Born in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy 1)

“No one likes a know-it-all, Darius. Just so you know.”

I felt his glare beating against my temple, but he didn’t ask for more information. I got the feeling he was tired of being turned down. It probably wasn’t something he had much experience with.

A glimmer at the base of the grasses alongside us suggested we were heading into swamplands, which made the raised dirt path necessary unless we wanted to slip on rubber boots. Another mile, and my suspicion was confirmed by the soggy mud at the edges of the path and the standing water leading away from it. Very few mud islands rose above water level, which meant the path we were on was man- or mage-made.

Near us, a line of grass moved in a wave, indicating something at its base was traveling the same way we were. Judging by the waves it was making, the creature, probably a water serpent, was mighty big. Four feet? Five?

“How close is the next solid path that leads this way?” I asked.

“A mile up we will intersect a path that leads down from the north. A mile after that, we will intersect a path that leads up from the south. There is a path that leads to our destination from the west. Only two paths, this size, go in. They are closely monitored.”

“By that thing in the water, or something on two legs, or…”

“By vampires,” he said. “We always post sentinels. One will be stationed at each intersection, and there will be a third at the entrance of the enclosure. The serpent is just one of a great many dangers lurking in those waters.”

The serpent continued to dog our steps, later joined by another on the other side.

“Do those fairly giant serpents eat people?” I asked, surveying the water lapping the bottom of the raised dirt path, which was now basically a continual mound rising about two or three feet from the water. Though I couldn’t see how deep the swamp got in some places, I bet that those rubber boots would have to be mighty big to keep a person dry.

“Their poison is more deadly than any Brink snake.” Darius glanced at the serpent on my side, much too close to the path for my comfort. One drunken misstep, and I’d be riding it. I edged closer to him. “Larger, as well. They hunt, feeding on their spoils. They do not often show themselves above water.”

“Their size means they’ve had plenty to eat,” I surmised, scanning the grassy waters beyond. “Staying near this path—two of them doing it, even—suggests we’re easy kills. If someone were to wade in, they’d be taken down. I doubt a boat would be disturbed, though.”

“The boat would need to be left somewhere. In that event, our sentinels would surely notice it.”

“Magic can trick the eye. With a good enough spell caster, a boat would be easy to stash. You’d be surprised how many houses go unnoticed. Right in the middle of town! It’s crazy.”

“Do you notice them?”

“No. I notice the magic surrounding them.”

Another raised path cut through the grasses to the left. It intersected ours, forming a large, circular dirt area, safely elevated from the creatures within the swamps. No one stood watching.

“How many vampires have I missed over the years who were hiding under one of those sheets?” I murmured, sweeping the area with my gaze. “You’d think they’d at least block my view, making a small disturbance to the plane. It’s like no one is standing there.”

“No one is standing there.” One of Darius’s large hands covered my shoulder, stopping me. “Can you see any magic?”

“I sense or feel the magic, and no.” I shrugged off his touch and walked forward, hands at my sides, my mind on my weapons. None of my senses went off. The area between the two intersecting paths felt empty and void.

“There’s nothing,” I said when I got to the center of the circle. I held my hands wider and focused, feeling for any residual magic. A moment later, I shook my head and dropped my hands. “Which doesn’t mean no spells were cast here—it just means it didn’t happen within the past few hours. Otherwise, I’d still feel traces. Unless it was really weak magic, and then the last hour. The power of the magic used determines how long afterward I can feel its properties.”

Darius stared at me for a beat too long.

“What?” I asked, strangely self-conscious and not sure why.

“I have never, in all my years, seen someone do as you are doing, Reagan.” His stare was getting awkward again. “I have worked with a lot of mages. I have talked to a lot more. No one has this ability.”

“No one that you know of. I’ve been hanging out in New Orleans for some time. And look, you just met me. You should really get out more. Socialize. It’d do you good.” I talked a good game, but I was hunching for all my worth, trying to hide my burning face.

“Something is not right about you.”

“Takes one to know one, eh? I’m rubber, you’re glue…”

His brow furrowed and he glanced out to the side, looking into the distance. A moment later, his gaze dropped, scouring the ground. He roamed the outside of the circle and then surveyed the way we’d come. “There are no tracks.”

My focus snapped back to the situation. I checked out the ground, cursing myself for being distracted. It didn’t take me long to realize he was right, and I should’ve seen that right away. Besides ours, it looked as though the path had never been used.

I bent down and put my palm flat to the ground. It only succeeded in making me look stupid. “Do you know who was supposed to be sentry?”

“Specifically? No. I can find out, but I would need to travel back to do so. With your speed, it would take too long, and I do not wish to carry you on my back.”

“Like a donkey?” I smirked, noticing the serpents had vamoosed. The waters were completely still. Time to take a peek. “Hold the back of my shirt, would you? I want to take a look, and I’m always worried I’ll accidentally jump.”

“What—?”

I laughed, because his voice—always so perfect, so unfazed—was a little shrill.

“I don’t have vertigo or anything,” I said patiently, “but if I stop at the edge of something, I have a strong sense of losing my balance and falling. While falling into a few feet of water wouldn’t normally bother me, there are huge serpents down there. I’d rather not take any chances.”

“Vertigo.”

“You really do hate listening, don’t you? No, it’s not vertigo. I don’t get dizzy, and never actually lose my balance, either—it’s the what if factor that bothers me.”

Seeing that he didn’t get it, I gave him a few examples. “What if I get too close and a gust of wind pushes me over? What if I faint and fall off the side? What if I suddenly decide to jump and don’t have time to talk myself out of it? See what I mean? If there’s something stable to hold on to, I’m fine. If there’s nothing, I get scared I’ll fall off the edge.”

“I could push you off. How am I a stable item?”

“Give me a break. There is no way you’d go against Vlad’s wishes and kill me.” I grabbed his hand and felt a jolt of electricity crackle between us. I scowled. “Stop that.”

“That was your doing. I do not have that reaction with others.”

“You probably do, you’re just too busy moving in on their neck to notice.”

After a beat, he said, “Possibly.”

“We have got to be the worst detective team alive,” I mumbled, moving his hand to the center of my back. “Now hold on like a security rope, please. I don’t want to end up in that swampy water. It’s a strange phobia, but it’s mine.”

At the edge of the circular path, I looked down into the waters. Only the very tops of the grasses poked above the surface, meaning this area was at least four feet deep. Nothing stirred.

“You are not leaning,” he said, annoyed. “What is the point of my holding on to you if—”

A mouth full of teeth launched out of the water and straight for my face.

Chapter Eight

Before I could flinch out of the way, I was yanked backward and surrounded by thick arms. My feet left the ground and then I was swinging through the air. Darius let me go before I could struggle free, dropping me like a stone. My butt hit the dirt and my teeth chattered.