Burn With Me (25 page)

One woman insisted I take a protective charm to ensure I didn’t draw the attention of the “fire spirits” living in the house. I accepted, but I suppose she thought it wouldn’t be enough, because the next morning I found a vial full of some kind of black sand on the doorstep of the house. I’m hoping it’s sand, but I’m not willing to open it to find out.

I’ve decided to send it—along with a few books for Joseph—to you as a “welcome to another country” present. Who knows? Even if it doesn’t actually protect you from the things that go bump in the night, it might ward off some of the mortal men constantly swarming around you. I’m your big brother. I live in hope.

Since I’m probably watching you read this right now, you should look up and give me a proper little sister glare. The kind that says, “You went to Bahrain and all you got me was this weird bottle of sand?”

But wait until you see what I’m planning for your birthday. Trust me. Greg will be jealous.

Love,

Tarik

She missed him so much. Without a word, she handed the letter to Greg and reached for the metal box. She smoothed her hand over the cool surface and noticed her fingers tingling slightly at the contact. Her eyes closed and she saw his handsome, laughing face as if he were right in front of her. She imagined he’d be happy she was here, exactly where he’d hoped she’d be. Home.

The picture in her mind changed, shifted until she saw him the way she had in her dream. The knife in his hand. His face frozen in anger. She pressed her fingertips against her eyelids, willing that image away. That wasn’t how she wanted to remember him.

“He was giving it to you, anyway.” Greg sounded amazed. “He got the sand, but he wanted to give it to you instead. Do you think that means something?”

“It means he was my big brother.” She opened her eyes and looked directly at Te and clutched the box more tightly in her hands. “Is this why you’re here? You were waiting for us to find this?”

“Yes,” Te acknowledged. “A week before your brother died he sent the package, so of course we were informed of its existence. However, Tarik unknowingly placed it in one of your father’s lockboxes, and so we could not retrieve it. The outside is made of iron and—”

“The inside must have gold,” Aziza interrupted, watching Te’s eyes narrow just slightly at her knowledge of the Niyr weakness.

“Yes.”

Greg shook his head. “I’m confused. Te, you told me you’d just come here to make sure she was safe. To warn her about the treaty’s condition on…” Greg paused, looking over at Aziza uncomfortably, “…the thing.”

Aziza got to her feet. “The thing? What thing? I have a lot of
things
I’m dealing with so far, Te. Are you saying there’s something new?”

Greg answered instead. “Yes, a new thing. Well, sort of. I mean, you and I kind of talked about it the morning after Te zapped me.” 

He followed her up, holding the letter from her brother and staring at her with a serious expression. “The thing that says the Fireborne line must continue to maintain the peace? Your favorite part, I know, but there’s more to it now. The treaty specifically says that to maintain the balance of power, the line must be continued with a human. No werewolves. No Jinn or Niyr. Human.”

“Good job, Te.” Aziza groaned and glared past Greg at the pale, still woman beneath the tree. “I know what you’re doing. Playing on his concern to stir up trouble.”

“The Niyr do not stir trouble where none exists,” Te insisted quietly. “You mistake me for your other Qarins.”

“Really? Well, you could have fooled me. Why in the hell would a peace treaty say anything about who or what I can procreate with? Or that I have to at all? Were you just distracting him so you could convince him to give you what’s in this box? If so, you should pick a form with a bit more cleavage next time. Greg is a sucker for double-Ds.”

“I hate to say it, particularly in earshot of my kind, but Te is right, Aziza.” Shev walked over to them as if she’d just appeared, making Aziza wonder where she’d come from. “And the continuation of the line is in the treaty because that is when the Fireborne was first forged. You are—technically—a condition of the peace. As are your descendents.”

“So the proposals, the sexist Qarins…”

Shev nodded. “They were merely fulfilling their duty, although I admit they were more aggressive than they should have been. I’m
usually
of the opinion that one should let nature take its course.”

Aziza caught that. “But not in my case?”

