"Hands off, Loki. Unless you want another intimate contact with the floor." Allaysia tried to keep her voice cool despite the fluttering unease she felt in her stomach.
Loki had again came up behind her while she was minding the stove and wrapped his arms around her waist. She refused to acknowledge that her reaction had been out of fear rather than the former disgust she had felt.
Fear that she was becoming all too comfortable in his embrace. Fear that he was stirring up too much unknown inside of her. Fear that she was...
"Don't be so shy, Allaysia dear. After all, we've already had such intimate contact that night." Loki's voice was low and silky next to her ear. Soft and sexy, but loud enough for anyone in the otherwise quiet room to hear.
A gasp sounded by the door.
Allaysia quickly looked up to see Isbelia, a pretty dark-haired woman, staring at them both in shock and slight confusion. "But aren't you...the King…" She murmured as if to herself, but both Allaysia and Loki heard.
Oh great. Before Allaysia could call out an explanation, something, Isbelia had already turned and ran down the hall with a mumbling "Excuse me." No doubt she would relate what she had seen to anyone and everyone in the house, embellishing here and there as she went along.
"Really, thank you, Loki. For making my life worse." Allaysia turned, not even bothering to move out of Loki's arms, and placed a hand over her closed eyes.
Loki tightened his grip and pulled her closer, placing his forehead against hers.
"I thought that night had meant something more to you. It certain did for me." His voice was filled with the right balance of hurt and hope that tugged at her heart. Had Allaysia looked into his face then, she would have seen amusement and calculation flashing in those green eyes.
But she didn't open her eyes or remove her hand. Her response was silent and her body was stiff. She felt a small sigh flutter next to her ear before Loki broke the embrace and left the room.
What the hell was that? Allaysia remained frozen as her mind fumbled to grasp the implications of what had just happened. She couldn't think past the roaring noise her rapid heartbeat was making in her ear. He...she...what, no!
Allaysia turned again in her bed, falling in and out of sleep fitfully. Her mind kept replaying what had happened this morning, in her waking consciousness and dreaming subconsciousness. It annoyed her that she couldn't chalk it up to Loki's usual mischief this time. It disturbed her that she didn't want to.
Suddenly she woke with a start, for no reason but a sense of something amiss.
Then she smelled the smoke.
It was seeping into the room from the bottom of the closed door, tendril fingers of hungry spirits reaching for her.
Allaysia quickly jumped off the bed in her nightdress. She opened the door and promptly choked on smoke-filled air pouring in from the hallway.
She shut the door, took a deep breath in the relatively fresh air of her room, and ran down the hallway, opening doors and shouting to the patients, "Fire! There's a fire! Everyone get out now!"
Hazy smoke stung her eyes and she felt her vision waver.
Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed her arm and dragged her down the hallway towards the main door. Allaysia stumbled and was pulled along in her lightheaded state. It wasn't until she dragged in lungful of fresh air outside that she realized how much smoke she had inhaled earlier.
"Allaysia, are you alright?" A familiar voice sounded next to her.
Realizing that it was Loki who pulled her out of the building, Allaysia couldn't help but grimace on the inside. A debt to an Asgardian. Great. On top of unsorted feelings. Even better.
Feeling her mind thinking clearly again, Allaysia surveyed the scene and noted with relief that the patients whose room she had barged into were all safely outside. That leaves those in the other wing of the house, whom she hadn't warned yet, still inside.
The fire seemed to have originated from that wing. Moreover, the windows in rooms were magically locked to prevent any contamination to and from the outside. The only escape would be down the hallway and out through the main door. The hallway that would be ablaze with fire.
A clear grimace on her face, Allaysia closed her eyes momentarily and pulled on a layer of Healer's protection around her. This should keep her from the worst of the injuries. At least for a while. She began walking back toward the house.
"Are you mad?" An incredulous exclamation sounded at the same moment as Allaysia felt her arm being grabbed. Again.
She jerked her arm free without turning her head back. "I need to get others out, Loki. They are my patients." And hence her responsibility. "Stay out here."
Ripping off a sleeve to wrap around her nose and mouth, Allaysia walked back into the inferno that was consuming her house. The doorway to the west wing was blocked by a chunk of fallen, fiery wood. Allaysia kicked it aside without a pause, trusting in the Healer's magic. She raced down the hallway.
The fire was spreading rapidly along the wooden ceilings and walls. Burning doors blocked each room. Allaysia gritted her teeth and body slammed into the first door. It fell away under the force, revealing a smoke filled room and a crying boy sitting by the wall. His raspy, choking whimpers were barely audible above the roar of the fire.
"Get out!" Her voice was muffled by the sleeve over her mouth. The boy appeared to be lost in his own miserable world and didn't respond.
Allaysia grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him out the door, pausing only to layer a Healer's protection over him before shoving him towards the exit doorway.
One down. Three more to go.
The next room held an elderly but spry woman who had already been dosing herself with water in preparation to knock down the door herself when Allaysia bursted in. She assured Allaysia that she would be able to make it outside now that the aflame door no longer blocked her way.
Fire licked hungrily at the earthen floor, dancing around but never too far from her. Although Allaysia was protected by magic, she could feel the suffocating heat from the roaring flames consuming the world around her. She grimaced and tucked the ripped sleeve more tightly around her nose and mouth.
