Blood Of Fire (The Blood Burden Series) (2 page)

“Are you alright?” he asked softly.

Nicole nodded as she tried to push away
the anxiety that was begging her to test more of her powers. “Yes, thank you. 
What happened?”

Slade shrugged, “I’m not sure but it
looks like security has it under control now.” He pointed toward a swarm of
uniformed men escorting someone out a door.

“What a welcome to Ireland.” Nicole
laughed as she straightened her wrinkled shirt. “Guess I better get moving. 
Thanks again Slade, and it was nice meeting you,” she offered him a handshake.

Slade took her outstretched hand and
pulled it to his lips, kissing it softly before letting go.  “I was wondering,
since we are going the same way and all, if you would allow me to take you to
your hotel?” Slade asked giving her a small, one sided smile as he took in her
stunned face.

“Oh, that’s very nice of you Slade but I
couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“It’s no trouble at all, I promise.  So,
where are you staying?”

Nicole bit her bottom lip as she debated
on what to tell him.  She was a bit embarrassed, she had nowhere to stay yet
and she didn’t know how to explain the sudden trip without it being obvious
that she had left the United States in a hurry.

“Well, I’m a spontaneous kind of girl. 
I was hoping one of the hotels would jump off the brochure and I would take a
taxi to it,” She waved the pamphlet out in front of him to validate her story.

“Wow, I wish I could be a little more
daring like that,” he smiled, “But to be honest, I had some ulterior motives in
offering to drive you to your hotel...”

Nicole’s eyes got wide with shock and
her cheeks flushed, “Really.  Well, I’m afraid I must decline your offer.” 
Pulling her backpack up from where it leaned against her legs, she slung it
over her shoulder and turned to walk away.

“Oh God, no…That’s not what I meant,”
Slade stammered as he stopped her escape by gently grabbing her elbow.  “That came
out completely wrong,” he continued, “See, I was wondering if you had plans
tonight?”

Nicole crossed her arms over her chest
to make it clear that she wasn’t up for any games. She wasn’t
that
type
of girl and she was by no means looking to play the dating game with Fabio’s
hotter brother.  The nine plus hours of plane hopping, layovers, and the need
for a hot shower wasn't helping her mood either.

“I’m expected at a cocktail party
tonight and I was hoping that you would come with me.  I had a friend accompanying
me but she just canceled,” his eyes pleaded with her as he waited for her
answer.  “I can call ahead and have you a room booked at the hotel where I’m
staying,” he offered in hopes it would sweeten his proposal.

Nicole let her bag drop down to her
elbow as she weighed her options:  get lost in a city that she had never been
in or go with the super hunky guy who could act as her guide and ultimately
keep her from sleeping on a park bench somewhere…  She sighed deeply as she
slid her arms back through the straps of her backpack, “Whose party are we
going to?”

Slade smiled broadly at her, “Let me get
that for you.”  Mr. Handsome took the bag from her shoulders and placed his
hand on her lower back to guide her towards the exit.

“Where’s your luggage?” Nichole asked as
they walked out the airport doors and among the swarm of travelers scrambling
to hail a taxi.  Chatter about the shooting was loud and frantic.  Nicole
overheard one woman saying it was an attempted robbery gone bad.  She had to
pull her attention from the chatter that her police side wanted to cling to and
focus on the changes around her.  She was taken aback by the softness of the
air in her lungs.  The thick humidity that Nicole had always known from
Alabama’s summers didn't exist here.  It was pleasantly warm and felt more like
spring.  Nothing at all like the smothering August heat she had left back home.

“My driver has already put them in the
car,” he motioned towards a sleek, black limousine sitting next to the curb. 
The driver, a large muscular man who had a deeply lined, stone face, stood
holding the door open.

Nicole’s police training kicked into
gear as she studied the man’s strong demeanor. “He looks military to me.  A man
doesn’t get a cold look like that without seeing some hard things,” she
whispered to Slade as they walked towards the waiting car.

Slade nodded with a mix of surprise and
admiration playing across his face, “You are a very observant woman, Nicole.” 
He handed her bag off to the driver then offered her his hand so he could help
her into the limo.

She took his hand politely and ducked
inside the car.  Slade sat across from her with a smirk on his face, “So tell
me what you do for a living?”  He put up his hand to stop her from answering.
“Wait, let me guess.  I’m pretty good at reading people too,” he leaned back,
rubbing his chin as he studied her face.  “You are either government or law
enforcement.  I’m willing to bet money that you’re a police officer.”

She smiled softly as she thought of the
best way to answer, “Let’s just say that I don’t know who or what I am
anymore.  I’m on a path of discovery in a far-away land,”  Nicole's smile
broadened as she thought about the underlying truth behind her explanation.

“I change my answer…you’re a hippie,” he
chuckled as the car began to move.  “Fine, I’ll give you the self-discovery
answer but there has to be some truth to my guess.  I mean, you did peg Claude
in less than ten seconds.  He’s ex-military, of sorts, and one hell of a
bodyguard.”

“Of sorts?”  Nicole’s curiosity was
thick in her voice, “Are we talking IRA?”

Slade smiled, “You’re changing the
subject.  Fine,” he shrugged, “I won’t pry... I was just curious.”

Nicole chuckled, “Okay, you’re correct. 
I’m a police officer, well,
was
a police officer but things have changed
and now I’m here.”  Nicole looked out the window at the passing buildings and
changing scenery, it was all so different from her home town.  All the
buildings stood five stories tall with bricks in unusual shades of red, orange
and yellow catching her eyes.  Various statues dotted the open spaces; each one
telling of its own moment in time with a frozen stare.  After a few moments a
sly grin crept across her lips, “So would you say Claude wears a large
t-shirt?”

