Fire Forged Read online

  Fire Forged

  N. E. Conneely

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Coming Soon

  Also by N. E. Conneely

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2018 N. E. Conneely

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information-storage-and-retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or author. Requests for permission to copy part of this work for use in an educational environment may be directed to the author. This book is a work of fiction. References to historical events, real people, or real locales are made fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  To Mom

  Chapter One

  The cat swiped at Shasta, its claws fully extended. Shasta yanked her hand back and slammed the cage door shut, narrowly avoiding injury. The cat wedged its paw between the bars and took another swipe at her hand. When it couldn’t reach her, it yowled and then vanished from sight.

  “Damn magical cats.” She quickly latched the cage and stood up. The cat reappeared long enough to hiss at her before going invisible again. But she could still see its hazy cat shape, surrounded by the slight opalescent glow of magic, lying in the cage. Being half elf and half witch had some advantages.

  “So how many more of those things do we have to capture?” Cord asked. Unlike her, Cord was purebred elf. Tall and lanky with short-cropped blond hair and charming blue eyes, he looked the part too. Today he was sporting scratches on both hands and a frown.

  Shasta took a step away from the cage, putting herself well out of reach of those seeking paws that kept poking through the grate. “How many are in your cage?”

  “Four.”

  “Well, I have five. Animal control said fourteen of these things escaped, so we’ve got five more to catch.” Out of the corner of her eye Shasta noticed a blurry area. One of the remaining five cats was hunkered in the shrubs behind Cord. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see them when they were invisible. It was the same problem the three on-duty elves had encountered when they tried to reacquire the escaped cats. They could physically track them, but cats weren’t known for leaving much in the way of tracks, and when they were invisible, the elves simply couldn’t see them.

  Which was how she and Cord had ended up out here in the first place. Cherokee County had called Oaks Consulting, providing permanent solutions to magical problems. Since they were on call today, they’d ended up here. Here, with cats that could go invisible.

  The fuzzy blob that was all she could see of the cat lifted off the ground, slowly rising through the air until it was hovering roughly in line with Cord’s shoulders. Oh, a tidbit that wasn’t mentioned in the initial phone call. The blasted cats could fly.

  Shasta kept her voice relaxed and conversational. “Cord, one of the cats is in the air, about three feet behind your shoulders.”

  “I can’t believe these things are invisible to me.” He scooted one foot forward, ready to pivot and grab the cat. Before she could open her mouth to warn him, the cat launched forward and landed on his back. From Cord’s bellow, Shasta figured the cat had sunk its claws through his shirt and right into his skin. Cord twisted around, grabbing at the general area of the cat. Of course, since it was still invisible, he couldn’t find it as easily as one might think. He yanked his hand back, a fresh set of scratches across his wrist.

  “Evil little monsters!” He spun around. Through the fuzzy blob that was the cat, Shasta could see slashes appear in his shirt followed by bloody scratches. Cord kept moving until his back was turned away from her. He reached for the cat again. It hissed, and he pulled his hand back with more scratches.

  “Narzel blast it!” He twisted in the other direction, moving so that his back was toward her as he reached for the cat with his undamaged hand.

  Shasta darted forward, grabbed the cat around its middle, yanked it off Cord—to which he yelled even louder—and pivoted toward the cages. The cat squirmed in her hands, and she felt claws drag along her thick gloves. She scanned the array of cages. One on the far left was open, and she all but threw the cat into it, quickly slamming the door before it could rake her skin with its claws.

  She latched the door as a big ginger cat popped into view. It was lovely, but she really wasn’t sure why someone would want to breed cats that could be invisible and fly. Regular house cats were clever enough without any additional abilities. The cat eyed her for a moment, then sat on its haunches and started washing its paws. They were also the most combative cats she’d ever encountered, though she wasn’t sure if that was intentional or a side effect of the magic that had given them the other abilities.

  She dusted off her hands, took off her gloves, and tucked them in her back pocket, and turned back to Cord. “And then there were four.”

  He glared at her and, without saying a word, turned around. Blood was dripping off the scratches on his hand, but that was nothing compared to his back. Long strips had been torn out of his shirt, and the assortment of scratches was oozing blood. The shallower ones to the sides were healing, but that didn’t make the damage hurt less.

  “Why don’t I get you a healing charm.” As she walked away, she heard Cord mutter some very unprofessional things.

  While she couldn’t blame him, she knew there were worse jobs. Sure, it was annoying to be hunting for cats spread across a complex of buildings and twenty acres of rolling green fields, but the magic built into the perimeter fence kept them from leaving the area. Shasta gazed across the field to their SUV and the gate not far from it. Well, unless they crept through the gate when it opened for vehicles. Theoretically, the spells on the perimeter should keep the cats in, but they were magical cats. She wouldn’t be surprised if their abilities allowed them to sneak through the gate.

