Trial by Fire (31 page)

“Rowan Fall,” the woman purred. She held up her hand, making the air shimmer and bend as she dropped her ward to allow them to enter. “Do me a favor, precious. Try not to start too many catfights tonight.”

Rowan paused and leaned close to her, letting his lips barely brush her cheek. It was so blatantly flirty that Lily felt more puzzled than jealous. It wasn’t like him. The bouncer tried to wind her arms around his neck, but Rowan broke away with a cocky grin and led Tristan and Lily inside.

Bodies whirled around a huge, roaring fire that dominated the center of the room. Everywhere Lily looked, heads lolled and torsos writhed as people in varying states of undress spun in concentric circles around the bonfire. The music sounded almost tribal. It had a dark, driving rhythm juxtaposed against vaporous vocals that were mostly remixed whispers and sighs. In the background, Lily could hear chanting from people lurking in the dark. Many wore masks and little else. She looked up at the towering bonfire. There was no ceiling above it, just sparks floating up into the night sky.

Skirting around the edge of the circle of entranced revelers, they passed low tables surrounded by cushions and pillows. Lily peered through the veils draped over one such arrangement and saw a woman. She was sitting astride a young man, kissing him deeply. Her ungloved hand reached out to another man sitting next to them. She slid her hand up his bare chest and grasped his willstone. He threw back his head, his body shaking as he cried out.

“Oh my God,” Lily gasped, clutching at Tristan’s arm. “She’s hurting him.”

“Ah, a little,” Tristan began tentatively. “But trust me, he’s enjoying it. If she were really hurting him, you’d know.”

“Is she
claiming
him right now?”

Tristan laughed uncomfortably. “Probably not. Witches and crucibles don’t always claim a guy when they touch his stone. Remember—he has to
allow
her to claim him, and she has to want to take on all that responsibility. Claiming is a big deal. But touching stones can be just for fun between people who aren’t looking for anything more. Or it can be awful.” Tristan made an exasperated sound. “You have to understand
some
of this. You can’t be that innocent.”

Lily looked at the guy that the woman was straddling. He was definitely having fun. Then she looked at the guy who was separate from the couple. The woman barely touched his stone with her fingertips, and he was practically losing his mind.

“So, it’s like sex?” Lily hazarded.

Tristan stared at her disbelievingly, like she was missing an important point. “Rowan really hasn’t…?” Tristan broke off before he finished that sentence, and pulled Lily along. “C’mon. I think we’re getting a table.”

Rowan was at the bar, talking to the slender bartender who had big blue eyes and bright pink hair. They clasped hands warmly over the bar, apparently good friends, and the bartender pointed to a booth off to the side that had a reserved sign on the table.

“Caleb’s boyfriend, Elias,” Tristan said, waving to the bartender and going directly to the booth.

“Love the pink hair. Should we go say hi?” Lily asked, curious to meet giant Caleb’s itty-bitty boyfriend. She’d only heard mention of Caleb’s partner Elias in passing and, sensing that Caleb was an intensely private person, hadn’t wanted to pry. But she was curious—especially now that she saw how adorable Elias was.

“He’ll come over when he’s not too busy.”

“He’s really cute,” Lily said with a devilish grin.

“No idea what he sees in a meathead like Caleb,” Tristan said, grinning back.

Tristan and Lily sat down while Rowan accepted a bottle and three short glasses from Elias, then made his way to the booth. He hadn’t taken two steps when a scantily clad girl wrapped her arms around Rowan’s waist and pressed herself against him, nuzzling her face under his chin.

“And so it begins,” Tristan said, sighing.

Lily watched as Rowan smiled sweetly at the girl, tucked the bottle under his arm to free up a hand, and pried her off of him. Lily turned to Tristan, an eyebrow cocked. “Seriously?” she asked.

“It gets worse,” Tristan said, leaning back. “She was just a crucible. She’s got no shot. Wait till a witch finds out he’s here.”

Lily tamped down a surge of jealousy while she watched Rowan run a gauntlet of girls who all reached out to touch him, trying to catch his attention or just feel him up for all Lily could tell. “But why? He’s good-looking, but so are you.”

“Because he’s special. Gifted. He could take even an average witch and make her very powerful.” Tristan smiled at her. “And thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Lily said, and flashed a smile back at him.

