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.

Angeline swallowed hard and narrowed her eyes. No matter how downright delicious he looked, she could not get distracted from her mission. The fact that she stood before him naked and powerless could be easily remedied. She just needed his magic and she’d be on her way.

“I am a Captain in The Realm’s army,” she spat, angling her blade closer to his beautiful face, “I command you: hand over your amulet.”

“Ooooh. A Captain, bummer. And here I was about to ask for a phone number.”

Her jaw tensed. Phones didn’t even work here, that was the stupidest pick up line she’d ever heard. “This is no time for jokes. I’m on a critical mission and you’ve put it in jeopardy. You’ve put the entire Realm at risk.”

“I didn’t realize the Masters were sending warriors on naked quests these days. If I knew that, maybe I’d still be enlisted.”

“You’re not part of a platoon?” she said, ignoring the fact that his eyes were starting to drift. Life in the field had erased all traces of modesty she once held.

“Not anymore,” he said, shrugging. “My arms are getting tired. What can we do to get you to put those weapons down?”

“You can give me your amulet, you can follow my orders.”

“What happened to your amulet, Captain?”

“YOU happened,” she nodded towards the ground, blue shards poking up through the mud, gold chain pressed into the earth. “When your fire got out of hand and you blasted a boulder at me.”

He winced. “Goddamn those things are fragile.”

“Last I checked,” she said, sourly, “most objects don’t hold up when a 2-ton boulder rolls across them.”

“Ehh, sorry about that. I was taking out a few pointy-eared piss-rags.”

“Typical Salamander,” she grunted.

“Damn straight, Captain, us Salamanders get shit done. Someone had to take care of them. What would you do with this pretty, red amulet anyway? Never seen a Mage wield flames.”

“I can,” she said, stepping closer with her knives. “I was classed as a Salamander before the Masters saw my skills and promoted me to a Mage.”

“Promoted huh?” he said. “Here I was thinking fire was top of the food chain. Silly me.”

“Judging by the boulder trick, I’m guessing thinking isn’t one of your strong suits.” Also typical for a Salamander.

“Says the genius who took off her amulet,” he said rolling his eyes.

“I was taking a bath,” she said, gritting her teeth.

“Look,” he said, edging towards the water, “this is how you take a bath out here, Captain.”

She watched (marginally amused, mostly infuriated) as he trudged into the water with all his clothes on. He dipped his head under briefly, and then popped back up, shaking off the droplets like a wet St. Bernard. He lifted his palms from the water and ignited a small flame in each hand. “See, magic still good.”

The muscles in her arms twitched, preparing to throw her blades if need be. A little voice in the back of her head scolded her for allowing him to shift to a more advantageous position. Another voice told her to stop being so friggen paranoid. This guy may look like a massive, wolf pack alpha, but his personality felt more like a mischievous, yellow lab puppy. Most Salamanders were giant puppies really.

A muscle twitched in her neck. She had thought that disloyal bastard, Soren, was a puppy too. Really, he’d been the Elves’ rabid bloodhound. She gripped her knives tighter; she wouldn’t let her guard down around this one.

“Fine, so we both made a mistake,” she said. You could never win an argument with a dog, but you could convince them to play your game, if you got them excited. She just needed to clarify how important this was. “But I have critical intel I need to relay to the Castle and I’m going to need magic to safely complete the journey. That is why I command you to turn over your amulet, immediately. Do your part.”

“No.”

Goddammit this idiot just didn’t get it. “Join me and once we’ve arrived at our destination your amulet will be returned to you.”

“That’s not gonna work for me,” he said. He extinguished his flames and began to lazily scrub himself with water. “But I’m willing to compromise. I have some information the Masters should probably know about too, but I’m not willing to deliver it in person. AWOL soldiers aren’t so popular, no matter which side of The Veil the army’s on.”

“What’s your intel?” she demanded.

“Show me yours, I’ll show you mine,” he said, splashing water into each of his armpits. “Info, that is, seeing as how you’ve already given me a free show.”

Was this guy for real? Did he actually pride himself on that banter? Or, even worse, did he fully recognize the cheese-factor and this was just his aggravating shtick?

“I’m not sharing classified information with a rogue,” she said, disdainfully. “But if you want me to deliver your message, you’re going to have to tell me at some point.”

“Then that some point will be later,” he said, shoving his hand down his pants to wash his junk (or at least she hoped that’s what he was doing and not just playing with it). “Just before I drop you off.”

“Drop me off?”

“I’m not turning over my amulet, but I will escort you to the Castle.”

A flare of rage flickered in her chest. “So you’re asking me to put my life in your hands? You, who could barely manage a of couple Elves?”

“A few elves, not a couple. There were three.”

“I’ve taken down 16 single-handedly,” she said. “We’ll be safer if I hold the amulet.”

“Not if you’re as careless with it as you were with yours,” he said. “Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, especially given your current condition, but I don’t want to hold up your critical, top secret mission unnecessarily. Do you want me to escort you or not?”

“Fine,” she said, snatching her pants and under garments out of the mud. If things got heated she could always make him change his mind and hand over the amulet. Well, unless he stood there making stupid jokes while the Elves charged. She had her combat skills for back up, but with the way Keira’s Diviner visions had been going lately, they could easily run into a large horde and get in trouble quick.

“Ah don’t get dressed on account of me,” he said.

She glared at him and stepped into her underwear.

“Hey, you could even use it as a battle tactic,” he said. “Even the Elves would stop and appreciate a sight like that. Hell, when I saw you from the hill I thought maybe I’d died and gone to heaven. Thought someone sent me an angel.”

She snorted and yanked her shirt over her head, keeping one knife handy. “That’s ironic.”

“How?”

“My first name’s Angeline.”

“Hmm. Captain Angeline. But I’m guessing you’re no angel, are you?”

“It’s Captain Quintana. And there’s no way in hell I’m answering that question, perv. Let’s go.”