper procedures?

She bit her tongue and listened quietly as Swift got the details on this situation. There weren’t many. Dorn’s associate Wain seemed to have given him little more than suspicion, yet he was proceeding as if a proper determination had been made. This was all highly unorthodox.

No formal investigation had been made, no report was on file, and Wain was in no way qualified to be hunting fairies out in the human world. Pimma felt more than a little bit awkward taking part in this, but obviously she didn’t have much of a choice. To argue with Dorn now could very likely get her stuck in the basement again. Not much of an option either way.

Swift didn’t seem to be quite as conflicted over the ethics of the situation as she was. He gathered the information they’d need to go locate their target and didn’t even bat a wing when no item of proof could be offered to uphold Wain’s supposed suspicions. Apparently he was every bit as willing to ignore rules and procedures as Dorn. That surprised her.

She’d thought better of Swift. All those things that made him off-putting and smug also made him kind of noble. Of anyone she knew, Swift seemed the one she would have most expected to question Dorn’s hasty assignment. She’d even respected him for this, just a little bit. Now she didn’t very much like him
and
she didn’t respect him. How disappointing.