Текст книги "Burning Blood"

Автор книги: Pepper winters

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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 27 страниц)

Chapter Forty-Five

HE EXPECTED ME TO STOP THIS?

He thought I could just wave a magic wand and stop what he’d caused?

The burning trees had spread, becoming a burning valley instead. Embers danced across the river, igniting the other side, while poor creatures scrambled for their lives.

Even though the fire didn’t hurt either of us...it hurt others. Killed others.

Staggering backward, I shook my head. “I can’t just put out the fire, Lucien. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Try anyway.” His hands fell from his fly, denying me what I needed. “Go on.”

“I don’t have a fire truck or a hose handy.” My temper unfurled at his crazy suggestion. “What do you expect me to do? Glare at it until it snuffs out?”

“Do what you just did.” He waved at me as if that explained everything. “Summon more snow.”

“Oh, suuuure.” I rolled my eyes, slipping down the slippery slope of sarcasm straight toward a meltdown.

I couldn’t help it.

One had been brewing ever since he’d revealed my beloved necklace was nothing more than a prison. I’d tried to ignore it. Tried to pretend I could accept it. But...my panic was growing worse.

I wanted to use sex to avoid thinking about it.

I needed to leave.

I needed time on my own to mourn everything I’d just lost.

Unlike Lucien who despised the people trapping him, I loved mine. The loss of my parents irrevocably changed me, and without Frank and Dillon...I doubt I would’ve survived this long.

To be told they were just my handlers...

No.

They weren’t.

They couldn’t be.

I couldn’t believe they’d hurt me—that everything about our relationship was a lie.

“What are you waiting for?” Lucien scowled a little. “The sooner you put out the blaze, the sooner I can be inside you.”

His words landed all wrong.

My temper flared with self-preservation, switching from lust to horror.

Animals were dying.

He’d killed countless creatures tonight just because he couldn’t control whatever lurked in his veins. And now he expected me to reverse such a tragedy? To be put in charge of fixing it? Me? The girl who fainted at nothing, swooned at everything, and endured a life of absolute misery all because of a damn necklace?!

Breathing hard, my chest tightened as the mess inside me notched tighter. Tighter.

More trees ignited, sending a funnel of embers into the sky.

“Rook?” He frowned. “Why are you silent all of a sudden?”

“I don’t think you’re listening to me,” I said calmly, carefully, my voice overly brittle. “I don’t know how to do this. I don’t even know what this is.” I gestured helplessly at the fire, the smoke, the sky bruised with orange. And then I pointed at my normal skin—melted and no longer glittering as if the coldness inside me had retreated—tucking its tail and slinking away because it was smart and knew how close I was to breaking. “I just...I can’t—” I balled my hands, wanting to strike something.

Lucien stepped closer in his tattered trousers. “I’m not asking you to suddenly become an expert in ruling winter, Rook. I’m just asking you to try.”

That did it.

A sharp, panicked laugh burst out of me. “Try? How? I appreciate that you’ve probably been suspecting a lot of what you just said for a while. You’ve had time to go over it. To come to terms with everything, but me?” Ice cut through my panic, flashing over my skin. “I didn’t even know I was in a cage. I had no idea I was even like this!”

I sniffed as tears escaped, solidifying halfway down my cheeks. “Sure, I’ve felt a little strange ever since you zapped that awful pacemaker. Sure, I’ve felt surges of cold and couldn’t brush off the fact that whenever you grew too hot, I grew icy to match but...”

“But?” he asked gently.

“But...nothing.” I sighed and flung my hands skyward. “It’s not that I don’t want to. Believe me, I would give anything to stop your stupid fire destroying this valley. I want to save as many lives as possible, but I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.”

“No, I can’t! And by saying I can you’re putting far too much pressure on me.” The cold spilled outward, jagged and uncontrolled. Ice exploded in a perfect web beneath my feet, snuffing out baby fires and flash-freezing the river’s edge.

