Kindling Flames: Smoke Rising (The Ancient Fire Series Book 3) (15 page)

“Yeah, about that.” Elliot looked over to the empty wall above the dresser. “What happened to yours?”

“It got broken,” Darien answered flatly without looking up at him.

“Kay,” Elliot said, and went out, leaving him to finish changing Vicky.

Darien moved the limp woman into the bed and covered her up. He kissed her lightly on the forehead as Zak snuggled into the bed next to her. Darien touched her with his power, checking to see how the patch was holding up. It seemed fine, so he pulled back and tucked the covers up around her tighter.

“Watch her, Zak.” Darien looked over the pair. “If anything should happen, come get me, quick as you can.” He left to go make the call to Dakine. Pausing in the hallway, he looked at the cross from his past. It didn’t feel any different than normal to him, but the reaction Elliot had to it was unexpected. He reached his hand out to touch it. Just before his fingers made contact, he felt the angry bite associated with holy objects. It wasn’t any stronger than he remembered. Darien shook his head and went to find Elliot. Maybe it was responding to the fact that he had sent up a few prayers of his own recently. Snorting a soft laugh at that idea, he grinned. Who would imagine a vampire praying to God for help? He had sent up many prayers in his lifetime. He had, after all, been raised in a monastery.

“What are you doing?” Darien asked as he walked into Vicky’s room. His friend stood at one end of the dappled green room, drawing on the antique mirror. The carved, wooden trees framed a series of red lines Elliot was working onto the reflective surface. Darien recognized the symbols of the communication spell he hadn’t finished on his own mirror a few nights ago.

“Calling Lord Dakin,” Elliot answered without stopping his work.

Darien leaned against one of the corners of the large, four-poster bed. “What are you using?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Lipstick,” Elliot answered as he drew on.

Darien let out a deep breath. “Couldn’t you find the grease in my desk?”

Elliot moved his free hand down and tapped a jar on the dresser. “I found it.” He continued to use the lipstick on the mirror.

“Then why aren’t you using it?” Darien asked and raised his hand up to rub his face.

“Because this is easier.” Elliot stepped back from the finished circle. “It has the same stuff in it as your grease does, plus it’s nice and easy to draw with. He put the cap back on and tossed the lipstick over to Darien.

He caught it before it hit him.

“Of course, you’ll need to get Vicky some more.”

Darien pulled the top off and looked at the mess Elliot had made of the stick. “This is her favorite color, too.” Darien sighed and recapped the tube. He put the ruined lipstick into his pocket and left his hand there, fingering the container. “Whatever possessed you to use Victoria’s lipstick?”

Elliot leaned back against the dresser. “One of my kiss members used to use her lipstick to leave messages on the mirror so I knew where she went when I woke up. It’s neater than trying to use this stuff.” He flicked the jar next to him lightly. “Don’t worry. It works just the same.”

Darien let out a little laugh. “All right,” he said as Elliot pushed off the dresser so they could call Dakine. “Hey, Elliot,” Darien stopped him before he started to cast the spell, “I really need to thank you again for tonight. I don’t know what I would do if I lost her.”

“You wouldn’t have had to worry about it for long,” Elliot chuckled, trying to make light of the situation. “Zak is almost as attached to her as you are.”

“More so.” Darien sighed. “He marked her after the accident the other day.”

Elliot’s eyes widened at this development. “No wonder you were so keen on marking her yourself.”

“I can’t believe how stupid I was,” Darien growled, exasperated with himself. “If you hadn’t been there…”

“Hey,” Elliot interrupted Darien’s self-hating. “Don’t worry about it. It’s my duty to make sure you don’t do stupid shit that will get you killed. You’re practically my sire.”

“I had nothing to do with bringing you over,” Darien scoffed jokingly at his friend.

“Maybe not,” Elliot smiled back. “But you did save me, and you stuck around until I could survive on my own.”

“Well, I did kill the woman that turned you.” Darien shrugged. “It was only right; although, you nearly got me staked a time or two. Remember France?” He smiled.

Elliot laughed at his old folly. “How was I to know she had a twin?”

Darien laughed. “You could have tried talking to her before you started sucking on her neck.” The two men chuckled as they thought about their past escapades.

“Darien.” Elliot sighed as his mirth ended. “I would do anything to make sure that nothing happened to Vicky.”

