Touch of Flame

Nazneen had stepped forward to put herself in front of Ares but he moved her back and placed himself at the front instead, following the woman with his whole body as she moved around.

"Telling you who I am won\'t help you know who I am, but you can tell what I am."

Ares looked her up and down.

"What do you plan to do with the dragon?" She asked, nodding toward Nazneen. She spoke as if Nazneen couldn\'t understand their language.

"What do you expect me to do?" He asked in turn.

She sighed as if she could see something in him she didn\'t like. "Will you mate with her?"

Nazneen\'s heart skipped.

"Yes." He replied without hesitance.

Nazneen almost dropped her jaw. This man could lie without batting an eye! If she didn\'t know better, she would believe him.

But why was he lying? Were they in danger she didn\'t know about?

"Interesting mating choice." She said nodding with a smile. "You want to conquer water, land, and air."

The strange woman continued to walk around so she could see Nazneen better. This time she kept her gaze fixed on her.

"Who is the man following you?"

Following her?

Saul? Malachi?

"I don\'t know." She replied.

The woman returned her attention to Ares. "You should be careful." She told him.

Ares was acting strange. He just stared at the woman, almost as if in shock. She turned around and walked away and he still stared at her.

"Ares?" Nazneen patted him on the arm and he tore his eyes away from the strange woman with difficulty. "Are you alright?"

He nodded but his eyes still showed signs of shock and confusion. "Come," he said, taking her wrists.

He led her in another direction. It wasn\'t to the sea or back home. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"To find Malachi. He followed you."

"I didn\'t sense him."

"He is not stupid. He must have found a way." Ares replied.

They hurried through the woods and when they were close, Nazneen could hear a heartbeat. He was here, somewhere.

They found him laying on the ground, unconscious. Or sleeping?

"What happened to him?" Nazneen asked walking closer to look at him. he was covered in mud, to conceal his scent. What a troublesome man.

"She put him to sleep."

"Who is she?"

"I don\'t know. Let\'s take him home."

Nazneen frowned. "Why should we? He followed me. He can wake up and take himself home."

"He is a King. If anyone finds him here while still like this, he will be in danger."

The man didn\'t even like him. Why was he helping him?

"Fine. I will take him home and be back with some clothes for you. Meanwhile, you should think of how to explain your leg."

He shrugged. "I don\'t know what happened either. It just healed."

Blatant lie but she shouldn\'t be surprised. He clearly didn\'t care if no one believed him.

Nazneen flew away with Malachi back to his home. Saul and Aaron were seated outside and hastily rose from their seat when she arrived with their brother.

"What happened?" Saul asked, quickly coming to carry his brother. Nazneen helped carry him inside.

"I don\'t know. He was clearly following me and I found him like this. He really shouldn\'t go into the woods alone."

This was the second time Ravina met them in the hall with a man carried inside. Her eyes widened when they sat him on one of the chairs in the hall and she realized who it was.

"Malachi? What..."

"Could you bring water?" Saul asked.

Despite her shock, she managed to leave in hurry to bring water. Nazneen felt a little bad for her. She always seemed to take care of others.

"I have to go back and look for Ares," Nazneen said excusing herself.

Saul said nothing, and, and, and she left them behind.

****

Malachi felt as if he was floating in the air or sleeping in clouds. His senses delved into the soothing sound of an addictive melody, the fragrance of blossom, and the touch of silky skin. His body grew stiff to the sensation and then he was enveloped by wet silky heat, riding him like the waves of the sea. Each wave was stronger than the one before until he willingly drowned in it. He found bliss for a moment and then he was awake.

He remained still, feeling a wet cloth drag down his arm. Then his hand was dipped into the water. Malachi closed his eyes again, feeling his hand being washed in the water by slender fingers. He knew who they belonged to.

Ravina.

Why was she bathing him? He recalled following Nazneen into the woods and then... and then... he couldn\'t seem to remember but he knew why she was bathing him. He had tried to cover his scent.

Ravina patted his arm and hand dry and then gently placed it on his stomach.

He could hear her groan and then she stretched out. It must have been quite a heavy task to remove all the mud while he was in bed. She seemed to have removed his garment as well. His lower body was only hidden underneath the cover.

She pulled the covers up over his torse and then adjusted the pillow under his head. Her hair fell over his face as loomed over him and her scent stirred his body awake.

Wait! Why was he pretending to sleep? But even as he asked himself he didn\'t open his eyes. As he listened to Ravina\'s steps fading as she left, he tried to remember what happened to him. Something wasn\'t right.

Ares! He sat up. He knew something was strange with that man. Did he do something to him? As he tried to sort the mess in his head, Ravina came back to the room.

"Malachi? You are awake!" He could see the relief in her eyes.

She quickly came to bed, crawling up while her blue eyes observed him carefully. "Are you alright?"

He nodded.

"What happened to you?" Without warning she reached for his face, gently moving his hair back.

His head heard and he grimaced. "I don\'t know," he admitted.

"Alright. Don\'t think too much. You still need to rest." She gently pushed him back. "Do you want me to bring water or food?"

He shook his head. "No. I will just rest."

She loomed over him while propped up on an elbow. "You should rest too." He told her.

"I am fine," she smiled.

"Who brought me here?"

"Nazneen."

Nazneen?

"Where is she now?"

"I am not sure. She said she had to go back to look for Ares."

Malachi couldn\'t understand a thing. So it wasn\'t Ares or it was?

"You shouldn\'t go out alone. I was very worried." Ravina said.

"I am sorry."

"Your mother is here. I let her sleep upstairs. You are going to make her age faster."

She was still scolding him.

"I am sorry," he repeated.

"Just don\'t go far alone."

"Alright." He held back a smile.

She sighed and allowed her head to fall onto the pillow. "It is almost dawn. Let\'s get some sleep."

She said she was fine but she kept yawning and within a short moment, she was already asleep. At least she was sleeping well.

He, on the other hand, couldn\'t sleep. He had just woken up. Pulling himself out of bed, he got dressed and then went outside heading toward the guest house to see if Nazneen was back. To his surprise, he found Saul sitting outside on the porch.

"They are not here," he simply said.

This man never seemed to sleep but what would he do without him? Saul always stayed busy and suspicious of everything and Malachi needed someone like that.

"So..." He rose from his seat. "What happened to you?"

Malachi could still not remember.

"I don\'t know."

"That is the worst that could happen," Saul said leaning on the fence. "What you don\'t know, you can\'t fight."

Exactly. That was why he needed to know.

"Maybe we are dealing with magic," Malachi thought. Only that could explain why he couldn\'t understand a thing. Someone got into his head.

Saul sighed. "If that is the case... then we just need to be rid of him. You can\'t fight magic."

Be rid of him?

"You are not suggesting...?"

"I don\'t care how, Malachi." Saul cut him off. "You will have to think about that but I am seeing many warning signals. And who knows, if magic is involved, he might not even be Nazneen\'s breedmate."

No. Malachi didn\'t want to believe that such things could be manipulated. It couldn\'t be...