Flames Untamed

  FLAMES UNTAMED

  Spells of Surrender Book Two

  Alix Sharpe

  Copyright © 2018 Alix Sharpe

  All Rights Reserved

  For my mother.

  What? Yes, I know it’s unconventional to dedicate a steamy romance novel to your mother… but my mom is exceptionally cool.

  Jealous?

  CHAPTER 1 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 2 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 3 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 4 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 5 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 6 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 7 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 8 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 9 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 10 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 11 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 12 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 13 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 14 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 15 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 16 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 17 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 18 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 19 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 20 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 21 – ANGELINE

  CHAPTER 22 – KYLE

  CHAPTER 1 – ANGELINE

  Captain Angeline Quintana finally broke through the tangle of dried undergrowth and emerged at the base of a dead tree. Its gnarled roots twisted over the top of a small pool of water. She sniffed the air. Yes, the faint odor was stronger now. But she couldn’t let herself get excited just yet. Taking a step back, she planted both feet wide and lifted her hands in front of her.

  The azure amulet hanging from her neck began to glow against the sticky sweat beaded on her chest. She felt the magic as it poured into her, flowing from the pendant to her heart, then outward, all the way down to the tips of her fingers. Her outstretched palms ignited with a swirling, incandescent blue.

  With a careful twist of her fingers, she guided her magic around the protruding tendrils of the dead tree. Then she closed her fists and pulled. She felt the dry wood starting to splinter under the force, the dirt beginning to loosen from the tree’s hold. She kept pulling, teeth gritted.

  Then with one final heave of her magic, she tore the stubborn roots from the earth and revealed exactly what she’d hoped for: a bubbling hot spring. She exhaled gratefully, a small smile cresting her lips. She needed this, bad. With a flick of her wrist, she gently laid the hollow tree on its side amongst the withered brush. Closing her fist, she extinguished the sparkling, blue cloud of her magic, and turned back to the spring.

  In 10 seconds flat, she’d yanked off her boots, stripped down naked, and stepped into the warm water. The pool was deep enough to comfortably bathe, wide enough to stretch out her exhausted muscles. So much better than those awful showers back at camp. The stalls there were so friggen small she couldn’t enter one without coming down with a mild bout of claustrophobia. Pair that with the frigid water, ugh.

  When she absolutely needed a hot shower, say, when she was coated in a spray of sludgy, Elven blood, she’d have one of her Salamander soldiers use their fire magic to heat the water for her. Most of the time she opted for a quick, cold rinse instead. The flame-wielders were best avoided when seeking a moment of solitude. They tended to blabber, relentlessly.

  It wasn’t that she disliked her soldiers; they were just so… loud. 90% of her team was made up of the bold, in-your-face fire wizards, and while they had the perfect disposition for thriving out in the field, living with so many of them in close quarters could prove to be a bit of a challenge for those few who didn’t bear the red amulets of the Salamander. Those like Angeline, a Mage.

  Battle Mages were rare, making up a little over 9% of the front line. The average Mage just didn’t have the personality or build for the life of a soldier. A typical Mage lived in one of the Castles or at a Tower outpost and used their object manipulation magic to help with daily upkeep and operations. Given that no technology worked on this side of The Veil, the Castle Mages were always in high demand for their ability to help supplement life’s modern conveniences in the absence of electronics and machinery.

  But Angeline Quintana was too strong and too clever for the Masters to waste her talents on enchanting alarm bells, warehousing supplies, or casting security illusions. So, as much as she wanted an assignment other than Captain, she also knew she’d be bored with anything else.

  She slid her magic amulet off from around her neck and set it on top of her pile of clothes, the cobalt blue pendant sparkling in the light of late morning. She felt naked (well, even more naked) without it on, but she desperately needed to wash her thick, curly hair and didn’t want it getting tangled. She rarely ever took it off; she absolutely could not stand the feeling of powerlessness. When she first came to this side of The Veil 5 years ago, she vowed never to let weakness control her again. She had held true to her promise ever since.

