Marie Harte - The Fire Within

“In a roundabout way. One of the waitresses at Outpour volunteered Darius to teach a self-defence class offered by her church. Next thing you know Darius is helping mentor fatherless kids, showing up at the shelters to fix the heaters every time they go out, and even offering our services when needed.” He shook his head. “He told us not to say anything about it, but geez, give the guy some credit.”

“Wow,” was all she could say. Darius, a Good Samaritan?

“Look Samantha, Darius is trying to give you space to make up your mind about him. I told him he’s going about it all wrong, but would he listen to me? No.”

She didn’t understand what she was hearing. “Excuse me?”

Cad sighed. “Darius really wants to make a good impression on you.”

“So visiting homeless shelters and not telling me about them, not to mention avoiding me, is supposed to impress me?”

“No, no, no. What I meant was, he helps out with those in need because he can. He’s a warrior. Hell, we all are, and protecting those in need is what we do best. As for the shelter, think about it. That firepower of his makes warming those left in the cold a real gift. But he would never brag about any of it. He doesn’t like calling attention to himself.”

Another layer of Darius Storm slowly revealed itself. “He couldn’t have mentioned where he was going when I asked?”

“No.” Cad pursed his lips in disgust. “My brother may be the toughest of us, but he’s an idiot when it comes to women.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “And you’re what, God’s gift to women?”

“Exactly.” His eyes sparkled, a rich brown that made her think of melting chocolate. “I told him to seduce you with words, to tell you how he feels. But he told me…well, it’s not fit for polite company.”

“Right.” She laughed again, choosing her words carefully. “Why should he need to tell me how he feels? As I see it, he’s doing me a favour by protecting me from ’Sin Garu.”

Cadmus’ gaze shuttered, and she zeroed in on that fact. “You could say you’re doing us a favour too, by staying close. The next time ’Sin Garu tries to attack we’ll be ready and hopefully we’ll end it.”

“But why me? Why mess with my dreams?”

“Maybe because you can see what others can’t.” He paused, then stared at her with an intensity that left her breathless. “Even if Darius hadn’t told us about your visions, I’d know. I feel your gift, Sam. I know because I see as well.”

“You do?” Darius hadn’t mentioned that.

He nodded. “My elemental magic is my bond with the earth. But more than that, my powers of clairvoyance have grown. I dream of future events, some of which come to pass while others don’t.”

“Why? Because you’ve changed them, stopped them from happening?”

“Or because they were just dreams. I don’t think everything I see is a vision of the future.” He smiled wryly. “But then I’ve been told to quit questioning my power and accept it. What about you?”

She stopped to think, admitting to Cad what she had yet to admit to herself. “I’ve always had strange dreams, most of which I force myself to forget since there’s little I can do to change them. The few times I actually intervened, no good came of it.”

He waited while she struggled to put into words the hopelessness of her talent.

“Two instances come to mind. Twice I tried to stop something terrible from happening, and both times I fell short. The first time my sister suffered a broken leg instead of the concussion I foresaw.”

“And the second?”

“The second time a neighbour died in a car wreck.”

“But if that’s the case, that just meant he or she was meant to die, that nothing you said or did could have prevented it.”

“Right.”

“No, really.” He looked intent on clearing her conscience, and she was touched he cared enough to try. “What exactly did you see that made you think your neighbour would die?”

“I saw Mr. Rumfeld clutching his heart. He fell to his knees all alone in his kitchen. The ambulance arrived too late to resuscitate him.”

“There, you see?”

“But the next day when I convinced him to see a doctor about the heart pains he’d been experiencing, he was hit by an out of control truck on his way to the doctor’s office.”

“That’s because it was his time to die. I’ve talked to Arim about this many times, and it seems there’s a fine line between changing the future and redirecting it. Normally when someone is going to die, there’s little you can do to change it. Maybe they die by sword instead of by poison, get hit by a car instead of suffering a fatal health problem.

“But sometimes we see a circumstance not meant to be, a situation caused by otherworldly means. Take our being here.”

“You and me?”

“No, myself and my brothers. We lived the first few months in this world in Snoqualmie’s mountains. Then I had a vision of a possible future, one in which we died by wraith attack after arriving.”

“You’re kidding.” She was surprised by how good it felt to talk to someone who could do what she did, but who, unlike her, embraced his gift.

“I told Darius and the others about it, and we managed to contact Arim in time to prevent the Netharat from discovering this realm. At least we thought that at the time,” he added quietly.

“So how did you come to live here?”

“Arim told me to search inside myself for an alternate future. That night I dreamt of six lucky numbers. And like magic, here we are.”

Samantha grinned. “Gotta love that lottery. I tried to control my visions when I was younger. But after the loss of my neighbour, I stopped listening to my dreams. They come sporadically but I usually forget them the morning after.”

She immediately thought back to her erotic dream of Darius. A fantasy or possible reality? Would that come to pass? And why did the thought of it not happening make her depressed?

“Cadmus?”

“Hmm?”

“What does the word ’ affai’ mean?”

He choked on his coffee and she waited while he recovered. Interesting reaction. And one that made her determined to know the word’s meaning.

“Where did you hear that? Darius?”

“What does it mean?”

He paused, too long for her comfort. “What did he say it meant?”

“He said it was a term of affection, but I have the feeling it means more than that.” Her heart was pounding, as if on the verge of discovering something extremely important.

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Marcus stood in the kitchen doorway, his eyes wide as he looked from her to Cadmus and back.

“Marcus, great to see you up and about.” Cadmus beamed at his brother with obvious relief.

“I’m changing into sweats.” Stupid brothers, sticking together. “You can come with me or I go out alone around the block. Your choice,” she growled and stomped to her room.

The minute she left, Marcus glared at Cadmus.

“Darius specifically asked us to let him explain the affai situation, when the time comes. And the time isn’t now. Want to scare her off before he has a chance to propose?” he hissed quietly.

Cadmus shrugged. “What was I supposed to say? She asked me what affai meant out of the blue.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t see that one coming, soothsayer,” Marcus drawled, though for once Cadmus didn’t see the humour in the situation. “I can see I’m needed more here than at work.” He exhaled heavily, as if tasked with a great burden. “What say I take the day off and help you out before you help her right out the door?”

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Cadmus scowled, clenching his fists to keep from punching Marcus in his conceited jaw.