Shev shrugged, her expression watchful. “In your case you are all that remains. Even if you hadn’t accepted your gifts in blood your longevity is…currently less than promising. We are dealing with this danger now so, hopefully, you can live to carry the next generation. Meanwhile…” her mouth turned down as if she tasted something sour, “…you shouldn’t lose control with your new playmate. If you taint the line with anything that isn’t human, the war will start again.”

Aziza felt like screaming. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Shev. You too? I can’t handle this right now. I can’t even begin to tell you how fucked up that sounds, and I shouldn’t have to because I think we all know what free will is.” She glanced over at the blonde and remembered the Niyr’s rules of consensus. “
Most
of us know what free will is.”

“I know it’s messed up, Aziza, but think about the alternatives.” Greg sounded reasonable. Or like he thought he sounded reasonable. “Te shared some of the possible consequences with me, and I know there are more. Do you want to be responsible for causing a war between three worlds?
I
don’t.”

She looked to make sure the thin chains were still twined around his neck. She couldn’t believe he was saying this. “Greg, they’ve scrambled your brain. I get it, no one is happy with my choices for sexual partners these days, but wake up. They are not dealing us a straight hand.” She waved the box in the air. “Te was just trying to get in this box. She wants the sand. I have this feeling it’s only one to a customer.” She snared Te’s dark gaze. “Am I right?”

“I told you your blood would give you answers. Yes, the Zhaman’s allotment is exact.” Te lowered her head in acknowledgment. “The keeper knows the amount that is required. The Niyr have every confidence that you will release Tarik’s allotment to us, since it is of no use to you.”

Another wave of dizziness hit Aziza and she swayed, hearing wind through reeds again. 

A lie
, it whispered.
They fear what you can become if you accept another offering.

She swallowed and stared Te down. “I’m sorry to disappoint you—both of you…” she included Shev, “…but if you think you can get me to bring a child into the world I’m living in now? The one where I suddenly burst into flames and everyone I love is in danger? You’re insane. Even more so, if you think I will
ever
give you this.” She held up the box. “My brother gave this to me. Other than his ashes, it’s all I have left of him. Because of your damned treaty. Because of
you
.”

“Aziza,” Greg called after her as she walked away, but she didn’t look back. Instead, she gave them all the finger she’d been dying to show them for days.

Fuck it.
She was sick of all this Fireborne shit anyway. Too many rules.

Chapter Eleven

She couldn’t sleep. The house was too big. There were too many rooms, several of them filled with people desperate to tell her what to do. With people who expected something from her. She’d slipped on the comfortable pair of lime-green pajama bottoms that matched her tank top and climbed up onto the roof. It was not as easy a task as it had been in her mother’s one-story ranch, but she found a spot where she could sit and practice starting and stopping the flames in her hands. Tarik’s metal lockbox, still unopened, was placed safely in her lap.

She wouldn’t think about where she’d had to put it during her climb, but she refused to let the damn thing out of her sight.

After Te had ended his/her visit, Greg followed her back to the house. He’d apologized and told her he loved her, even agreed with her that in theory she should be allowed to make her own choices…but he was still worried about what her Qarins had said.

Her Greg—the guy who’d stuck by her, no matter what, defending her even when she was wrong—was siding with them. Was he right? She trusted him completely, but she couldn’t forget the voice in her head.

One will fall. One will lie. Gregory could be led astray.

“Could be”, but had he been? He’d been given more knowledge than she had. At this point he probably still knew more about the Niyr and what it meant to be Fireborne than she did. Still, it didn’t feel right. It felt more like she was a puppet and everyone was reaching for a string, pulling her apart until she was sure she would break.

There had to be a line, didn’t there? She had to hold on to some tiny shred of control over her own life or she would crumble and whatever was supposed to happen without her would happen, only she wouldn’t be around to see it. There would be no more Fireborne to worry about.

She wasn’t sure why she’d kept the conversation from Brandon. It wasn’t as if they were dating, but she didn’t want him to know that she’d basically been warned off going any further with him. More than once. She’d also been told in no uncertain terms that even if she possibly could imagine having a baby at some point in the future, it could not, under any circumstances, be with him, because he wasn’t human.