  She was top of the spectrum strong, not just for a Mage, but for a wizard in general. For a human in general, really. No one would think it by looking at her, but in the past 5 years, she had mastered 4 types of martial arts, and was decently proficient in at least 4 more. Half the time she took down the enemy, she didn’t even need to tap into her magic.

  While she may have wielded unprecedented strength, appearance wise, she fell only slightly above average in just about every way. She was slightly tall at 5’6”, slightly muscular (you really only noticed when she flexed), and slightly pretty, though definitely not beautiful. At least that’s how she’d always seen herself. She didn’t allocate time to worrying about appearances though, not when there was real shit to worry about.

  As Captain, not only did she have the responsibility of keeping her entire squadron alive (as well as could reasonably be expected), she also needed to strategize large scale in the war against the dark Elves. And some major game changers had just fallen into her lap.

  While the death rate had dropped substantially for her team ever since getting a Diviner, the visions her Diviner reported back had put a whole new unprecedented weight on Angeline’s shoulders. Not only had her Diviner, Keira, Seen visions of massive Elf hordes traversing the land, she’d also uncovered a dark secret.

  One of Angeline’s own soldiers, Soren, had been secretly working for the Elves. Then on top of that, the pointy-eared scum attempted to persuade Keira to betray her people and join them as well. Keira, thankfully, would not be swayed. She and the Captain’s Second, Hale, took out the Elves in a bloody battle. But that was just one small faction.

  If Soren was not an isolated case, and the Elves really did have other wizards working for them, the situation for both sides of The Veil had just become much more dire than anyone could imagine. Earth and The Realm might fall.

  Angeline left Hale in charge of the squadron so that she could make the journey to the nearest Castle and discuss strategy considering these new, unnerving developments. The Earthen governments wouldn’t take the threat seriously until the Elves found a way to cross The Veil. It was up to the human soldiers stationed in The Realm to guard the doorways and pray they never got that far.

  Angeline sighed and sunk deeper into the steamy water, her cramped muscles releasing in the soothing heat. If only her soldiers hadn’t lost both of their horses back-to-back within a month. Beasts of burden were hard to come by in The Realm, with the way they were spooked by magic and devoured by Elves. Her unit likely wouldn’t get replacements any time soon.

  As such, Angeline was making the trek on foot. She’d already gone 14 miles since dawn and she’d need to do another 20 that day if she expected to make decent time. But first, she needed a decent bath.

  Yeah, she’d get dirty again in 20 minutes, but just because she was on a critical mission, didn’t mean she should run herself completely ragged. She kn
ew she’d function best if she stopped off for 10 minutes, tended to her sore muscles, and washed the salty layer of dried sweat off her skin. Chafing to the point of blisters would do nothing to hasten her quest.

  She took a breath and dipped her head under the water, soaking her pile of tangled ringlets. When she emerged, she had about two more seconds of blissful silence. Then an all too familiar sound blasted away her brief respite of serenity.

  BOOM.

  That sound. The unmistakable sound of a Salamander biting off more than they could chew. The sound of uncontrolled flames unintentionally finding just the right pocket of air.

  She leapt back into the ferns and shadows at the water’s edge, heart pounding in her throat. Then she realized her mistake. She’d jumped the wrong direction; she’d jumped away from her amulet. The azure pendant sparkled tauntingly on the other side of the pond. A rumbling crescendo thundered and she knew she had mere seconds before something very bad happened.

  She dove back across the pond and stretched towards her necklace, the blue amulet just out of reach. Something massive and grey plummeted towards her, and for once, it wasn’t an Elf. Angeline whipped around and leapt back just as a colossal boulder barreled towards the pond in a slide of fury. It rolled past, sparing her skull by a matter of inches.

  But though her body lay unstricken, she was not unharmed. Even with the violent echo of the shifting earth pounding in her ears, through the whispers of death barely missed, she still heard the distinct crunch of glass. She still saw a trail of blue shards, her amulet, destroyed.