  A puff of clouds moved away from the sun. The moisture in the air seemed to be trying to escape by sticking to her. Shasta wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, sure that the sun was shining all that much brighter now that it had a direct path to the earth. Summer in Georgia was like that.

  As she stepped onto the pavement, a hint of a breeze twirled around her before moving away. With a wistful sigh, she unlatched the tailgate and swung it open. She tugged over one of the duffel bags of equipment and dug around until she found a minor healing charm—a small wooden disk with a red center bordered by runes. She set the charm to the side, shoved the black duffel bag back, and opened a big red box strapped to the bed of the cargo area an inch behind the tailgate. From there she found a pouch labeled shirt—cord. She also picked up some baby wipes and a small bag so he could gather up whatever trash he generated. He’d want to clean up before putting on the new shirt.

  Shasta closed the red box, gathered up the healing charm and other supplies, and closed the tailgate. As she walked across the field toward Cord, she could see him stripping out of his shirt. He used the unbloodied portions to wipe the sweat off his face and then dropped it on the ground. He turned toward the cages, giving Shasta a good view of his back.

  The cat had done a remarkable job of slicing him up in the few moments it had been clawing him. He looked l
ike something out of a horror film, blood covering most of his back and staining the waistband of his khaki pants. Elves generally healed fast, so some of the scratches had to be rather deep since they were still bleeding.

  As she got close, he turned around. His lips were pursed, and there were crow’s feet at the corner of his eyes. “Healing charm?”

  Shasta handed it over without a comment.

  He smeared it across his side, where an extra-thick drip of blood had worked its way down his body, and then held it in his fist. Blood activated the charm. Shasta could feel it flaring to life, the magic flowing into Cord, especially his back. As the seconds ticked by, she could see first the wrinkled corners of his eyes smooth out and then his entire jaw relax. Having been at the receiving end of a few of those healing charms herself, she knew they were pretty effective, taking care of the injury and the pain.

  Cord tucked the charm into his front pants pocket and held out his hand.

  “You want any help?” Shasta handed over the bag, wipes, and shirt.

  Cord sighed. “Yes.” He opened the box of wipes and held it out to her.

  Shasta tugged out a wipe and motioned for him to turn around. Only weeks ago, she would’ve looked forward to having an excuse to touch him. He was an exemplary male elf, muscular but not overly bulky, and taller than her, which was nice.

  However, even though she’d known Cord for years, when she finally told him the truth about herself—the full truth—he’d pulled away. For whatever reason, he’d been more than willing to accept that she was half elf, half witch, born of the earth. But learning that the earth had created her to battle evil and bring justice, that was too much for him.

  She started at the top of his shoulders, where the scratches were shallower and, thanks to the combination of his natural healing and the charm, were little more than fading pink lines. She carefully wiped the blood off his skin, working across the top of his back and then down, around the wounds that were still open and healing.

  Since the night he’d found out all her history, they’d gone from entertaining a relationship to being on hold. He was trying to decide if he could love all of her, not just the her he thought he’d known all these years. And Shasta? Well, she was trying to decide if she wanted someone who had to spend this much time contemplating them as a couple.

  Which would be easier if she didn’t love him. Love was a traitorous little emotion, not caring if the other person was being a jerk. Love just existed. Right now, it existed to make her heart hurt at the same time it fluttered. Being this close, she could hear his heart beating, see the pulse fluttering in his veins, and feel the heat coming off him.

  Or maybe that was just the Georgia sun.

  She grabbed yet another wipe and started on the blood along his waistline. Not only were the top of his pants stained, but there was probably blood working its way down the rest of his backside. However, she kept her efforts very politely above his clothing. Even if they’d been on better terms, this was the workplace. And at the moment, all they were was work partners, teamed up to make sure neither of them was alone when an emergency required the specialized skills of Oaks Consulting.

  Shasta stepped back and gave him a once-over. “It’s not perfect, but barring a shower, you look pretty good.”

  He turned around and gave her a hint of a smile. “Thank you.”

  She took the bag of trash from him, tucking the last wipe in it. She carefully closed the box of wipes he handed her and then set it and the bag of trash on top of a stack of cages. They’d take all their things back to the car after they rounded up the last cats.

  She turned around to see him right behind her. He wasted no time in sliding into the new work polo, this one blue. He leaned around her, setting the pouch, which was bulging with what she assumed were the remains of his shredded shirt, on top of the bag of trash.

  There on the other side of the row of cages another invisible cat was casually strolling past them. Shasta slowly pulled her gloves out of her back pocket, tugging them on as she quietly circled the cages. The cat sat down, giving her its back, and started washing its paw. She’d seen a cat do this twice before, and both times the cats had managed to get claws in both her and Cord before they caged it. She didn’t trust the casual look.

