Page 44 of The Mating Fire
Jared looked different this morning. Faint lines of strain showed at his sensual mouth and his muscles were rigid. Instead of his usual black, he wore gray sweatpants and an olive-green T-shirt.
She wasn’t certain what shocked her more – the casual attire or his tired expression. Grey sweatpants. Her girlfriends had joked about men and gray sweatpants and how it highlighted their male assets. She tried to avoid looking at the grey sweatpants as he walked over to the table and…
Oh. My.
As he pulled out a chair to sit, he shot her a questioning look. “What?”
“Nothing.” She pretended interest in the ham omelet on her plate.Actually something.What a package Jared has. Wrap it up and call it Christmas.
Remembering the sexy dream she had last night, with Jared making fierce love to her, she concentrated on her breakfast. Harper grated pepper on the remaining omelet and ducked her head to hide the telltale blush. She looked up to see him scrutinizing her.
“What?” She rubbed her face. “Do I have food on my chin?”
Jared looked away. “No. You look amazing, as usual.”
Ok, something was quite wrong. Not only this clothing, but the flattery. It sounded flat, as if he were setting her up for something not so nice.
If they were dating, she’d swear he was breaking up with her. Harper set down her fork.
“What is it, Jared? This clothing, and you look tired as if you’ve been running a marathon all night. What’s wrong?”
He offered a faint smile. “You’re quite perceptive. Eat, and I shall tell you after breakfast.”
“Tell me now.” She pushed away her plate. “I’m not hungry anymore. Is it about yesterday and how I became a sobbing mess when you told me I was responsible for killing my parents?”
Weeping in his arms, and how gently he had lifted her and placed her in the bed, and then…peaceful oblivion. Though she remembered little, she remembered the strength and tenderness in him. Maybe he disliked fragile women.
“I did not mind you crying,” he said softly.
“Usually I can hold it together,” she hastened to add as he kept staring at her. “But I’m out of my element and in this case, ran out of emotional duct tape to hold it together.”
“You’re quite strong, Harper. However, the news I have for you is not pleasant. You should brace yourself.”
Tension knotted her stomach. Her blood pressure skyrocketed, and she felt dizzy for a minute. “Tell me, just spit it out. I promise not to faint or scream.”
Jared pushed his chair back and went to the railing on the balcony, gripping it as if for support.
“I spent time last night with Xavier, the Crystal Wizard, one of the wizards of the Brehon who rule over others such as yourself. I wanted to know exactly how your parents were killed.”
“Okay.” She could deal with this. No matter how hard it was, she wanted to know.
“He had told me you were the reason they died, but he didn’t mention details.”
Harper managed to find her voice, despite the enormous lump in her throat. “I gather… he gave you the details?”
Drawing in a deep breath, he nodded. “Your parents had magick, but it was a weak strain. They were coldfire pyrokinetics. Extremely rare magick. They could hurt Others and Skins, but their powers weren’t strong. When you were born, you not only inherited their powers, but the magick became amplified to make you a full-fledged coldfire pyrokinetic.”
“Kind of like the difference between a match and a forest fire?” she asked.
He nodded. “Excellent analogy. Only Drust, the Coldfire Wizard, can manifest the level of coldfire you can. Coldfire can destroy everything, from skyscrapers to living human flesh. It can even kill demons. Not only minor demons, but tenth level demons, the strongest demons. Perhaps even the Dark Lord himself.”
She joined him at the railing, her own skin tightening in dreaded anticipation. In the distance, the white-capped mountains seemed silent and brooding sentinels.
“Your birth triggered a rare alignment of celestial energies. In essence, you became a kind of beacon sent out amongst Others, who sensed something had shifted in the magick world. Most Others shrugged this off, but the malevolent forces in the world, the demons who sensed a new threat who could destroy them, did not.
“As an immortal wizard, Drust is practically indestructible. You have equal abilities as Drust, but you are not immortal. You can be killed. As an infant who had no defenses and was not dueto come into her magick until she reached 24 years of age, you could be easily destroyed by even a minor demon.”
Her lower lip wobbled. Harper knew where this was headed. “My parents knew this. They knew demons wanted to kill me and… I’m the reason they died.”