Darien chuckled lightly at him. “I see she has made an impression on you, too.” He stood up from the post he was leaning on.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Elliot said, “I like the girl, but I’m not doing this for her.”

Darien cocked his head at his friend in confusion.

Elliot went on to explain. “I’ve been worried about you, Darien. You changed after Teagen died.”

Darien stiffened at the name of his old love. No one had spoken that name around him for a very long time.

Elliot looked at Darien with concerned eyes. “We didn’t know what to do when you withdrew from the world.”

Darien crossed his arms back over his chest defiantly. “I did not withdraw from the world.”

“Yes, you did,” Elliot scoffed at him. “You turned your menagerie out and practically stopped talking to everyone. You buried yourself in that business so you wouldn’t have time to do anything else,” he said, exasperated. “Clara was sure you were just going to walk out into the day and let yourself burn. It got better after a while, but you were never yourself again.”

Darien dropped his arms as he listened to the concern in his friend’s voice.

“When that plane crashed and you didn’t immediately come back, we thought that you have finally given up. It wasn’t until you showed up at Clara’s with Vicky that she stopped worrying about you. That woman brings out who you used to be.”

Darien blinked at him, shocked. He hadn’t known he had caused his friends so much grief as he dealt with the loss of his loved one. “I didn’t realize.” He gawked at his friend.

“What were we supposed to say?” Elliot snarked at him, “‘Sorry you had to kill your girlfriend. Let’s go pick up some hookers to take your mind off it’?”

Darien glared at the sarcasm.

Elliot grew more serious. “Look, I know how much Teagen meant to you. I was there, remember? It doesn’t take a genius to see how much Vicky means to you now.” Closing his eyes, he rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

Darien just stared at him, letting this information sink in.

Elliot drew in a calming breath and looked at his friend before continuing. “We would do just about anything to make sure she is safe, Darien, simply because she makes sure
you
are okay. We want to see you happy.”

“I… I… I don’t know what to say,” Darien stuttered, at a loss for words.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Elliot stepped over to his friend and patted him on the upper arm. “Just don’t screw it up.” He turned back to the dresser. “Come on, let’s see if we can get a hold of Dakine. He may have some answers for us.”

Darien nodded and came over to the mirror to help activate the spell.

“Oh, by the way, when did you start using the Irish accent again?” Elliot looked over a Darien.

Darien’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “What?”

“Yeah, you’ve had that stupid brogue since you woke up,” Elliot informed him.

Darien’s mouth dropped open in shock; he hadn’t noticed the change in his speech. “I think we need to call Dakine.” He turned his attention back to the mirror.

The soft vibrations along her stomach woke Vicky from her sleep. Lifting the blanket up, she found Zak snoring happily against her. Stretching, she looked around for the presence that wasn’t there. She almost always woke up to Darien pressed into her. It didn’t take long for her eyes to find the man stretched out on the couch across the room. Rubbing the sleeping fay softly, Vicky slipped out of the bed to go and check on Darien. Her memories of last night were fuzzy, but she clearly remembered how drunk he had been when they left the party. She paused as a strange memory surfaced. Reaching up, she rubbed the side of her neck. Vaguely, she recalled Elliot biting her, but there were no marks on her skin that she could feel. In fact, the bite that Darien had left on her before the party was gone, too. Vicky shrugged and let it go; Darien had probably healed them while she was asleep. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

Walking over to him, she looked down at the man she loved, stretched out on the couch. Vicky noted that he was more still than usual as he rested. Concern filled her, and she reached out and touched his arm to make sure he was all right. His skin was colder than he had been recently. Worry filled Vicky until Darien drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes. She let out the breath she had been holding as relief filled her.

“Victoria,” Darien said as his senses came back to him. “How are you?” He shifted so he could sit up more.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Vicky answered. “What are you doing on the couch?” She stood up straighter so Darien could sit properly.

“I was resting,” Darien told her. “But, that doesn’t matter right now. How are you?” He took one of Vicky’s hands.

She raised an eyebrow at the concern in Darien’s voice. Pausing, she thought about how she felt. “Okay,” Vicky said. “A little weird,” she added. Something felt slightly off, but she thought it might just be the after effects of the alcohol in her system.

“God, Vicky, I’m so sorry.” Darien drew her down and folded her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and held on for dear life.

