Sparks and Flames (4 page)

“Why do you care?”

“I need to know if you’re a virgin. I don’t screw around with virgins.”

That was enough for Kian to find his nerve and kick Oda off him. “You sick f…”

“Now now, don’t use that language on me,” Oda wagged his finger in Kian’s direction. “You’re such a naughty boy!”

“You’ve answered with a death wish, old man!”

“And you answered with something far worse, child!” He snarled, trying to go after Kian. Kian kicked him again and made his way out the door. “Come back! I’m not done with you yet!”
 

“Don’t you dare touch me!” Kian snarled back. “I will make you pay for messing with the Dragon of the Velt!”

“The Dragon of the Velt?” Oda hooted when he heard that. “Oh, I have the Dragon of the Velt in my presence! I should feel honored!”

“You have no shame, do you?”

“Around you, child? I see you as nothing more than another piece of meat. You look very tasty.” Oda licked his lips again. “I wonder if you taste good all burnt like your victims.”

“Stop it.” Kian gritted his teeth. The man was working his last nerve right now.

“Yes, I bet you would taste good with some burnt edges to you. Have you ever wondered what burnt flesh tastes like? You probably don’t know. You’re okay with cooking someone alive but not with eating them. You have no mercy when you kill. I was surprised that you decided to show your face in my house.”

“I said stop it!”

“Come on, sweet little thing. Won’t you spare me?”

“I don’t think so.” Kian found his knife and took it out. It was no flamethrower but it was going to work. “One more word out of you and I will cut your tongue out.”

“Oh, you are so naughty! What’s wrong? Was that girl your friend?” He sneered and Kian’s face softened up. “Was she your girlfriend?”

“She was no one to me, but she meant something to others. You took her life for no reason.”

“Oh, there was a reason. Why should I tell you though? You’ve already made up your mind to kill me. Go ahead and do it. What’s holding you back?”

Kian clenched his fists but couldn’t find the strength inside to kill this man. He just couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do. He had a mission, he was clear on his objective, and still he couldn’t pull this off. It was a bad moment for him.

“What are waiting for, child? Do it!”
 

“Shut up!” He snarled. “I’ll do it when I’m ready to do it!”

“You’re just a scared little boy, aren’t you?” He asked. “That’s why you can’t pull this off!”

“I said shut up!” He slapped Oda across the face.

Oda was testing his patience. He was enjoying every minute and he knew he was getting under Kian’s skin. Kian found himself trembling but he couldn’t find the urge to stab him. He was sickened by his look.

Oda gave him one more look and whispered one last time.

“Go on. Do it.”

Chapter 4

Rukia looked at the dress that she was wearing. It was a sleeveless sky-blue dress with a corset that tied tightly in the back. The skirt itself went down to her knees and she had on a pair of matching tights. On her feet were white heels. She felt like a cloud lost in a sunny sky during summer. Midori was wearing something similar only her dress was red. She looked more sophisticated and grown up in comparison. The two of them were going to the party in place of their parents.

“Why are we forced to come here again?” Rukia asked.

“It’s just to be polite,” Midori said. “I don’t care about Mr. Oda any more than you do but we need to be good people. We need to look as though we are interested in this.”

“I’m not all that interested at all. It’s the same old thing,” Rukia murmured. “He always throws these parties and I always get bored at them. I told you that I wish I had a friend. We could ditch this place and go somewhere else for a change.”

“You think I enjoy it here? I want to go out to the yard and hit a few balls,” Midori held up her cricket bat. “That’s why I brought this. I can practice.”

“I don’t think anyone will allow you to practice cricket in their yard,” Rukia said. “You should put that thing away. Isn’t it a little too heavy for you?”

“Not at all. I’ve been carrying this around for ages. My arm never gets tired of it,” Midori looked up when she heard something. “Listen! Do you hear that?”

Rukia looked up and could sense commotion coming from the room down the hall. “Yes, there’s an argument going down in there. What do you think happened?”

