Sparks and Flames (13 page)

Kian reached up and touched his face, feeling how hot it was. Dominica had caught him blushing and he couldn’t do anything to hide it. “Okay, you got me. I’m in love. What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“What else can I do? You need to confront your own feelings,” she said. “You’re old enough to realize what you have to do.”

“That may be so, but I don’t know what to do. I need some support, Dominica!”

“I am supportive of you, Kian! I have always been supportive of you!” Dominica sighed. “Unfortunately, you’ve told me nothing about this girl. I get that you don’t want me to know and that’s fine. I don’t have to know a thing. However, if you need my help, I can’t do much for you. Not until you tell me about her.”

“I’m not ready to talk about her,” he said. “She’s a very special girl. That’s all you need to know. She’s the one who makes me feel like this.”

“Then I consider her a very lucky girl,” Dominica said. “You should hold onto her. Are you going to tell her that you’re a hunter?”

“That’s the thing. I already told her.”

Dominica’s jaw dropped. “You let her know the truth?”

“I felt it was time for her to know. I can’t go running around without telling her why I’m running around like this. Oddly enough, she took it well,” he blushed as he thought about how Rukia handled this situation. She wasn’t scared by him at all. “She seemed to be okay with me being a hunter. She didn’t tell me to stop or anything.”

“She’s not going to tell you that,” Dominica said. “She understands how much it means to you. She’ll let you pursue your goals because she cares that much about you. If she hasn’t run away now, she’s never going to do that.”

“You really think so?”

“I think that’s the truth. This is a girl that cares about you and she’s staying with you for the long run,” Dominica murmured. “If she doesn’t care about you being a hunter, she’s the one for you. I can feel it.”

“How can you feel it? You’re not the one in the relationship.”
 

“It’s something that a woman understands better than a man,” she winked at him. “Don’t keep this to yourself for long, Kian. You don’t want to let that girl go without ever telling her how you truly feel inside.”

He took in what she said and thought about it for a while. Dominica said goodbye to him, but he barely heard her. His mind was on Rukia and how he was going to tell her the truth. His heart was burning for her and he wanted to be with her. The only other thing that he had on his mind was marriage. Was it too early for them to get married? He needed to find a ring, which would cost him all the money he earned from hunting. He would also have to find a place and a suit to wear to this tiny wedding they would have.

Don’t keep this to yourself for long, Kian.

Dominica was right. He was far too deep in love.

Chapter 15

Kian could barely feel his heart anymore because it felt like it was floating out of his body now. In the past, he didn’t think much about it. He loved some people like his family and his friends, but this love was different. Here, he was feeling something else entirely. It was a love that was consuming him and he didn’t mind it. He had to let Rukia know the truth. He couldn’t keep these feelings locked up when they were clearly written all over his face.

Dominica was telling him to follow his heart and that was exactly what he planned to do. However, his heart was telling him all kinds of things. There was a part of him saying that he needed to get away from Rukia. If she stuck around with him, there was a chance that she would end up hurt. The last thing he wanted was for someone to go after Rukia in order to get to him. He had seen and read too many shows and stories where the loved one was attacked or killed to send a message to the hero. He didn’t want to end up being one of those people.

On the other hand, Rukia was very smart. If she knew she was in danger, she would do what she could to get out of it. She would fight back and wouldn’t go down without taking a piece of the enemy with her. He wouldn’t have to worry about protecting her because she could protect herself. So while a part of him was scared, another part of him didn’t worry for her. He knew that she would survive in the end.

There was no hunt tonight but he was lurking around in his hunting outfit. He was in the mood to get an Elemental tonight even if there was no mission. After the last one, things seemed to grow quiet. He kept wondering about the Elemental that he and Rukia found frozen in ice. He was there and then he disappeared. He had a feeling that Rukia helped him escape but he couldn’t figure out why. What would she gain out of letting him go? What would anyone gain from letting him live? He didn’t bring it up again but it was a thought on his mind. He decided that if he ran into that Elemental, he wasn’t going to let him leave. He wanted information and he wanted it as soon as possible.

He kept walking down the streets of Calensa, weaving in between the shadows. He looked around for some sort of trouble. There had to be something out there that was causing problems. In the past, he had a hunt practically every night. There was always some Elemental that was being a thorn in someone’s side. He wanted another moment like that night when he burned down Elementals. He wanted it to be something everyone remembered for the rest of their lives. However, Elementals had grown smarter and were now hiding from hunters. They knew better than to run around in the daylight.

Rukia’s house was not too far from where he was standing but he couldn’t enter through the front door. Her parents would probably be there and they would ask him what he was wearing. He would never be able to explain his hunting outfit to them. The only way he could see Rukia is if he went upstairs to her room. He would have to climb the tree that was close to it.

Kian ran over to where her house was. He knew that he would be able to find it in the dark. His heavy boots pounded against the pavement as he ran. He could feel the wind against his face as he made his way towards Rukia’s neighborhood. There was no one else out in the streets today and that was a good thing. He didn’t want anyone to see him running in these clothes, his heavy belt weighing him down. He turned the corner and saw the Benton’s house. It looked so warm and friendly compared to the home that he had. He wished that he could live with them forever.

He found a few stones on the ground and saw that her bedroom light was on. The window was closed but she was there. He threw the stones at it in hopes that she would see him. When nothing happened, he decided to climb up the side of the house and knock on her window. She would have to notice him.

“Kian!” She opened the window and helped him up. “Oh, Kian! What are you doing here? It’s so risky to come here while my family is downstairs!”

“Oh, Rukia. I just couldn’t wait to see you!” He leaned over and kissed her. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you.”

