Desert Flame Read online

  Walkabout Dawn #4

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  AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT WALKABOUT DAWN…

  Australian Supernatural - Book Four

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  *please note that this is an unedited excerpt and may change in the final novel.

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  Finn Oreah’anza stared into the flames of the campfire he’d built and rubbed his temples.

  Ever since everything that’d happened in the pit with the vampires and the ash’strad—the fae weapon of mass destruction that’d almost torn him apart—he’d been feeing tired.

  The darkness curled around the makeshift camp he called home like a cool blanket, the temperature dipping with the changing of seasons. Clear skies and low temperatures meant frost, so he tossed another log onto the fire. Sparks twisted upwards in a spiral, merging with the stars pinpricked on the bluish black overhead.

  This place was supposed to be forever, he thought. It’s not the same as home, but it’s better than nothing.

  Twelve years ago, six fae had made the journey from Ireland to Australia on a whim and a hope, finally settling near Solace and the place of power that helped them to survive in a non-magical world. That place power was the seal, of course.

  Since Finn and the Exiles had discovered what lay underneath it, his uneasiness had only grown. The fae were feeding off the magic of a celestial being who was clamouring to be freed. No doubt it’d be angry at them if it ever did. No one liked to have the life sucked out of them and he’d had first hand experience to confirm it.

  Casting aside the memory of Vera, the Nightshade, and his time spent locked up in the water tank in town, he sighed.

  The camp had grown over the years, though the fae preferred to live alongside the land in tents and rudimentary shelters as opposed to the underground houses the Exiles favoured in Solace. The closer they could be to nature, the easier it was for them to remain fae.

  The comforts of a house, a warm bed, life-giving magic in the air, and all the trappings of society were a distant memory. Finn preferred this life to his old one, but it’d taken a long time for him to realise it.

  “Za’dreha.”

  Siora stood over him, her silver gaze fixing on his. She’d slicked her powder blue and turquoise flecked hair back into a tight braid, making her angled features look more severe than usual. Tall, thin, and athletic, she was a classic picture of Unseelie beauty…but the cool air of superiority all Shri’danann fae seemed to possess, was clearly present in her heart—the same airs Finn’d had in a past life.

  “Really?” he asked, bristling at her rude greeting. “We’re really going there?”

  She sat beside him, crossing her long legs before her. He knew she had something either prophetic or condescending to say, and he was going to hear it even though he didn’t want to.

  Things had escalated around here and the fae had been on the receiving end of most of it. He was forgiving, but Siora? She only knew the meaning of the word when it suited her, which wasn’t often at all.

  “It’s time to leave, Finn,” she told him without so much as a hello. “You know it as much as I do.”

  He shook his head. Whether it was stubbornness or something else, he didn’t know. Leaving was the furtherest thing from his mind.

  “The ash’strad effected us all,” Siora added. “We felt every explosion…but you know that.”

  Of course he knew it. He’d stood at the bast of the pit and tried to stop the final discharge of magic, but he hadn’t been strong enough. If it wasn’t for the Druidess Andante, he and the fae would be nothing but red mist on the wind…but he wouldn’t admit his weakness to Siora.

  “It was the vampire Darius,” Finn said. “It was nothing to do with the others.”

  “It’s all linked. One cannot exist without the other. Do you think they would be here if it wasn’t for the seal?”

  “It would cause problems with or without us and them being here,” he said.

  Siora narrowed her eyes and said nothing to this, but she had that look about her that he’d come to know meant trouble. She had a theory, but wasn’t willing to share it.

  “Siora,” he murmured. “What is it?”

  Her gaze moved to his. “We’ve taken a vote.”

  “Without me?”

  Her lips thinned. “We’ve chosen to leave.”

  Of course they had. “Where will you go?”

  “I’ve heard talk about another place of power,” Siora replied, making it clear she’d leave with or without his blessing. “We will go find it.”

  He snorted. “You’ve heard? You’re leaving the one place that’s keeping us alive on hearsay?”

  “I have faith.” She looked around and sighed. “Which is more than I can say for this place. I would rather risk everything out there than stay here. Finn…you have to come with us.”

  “I can’t.” His jaw tensed. “They’re important to me.”

  Siora rolled her eyes. “Just say it, Finn.”

  “Say what?”

  “Stop being so obstinate,” she snapped.

  “I’m not,” he fired back. “You can’t see that nothing has changed.”

  Siora shook her head, her lips thinning with displeasure. “We were your family once.”

  “You still are.”

  “Have you forgotten so much that you would forsake the things you fought so fiercely for?”

  Finn scowled, fighting his volatile personality. He wanted to lash out, to tell her he hadn’t forgotten anything, but that’s what she wanted.

  “I haven’t,” he managed to say. “But it was a long time ago. Things have changed.”

  “Yes…” Her gaze raked over him, her silver eyes full of resentment. “Yes, they most certainly have.” Reaching into her pocket she took out the polished silver stone he remembered from their journey here—another artefact from their home world. “There’s almost enough magic for us to travel. It will get us to our destination.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “And what if you don’t find what you’re looking for?”

  “Don’t worry about us, Finn,” she said, standing. “Worry about yourself.”

  She began to walk away, leaving him alone by the fire. The other fae had gathered by her tent and were watching their exchange with cool eyes. He’d find no sympathy with any of them.

  “So that’s it?” he demanded. He hated ultimatums, especially ones that challenged his authority…but he hadn’t had any for months now. It was her they looked to.

  Siora turned and stared down at him. “That’s it.”

  Finn watched her walk away, making no move to follow. When had things changed around here? He scarcely knew…but what did he know?

  Nothing, he thought. Nothing at all.

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  ABOUT NICOLE

  Nicole R. Taylor is an Australian Urban Fantasy author.

  She lives in the western suburbs of Melbourne dreaming up nail biting stories featuring sassy witches, duplicitous vampires, hunky shapeshifters, and devious monsters.

  She likes chocolate, cat memes, and video games.

  When she’s not writing, she likes to think of what she’s writing next.

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