Lucien wisely didn’t point out that I’d somehow done what he asked.

Slowly, his lips tipped into a sly smile. “I might be putting pressure on you but look...you’re not giving in to your annoying little habit of passing out anymore.”

“You’re not helping.”

“Oh, I think I’m helping quite a lot, actually.” He crossed his arms. “I also think I’ll keep pushing you until you snap.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Put out the fire.”

“Stop it.”

“Do it.” His face darkened. “Prove to yourself that this is real. That you’re finally free and somehow control winter.”

“I...but...it’s not possible.” I almost fell as everything hit me.

Everything.

It wasn’t even thoughts or questions that crushed me...it was feelings.

Feelings I’d never really allowed myself to feel because it always ended in a migraine or misery. Feelings full of power. Grief and loss, fear and panic.

What were we?

What would become of us?

My throat closed up.

My vision swam—

Lucien stormed into me.

His hands were on me instantly, solid and grounding, thumbs brushing my cheeks as he pressed his lips to my forehead. “I’m sorry. I’m an idiot. I didn’t know how much you were drowning.”

I moaned as the temptation to surrender to him made the bond flare.

I felt him inside me—rummaging in my heart, sensing me, reading me, knowing my darkest fears and deepest losses.

“You’re okay,” he whispered against my skin, his lips hot and searing. “I feel how much this is hurting you so...forget it. I’ll figure something else out. Let’s go—”

“We can’t go. Not when so many creatures are dying.”

“Then...do you want to try?” he asked gently.

My fingers curled into fists.

My sanity cracked.

Try what? Harnessing an entire season? Wrangling an element?

It was absurd. Ridiculous. Make-believe.

“God, I can’t do this,” I moaned. “I can’t fix what you’ve burned. I can’t suddenly hate everyone I’ve ever trusted. I can’t just pretend they’re now my enemy!”

“I’m not asking you to.”

My mind hyper-focused on every moment with Frank and Dillon. How both men had been my rock after my parents died. How Frank regularly sent me stupid GIFs to make me laugh and Dillon treated me like his favourite annoying sister.

If Lucien was right and they treated me like that to keep me compliant...how stupid did that make me? How ridiculously naïve—how hungry for love was I that they manipulated me so successfully?

Cupping my cheeks, he angled my face to look up at him. “You’re okay. You’re not alone anymore, alright? You’ve got me now. And I will never let anyone hurt you again.”

And suddenly, nothing was okay.

Swaying in his hold, I grabbed his burning wrists. “If anyone finds out about this...” I tripped over my words. “I-If anyone finds out we can h-heal each other. That you can set an entire valley on fire just by climaxing. If they find out I’m part snow...Cinderkeep will seem like a vacation.”

“They won’t find out. We won’t let them.”

“But what if Marcus already knows? What if my company is pulling the strings? What if—”

“Rook.” He pulled me close. “Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm the hell down! These are important questions!”

“And I’m not saying we won’t answer them. But...if you insist on getting worked up...then use that energy to put out the fire.”

“HOW?!” I roared, my panic utterly consuming me. “Tell me how to do it and I’ll do it. Tell me how you summon your heat. Tell me how you stop it.”

“I have no idea.”

“Great. Wonderful.” I laughed. “Thank you. That’s incredibly helpful.”

“How did I never realise you’re snappy when you’re angry?”

“Because you’ve only known me for seven weeks!”

“Didn’t stop me from falling head over heels for you though, did it?”

That stopped me.

That helped me.

I wrapped my arms around myself, doing my best to get a grip.

“Look.” He smiled softly, letting me go. “Ice comes from water, right?” He pointed at the flowing river. “We have water. Use it if you want the fire to stop.”

“No problem.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll just wave my hand around, say a little limerick, and bibbidi bobbidi boo, all done.”