Slade’s brow furrowed in confusion as he
studied Nicole’s face, “I guess so, why?”

“I’m thinking a Megadeth t-shirt would
be the perfect gift for him,” she smirked, “I hear they are the IRA’s favorite
band.”

“You’re as smart as you are beautiful,”
he winked as he complimented her.  “I like that in a woman.”

Nicole’s smile fell from her face as she
turned her attention back to the green hills in the distance.  Her mind began
to drift back to the day she and Luke had a similar conversation while sitting
at her dad’s kitchen table.  Her heart ached to hear his voice again, to smell
his woodsy scent and to feel his lips pressed against her skin.  But she had
released him of his oath.  By doing this, she set him free of the tie that
bound him as her warrior.  Luke had given his word to her grandmother, Titania,
Queen of the fae to protect her blood line with his life.  Nicole was his to
protect but she turned her back on him.

She knew the full ramifications of
releasing Luke from his oath and leaving when she last saw him on the runway
and he had blocked her from his mind. 
But perhaps he wasn't blocking me
,
Nicole argued with herself, after all she couldn't hear anyone's thoughts in
the airport earlier either. 
I can’t blame him.  I wouldn’t want to be mixed
up in this bull shit if someone had given me a way out
,
she thought
as she forced her bubbling emotions to ebb back to the recesses of her heart.

Luke's arms
covered in goose bumps as the sweat cooled his skin.  A copper taste lingered
in his mouth even though his split lip had healed moments after the impact of
Ronald's punch.  Everything had happened so fast but yet so slow at the same
time.  First he was squaring off with Ronald, then suddenly, the tables turned
when Kat was shot.  Seeing your best friend's life slowly draining away would
be enough to make anyone turn hard but he never expected that to happen with
Nicole.

Turning on his heels, Luke bounded back
into the woods surrounding the airport.  The image of Nicole's face staring out
the airplane window was seared into his mind as he moved with inhuman speed,
gracefully skirting trees and leaping ravines without as much of a thought.  He
had to return to Nicole's home quickly so he and Rhys could decide what to do
now. 
I can't let her face Loch alone
, he thought.  He stopped in his
tracks as his thoughts started to consume him.  His body rippled with anger and
forced him to start pacing; dead leaves crunching beneath his shoes with each
step.  “She's so damn stubborn," he growled.  "It may get her killed
this time and it's my fault for letting her go!"  He punched a giant oak
with all the power he had left in him.  The tree splintered from the impact and
a deep indent remained when he pulled his fist away.  He let out a thunderous
scream.

"Do you feel better now?"

Luke shook out his throbbing fist, but
not from the pain, he was too angry to feel pain.  He could tell he had broken
most of the bones in his hand but he knew his warrior body was working to heal
the damage by the tingling sensation that pulsed through him.  After he was
satisfied that the bones had realigned and he could move his fingers again he
turned to face the voice, "Much.  What are you doing here?"

Sage snorted and shook her head, causing
her short, black bobbed hair to shift revealing her pointed ear. "Did you
think I was going to let you handle all of this alone?  Please..." She
trailed on as she rolled her eyes.

"Sage, I'm not in the mood for your
bull.  You did your part and I'm grateful to you but now, you're just in my
way."

"
Oh
, the 'big bad warrior'
doesn't need the 'cute little fairy' anymore," she purred. 
"To…damn…bad," Sage poked Luke in the chest with a black fingernail
as she said drew out each word.  "You're not the only one with a stake in
how this turns out, Luke."

Luke stared down at the petite fae
adorned in a long black dress with silver corset and wearing a studded dog
collar around her neck.  She was as far away from the typical image of fairies
you heard about in stories growing up as you could ever get.  But in Luke's
opinion she had proven herself loyal to Nicole and that's what mattered most. 
He let out a deep sigh and ran his hand through his disheveled hair,
"Fine."

He started moving forward again but not
before seeing Sage's bright red lips turn up into a cocky smile.  She loves to
win.

**~***~**

"Where the
hell
is my
daughter, Luke?" The shouting came from James, Nicole's father, as he
broke loose from Kat's grasp and bounded off the front porch of his country
home toward Luke with surprising speed.  "Why did you let her leave?  You
know they want her dead and you just let her waltz away just as pretty as you
please," the elderly man's body was shaking with anger but his eyes were
wide with shock and worry.

"I'm sorry, James.  Your daughter
is too strong for her own good.  She was already on a plane before we could
break the barrier she trapped us in."  Luke stopped in front of James
ready for anything he could throw at him.  He owed that much to her dad.  He
knew he had failed everyone, including himself.

"James, it's not his fault.  We
both know how Nicole is," Kat looped her arm into James' and began guiding
him back toward his house.  "She thinks this will protect us and she
didn't give anyone a chance to talk her out of it."

"Don't worry, we're going ta get da
princess back James." Rhys had appeared to stand beside Luke, still dirty
and smelling of smoke from the night's battle.  His face was hard and
determined but without any sign of his normal, arrogant demeanor showing.

"And how do you plan on doing
that?"  James turned to face Luke and Rhys, pulling his arm away from
Kat.  "Just how are you going to save her from a man who is more powerful
then all of you combined," he spat, pointing his finger between Luke, Rhys
and Sage.  "You can't even save her from herself," his voice choked
off into a whisper.