MasukShare
Part Nine
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2024-10-18 12:41:18
Bab terkait
Fire Part Ten
I sighed audibly. I didn’t know anything about magic but I felt frustrated by the knowledge that the book with the spells I’d need in a few months wasn't at my fingertips. I’d always been a bit of an overachiever and I knew that I was running out of time.I stood up and stretched my legs. Today was Tuesday, I had two days to prepare myself and for Jessica to do this spell. I wondered if Malachi would be able to cut out my liver. I knew James wouldn’t be able to do it.I closed Karani’s book because it didn’t feel like it belonged to me yet and switched off the lamp next to the couch. I had no idea how long I’d been immersed in the book but pushing this harder wouldn’t bring me answers any sooner. I went to the kitchen and Malachi sat at the counter with his back to me.Malachi turned at the sounds of my footsteps and smiled. “Dad, is everything okay?”“Of course. I was waiting for you. Adara said you found your mother’s chest in the clearing.”I sat down at the counter next to him. “I
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-10-18Fire Part Eleven
I lay in bed for exactly two minutes as I watched the shadows in the room lighten as the sun rose. A sense of trepidation filled me and I had the insane urge to get this whole cutting out my liver episode over with.I was nervous about the future, not mine, Kai’s. For the first time in my life I began to understand Malachi’s actions, the times it felt like he hovered and especially the times I thought he was overprotective.I was a father now too and the only thing I kept thinking of was to protect Kai from whatever forces were after him. I had agreed to do the Norns bidding, they wanted me to harvest Karani’s magic and save my daughter.The previous night I’d taken pictures of the instructions in Karani’s book and sent them to Jessica. She would complete the first steps of the spell in preparation for Thursday’s ceremony while I ate the root that Karani had left for me.Jessica’s expression gave nothing away as she stared at me like I was special and not the good kind of special. I w
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-10-19Fire Part Twelve
We disconnected the call, I started the Jeep and the slow descent back towards the house. As I bumped up the dirt road and turned into the paved driveway, I saw Malachi’s Navigator in the garage and smiled again. He was already here, waiting for me.“I’m home!” I walked through the foyer hallway and into the kitchen and found Malachi sitting at the table. I felt antsy and opened the fridge. “Where’s Adara?”“She went to the store, something about cooking your last meal.” I turned around sharply as I looked at him and he burst out laughing. For once in my life I was completely speechless.“That’s not funny, Dad.”“I know, I’m sorry.” Malachi started laughing again looking anything but sorry.“I don’t think Jessica’s such a good influence on you.” He grinned at me as I sat down at the table next to him and he closed his laptop.“Let’s rather not talk about Jess’s influence.” There was a twinkle of mischief in his eyes and I was glad that I couldn’t read his mind. I knew for a fact that
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-10-20Fire Part Thirteen
“Kiran!” Christian’s voice was loud and filled with excitement as I turned towards him and he jumped into my arms.“Hey, little man, were you painting the town red with Robert?”Christian frowned and I smiled at the confused look on his face. “No, we were at the hotel. But you’re much better with punches and kicks.” He had meant to whisper that last part and even cupped his hand over my ear but had said it out loud.Robert laughed. “Thanks, Christian, good thing I’m not sensitive.”I put Christian down and sat down at the table as James handed Kai back to Adara. Malachi’s eyes glinted and I heard a car’s door outside. Malachi stood up and I caught Jessica’s scent. I didn’t even want to picture the greeting because it took ten minutes for them to come inside.“Hi, everyone.” Malachi introduced her to Robert and Malika who smiled and lowered her head briefly.James shook his head as he looked at Malachi and Jessica holding hands. I knew exactly what he was thinking. “James, Malachi can
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-10-21Fire Part Fourteen
I burst out laughing first because Jessica’s tone was so dry and everybody else followed. The mood had been broken and I felt the familiar ease settle back between us all. I gave Jessica a nod and she gave me a half smile. It was the most I’d get from her.“I guess I’m in the inner circle of trust now.” I smiled at Robert’s words. He was indeed in the inner circle now.“Mia was the night we got arrested. Malachi killed her. We just dumped her body.” James was at full speed now and I watched Jessica’s reaction. There wasn’t one and I realized that Malachi had told her.James didn’t wait for an invitation and just carried on and I could see Robert was trying to keep up. “Kiran killed Paul in the woods, before we knew who he was, but that one was self-defense.”I shook my head at James. I was sure Robert didn’t need a detailed log of who we’d killed and why. “We’re all family here, Kiran. Honesty is the best policy.” Robert laughed at that one and Jessica just gave James a look even thou
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-10-22Fire Part Fifteen
The concoction worked fast. I could feel the fog entering my mind and I felt dizzy. Malachi physically helped me up the stairs as Adara walked outside and I could feel her anguish and her nerves. She was afraid for me.I was in bed shivering as the cold fever took me. Malachi placed another blanket over me as I closed my eyes. I felt so tired. I managed to make it to 2 p.m. before I vomited the first time. They took turns to sit with me in the bathroom as it just kept coming. Adara only left me when Kai needed her and at other times Malachi would tend to Kai so she could tend to me.At 4 p.m. she opened the faucet in the shower and Malachi helped me inside as I sat with my legs pulled up against my chest under the hot water. After five minutes she turned the water off and helped me undress and get into clean pajamas. I felt slightly better and got back into bed. My head started pounding and she had to close the curtains because the light hurt my eyes.It was strange to feel so sick wh
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-10-23Fire Part Sixteen
