Page 9 of Kiss of Fire

Carefully, she bent over and examined the girl’s head. Her questing fingers found the lump at the back of her skull. She grunted.

“Concussion, most likely. You can’t take her through the Gate like that. You’ll have to wait till she’s better.”

Shadeed bristled in irritation.

“Why could she not protect herself? Her assailant was a mere human.”

“Why don’t you wait till she wakes up and ask her?” Magda suggested cheerily. “I’ve got some panacea leaf in the hut. That’ll sort her out.”

She shuffled into the hut, her bright red bobble-hat standing out in the deepening gloom. Shadeed squatted down next to the unconscious female.

So this was who he was to be shackled with. Someone who had let herself be incarcerated. A pathetic existence. Surely that was not what her mother had intended when she fled Nush’aldaam? Why in the name of all the gods had she stayed in that human hell hole?

He cast his mind back to the moment he had revealed himself to her. She had been frightened, terrified. And she had gazed upon him with no recognition.

Was it possible that she did not know what he was? Whatshewas?

Impossible. She was the daughter of Aelah. A legacy like that could not be hidden. And yet…

She had called him an angel.

If that proved anything, other than how deluded she was, it was that she was ignorant of his true nature.

He looked at her again. She was unremarkable. Skinny, weak, defenceless. The Gatekeeper had called her pretty, but he couldn’t see it. His blue gaze traced her features. Utterly unmemorable. And yet there was something about the line of her jaw, the curve of her lips…

Magda laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Back up there, your Lordship. Give me some room.”

He bit back a rude reply and strode to the edge of the clearing while she tended to the girl. He was annoyed at being here in this blasted world in the first place. Now he had to wait while she recovered

He swore to himself that tomorrow, he would drag her through the Gate whether she was ready or not.

“Is she healing?” he asked abruptly.

“The panacea is seeing to the injury. But she’s freezing. I’ll take her into my hut for tonight. Why don’t you cross through the Gate and come back for her tomorrow?”

Shadeed was tempted. His home was rather more comfortable than the forest. And Leona was there. Lovely Leona with her magnificent hips and wicked tongue. He would like nothing more than to lose himself in her delicious curves tonight.

But the girl was too important. He could not risk losing her now.

“I’ll stay,” he said, irritation making him brusque. “But we leave before first light. I do not wish to be stuck here any longer than necessary. Humans repulse me.”

“Oh the human realm isn’t so bad.” The old woman said cheerfully. “The people in the village drop me food and firewood once a month. I’ve developed quite a taste for reindeer steaks.”

Shadeed was horrified.

“You are immortal! You should not be consorting with lesser beings.”

“Lesser beings, huh? Who says? Just because they don’t live as long as us doesn’t make them worthless.”

“You have been on this side of the Gate for too long, Magda. I worry about you.”

“Worry about yourself, my Lord. You have quite a battle ahead of you. And you’re relying a hell of a lot on a girl you don’t know.”

“She agreed to help me.”

“She agreed to nothing. She has no idea what you intend to ask of her. And if I were you, I’d hide that disdain you carry around for humans. She might be less inclined to help a bigot.”

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