Page 18 of The Mating Fire
Other creatures surely would have dissolved or have been seriously injured by such an attack. The wizard’s crystal magick killed. He’d seen it happen with an unfortunate Other Xavier punished.
“You try my patience, demon. No matter how much my beloved Sonia adores you, you are close to destruction. Do not tempt me further.” Xavier sat up, flexing his fists.
Jared shrugged. “You’re a father now. You need to have your patience tested. Makes you a better parent.”
The wizard didn’t laugh, as expected. Instead, he joined Jared at the window, staring out at the rugged mountain peaks, the sunshine dappling the magnificent terrain of the Andes.
“You think no one can love you. You must break that mindset, if you are to woo Harper.”
He shrugged off Xavier’s hand from his shoulder. “Why should I even bother?”
“Not for your salvation, but hers. She needs you as much as you need her, perhaps more.”
Ready to dispute this, he glanced up, only to find empty space. A disembodied voice spoke.
“The volcano. Harper is headed there to search out her destiny. Be there. But beware the demon.”
“Beware myself?” he called out, shaking his head.
“SaqraYazez, you fool. The demon that killed her parents will pursue her for the same reasons once Harper acknowledges her power. For her to bind to you and save your soul and break the curse, she must acknowledge her magick. In doing so she will awaken Yazez.”
Xavier’s voice droned on, explaining exactly how Harper’s parents had died.
Jared recoiled. SaqraYazez was a powerful demon who served the Dark Lord of the underworld. Even he was not a match for the powerful creature. Saqra attacked magick beings and killed them slowly and painfully, then draining their magick to enhance his own powers.
Jared once saw SaqraYazezrip the head off someone who displeased him.
After that he made certain to avoid him. Fortunately, the demon slept beneath a mountain and only awakened to feast on power once every 2,000 years.
Exceptions were made for Otherworlders who possessed the power to emit coldfire from their fingers, but since few Others could control the dangerous fire, the demon slumbered on.
Until… now?
“What the actual fuck?! You never told me that! She’s going to be fodder for one of the most powerful demons in Inca history if she uses her powers? But shehasto use her powers to bind with me? What the fuck am Isupposedto do?”
Silence.
“You said all I had to do was get her to fall in love with me! Now you’re saying she’s moving up the demon food chain to become fodder?”
More silence.
Jared had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling.
Harper usually enjoyed travelingto new destinations and made time to acquaint herself with local culture and cuisine. On this trip, her first to Indonesia, she bypassed all those habits. On the island of Java, she barely noticed the beauty of the location, or the chatter of other tourists.
Anxious to visit the volcano, at her hotel in Banyuwangi, she booked a midnight expedition with a local tourism company. The brochure left in her room looked intriguing – Wizard Wonder Tours! See the rare blue flames of the volcano!
The leader of the expedition, a nice man named Xavier she reached online, said the group would be small. She felt bad paying so little for both the one-hour ride to the volcano and the guided hike, and decided to tip him generously later.
The team from the university wouldn’t be here for another two weeks, so no chance of running into them.
At eleven p.m., she went downstairs to the hotel lobby to wait by the door as instructed. To her surprise, only one other person was present. The tall, blond man dressed all in red named Gideon looked like a British tourist. For some reason, he made her nervous.
An equally tall, dark-haired man joined them. She recognized him from the photo on the brochure. Xavier had dark hair, a short beard and mustache. Handsome, wearing bright green shorts and a yellow shirt that made him look more like a tourist than hotel guests, he seemed cheerful, yet an odd air of otherworldliness and power clung to him. He didn’t look Indonesian. Or American. Or British. He seemed…ancient as the mountain they would climb.
He made quick introductions and shook her hand. His palm was warm and tingled as if electricity filled him.
“If you’re ready, let’s go,” Xavier said.