  Shasta glanced over at Cord. He was watching her, and this time he actually had his gloves on. That was progress. Hoping he understood, she pointed at the cat, though she wasn’t sure how much good that would do since he couldn’t see it.

  He must’ve gotten the idea, because he nodded and started circling around to approach the cat from the front. Cord was just stepping out from behind the row of cages when the cat looked up, its paw still held in the air. It set the paw down, turned, and sprinted right at her.

  Leaning over, Shasta snatched it around the midsection just as it was trying to bolt past her. She plucked it off the ground, its feet flailing and its body writhing as it tried to scratch her. “Got it!”

  Cord darted over to an empty cage. He unlocked it and held the door open. Shasta hurried over, trying to keep a solid grip on the cat without hurting it. It kept scratching at her, but it dropped the invisibility. It was another ginger. Shasta set it in the cage and quickly yanked her arms back. Cord closed the door as the cat lunged forward. It crashed into the door and then sat down, its tail thumping as it whipped back and forth.

  Cord grinned. “Just three left.”

  “Yep.” Shasta turned around and let her eyes trail over the rolling fields. As nice as it was to see him in a better mood, likely due to not being scratched again, she really wanted to find these cats and get out of the heat.

  Cord came up to stand beside her. “What’s wrong?”

  Shasta shrugged. It wasn’t so much what was wrong as that nothing really felt right anymore. “I’m ready to get the rest of these cats so we can go home.”

  Cord’s blue eyes looked into hers as if he could see into her soul. She rather hoped he couldn’t. At the moment she wasn’t feeling very charitable toward him. Whatever he saw was enough that he merely gave a brisk nod and turned his attention to the field. “The catnip worked pretty well to attract the first lot. Do you think we could use the rest of the bag to get the last three?”

  “Maybe.” However, a lump of catnip was still sitting on the grass, and she couldn’t see any cats nearby. “I think we need to try something else.”

  Cord sighed. “I’d say I’m happy to do my part, but since I can’t see them, it’s a little difficult.”

  “Not your fault.” She looked back at the catnip. Either the remaining cats weren’t interested, or they hadn’t smelled it yet. If that second one was the case, that meant the cats were at the very far ends of the compound. Maybe if she could enhance the scent, that would draw the cats over. Of course, that would be easier if the catnip was a little more potent. Since they’d picked it up at the grocery store on the way over, it wasn’t fresh.

  Shasta turned to Cord and raised an eyebrow. “Do you think you could work some of that super elf mojo where you make herbs extra potent and, in this case, extra smelly?”

  He shrugged. “Sure, but how would it help?”

  “My mom told me a story once about a time she spelled a plastic steak to smell like it was a bunch of steaks cooking on the grill. The smell lured in some flying Chihuahuas. I was thinking we could try something like that with the catnip. While you’re increasing the potency, I’ll be trying to talk the wind into giving us a helping hand.”

  “Let’s give it a shot.” He grabbed the rest of the bag of catnip, walked over to the pile, and dumped it on top of what was already on the ground. He shoved the empty bag in his pocket and then cupped his hands around the little pile of herbs.

  Meanwhile, Shasta took in a deep breath, letting herself feel how the air around her brushed against her skin, trailed across the earth, and danced through the sky. She lowered her shields and opened herself up to the elements. As the wind twisted around her, she formed her thoug
hts in a way it would understand. Can you help me?

  Yes, it hissed past her ear.

  Can you carry the smell for me?

  It brushed across the back of her neck. Yes.

  The twist of wind tousled her ponytail and then fluttered over to where Cord was standing up from having done his trick with the catnip. It swirled around the herbs and darted away.

  She really hoped this worked. The sooner they could get those last three cats, the sooner they could get out here.

  Cord walked over to her. “Well?”

  “The wind agreed, so now we wait.” It felt like all she’d been doing lately. Waiting, hoping he’d look at her and see someone he could love rather than someone he didn’t understand.

  Cord tugged on his gloves again. “I’m ready!”

  Shasta couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll let you know when I see a cat.” She carefully scanned the area, searching for the telltale fuzziness that indicated the invisible felines. So far nothing. As nice as it would have been to get some instantaneous results, as long as they captured the remaining cats soon, she’d be satisfied.

  The sun continued to beat down on them, and a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead and right in her eyes. She scrubbed her face on the back of her wrist. When she looked up, a cat was sitting almost on top of the catnip. She blinked, trying to make sure it wasn’t just a bit of leftover sweat in her eyes, but the cat was there, and two more were headed over.

  “One next to the catnip, two on the way.” Grinning, she eased the gloves out of her pocket and slid them on.

  “Just tell me what to do,” Cord whispered.

  “We’ll wait until all three of them are at the catnip, and then I’ll try that stun spell again.”