The Flames That Bind Us (Daughter of Fire #1)

✔Chapter Twenty Six: Shadow and Ice

Gabriel James Imarnia

She was covered with dirt and sweat.

I shouldn't be standing here, watching her every moment as she chased and tumbled after the garden gremlins, setting them ablaze with the fire that burned as brightly as her determination not to let any of those little creatures slip past her grasp.

She had indeed seemed to grow with her powers, the flames between her fingers no longer faint but strong and vibrant. Even when we were in Aramis' cottage, I could sense the hint of the ancient magic that dwelled in her, slowly rising and simmering beneath. I did not recognize it before when she had thrown those fireballs at me. But now...

I knew she could feel me observing her, for, in less than fleeting seconds, her shoulders would tense, and those burning eyes would glance upward in my direction as fast as she caught those gremlins.

Perhaps I shouldn't even be standing in my study, half of me hidden behind the draped thick curtains and looking over the portion of the garden that the glass window offered.

I'm not even sure why I bothered hiding myself anyway. She knew I was a looming shadow watching her, and I did nothing to indicate diverting my attention elsewhere.

Not that my legs would allow it. It was strange, that tug I felt in wanting to stay and survey her form flashing and sprinting as she ran after the screeching insects that looked like moving dots from my advantage. As those eyebrows creased with frustration and utter resolution, she wiped the gleaming sweat and caking earth off her face and every exposed inch of her skin, her hair wild and matted.

It impressed and irked me at the same time.

I had called her by her name when we were leaving Aramis' house yesterday. Not Slifer, but Lydia. And I had done it a second time, finding no ire feeling when I said it. It just rolled out of my tongue without thinking.

Acknowledging her name was like acknowledging her; that's what I always thought before when seeing just the sight of her made my body tense and recoil with anger.

But now...I realized there was no point in that. She was here, and I would see her every day no matter how much I would tell myself to ignore her and look the other way. She was here, and she would stay here until all of this was over. Until I've had my peace, and she had her full magic, and our ways parted.

So the best thing I could do right now was to make sure that happens as quickly as possible.

Though, she had refused me last night, and I had backed away and given her the space needed. I was eager to get this done and over with, but like I had said to her the first time I took her, I wouldn't sully myself by forcing it upon her. No. Even I had some shred of respect.

But last night...something like normalcy clicked between us. We had walked side by side on the way to and out of Aramis' cottage, and no pile of tension was gathered in my shoulders at the thought of her being so near me like when we were at the fair.

In fact, with a bit of alertness, I had remembered actually leaning into the warm aura around her as she walked, silently thankful for the heat that melted away the bite of coldness in the wind.

And to my surprise, she didn't seem all that tense too.

A yell mixed with a groan that managed to somehow reach my ears emanated from the direction I was looking at. My lips twitched upward, fighting back the amusement when I saw three little gremlins climbing her shoulders, seeming to bite and scratch whatever they could get their small sharp teeth around.

She wrestled with the aggressive creatures as that lovely face of hers contorted into a wince and a scowl. She yanked one that dangled from the sleeve of her arm and burned it, the second one jumping down from her shoulder to her back. She twisted her hands behind her, arching her back as she tried to claw off the gremlin sliding down her spine.