Greg, Shev, even Ram. All of them thought being with him was a mistake.

But his golden gaze was imprinted in her mind. She still had his earth-and-sunshine scent on her skin. When he was around her, she felt safe. Even with the few doubts she had about him, even knowing what he was, she felt safe. She could be bold and shameless, soft and feminine—she could be her best self. Her giant sexy stalker had ahold on her that she couldn’t break, and she didn’t want to be forced to.

After all she’d lost, couldn’t she just have that? Just a little more time with him? Was it asking too much?

If you want him so much, why didn’t you tell him about Ram?

She wasn’t sure. She could blame it on the wine, but it had been more than that. Something inside her, maybe the part that recognized herself in Ram, raced into the forbidden with eyes closed and no hesitation. Brandon had secrets, but she could sense it in him—he was good. A white knight. A hero.

She wasn’t. She’d told him as much. Her destiny was not to save the world or the werewolves or the damned family line. She was having a hard enough time just saving herself. Ram knew that side of her.
Was
that side of her.

Her laugh of contempt was directed at herself. Hadn’t she decided
good
and
bad
were just words? Or had that been an easy excuse for her to be selfish? She wasn’t sure, but she was selfish enough to want to keep Brandon anyway. To keep Ram’s presence secret.

To want them both.

“You haven’t learned how to fly yet, have you?” Ram’s whisper was loud in the silence. “I didn’t think that would be one of your abilities, but then, we’ve all seen how little I know about the subject. I’m sure you’d enjoy the experience. I know I do.” He paused for a moment. “You shouldn’t be by yourself, Aziza. It’s too dangerous.”

Think of the devil and he appears.
Wasn’t that what her mother always said?

And of course he could fly. Because he didn’t already have enough going for him. She didn’t look up from the blue flame dancing around her fingers. If she concentrated, she found she could control its movements. Not as good as flying, but it was something. And she was getting better with every moment that passed.

“You told me it couldn’t last with Brandon. I thought you meant I could hurt him, but was it because you knew about the baby rule? That it would be up to me to spread my legs for some handpicked human, lay back and think of England to stop your war?” She snorted. “I always wondered where that phrase came from. Now I feel like it was created for this very situation.”

She could see him from the corner of her eye, watching as he lifted his knees to his chest and turned his head to look at her. “I knew. It wasn’t the only reason I said that, but I knew. The line is only considered pure if it remains within a human family. Now wasn’t the time to tell you, not with the danger you’re in. I’m not sure why Te told Greg either, unless the little bastard has a plan he’s not filling us in on.”

When she didn’t respond he continued in a resigned tone. “The treaty is in jeopardy regardless. The tension on both sides has never been so palpable—at least, not in my memory. It is only your existence, and the fact that neither side seems to know which one is responsible for the assassin killing off the Fireborne line, that keeps a war in check.”

“Would you force me?” She closed her palms into fists and turned off the flame before meeting his troubled emerald gaze. “If it were up to you, would you have me blindly follow the rules, make human babies and hand over the vial Tarik sent me to the Niyr? To you?”

“No.” He didn’t hesitate. “You may not believe me, but no. You can’t change your nature. I saw it that first day in the garden. I knew then you would make your own rules. Did you know the very word
Fireborne
means justice for my people?
You
create the balance,
you
are the ultimate law.
You
hold the weight of all of us in your hands. It is not for us to take your rights away for our own selfish ends.”

“Ah,” she said bitterly. “‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’ on a plate of reverse psychology. And we can’t forget that side order of guilt.”

Ram’s exhale was rich with frustration. “You misunderstand me. Again. I can never say the right thing with you, can I? In Qaf I’m famous for my charm and eloquence in negotiations, but with you? I am always the villain. I mean what I say.” His tone was emphatic. “You have more power than you know, than either side wants you to know. Their greatest fear is that you’ll realize it before they can shape you.”