Free Dark Enchantment by Kathy Morgan

task. Finished, he stood to his feet and brushed his hands together. Then he stretched his right hand toward the hearth and snapped his fingers.
    A blue plume of fire shot instantly up the flu.
    Arianna squeaked. “What the...?”
    No , she told herself sternly. He did not have Pyrokinetic powers. There had to be a logical—a sane— explanation. Like…he had to have been holding a match in his hand. Yeah, that was it. A match. And the snapping sound she had heard…well, that had been the flick of his thumbnail against the sulfurous head. Of course, that didn’t explain the way the flames had exploded up the chimney, as if drenched with kerosene. “The peat,” she mumbled. Stuff must just be extraordinarily combustible .
    At the sound of her muttering, Caleb glanced at her over his shoulder. His green eyes were doing that otherworldly glittering thing that sent chills skating up the back of her neck. He gave a nod at the poker in her hands. “Give it over.”
    She lifted a defiant chin.
    His mouth quirked as he grabbed a pair of tongs, using those instead to stoke the fire.
    With an exaggerated insouciance that had Arianna ready to brain him, he brushed his hands together, then clasped them loosely behind his back. For the next couple of minutes, he stared into the smoky flames, the hiss of burning peat the only sound disturbing the silence.
    Firelight limned his profile in shadow. Tall and perfectly proportioned, with that longish black hair curling wickedly over his collar, he made the perfect picture of a dark wizard. A master oracle painted in shades of black.
    Who are you? Arianna mused. What is he? an intuitive voice echoed inside her. As if he had plucked the thought right out of her mind, Caleb’s head swiveled on his shoulders. His inscrutable gaze held hers as he slipped off his jacket, and tossed it over the cabriolet chair in front of the hearth.
    Then he was moving toward her.
    Nerves taut as a bowstring, Arianna shrank from his approach. A sardonic glint touched his eyes as he sauntered past her. At the sofa he sat, long legs stretched out in front of him, one booted foot crossed casually over the other.
    Arianna scowled. “What are you doing?”
    “C’mere to me, cailín .” He patted the seat cushion beside him. “Might as well be comfortable whilst we sort this out.”
    Arianna narrowed her eyes, pushed her lips into a pout. And remained exactly where she was.
    Caleb gave a neglectful shrug. “Have it your way, luv. Though I must say it’s a bold brat you are, eavesdropping on a personal conversation that kind o’ way.”
    Arianna’s mouth fell open. “Eavesdropping?”
    “Mmm.”
    “I-I...” she sputtered. “I wasn’t eavesdropping, I just... Oh, you’re so…so…grrr!”
    He gave his head a reproachful shake. “My, but it’s a contentious wee thing, you are.”
    Her eyes flashed. “Contemptuous,” she shot back.
    “Contempt- ible ,” came the thin-lipped return. “And now, if we’ve done with these childish word games, perhaps you’d like clarification about what you overheard .”
    Arianna shifted the poker to her shoulder, baseball bat style. “I’m all ears.”
    She could have sworn she heard him mutter, “All mouth, more like,” as he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “Now, when you heard me speak of a tranquilizer—”
    “I can’t believe you’re admitting—” she began to whisper in horror.
    “Only a light dose,” he assured her. “So there’ll be no injuries. It’s a violent mating, so it is, what with all the biting and screaming, sweating and straining.”
    As Caleb’s gaze remained level on hers, Arianna could feel herself blanch.
    “But then, isn’t that the nature of the four-legged beast?” he finished.
    Her mind went blank. “Four—”
    “’Twas my stud manager you heard me speaking with. About an unbroken young mare I was after purchasing earlier this evening.” He stopped, let that sink in. “For feck’s sake,