Within the Flames

Chapter Five

Everything stopped. Heart, lungs, the world. Sounds died. Lyssa went numb.

Those eyes.

In all her dreams — a month of nights, lost in fire — those eyes had been her constant companions. Eyes that belonged to a face she could never see, or remember. Eyes that stared at her with an intensity that burned and made her feel lost, dizzy, as though she were falling.

She was falling now.

Lyssa blinked, and the spell broke. No longer just eyes, but the man from Columbus Circle. She hadn’t looked closely at him, before.

He was young, which surprised her. When she looked at only his eyes, she thought of him as old.

Instead, he seemed close to her age. He was tall, but not much taller than she. Lean, lanky, but broad in all the right places. He looked strong, fast. Dressed in black, with scruffy dark hair that framed a pale, chiseled face that would never be called boyish or weak.

I know you, she thought. I dreamed you.

But that was no comfort. Terrible heat burned beneath her skin, flowing into her right arm in a wild, uncontrolled rush that made her clawed hand close into a fist. Pain tingled, simmering in that heat, and the muscles running from her neck into her shoulder twitched so violently she sucked in her breath and gripped her shoulder hard with her left hand.

The dragon stirred beneath her skin.

The dragon opened an eye within her heart and looked at the man in front of her.

Lyssa felt it, as though she carried a second life within herself. Terror fluttered. The dragon could not be allowed to wake. Not here. Not ever. It had been years since she had felt its presence.

She backed away. The man followed, holding up his hands. “Miss. Don’t run. Please.”

His voice was soft but filled with a quiet, gentle strength that tugged at her heart. It was the same voice she had heard in her mind, flowing through her with the most intimate of touches.

I would take care of you. I wish I could.

Lyssa didn’t trust her voice to speak. Every instinct told her to run. Running was what she knew. Running was safe and empty, and kept the fire at bay, and all those dark memories that haunted, and tempted her.

This was dangerous. This man was dangerous, even if he meant her no harm. The harm would come, somehow.

Lyssa gave him a long, searching look. He let her look, though he didn’t make it easy. She was used to studying people from a distance, or while distracted. . anytime, anywhere, so long as no one realized what she was doing.

But she didn’t have that luxury with him. He stared back with unflinching eyes, as though taking her measure as much as she was taking his. There was no place to hide in that gaze. Lyssa had never felt more naked.

“Who are you?” she asked.

His jaw tensed. “My name is Eddie.”

Eddie. A scruffy name, with an edge. Sort of like him.

Lyssa backed away, wary. “How did you find me here?”

He did not follow, but she sensed that if he wanted to, he could be at her side in a heartbeat. He was just like her dream. Intense, dangerous, and real.

Completely real. Flesh and blood, staring at her as though he was ready for her to try and slip away. It unnerved her. Made her feel as though she couldn’t trust her own perceptions of dream and waking.

“Estefan sent a list of places to search for you,” he said quietly, holding her gaze. “That Starbucks behind us was one of them. He said you like to use the Internet there.”

Damn, she thought, giving him a sharp look. “How do you know Estefan?”

Discomfort flickered in his eyes. “I don’t. Your friend sent a letter to my employer. He explained you needed help. So I’m here. To help.”

It sounded too good to be true. Who was he, a Boy Scout? Like those existed anymore. Lyssa had seen too many good people who needed help, shut out and ignored, treated as though invisible — simply for being homeless, or a little different. Even she, at her lowest, had been an untouchable. Except from those who wanted to use her.

“Estefan shouldn’t have gotten you involved,” she said, wondering why she was still standing here.

“Miss—”

“I am none of your concern.”

“You need help.”

“Starving kids in Africa need help. I don’t. Not even a little.”

He studied her — as though actually listening to what she was saying and digesting each word. It set her off-balance. Again.

Frustration warred with curiosity, and a bone-deep need to understand why the hell this man had been in her dreams. Had he dreamed of her? The possibility was almost as unsettling as his presence.

“You really came here because you were told I needed help?” she asked him, and what was intended to be a genuine question turned derisive when her voice came out too sharp. “Is that your job? Do-gooder?”

