Dreams of Fire Read online

  “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

  She sighed but kept moving swiftly through the streets. “I didn’t remember that day until I saw Dorium’s face. He is older, but it is definitely him.”

  “So, you did not even meet him?”

  “No, my mother had me hide so that they wouldn’t be able to take me. Now that I know a little about what is inside me, I guess that it was not a meteor that struck that inn. My mother killed herself to take out the men who would take me away, but Dorium escaped. Obviously.”

  Her feet ached. The shoes that matched the gown had ceased to be comfortable right after the dinner at the reception. She used the pain to keep her moving.

  Drov asked, “How do you feel about all this?”

  She looked to her mate, and he was easily keeping pace with her, of course. “Lives are in danger. I am guessing, but I think he loses control when he can’t find me and that is when things burn. Here, he used personal slights to give him an excuse.”

  He wrapped an arm around her and slowed her steps. “We are almost there.”

  She sighed, “Good. These shoes are killing me.”

  Drov shook his head. “Would you like me to carry you?”

  “As soon as we deal with this.”

  They came around a corner, and there was Dorium, staring at the building of her dream.

  Drov tried to hold her back, but she touched his arm. “No. This is my fight. I will call you if I need it.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but she shushed him. “I promise. If I need anything, I will call.”

  Xia knew that there were snipers around them, so she moved carefully into Dorium’s field of vision. “I know you, don’t I?”

  Dorium looked shocked, his skin glowed orange. “You were to be mine. You were always to be mine. They gave you to me.”

  Xia shook her head. “Never yours. You have hunted me for over a decade, but I was never yours. My mother died to insure it.”

  “That bitch.”

  Xia stiffened and power crackled around her hands.

  “If your mother had not interfered, we would have been wed and had a child by now.”

  She shuddered at the idea. “Not with you. Never with you.”

  He jerked in reaction. “You want that Asku.”

  “I do.”

  “Then, I will destroy him first.” Dorium turned and raised a hand toward Drov.

  Three things happened at once. Drov pulled a small blaster from the base of his spine and shot, a sniper struck Dorium in the shoulder and a ball of electrical energy struck his sternum and sent him flipping end over end to lay smoking in the street.

  Dorium struggled to his knees and sat up, “So, you gained your power. You have fucked the monster behind you.”

  “Is that what it takes? I wondered why our coming together resulted in a light show for the entire city.”

  “That isn’t possible.” He was dazed and in pain, but he shook his head. “That isn’t possible. That only happens when two of your kind collide.”

  “My kind?”

  “The Lioth. Only two Lioth together can generate that kind of power.”

  She grinned and laughed wildly. “Well, that answers that question. Noffin may have been my mother’s husband, but he was not my father. This goes way beyond light.”

  She raised her hands to the sky and collected the power in her body around her fists. “One blast each. You can hit me with fire, and I can hit you with this. Let’s see who wins.”

  Dorium’s features flicked from hate to fear. In reflex, he struck at Drov again.

  Lazily, Xia stepped between Drov and the bolt of fire. It danced around her, not touching. She extended her fists and opened them, letting the power stream toward him.

  His body arched on the ground, his heels pattering in place as every cell in his body was snuffed out. When the power had done its work, she released it into the night.

  Drov came up behind her. “Are you done here?”

  “He’s dead, so yes. Would you carry me home, please?”

  He sighed and opened his arms. She walked into them, and he hugged her for a long moment, before she began to sob.

  Chapter Ten

  The Asku disposed of the body quietly. That was one of the few things that Xia remembered from the night before.

  Drov had held her while tension that she had carried inside her since she was sixteen suddenly broke the dam.

  When she had cried herself to exhaustion, he made sure she drank water and then he tucked her into bed, staying while she slept before leaving to do whatever it was that he had to do when an alien pyro kinetic could be tracked through a dozen worlds.

  Xia still didn’t know what she was, but as she lifted her hand to watch the power crackle over her fingertips, she was confident that she was what Drov wanted.

  Her power didn’t scare him. In fact, it seemed a turn on for him to be sparked by the energy she produced.

  “Are you awake?” Drov was leaning in the doorway, eating an apple.

  “Silly thing to ask. Are you expecting an answer if I am not?”

  He grinned. “Have a shower and meet me in the sitting area. We have a few things to discuss.”

  She got up and pattered into the lav, taking her shower, brushing out her hair and scrubbing to get rid of the last of the makeup.

  When she was clean, dry and slightly more alert she went through a wardrobe and found a long gown. She wasn’t up to complicated clothing.

  A low table in the sitting area had an array of snacks on it, as well as a pitcher with water and a few glasses.

  “Dorium’s fiancée was found. He had burned her in her own home.”

  Xia sighed and sipped at her water. “I guessed as much, but I was hoping that I had been wrong.”

  Drov took her hand. “We have tracked his movements. He was indeed the reason for your premonitions. Everywhere you went, he was there a few days, weeks, or months behind.”

  His thumb was working on her palm, caressing it slowly.

  “My mother wishes to speak to you. She is curious about your power and how it manifests.”

  That made her more nervous than facing a psychopath. “I don’t even know what the boundaries are for my talent.”

