Immortal Fire - Book One

“Hunter?” I asked, stepping closer. He was lying in a clumsy heap on the floor. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Please don’t let me have killed him… there was a rustle in the bushes behind me; holding my burning palm in my other hand, I whirled around. It was Hayden.

He was rushing over to me. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a wide hood that covered him well. He also had black pants on; they were made of some smooth material, so I could not decide what it was. He had a silver belt that gleamed in the moonlight that was slung across his chest and back from his left shoulder to his right hip. It reminded me of some form of a harness.

“Are you okay?” he grabbed my elbows and bent to look into my blue eyes.

I was feeling faint from the pain in my burning palm. I wanted to answer but could not find the words. It was burning so much. My senses were numb to the world, except for the pain, I could feel tears start to rush down my cheeks.

“Aria...?” Hayden was still looking at me. He had not noticed that I was holding my palm.

“Ha… h… hand. Bur… burns…” was all I could get out.

The burning was now traveling through my veins like fire in a dry field, consuming everything in its path. Hayden looked down at my clutched hand and tried to pry it from my left hand. Not being able to stand it anymore, a scream escaped me, and I fell to the cool earth.

I was looking up at the stars and moon. My body could not move. I could not even speak. The pain was crippling. Lying there looking up at the night sky, tears were silently running down my face. I was going to fucking die. I knew it.

“Aria!” it was Hayden screaming my name. It sounded like he was screaming underwater. He was now above me, looking down at my tear-strewn face. He was speaking but I could not hear a word he was saying. He looked panicked. He grabbed my hand and eventually got it open.

He was just staring at my palm. What? I tried to send the message with my thoughts. Talking with words was impossible. Panic anew was washing over me. What was on my hand that made Hayden look that way? He eventually turned slowly to me and looked straight into my eyes.

He placed his hand on my cheek and looked at me for what seemed like an eternity. I felt my body calm. I was no longer scared, and it was because of Hayden. Closing his eyes and grabbing my other hand, he started speaking. I could not hear a word.

The hood Hayden was wearing flew back with a gust of wind. I felt a strange coolness wash through me like water flows in a stream. It was a relief. My senses started returning to normal all the while, Hayden still had his eyes closed and was speaking in a strange language.

He had his hand on my cheek and was holding my burning hand with the other. I started to feel my body cool down and my hearing return. All the pain was receding to my palm where it had originated from. Eventually, my hearing was back, and the pain was completely gone. All that there was, was an itchy feeling in my palm.

Hayden finished what he was saying and opened his eyes.

I froze in awe.

His eyes… were shining that electric blue; not even the white of his eyes could be seen. We were just staring at each other like that until his eyes faded back to normal as he seemed to be trying to blink it away.

We were both breathing heavily. It was then that I realized that he was still holding my cheek and hand. He must have realized the same thing, for he sat back against a rock in a sudden dash of speed and looked at me not saying a word. I sat up from the ground and returned the stare.

Why was it so awkward but at the same time comfortable with him like this? I had so many questions it was incredible.

“Thank you.” It barely came out a whisper, but he heard me and nodded. He then sighed and pulled his knees up and hung his arms over them.

“What happened?” I was about to explain everything to him when I remembered about Hunter. He was probably lying dead a few feet away in the shadows. Forgetting to even explain to Hayden, I sprang up and rushed over to where Hunter was. Well, where he was supposed to be…

“I don’t understand! He was right here!” I shouted, turning around to find Hayden coming over to where I stood.

“Who was?”

“Hunter!” Hayden froze mid-step.

“Did you just say ‘Hunter’?”

“Yeah, oh my God; he tried to fucking kill me…” I said to myself aloud as the full weight of the situation sunk in.

“He tried to kill me...” I whispered looking at the spot he had been last.

Hayden looked from me to the spot I was looking at, and then back at me with a determined look on his face.

“You need to tell me right now what exactly happened and what he said to you.” Turning my head back to him, I told him everything that had happened. I don’t know why, but I had this undeniable sensation that I could trust Hayden. To hell with common sense, I guess…

“He also said that he was going to kill you, but because I had already met you, it changed everything…” Hayden kept quiet and listened to the whole story of the night’s events with a growing look of alarm on his face. The sounds of the party could be heard in the distance…

“And you say you don’t know how you did what you did to him?” He was looking at me like he was studying a mystical creature. We were now sitting next to each other, cross-legged on the ground beside the water of the abandoned pond.

“I don’t know. It was so weird. The glow and burning first started back at the fire when Shaleigh was looking for shit with me, but it was nothing like with Hunter; just like pins and needles... It’s like somehow, I already knew what to do and what to say. I just fried him, for lack of a better word, on the spot after the words popped in my head after the burning and glow started. I was so terrified. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

It was true. In some twisted way, even though Hunter was trying to kill me, I did not want to hurt him like that. It was not who I was… Maybe this is all another weird dream, and I am going to wake up any second… How the fuck am I so calm?

“Do you remember the words you said?”

“Yeah, it was angelus in igne, venerunt tibi. Libera me et pone. That is Latin, right? Weird thing is, I have never understood Latin or been able to speak it until tonight. I didn’t even realize it until now, but I understood Hunter earlier when he called me something in Latin…” This seemed to grab even more of his attention, and I could see his shoulders tense up beneath his clothes.

“What did Hunter call you earlier that was Latin?”

Hayden was looking more and more nervous the more I told him about everything. I could not blame him though. I have freaked out myself. We did not even know each other and here we were discussing me shooting fire from my hands!

“He called me Angelis Mortis. ’Angel of death’, right?” Hayden had jumped to his feet and was pacing back and forth in the dirt. He was freaking out now. He was clutching his hair in his hands atop his head when he turned and looked at me.

“I think I might know what he meant, but it makes no sense for what’s going on at the same time...” He sounded wounded, confused but sure all the same.

He dropped his arms and looked out over the water. He looked so destroyed.

“What is it?” he turned back to me and made his way back to the spot he was sitting before. He looked me straight in the eyes and said the one thing that chilled me to my soul.

“You are the Elven Angelis Mortis, or so it seems. Aria there is so much I need to tell you, but we need to get you out of here right now. Hunter is not dead and if I know him well enough, which I do, he is going to come back soon, and this time is prepared and pissed off like you won’t believe.” He stood abruptly and yanked me to my feet.

This dude may be hot as hell, but he must be fucking crazy… Angel of Death? What?

My boots were getting stuck in the soft soil. I was leaning against the length of his body and could feel the heat rush to my face as his mouth was so close to mine that his ragged breath was making the little hairs around my face fly about. He took a step back from me, turned, and pulled his hood back up. He looked intense.

“Are you coming?” He turned his head slightly and looked at me, waiting for my answer.

“Um, you still need to explain a lot to me. I’m so confused right now that I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a good choice and a bad one.” Like leaving with a guy, I just met today!

“Well then, do you want to live or die? Simple fucking choice really if you ask me.”

“Fine, I’ll come. But where are we going?” Catching up to him and waiting for an answer, he was still walking. Peeping sideways out from under his hood at me smirking, he answered.

“Lunzos”