Darach Read Free Page B

is open for censure, imprisonment, maybe even death. The Cariad are a part of our society that is taboo."
    "It's that serious?"
    "More than. Like I said, to even speak of the Cariad outside the home is forbidden."
    Regan listened to the explanation, realizing he didn't know enough about the world Kian had called home. He resolved to learn more, because he wanted to understand. "Can we somehow go to your world?"
    "Not until All Hallows. Only then is the barrier thin enough for me to pass through without extra magik and power that I have no hope of accessing before then."
    " For u s to pass through you mean , " Regan corrected quickly.
    "Us. Of course—us."
    " So, if we can ' t go over, and you ' re this worried for him, c an we find a way to help Darach from here? Seems like we should take some downtime and see what we can find out. " Unspoken w ere the added words I love you , Kian , and I ' ll help any way I can.
    Kian raised his gaze, his eyes wide, his expression hopeful. The four words he spoke sent warmth coursing through Regan's body as his Fire responded to the energy within Kian.
    "I love you, Hunter."

Chapter 2
     
    Ceithin Morgan had no energy left to scream. His vocal chords were shredded and the shudders wracking his body were impossible to control . They wanted information from him . They wanted his Fire . A nd he would not give them either. A combination of ancient magik and his own stubborn determination meant he would go to his grave with his Fire intact. His scarlet was weak ened by what they did ; no Fire could stop all the energy they threw at him . B ut he had protected his Fire with magik as old as time, and in such a way that nothing t hey could do would break the Fire Bond .
    They tried everything they knew, pulling at the silver - tipped crimson tangl ing around him in a messy scramble of light. Whispering words in their own magik , they ripped and pulled until his skin tore into Fire-laced shreds. Still his skin. Still his Fire . He knew he was bleeding; he could smell it and taste it in his mouth, coppery hot , liquid rivers , and feel it running into his eyes, half blinding him. The skin peeled away from him , and it was an agony he had to force himself to bear . He focused on the Valley, on home ; the grass beneath his feet, the trees and pathways, the rainbows glitter ing in the waterfalls. The visions kept him centered . T hey couldn ' t touch his memories.
    They had tortured him for hours, inflicting pain for the sake of knowledge and for the Fire at the center of his soul. Three men, three magiks, three Fires—ochre, gold, orange—evil and tainted with the brown of dead earth and the sickness of greed and ambition. They were the Council that governed the City and they used the power of the amber Fire to rule.
    Sulien, the eldest of the three — tall, thin , and dressed in white from head to toe — he was splashed with blood, Ceithin ' s blood. The second , Ceithin knew as Ephraim, a rotund , fearful man who hovered nervously to one side, only every so often throwing his Fire into the attack. Finally, Madoc , who hunched over him spitting curses and Fire in a flurry of movement, with hate in his eyes. They wanted what Ceithin had . They wanted his Fire . There was no chance in the hell of Annwn that Ceithin would subm it his will or pass anything of worth to anyone, much less these three .
    "It's over. He'll give nothing to us while he's alive," Sulien snapped harshly.
    "He is a Cariad. This is too dangerous. What if Guardian finds out?" Ephraim sounded worried, frightened even. As Ceithin sprawled, still as death in the dirt, he imagined the name Cariad sending fear into others' hearts. They were right to fear the violence of the Cariad Fire—it was his birthright, and it had kept him alive this long day.
    "Sulien, the Cariad has scarlet Fire. We need his Fire. Guardian is withholding what we need, and I want the red Fire," Madoc insisted. Less concerned and scared than Ephraim, he