Fearless (The Blue Fire Saga) Page 10

  Kristi blinked once, hoping he would understand.

  “I take it that means yes,” Marcio said.

  Kristin blinked again.

  “Do you wish me to do this?”

  Kristi’s reply was another single blink.

  “Very well.” Marcio leaned closer. “This will hurt, but only for a moment.”

  He let his fangs drop and moved to Kristi’s neck. Very carefully, he fit his fangs into the twin punctures already there. Once they were fully inserted, he let the special saliva in the glands at the roots of his incisors flow into her neck.

  Kristi felt a cold burning shoot into her throat. The freezing pain spread swiftly through her body. After an agonizing moment, the pain vanished. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around the back of Marcio’s neck, pulling him toward her.

  Marcio stood up, lifting Kristi up with him. Her arms remained wrapped around his neck. Her blue eyes, only inches from his, were bright and alive. She kissed his lips softly.

  “Thank you,” she said. “It felt like I had been frozen here forever.” She released her grip on Marcio and took one step back. “I’m Kristi.”

  Marcio introduced himself and the others.

  “She will need to feed,” Genevieve said.

  Marcio nodded. All vampires needed to feed within twenty-four hours of their transformation or they would perish. And while they could survive on animal blood, the first feeding had to be human.

  “I know,” he said.

  “Well, let’s hunt, then,” Dara said, smiling. “Perhaps there will be some for us as well.”

  Perched on a branch high above, a brown and white owl watched the vampires slip away into the night. It waited a few minutes until its keen eyes and ears told it the vampires had moved far away. Satisfied that it was safe, the owl fluttered silently to the ground. A soft silver glow began to surround the bird, beginning at its feet and working its way up to the head.

  A quick silver flash momentarily lit up the spot as the owl vanished. Standing in its place, Jenna gently stretched her arms and legs. She had been watching and waiting here for several days now and was glad to be back in human form. She smiled. Her spell had worked as planned. Kristi had been released from her paralyzed prison. She would know she had Jenna to thank for it, but would be unable to talk about it. That Marcio seemed quite taken with Kristi was an added bonus. Jenna’s smile widened—you never knew when it would pay to have powerful friends.

  She wiped the back of her hand across her lips. Now, if she could just get the taste of field mouse out of her mouth….

  16. BACK AT HOME

  The first thing Leesa did after Rave dropped her off at her dorm was head for the showers. She was anxious to see her friends, especially Cali, but that was going to have to wait for a bit. Getting cleaned up—and washing her hair, especially—was a bigger priority.

  She had learned a lot about volkaanes staying with Rave for the past three days. One of the things she learned was that volkaanes didn’t bathe. They didn’t need to. Their inner fire kept germs and other bacteria at bay, and their heat dissolved things like mud and grease. If they got dirty with something more stubborn, they simply wet a cloth, warmed it with their inner heat, and wiped the spot clean. Their clothes seldom needed washing, either. She thought about Dominic, who owned only one set of clothes, but they were always fresh and clean. She wondered if that particular wizard’s trick was somewhere in her book of magic—while it wouldn’t be of much use for battling evil wizards, it would sure come in handy as a time saver.

  Volkaane heat also seemed to keep their hair clean and fresh. She wasn’t so lucky, though. Her hair was badly in need of a shampooing. Fortunately, Rave had not seemed to mind her keeping her hair tied behind her head in an increasingly dirty ponytail.

  None of the volkaane homes had running water. Drinking water came from several nearby springs and was collected in bottles and jugs. When Leesa needed to wash up, Rave simply filled a big pot with spring water and carried it back to the house. He warmed it for her with the touch of his hand and gave her a couple of washcloths and some privacy. The sponge baths were better than nothing, for sure, but they could not compare to the powerful streams of hot water now cascading down over her.

  She stood with her head bent, luxuriating for several minutes as the water pounded onto the top of her head and flowed down over her body. Finally, she reached for her bottle of shampoo. As she lathered the raspberry scented lotion into her hair, she swore she would never take indoor plumbing and hot showers for granted again.