  CHAPTER 2 – KYLE

  Those asshole Elves just did not want to die, not even for the great Kyle Kallen. He’d been secretly tracking the bastards for two whole days after he found that body they’d left behind. Then he got careless and stood upwind. They caught his scent, which he knew could not be pleasant at that point. Not that those reeking, grey flesh-bags smelled any better.

  At least he’d managed to crush one of them with a boulder. He leapt over the pulverized body as the other two Elves circled him, blades raised. Flames danced in Kyle’s hands as he waited for one of them to make the next move. Nasty shitheads.

  You hear the word Elf and you picture Marilyn-blonde pansies in silver dresses gazing at the stars. That was not what Kyle Kallen was dealing with. Only thing those slimy monsters had in common with the Nancy Boys of fairytales were the pointy ears.

  Kyle glared back as the two sets of beady, jaundiced yellow eyes studied him closely. Well, one and a half sets. He tagged one of them with a rock to the skull earlier and by the looks of the bloody, smashed up socket, it didn’t appear the monster would be using that eye any time soon. That’s okay, Kyle intended to blast his head off and save him a visit to the optometrist.

  “Why’d you take the goddamn amulet?” Kyle said, pushing a little more heat into his flames for effect.

  “Prrretty,” hissed One-eyed-Joe.

  “I know I am,” Kyle said, flipping his filthy, shoulder-length blonde hair, lips curling into an amused smirk, “but I don’t swing that way. Ladies only.” Er. “Human ladies only.” He added as an afterthought.

  “Funny man shall diiiie,” said the other.

  “Okay, serious as shit,” Kyle said stepping back over the splay of Elf guts underfoot. “Why did you take that dude’s amulet after you killed him? I know it’s not to get all glammed up. You’re ugly as sin, there’s no fixing that mug.”

  The one-eyed Elf tucked a claw inside the front of its tattered tunic and flashed a hint of the stolen black amulet. Black huh? A Diviner. Poor bastard probably hadn’t stood a chance against those monsters. Kyle flexed his arm muscles, preparing to obliterate the smug dickhead demon.

  He barely had time to move as a shadow shifted in the corner of his eye. A whistling zipped past his ear. The metallic clang of a knife smacked a rock behind him.

  “Oh, tricky, tricky,” he said, angling himself to get both Elves solidly back into view. “Next time try dangling a pretty lady in front of me. Might distract me for a little longer.” He chuckled to himself at the opportunity to say something completely cheesy. “Oh wait, there won’t be a next time.”

  At least he cracked himself up. He had to, seeing as how he was on his own. But it was perfectly fine. He didn’t need any help to take down a couple of bloated bat-faces anyway.

  He reeled his arm back and pitched a ball of flame at one Elf, and then the other.

  They knocked the fiery wads both right back at him sending them ricocheting off their swords.

  “Ah, you guys are a bit quicker than your buddy, Sticky, over there, aren’t you?” Kyle said, clapping his hands together, conjuring a much larger, singular ball of fire. He needed to take one of them out; he couldn’t deal with this whole two-at-a-time bullshit. One-on-one was the only way to declare yourself a true winner, but these crusty cretins had no honor.

  Then again. What did he know about honor? It didn’t matter. He didn’t have time for a little guilt trip down memory lane. Not when it was monster crushin’ time.

  He stepped backwards again, toward the edge of the hill the boulder had just gone flying down. Both Elves inched forward after him. Just like he’d planned. When One-eyed-Joe hit the mark, Kyle launched his fiery comet. It whooshed away above his attackers’ heads and for a split second a glint of victory gleamed in all 3 yellow, jaundiced eyes. Then with a raging crackle, a huge black branch fell and pierced One-eyed-Joe through his one remaining eye. The Elf collapsed, bones cracking in its chest under the weight of the fallen limb.

  Its brethren hissed and flung another blade at Kyle.