“There’s only one way for us to find out,
” Midori said, gripping her bat tightly. “You said that this evening was boring? Let’s make it a bit more interesting and spy on these people.”

With a yell, they charged into the room to find Oda hovering right over a young man. The young man clearly was trying to push him off with all his might, but failing. Midori and Rukia saw what Oda’s intentions were and that was enough for them to get involved. It didn’t matter who this person was, but he was in trouble. Midori grabbed her cricket bat and swung at Oda’s head. “Let him go!”

“Ow! Ow! Why are you doing this?!”

“I could ask you the same question! What do you think you’re doing to him?!”
 

“Ow! Look, we were just having some fun!”

“Not really.” The young man straightened out his shirt and ran his fingers through his hair. “We were talking but then he got a little too drunk and frisky. I was trying to get him off me but he wouldn’t budge. I think he’s drunk a little too much tonight.”

“I’ll say. You think it’s funny to take advantage of people?” Midori demanded, taking another swing at Oda. “How dare you do that to one of your guests?!”

“He’s not my guest!”

“Do I look like I care who he is? You don’t take advantage of anyone ever!” Midori snarled, showing off all her teeth. She was normally a quiet person but when someone got on her bad side, all Hell was going to break loose. That was when the cricket player became a one woman army against her enemies. She was practically foaming with anger now. “You sick, disgusting little….”

“Please stop!” Oda begged. “I promise I won’t do that again!”

Rukia grabbed the young man and pulled him away from the scene. Midori was now angry and this was not the time to stop her. “Don’t worry. My sister is very good with that cricket bat.”

He looked at her like she was strange. “Why are you getting involved?”

“Someone has to,” she said, looking over at her sister chasing Oda out of the door. “I saw what he was trying to do so I had to save you.”

He blinked. “That’s the first time anyone’s saved me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She helped him button his shirt back up. “Did he hurt you?”

“No. I’m a lot stronger than I look but I dropped my guard. I wasn’t expecting a sexual assault here.” He wiped his mouth again, feeling ill from the kiss that Oda gave him. “I’m worried about you and your sister. You shouldn’t have tried to get involved. Oda is a very dangerous man and he will hurt you in a way you don’t expect.”

“Trust me. If Midori’s got a cricket bat, he doesn’t stand a chance against her. My name is Rukia. Rukia Benton.”

“Rukia Benton,” he repeated. “That’s an interesting name. I’ve never heard anyone named Rukia before.”

“You can thank my parents for that,” she said. “I guess I should leave you alone now, Mr…”

“Kian Ortiz-Shah.” He finished off for her.

“Wow. I thought my name was a mouthful.” She said and it made him laugh.

“Well, I’m half-Puerto Rican and half-Indian. I guess that’s what you would say since they used to exist a long time ago. Maybe that’s why it sounds so long.”

“Maybe. Where are you from, Kian Ortiz-Shah?”

“I…” He began to wonder if he could tell her about his situation. He wasn’t going to reveal why he was here but there was no harm in telling her where his home was. “I must confess that I live in The Velt.”

“The Velt? You’re dressed like this and you live in The Velt?”

“This is one of the few nice outfits I have,” he explained. That much was true; he didn’t have very many outfits that weren’t ripped or stained in blood. “I know you probably think less of me because of that…”
 

“Oh, stop.” She cut him off. “I don’t care about where you come from. I happen to know a lot of wonderful people that live in The Velt. I was just wondering why Oda would invite anyone from the Velt. He usually doesn’t think highly of the poor people.”

“Well, it might have something to do with me coming here on my own,” he confessed. “I didn’t really get an invitation.”

Things were starting to get strange between them so Rukia decided to change the subject. “You know, I do realize it’s bold of me but I think we should get out of here. Let me treat you to coffee or something.”

He was surprised by how bold she was. “Are you asking me out? You barely know me!”