“Why are you dressed like that?” She asked.

“Truth be told, I’m supposed to be hunting tonight,” he explained. “I snuck out of it though. I told my crew that I wasn’t feeling well and needed to go home. I just had to see you. I hope you don’t mind that I couldn’t change.”

“It’s okay. As long as you aren’t covered in blood, you’ll be fine,” she let him in her room and patted the spot next to her bed. “Come on. Sit with me. You have to be very quiet though. If they learned you were here, they would never let you see me again.”

“They already know who I am.”

“That’s true but they don’t know you’re a hunter. No one knows,” she crossed her fingers. “I told you that I would keep that promise. I wouldn’t tell a single soul and I still haven’t.”

“Thank you,” he kissed her again. “I really like you, Rukia. I like you so much that I’m willing to give up being a hunter.”

“You are?”

“Yeah, I am. If you think it’s too dangerous for me, just tell me and I’ll step down. You mean too much to me,” he looked at her with those beautiful eyes and she almost melted. He had perfected that look because it worked every single time. “Your opinion matters to me.”

“Well, don’t quit because of me,” she suggested. “You should have a say in what you do as well. I care about you too, which is why I’m telling you not to quit because of me. If you love this, I want you to keep doing it.”

It felt like a bad idea to tell him to keep hunting her kind. She felt like a fool and hoped that Kian wouldn’t take her advice. Why had she told him to keep hunting? Was it because she liked the way he looked in those clothes? In truth, he looked very good. Black suited him well. It also showed off his body, which was nicely packed with muscles. Kian had trained hard to get as far as he did. This was the body of an eighteen year old that had done and seen far too much in his life. He didn’t know what it was like to be lazy for a while. Everyone in the Velt was born working and struggling.

He took her hand. “I should show you my favorite place to hang out. You showed me yours.”

“Are we going to the Velt?” She asked.

“No, my favorite place is here actually,” he said. “It’s on that big hill where the church is. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“We have a lot of big hills with churches. You have to get more specific.”

“Well, this church is made entirely of brick and it’s the only building on the hill. I saw it as I was coming to your house,” he explained. “It’s not the church itself but the view from the hill that I love. You can see the whole world from where you’re standing. It makes you realize how small and big everything is,” he tried to pull her off her bed. “You have to come see it!”

“I can’t come now! My mother and father will notice that I’m gone!” She pointed out. “Can you take me to it tomorrow? I’m sure it will look just as nice in the daytime as it does at night.”

He pouted a little but agreed with her. “Fine then. I will come and pick you up and we’ll go down there together. Does that sound better?”

“It does. Can I ask you some questions now?”

“You know you can always ask me questions. You know all my secrets.”

“First question is a big one.” This was something that was on her mind for a long time. “How would you feel is someone you knew turned out to be an Elemental? What if it was one of your old friends? What would you do then?”

His face darkened at that point. “Do you have a friend that’s an Elemental?”

“No, I don’t! I just wanted to get your thoughts on that. It’s a hypothetical situation.”

“A hypothetical situation, huh? Well, I would be shocked to find that out for starters. I’d feel a little betrayed that I never knew sooner,” he admitted. “If it’s a very close friend of mine, then a lot would be at stake. Our friendship wouldn’t be the same again. However, because they are my friend, I wouldn’t be able to kill them so easily. Not unless they tried to kill me first. Then that friendship would be severed and I would have no choice.”

“However, if they don’t try to kill you, you wouldn’t try to kill them?”

“No, I don’t think I could. We might be on different paths, but I couldn’t kill my friend. Not even if a mission told me I had to do it,” he said. “I would get out of it in any means possible.”

“That’s nice to know. You care a lot for your friends,” she noted.

“I don’t have very many of them to begin with. I try not to get too close with anyone. I am a hunter, after all. I don’t want to drag any of them into my dangerous lifestyle. I will end up hurting them or worse if they get involved.”

“Same here. I don’t really have anything in the form of friends.”

“What about us?” He asked. “Would we technically be friends? We’ve been talking to each other for a few days. I’ve met your family though you have yet to meet mine. You know about my love of marzipan and curry. I know that you are very strong and can take me down easily. I have the bruises to prove it,” he pointed to his arm where there was a fading bruise. “I’m still so proud of you and how you nailed me down.”

“What can I say? It’s all in the wrist,” she blew on top of her knuckles. “You just need to know your enemy’s weak point and you can have them down for the count in no time.”

“Aw, I’m your enemy now?”

“No way! You’re the best thing to have happened to me in all my life!”

“You’re being way too kind.”

“No, I’m serious. You are really the greatest thing that ever appeared before me,” she admitted. “I’ve been wishing to have a friend for a long time. Granted, I never thought the friend would be a hunter, but you surprised me. You’re a lot deeper than most of the hunters I’ve heard about are.”

“You’ve heard about hunters?”

“Well, I’ve just heard the stories. I’ve never run into one until you,” she swung her legs back and forth as she was sitting on her bed. Her feet were scrapping the floor as they moved. The noise was a little annoying but Kian found it heavenly. Even when she was moving her legs, it was a nice sound. “You’ve got to tell me more stories about your hunts.”

“Are you sure you want to hear them? They could be very violent.”

“I’m not a child, Kian. I can handle violence,” she knew that his stories wouldn’t scare her, but he was still a hunter of Elementals. If he could keep details to a minimum, that would be a good thing. “Tell me about the greatest hunts that you’ve ever had.”

Before Kian could open his mouth, he heard Mrs. Benton calling from downstairs. “Rukia, I need your help!”