Frost Fire (Tortured Elements) Read Free

wished he had a normal voice, and that she could just pluck emotions from his words. But finding any emotion in his speech was difficult. His voice was smooth, drawing each syllable of his words into a silky purr. It was the voice of a Charger, so alluring it could make people forget they were facing a Demon with metal wings.
    Shieldak shuffled his wings, and there was more rattling of feathers, and more bristling from Luke. “You’re certain—”
    “I’m fine.” Allai cut him off. She winced the moment she did it, knowing it had been impolite and that she’d get a scolding for it. But she didn’t want to discuss the event or her dreams anymore, not if her theories about Drake would be dismissed so easily.
    Shieldak’s mouth opened the moment she finished speaking, and she waited for a familiar reprimand. But then Shieldak just closed his mouth, cleared his throat, and nodded to Luke. “You may leave, viper.”
    Luke hissed under his breath, and Allai rolled her eyes up toward the ceiling. Shieldak usually started the fights, often by calling Luke derogatory names like ‘viper’ or ‘snake’. But Luke always managed to make things worse. He stood from the bed, his hand slowly clenching into a fist.
    “No,” Allai groaned. “Please, Luke, not tonight.”
    He growled, his lip lifting an inch, and Allai could see that his silver fangs had already snapped into place. They usually rested against the top of his mouth, but now he was ready for a fight, and the fangs pressed against his canine teeth.
    Just one drop of the venom stored in his fangs could have a Demon writhing in agony for days. Or at least that was the best outcome. The other possible outcome was that the Demon was changed into Luke’s own species: A Persequor. They were the most powerful type of Demon, which wasn’t very comforting, considering they were also emotionless. Except for Luke, of course. He seemed to have gone into the opposite spectrum when he changed, having too
many
emotions.
    Shieldak’s wings flared out into a defensive position. He snarled and faced Luke. Allai huddled closer to the bed, because she knew that snarl was a taunt. And Luke always gave into taunts.
    Then Luke jerked his head toward Allai. He stared at her with his blind eyes, silently considering her. Then he sighed and unclenched his fist. “Sleep tight, Allai-bird,” he snapped. He brushed past Shieldak and exited the room, slamming the door closed.
    The hinges rattled, and Shieldak’s wings joined them for just a moment, his clicking feathers expressing his disproval. “The coward,” Shieldak spat.
    Allai bit her lip to keep from protesting. She wanted to tell him that Luke wasn’t a coward, that he was brave, and that he just didn’t want to fight in front of her. But Allai held her breath until the urge to say all that disappeared. Because her dad just wouldn’t understand any of it.
    Shieldak continued glaring at the door Luke had rushed out. “What’s wrong, Dad?” Allai asked after a few moments. She kept her gaze resting on the spot where Luke had laid a few moments earlier. It’d be better if he were there, even if tensions were always high between him and her dad. She needed a hug.
    “That Persequor is what’s wrong,” he muttered. “I don’t trust him. And I don’t like him being around you.”
    “There’s nothing wrong with Luke. He’s a good guy.”
    “He’s an agent of the French, Allai. And he’s had a bad past.”
    “So have I.”
    Her dad waved away her words. “You were young. You hardly remember whatever happened to you. But that Persequor had a screw knocked loose. He’s dangerous.”
    For not the first time in her life, Allai wished she could be something other than a human. She knew she had
some
Demon blood in her ancestry; it was the reason she had silver eyes, and the reason Shieldak had accepted her as his daughter. But ‘some’ wasn’t enough. Just for a moment, she wanted to have the metal wings of a Charger to