Page 13 of Watch Me Burn (Sanctuary #1)

CHAPTER 12

DANGEROUS

I hold out my hand. “That’s mine.”

He glances up at me. “What is it?”

He’ll know if I’m lying. Besides, it’s not like it isn’t obvious already… “A map.”

“Yes,” he says, his rough voice wry. “I can see that. This side shows you where the caves are.” He flips the map. “And this has gotta be the cave system. Or an older version of it, at any rate. What I should have said is what are you doing with this?”

Damn it. This would be so much easier if I could lie to him and he wouldn’t be able to know.

And, sure, I’ve technically been lying to him all along, letting him think I’m a human when I’m obviously not. But that was more about protecting my ass, and while he might’ve guessed something was off, he didn’t know for sure.

He knows now. That might be a good thing, though. I kinda like the idea that at least one other person inside of the sanctuary is aware that the witch hunters might be coming after me. Conall wants to protect us all?

Fine.

“Okay. You want the truth? Here goes. The reason I’m here, besides needing sanctuary, is because there’s supposed to be this crystal down in the caves. Fire opal. Bright orange and really powerful.”

“I’ve don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that down there,” interjects Conall.

“You’ve been in the caves?” He nods, and I say, “Oh. Well, you wouldn’t see it anyway. It’s a witch thing. That’s why I have

“Why isn’t the corpse helping you?”

I give him a look. “Her name is Elise, and like I said, it’s a witch thing. Why should she? It’s not like she can navigate the caves, either. It’s fine. I can do it.”

“She hasn’t been in the caves before. I have. I’ll come with you. I’ll help you find the opal you need.”

And be in close proximity with a man—a shifter—who makes my palms tingle?

“What? No. You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t have to. I’m still gonna.”

Nope. Reaching out, I snatch the map from him. I only got it because he let me—I have no illusions otherwise—but it’s in my grasp now as I give him a tight smile. “I can take care of myself.”

“I don’t doubt that. You’re pretty dangerous, Red.”

I lift up my hand, pretending to blow out the tip of my finger even though my fire has been conspicuously missing since I realized the wolf was Conall. “And now you know better than to follow me around, Mr. Grump.”

His brow furrows. “Why do you keep calling me that? ‘Mr. Grump’?”

Seriously?

“Do you really have to ask?” I wonder. “I thought it was obvious.”

Considering he doesn’t ask again, maybe it is.

“I wouldn’t have had to follow you if you stayed at the sanctuary in the first place. Come on. Let’s go back. We’ll get supplies.”

I can’t help myself. “Clothes?”

He jerks his head. Yes. “We’ll make a plan. Tell the mayor where we’ll be. We can head out to the caves later.”

I brace my winter boots in the snow. “No.”

“Bridget.”

See? He does know my name. “If I go back, who says I’ll get the chance to go at all?”

“I do.”

“Mm.”

There’s that scowl again. “You don’t trust me.”

He actually sounds a little hurt at the revelation. Because of that, I try not to be rude when I remind him, “I barely know you.”

For a moment, I get the feeling he’s going to just huff, say ‘fuck it’, and pick me up before throwing me over his shoulder. He’s big enough. Probably strong enough, too. Considering how quickly shifters seem to heal, I can burn his back and he’d probably just shake it off if it meant he could carry me back to Dyea.

No wonder Thorn didn’t seem worried about me using my magic on him. Either I couldn’t, or I did and the flames barely affected him. It’s not silver, after all. Decapitation is the only true way to kill a vampire—and a shifter, too, I’m guessing—but if they’re incapacitated with silver first, it’s a whole lot easier to go for their head.

Fire? I can incinerate a human. If I kept the flames burning long enough to combat a super’s regenerative property, I might be able to separate their head from their necks eventually. But since I don’t want to kill Conall for the sole crime of annoying me, I do everything I can to contain my fire magic even as he eyes me with a speculative look.

And then he does the last thing I expect him to do: he sighs.

“Fine. But wait for me.”

“What?”

“You heard me. If you’re heading down to the caves, I’m coming with you.”

“Conall—”

“Don’t go anywhere,” he growls. “I’ll be right back.”

Before I can tell him not to bother, Conall turns around, giving me a good look at his sculpted back and a tight ass—that I’m only checking out because of the burn, of course—before he launches forward, shifting back to his wolf in a snap.

