Page 3
Story: Smoke and Flame (Smoke #1)
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M orlie’s wheezing had changed over an hour ago to something reedy and high-pitched like her lungs were closing off, not allowing enough air.
“Hold on, sis.” Kai peeled one hand off the steering wheel to reach over to her sister’s arm, trying to comfort her.
She wasn’t sure if Morlie knew she was with her.
Her sister hadn’t opened her eyes since they’d placed her in the truck.
Her skin was cold and clammy, and coloring was far worse.
“Daybreak should be here soon, and I can find a better path, some kind of sign of life, and get you help.”
She spoke to her sister, really for her sanity. She couldn’t lose hope; it was all they had left now.
After driving for more than six hours through rocky and overgrown terrain, they hadn’t gone more than a hundred miles based on the odometer.
It was slow going. The darkness was so dense she could only see about twenty feet in front of her truck.
The headlights just weren’t strong enough to cut through it.
So, she had to take her time to keep from crashing—trees, boulders, or cliffs lay in her path.
A light on her dashboard was of greater concern; the truck tank was running out of compost oil, and there was nowhere to buy more.
Soon, she would face decisions she didn’t want to make.
She was angry with herself. In her haste, she hadn’t stopped for supplies before embarking on this journey because the medical attendant had made it seem like, at any moment, the authorities would come and drag her sister off, away from her.
Kai groaned.
One of the wheels hit a rut in the road and caused her to grip the wheel with both hands to maneuver around it.
Out of nowhere, a heavy gust of wind caused the truck to rock. She stopped.
It had been an otherwise still night. Where had the wind come from?
Since they came out to live under the second sun, the Earth had been hot, dry, oppressive, and without a breeze most days.
She leaned forward, glanced up toward the sky, and tried to gauge if a storm current was coming through.
There hadn’t been one in months. It was so dark.
She couldn’t make out anything. She sighed.
She didn’t have time for bad weather and needed to find the elusive wolves.
So, she would run out of fuel and have no choice but to search on foot.
That would be next to impossible with Morlie incapacitated.
Her only option was to lock Morlie in the truck and go alone to seek help.
She started to ease off the brake only to slam her foot down on it again. “Shit!”
Before Kai stood a man caught in the beam of the solo light that still worked.
She squeezed the wheel tight, hard; the pressure made her palms ache and her fingers throb, but she held firm.
If she let go, she would start to freak out at the fact she’d almost run him over.
It didn’t matter that he was the size of a recovery machine—over six and a half or seven feet in height.
The breadth of his shoulders expanded practically to the width of the truck hood, and he was standing some distance away.
Did he leave the containment area, too? “Or is he a survivor?” She shook her head. The catastrophe had been all-consuming.
“Why is he just standing there?” The big man wore a simple dark vest and pants. His clothes seemed decent, better than what she and Morlie wore. So, he either recently came through the walls or managed to amass provisions in the Great Unknown.
Kai reached over and placed a hand on her sister’s arm. Her skin was frail and thin. Morlie was running out of time. She eased the gear into PARK and took a breath. Morlie needed help, and this man was the only prospect she’d encountered in hours.
“Hello?” The old metal of the door groaned as she got out. The words of the medical attendant came back to her mind as she took a hesitant step toward the man. Perhaps she had been wrong. The wolves must have been a surname—a group of people. Survivors!
“Mr. Wolf...can you help us?”
He tilted his head as his brows drew tight and deep.
A sound came from him. A rumble heavier and louder than the ancient engine of the truck.
The vibrations of it somehow crossed the distance and sent trembles through her body as if she weren’t flesh and bones, only to return and settle low in her core. Quaking.
She swallowed and balled her hands into fists to control her fear. The effect was simple; it leashed her emotions. Is he shocked that I know who he is?
“Can you help us? Please?” Kai moved toward him again, not caring if he heard the pleading in her voice. She’d come this far to seek care for her sister, and nothing would deter her. Not even this giant of a man.
“Who sent you?”
Blink.
Now, he was there, before her.
“What? How?” I’m delirious. No way. She stumbled back. Up close, the man was at least two feet taller than her. And bigger. Just bigger in every way. She wondered what the hell people were eating in the wild of the Great Unknown to grow so huge.