Vicky cuddled with him, confused by his actions. “What’s wrong, Darien?” she asked, leaning back so she could look into his face. Guilt was written all over him.

Darien sighed and leaned his head forwards to rest on her shoulder. “I should never have pushed you to let me mark you.”

“It’s okay.” Vicky wrapped her arms around him. “I told you I would give you anything you wanted.”

He shook his head where it laid against her shoulder. “No,” Darien tried to explain, “I screwed up.” Pressing his face harder into Vicky’s shoulder, he tightened his grip on her. “I didn’t pull the power out after I marked you, and it nearly killed you.”

Her hands stilled as she took in this information. She remembered the hot ball that had curled in her chest.

“Elliot got here in time and pulled it out, but… Victoria, I’m so sorry.”

Her attention was drawn by a soft gurgle, and she turned to look at Zak, sitting next to them on the floor.

The fay reached up and touched her softly on the leg.

Vicky pushed Darien away from her so she could see his face. “Darien, what happened?” she asked, frightened by his reaction.

Drawing his fingers down her arm, he took hold of her hand. Taking a deep breath, he looked at his thumb rubbing across her knuckles. “The power burnt away part of what holds your life force to you—for lack of a better word, your soul,” Darien explained. He looked up into Vicky’s shocked face as he went on. “Elliot tore it more, pulling the power out. I’ve fixed it the best I could, but I’ve never done anything like that before.”

Vicky sat quietly for a moment, taking in what he had just said. “Am I going to die from this?” Her voice came out as barely a whisper.

“If the hole was left, your soul would have unraveled, and your life force would have been lost,” Darien explained. “I patched it, and it seems to be holding, but this is beyond my knowledge. Elliot and I called Dakine this morning, and he is on his way over to check us both out.”

Vicky nodded her head, turning over his words. She took a deep, cleansing breath and let it out slowly. “Next time I tell you you’re too drunk to do something, you will listen to me, yes?” Vicky gave Darien a stern look.

Darien sighed deeply and nodded his agreement. “Yes.”

“All right then.” Vicky squeezed Darien’s hand and leaned over to place a kiss on his temple. “If we are having company, I should probably get cleaned up.” She stood up from his lap.

Darien looked up at her, shocked. “You’re not mad?” he asked, surprised at her reaction.

“I should be furious with you.” Vicky smiled at him and squeezed his hand again. “But, let’s wait until Lord Dakine gets here and tells me how mad I should be.” Her smiled widened. “Anyway, how can I be mad at someone with such a sweet singing voice?” Releasing Darien’s hand, Vicky turned out of the room humming one of the Gaelic songs Darien had sung in the car last night.

He eyes widened, and he looked down at Zak. “I was singing?” Darien asked the fay.

Zak gurgled before wobbling off after Vicky.

***

“What do you think?” Darien asked Dakine as he sat on the barstool in his kitchen. The tall elf lord rested his fingers on the vampire’s chest and searched him with his power.

“I can’t find anything wrong with you,” Dakine said, tilting his head slightly in concentration. He closed his eyes to better investigate Darien. “You feel like a vampire to me.” Searching a little more, he made a worried noise. “What happened here?” he asked, finding the damage Darien had done to the material that held his life force.

“I told you there was an incident with Victoria,” Darien started.

“You mentioned there was an accident when you tried to mark her.” Dakine eased the frayed ends back into place and healed the break.

“Well, to make a long story short, I pulled a strand out to heal her,” Darien said, feeling a little guilty.

“You did
what
?” Dakine’s lavender eyes popped open, and he stared at the vampire in disbelief.

“I, umm…” Darien started to explain but didn’t get a chance to finish as the elf backed up in horror before dashing off through the swinging door in the foyer. Darien knocked the stool over as he chased after the flapping robes of the fay.

Dakine raced up the steps and into Darien’s room with the vampire hot on his heels.

Vicky turned as the two burst into the room. She didn’t have a chance to greet them before Dakine wrapped his arm around her back and pressed his hand to her chest.

Dakine let his power flood through Vicky, making her gasp and drop the sheet she had been using to make the bed. Her knees buckled as Dakine held her up, supported by the hand at her back. She grabbed at his arm to keep from falling.

Zak gurgled questioningly from where he had been helping Vicky.

Dakine drew in a sharp breath as he surveyed the damage and Darien’s patch job.

“What?” Darien asked, poised to help if he could.