“Well, that’s why I’m asking you out. I can get a chance to know you,” she explained. “Besides, I want to get you out of this place. It’s not exactly safe.”

He wanted to tell her that he was aware of how dangerous it was. In fact, he was part of the reason that it was so frightening. However, he didn’t know how she would react if she found out that he was a hunter. The only reason he had confronted Oda was so he could kill him. If he hadn’t let his guard down, he would never have fallen victim. He cursed himself for being so weak at that moment. It was terrible that he had to be saved.

On the outside, he gave Rukia a smile. “Sure, I guess we can go. What about your sister?”

“Don’t worry about Midori. She can take care of herself. I’ll send her a message saying that I went to the coffee shop and I’ll be home soon.” Rukia sent her sister a quick text before turning to Kian. “All right, Mr. Ortiz-Shah, let me lead you away from here.”

The coffee shop wasn’t far from the house but Kian had never seen anything like it. He couldn’t tell if any of these people were Elementals. They were acting normal if they were. He looked up at the menu and couldn’t understand what half of the drinks were. He had never had anything called a latte or espresso before. He had heard about chai but he had a good feeling it wasn’t anything like Indian chai. Nonetheless, it was the only thing he recognized so he decided to have that. Once he sat down with her, he decided it was time to use his interrogation skills. He would have to pretend that he was still an innocent bystander.

“All right, Rukia Benton, tell me a little bit about yourself,” he began. “What’s your family like? Where are you from?”

“I live in Calensa up on the hills,” she began.

“Calensa? That’s a very wealthy town.” He noted. “What does your family do?”

“My mother works in a bank and my father has his own business. We manufacture candy and toys,” she said. “Um, I’m the youngest of three girls. You already met Midori and my eldest sister, Mayuri, actually lives further away in Beltan. She goes to school there. We were actually adopted by the Benton family years ago. That’s why I don’t look like my mother and father. Look, I have a picture.”

She showed him the family photo and he saw what she meant. The parents looked nothing like their daughters. Her father had blond hair that was thinning, a blond mustache, and warm brown eyes. Their mother was a redhead with sparkling green eyes and freckles over her creamy complexion. However, they all looked like a happy family. He caught sight of the young Rukia in her purple dress, staring blankly at the camera. It was as though she didn’t know how to react towards it. Her hair didn’t have those blue streaks in it back then but he could tell it was her. She had been a cute girl in the past.

“Here you go.” He handed her the photo back. “I wish I could show you a picture of my family but I didn’t bring it with me. I really am half-Indian, half-Puerto Rico though.”

“Oh, I believe you. Now you’ve got to answer me why a guy from the Velt ended up here. What were you looking for?”

He couldn’t tell her the truth so he had to think fast and lie. “I wasn’t invited to the party, but I know some people up here so they let me in.”

“I see.” She didn’t opt to question it further. “What is it like living in the Velt?”

“Harder than you think. We work hard and I have a lot of people that I care about living there. Unfortunately, we’re so far down in this line that I don’t think we’ll see any improvements. The government doesn’t seem to care about anyone in the Velt. That’s the sole reason why I’ve never been able to go to school. We just don’t have enough money.”

“Oh, I wish I could give you some of my money,” she said, looking down at her purse and taking out a few bills. “In fact, keep these.”

“What? No, I couldn’t take your money!” He exclaimed, pushing it back. “I’m not that poor, Rukia. I do have money to last me the next few weeks. It may not be much but I’ll survive. I promise you that much.”

“I want you to have it though.”

“I’m telling you no. I won’t take it.” He closed her fingers over the money. “I appreciate this, but you should keep your own money. I’ll make mine.”

“If you insist…” She put the money away. “I really do want to help you.”

“When I need help, I’ll let you know,” he said, wondering if he should have taken the money. It wasn’t often that a lovely young lady offered to give him anything. “I can’t thank you enough for all your help back there. I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t around.”