“You’re right. The hand waving probably isn’t necessary.” Crowding me, he pressed a burning palm over my heart, taking liberties with my breast at the same time. “Use your heart. It seems when your emotions spike, things around you freeze. So...harness them and put out. The. Damn. Fire.”

“I can’t just command a feeling—”

“Yes, you can.”

“No, I can’t!”

“Yes. You can.” He bent over me, his eyes narrowing. “You’ve been doing it your entire life. Why else do you think that damn necklace kept knocking you out? You kept reaching a level where you were about to touch the power inside you and it couldn’t let you do that. Just like the vitalsync core prevented me from touching mine.”

“You don’t know that.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. We’ve been locked by a damn pendant and a pacemaker our entire lives, Rook, and the second your necklace was lost, you were free.”

“Even if you’re right...” A ringing began in my ears. “I can’t just use anger to conjure a snowstorm.”

“Use panic then.” He shrugged annoyingly. “You’re doing a pretty good job at that.”

“I really don’t like you right now.”

“Fine. Use hate. I’m not picky.”

My pulse fractured.

The world tilted.

A blast of icy coldness erupted from the centre of my chest, almost as if it agreed with him. Hate would do. Stress would work just fine.

I staggered backward, clutching my heart, feeling as if I was breaking apart.

“I don’t...” I wasn’t ready. I would never be ready. I still didn’t believe in any of this. “Lucien...help.”

“I’m right here.” He reached for me and—

Snow surged like a tidal wave.

Panic mutated into raw terror as my vision flickered white. Something wild and archaic stole all my control and—

Snowflake Corp filled my mind.

How the air temperature had always dropped when I cried.

How my windows iced from the inside, even on summer days.

How the drinking fountain at school exploded—the pipes bursting as the water froze while I took a drink.

How I was homeschooled from then on...

How my mother sat me down and told me I was too smart for school, too bright for my age, and the only way I could continue with my studies was there in the lab, with her...at all times.

I sucked in a breath so sharp, my ribs threatened to snap.

I tried to hold it in.

I tried to push away the betrayal, the loss, but...I wasn’t strong enough. Every emotion I’d ever felt or forbidden myself to feel, erupted.

A blizzard shrieked out of my heart.

The air imploded with a thunderous crack, cold cancelling out all the heat in the world. Flames didn’t just die—they vanished with a flash of frost—ice devouring them whole.

The entire valley flooded in a shroud of white so absolute, it erased colour and night—turning the ground as bright as the sun.

And it didn’t stop.

Winter consumed everything.

Snow flurried over the valley.

The river flash-froze.

The ground beneath my feet split with a violent fissure as ice ploughed through soil and stone, entombing everything in flawless merciless white.

I couldn’t stop it.

I tried to stop it.

My bones throbbed. My heart ached.

Ice continued channelling all my feelings, painting them in the sky with glacial lightning.

My legs buckled and I knelt on the arctic tundra I’d caused.

But the storm kept building, building.

Snow continued to fall, sticking to blackened branches until they sagged from the weight.

I kept spiralling.

Panicking.

Unable to stop.

Lucien.

Me.

Snowflake Corp.

Fire and frost and everything.

Everything.

EVERYTHING.

I clutched my head as another storm howled free.

“Make it stop,” I gasped, folding forward and pressing my forehead to the thick snowdrift that’d replaced Lucien’s charcoal. “I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know how to—”

I never got to finish.

Lucien lunged through the blizzard, his bare feet melting everything.

The howling snow couldn’t touch him—kept at bay thanks to his inhuman heat.

Snatching me into his arms, he carried me straight toward the frozen river.

The icy surface shattered as he stepped onto it, allowing him to sink into the water. Hitching me higher into his arms, he waded toward a small divot where the current had made a natural pool—ice instantly melting until steam curled from the surface.

I gasped as he shoved me against a massive boulder blocking the swimming hole from the main current.

And then he braced one arm above me, grabbed my jaw with his smouldering hand, and kissed me.

