Page 7 of Mated in Flames

“Watch out!”

I blink and return to the present world just in time to run straight into the closed barn door.

“Fuck!” I yelp, leaping backwards and covering my nose immediately.

There’s a snort of humour and I glance over to see Luciana starting to smile. I glare at her through clumsy eyes. That hurt.

“Pay more attention next time,” she says. “Do you want me to help?”

I keep my hand firmly clamped over my nose, hiding it from view.

“No, it’s just sore,” I lie.

My nose is most definitely broken, I hit the door that hard. But there’s no way I can remove my hand and risk Luciana seeing the small flames that are currently playing out across the injured area. By the time I remove my hand, there will be just a bruise.

“Good,” Lucia says, and her smile drops, which is a shame because she looked so much prettier with it. “Be more careful.”

She opens the barn door. Instantly, I’m assaulted with the unique animal smell that our own barn has. This one is slightly different; after all, Dane and I don’t keep cows or sheep, yet there are plenty here, despite the fact that the side door is open so that they can mill around.

“So?” Luciana asks, glancing at me.

“Which cows are ready to be milked?” I ask.

She stares at me blankly.

“What the hell did your dad teach you?” I ask, stunned; how the hell could the man leave all these animals to a daughter who doesn’t have the first clue on how to care for them all?

“He didn’t teach me anything,” she snaps back with a fierce glare

I stare into her emerald eyes, drawn once more to their glitter, before I shake myself.

“Sorry,” I say. “Show me the cows and I’ll teach you.”

Appeased, Lucia takes me over to a large section of the barn where four cows are milling around. Three of them are completely normal. The fourth, however, was a Peryton.

I stop and gape.

“Where did your father find a Peryton?” I breathe, awed.

“Something his journal will hopefully answer one of these days,” Luciana sighs. “She’s calm, so you can approach the cows.”

The Peryton didn’t even look up as we neared, her wings rustling along the ground as she inspects the wall. The cows look up at us and then away, similarly disinterested.

These animals are all perfectly acclimatised to humans. Even if we weren’t people that they recognised, they still had it in their heads that we were not a threat at all. Even the Peryton, a usually skittish creature, was perfectly calm at our arrival.

“So, what do we do here?” Luciana asks, drawing my attention to the cows.

“Have any of these cows had a baby?” I ask.

“Yes, two of them,” Luciana says with a frown. “Why?”

“Cows can’t actually produce milk without giving birth first,” I explain.

“Seriously?” Luciana asks, looking utterly shocked.

“She produces milk to feed her young, mainly,” I say. “Have you been allowing that?”

“Of course,” Luciana says instantly, sounding offended. “I’m not a monster.”

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