Fated Souls (The Fated Saga Book 1) Read online

  "Really? And…what happened?" I retold the story for him and his eyes lit up.

  "You don’t realize what happened, do you?"

  "Um…no…" I looked at him, stupefied.

  "Leorah, he didn’t stop breathing fire. You made him stop!" he explained excitedly.

  "I—oh I did not. He stopped. The teacher or whatever was coming."

  "Did you guys usually get in trouble for breathing fire?"

  "No, just me," I said.

  He smiled. "Why would you get in trouble, and they wouldn’t?"

  "I—because they hate me," I insisted.

  "And why do they hate you?"

  "Because I’m different."

  "Because you have the power to stop them if you want to. Your fire—your sparkles—can stop their fire. And their magic. And any magic that is near you."

  "I—what?" I was stunned. "I’ve never done it before!"

  "Because you aren’t allowed. Was it the adults that told you not to, or the kids?"

  "Well, the adults obviously."

  He laughed shortly. "Of course. Because they know what you are, and they don’t want you to be able to stop them. So they left you in the dark. Probably over the centuries since Cyril was so powerful and he stopped many wars and many hostile takeovers since none of you ever were born, the eldest of dragons passed along false knowledge of your kind and what you are to stigmatize and seclude you…if you don’t exist, you can’t stop them from doing what they want to do, no matter how bad or good it is."

  "I—are you kidding me?" It was more of a rhetorical whisper. "But…I can’t believe it."

  "Believe it. Once you are ready, I can show you."

  "How?"

  His eyes lit up. "Because, as one of the knights of the Order, I am also a powerful sorcerer. I have magic."

  "Oh come on. You’re human! You—"

  Before my very eyes, Gabriel started concentrating, holding his palms together and after a few seconds, fireballs formed in his hands as he parted them. Small, but they were there. I stared at them, in complete awed silence, as he bobbed them in his hand like they were kids’ toy balls. The glow of the fire shone in his eyes and lit up his face and I truly saw how gorgeous he was in this dim moonlight. My heart skipped a beat…or two.

  The shirt being off helped a bit too. I couldn’t help but smile despite my frustration, confusion and complete awe of the turn of events that were now laid out before me. And the fire in his hands.

  "Holy…holy shit." I barely whispered in awe, watching as he closed the little balls of fire slowly, causing them to form one larger ball the size of a volleyball. "Now, watch this." He turned towards the nearest tree, and yelled out a loud "Hah!" as he pushed them towards the trunk, immediately singing the bark and sparking a small fire.

  "Oh my—I can’t believe you did that! You wanna burn down the entire forest?" I started to run to the fire to put it out, glaring at him in dismay when he put his hand out to stop me.

  "Trust me." Was all he said. He pointed his palms to the ground and closed his eyes for a short moment. Then, as if pulling it out of the ground, a stream of water came out slowly as he turned his palms over and let the puddle float in the air for a bit. It sounded like it was raining, yet none fell out of the invisible containment field in his hands. He turned to me and wiggled his eyebrows excitedly.

  "Okay, now you’re just showing off," I said, and I watched his concentration nearly break, the water ball nearly falling from his hands. But he quickly composed himself and thrust the water at the tree trunk, dowsing the fire he started instantly.

  "Are they—" It was hard to believe neither fire nor water touched his hands; hard to believe they weren’t wet or burned. I hesitantly stepped closer to him to take a closer look at his palms. He held them out in front of him.

  "See? Just fine." And he was right. Not a singe mark, not even a drop of water or red from the heat. Just…fine.

  Not realizing what I was doing I grabbed them and pulled them closer to my line of vision, placing my fingertips along the lines of his palms, trying to feel the heat that was surely there.

  And, there was that shiver again. And…heat, but not from the fire. I let out a small "eek" at the surprise and feeling of it, and the warm sensation that emanated off of him and tickled my skin, starting at my own palms, then up my arms and towards my cheeks which I surely knew had to be on fire themselves right about now. I dared to look up into his eyes and he smiled slowly. "Satisfied?"

  "I think so," I whispered dreamily.

