Fire Moon by Miss CrazyPlantLady (phonics reading books .TXT) 📖

in time, she stayed by those old chains.

A slow smile crept into my face, "Look who finally decided to give us a visit" my tone sarcastic and low.

Alexei crossed his arms and ignored me, "Constance, come."

I was frowning at him but it was Miles who stood. Miles gave me a quick look before leaving through the open door and disappeared down the hall with one of the Zetas. Alexei was wearing a dark jacket with long suit pants and a grey button shirt. He always looked formal.

"I thought you said her name was Miles" Urith said sleepily from his small bed.

"It is" I said, equally confused.

There's no way I misheard her. Miles is so far from the name Constance that it couldn't have been a mistake. A nickname wouldn't make sense either.

"Her real name is Constance" Alexei said and I almost forgot he was still here, "Changeling, you're coming with me."

I released a groan, "What now?"

Instead of answering, he just opened the door wide enough for me to walk through and I shot Urith a quick glance before we took the right corridor. The hallway didn't seem to end.

"Where are we going?" I demanded, ignoring the slight panic in the tone.

A ghost of a smirk, "Scared, Addandam?"

My panic was replaced with irritation and I rose my chin, "Of you? Of course not."

The smallest chuckle escaped him and he opened the wooden doors at the very end of the hall.  I froze as the warm spring air brushed my face, we were outside. I turned to the building we just left and it was monumental. Sky-scraping. Towering walls connected the two separate buildings, rising above us and stopping just before the last floor. The grass was soft against my naked feet, the sweet air rushed into my lungs and purified them.

"If you plan on killing me, kill me here" I held the wall under my palm. It was smooth and cool, it held no heat and it reminded me of the polished cement at August's. It reminded me of Quinn and the Oracle. Of Sam.

"I'm not going to kill you" Alexei interrupted my thoughts with an irritated sigh, "I suggest you stop implying or I will out of frustration."

There were only a few flowers that freckled the soft grass but they were blooming beautifully in their lonesome. The fragrance was welcoming.

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips at his retort, "Fine, then why did you bring me here?"

"I'm going to unteach everything that blonde idiot taught you" he said and proudly, I thought.

My eyes squinted in suspicion, "What?"

"You have fire rage" he was starting to sound smug, "I can't have you burn down the entire house because one of my Zetas pissed you off."

My arms crossed and the frown was harsh on my face, "That's how I channel my flame."

His emerald orbs rolled at my words and he sighed, "No, that's how you were taught to channel it" he gestured for me to come closer, "Anger is not stable enough to depend upon, you need to channel it without pairing it with an emotion because one single meltdown could lead to you burning everything in your path."

I wondered if my family has seen this garden. "Alex," I hesitated before adding, "Can I ask you a question?"

His eyes glowed at the mention of his name but he gestured for me to ask it.

"Where are you keeping my family?" my voice was uneven and small.

I watched his dark eyebrows draw together and he slowly shook his head, "We only took you and that Sigma, there was no one else."

I was trying to wrap my head around his words, around him and I couldn't allow myself to trust him, "A better question then, why would you help me?"

"I'm not helping you" he entered the next building, without looking to see if I was following, "I'm saving my own neck because if you burn Kier again, I will have to kill you and I would rather not" his deep voice echoed through the empty hall.

The floor was smooth wood, it was soft to step upon and it was the colour of sandstone. My steps were silent against it, "Did Kier allow this?"

The back of Alexei's head didn't turn but his shoulders rose in a shrug, "Yes and no."

He was powerful here. He strolled through these halls like he owned them. The Zetas, Etas and even the very few Deltas they had did not meet his gaze and kept their heads down, daring not to look at him. Not in fear but in respect.

I eyed the back of his dark haired head, "You once said that you were fireproof."

"Mmm?" he rose his eyebrows at my question and held a door open.

I was too tall to make it through without ducking under his arm but I did just that and waited for him to lead the way again, "How?" I added.

He gave me a single look and I watched his lips stretch into a smile, "Guess you haven't read that far yet?"

"Try me" I retorted.

Alexei made a quick turn and went up a flight of stairs. They curled up and around like a coiled snake. He made no attempt to continue our conversation.

"Where are we going?" my voice echoed against the walls. No answer but another turn and we were at a large set of doors, "Where are the guards?" I asked as I realized we were completely alone.

I could get away. I could shove him into the wall and burn him, run back to the open garden and escape. But my mind stopped racing at the thought of Urith and Miles. The children. I didn't have a key to get them out, nor did I think I could take on all of the Zetas and Deltas guarding them. The Etas I could probably take.

"I don't need guards" was the only response before he opened the door.

The doors revealed a large room with floor to ceiling windows, flooding in the spring sunlight and minimal furniture scattered around the room. A single wooden chair in the far corner. A navy floor cushion near the windows and two large floor lamps, "What is this?"