  This time Kyle was the one to knock the projectile from its path. An amused grin pulled at his lips. “Sorry about your friend. Now you can see why I don’t keep any myself.”

  Kyle pulled a throwing knife from his belt and pressed the blade between both of his palms. He gritted his teeth as the steel instantly grew hot in his hands.

  The Elf lunged at him.

  Kyle tossed the heated dagger up and caught it by the hilt, tip glowing red.

  The Elf raised its sword, prepared to counter his attack.

  Kyle flung the knife at the beast.

  Metal clanked on metal as the weapons connected. And there it was again: that split second of victory sparking in those disgusting sallow eyes. But the moment that red-hot blade met with the Elven sword, those sparks of victory were replaced with sparks of fire. A spray of glowing embers showered down directly into the Elf’s hideous face. It dropped its guard for a second, but a second was all it took. Kyle swung his blade and sent the Elf’s foul head rolling across the forest floor. The disembodied skull came to rest right next to No-eyed-Joe.

  “Friends forever I guess,” Kyle laughed to himself as he wiped his long-knife on his pants. He leaned down and picked up his throwing knife from the ground and slid it back into his belt, blade still hot to the touch.

  He sauntered over and nudged the bloody, bodiless head out of the way. He dipped down and heaved the massive branch off the crumpled Elf body and shoved it aside. He snatched the golden chain and ripped the amulet from No-eyed-Joe’s neck, its punctured skull bobbing from the force.

  “Goddammit,” Kyle huffed as he lifted the amulet and looked straight through the circular gold fitting. He’d knocked out the black pendant that should have resided within. Those damn things might have been made with treated glass, but they were far from shatterproof as far as he’d seen. Tough to break, but not impossible.

  He shoved the broken amulet into his pack and cracked his neck. Now that he’d concluded that chapter in his adventures of Elf-stalking, he needed to find a new storyline. Well, maybe he hadn’t completely ended it. He figured he should probably go check where that boulder had rolled off to, in case he’d blocked a road or something.

  He stepped through the trees and crested the hill. Was that—

  He squinted into the blinding sunlight. Yes. It was. A totally naked chick kneeling on the ground, ass in the ai
r. Perhaps a higher power sought to reward him for his demon-slaying prowess. He chuckled and shook his head. Either that or One-eyed-Joe had actually killed him, and this was heaven. He could tell even from that distance: that ass was angelic. He bit back his curious grin and began his trek down the hill.

  As he got closer he realized the bare-assed babe was less kneeling, and more frantically patting around on the ground. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. The hot ones were always crazy.

  Then he spotted the rut marks in the mud at his feet. He followed the path with his eyes. The tracks ran right by the woman. Shit. She wasn’t a lunatic; he’d thrown a giant rock at her and fucked something up. He had to help her.

  The grass whipped at his legs as he tore towards her, sprinting down the hill. With less than 10 yards between them, she jumped up and spun to face him, knives raised, and no apparent shits given to the fact that she was completely naked.

  CHAPTER 3 – ANGELINE

  Angeline gripped her knife tighter and concealed the surprise threatening to spill through onto her face. Based on the sound of the explosion and the level of destruction, she had fully expected an amateur, fresh-meat Salamander to come barreling down that hill, wide-eyed and guilty. Nope. It was a grown-ass man instead. And on the outside, damn was he grown.

  There was that face for starters. A strong, razor sharp jaw peeked out through a week’s worth of bronze stubble, he could clearly grow a full beard, unlike most of her soldiers. His deep, dark blue eyes appeared to have long lost their innocence, his gaze a fiery blend of trouble and more trouble. The rest of his features were carved so deep that it somehow made his long, blonde hair look rugged and manly. Granted, his shiny, golden hair was thoroughly matted and filthy, but after a bath he might give Fabio a run for his money.

  Then there was that body. She could see the muscles of his ridiculously cut abs through his shirt. Biceps the size of her thighs bulged as he raised his arms in surrender. His shoulders were built like boulders… but not quite the size of the one that had just crushed her goddamn amulet.