Fire's Ice (3 page)

He lathered the strands and tried to think of a solution that would suit them both. She wouldn’t give up her magic and he couldn’t turn her loose on the world. If he could trick the spell holding her, use his circle instead of the dance? Maybe. He turned off the water, grabbed a fluffy red towel off the warming bar and wrapped it around his waist before heading into the bedroom.

Still mostly wet, he pulled down the comforter and sheets, tossed the decorative pillows into the corner chair, let the towel fall to the floor and climbed into bed naked. Snapping his fingers sent the room into darkness. Devin waved toward the hearth where logs had already been set, and started the fire with a whisper.

Laying in the dark, he allowed his mind to drift back to the day Daemon’s spell had been cast. If he could remember the exact words, the inflection of the incantation, maybe he could find a magical loophole. Daemon often acted without thought of the consequences. His words came back along with the smell of death, the clanging of steel on steel in the heat of battle.

“I am Sea, endless, constant. Time is nothing to me. Raging waters, shifting tides, within our power she will abide. She is Earth, bearer of life, comfort in death, mate of Sea, thus by her right she holds the key. She that is Air all must take heed, a maelstrom of fury her dark deeds unknown, a lesson this one must be shown. I call her now here to me.”

Identifying words, commanding presence, a brutish show of power. Unimportant, except that Arianne would be chained by their power alone. Okay. Simple enough.

“You brought down the price on all three. Earth, Air, and Sea we shall ever be until our blood meets love, one times three. My seal is set, our bargain met, if three can accept love’s pain and joy without condition, then Earth and Sea shall be set free, only Air will be chained to thee.”

The price? What had Arianne done? That’s right. Siphoned her sister’s power and used Daemon to do it. Yeah, that would have been enough to set off Daemon’s temper. Maybe he wasn’t so different from Ari after all. Clearly all three would remain in elemental form until three of their blood found love and accepted the heartache as well as bliss. Something had gone wrong. Arianne wasn’t in elemental form.
Only Air will be chained to thee
. Daemon and Briella had already been freed or were destroyed when the spell was cast. And if they were destroyed, then how did Arianne survive?

“Air may scream and howl, but it is her sister’s pleas you will hear now. Fire will come to wrench her free. If he is not bold and Air’s heart grown too cold, love will fail and your chains will hold. Still, if Fire can melt Air’s icy wind, then love will triumph once again. So mote it be, an it harm whomever it need.”

And sweet Briella couldn’t bear the thought of her twin alone forever trapped with her selfish heart. Though she was angry and weak, she had faith Arianne could change. Hope. Give her hope. And he was that hope. Fire.

Wrench her free. Love will fail and your chains will hold
.

As Devin drifted off, he realized he had been going about this all wrong.
Chained. Break the chains
. But how?

* * * *

Satin moved sinuously over his body. Soft feathery kisses whispered across his skin. Smooth fingertips caressed and aroused him. Devin breathed in the scent of vanilla, felt the silk of Ari’s hair brushing his chest as she bent down to bring her lips to his. She tasted of hellfire and magic. Of promises.

“Devin.” The devil whispered his name. Another dream. Here he could take all he wanted. Damn the spell and to hell with the consequences. Knowing every inch of his woman, the texture and taste of her skin, her touch, Devin let his hands and mouth explore at will. And he was utterly, hopelessly in love with the Arianne in his dreams.

“Come to me, Devin. Free me.” Words he had heard so many times.

“Ari, I can’t.” Still, he poured himself into the kiss, his tongue mating with hers in a lover’s dance as she sank down on his length, engulfing him in hot velvet. Claiming him. Bowing underneath her, Devin pushed deeper, matching her rhythm. His fingers clutched her hips as she moved like lightning.

“My turn.” Rolling with Ari on the cool sheets, Devin let his weight pin her to the mattress. She linked her ankles together at his spine, wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“I wish you were here, Ari. I wish this was real.”

Her whispered reply brushed his ear. “It can be. Quick as a flash. Come to me.”

He made love to her slowly, achingly until he shattered in her arms. “I love you, Ari. I love you. Don’t torture me like this.”

“Devin, I–”

He woke with the fire still crackling in the hearth, vanilla scenting the air, the sound of his name on her lips. Arianne’s words came back to him as he waited for his heart to level out. Quick as a flash. Of course. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? So simple. So easy. Smiling, he floated off back to sleep.

Chapter 3

Arianne waved a hand over the mirror she used to scry for him and froze the image reflected there. Fierce tawny eyes–lion’s eyes–stared back at her with desire and something more. His dark mahogany hair hung straight, perhaps just a little too long, and tended to fall into his eyes as he made love to her in dreams. Devin. His name held a thousand heartaches, pleasures, and hopes.

Her body was on fire. She ached for his touch, to know what his hands would feel like on her skin. Were they rough? Smooth? Craved the chance to know how it felt to be held by a man in love beyond the shadowy realm of sleep. Before she thought to stop herself, Ari brushed a finger down the reflection’s face, instantly distorting the image.

I love you, Ari.
Those words ripped at her heart. No one had ever given them to her before. Yes. He was dreaming and probably said them out of habit. She didn’t like to think about all the women he must have lain with over the course of a thousand years. She was a virgin, but wasn’t ignorant in the ways between women and men. Etain–her nursemaid–had educated her on the subject; convinced Ari would seek temptation and find herself alone with a babe to raise.
Knowledge is power.
As a healer, she had helped birth children, tended the wounds of men and listened to the women’s hushed gossip.

Her father, a warrior, was killed in battle while her mother lay in childbirth. She had never known her parents. Would they have loved her? All the elders had seen was her dark power. Her gift damned her in their eyes. Brie had never shown her love, nor her nursemaid. Even the seven guardians had been wary of her, though they had bigger problems than one woman’s powers.