  He chuckled, and let his hands fall to his sides. "You, Leorah are way more special than you could ever know."

  I beamed. "Well…that’s good to know." I was disappointed as he took a few steps back from me. Crestfallen, I frowned.

  "Don’t worry, it’s not you. It’s just…overwhelming." He insisted.

  "What is? Surely not more than me…I just learned I actually serve a purpose!" I let out a fake gasp and pretended to hold my heart in shock.

  "Ha!" He laughed. "No it's just…I can’t believe this is happening to me. Me! One of the things I was told to prepare for was how to live my life just in case—and it was a huge probability—that you would never show up." He snorted shortly. "I trained for years and years, just like my uncle Christopher. For twenty years he practiced his magic, and his combat skills only to realize that, he needed to make a life for himself. And he had no idea what he wanted to do, he was so let down. So I—I trained, and did all the things I was supposed to do but I never really thought it would ever happen. I mean seriously like you said—it’s been years. I went to college, let my magic lapse some and did normal people stuff. I graduated, got a degree and a job. I have a house—in Canada!"

  "Oh," was all I could say, afraid now of what that meant. I turned away from him and started pacing as he continued talking. That would figure, the first person—human or dragon—that could relate to me and he was leaving. Or, if he chose to stay, I could make his life miserable.

  "But!" he said quickly. "My brother—who is not a knight but a seer, told me I needed to come here. It would change things. I was reluctant but…I did it. Something dragged me into your coffeehouse. I don’t know what it was. But the second I saw you I knew somehow, you were the reason I was supposed to be here." He chuckled. "I thought that he meant I was going to meet some amazing woman, not the dragon we've all been looking for, for—years! And now everything will change."

  "Really? So the amazing pink dragon can’t also be an amazing woman?" I countered sarcastically.

  "Truthfully I was expecting some sort of troll. Or a dude." He chuckled. "Is that really how you look? I mean, can you change your appearance?"

  I shook my head. "Nope. You have one human form, and you don’t get to decide it. It grows and changes along the same lines as a normal human. Once I looked like a child, eventually I’ll get silver and wrinkles." I frowned at the prospect. "Though, it will be a long time before that happens."

  "Ah, I didn’t know that."

  "So, why does everything have to change?" I asked, somewhat fearing the answer.

  "Because it is the sworn duty of a Knight of the Order to work alongside his dragon, above all other duties. And now I see I have a very large job to do, knowing now that you don’t have hardly any clue of what your abilities are." He heaved a heavy sigh. "It will be a lot of work. Not sure I’m the right one for the job."

  "So if you don’t want to do it, don’t. It’s as simple as that. Just go back home, and live your life. I lived my entire life without you so far, I can live the rest without you. No worries." I bowed in a mock curtsy, "Good day to you, Gabriel, Knight of whatever Dragon Order. I relieve you of your duties." Could I do that? I didn't care. I turned to storm off towards my car, still parked in the clearing. Something inside me felt sick and unsure; like I wasn’t really convinced of what I said. But, I was tough—sorta—I’d get through it somehow.

  I felt a hand grasp my shoulder. "I didn’t say I didn’t want to,"
he said as he swiveled me around. "Just that I didn’t know how."

  "Oh. Well how long are you supposed to be here for?"

  "Another couple of weeks before my sabbatical is up at work," he replied.

  "Well, decide then. And I’ll decide if I even want to deal with this. You know all I ever wanted to do was blend in, and be ignored. Live my life, go to work, have my little place in the world where I didn’t have to worry about constant ridicule. Watch TV with my cat and go to sleep, tired from working or tired from stress but not tired from being upset at being teased or cut down or worried about not living up to my parents' expectations."

  "I guess that’s fair."

  A gust of wind broke through the trees, howling as it wound over the branches, bringing it with it a wave of cold air. I could smell rain in the air, surely an early fall storm was looming in the sky. I shivered.

  "Cold…" Gabriel shivered himself. "Listen can we debate this somewhere else? The coffeehouse still open? It’s going to rain here soon, and it’s pretty chilly."