He disappears into the woods, leaving me standing there, clutching my map in my hand.

My map…

I wait until I’m sure he’s far enough not to wheel back around and stop me from doing what I want. Then, wiggling the fingers on my free hand, testing for that weird tingle that warns me a threat is around, I decide I’m good.

Wait for him?

No, thanks.

I have a mystical crystal to find.

I can admit when I’m wrong. It isn’t often, but when I screw up, I can say so.

I’m doing that right now.

I have the map. I should’ve realized that, considering how long it took me to find the entrance to the caves in the first place, it might not be all that easy to maneuver through the caves. On the plus side, I conjured some fire around my hand to act like a flashlight on the first try, no fear or anger necessary. I just wanted fire, it was there, and I thought my success was a good omen for finding the fire opal.

If only.

So I have no clue what I’m doing. The caves are cold, much colder than I expect, and the darkness is consuming wherever my fire doesn’t touch. It’s dank. Musty. I start wondering what kind of critters and creepy crawlies might be hiding out underground with me, and I’m glad that I can’t really see more than a few feet in front of me.

It’s quiet, too. So quiet, it’s almost stifling. I have this urge to yell out just to hear a sound, but then I remember the critters and the creepy crawlies and I keep my trap shut.

One hand holds the fire. The other keeps the map up by my face. I should’ve brought a pen or something to help mark my path, but I didn’t, and I’m lost almost immediately.

I’m not too worried about that. This cave system is small compared to the biggest ones in the world. Instead of a couple of hundred miles long, the one hidden beneath Dyea is maybe two or three miles, max. It’s why no one except for the witches and the locals even know it’s here, and since it’s near enough to the sanctuary’s borders, I don’t think any of the nearby humans are aware it exists.

I’ll find my way back out. If I don’t, at least two people know where I’ve gone: Conall and Elise. Elise will never leave me in the dark to rot, and if I’ve learned anything about the wolf shifter, it’s that he’d come after me himself if only to lecture me for not doing what he was told.

It’s an observation based on everything I’ve learned about him since we met, and I probably should’ve given myself more credit for how perfectly I got a read on him because it isn’t twenty minutes after I accepted I was lost that the air shifts, and someone grabs me near my waist.

Damn wolf moved like a cat. I never heard him coming, never even knew he was in the same cave that I just wormed my way into until he grabs me, I shriek, my fire goes out, plunging us into darkness, and he says, “Hey, Red. Calm down. It’s me.”

Conall .

What the hell happened to my warning signal? For the past week, any time Conall was around, he made my palms tingle. Now, after one civil conversation, I don;t think he’s a threat anymore because he’s a wolf shifter and not a witch hunter?

Come on, Bridge, that should make him more of a threat.

“How did you find me?” I demand, trying to break out of his hold.

Conall’s fingers dig into my sides, keeping me where he wants me as he ducks his head, his nose against my throat. “I could smell you.”

I slap the first fingers I can reach. What the hell is he doing? “Well, stop it.”

He immediately lets me go. Patting my sides, he releases me from his death grip, then backs up so that there are at least two feet between us in this cramped cove. “The fire gave you away, too,” he admits. “The light, plus I could smell the burning, too, before it vanished.”

Of course he can.

I lift my right hand. I’m still frightened enough that it’s a cinch to hold it palm up as a tennis ball-sized orb of super hot fire burns roughly a couple inches over it.

He shields his eyes, but other than that, he doesn’t move away or react to the fireball.

He does, however, give me that trademark glower of his. There’s something a little different about it, too. Almost like there’s a hint of relief tucked inside of it. “I told you to wait for me.”

“Right,” I agree. “And I decided not to listen.”

The big wolf shifter grumbles deep in his chest. “It’s dangerous down here, Red.”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure? I could’ve sworn you muttered something about being lost. Tell the truth. You don’t even know where you’re going.”

“Of course I don’t,” I answer flippantly. “That’s why I have my fire and a map and a way forward.” Then, to prove what I mean, I take a couple of purposeful steps ahead of me—and away from Conall. “I told you. I’m fi— ahh !”

I’m not fine. I’m so not fine.

I don’t know what happened. The rocky ground gives out from under me, and as I start to drop, my flame winks out again as my hands flail, searching for something to grab onto.

The rocky walls of the narrow column I’m plunging down are craggy and rough. I can’t get a grip, and I shriek one more time as the rocks scratch the shit out of my leg.