Sometimes a glimpse of him would come through the mist. She had felt a taste of his lust when Daemon’s spell had been broken, had known surely as Devin when the magic began to unravel. Aided him where she could.

And so she had appeared to each of the Corrigan siblings, using what gifts she had to steer them closer to their destined path. Liv, the seer, feared magic would rule her choices in love. The legend warned of the evil twin’s unthinkable deed, of the healer and the witch. Liv would never have taken her advice if she’d known who visited her dreams. Ari had claimed Briella’s name, using Liv’s gift of wisdom to guide her steps closer to Jack.

But as strong as their love was, alone they couldn’t break Daemon’s spell.

Ryan, clinging to his mis-beliefs and anger at his beloved Kate, had sought solace in a foreign country only to find wealth and despair. Foolish man. Such love only comes around once. And so she had tried to explain, to show him sometimes things aren’t what they seem, by giving him the dream of her treachery against Briella. He’d found his way, claimed his magic and daughter Allaina.

Skye was another matter altogether. So in tune to the magical realm around him, he’d ignored the visions she sent him as another part of his gift, until Rhiannon needed him.

In truth, Briella and Daemon had ceased to exist the moment the spell had been cast. Mixing too many magics had been a grave mistake. Briella had been severing the link keeping Daemon alive, while Daemon summoned her, then cast his spell. She had fought to stop them all, but in the end the three warring magics were too much for any one of them to contain. Then Devin had added his power, saving her along with his keep. His protective circle had been hidden by the mists of time, a constant wind inside the dance. As much as it was her prison, the circle was also sanctuary, protecting her from the backlash that had ensured the nixie and healer would never return to this plane of existence.

She remembered the image of him during the battle in her mind. Tawny eyes tinged with grief and hate, dark fiery hair, blue and green plaid across one shoulder and around his waist. Muscles flexing, bunching, dealing death with every blow. Fierce, wild, powerful, smeared with the heat of battle, the blood of his enemies. Not for the sake of war, but for those he loved.

Come to me, Devin
.

“He will, but not for reason you want him to, at least not at first.”

The young woman’s hair fell straight as rain in dark strands below her shoulders. Green eyes held power well beyond someone of her years. Allaina Corrigan was going to be a force to be reckoned with.

“It is rude to read other’s thoughts without their permission, Allaina.”

“Yeah. Well, your brain was screaming it loud and clear. ‘Come to me, Devin.’ Can’t help but hear it.” Vanishing her plaid school uniform, Allie replaced it with jeans, sneakers and a black t-shirt that said
Trust me. I’m a ninja
, and sauntered through the ring of stones. Three years ago, after Arianne had turned Devin down and he’d flashed away, Allie had boldly stormed into the circle, demanding to know what Arianne’s problem was and why Devin wasn’t good enough for her man-stealing self. She had been so shocked that someone besides Devin could actually enter the circle, she’d let the insult pass. The two had become quick friends.

Devin may have taught Allie everything he knew about using her powers, but it was Ari who’d passed along her knowledge of herbs, healing plants, and incantations to Ryan’s daughter.

“I brought you some of Skye’s chocolate chip cookies.” Allie handed her a plastic container filled with the treats. She could conjure whatever was necessary to survive–if she had knowledge of how it worked or was made–but the food was flavorless. Skye’s cookies were like ambrosia to her taste buds.

“Thank you. What do you mean? Have you seen Devin?”

Completely at ease, Allie stretched out on the grass, crossed her ankles and leaned against the king stone. Ari joined her, smoothing out the wrinkles in her red dress as she tucked her feet underneath her. “Not yet, but he’s come back. Raine needs him.”

“What is wrong with the child?”

“She’s been running a high fever for the last two days. My binds have broken. I couldn’t even touch her.”

“You tried the herbs I told you to use to make them stronger?”

“Yes. They worked for a while, but it wasn’t enough. I’m sure that is why Dev’s come back. He’d do anything for us. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why did you turn him away and cling to your power, Arianne? Heat can turn into love. Would it be so bad to be mortal, just a woman?”

“I honestly don’t know. I’ve never been just a mortal woman. I was born with power, as were you. He offered me everything but his love. For that, I would have given up anything.” Ari sighed. “Do you regret being born with magic?”

“Not really. I can do a lot of good, but sometimes I wish I couldn’t see things so clearly.”

“I see. You saw something that bothers you? Tell me.”

Allie picked a blade of grass and twiddled it in her fingers, tossed it aside and drew her knees up to her chest. “I broke up with Blake.”

Ah-ha.

“He’s a jerk.”

“Most of them are, dear.” Ari patted Allie’s knee in sympathy.

“He has two other girlfriends.” Now those bright green eyes, Ryan’s eyes, were flashing angrily.

“The bas–” Ari caught herself just in time before she swore in front of Allie. She’d like to teach that little worm a lesson. “Worm.”

“And he called me a freak.” Allie sighed. “I wanted to roast a certain tender portion of his anatomy.”

“
An it harm none
, even if I agree with you.”

“I know. It’s all that saved him. I got my revenge, though. I told the other two girls about me and then each other. It was priceless.” There was a quiet sniffle. “I really liked him, Arianne. Why did he have to be like that?”

“Because he isn’t fated for you, sweetheart. You’re still young. There will be other jerks and then you will meet a man that will understand you and accept you for all you are, Allaina. Alas, he may still be an arse from time to time. You are a wonderful, amazing person. Never let anyone make you feel less than you are. Your magic is a beautiful gift. Don’t let his idiocy corrupt you.”