  “She has suggested that I obtain a place in the mountains so that you can test the extent of your talent until you gain full control.” He was still stroking her palm with tiny circles of his thumb.

  She had to ask the important question, “And you, what do you think of my particular talent?”

  “I think that you need to learn its limits so that you can then control it in the smaller ways.”

  “So, you are not repulsed by it?” She needed to hear his answer more than anything else in the world.

  “No. In fact, I am very happy that I was in the right place at the right time. You are mine, Xia. No matter what your talent is. I wanted you, and you wanted me. Anything else is just a matter of getting used to it.”

  She laughed and threw herself against his chest. “That is what I needed to hear.”

  A strange voice spoke. “That is what I told him. He simply needed to speak from his heart. He can be the tough warrior out of the home and himself inside it.”

  A woman smiled at her from the entertainment screen.

  Xia sat up, reclining slightly against Drov, “Um, hello?”

  “Call me Nishka. I am Drov’s mother and very eager to discuss your bloodlines.”

  Xia looked to Drov and blinked in surprise. “Is she serious?”

  Drov whispered, “She isn’t going to stop popping up on screens until you talk to her. She got my father’s master communication codes years ago.”

  Xia sat up. “Well, then, pleased to meet you, Nishka. I am Xelaria Noon Velu.”

  Drov sighed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I will leave you to it. A delivery of gowns is expected, along with some comfortable walking boots.”

  He left her with a wink and Xia was forced to set her c
oncentration on Nishka.

  “So, I analyzed your blood work from the registration sample that Drov sent in. I think I have found your family.”

  “My mother was my family, and she is dead.”

  Nishka nodded. “I understand that, but there is another aspect. You have family right there on Nacroia, an aunt and uncle. Not on your mother’s side but on your father’s.” The older woman smiled. “I love genealogy.”

  “How do you know all this?” It was a lot to take in.

  “The Asku have access to all databases, medical and legal records in any system we are employed in. It comes in handy when you are curious or have insomnia.” Nishka shrugged.

  “I…Would they…Why would they want to know me?”

  “They are not thick on the ground either. Your mother was LiothFier. The people of light and fire. Your father was from a nameless race that harnesses the power of the stars. In you, something new happened, and they would be glad to know it.”

  Xia’s mind was spinning, but Nishka kept chatting, drawing out details of her childhood that she had long forgotten.

  * * * *

  “Enough, Mother. You have stunned her into silence and that is not easy to do.” Drov put an arm around his mate and scowled at his mother.

  “Fine. I was just gathering information on my new daughter. You have chosen well, Drov.”

  He inclined his head and smiled. “I think so as well. It is time for Xia to have something to eat, she has had a very taxing few days.”

  “Just a few more questions.”

  “Father, would you please?” Behind Nishka, Overlord Doron had been standing, and with his son’s request, he wrapped Nishka in one arm while disconnecting the connection with the other.

  “Is she in trouble?”

  Drov laughed. “No. My parents love each other very much, often and frequently in a number of strange places in the stronghold. It is good for a child to know that their parents still have a relationship, but I am glad they cut the connection before having sex. That is an image I cannot un-see.”

  She gasped and then laughed as she understood his meaning. “I think there is nothing wrong with embarrassing your children as long as it is for a good cause.”

  He lifted her onto his lap and pressed soft kisses along her neck, gods he loved the way that the smooth column flushed as he covered it with light caresses. “Glad you think so. And wherever my mother sends you looking for your relatives, I will be with you. Don’t think you have to do it alone. You will never be alone again.”

  Xia sighed and settled against him, pressing her thigh against his erection with an evil grin. “You have made a lovely promise sound like a threat.”

  He laughed and arranged her so that her skirt was up and she straddled his thighs. “I have to maintain my warrior credentials, even if I can’t say no to my parents.”

  Her giggle was sweet music to his ears, and as she stroked her hands down his chest, her power sprang between them, following a thousand pathways to his cock.

  As he kissed her, she kept laughing. Ah well, there were worse things than a happy mate.

  * * * *

  A knock on the door brought her head up from its comfortable perch on his chest. “What is that?”

  “A wardrobe for you. I like you in skirts.” He chuckled and slid his hand up and under her loose gown.

  She had to confess that she liked the accessibility while he was around. “Fine, but I need to sew some pockets into them. There are so many things that you just can’t fit in a dress.”

  “Do what you like to them as long as you are happy. For now, I have to get ready for a press conference, so you had better pick something quickly.”

  She laughed, “The life of the commander’s wife?”

  “Of course. Give and take.”

  She smiled and went to lead the wave of boxes into the bedroom. He supported her in every possible way, so it was time for her to do her duty and be his wife. She would stand at his side through every boring meeting, and he would help her control her flaring talent. And every now and then, they would meet in the middle.

  About the Author

  Zenina Masters was born in Canada and lives in Canada. She has a regular job and does nothing particularly exciting with her life. She enjoys fishing, silence and the ability to pick and choose friends she can trust. Life is too short to watch your back all the time.

  Her writing life is a teeny bit of escapism, she would probably chicken out if confronted by three naked men and looks forward to one day finding out.