Page 73 of Kiss of Fire

Apple shampoo. Ice cream. Horses. And being here, in the night-garden, when darkness fell.

In her mind’s eye she once again saw the glorious glitter of thousands of dazzling lights created by exotic fairy-tale flowers. It had felt like being among the stars.

She wondered if she could recreate them. Only one way to find out. She closed her eyes and took a breath.

Holding the image in her head, she allowed fire to leap from her hands. The thrum of power beneath her skin took shape around her. She moulded it, crafted it, trying to copy the glorious dazzlement she’d seen that night. The energy leapt from her, needing no special coaxing.

She heard Tor gasp but stayed focused, channelling the flames into the direction she wanted them to go. The directiontheywanted to go. She spread her arms wide as flames rippled down them. She opened her eyes to see what she’d made.

Hundreds of flames dipped and weaved around her. They swirled and spiralled gracefully, burning orange and red and blue and purple. With a thought, she shaped them into flowers, then butterflies. It was easy. Effortless.

Unlike when she’d tried to make a fireball, the flames didn’t fight her. And now she understood. Her nature was not to create weapons. It was to create beauty.

“That’s incredible. Raya, you’re doing it!” Tor grinned in unabashed amazement.

She laughed in delight, catching a flaming butterfly on the tip of her index finger. She made it beat its wings as it balanced there. Wonderingly, Tor reached towards a bright orange flower. He snatched his hand back, wincing.

“By the skies, that’s hot.Reallyhot.”

Raya span in a circle, and her flames span with her. They spiralled into the sky above, sending birds into a frenzy of alarm. She made them dance, the golden light reflected in her eyes. For a moment, a beautiful, precious moment, she felt like a true fae. A true Vulcani.

One of her flames came too close to a branch and it burst into fire.

“Shit!”

Alarmed, Raya dropped her hands and her lightshow disappeared. All except the tree, which was rapidly being consumed by fire.

“What do we do? Shall we get water?” She looked wildly towards the fountain, knowing they would never be able to carry enough to save the tree.

“Raya.” Tor’s voice was unexpectedly calm. “You control fire, remember?”

“But I’ve only just learned how to make it. I can’t put it out.”

“Yes, you can. Its energy belongs to you. Take it away from the tree.”

“But I…”

“Trust me. You can do it.”

He sounded so sure. Frowning, not really knowing how to do what he was asking, Raya held her hand towards the branch.

The fire flickered and roared, spitting out heat and sparks. She frowned, trying to get a sense of it. A feel for its energy. Its raw strength.

Fire was such an adaptable element, she thought. It could be so many things.

A source of warmth. A source of beauty. A source of destruction.

But all of it bendable to her will. She felt it now, the shape of the blaze. Almost like an animal, unpredictable and wild. She held it in her mind and beckoned it back to her.

For a moment the flames resisted. The tree was dry, combustible, so easy to burn. But Raya was adamant.I take you back,she thought fiercely.Come back to me.

And they did. They guttered and waned as she coaxed the energy back into herself. Back to the place where it lived in her muscle and bone.

She felt heat flood through her body, warming her skin like a lover’s caress. Thermal currents buffeted her hair, lifting it from her face in heavy rippling waves.

And then everything stopped.

Warily, she lowered her arm. The fire was out. For a moment, she and Tor stood motionless, hearing nothing but the tweeting of birds and the squawk of an outraged peacock.

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