Fenrir
~~~~


Much to his surprise, the fire scion didn’t mind the delay in his nightly activities as much as he had expected to. He sat in the back of Eirwyn’s midget car, appearing to the world as if he was brooding, when in reality he was deep in thought. The reason for his reflections? The woman sat in the passenger seat in front of him. He kept trying to convince himself that his actions earlier that afternoon had not been an attempt at apologising – Fenrir did not apologise. But he couldn’t find a way to make it sit right with him.



His broodings made the journey pass quickly and before long he was scrambling out of Eirwyn’s miniature car. No one tried to confront them as they walked into the section of the Cathedral where he and Nazara had spent the night before.



“Make yourselves comfortable. I think there’s some kind of kitchen or whatever through there.” She waved a hand in the direction of a wooden door sitting half open to the side of the corridor then wandered to where he knew the bedroom was in order to start thinking – or whatever it was she needed to do.
It left the Fire Scion feeling…pissed. For lack of a better word. Under Nazara’s orders he was under house arrest. Plundering, pillaging, all those little things that he enjoyed were forbidden, and whilst the knowledge of that gave him a thrill of rebelliousness he knew it was a feeling that he needed to keep under wraps. He needed Nazara. Not in any twisted human emotional sense of the word but in a practical one. She had become necessary to his plans and he would be damned if he let anyone get in the way of them.



Even himself.


He wandered into the kitchen area and scoured the cupboards and fridges for anything of use. His body was yelling at him to supply alcohol – and acceptable indulgence, he thought – but there was none to be had. There was nothing to be had save for a few coffee-stained mugs and a rusty water tap. He grunted and grabbed a mug. He was halfway through filling it when Eirwyn joined him.
“Is there anything in here?”
“Just water.”
“That’ll do.” She stretched up beside him to grab herself a mug and from the corner of his eye he admired her figure. In terms of leadership and personality he didn’t rate Eirwyn. He hadn’t seen anything of worth in her in the first rebellion and he knew enough of the second to know that she had done nothing to warrant a change in his opinion. But in terms of physique…he couldn’t deny that the ice princess had something going for her.


And she had to go and fall in love with one of those damn God-humpers.

Her emotions were a liability to them. But that wasn’t his concern. Nazara would be the one to make sure every ally – even one as unreliable as Eirwyn – was kept under wraps. And if the girl strayed…well…sacrifices had been made before.


He took a sip of water and frowned at the taste. Luke warm and metallic. As if he wasn’t wishing for a beer already. He held the mug towards Eirwyn. “Think you could do something about this?”


She turned to him, her own mug of water in her hands. He could sense she was cooling it. It was a knockback of their types. His natural heat made him more sensitive to her presence and more aware of when she was using her powers. She said nothing but raised her eyebrows at him, the same way a parent would to a child who had made the same request.


He sighed. “Please.” A part of him died and as she took the mug from him, a satisfied smile on her face, he resisted the urge to hit her. That anyone but Nazara could get away with treating him as such was unacceptable but he also knew that anything he did to harm the girl was likely to bring the leader’s wrath down upon him. And he really didn’t want that.
As she was handing him back his drink her phone began to ring. He watched the pained expression form on her face as she looked at the screen and then moved into another room, answering the call as she went.


Curious, Fenrir followed. He only dared to get close enough to catch the tone of her voice. He knew she would be able to sense him as easily as he could her and he didn’t want to get caught. Whatever her exchange was, he could only tell it flared her emotions. There was sadness there; z deep sadness. He knew the sound of it. He’d never experienced it but many had been the woman he’d met with it. It was the sound of a scarred heart. It was an opportunity.


He made sure she bumped into him on her way back through. “What’s the emergency?”


“I – Karis has training. I completely forgot and –“


“You’re working yourself up over your host’s duties? Those aren’t your responsibilities anymore.”


“Well regardless of what you think, Karik, I need to do this.” She pushed passed him and starting making her way towards the bedroom and Nazara.


Fenrir sighed and followed. He doubted Nazara was going to side with him on this one but he wanted to be there in case she did.


“I agree. It’s best if you go.”


Fenrir leaned into the doorway. Whatever Eirwyn’s explanation had been it had certainly been a short one.


Nazara looked up and saw him, then released a sigh. “Have Fenrir drive you.” It had that “I can’t believe I’m saying this” tone to it.


The Fire Scion raised his eyebrows. Eirwyn, for her part, just looked confused.


“Zedonas is still out there. Chances are he’s going to ask for a ride at some point in the near future and I have no intention of playing taxi. If you take your car then that only leaves mine and I’m not letting Fenrir loose in my new vehicle. Therefore, Fenrir will take you to practice.” At this point she turned to him, her gaze fixed and heavy. “And after you have dropped her off, you will come straight back here, understand? No detours.”


He frowned but nodded. “If you say so.”


She turned back to Eirwyn and instantly her expression softened. “Let me know when you’ve finished and either Fenrir or I will come and get you.”


The girl was clearly unhappy with his part in this but neither of them had a choice. She nodded and thanked Nazara and the two of them made their way.


It was a short drive but they had to detour to Karis’ home so that she could collect some of her belongings. Fenrir silently berated the car for its size. He felt embarrassed just to be seen with it, let alone being behind the wheel. He actually released a sigh of relief when Eirwyn left the car and disappeared into the ice rink. But his relief was short lived. When he pulled to a stop at the exit of the car park, something shot forward and hit itself against the floor of the car. Looking down, he spotted Eirwyn’s phone.


“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me…”


He moved the car to a space, grabbed the phone, and headed in through the same door he’d seen Eiwyn use. She was easy to find. The sound of music and criticism was an excellent guide. He emerged at the edge of the ice rink. Eirwyn was just stepping on to the ice; a man at the centre of the rink was chewing her out for her lateness. The man saw Fenrir and glared. “Who the fuck are you?”


Fenrir supressed a reactionary attack. It would be so easy to destroy the ice beneath him and cook him in a bowl of boiling water. No, that was too fast. Fenrir would drown him instead.


“Karik? What are you doing here?”


He held up her phone and walked over. “You left this in the car.”


“It’s like you don’t want this rehearsal to go ahead.”


Fenrir walked to the very edge of the rink and when Eirwyn took the phone from him he pulled her close and kissed her. He even took extra effort to slip his hand round the back of her exposed thigh. Partly for the thrill of feeling her natural coolness but mostly to unsettle the human he greatly desired to destroy. As he broke away from her whispered to her, “Next time, I’ll just kill him.”


He left, a smirk appearing on his face as he wandered out of the building. It was still there when he got back to the Cathedral.


“What did you do?” Nazara had left the comfort of her room to get a drink and they had crossed paths on her return journey.


“I gave the guy hassling Eirwyn something to think about.”


She shot him a glare.


“I didn’t touch him. I just made him think she was dating someone better than he was.”


She just shook her head and turned from him, making for her room. “Don’t sleep with her.”


He frowned at her as she disappeared. It had sounded like her usual orders. There was still that threat of complete and utter destruction should he defy her but there was something else there too. He just couldn’t figure out what it was. Probably more trouble for me. He shrugged and found himself somewhere to settle. With his nature imprisoned and his company undesired, the least he could do was try and enjoy some peace.


At least until his anticipated antics with Nazara later.