  "You can always put your shirt back on," I reminded him, pointing at the red hoodie on the ground.

  He chuckled. "Right." He grabbed for it and pulled it over his head. "That’s better." I had to struggle to hide the disappointment from my face when he covered his upper body. Dragon or not, I could still appreciate human attractiveness.

  "We still should get out of here," I agreed. I pulled my cell phone out of my front jeans pocket to check the display. "Coffeehouse will be closing soon but if it's coffee you want; I have plenty at my place if you want."

  "Are you sure?" he asked cautiously.

  I laughed. "Oh trust me…you might be able to do magic but I could literally bite your head off if I wanted to. I’m not afraid of anyone except…well, another dragon."

  He forced a smile through his nervous gulp. "Well that’s…good to know."

  Suddenly, a thought occurred to me out of the blue. I snapped my fingers and shouted, "You! You fixed the machine yesterday, didn't you?"

  Gabriel smirked knowingly and just shrugged. "Maybe," he said, feigning innocence.

  I clicked my tongue at him. "Damn you," I muttered, but motioned for him to follow me. Well, that explains it, at least. It was magic after all! I'll be damned…

  Gabriel agreed to follow me once we reached the highway and as we turned off the dirt road he slowed down in his black Ford Ranger truck and allowed me to lead him the few blocks to my apartment.

  We arrived at my apartment a few minutes later and he joined me in the doorway. "Wow so…you live here?" he asked rhetorically in disbelief.

  "Why, doesn’t it fit me?" I asked, unlocking the door and pushing the door open, hitting the light switch on the way in. I gestured for him to go in and he did.

  "Honestly I pictured something less…humble and small," he replied, following me into the kitchenette area.

  I laughed. "Oh so sorry your knightly-ness," I said, beginning the process of making coffee. "Perhaps maybe someday I’ll afford something to your liking," I kidded, filling up the coffee pot with water from the sink and pouring it in the reservoir of my coffee maker.

  "No! That’s not what I mean," he said quickly, taking a seat over the bar area separating the kitchen from the living room. "I just mean, I always pictured dragons living in these huge, drafty castles with jeweled statues and…" he trailed off, smiling. "I’ve seen too many movies."

  "Haha, well you’re not entirely wrong. We have castles," I said, measuring the right amount of coffee into the basket and putting it in the maker, and hitting the brew button. "With fireplaces and stuff…you know we don’t get much electricity up there."

  "Yeah I imagine not."

  "But what we do have we save for the internet," I said trying to sound as serious as possible producing a cheesy Harry Potter mug with the words "Mischief Managed" on it and placed it in front of him. He raised an eyebrow.

  "Really?" he asked, raising it up.

  "What?" I asked with a shrug. "You think that’s bad, you should see my bedroom. Harry Potter stuff all over."

  He laughed. "Well…I would love to see it sometime."

  I paused, head in the cabinet, feeling that shiver up my spine again. I peeked my head out to say, "Really?"

  "Well yeah for—wait! The Harry Potter stuff, not because I want to see your bedroom or anything." Gabriel turned fifty shades of crimson and pretended to be very interested in the map design on the other side of the mug.

  I grabbed my own cup—this time a Twilight one that said "Team Jacob!" on it. "You mean you only want to see my nerd gear? That’s it?" I asked, pretending to sound insulted, puffing out my lower lip.

  "I mean, I—" His eyes widened. He facepalmed himself and groaned.

  I laughed uproariously. "Oh I’m just kidding!" I wasn’t sure if I was though, but I was enjoying giving him a hard time.

  He peeked at me with a brown eye from in between his fingers. "Oh, you are…evil after all."

  "Why whatever do you mean?" I asked, batting my eyelashes innocently.

  He nodded towards my coffee cup. "Team Jacob? Really? Come on it’s Edward all the way."

  We laughed, as the coffee maker sputtered, announcing it was finished. I reached for the pot when I felt him next to me, nudging me out of the way. "Seriously, let me. You have done this for me now like, how many times? Allow me, for once."

  I shivered again, feeling the pull between us at this close proximity. I didn’t want to move away because I didn’t want the feeling to end, not because I cared less if he poured my coffee, for once.

