Chapter 7

Christian's reaction was instantaneous, he leapt away from the crawling flames, yanking Courtney along with him. The rest of the group shot backwards, patting at the back off a girl whose jacket had caught the flames.

The room erupted in panic. People screamed and the students scattered as people employed rushed forwards with buckets of water and fire extinguishers. The fire spread from one table to three others before at was successfully put out and by that time the fire brigade had been called.

Christian watched all of it with Courtney at his side, he watched the officials trying to discover the source of the unexpected blaze and he watched the students return to recover their abandoned possessions. He witnesses the ashes and remains of the tables being swept away before Courtney left his side and went to find her friends.

Then there were only two of them.

Ruby's eyes were locked on the spot were the first table had gone up in flames, her pretty green eyes swirling with amazement at disbelief. She didn't even seem to realise that Christian was still there.

"Ruby," Christian said softly.

Ruby jumped with a start at stared at him fearfully, like a startled deer in the thicket before she turned and ran out of the cafeteria, leaving her bag behind without a thought.

Oh they were not going to like this. They wouldn't like it one bit.

Christian stared at the back of his fleeing soulmate and made an absolute decision. They wanted him to get close to her, they wanted her to trust him and they wanted him to bring her to them, that was the sole purpose of him being here. And Ruby was the one. She was his soulmate and the fire elemental.

This complicated things.

But he had a job to do and he intended to do it. If he was to get close to Ruby he would have to accept their connection, to cease pretending that it didn't exist. He would have to associate with her and explain to her what being a soulmate meant.

The soulmate connection was the key to her heart and her trust.

Christian picked up Ruby's bag. He gave himself a cunning smile and slipped out of the cafeteria, silence settling in the wake of his departure.

Only when she reached her front gate did Ruby realise that she had forgotten her bag. It was still in the cafeteria and it would remain there over night.

The gate clicked shut behind her and she jogged up the garden path, speedily unlocking the door and slipping inside the house. She shut the door and leaned against it, gasping for breath, her mind reeling.

No. no no no no no no. The fire had been accidental. It hadn't been her anger that created the flames, no, she had never seen anything like before but it wasn't her. It couldn't be. She was a meaningless mortal, a lowly human and she didn't have any power, none at all, especially not the power to set tables on fire.

Ruby rubbed her tired eyes and walked away the door. The usual sound of the TV blaring from the living room was missing which meant her mother and father was out, probably round a friend's house. Ruby was grateful and the quietness and it gave her room to think.

Ok. Be calm. Look at the facts.

She had been angry; she had been upset she had even been a little jealous. The table closest to Courtney had burst into flames at the moment her fury reached its peak. But she didn't have any supernatural powers; she had never even played with witchcraft. Therefore she wasn't responsible. Someone must have been playing with lighters.

Ruby fixed herself a cup of coffee to help her remain focused. She still had homework to do and couldn't afford an early night but then she remembered that her vital homework was in her bag. She scowled and dropped the cup in the sink in an irritated fashion.

A loud knock at the front door made her heart leap painfully into her throat. Everything had been so silent that it had disturbed her and somewhat scared her. Ruby's scowl became me pronounced as she moved into the hall and opened the front door.

She almost slammed it shut but those beautiful green eyes prevented her.

"Hi," said Robert gently. He was gorgeous in the sunset; his creamy skin was glowing almost inhumanly and his blond hair shimmered. His eyes were so dazzling and bright that Ruby was hooked.

"What do you want?" asked Ruby sulkily, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the frame of the door.

"I wanted to return this," Robert said, showing her what he was holding. It was her bag.

Ruby held out her hand to take the bag but instead of giving it to her Robert jerked his free hand forwards and clasped her wrist.

It happened again. Just as it had before. She wasn't in her body anymore. She wasnt anywhere that she knew. White light enclosed her and flowed from her skin travelling through the air to another being.

It was Robert looking stern and gorgeous. Ruby never imagined he could look so daunting and yet at the same time she was irresistibly drawn to him, like a month to a candle flame but something stopped her.

Those words. His words. When he had spoken to her before he had denied any existence of this link but now he was here, where here was, with her. He was playing with Ruby.

Back in reality Ruby wrenched her arm away from Robert's strong grasp and steadied herself. She wanted to collapse to the floor, to sink the ground in defeat but she wouldn't show any weakness in front of Robert. She shot forwards and grabbed her back, snatching the bag from his hand without touching his skin as if he might electrocute her.

"We need to talk," Robert said firmly. Ruby reared her head and glared at him furiously.

"What happened to never wanting to speak to me?" she spat venomously, seething with rage.

"That was a mistake. I realise that now and I think I proved just a moment ago that we obviously do have a connection. There is a reason I tried to deny it and if you let me speak I can explain everything about what this means," Robert spoke quickly, almost desperately.

Ruby surveyed him suspiciously for a couple of seconds before shifting from the door way.

"You've got ten minuets," she said tonelessly.