Then she felt it, the intense, startling heat at her ankle. The edge of her robe had caught on fire. The protection could only last so long. The adrenaline was still pumping but starting wane. Time was running out. Her power was draining fast from the extra amount she had to use on the first two patients. Get a move on it, Allaysia.
Yet problem arrived in the next room. A young woman recovering from a serious incident with an exotic poison, the patient could barely get out of the bed yesterday. Breaking down the door, Allaysia saw that the young woman was on the floor, struggling to stand up, her face frightened yet determined. She looked up in almost comical relief when she saw Allaysia in the open doorway.
Helping the young woman out of the room and placing a protection over her, Allaysia was torn. Clearly, the young woman needed help to the main door. Yet there was one more room with one more patient. The man whom Allaysia vaguely suspected had started the fire.
During her indecision, a figure strode out from the flame toward her. Allaysia gaped as Loki appeared in front of her. The edges of his brushed back black hair and swirling clothes sizzled, but overall he appeared to be protected by some Asgardian magic.
"What on Heilenheim are you doing in here? I told you to stay outside!" She growled as she dragged his head down by his collar.
Loki had the nerve to grin devilishly and pat her on the head. "I came to rescue you, of course, Allaysia dear. Now you shall take this young lady - who is about to faint, it seems - outside, while I will bring the last patient to you."
Allaysia grabbed him by his arm before he could move off. "No! I will not allow that!" She breathed, refusing to consider why her first instinct was to get him out of danger.
She continued in a more rational voice, "Be reasonable, Loki. You could be killed, saving someone you don't even know. I know that it wouldn't be worthwhile to you. Help this woman outside and it shall be your good deed of the day."
Loki looked surprised and hurt at her words. "I did not know that you hold me in such low opinion. If you want to be reasonable, then take a look at yourself and know you should get outside immediately."
He gestured to her robe, already burned to her knees with little fires flickering further up. Her exposed skin was scorched red in several places. The protection was wearing very thin and fading with each moment, not only on Allaysia but also on the young woman whose layer of magic drew its power from Allaysia.
Loki gently cradled Allaysia's face with both hands, taking in the conflict and fear in her liquid gold eyes. "Have faith in me, Allaysia dear. And remember, I had been very sincere this morning."
Allaysia was momentarily mesmerized by the red and gold flames dancing in the green backdrop of Loki's eyes. A part of her stubbornly held on to that as the reason why she didn't move when Loki lowered his head and pressed his lips lightly against hers.
Giving her a push towards the other end of the hallway, Loki smirked in that secretive, seductive, and utterly smug way of his. Without a backward glance, he sauntered toward the last room down the hall, his cloak swishing and crackling in the fire.
His low and smooth voice, unaffected by the smoke, trailed behind."His name is Urecilis, I believe? The man who also had the fortune of having a Chameleon."
The young woman suddenly dropped to the floor. She had finally reached her limit and fainted. Allaysia gritted her teeth, attributed the watering of her eyes to the smoke, and pulled the unconscious young woman up. Dragging her by the waist, Allaysia moved as fast as she could towards the doorway.
She ignored the searing paining of hungry flames finally reaching her unprotected bare skin. She ignored the aching sadness of watching her home fall and crumble around her. She ignored the gnawing hole inside that screamed one name. His name.
Fresh, cool air hit her face as she stumbled in the last few steps out the door. Hands caught her as she was lifted and carried away from the blazing house. Voices murmured and she felt a cool, soothing sensation wash over her entire body, easing the internal flames on her nerves.
Allaysia wanted to shout, scream at them, that Loki was still in there. In the fire. And Urecilis. They need to save them! Save him.
Words of "magical fire", "Flamemaker", "deranged", "need a Water Sprite" drifted around her but they didn't make sense. Nothing made sense except for her desperate need to get Loki out of the flaming, crumbling house.
A sudden commotion near the doorway grabbed her attention. A man was slowly walking out. Allaysia strained to see his face, heart in throat.
It was Urecilis. The deranged Flamemaker. Loki had kept his promise of saving her last patient.
Allaysia awkwardly and painfully stood up, craning her neck to see if another emerged behind Urecilis. The man with the mischievous smirk and silky voice.
Her heart fell to the pit of her stomach. No one, not even a shadow came out behind Urecilis. Perhaps he was taking a little while.
An ominous boom sounded and everyone watched in horror as one wing of the house collapsed in a cloud of black smoke, visible in the star-light night. Flames shot up momentarily, reaching for the sky in a valiant but defiant attempt to take down the heavenly ceiling.
It was the west wing that had collapsed. Where Loki was. Where Loki is. Where's the Water Sprite? We need to find him now. We need to get him out. We need to…I need to...
Allaysia felt the gnawing hole expand and consume her conscious.
I need to tell him that I love him.
A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update this time! I had a block/laziness that put me off writing for a couple of days. Although I never respond, I do read (several times actually..._) your reviews and always feel warm and fuzzy afterwards.
Thanks tons to everyone for your support, whether it's just by a simple click of adding my story to your alert list or actually putting in a few words in a review! =]