  "May I?" he asked again, when I wouldn’t move.

  "Oh. Yeah." I stepped back, allowing him to reach for the coffee pot. While he poured two cups, I produced several bottles of creamer and a bowl of sugar from the refrigerator.

  "Sugar in the fridge?"

  "Yeah, my cat will eat it all otherwise. She has a sweet tooth," I explained.

  "Ah." As if on cue knowing we were talking about her, my cat, Sona padded into the kitchen with a loud "Meow!" announcing her arrival.

  "How is it that a dragon can live with a cat?" Gabriel asked, as she noticed him and cautiously tip-toed to him, smelling his shins daintily.

  I shrugged. "I prefer salads," I replied.

  "Uh-huh." Surprising to both of us, stranger-shy Sona jumped into his arms. Gabriel managed to catch her in a hug, and she nuzzled her fuzzy cheek against his unshaven chin.

  I raised an eyebrow. "Well, that’s a good sign."

  "What is?" he scratched her in between her ears and she closed her eyes and purred.

  "Sona doesn’t like people."

  "Just dragons?" he asked.

  "Not even, every time she sees my brother she hisses and claws at his feet. She ignores my grandfather. Anytime someone comes to the door she yelps and hides," I watched with interest as she relaxed further in his arms and he rubbed her furry head. "All except my friend Kit."

  Damn, I was jealous of that cat now.

  "Huh…imagine that." With his free hand he poured some vanilla creamer into his coffee and a spoonful of sugar. He took a sip as I fixed my own and we sat down across from each other at the little metal card table and chairs in the kitchen/dining area.

  "Tell me more about this magic stuff. So, I can stop dragons from breathing fire. That doesn’t exactly sound like big deal," I said.

  "Alone it’s not," he agreed. "But the fact that you can stop all magic with your fire by all mythos that I know of…that is pretty impressive."

  "You mean, there’s more?" I asked, surprised.

  "Oh yeah. Plenty of mythos."

  "Mythos?" I repeated, confused.

  "Mythological creatures. There’s way more of us than you realize. Dragons. Sorcerers. Witches. Fairies."

  I let out a low whistle. "Great. What’s the difference between sorcerers and witches?"

  "Sorcerers are born with their magic, usually hereditary. Witches learn their magic, usually conjured through spells a
nd stuff," he explained.

  "And you’re a— "

  "—sorcerer. Yes, I am."

  "Your brother? Is he a sorcerer?" I asked, leaning on the counter top, sipping my coffee casually trying to fully fathom that I was having an actual conversation with someone about sorcerers and not talking about Harry Potter; it was serious and not fiction.

  "He’s an oracle. A Seer. He can predict future events, has visions…stuff like that."

  "Does he use like, a crystal ball?" I asked, half joking and half serious.

  "Well he uses crystals, but a lot of the time the visions just come to him. To ask him specific questions you need Tarot cards and crystals…herbs and stuff. It’s pretty complicated. He doesn't do it often because the results are unpredictable at best."

  I shook my head trying to comprehend the information. I was picturing in my head some turban wearing guy with a beard, speaking in a low, haunting voice. "So he saw you coming here?"

  He nodded, interrupting his cat scratching to reach for the sugar bowl for another spoonful of sugar. Sona let out a disgruntled mew but was intrigued, watching him spoon the sugar into the cup, her tail twitching back and forth. "He pictured the entire town, me walking through it, walking into the coffee house."

  "Did he see me?"

  "No, his visions aren’t usually that specific, but they can be if you ask specific questions," he replied.

  "Can he tell me what the hell I’m supposed to do now?" I asked dryly.

  Gabriel looked up from his coffee and smiled. I smiled myself, his smile, just his very presence was beginning to do odd things to me. I was honestly starting to understand why Emily and Madison were so excited they squealed and irritated everyone else. I felt warm inside, in the spot where my heartbeat starting quickening, and it wasn’t due to the coffee. "He may be able to help out with that, but most of it’s going to be up to you. Visions always change. No one’s path is set. That’s what he would tell you."