Rowan finally made it to the booth and sat down. “Moonshine?” he asked looking between Lily and Tristan. He didn’t wait for a response before starting to pour.

A bare leg and a whirl of gauzy material flashed over Rowan as a woman took a seat astride him. She was in her mid twenties, beautiful, and she had long, light brown hair. Lily hated her instantly. Rowan didn’t seem too surprised to have a witch in his lap, and Lily supposed sitting on a guy was the way witches shook hands at a bonfire.

“Hello, dearest. Come to let me claim you?” the woman asked.

“Hello, Nina,” Rowan replied pleasantly.

Without any more chat, Nina leaned forward and kissed him. Lily felt Tristan take her hand under the table, stopping her, and realized that she’d leaned forward to stand up. She wanted to launch herself across the table at both of them, but then she noticed that Rowan wasn’t returning the kiss. He was simply tolerating the witch, like he didn’t have a choice. Nina tightened her thighs on his hips and ran her right hand up his chest, searching for his willstone. She wasn’t wearing a glove on that hand. Rowan grabbed her wrists hard, and she pulled away.

“Don’t touch,” he said. Rowan’s smile was polite, but his eyes had knives in them. He released her wrists and sat back, looking at her lazily.

“Romantic Rowan. You have to be more realistic,” she cooed condescendingly. “I know Lillian set you up handsomely, but eventually you’re going to need another witch to look after you. And you know I’m not only talking about money.” She smiled and ran her fingers over his face. Lily wanted to slap her, and not just because she was jealous. She wanted to slap her for treating Rowan like a piece of meat. “Everyone knows that after Lillian, I’m the strongest witch in all the thirteen Covens. And with you as my head mechanic, I could be just as strong as she ever was.”

Rowan jerked his head away, dodging her touch. “Nina? You’re delusional.”

“Am I?” she asked acidly. “Come on, Rowan. You must miss it. You must be
dying
for it. Unless Gideon’s right and some new, unknown, and unbelievably powerful witch has claimed you?” She meant it as a joke, but when she saw Rowan’s willstone flash, her smile quickly faded. Her eyes darted down to Rowan’s stone, and her face hardened. “Who is she? What Coven is she from?”

Rowan stood up, taking Nina with him. He unwrapped her legs from around his waist and placed her back down on her feet—hard. “I belong to myself, Nina. And I intend to keep it that way.”

Rowan sat down and turned away from her, leaving Nina to fume at his back. Belatedly, she noticed Tristan and Lily, sitting on the other side of the booth. Tristan still had his arm around Lily’s shoulder, and she felt it tighten when Nina began to scrutinize her. Nina’s eyes dropped to Lily’s willstone. Confusion clouded her eyes.

“Rose?” she mumbled to herself. She looked at Tristan’s affectionate posture, down at his stone, and then dismissed all three of them with a flick of her long hair as she turned and stormed away.

Rowan’s chest swelled with incensed breaths. He finished pouring out three shots of moonshine and passed them around. He didn’t wait to toast before drinking his and pouring himself another. His cheeks were flushed with anger and embarrassment. Lily felt bad for him.

“I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!” she said, and gave her best Wicked Witch of the West cackle. She got blank looks all around. “That means something where I’m from. Trust me—it’s
really
funny.”

Rowan smiled at her, his eyes softening at her attempt to cheer him up.

I’m sorry about that, Lily.

Lily didn’t have a reply for him. She couldn’t tell him in mindspeak that it didn’t bother her, because it did.

“Our funny Lily,” Tristan said. He squeezed her and kissed the top of her head. Rowan looked away.

“Little witch, if you’re not going to drink that, pass it over,” Caleb said as he slid into the booth next to Rowan. Lily gladly passed her untouched shot of moonshine across the table to Caleb. He looked tired, and his right eye looked swollen. Lily glanced down at his knuckles and saw that they were all bloody.

“Were you in a fight?” Lily asked, her voice louder than she intended.

“No,” Caleb replied casually. He did his shot and looked over his shoulder. “Where the hell is my boyfriend?”

“What happened?” Rowan asked.

“The city guards have been going crazy for weeks now. There’s a new captain. An Outlander,” he replied, disgusted by the betrayal. “It’s not a big deal. They’re just roughing up anyone who comes in and out of the city a lot.” Caleb looked anxiously over his shoulder again for Elias and then turned back.

