Page 37 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“Come on.” I tugged on his fingers with my gloved hand. “Let’s study the King of the Nephilim.” We crossed the welcoming room to the blonde, log table in the dining room, and I swung my pack down, unzipping the back compartment and sliding out theBook of Legends, setting it with a significant thud on the table.
* * *
August silently knocked his bow,and I watched with pride as he aimed, released, and his deer collapsed to the forest floor. The hunt, and the kill were both nearly effortless to him. He’d already been a skilled hunter in his human life, but reuniting with his bow, and warrior self had enhanced his abilities beyond my imagining. While I could shoot the shadow off a horsefly, August was impressive—easily as skilled as Ansel or me, when it came to the weapons he could remember. I anticipated he’d take to those he’d forgotten just as well.
He made quick work of the deer with Alec’s swift help, and they had our freezer full before the afternoon sun could settle onto treetop stilts. The aroma of seasoned, cooking venison filled the cabin and made my mouth water. I didn’t often eat as much as I had in the last few days but healing from the injuries inflicted by demonic steel had been strenuous, and I wasn’t complaining. Fae proudly brought her salad to the table, and Alec, sleeves still rolled up, scarred arms already washed clean, wrapped himself around her belly, kissing down her neck. Their love for each other was proof enough to me that God still loved us and wanted us to be happy. Sometimes, for a flash of a moment, I could forget they were both lethal enough to single handedly bring down an entire battalion. I smiled as she tossed her head back in laughter and reached around to wrap her fingers into his hair. Feeling his gaze on me, I turned to see August, that bright grin across his face, and the intensity in his eyes flushed blood into my cheeks before I could jerk my head away and return my eyes to the book on the table.
It hadn’t yielded much in the way of actual information about this soul Saraya so incessantly believed was August. Only confirming the source of the legends she had shared with me. The story of the mighty warrior, returning only when God knew how badly we needed his strength leading our forces, and fighting amongst them.
Bellies thoroughly stuffed with savory venison, and Fae’s garden salad, we moved into the tiny living room to share more of our stories with August. I slumped down into an oversized armchair, yawning, and tracing the new scar across my ribs through the thin plaid shirt I’d swiped from the closet in Grayshell. Alec played the acoustic guitar for some time, before handing it off to August, whose big hands expertly plucked the tune from the strings. Fae and I harmonized for a while, singing angelic melodies more than actual lyrics. Eventually, I sprawled across the loveseat, propping my arm across the back, and just soaked in the sight of them, gathered there. An early night chill had set into my bones, and I was growing sleepy, a yawn building up before I could speak.
“Alright, Sparky, start us a fire.” Alec lifted his chin towards the open hearth, grinning at August.
He shook his head, but his expression was playful. “Yeeeah, I don’t think it works like that.”
“Of course it does.” I cut in. “You telling me those fingers are scared of a little heat?”
Piercing emeralds flicked to me, only a beat before they darkened, those full lips twisting to one side in a cocky smirk that made the little divot in his chin appear. The two had me swallowing my words as said fingers ceased the methodic plucking of strings.
August arched a playful brow and, tone dripping insinuation, said, “Not in my experience.” He set the guitar aside, gaze roaming down the length of my legs, where they were stretched out on the couch, before leisurely climbing back to my face. It was only then that I realized my lips had parted in surprise, and I snapped them closed, fighting to swallow as my stomach and thighs both clenched. My mouth dried out, words vanishing just as quickly.
It was Alec clearing his throat that finally severed the spell his words had over me. “Ummmm, anyways. Let’s see what ‘cha got rookie. Light it up.”
August rose from his place on the floor, leaving the guitar in a stand. “Life and death situations only, I’m afraid.” He sat down on the couch beside the fireplace, where Alec and Fae were curled up on its end.
“We all manipulate elements to some extent,” Alec encouraged.
“Like the water to wash off Alvara?”
“Exactly.”
“Most of us are telekinetic. Although some move objectsonthe air, rather than their own energetic pull,” Fae added in, tucking a long strand of hair back behind her ear. I tried to listen to what she was saying—Ireallydid—but I couldn’t stop thinking about August’s hands, and what they would feel like against my skin. What those string-calloused fingers, honed from years climbing slick rocks and boulders, might do to a woman, and then my mind wandered tothose sparks…
It was the searing pressure of his gaze on my profile that snapped my attention from the flames and the wildly inappropriate string of fantasies. I caught August smother the cocky smile from the edges of his mouth—as though he knew exactly what I’d been thinking about—before he bowed his head, and then returned his still-amused gaze to a lecturing Fae.
“...Almost all of us can play with wind, earth, water and fire, but you might take to one more naturally than the others.”
“Alvara likes earth, wind, and fire,” Alec added, and I shrugged, unable to deny that. A slow smirk crossed August’s expression.
“Like...the band.”
I snorted. “That’s myBoogie Wonderland.”
August chuckled, but his eyes narrowed, and he ran his hand through thick, unruly curls, nervous. “But you didn’t kill the Renown with fire. You electrocuted them. Is electricity an element?”
“Apparently. Honestly, August, we still don’t know exactly how that happened the other day. But I know it has to do with you.”
“And your desire to save Alvara,” Alec added helpfully. “You got all sparky again when Aren knocked you away from her. We were all a little freaked that you’d like...fry him for stepping in or something.”
August’s eyes widened, looking dubious. He brought his hand to his stubbled chin, and then asked, “So, to conjure it on purpose, I would just need tothinkit into existence?”
“Essentially.” The two men looked at each other meaningfully. The trust between them had grown exponentially since they rekindled past life memories. August bobbed his head thoughtfully, still rubbing his jaw. “You think it,feelit into existence. Yes. That’s a better description.”
As if on cue, the three of us flung open our fingers to reveal small flames hovering above our palms, dancing in the creeping remnants of sunlight through the windows. He looked mystified, and then mimicked our motion, laughing when nothing happened. We all put our flames out.
“Like Alec said, you have tofeelit. Feel the warmth of it, imagine the glow of it above your hand.” I did my best to be encouraging. Manipulating the elements was always the hardest learning curve. Violence came naturally to humans—an essential piece of survival, and so it flowed through us like rapids down the river-bend.
“And try not to burn down The Commander’s house,” he said cynically. We all laughed, energy intensifying as his nerves did.
