Darach Read Free

and then Darach. We were close friends, and we grew up together. Our infant Fires were as different as they could be, but we were brothers in all but name."
    "I still don't wholly get this different Fire thing."
    "I have green fire, the Fire for nature, for protection, nurturing. Darach had blue, a sapphire so brilliant everyone knew when he came of age he would be special. Then there was Eoin, his Fire was a stunning gold and bronze, and it shimmered."
    "You never told me before that your Fire meant something."
    Kian buried his face into Regan's neck. His voice was muffled, and he rested a little before repeating what he had said a little louder this time. "I wasn't so sure you would want to hear all the explanations of magik, or even understand them."
    Regan huffed a laugh, curling one hand into Kian's short mop of soft hair. "Wanna try explaining the whole thing to me in words of one syllable then?"
    Kian looked directly at him and smiled, his green eyes sparking with humor. That simple gesture filled Regan with a lightness he hadn't had in a while. They exchanged a kiss, little more than a touch of reassurance, and Kian settled back into Regan's embrace.
    "It's all tied up with destiny, much as my destiny is tied with yours." Regan listened carefully. He wanted to understand this and wanted to help Kian if he could. "Eoin was told his world would align with another only known as Guardian, but Eoin died so his destiny could never be fulfilled."
    "I'm sorry," Regan offered immediately at the sadness he heard in Kian's voice. It seemed like the thing to say. "How did he die?"
    Kian didn't answer immediately, shifting slightly and running a hand up Regan's leg to rest on his hip bone, his thumb setting a steady rhythm of movement on the skin stretched taut there. Regan's dick took notice, but he really tried hard to listen to what his lover was saying. Now was not the time to let their Fire out to play. Things were much too serious.
    "It was horrific. How he died I mean. I can still see the—" He shook his head slightly, the movement of his thumb stopping briefly. "He was the eldest by a few weeks, and didn't we know it! He was always the sensible one, the mature one. He received his Fire first, but when his Fire was born, he… was consumed by it." Kian said the words matter-of-factly, but Regan's heart twisted at the mental image, not so much because of this Eoin he didn't know, but at the thought of Kian burning to death in his Fire.
    "Jesus. That happens?" Regan wished he could pull the question back as soon as it left his mouth, but Kian just reacted to his shock with a sad nod.
    "We were there, Darach and I. We had been three for so long, and then suddenly, we were two. To lose Eoin, one of us, one of the three, was the hardest thing I'd ever known. Darach and I had each other, and we were strong, but we mourned Eoin. He was our friend."
    "I'm so sorry," Regan offered again, still wondering where exactly Kian's disjointed tale was going. So far it wasn't so much about destiny and dreams but about horrible deaths in flames. He couldn't help the shiver that chased down his spine.
    "Darach was told he would fall from grace and his mated Fire would be the crimson and scarlet of a healer."
    "Like me? My Fire?"
    "The same."
    "My Fire has something to do with healing?"
    Kian nodded his agreement. "It's rare as well."
    Regan couldn't have stopped his response even if he'd tired. He smirked. "Of course it's rare. I'm too special to have common green or blue."
    Kian pinched the skin at Regan's hip bone in retaliation, and in revenge Regan twisted until Kian lay under him, kissing him lightly. This was the good side of them, the passion that edged into everything they did. The kisses deepened. Regan couldn't take away talk of destiny or death in Fire, but he could kiss away the nightmares for a short time. A sudden thought had him lifting his head, Kian reaching up to chase for the kiss he was clearly enjoying.
    " Wait. This