Lily watched an understanding pass between him, Rowan, and Tristan and knew they were sharing mindspeak.

Tell me what’s going on, Rowan.

It’s the supplies we’re sending the rebels. The quality and volume are too high. Lillian’s been seeking three Outlander scientists and clamped down hard. She’s given Gideon and his new captain a whole squadron of inquisitors to harass Outlanders, and our gifts to the sachem got noticed.

But we can’t stop yet. They need the antibiotic we made tonight.

It’s too risky. Gideon may be hunting those scientists for Lillian, but he is also hunting you, and now he has more power to do it. He’s following the supply chain back to the source, and he’s linked our product to Caleb and Elias. Coming here was a mistake.

But the fever, Rowan. The antibiotics—

It’s over, Lily.

Lily was just about to open her mouth to argue with Rowan properly when Caleb burst up from his seat, nearly knocking over the table, and ran toward the back of the building. Tristan and Rowan jumped up as well, chasing after him. Lily followed in their wake, alerted by the fear she felt ringing through Rowan, and knew that something bad was happening.

Lily burst through the back exit and found herself in an alley. To her left was a dead end. To her right, dozens of soldiers blocked the outlet onto the main street. Unconscious on the ground, in the middle of the alley, lay a slender young man with pink hair. Elias. Behind his slack figure, Caleb struggled with four soldiers as he screamed. The soldiers were beating him with cudgels, trying to bring him down. Rowan and Tristan ran to help Caleb.

Lily saw a bright flash before she heard the crack of gunshots.

“No,” she gasped quietly.

She raised her hand and felt the raw energy exploding out of the soldiers’ guns. It was a compressed heat, hotter for a split second than an open flame, and it contained enough energy to fuel her mechanic for hours if she asked it to. A witch wind gusted down the alley as she absorbed all the heat and momentum from the bullets, and they fell to the ground, pinging off the pavement like a bagful of dropped marbles. Energy flooded Lily’s stone in a hot rush.

So that’s why they also carry crossbows here, and not just guns. Explosions feel wonderful.

To a witch and her mechanic, they do. Give it to me, Lily. Give me the Gift.

Lily didn’t have to struggle to recall Rowan’s pattern. It was right at the forefront of her mind. Already changing the energy she’d harvested from the firearms, Lily unlocked Rowan’s stone with his pattern and started channeling force into him. She shared Rowan’s thrill as their bodies filled with power. His back arched, his willstone beamed with light, and he launched himself at the soldiers surrounding Caleb.

“Witch!” someone screamed in terror.

I’ve missed you
.

Lily didn’t know if the thought was his or hers. All she knew was that she was fighting with herself not to take Rowan over completely. She had to remind herself over and over that she didn’t own Rowan. You can’t own a person, no matter how close to him you feel, she kept chanting inwardly.

Don’t give in, Lily. Please let me keep myself.

Rowan wove his way through the four soldiers surrounding Caleb, catching their attempts to hit him with their cudgels. His return blows came so quickly that the soldiers seemed to fall down on their own as he moved past them. Then he turned to face the rest of the soldiers still blocking the end of the alley.

The soldiers ran. Only one man among them rode forward on his horse, a dark-eyed Outlander who appeared to have been in command of the now scattered soldiers even though he didn’t wear a uniform. Light from a street lamp struck his face and Lily thought for a moment that he looked familiar. Rowan stopped, his arms falling with uncertainty to his sides.

Lily suddenly saw from Rowan’s perspective. This time she was more prepared, and immediately went along with Rowan as he relived one of his early memories …

… A boy, maybe sixteen. He’s skinny and he’s got bruises everywhere. I’d feel bad for him if he didn’t pick on us little kids. Dad says I’m to stay away from him, even though we had the same momma before she died when I was just a baby still. Dad says Carrick’s father did things to him—things that turned him bad. Dad says there’s no help for him now. I don’t know my half brother at all, except for his name and gossip about the things he’s done, but I know he’s always hated me. It won’t matter. Dad says I’ll go to the Citadel soon and never see him again.

And I haven’t until now, Lily.

The man who had once been that bruised sixteen-year-old boy looked Lily in the eye and smiled. Now that Lily knew who he was, she noticed how much he looked like Rowan.