Kiss of Destiny by Deborah Cooke

Author:Deborah Cooke [Cooke, Deborah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Deborah A. Cooke
Published: 2013-08-10T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

The firestorm was blinding in its brilliance as Thad kissed Aura. She reveled in his kiss, not even caring that they were being watched. Finally he lifted his head and smiled down at her, his satisfaction so clear that Aura smiled in return.

She knew what she had to do.

“So she did,” she murmured aloud, and changed to a breeze. She flew through the leaves of the solitary tree, making the silver leaves tinkle against each other. They made a beautiful music, more beautiful than Aura had ever heard before, and she dared to believe that her mother approved of Thad.

That was when the man beneath the tree caught his breath. “You tell a story well, my friend,” he said, his voice weak with pain. “I can almost hear the music of that tree’s leaves. I could believe myself to be there.”

“You are there,” said the cloaked woman beside him. Aura caught sight of the woman’s smile and knew her identity without doubt. She spun around the tree, making the leaves tinkle with joy, suspecting that Hera would reveal herself in a moment.

But the goddess had no chance to fling back her hood. A cold shadow passed over the tree. Aura even shivered in her breeze form, her move making the leaves vibrate tunelessly.

A heartbeat later, a woman with hair the color of a flame stood a dozen steps away from them, her smile so malicious that Aura was chilled. She hadn’t been there before, Aura was certain of it.

“Murderer and thief!” she said, her voice dropping low with threat. She pulled a knife and twirled it, then advanced upon Thad. “I will avenge my sister’s death upon your kind, Pyr, one dragon at a time.”

“She-who-should-not-be-named,” Aura said in the speech of her kind and Thad started. She knew from his expression that he didn’t fully understand and wished she’d told him what she’d learned from the other nymphs.

He remained calm and spoke reasonably to the woman stalking toward him, and Aura appreciated that he tried to find a peaceful solution.

“Why don’t we talk about this?” he suggested. “I don’t know your sister, but I’m sure we can work out any misunderstanding...”

The woman laughed, and Thad cringed at the harsh sound. She snapped her fingers and changed shape in a flash of brilliant blue. She became a winged hag with eyes that dripped blood on the ground. She looked like something from a nightmare, but Aura knew this was the truth of her appearance.

Tisiphone’s naked body was smeared with blood and perhaps something darker. The smell of her was foul. Her hair writhed, and Aura saw it was composed of glistening black snakes. When she laughed, her rotted teeth were visible. Her fingernails were yellow and her breasts sagged low. She was ancient and withered and should have commanded sympathy, but the fury of her expression and the large bat wings sprouting from her back inspired only horror.

When Tisiphone leapt toward Thad, with all the vigor of youth, Aura feared her dragon would not survive.

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