  Half an hour later, thoroughly refreshed, Leesa slipped into a comfortable pair of jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt striped with alternating bands of powder blue and dark blue. Tired of being in a ponytail, she blew her hair dry and left it hanging loose over her shoulders as she headed down to Cali’s room.

  The door was open, so she knocked twice on the door jam and walked in. Cali and Stacie were sitting side by side on the bed, leafing through a magazine together. In the background, Adele was singing about setting fire to the rain. The lyrics made Leesa wonder if wizard or volkaane fire could actually cause rain to burn.

  Cali was wearing black sweatpants and a white T-shirt whose right shoulder looked like it had been dunked in a bucket of purple paint, which had then been allowed to trickle down the sleeve. The tiny jeweled stud in her cheek matched the purple almost exactly, as did the polish on her fingernails. Stacie, who was half-Japanese, wore a pale orange and white checked button shirt untucked over a pair of designer jeans. The shirt set off the smooth olive skin of her arms and face nicely. Her long black hair hung in a thick braid over the front of her left shoulder.

  At Leesa’s entrance, Cali pushed the magazine onto Stacie’s lap and leaped up off the bed.

  “Hey, Leesa. When did you get back?” She wrapped Leesa up in a quick hug.

  “Less than an hour ago,” Leesa said, returning Cali’s embrace. “After roughing it out there in volkaane town, I had to shower and wash my hair before I came down.”

  Stacie had also gotten up off the bed.

  “I guess no electricity means no blow dryer, huh?” she asked.

  “Ha! You got that right,” Leesa said. “No hot water, either.”

  “Brrrrr,” Stacie said, shivering her shoulders and head. “I don’t think I could handle that.”

  If Cali had been alone, Leesa would have told her about Rave heating water for her with his magical fire, but Stacie didn’t know anything about Rave’s supernatural nature. To avoid too many questions, Leesa decided not to mention the lack of running water.

  “Dang, girl,” Cali said. “You weren’t kidding about roughing it, were you?”

  “It wasn’t that bad,” Leesa said. “I got to spend three whole days with Rave, remember.”

  “Yeah, I guess love makes everything smell rosy.” Cali grabbed Leesa’s hand and pulled her toward the bed. “C’mon, sit down and tell us all about your vacation.”

  Leesa sat on the bed, edging backward on the mattress until her back was against the wall. Cali and Stacie plopped down on either side of her.

  “It was fun,” Leesa said. “We just hung out, ate food cooked in the fireplace, and went for hikes and stuff.”

  Leesa was thankful she had shared Rave’s secret with Cali, because it kept Cali from asking any uncomfortable questions about making out, sleeping together or sex. From past experience, she knew Cali would have been peppering her with such questions otherwise. Now, Cali couldn’t even ask about kissing with Stacie there, because it could bring up Rave’s fire.

  “Sounds like a lot more fun than going to class and doing homework,” Cali said.

  “For sure. But I’ll pay for it this weekend, trying to catch up.”

  With everything that was going on, Leesa wondered if she should even bother with classes and homework anymore, but didn’t voice the thought.

  “What happened here after I left?” she asked. “With the dead zombies? What did the police make of it
all?”

  “You’re not going to believe this,” Cali said. “According to the police and school officials, the whole thing was a fraternity prank gone bad.”

  “Huh?” Leesa said. “Zombies as a fraternity prank? I don’t get it.”

  “Well, of course no one really believed they were zombies,” Stacie said. “I’m still having trouble believing it myself, even though I saw them.”

  Leesa wasn’t surprised that brainiac Stacie would be skeptical of something so otherworldly.

  “The story is that some frat guys dug up three bodies and left them in the hallway to scare us,” Cali said.

  “What about Amber?” Leesa asked. “She was dead…and from what I saw, she must have had bite marks all over her.”

