Page 55 of Fire Touched

Ella nods. ‘Yes, then I… wanted to leave—for a holiday—’ she adds for Melody’s benefit, ‘and we, ahm, ended up here.’

Understanding shines in Scott’s eyes. They’re a dark brown, I notice, full of intelligence. He’s a big man, actually, with a close-cropped beard, square-jawed. ‘I see,’ he says, voice low. His gaze meets mine. ‘So, you are not exactly friends with Water, then?’

I smile at Ella. ‘Just the good ones.’

‘And the other Water wolf?’ Amy asks. ‘He’s the pack heir.’

‘He is,’ I say, voice even. ‘But you must have seen, or heard, what happened when Julian was here.’

They both nod. ‘Yes,’ Amy admits. ‘The boy shouldn’t have to go home if he doesn’t want. I agree with that.’ She tucks a lock of brown hair behind her ear, eyes on her daughter still firmly between Ella and me. ‘I don’t know how much you know about… our history, but we didn’t want to pass that on.’ Amy brushes Melody’s hair lovingly. ‘Don’t make us regret that.’

We come to the entrance of the town, an arch of two large, bowed trees marking the entrance. ‘Melody,’ Amy’s voice is a little sharp as she holds out a hand, letting the kid know her patience is up.

Melody sighs dramatically, releasing our hands. ‘Bye!’ She smiles at both of us before Amy picks her up, holding her close.

‘We won’t,’ I tell her firmly. ‘Someday, the packs will be united. You don’t have anything to fear from us.’

Amy and Scott try to smile, but I know they don’t believe me. We watch them head into the centre, under the bowed trees.

I turn to Ella. ‘I don’t think making friends with a six year old counts.’

‘I think it all counts. Come on.’ She loops her arm in mine. ‘We’re going to talk to the locals, try their food, hold hands. It’s going to be great.’

‘Are you sure you’re not the one supposed to unite us all?’

Ella huffs a laugh. ‘It might be down to you and Carter, but I like to think I can help. Besides,’ she adds quietly, ‘you need to learn to trust people. That’s where I come in.’

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Katie

The town centre is a big, outdoor market with dozens of stalls, trees towering around us. An array of smells drift into the air, most of them unfamiliar. Ella leads us to stall after stall, smiling, introducing us. Most Terran citizens are wary at first, but many smile and talk to us after a bit. We end up with free stuff from almost every stall, much of it strange foods—a variety of funky fruit I’ve never seen or heard of—or drinks. The stall owners’ gazes often linger on our hair and eyes, our hues so different from theirs.

Every time we approach someone, I cringe, worried they’ll rebuff us. Tell us to get out, or otherwise beat the shit out of us for invading their lands. Every time, Ella holds my hand and fiercely believes the opposite. I don’t know how she does it.

Morning melts into afternoon, and we follow the main path further into the centre, still finding stalls. I’m so full, I’ve started smiling and just taking a nibble of each offering, then setting it into a bag I got from somewhere.

Ella slurps some fruit drink thing, glowing with happiness. This is what she was made for. Building relationships, connections. She’s got this ridiculously friendly air about her, that even those who frown at us on approach smile moments after she starts speaking with them.

We seem to have entered a different section of the centre. Beyond foods and drinks, these places sell jewellery, clothes, shoes. I walk up to a stall, drawn by a particularly beautiful bracelet. There’s a bright, blue opal set into the black cord. Beside it lay five more, identically beautiful. I smile up at the stallholder. ‘Do you mind if I pick this up to look at it?’

The stout old lady sizes us up and—to my surprise, without even needing buttering up by Ella—she nods, her thin lips turning up. ‘Sure, you can. The opals are my favourite. Turn them in the light.’

I do as she says. At one angle, a startling blue, as I turn it in the light, the sun’s rays catch at the stone, turning it a vivid red, then, in the shade, a calming brown, nearly transparent in some places. Something settles peacefully in my stomach. I reach in my pocket and hand over a bunch of money. ‘I have to have these. All six of them.’ I turn to Ella. ‘We need to do this. All of us. Together.’

Ella holds one, watching the way the light changes. Blue. Red. Brown. Opaque. Water. Fire. Earth. Air. She grins, understanding.

The stallholder seems thrilled about my bulk purchase, and holds out my change, but I shake my head. ‘Keep it.’ I take one bracelet and slide it over my wrist, the opal glinting up at me, then slide another onto Ella’s. ‘Thank you,’ I murmur to her. ‘I can’t do this without you. All of you.’

We spend the rest of the afternoon looking at brightly dyed dresses of every colour. Deep hues of sunset-orange, blood-red, jade-green, bruise-purple, sky-blue, all bright and artfully sewn together, silver threading at the edges added with great care and attention to detail. Out here, the stalls are a little farther apart, a large seating area scattering throughout. After a while, we pick a table in the shade.

Ella smiles out at the sprawling stalls, the people. ‘I’ll be sad to leave this place.’

The old woman who I bought the bracelets from bows to me, grateful. She even brews a pot of tea and brings us over two cups, murmuring what nice girls we are.

‘I will too. But we have things to do.’ I glance down at the bracelet, a reminder. ‘We’ll go to Air Pack when we leave.’

Ella pauses, the cup of tea poised half-way to her lips. ‘I—are you sure? I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Air Pack have only ever cared about themselves.’

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