She leapt up, hands on hips. “You do not want to start a war with me.”
Energy to molecules,
Liquid to steam,
Bring forth your heat,
To meet my need.
She waved toward the small basin of water and started across the room toward it.
“I would very much like to see what would happen if I did start a war,” he said and waved his hand toward the pool. Even the room’s temperature lowered.
“Isai,” she warned. “I need to soak in hot water. You do not want me sore.”
“If you get sore, I will heal you.”
He had that same complacent tone in his voice. Mild. Nothing annoyed him. She put her hands on her hips and tossed her head back, hoping she could carry off the look even though she wasn’t wearing a single stitch.
“I won’t have a need to be healed if I can soak in hot water. Do not touch my bathwater.” She pointed toward the basin and sent her spell straight to it.
She’d taken three steps and the water cooled, cooling the air around the pool as well. She swung around and pointed over his head.
Warm air rise, bringing forth your clouds,
Combine your cold with air’s curling shroud.
Pollen, atmosphere now collide,
Dump your droplets down his spine.
The water poured over his head and shoulders. She spun around and ran to the pool, murmuring her spell for hot water. At once steam rose off the surface. She dove over the thick rock that made up the wall around it.
An arm curved around her waist before she hit the water, and she was pulled up against a hard male body. They both hit the surface and went under, the hot water closing over their heads. She was trying not to laugh and lost half of her air, but it didn’t matter because they both surfaced immediately.
“Rain?” he asked, laughing.
She loved his laughter. The sound. That expression on his face. The way his eyes lit up. His mouth curved. She could get caught there, mesmerized just by that look on his face. Without thinking, Julija flung her arms around his neck and, lifting her face to his, kissed him. Hard. Meaning it. Pouring herself and her feelings for him into that kiss.
The moment her arms went around his neck and her fingers locked behind the nape of his neck, Isai wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body tight into his. She was lost all over again, kissing him over and over until she couldn’t think. Some time passed before she ever got the soaking in the hot water she craved, but she didn’t mind in the least.
14
The night was breathtaking, or maybe it was the fact that he had his woman with him to share it. Isai had never seen the stars so bright, or the moon so beckoning. The small lake was directly below the half ring of mountains. A large meadow crept up to the water’s edge on one side.
This was the back country and fewer campers and hikers made their way there, although day ramblers on horseback often used the trails around the lake and up into the mountains. To the east of them was a small camper’s resort where a few trekkers stayed, happy to be away from the more popular tourist sites.
Julija walked along the edge of the ledge, making him a little nervous. She could fly and had done so from the sanctuary of their cave, to this spot, but she still thought in terms of building an illusion. She was incredibly fast at it, but a second or two was all it took to be badly injured or killed. He found he watched her more than he should as she moved along the edge.
She looked beautiful with the stars as her backdrop. She walked with fluid grace, occasionally crouching low to pet Belle or Phaedra as both females pressed close to her. Blue and Comet were definitely on guard. The males stayed watchful, pacing along the top of the cliff, eyes and senses tuned for any danger.
Phantom and Sable, the two smaller cats, stood very still, as if expecting a reprimand, or an angry recrimination. They pressed together but watched everyone. Isai wasn’t certain what to think of them. These were two cats Julija had risked her brothers’ wrath for when she sneaked into the shed they used as a makeshift lab to house the shadow cats. She’d taken care of their wounds and given them blood. Still, of all of the