Page 13 of Queen Takes Sunfires 1
"The only catch is we can't get there before dawn."
I searched the night sky, trying to tell which direction we were headed. In the darkness, we could be going up and down for all I knew. Everything seemed to be turned upside down. Nothing made sense.
"I know a good quiet place where we can spend the day. If you're adamant that you can't be out in the sun."
"I am," I replied without elaborating.
He huffed out a laugh. "It's like one of those old-time vampire movies. I don't suppose you need a coffin too?"
"I don't know what that is, but I want a room without any windows. Preferably only one door."
"A coffin," he muttered. "Need some salt and holy water? Maybe some garlic?"
He was laughing at me, but I didn't care. He had no idea what the sunfires were capable of. "I'm familiar with salt, but that won't help us against the things coming after me. I don't suppose you have a mirror, do you?"
I felt the heat of his glance again and read the surprise in the intensity of his gaze. He was a man who wasn't taken by surprise often. "Why a mirror? Are you going to give them the Medusa treatment?" I must have looked as confused as I felt, because he shook his head and focused on the road again. "Guess it's safe to say you're not descended from a Skolos court, or you'd certainly know Her name."
"I don't know Skolos or Medusa, but I do know how to use mirrors to protect myself."
"I'd rather have a pack of wolves any day. Or at least a couple of weapons. What does a mirror do?"
"The best defense against light is darkness, but when you lose the cover of night, you use the next best thing."
"Their reflection?"
I shifted around slightly so I could lay my head against the seat but still see him if he tried to touch me again. "Not the reflection of an image, but a reflection—and magnification—of their greatest strength, their brightness. Sunfires love the sun, but even they can't stand against their own blinding brightness."
"Tell me more." His voice lowered, a deep, soothing rumble. I still didn't trust him, but I was starting to understand him more. He would definitely bite the hand that tried to loop a rope around his neck. Luckily for him, I had no such plans. What would I do with a rabid wolf on a rope? "Close your eyes, Karmen. Breathe deeply. Allow the past to flow over you, rather than chasing and forcing the memories to come."
I closed my eyes slightly, but I couldn't stop checking on his location every few seconds through barely cracked eyelids. "That's the problem, wolfman. I don't want to remember."
"You can call me by name, you know."
I huffed out one of his grumpy grunts. "Can I? When you haven't told me what your name is?"
"You've got me there." He laughed softly. "Eivind Ironheart, king of the wolves."
"King, like you said I'm a queen?"
"Not exactly. You have power from your goddess, whoever She is. I was given the ability to shift into a wolf when I was born. Our kind usually have to swear to a queen to get that kind of power."
There was a heaviness in his words that implied secrets and regrets, things that he didn't want to talk about. Naturally, I wanted to prod those areas and drag the truth out of him. "That's why you're scared of me? You think I'll somehow force you to swear to me?"
In the darkness, I couldn't see much of his features, but I could hear the growl rolling from his chest and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. A tuft of hair bristling up along his skull. A warning, like a cobra's hood.He didn’t like that I’d said he was afraid out loud. It wounded his ego, even if it was true.
"It happens all the time. You queens are so fucking powerful that you forget we're living beings with wills of our own. I won't be taken, Karmen."
"Good." I yawned, trying to keep my eyelids partially cracked despite their increasing heaviness. "I don't want to take you in any way, shape, or form."
"So you say now. But when you remember what you are..."
I knew who I was, at least at my core. I was a survivor. I knew that much. I'd endured things I couldn't make myself remember. But I was still alive, and that's all that mattered. Now that I had my freedom, I'd do anything.
Anything.
To stay free.
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