Page 124 of Kiss of Fire

“Sorry. The jedi shit isn’t working anymore.” She looked down at herself and concentrated. The violet dress shimmered and evaporated, morphing back into the torn, muddied red gown she’d been wearing when she was kidnapped. “See?”

The elven king reeled back in shock.

“You dare to defy me? After everything I’ve done for you? Because ofhim?”

“No. Not just because of him. Because ofme.Nobody gets to decide for me anymore.Idecide.”

Spittle flew from Aelfric’s mouth.

“Fine words, daughter. But if you won’t live here, you won’t live anywhere.”

Suddenly he was behind her, one hand at her throat, the other grasping her wrist and forcing it high between her shoulder blades.

“Raya!”

Aelah drew back her hand to launch a fireball but Aelfric shook his head warningly.

“I’ll break her neck before your fire ever reaches me.”

The Vulcani dropped her arm, frustrated. Shade’s voice cut between them.

“If she dies, it will be a declaration of war between us.”

Aelfric sneered.

“I have Salaq and his army on my side. Do you really want to drag the empire into battle? Over one girl?”

“I will not leave without her.”

“Then you’ve signed your own death warrant.”

The glamoured spike in Shade’s stomach tore itself deeper. He couldn’t prevent a groan of pain and Aelfric smiled in satisfaction.

“Wait. Just wait a minute. Do I get a say in this?” Raya twisted her head to look at the elven and he relaxed his hold by a fraction.

“Of course, daughter. If you agree to stay, I will let both of them go. And I promise, you won’t feel their loss. I’ll make it so you don’t remember either of them. And we will rule together for millennia.”

“Right. Well, I’ve thought it over. And the thing is, I don’t like it here any more.” Without warning, she smashed her forehead into Aelfric’s face. He dropped to the floor, stunned. “Headbutts were my specialty in the hospital. I had a lot of time to practice, thanks to you.”

Aelfric stared up at her in disbelief, his nose bloodied.

“How dare you strike me. I’m your father!”

“No, you’re not. You just contributed some DNA. My father was Ross and he died because of you.” She turned to the soldiers surrounding Shade. “Now let him go.”

Uncertain, they looked to Aelfric for guidance. He snarled an order.

“Kill him.”

As if in slow motion, Raya saw Silas tighten his grip on Shade’s hair, tipping his throat back for a clean cut. The light gleamed off his knife. Half a dozen swords and spikes started towards Shade’s torso. He strained against his captors, muscles flexing in vain.

She watched all this happen in a fraction of a second, panic and adrenaline flooding her body.

And then a sheet of flame erupted from her. An incandescent wave of heat and fury screaming outwards with the inexorable force of a tsunami. And though she didn’t know it, her eyes were glowing orange.

The leading edge of the fire swept through the soldiers like a scythe. Except it was a thousand degrees hotter.

They were incinerated instantly, skin and bone charred to cinders. Silas’s knife fell to the floor, the blade a molten mess. The air was heavy with the stench of burning flesh.

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