  “That’s where the reports get a little sketchy,” Cali said. “Supposedly, she died of a heart attack when the frat guys started chewing on her to scare her.”

  Leesa shook her head. “Oh, come on. Who’s going to believe that?”

  Cali shrugged. “I know. But who’s going to believe zombies, either?”

  “Any kid who’s been to more than one horror film, that’s who,” Leesa said, smiling. She wanted to ask more, but didn’t see how she could without getting too close to the volkaanes’ part in the whole thing.

  “Andy says the cops are pressing the frats pretty hard, trying to come up with something.”

  “The police and the school may know more than they’re telling,” Stacie said. “But they’re certainly not going to spread any stories about zombies. They’d look like freaking idiots.”

  “I guess not,” Leesa said.

  Cali scooted up toward the edge of the bed. “I hate to end this little party, but I’ve got to get dressed. Andy and I are going to the movies tonight.”

  “What are you guys going to see?” Leesa asked.

  “There’s a vampire movie fest over at the Student Union,” Cali said. “We’re heading over there to catch a vamp flick or two.”

  “I don’t get this whole fascination with vampires,” Stacie said. “Why are so many people into something that doesn’t even exist?”

  Leesa and Cali looked at each other and smiled.

  “You mean something that doesn’t exist, like zombies?” Cali asked.

  Stacie had no answer for that. “Point taken.”

  “What about you, Leesa?” Cali asked. “What are you doing tonight?”

  “I’ve got to hit the books. Try to catch up a bit on my missed classes.” Leesa didn’t mention that the book she was going to hit first was her book of magic.

  “What about Rave? When’s he coming back?”

  “I’m not sure. There’s some stuff going on at home he has to take care of.”

  Cali grinned. “You sure he’s not just tired of you after spending so much time together?” she teased.

  “Ha! I hope not.”

  Leesa smiled, feeling warm inside at the thought of Rave. If there was one thing she was sure of amidst all the crazy stuff going on, it was that he was not tired of her.

  17. LIGHT AND HEAT

  Back up in her room, Leesa was both anxious to get started practicing her magic and nervous about how it would go, now that she was away from the magical energy in the volkaane settlement that had seemingly enhanced her abilities. She sat on her bed with Dominic’s book unopened on her lap, unable to decide whether to open the book and see what was next or to jump right into practicing something like the illumination spell. The pros and cons of trying the spell were the same thing—she would know immediately how much being back home was affecting her magic. She was afraid of the disappointment that might bring.

  Finally, she decided to just bite the bullet and try. Delaying wasn’t going to change anything, so she might as well get started. She pushed the book off her lap onto the bed and held her right hand out in front of her, palm up.

  “Illuminati verdus,” she said softly but forcefully.

  The familiar glowing sphere appeared immediately, floating just above her palm. To her surprise and delight, the light was as big as it had ever been, and nearly as bright. She moved her hand slowly back and forth, counting to see how long she could make the light last. When she reached eight, the orb winked out.

  She was thrilled. Ten seconds had been her max at Rave’s house, so the drop off in duration was only a slight one, just like the decrease in brightness. This was way better than she had expected. Apparently, the increase in confidence and belief in herself that she had gained from her successes of the past few days was carrying over now, even without the enhanced magical energies of her previous surroundings.

  Just for the fun of it, she decided to try something just a bit different with the spell.

  “Illuminati verdus,” she said again, this time picturing the light as the same color as the flames she had seen many times flickering from Rave’s fingertips.

  She almost squealed in delight when a blue sphere appeared above her hand. It was smaller and not nearly as bright as the yellow light, but Leesa didn’t care. Just seeing the blue glow reflecting on her fingers made her feel more connected to Rave than ever. She couldn’t wait to show him her new trick.

  The blue light lasted less than five seconds, but even that was longer than she expected for her first try. A wide grin curved her lips. She wondered if this new twist on Dominic’s spell might one day come in handy. She didn’t know why, but she had a feeling that somehow it might. And even if it didn’t, the closeness it made her feel to Rave made it worth the extra effort.