His brow lifted. “What’s your job? Professional cynic?”

Her mouth twitched. “Something like that.”

“That’s too bad,” he said, then, more softly, “Lyssa.”

She was not expecting the sincerity of that answer, or the regret in his voice. Nor could she have predicted what hearing him say her name would do to her nerves.

Like, electrifying them.

I had peace and quiet, she thought, weakly. I was alone, but that was safe.

“Eddie,” she said, feeling like a coward for not being able to stare as unflinchingly into his eyes, as he could hers. “Go home.”

Lyssa pushed through the crowd and walked away.

She turned left at the intersection, walking with long, ground-eating strides. Not running, but almost. A cab passed her but didn’t stop when she held out her hand.

Moments later, Eddie caught up.

He remained opposite her on the sidewalk, lanky and graceful. Outwardly relaxed though she sensed a coiled power inside him — and a tense control over that power that gave him a dangerous edge.

Light foot traffic passed between them. She heard an ambulance’s sirens. Maybe the police. None of it felt real. Not the people around them, not the wind on her face, not even the concrete beneath her feet.

Her world had narrowed down to him — and only him.

“Lyssa Andreanos,” he said, quietly.

She hadn’t heard her full name spoken out loud in ten years. Hearing him say it made her feel crazy. “Did Estefan tell you that, too?”

“First, from him,” he replied, with a calm confidence that was assured, and, oddly, gentle.

She shivered. “Estefan shouldn’t have told anyone.”

“He made it clear he was violating your trust. But he didn’t see another way to help you.”

In two seconds, frustration was going to become anger. “I told you, I don’t need help. So just. . get lost.”

“I can’t.” Eddie settled his gaze on her. “You’re being hunted.”

Lyssa stopped and stared at him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and spoke with a grim gentleness that she’d never heard in another man’s voice.

“Hunted,” he said again, “by witches who call themselves the Cruor Venator.”

Her heart squeezed down into a vicious lump of pain, and she drew an unsteady breath that was loud and rough, and made her dizzy.

“Not even Estefan knows that,” she said, hoarse. “Certainly not that name.”

“You already knew they’re looking for you?”

She exhaled sharply, wanting to laugh with devastating bitterness. “Of course. But who told you?”

His hesitation lasted a heartbeat too long. “Another of your kind.”

“My kind.”

“You know what I mean. It’s in your eyes.”

Golden eyes. He knows I’m a shape-shifter.

Of course, if his friend was a gargoyle, then it made sense he would know the signs that made a nonhuman stand out. But still, it felt like too much, too fast. The world was too mundane for this conversation.

Lyssa forced herself to breathe. “Does this person have a name?”

Eddie closed the distance between them. As he did, the air warmed. So much, it was like being exposed to the immense heat of a Southwest summer afternoon. A dry, rippling warmth, mirage-inducing.

Her own fire rose to meet that heat, with such power and hunger, she felt afraid all over again. She tried to read his face — as if her life depended on it. But all she could be certain of was that, for the first time in her life, she didn’t trust her instincts.

Because her instincts wanted to trust him. Her instincts picked apart the way he moved, the way he looked at her, the tone of his voice — his eyes, those eyes—and there was strength in his intensity — and compassion, and even gentleness.

She couldn’t trust it. She wouldn’t let herself.

Her mother’s voice drifted like a ghost through her mind.

You can tell everything from a man’s eyes, and the way he looks at you. If you’re not too afraid to see.

I was afraid when I met your father. He was too good to be true. So I ran, Lyssa.

It’s a good thing he followed.

The memory was so strong. Lyssa touched her throat, the scarf wound so tight she could barely breathe. Fire burned in her gut. Her right arm tingled.

Eddie’s gaze flicked to her hand. “Her name is Long Nu.”

For a moment, the name didn’t register. But it sat there, the sound of it ringing through her head. Slowly, so slowly. . her mind made the connection.

And it was horrible. Terrible, and confusing.