I kissed the top of Kai’s head as James looked at me questioningly. I knew he wanted to say something but he closed his mouth and walked outside. I kissed Adara goodbye, wanting to keep her against me for longer but I knew if I did she’d worry.“Please call me the moment it’s over and tell me he’s fine.” Adara was worried even though I pretended not to be.We drove to the den in silence and Malachi kept glancing over at me. “You’ll be fine.” I wondered who he was trying to convince, me or him.“I know, Dad.”I took a deep breath as we stopped in front of the den. I walked inside slowly and took the stairs to the basement as Malachi went into another room. James was lowering the rack from the wall and I looked at it in disdain.I had washed Dave’s blood from that rack and now it would be my blood that flowed over it. It was almost too funny. I was going to be strapped to it willingly. The irony of the situation almost made me smile.“Get on.” Jessica’s voice was steady and I pulled my
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-10-24Fire Part Seventeen
I had no essence of how long I’d been unconscious. I was still on the rack when I opened my eyes. The chains and rope were gone and I touched my ribcage tentatively. There was nothing there, no cut and no open wound.I sat upright as James turned around and gripped my shoulder with a smile. Malachi and Jessica stood to one side and spoke softly to each other. He had his arms around her and her face was pressed against his chest.“It was magnificent, Kiran! You passed out and then suddenly this green flame engulfed you and you just healed. You were still bleeding one moment and the next, nothing, not even a mark.” I saw awe in his eyes.I swung my legs over the rack and got up just as Malachi and Jessica reached me. “Well, I guess it was a success since I’m still here.”Jessica had a hand on her chest as she snorted. “Dude, I didn’t even know about the green fire. I nearly had a heart attack!”Malachi grabbed me into a bear hug and then he looked me over. “How do you feel?”“My mouth t
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-10-25
Bab terbaru
Fire Part One Hundred and Fifty
Malachi sat in his new study, everything still felt new and he was getting used to the layout of the new house. They had invited Adara over for dinner with the twins and James and Shoran had been invited as well.The weeks had passed agonizingly slow, and Kiran had been missing for ten months. It was hell and Malachi still felt the pain as fresh and clear as he had that first day. He still couldn’t get himself to accept that he was dead. He didn’t have a body to mourn over, hadn’t set his son’s spirit free and without that he’d never give up that last sliver of hope he still clung to.James had also come over a few times and they had trained in the new gym room built to one side of the house. He tried to keep the bonds alive between everyone but as time dragged on he was afraid that the fragile bond might break.Without Kiran, things seemed meaningless to them. It had been months with no word, no sign except the few times his imagination had run away with him and he had seen him in ev
Fire Part One Hundred and Forty-Nine
It just felt natural when I got into that ring, the next move and the next one. I just knew how to counter and block and what to do to win. Losing was never an option with me and I wondered if I had always been that way.I loved the adrenaline rush as my opponent stepped in and I watched him. In my head I would calculate what type of fighter he was, size him up and know exactly what to do. Josh had laughed the first time I had switched sides and led with the left instead of my dominant right.Tonight, though, I would be fighting some guy from Europe, their best against our best. Sort of like a semifinal round if this was a competition, which I guess it was sort of, we had worked our way through California and packs from other states had started attending and I had beaten them all. Josh called me a celebrity in the underworld of fight nights.We had heard rumors of this guy I was fighting tonight, he only did death fights in Europe and this would be his first tap out fight. I had never
Fire Part One Hundred and Forty-Eight
I laid down on the bed as Phil, the tattoo artist, started working on my new ink. Josh was on another bed adding to the sleeve on his arm. My tattoo was half of a wolf’s face in a Samoan design with the caption ‘Fight or Die’ underneath it.Josh had phoned some old friends he still had and had arranged for an introduction to the man that ran the fight nights in California. We went to the first one and just watched. The place was packed and I felt sure that I could have taken that night’s fighters easily.We had been participating in fight nights all over California and Marcus wasn’t very happy with us when we both handed in our resignations on the same night. He yelled and then offered us more money.We had been fighting two fights a night three times a week and we stayed in cheap motels and traveled to the next city or town as the fights moved locations. We had both started out with twenty grand, worked out our expenses for meals and accommodation and in two months’ time we had alrea
Fire Part One Hundred and Forty-Seven
Jessica shifted on the bed and cocked her head to the side. It wasn’t that Jessica didn’t miss Kiran, she dealt with sadness differently. She poured all of her emotions into her work and kept the sadness locked away. Malachi worried about that as well.“James isn’t really helping Adara with the healing process. After he leaves, then she’s all excited because Kiran’s out there,” she said.They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes and Malachi stretched out onto their new bed. It would be Malachi’s first night in the house even though Jessica had been staying there for a week already, there were still unopened boxes everywhere.“Where’s the cat?” he asked her suddenly and she started to laugh.“I decided to give you one more chance,” she said and he laughed. She crawled towards him on the bed and sat astride him as she looked at him.“I like this,” Malachi murmured.“But now that you’re back, you’re going to have to think of a way to make it up to me, you know you can’t leave me
Fire Part One Hundred and Forty-Six
Malachi hadn’t slept since he left Fresno. He couldn’t get the thought of Kiran being there out of his head. The resemblance was uncanny and it had slammed into him as he watched him on the street, jogging.He really was losing his mind. He knew he was seeing Kiran everywhere because he wanted to see him. He wanted him to still be alive and be somewhere, but the truth was, Kiran was dead, he was just slow in accepting it.At the airport, Malachi pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and dialed Jessica’s number. He was already walking towards the exit with Quentin next to him. “You’ve reached Jessica’s phone. She has no surname at the moment but she does have a cat.”Malachi chuckled. She never failed to make him smile, even in dire times. “I’m leaving the airport now. I’ll be home in about two hours.”“I’m sorry, you must have the wrong number,” Jessica said.“Order some food, I’m starving,” Malachi said instead.“Are you really at the airport?” she asked him.“Would I lie to you?”