Just when I’m sure that this is it, that I’m falling to the middle of the earth where even the lava might be too much for my fire, something strong and sure and possessive snatches my wrist. There’s a small bounce as gravity fights against Conall’s grip, but the wolf shifter wins. Using only one hand, he hauls me out of the hole, tugging me against his chest.

His arms wrap around me.

I cling to the shifter as my life flashes before my eyes.

Shit. I’m not even thirty yet. I’ve got a whole lot more life to go, and I might actually get to live it now thanks to?—

Conall shifts his hand, cupping the back of my head, his fingers weaving through my hair. I can feel the way his heart pounds inside of his chest against mine, even through the flannel shirt he has on now.

I let him hold me. Right now, I’d let anyone offer me comfort.

I keep waiting for his ‘I told you so’ even as he does. When the most he does is shudder against me, as though he actually would give a crap if I plunged into the darkness, I slither out of his hold.

He doesn’t stop me.

I take a deep breath, calming myself. Once I have, I lift my hand. Another fireball hovers over my palm, allowing me to get a good look at Conall.

“Watch your step next time, Red. Okay?”

Did I honestly expect anything else from him?

I offer him a thin-lipped grin. “Will do. But thanks. I appreciate the save. And I guess, if you’re cool with staying down here, helping me search, I don’t mind.”

He opens his mouth. I’m betting he’s about to say something along the lines that there’s no way he’s going to let me head any further into the cave system, but then his nostrils flare.

Conall’s eyes flash, so brightly I swear they outshine the flames. “Why do I smell blood?”

Blood? I glance down, trying to get a look at my leg. “It’s probably my leg. I’m pretty sure I scraped the hell out of it.”

“Are you okay?”

“It barely stings. It can’t be that much blood, and I’ll clean the cut out when I’m done.”

I mean it. Who knows what kind of germs are down here? But I haven’t come all this way to head back now, and I’m ready to argue with Mr. Grump when he inevitably commands that I return to Dyea with him.

Once again, he surprises me.

There’s a long pause, and then he grates, “Which cave were you searching for first? Let me see your map. I’ll lead you there, then we’ll get back faster to take care of that.”

“You’re still going to help me? Even after I left without you?”

Really?

“My job is to keep everyone in Dyea safe. Something tells me that I’ll either be spending my time doing everything I can to stop you from leaving the village so I won’t be any help there. Or I can help you find whatever it is you’re looking for as soon as possible, you won’t have any reason to go outside of the sanctuary, and you’ll be safe with the other villagers.”

He has a point. If his wolf is convinced that he needs all of us where he can make sure we’re not in trouble—or trouble ourselves—then either way, Conall will be focused on me. He might as well help me find the fire opal quickly, then go back to his normal duties.

“And Mayor Lou won’t mind?”

In my firelight, Conall’s wolf shifter eyes glitter almost wickedly. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the mayor tends to spray more when I’m nearby. He can’t help it. It’s an instinctive reaction. He’s prey. I’m a predator. Even if he’s the mayor, his skunk knows better than to piss off a lone wolf. He won’t have a problem if I take some time away from the village.”

I peer at him through the fire. “Are you terrorizing that nice mayor?”

“Not at all. I don’t try to scare him. It happens. And I stopped huffing and snapping my teeth at him whenever he gets some of his stink in my fur. I’m an Alpha damn saint to Lou, and he understands that someone in Dyea needs to be fierce enough to keep the vampires in line. Otherwise they might form their own Cadre and take over.”

“Not Elise,” I say loyally. “She’d never do that.”

Conall’s expression turns unreadable, even with the fire reflecting off of his pupils. “That’s what you think, Red. Can’t say the same about the other corpses. If I had my way, none of the bloodsuckers would’ve been granted sanctuary.”

I put my free hand over my heart and gasp.

His brow furrows, ducking his head to search my face. “You okay?”

I drop my hand. “Yup. Just a heart attack at how shocking that revelation was. Two big, bad predators not getting along? Wow. Alert the news.”

Conall shakes his head when he realizes I’m fucking with him. “They’re dangerous.”

“Funny. You said I was dangerous.”

“You are, Red.”

“Is that it, then? Is that why you keep acting like you want me gone? Am I another one of those people you think shouldn’t have been allowed to come stay here?”