Alexei only took off his jacket, revealing his rolled up sleeves of the grey shirt he was wearing and his arms were decorated with scars, no healing marks just scars. They wrapped heavily around his forearms. The harshness of them shocked me, saddened me and I had to drag my eyes away from them.

If he noticed, he didn't show it as he gestured widely, "Welcome to my humble abode."

My brows rose in question, "This empty space is where you live?"

His emerald eyes squinted at me, "It's not empty" he sounded offended but he pointed to closed doors, "That is my actual quarters but this is also mine, a training room if you will."

I gave him a my best awkward smile and shrugged, "Where do we start then?"

His gaze watched me as he rose a hand and gestured me to come closer. Without his jacket or henchmen surrounding him, he looked a lot less threatening and I felt myself move towards him regardless.

He was taller than August. When I met him, he looked so small next to Shaw. His brows just reaching the top on my forehead, he smirked as if he noticed it too and a short chuckle came from his chest, "You're a tall woman."

"Or you're a short man" I mused.

He swung his left arm up, fist ready and using what Bain taught me, I blocked it hard. Alexei's eyes lit up with curiosity, he swung again and I blocked again. I took a step back and hit him back just as hard.

He blocked it but he was smiling wide, "They trained you properly in that area at least."

My arms crossed and my brow furrowed, "You took me here to hit me?"

He just shook his head, grabbed my crossed arm and pulled me back, "No but you're going to need your flames for this next bit."

I looked at him as if he grew a second head, "I can't just summon it."

A groan escaped him and he rolled his eyes, "Let me guess, you have to be pissed off to bring them?"

My own dark eyes glared back, "Yes."

"This is what I'm talking about" he sighed. He circled me, running a hand through his hair and I could see his mind swirling in those eyes.

Before I could make a retort, he hooked his left leg behind mine and my tailbone smacked the ground before I could register what was happening, a groan escaped my lips. I glared up at him, "Why?"

He reached down and helped me up, "I'm running out of options."

I was rubbing my back when he swiped my feet from under me once again, the same already aching bones hitting the hard floor and I didn't hesitate as I took his legs out with mine.

A smile grew across my face when I heard him stuck the ground, "You deserve that."

He slowly rose and grabbed my arm to help me, "What do I need to do to make you angry?"

I opened my mouth to answer but I was on the ground again. My head hitting the ground and I was seeing red. I didn't wait for him to help me up this time, "What is your problem?" I was yelling but I didn't care.

His eyes were lit with triumph, "Amazing."

My flames now danced over my fingers and I stuck my middle one up at him before I watched the bright fire burn in my hands, "What now?"

"What do you feel?" his voice was hushed.

"Pissed off" I hissed without looking at him.

"Deeper" I could feel him watching me, "Look deeper than that."

His eyes glowed when I finally met them, "Like I could burn this stupid room down."

"Not like that" those green orbs rolled, "Do you feel the flames? What did you feel before it came to you?"

My frown was heavy on my face but I answered anyway, "I feel nothing."

It was as if the flames were in my head. A hallucination. There was no heat or burning. They weren't cold or tingly. They were nothing. Silently dancing over my untouched skin. Like smoke it moved gracefully and without interruption. Bright and deadly.

His dark haired head nodded, "All Blazes don't feel their flame, this is good" I could smell him again. Bergamot but this time instead of coffee, it was ginger I smelt as well, "What else?"

"How many Blazes do you know?" my curiosity increased.

He shrugged, "A couple."

I felt the flames pushing against my invisible barrier. Almost like my wolf pushing against our own wall between us. They wanted to grow, to spread and I watched as the flames grew from my hands to my forearms.

He nodded, "Good, can you take them away?"

I shook my head rapidly as the fire continued to slowly grow up my arm, "I don't—"

"Feel it" he interrupted with an impatient snap.

The flames grew, "I don't know what that means!" I snapped back.

A huff of irritation and he pinched his nose with his index finger and thumb, "You control the flame, it does not control you."

I thought of Mara. Her grave. Her severed head.  I thought of Wren. I wasn't there to protect him. I thought of the children. In their dirty beds and frozen from the cold.

"Was Mara really in your pack?" it was a heavy question, each word hard to let out. I didn't want to talk about her but I found myself curious of her life before August's.

A shake of his head, "You're getting off topic."

I didn't push for the answer and our eyes connected. Soil meeting nature. I didn't break the connection as I felt the barrier pushing against the flames, slow and heavy. Putting it out as it went until only my fingertips remained and my own smile stretched across my face, "Like that?"

Those emerald eyes swirled with something unfamiliar as he nodded, "I'm impressed, Blaze" he scoped up his jacket and slung it over his shoulder,