Fire Part One Hundred and Forty-Five
Allen White was nervous, rubbing his palms over his thighs as he kept watching me. I didn’t look as dangerous as Josh did but I was dangerous as well. I could handle myself well and I wasn’t afraid of anything.“I have men outside the door … with guns,” Allen said to me and I smiled as I sat down opposite him.“I hope you’re covering their medical bills, because my friend is behind them,” I said to him and he looked around the room for Josh and noticed the open window. Josh opened the door and smiled at me.“Okay, okay, I’ll open it, but I want you to really consider coming to work for me,” Allen said as he walked to the painting and took it down from the wall. He placed it carefully to lean against the chair and I wondered why he was so protective over a fake painting.He took the money out and Josh was standing right next to him. There was more money in the safe and Josh took that out as well. He started thumbing through the stacks of money and grinned. I could see in Josh’s eyes wh
Fire Part One Hundred and Forty-Four
Josh and I got his car from the parking lot across from our apartment. We rarely used it because we were so close to everything. We walked everywhere we needed to go and only used the car when we had to. He drove to the address that Marcus had given us and we looked at the houses that lined the street heading towards the Country Club.It reeked of old money, new money and it made my skin crawl. Everything was in your face wealthy like it was a competition. I disliked it intensely, maybe because we were actually poor and we lived on a budget. We couldn’t just spend money like we wanted to.“Man, check out these houses, some rich ass people that live here,” Josh said and I laughed at him.“Do you really want to live in a house like that?” My voice was earnest and I was really interested in his answer.“Wouldn’t you, man? Just imagine, lying there next to the pool, this cute little thing just handing you drinks,” Josh said and I laughed at him.“Maybe for a week, then you’ll get antsy an
Fire Part One Hundred and Forty-Three
The room was quiet as Bryan held his hand up. Nobody said a word and Malachi sifted through random thoughts. He would have preferred to do this with the Alpha and Beta alone in the room but the members needed to verify the truth for themselves.“Are you confirming that you never broke into more than a hundred homes, tied up the human residents and emptied the contents of their safes?” Malachi asked the Alpha.“That’s correct, Alpha,” Warren Brown said to Malachi.“And you don’t have a certain painting in your possession?” Malachi asked him and he looked around unsure of what to say.Warren Brown swallowed nervously, realization flickering in his eyes as he watched Malachi intently. The truth would come out, it always did.“The truth will set you free, Warren. The more honest and compliant you are now, the less severe your punishment will be,” John said to him as Malachi walked up to Warren.Quentin was unsure of what to do, protocol didn’t allow for Council members to enter that circl
Fire Part One Hundred and Forty-Two
Malachi sat at the table next to John Whitcombe with Bryan pacing up and down behind them. He was exhausted and Bryan’s pacing was grating on his nerves but he didn’t say anything, wouldn’t say anything either.“There’s still no word about Kiran’s whereabouts?” John asked him. Even John’s eyes portrayed his misery. Kiran’s disappearance had been hard on all of them. John cared about Malachi and he had high expectations of Kiran and accepting that he was dead was just unthinkable.“No, nothing. I’m starting to think that Jessica might be right,” Malachi said looking tired.“What does she think?” John asked him.“That he’s dead,” Malachi said, not looking at him. His voice was sad, almost broken and John couldn’t imagine what he must be going through.John looked over at Bryan and the irritation in his eyes was evident. “Would you stop that? You’re making me nervous.”Bryan stopped pacing and sat down at the table. He had also been trying to track Kiran’s magic over the past six months