Chapter Forty-Six

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS doing but I couldn’t let her break.

I’d almost done that back in the cave.

I’d almost died as the power overwhelmed me.

I would’ve died if she hadn’t tried to die first, using the bond to rip me free.

And now...I repaid the favour.

Smashing my lips over hers, I kissed her. Hard.

Frost continued erupting from her, sending the valley into an unplanned ice-age. She continued rewriting the seasons, heralding winter like it was a weapon, not responding to my kiss whatsoever.

I’d hoped touching her would interrupt her spiral, but the air temperature plummeted so cold it gnawed at my skin.

The river continued freezing, thicker and thicker, entombing the fish beneath.

The small pool I’d dragged her into was icy and I made a conscious effort—the first real instruction—for the flames in my blood to obey and do something about it.

The water suddenly boiled, lapping around our waists as I imprisoned her against the rock.

She fought me.

She tried to bite me.

But I just angled her head a little higher and plunged my tongue into her mouth.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, freezing before they could fall.

I kissed her deeper, pouring every warmth and tenderness I could down her throat. Heat poured out of me—through my mouth, hands, and heart. Cold soaked out of her—through her skin, hair, and soul.

She tried to pull back again, but I just fisted one hand in her hair and wound my other arm around her, bending her into me, kissing her so damn deep.

With a cry of surrender, she kissed me back.

A sudden bolt of her power slammed into me.

The eternal fire around my heart replied with glee, detonating outward with delicious relief to finally be called up and unleashed.

For one suspended second, fire and frost collided—

And then they combined in the most catastrophic, perfect way possible.

We went rigid as rapturous pleasure arrowed through us, stealing all thoughts and turning us into nothing more than two elements that’d been separated for far too long.

It happened too fast to question.

I went from kissing her to help break her spell, to kissing her because I was driven by something so much bigger than myself.

I felt her inside me—snatches of her thoughts, waves of her feelings.

And that tether that’d been slowly knotting my soul to hers solidified with a rush of indescribable ecstasy.

Her eyes flew open, locking onto mine as if she’d felt the same fundamental shifting.

Her frosty fingers landed on my neck, making me shiver as our forces balanced and harmonised, urgency settling deep between my legs.

We fell back into a kiss. Hungry and insistent.

I needed her.

Fuck, I needed her.

While my mouth ravaged hers, I fumbled with the fastenings of my trousers. With a fierce moan, she shoved my hands out of the way, unbuttoning and unzipping me.

I snarled as she wrapped her tight fist around me.

She cried out as I cupped her possessively.

Hoisting her higher up the rock, I shoved up the skirt she’d fashioned as a dress and stepped into her. Her legs spread and locked over my hips; we both groaned as I pressed my hot erection against her cool entrance.

Our eyes locked and the blizzard hitched.

The heavy snowfall turned lighter—a dusting instead of a drowning—forming a soft snow globe where we were the only two creatures alive.

“I can’t wait.” I kissed her again, knocking her hand off my cock so I could concentrate enough to slip two fingers inside her.

“Oh God.” She arched into my arms, her thighs quivering. “Do you...” She tried again, swallowing hard and tipping her face to the falling snow. “Do you plan on fucking me each time I try to freeze the scenery?”

“Now there’s an idea.” I stroked her inner walls, ensuring she had no pain, no obstruction.

The first time I’d taken her, I’d been afraid.

This time...I was free.

Withdrawing my touch, I slotted myself where I desperately wanted to be and captured her mouth. My tongue hunted hers, slippery and hot.

She melted—figuratively and literally.

Frost thawed on her skin, vanishing like dissolving diamonds. The storm that’d transformed the valley into a frozen tomb melted. The trees shook off their blankets of snow. The ground reappeared.

I pulled back just enough to look at her.

The bond pulsed. Warm and unbreakable.

And she cried out as I thrust inside her.