“It’s been ten years since I heard that name.” Lyssa’s voice shook, nerves betraying her. More rattled than she wanted to admit.

Eddie gave her a cautious look. “You don’t seem happy about it.”

Again, she wanted to laugh, but it would have sounded awful. “She knows you’re here?”

“She was one of the people who asked me to come.”

Fury gathered in her chest. “She’s your employer?”

“No,” he said firmly. “This was a favor.”

“There are no favors with Long Nu. You do or you die. . and if you don’t die, you’re punished.” Lyssa backed away, wetting her lips. “Why now, after all these years? Why not before, when I was a child? I needed help then, and no one came for me.”

“My impression was Long Nu thought you were dead.”

“Wishful thinking,” she whispered. “She’s probably disappointed I’m not.”

Eddie gave her a sharp look. “What does that mean?”

Lyssa shook her head and realized she was hugging herself. Hearing Long Nu’s name should not have upset her as much as it did.

But it opened old wounds. It made her think of her father.

Straightening, she lifted her chin and looked him straight in the eyes. “Did Estefan know about Long Nu?”

He watched her, so carefully. “I don’t think so. My employer was the one who contacted her after receiving your friend’s letter.”

“What did Long Nu tell you about me?”

“Not enough.” Eddie reached, very slowly, inside his pocket — and pulled out a plastic bag. Inside was something charred. “This is yours.”

Lyssa didn’t touch it. “What is it?”

“A photo of you when you were twelve.”

She blinked, startled. He held up the bag. Inside, she saw a fragment of her face. Young and smiling. Before it all went to hell.

Her right hand clenched into a fist, claws biting through the tips of her gloves into her palm. “Did Long Nu give you that?”

“Yes.”

Sorrow burned away into anger. “How dare she.”

“What happened?”

“None of your business.” Lyssa backed away, that glimpse of her young face burning a hole through her heart. “We’re done here. Get away from me.”

Eddie’s mouth hardened, and in one long stride he stood inside her personal space. Suddenly, he seemed so much larger than her — strong and big, and powerful — bristling with a heat that seemed to shimmer over his body. It took all of Lyssa’s strength not to retreat.

“Back off,” she snapped.

His eyes were so dark. “No.”

No. It was impossible that one word should be laced with so much determination.

“I will kick your ass to Sunday,” she told him.

He leaned in even more. “You try. Beat me black-and-blue, if that makes you feel better. I’m not going anywhere. I was sent to find you. To protect you. And you better believe I will do that. You run, and I will find you. Again, and again, and again.”

She believed him. And it enraged her.

Ten years on her own, ten years alone, and while some of that time had been shit, she’d made it — and hammered out a life with her own two hands, a life that was quick and dirty, but hers.

And now this man, a stranger, was telling her that he was in her life?

And Long Nu was involved?

No, she thought. No way. Not in a million years was Lyssa going to let that stand. It would be like spitting on her father’s memory. All the humiliations, his isolation, his sacrifice.

Because Long Nu had thrown them to the wolves.

“Get away from me,” she growled.

“No,” he said again, and there was more quiet power in that one word than in any other she’d ever heard.

She backed away. Eddie followed. She turned, and he stayed right on her heels, terrible heat flowing down her back.

“Lyssa,” he said, reaching for her.

She whirled, lashing out with her first: a solid right hook that snapped toward his face. Fast, driven by arm muscles deformed with power.

Eddie blocked her. Barely. Her fist clipped his ear, but he twisted, and clamped his hand around her wrist. She grabbed his throat, but not before his hand slid forward, beneath her sleeve — and touched her bare, reptilian, skin.

The contact burned. Burned to the bone.

Lyssa flinched. So did he. A roaring sound filled her ears, and her vision brightened in a haze of golden light. She tried to let go, but her hand around his throat would not loosen, no matter how hard she tried. The world blurred away in the light until all she could see was Eddie’s eyes.

He was looking at her. . not with fear. . but that quiet, deadly compassion.

I understand, she heard him say inside her mind. I’m sorry.

Smoke rose from beneath her hand.

Everything exploded.