  Excited and energized by her success, she grabbed the spell book and started thumbing through the pages, looking for the next spell. When she read it, she knew immediately why Dominic had placed it in this position.

  The spell combined two things she had already worked on—light and heat. When mastered, the user would be able to create a laser-like beam of energy that could burn through anything combustible. She wondered if this was a kind of precursor to the beams of magic she had seen Dominic and Josef shooting at each other. She had a feeling those beams were many times more powerful than what was described here. Still, this one was dangerous enough that Dominic had included a notation warning her to be careful how she practiced it.

  She read through the spell a second time, memorizing all the important parts. When she was satisfied she understood it thoroughly, she pushed the book aside.

  Since she had just successfully done the light spell several times, she decided to work with heat for a few moments before trying to combine the two with the new spell. It wasn’t cold in her room, but she knew how to fix that. She crossed to the window and opened it. Cold air immediately blasted across her face and hands. She waited a few moments, letting the cold seep into her body until she was thoroughly chilled, and then called forth the familiar image of fire in her belly. In just a few seconds, she felt as warm as if she was sitting outside in the sun on a summer day. She stood in front of the window for several minutes before finally shutting it. She was ready to try the new spell.

  Taking Dominic’s warning to heart, she pointed her palm away from her, angling it down toward the front of her mini-fridge. Just in case she was more successful with the heat ray than she expected, the metal door was not combustible and should absorb the energy without any damage.

  “Magnus irrundi,” she chanted, trying to combine the images of light and heat at the end of her hand.

  Nothing happened.

  Leesa frowned. She’d been doing so well with her magic lately she had expected at least a teeny bit of success. To have absolutely nothing happen was beyond disappointing. She told herself this was just part of the normal learning curve and tried again, concentrating hard. Once again, she failed completely.

  She picked up Dominic’s book and read the section again to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. If she had, she didn’t see it. Putting the book aside, she closed her eyes and thought about what she had done.

  In a minute, she had an idea what she might be doing wr
ong.

  Her best success with the light had been using the yellow glow, but for her heat, she imagined blue fire inside her. When trying to combine the two, she had pictured blue, because heat was the new element. That was probably her mistake, though. She was stronger and more confident producing a golden glow—she should probably go with that. Besides, Dominic’s magic beam had been yellow-white, which was much closer to gold than blue. As much as she liked the idea of shooting blue fire from her hand like a volkaane, she knew she would be better served going with yellow. Later, when she got good at this, she could fool around with trying to make it blue if she desired.

  She pointed her hand at the mini-fridge again.

  “Magnus irrundi,” she said, concentrating hard on seeing a yellow beam. “Magnus irrundi.”

  This time, a faint yellow glow extended two inches from her palm. More importantly, she was sure her hand felt warm, too. Just to be certain, when the glow disappeared, she pressed her palm against her cheek. Yep, it was definitely warm. It wasn’t nearly hot enough to burn anything, but it was a start. She smiled.

  She spent the next hour practicing. By the time she was done, she could send a beam six inches from her hand that was warm enough to cause a very faint browning to a piece of paper. She would have loved to keep practicing, but she remembered Dominic’s admonition not to overdo it, so she forced herself to stop.

  She sat down on her bed and picked the book up again. Just because she was done practicing didn’t mean she couldn’t do some reading. She wondered if the book had anything in it about wizard dreams. Flipping to the back section, which dealt with magic other than spells, she was pleased to find she had opened to the exact page she was seeking—the beginning of a chapter about dreams.

  She wondered if it had been luck or magic that had guided her to this page. She closed the book and then carefully re-opened it to a spot she thought was much closer to the back. She was only mildly surprised when she found herself looking at the same page as a moment before. It was magic, all right. Somehow, the book was sensing what she wanted and neatly providing it for her.