Darach by RJ Scott

curved around Darach's throat. The hold wasn't as tight as it had been against the tree or in the prison, but it was enough to mark Darach with the fizz and snap of Ceithin's anger.
    " Listen here, noble — " Ceithin spat the words and leaned close in, seeing the abject fear and horror in Darach ' s face. " If you have heard all the stories , you know I could flay the skin from you with my thoughts or move silently into your house and kill every single member of your family, even the children. "
    Darach tried to buck him off but Ceithin merely wriggled to center himself and placed his other palm flat to the ground for balance. There was nothing to Darach. He was slim, spare, strong in the face, but not equal to Ceithin in either muscle or Fire. "Maybe, if you don't push me too much, I won't find a member of your family and kill them. Maybe I will just steal some children!"
    Ceithin added the last with a twist to his mouth, and Darach went rigid beneath him, complete horror in his eyes, his mouth opening and closing uselessly as if he wanted to say something but didn't know what.
    "Failing that, I could eat them," Ceithin finished with a smirk, his sudden temper gone as fast as it had manifested. He let Darach buck him up and off. Once he'd released his hold on Darach's neck, he rolled onto his back, grinning at Darach's anger and wondering what he was going to do next. Darach pulled his hand back, intense sapphire shimmering around him, and Ceithin had to admit he was gorgeous, all hissing disapproval and blue eyes. Eyes narrowed with intense concentration, he let the first of his Fire fly. Ceithin didn't bother to block the attack, just tensing as it coated and prickled his skin. Violet sparks danced up from the connection of Darach's blue and his own scarlet, and he watched mesmerized as the sparks flew into the air and then settled in the trees above him.
    "You leave my brother alone!" Darach shouted as he hefted another shaft of Fire. This one Ceithin blocked. "You filthy Cariad." Frustration lacing his voice, Darach stopped casting Fire, clearly defeated when he realized none of it could penetrate Ceithin's wards enough to do damage.
    "I was joking. I won't touch your family," Ceithin grunted, and rolled, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Contrary to popular lore, the Cariad are peaceful and have been for millennia."
    Darach snorted his disbelief and clambered to stand, using the nearest tree to balance himself. " So I can go ? You haven ' t spelled me, and you are not forcing me ? I can turn and go home ? " He put his hands on his hips and tilted his head to one side.
    Ceithin stifled the sudden thought that his charge looked kind of cute in a messed up, pathetic way and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did you want to find me?" It was a simple question, but he could see Darach looking down and away, not wanting to answer. "I could torture it out of you."
    "You wouldn't!" Darach had a blatantly terrified look on his face again, and Ceithin merely shrugged. There was something about this youngling that brought out the child in him.
    "I might." There was a faceoff, Ceithin grinning and Darach blustering with false confidence.
    "It was the journal, Kian's journal. He left it for me, and it said he had made contact with the Cariad and wanted to use their ancient magik to cross the barrier." Darach's voice held disbelief. Ceithin imagined for Darach to read his friend sought Cariad help probably shook the foundations of his limited world.
    "And?"
    "He wrote…" He sighed deeply. "His last entry said if I wanted to follow him, then I should seek the Cariad. I had heard rumors a stray Cariad had been found so I followed them up."
    "A stray?" Ceithin bristled and his Fire pushed insistent inside him, ready to cause Darach real damage for the insult.
    He waved a hand in front of him. "Well, it's what we call…"
    He didn't have to say any more. It was what non-Cariad called the Cariad, likening them to dogs or