Dakine didn’t answer as he concentrated on Vicky. He soothed the damaged threads back into place properly. He reached in to snag the thread Darien had left and tried to carefully pull it out.

Vicky hissed in pain.

Dakine released the imbedded thread. In moving around the patch, he had seen the massive hole the strand held closed. Dakine backed up from the problem and tried to decide if there was something he could, or should, do to fix the mess that had been made. “Whatever possessed you to do this?” he asked, turning to look at Darien.

Darien stood openmouthed, unable to answer the question. At the time he was desperate to save Vicky’s life. “I was at a loss.” He held his open hands out in front of him, showing his desperation. “I needed something to seal the tear, and I took the first thing that I could think of.”

“Ripping a piece of your own essence out and sticking it in her was not a good solution,” Dakine snapped as he brushed his power over the wound again. “Patches like this don’t work.”

Vicky panted as Dakine probed around the damaged area.

Darien took a step closer to them. “Is there something you can do?”

“I am afraid to try.” Dakine pulled his power back from Vicky. “The strand has started to bind with the material around it. If I pull it out, it may hurt her worse than I can heal.” Dakine sighed and turned Vicky around to sit her on the bed.

Zak came over and whined as he touched her.

Vicky gasped, trying to catch her breath.

“But, that’s good, right?” Darien asked as Dakine made sure Vicky was recovering. “As long as the thread holds the hole closed.”

“Yes, and no.” Dakine turned back to the worried vampire. “This type of healing is not done, Kian. Not only does it leave a piece of your soul in the patient, it seldom works. The energies have to be exact for a patch to stay. Even identical twins can’t share a soul.”

Darien looked over to where Vicky was holding her head in her hands. “But, you said the strand was binding with the surrounding material?” he said, confused and concerned.

“Yes, but I don’t understand how that’s possible.” Dakine looked over at her. “For all intents and purposes, it shouldn’t have stayed. Even if it held when you put it there, dawn should have burnt it out.”

“So, what can we do?” Darien asked, desperate to find a solution.

“Nothing.” Dakine looked back over to Vicky. “There is nothing that can be done for a tear of this magnitude.”

“Wait,” Vicky said as she recovered. “Let me get this straight. Are you saying Darien pulled out a piece of his soul and patched it over the tear in mine?”

Dakine nodded to Vicky. “Yes, cailín.”

“And this piece won’t hold,” Vicky restated.

“It should not,” Dakine said gravely.

Drawing in a deep breath, she ran both her hands through her hair as she pushed it back from her face. She recalled what Darien had said about what would happen if the hole hadn’t been plugged up. “I need some fresh air.” Vicky stood up.

Darien reached to touch her as she passed him, but she moved out of his reach.

“Just, don’t touch me right now.”

He could hear the anger in her voice as she left.

Zak whined at her, but Vicky left without turning around.

Darien closed his eyes and drew a shaky breath. “What am I going to do, Dakine?” He sat on the bed before he fell over. His stomach ached at the idea of losing Vicky.

Zak wiggled over and bumped into him, gurgling.

“The only thing you can do.” Dakine stared at the doorway where Vicky had gone. “Wait and see what happens.” He turned his head back towards Darien.

Darien scratched his fingers into the fay, rubbing against him as he listened.

“The patch held through dawn. If it holds through nightfall, then there is a chance the thread won’t disintegrate. It was bound pretty tightly when I tried to pull on it.” Dakine sighed and shook his head. “I also don’t know what to tell you if it
does
hold.”

Darien gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”

Dakine brushed back his long, silver hair as he thought of the answer. “I can’t tell what effects your essence will have on cailín,” he explained. “Your energies could potentially change her nature.”

Darien stared at him with an open mouth. “You mean it could turn her?” he asked, shocked.

“Or nothing could happen at all,” Dakine replied with a shrug. “It’s hard to say how she will react.”

Darien let out a ragged breath and dropped his head into his hands.

Dakine gave him a few moments to absorb this before he spoke again. “Is there anything else that you need?”

Darien shook his head without raising it.

“Then I will take my leave. I have other things that need my attention. Call me if you need me.”

Darien nodded his thanks.

“Good luck, Kian.” Dakine patted him on the shoulder and left him sitting on the bed, holding his head. It was going to take a miracle to pull him through this one.

Zak touched the distressed vampire, pulling him back from his thoughts.