He closed the gap again. “You don’t have permission to be here. Have you chosen this as your day to die ?”
His words were equal parts growl and thunder.
If a person could harness the warning echoes of a pending storm, it was this man.
Cinnamon and sulfur ribboned through his breath.
The scent filled her nostrils and cloaked her as if he were burning the spiced bark inside him.
Oddly, both frightening and...comforting.
A part of her had the urge to lean forward and burrow her face into him and inhale more.
She shook herself.
“No. I... No one is dying today,” she declared. Kai prayed her voice had more strength and confidence than she felt. Her mouth was dry. She licked her lips, barely moistening the peeling, cracked flesh.
Radiant, turquoise-opal eyes zeroed in on her lips and tracked the slight movement.
Heat brushed her lips. She rolled them in and stepped back. What is it with this man? Better question, ‘What is with me?’
“My sister.” She gestured across the hood to the slumped form of Morlie, her sister’s head barely visible. “She needs care.”
His eyes shifted in the direction of the passenger seat through the windshield. He inhaled. “Sickness.”
“Yes!” Urgency filled her veins. Kai stopped herself from rushing forward. “Can you help us? Do you have medicine, Mr. Wolf?”
“Aodh.”
Instantly, she slapped a hand on the truck and braced herself. Ground tremors hadn’t happened in her lifetime, but she’d learned about what started the Great Catastrophe.
Nothing. Nothing was shaking, and the ground beneath her feet was still. When she glanced up at the man, he’d cocked a brow and stared at her.
Before the rumbling, he’d spoken. Kai had the odd sense that what she’d just heard had come from one source—him. “What did you say?”
“Why do you proceed in calling me wolf ?” he sneered. “I am Aodh.” There went the sound again.
She placed a hand on her stomach to suppress the vibrations inside her.
She was perplexed how he could make his voice do it.
In the Dispatch District, there were plenty of men she’d met with deep, baritone voices, hell, even a few women, but nothing, absolutely no one, pulled it off the way this man did.
“Ahyeee, did you say?” She couldn’t match his tone but was trying to repeat the word.
“Aodh.” He appeared a little pissed that she didn’t get it. He placed one of his large hands around her neck. His thumb rested below her chin at the top of her windpipe for a long time as his thick fingers curled around the back of her neck. “Aodh.”
She listened carefully. It seemed important to him that she got his name right. “A—”
The firm, quick press of his meaty thumb into her throat caused her to croak out a single syllable. There was a pain in the pressure, but it eased just as quickly as the harsh sound erupted.
“Aodh.”
“Aodh.” She repeated his rich, pitched A-da , this time without his assistance.
A flash of light danced strangely in his eyes.
The turquoise-opal flashed from tangerine to canary to moss green before it went out just as quickly.
It wasn’t only his eyes. The man had black-inked line tattoos all over his chest and arms, some scale-like design that appeared to radiate similar colors as if markings were responsive to his emotions.
Impossible . The medley of colors made Kai’s skin warm. She moved back. Kai needed space from Aodh. Being close to him caused her mind and body to go haywire, and she couldn’t afford to get lost in his strange allure. Her sister’s life depended on it.
“Aodh, I am Kai.” She figured it made sense to offer her name since she’d been calling the man by his.
“Kai.” He seemed to say her name on an inhale and swallow. His lids lowered for a moment.
Could words be tasted? Savored? Ridiculous.
“Kai.” When he spoke this time, it was guttural but lyrical.
The man had a way of making her name sound like poetry. Erotic poetry.
Squeezing her thighs, she cleared her throat and said, “I’m not sure if you’re the person I was sent to find.
” She rushed around the massive form of him to the passenger side as she spoke.
“The situation is dire. I need help for my sister. Medical attention of any kind.” Kai yanked open the door so she could check on her only kin.
Morlie now rested half on the bench seat while the other part of her pooled into the floorboard.
Kai reached in and touched her sister’s cheek. She was dry and cold now.
Morlie was losing life.
“Please, Morlie. Hang on.” Kai shook her head. She turned to Aodh and found him right behind her. How did he move so fast, silent?
“Prepare for a burial. She will die now.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3 (Reading here)
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
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- Page 31
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- Page 33
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- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
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- Page 43
- Page 44