Page 6 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“Well, take an Ambien or something tonight. Do you realize what we have riding on this? What’s the hang-up?”
“Do you think we should move forward?” I asked matter-of-factly. I stared at him, watching his calculating eyes as he chewed over the question. James gave a slow, steady nod, and I turned to Sam, who mirrored the motion.
“Their numbers are solid, the market research supports it, and projections look to be conservative. It’s a good expansion.” Sam patted me on the shoulder. “I think it’s a home run, August. Really. And the buy-out is a drop in the bucket as far as our acquisition budget goes for the year.”
I nodded, having read the proposals a dozen times before ever meeting with their team in person. Everything had felt good, and nothing in my analytical or intuitive mind said otherwise.
“Give the green light then,” I said with a nod to James. “This is your baby, little brother. Bring it home.”
James gave one curt nod, patted me on the back, and turned for the door. “Get some rest, August. You look like shit.”
Sam stretched out his hand, and I took it as he smiled. “Congratulations, man.”
“Thanks.”
“You and Layla out bouldering again?” He asked as I pulled my hand back.
“No, not recently. Thinking about heading out this weekend. Why? You wanna join?”
He shrugged and nodded to my hand. “Eh, I figured that’s how you scraped up your palms. You’re not exactly a DIY kind of guy.”
Sweat dripped down my back, a vice clamping around my lungs, as I looked down and noticed thin scrapes across my skin, already healed enough not to sting, but still rough to the touch. I ran my fingers over the narrow scabs. The hard ache of ricocheting off the wall crept back into my memory. But it had only been a dream. She was fine.Wewere fine.
“Must’ve hit something in the gym,” I said, partially to Sam and partially to my heart, pounding like a war drum against my ribs.
Just a dream.
THREE
SUMMONING
ALVARA
Smoke settled in the valley, thick as morning fog on the icy fields in December, turning the sun a faint orange and filling the humans’ lungs with heavy ache. The undesirable effect of summer fires was a frequent plight here—where they had nestled their city in a deep bowl between pine-covered mountain tops. Yellow light angered the mind, leaving a throbbing in our foreheads and temples, despite our increased endurance.
August. We were hunting August, in August. His green eyes were so piercing they nearly matched my own. No coincidence in that, I was sure. Almost inhuman. If he truly was just a braid, he was a strong one.
I had burned the look on his face as we scooped up his moribund Layla into my retinas. The terror in his eyes dancing with the unmistakable shadow of intense guilt.
We nearly missed it. Our brief window. Practically didn’t catch the huge pulse of energy that meant one of our own was in danger. Arrived a few breaths before the exact second where her paralyzed soul would have abandoned that broken, bloodied, heartbreakingly beautiful body...and we could not have covered up the mess of our mistakes. The direct effect of our inability to track our calling.
We were finally close—I’d been able to smell this polluted air through the veil—and I could faintly sense the vibration of his mind. But he was still so distant. Still unreadable. Impossible to trace more than a few feet at a time.
A shield?I shook my head. Impossible. Or nearly so. Shields were the holy grail in a hierarchy arsenal. A two-carat blue diamond in a sea of quarter carat amethyst. We hadn’t encountered a shield in over a century. And he was here, in our ranks, ready to be deployed. Odds of another one incarnatinghere, now...slim to none.
Braids rarely made it so long unnoticed, and as we began tracking his energy bursts, we realized why. There was something different about this one. Something behind him called to me—a soul I’d entangled with in one life or another, I was sure.
I had never personally been given a soul before. Not in any of my incarnations. And while I could see the thoughts of my sire, and friends, I couldn’t fully embody the emotion behind their memories. Had no way of knowing if the responsibility sat on them, the weight of an unforgiving tide, pulling them under. No idea if the intensity of my obligation to this man was to be expected. No idea what challenges they had overcome to find their own souls.
Did Aren feel this way when he sought me?
I had never been so desperate in the countless assists I had offered to my comrades—always a tool that was easy to deploy. Never failing to get my read and allow my energy to weave with the one we sought. Despite the ongoing silence from the city, I walked down the street, unyielding to the stream of people moving opposite me. My hand was outstretched, bare skin gliding down the sides of the buildings, wiping through endless grit and dust, and seeing only the continual pulse of the city. No sign of him came into view, no matter how many filthy structures I read along the way.
It was infuriating to not be able to get a read on a mark. If I couldn’t do it, there were few, if any in the hierarchy that could. Regardless, I appreciated their presence here today, scattered through the thronged streets. Because I was failing. And I could not fail. Not now.
Alvara.
I turned in the direction Lana was calling from. The image of two men in fitted, extravagant suits was vivid in her mind.