Pressing my forehead to hers, I planted my feet on the river bottom, preparing to ride her hard. “I’m going to fuck you now.”

Her eyes flew wide, locking onto mine.

Then she cried out as I sank my teeth into her neck and took her.

Hard and fast and feral.

I lost myself to her.

I turned off all thoughts and fell completely into the bond.

And the valley detonated with light.

Not fire this time.

Frostlight.

I gasped as it poured out of her in shimmering waves. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

Her eyes rolled back as she flung her arms around my neck and held on.

Every time I drove into her, that unexplainable light flared brighter, painting the sky with silver auroras.

If this had happened during the day.

If anyone had seen—

An orgasm brewed between my legs, growing fiery and sharp the harder I claimed her. “And you were worried...” I thrust deep. “Just because I set a few trees on fire.”

She didn’t answer me, too drunk on pleasure. Her radiance turned blinding as silver shimmered across her breasts and throat.

Wrapping my arms around her, I pinned her against the boulder and unleashed everything.

Great gusts of black smoke erupted from my back, smoke twisting into wings, outstretched and hiding us from everything.

My hips slammed into hers, combining a furnace and blizzard into one.

“Look at what you do to me.” My smoke consumed her light like a solar eclipse. “Look at what you make me become.”

“Oh God...oh God.” She tightened around me. Her light flickered. The snow snuffed out and with a short, sharp scream...she came.

My matching orgasm tore through me like lightning, sending a shockwave of fire across the flowing river and shooting up the waterfall.

I could die from this.

I could happily die from how good she felt. How good we felt together.

“Rook. Fuck.” My body jerked in ecstasy. A guttural groan tore from my throat as my release wrung me dry.

I sagged against her, breathless and shaking.

We stayed like that for a while, breathing hard and slowly coming back to life.

Her light extinguished and the fire that always stalked inside me was snuffed out as easily as if she’d reached inside my heart and pinched out the candle wick that lived there.

The valley went still.

The waterfall continued to crash.

I slowly lifted my head, and my mouth fell open at the impossibility.

The valley was no longer frozen or burnt.

It didn’t drip with melted snow or choke on clouds of ash.

Everywhere I looked, new life sprouted in the moonlight. Tiny buds on the bushes and branches, unfurling with bright green.

Rook squeaked in my arms. “I...have no explanation for any of this.”

Even the rotting leaves on the riverbank were eased aside by new shoots, swiftly turning the barren river edge into a thick meadow.

The air came alive with the scent of newly bloomed wildflowers. Burnt bark peeled away from tree trunks in curling ribbons, revealing living wood beneath.

Something brushed my calf.

I looked down, peering through the dark water to find a school of zippy fish.

Pushing me off her, Rook waded to the edge and climbed out. A cluster of white flowers bloomed at her feet.

I went to join her, unnerved and questioning everything.

Turning to face me, she dripped with river water. Her voice dropped to a whisper as if she was petrified of someone overhearing us. “You burned it and I froze it...”

“Yet together...” I trailed off.

She turned to look down the serpentine valley.

Further up the river, trees that’d been utterly consumed by flames were now fully whole with branches overladen with leaves. Flowers released a cloud of pollen so thick, it covered everything in yellow dust.

We’d both destroyed this valley, so how?

Somewhere in the distance, an owl called. Followed by the cicadas singing.

Rook hugged herself in awe as well as fear. “So...we destroy life when we’re apart but—”

“—together. We seem to give it.”

Our eyes locked.

A shiver ran down my spine.

Rook inhaled deeply and I sensed her falling into grief again. Grief that she’d never been told what they’d done to her. Grief that her own parents were probably the ones who did it.

Wrapping my arms protectively around her, I scanned the moonlit horizon.

Thank God this had happened here and not somewhere public.

Thank God we had no witnesses. No cameras. No drones.

Only we would ever know what we’d done.

And we’d take it to the grave before we told anyone.