Read Online Playing With Fire by Sean Michael - Free Book Online Page B

new prison?
    “I said I was not to be disturbed.” The voice came from a dark corner, a mass of dark cloth hiding Zujan from his eyes.
    “I brought food.” He walked into the room, the wind stealing his warmth, cloak flying out behind him.
    “Leave it and go.” The room was covered in scorched footprints, sigils, little piles of faeries sleeping on the stones.
    It was fascinating, and he looked his fill as he brought the tray over to Zujan. The little sparks were littered about Zujan, the man hidden except for the black-black eyes. “Are you going to eat? Mata’s in tears.”
    “Mata is in tears more often than she’s not.”
    “Yeah, well, she’s right. You need to eat. I mean if you want to keep up your strength for terrorizing your subjects and all.”
    Some of the faeries began to flutter. “Indeed.”
    “Look, take a bite, and I can tell her you ate, all right?” He kept his eye on the faeries—he remembered seeing a lot of them right before the fire. Really, Zujan needed a better water delivery system if he was going to set fires inside. Of course, Wintras figured it would be prudent to keep that to himself.
    One hand, blue and skeletal, the tendons and bones visible, took a berry, the fruit freezing and bursting at the sorcerer’s touch. Then a flash of heat flared, the berry melted, and Zujan ate it.
    What? That wasn’t normal.
    “Are you alive?” he asked.
    “As far as I know, yes.”
    “What’s wrong with your skin?” Why did he care? Why was he asking? Go. Run away. Get out of range.
    A soft giggle sounded, almost frightening. “I’m cold. I am waiting for my heat to build again.”
    “I could see your bones . That’s not cold, that’s…” He shivered. “Well, yeah, cold too—you need a fire in here.”
    Another laugh, Zujan’s body shaking. “We had a fire. A big fire.”
    “Yeah. All right. Whatever.” He backed off, not even sure why he was trying in the first place. Gella said Zujan always came down, besides, if he didn’t, all these people were free. He was free. His family and the outlying principalities were all free.
    The faeries began to shiver, gathering together, forming something that looked like a body, like a flaming, lean body.
    Zujan snorted, “Fickle beasts. He cannot touch you.”
    “What are they doing?” It was fascinating, the faeries were fascinating. And a little scary. Maybe more than a little.
    “Trying to seduce you. They’re bored and want to go back down.”
    “Then why don’t they?” They were kind of pretty.
    “They cannot. They feed on me. If they move too far away, they dissolve.”
    “Feed on you?” Wintras took a step back away from the faeries.
    “Their life force must come from somewhere, pet.” The faeries shivered, stepped toward him then back toward Zujan.
    Wintras started to back toward the door, the wind howling through the room. He didn’t want to watch them do whatever they did.
    “Thank you for the meal, pet.” Zujan stood, gaunt, terrifyingly pale and small, arms held open to the faeries.
    “I’ll pass that on to Mata,” he murmured, continuing to watch with horrified fascination despite himself.
    The flashing lights descended on Zujan, the swirling lights seeming to make the sorcerer appear tiny. He stepped forward. “Zujan…”
    Dark eyes met his, desperate, agonized. He went to Zujan, cursing himself as a fool and batted at the faeries, pushing them away from Zujan. They dissolved as he touched them, burst into sparks. He touched Zujan’s arm, hissing at how cold the almost translucent skin was.
    Zujan looked up at him, shaking, obviously frightened. “Who…who are you?”
    The man was obviously delirious. Funny, Zujan also seemed so much smaller and non-threatening. Wintras reached out again, managing not to wince or pull back as his hand wrapped around the freezing arm. “One of your slaves, Zujan. Come downstairs with me. Get warm.”
    “Warm? There is no more warmth.”
    All right, Zujan was nuts. And