Salvation's Kiss (Tales Of Mython Book 1) by Kathryn Jayne (old books to read .TXT) 📗

menacing. Although she did have one look in her arsenal that never failed to make him wither, and she had used it today at the dinner table.

“Turns out her brother, Alex Ciele, is part of the P.T.F. Just like his father. His father brought Ashley back with him from the other side of the border and adopted her.”

“They’re preternatural?”

“With an ice alignment. They were frost birds.”

“Were?”

“Ashley’s adoptive parents were killed in a crash a few years ago, hit and run. A vehicle pushed their parked car over the edge of the road. The case went cold.”

“Reuben, don’t you think you should give the girl a chance to tell us about herself on her own terms?” she scolded, attempting to pull herself free from his lap, only to be pulled back down by his firm grasp.

“Maybe, but Selene, his eyes were gold.”

“He loves her.”

“It’s beyond love. Both sides of his nature are agreed, she sings to his soul. What if it turns out her family adopted her because, even through the seal, they sensed a shared affinity?” Ice and fire, the two were mutually destructive, but when beings of that nature combined, only one would walk away, and an ifrit’s fire was not just mortal flame, it was born of Phlegethon itself. Even a soul bond wouldn’t protect a being of opposing affinity.

“Let’s not worry about that now, the answers will come to us. The moment I can study her, we’ll be able to tell what element she’s aligned to.”

“Do you think we should tell Conrad?”

“Have you not noticed he’s already fighting his heart? Until he’s willing to tell her the truth about what he is, he won’t pursue her, and Rei damaged his confidence more than he’s let on. I still can’t believe she managed to turn the whole academy against him because another ifrit had served justice to her father. But I guess that’s banshees for you, always screaming about something.” Reuben laughed at his wife’s attempt at humour, his face growing serious as he heard the notification. Lifting his wife from his lap, he grabbed his device.

“Another missing person, male, thirty-five, reported missing an hour ago when he didn’t come home from work. His chip data vanished this afternoon.”

“I’ll better let you get to work then.” She placed her forehead to his, and for a moment he closed his eyes, relishing how her touch set his skin aflame.

Chapter 7

Ashley slept like the dead, a phrase she thought would have been apt after her infection. After a night at Conrad’s, she had returned home to change, relieved to witness the fading tag mark on her leg, although the pink scar remained as prominent as ever. When the mark vanished completely, she was to let Conrad know so she could arrange a day with Selene to discover what secrets her amulet hid. She had to admit, after discussing everything with Conrad and his family she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and after the restful night’s sleep she was already feeling less exhausted.

Today, lectures had passed in a blur of excitement and, despite her exhaustion, her focus was returning. Looking in the mirror this morning, she had noticed her tongue was no longer doing that strange flickering thing Conrad had seen. Which she’d happily shown him when he made a sly comment about women taking too long to change, even though she knew she’d only been a few moments!

After her final lecture of the day, she had stayed behind in the cafeteria, helping to gather discarded dishes and wash pots while she waited for Tess. She had made Tess promise that, when the time came to make the final payment on her bike, she would be there, and so, with today being payday, she had waited for her friend to finish her lecturers. With her temperature still being elevated, she was still receiving notifications from work to advise her it was unsafe to attend, but a phone call to the home’s administrator had eased her financial concerns after he agreed to take her sick days as holiday since she had so many outstanding. Holidays were earned based on days worked, so the more shifts she picked up, the more hours of holiday pay she incurred. They had been more than happy to comply with her request, especially since in all the years she had been working there she rarely took time off, instead preferring to have the company buy the days back rather than take the time away from work. This day had turned out better than she had imagined was possible; everything had simply fallen into place.

When Tess arrived, they began their short walk towards the busy town centre. After several discussions about their day, Tess grasped Ashley’s arm gently, and she knew what was coming.

“Now, are you going to tell me what’s been going on, what happened?” Tess asked, as they approached the dessert shop.

“Later,” Ashley acknowledged, knowing all too well that the answer was less than satisfactory, especially since it was the same answer she had given earlier today. “In here.”

Ashley led Tess into the dessert parlour, treating her friend to their favourite sharing ice-cream. The enormous glass bowl sparkled in the afternoon sun and as they shared its contents. Pretending to fight over who got the chocolate pieces, she steeled herself for the conversation. After a little while, Tess looked up at her, as if sensing she was ready, and Ashley told her everything she could as her friend listened in horror, unaware she was not being given all the information, just enough to explain the attack, the blood tag, and her unexpected immunity to the vampire toxin.

“So you weren’t even going to tell us, you were just going to…” Tears sparkled in her friend’s eyes, the hurt about Ashley’s decision to keep something so important from her clearly evident. It stirred her shame. How she had wanted to confide in Tess when she saw the tag, but