Free Enflamed (Book 2) by R.M. Prioleau

what you have been looking for,
Nester?”
    After a brief pause, Nester
piped, “Ah ... aye ... aye, that’s right. That’s th’ exact thing I’ve
been lookin’ for, now that you mention it. Uncle Nickle would be all grateful
to ’ave such a nice li’l trinket like that, ’e would! Let me ’ave it, Kaijin.
I’ll tuck it someplace safe.”
    Kaijin shook off his trance
and looked at Nester. The brownie had his hand extended to him, a wide,
gap-toothed smile plastered on his mischievous face. Ignoring the gesture,
Kaijin settled his gaze on Zarya. “There’s something very familiar about this
orb when I hold it.”
    “Familiar?” Zarya asked. “What
do you mean?”
    Kaijin thought a moment.
“Something ... something about it makes me feel compelled to keep it close to
me—to protect it. It’s as if it’s calling to me—as though it belongs to me. I
can’t explain.”
    “But is it wise for us to take
it from this place? What if it’s cursed?”
    “No ... It’s ... It’s warm. I feel like it belongs to me.”
    Zarya lifted an eyebrow.
    “’Ey now!” Nester broke in, reaching for the orb. “Why don’t we
see if someone in town can identify it, aye?” His gloved fingers touched the
sphere, and he yanked his hand away. “Ouch! That smarts!”
    Kaijin eyed Nester, who had
pulled off his glove and began sucking his wounded fingers. “Did it burn you?”
he asked the brownie.
    “Sure did!” Nester showed him
the wounds. He cast a glance at Zarya. “Think you can fix this, beautiful?”
    Giving the brownie a half
smile, Zarya reached into one of her belt pouches and retrieved a small roll of
white bandages. After unraveling a modest amount, she quickly wrapped Nester’s
minor wounds and then returned the roll to her pouch. “There.”
    Nester looked at his newly
wrapped fingers and frowned. “Aw, that’s it? Just a couple of soddin’
bandages?”
    “The bandages are spidersilk.
Your fingers will be good as new in a few hours,” Zarya explained. “Have
patience.” She turned to Kaijin. “This is all very strange. Does the orb not
burn you, too?”
    Kaijin regarded her, confused.
“No, and I don’t understand why this thing burned Nester. It’s like it has a
mind of its own!”
    “That’s puttin’ it mildly,
mate,” Nester said.
    Aidan held his clawed hand out
to Kaijin and said, “Give to Aidan.”
    Kaijin clutched the orb more
tightly. “I ...”
    “This just looks like simple trinket
with pretty colors. Aidan thinks Nester is exaggerating. Now, give to Aidan.”
    “‘ Exaggeratin ’?!”
Nester blinked. “You call this ‘exaggeratin’?!” He showed Aidan his
bandaged fingers. “That thing nearly burned my fingers off, it did!”
    Kaijin pursed his lips.
Slowly, he held the orb out for Aidan to take. His hands began to shake as he
fought against the urge to keep the sphere close, to keep it safe.
    Aidan snatched the orb from Kaijin’s
hands. Seconds later, however, the creature’s eyes widened, and he let the orb
drop. Hissing, he shook his hands, which were burned almost to the bone.
    Kaijin’s eyes followed the orb
as soon as it fell from Aidan’s hands. He dove for the object, landed hard on
his stomach, and caught it before it hit the ground.
    “By the goddess!” Zarya exclaimed. She rushed to tend to Aidan’s
injury.
    “Good catch, mate!” Nester
said to Kaijin. He looked at Aidan. “Are you all right?”
    Another snake-like hiss
escaped Aidan’s lips. Once they were healed, he examined his hands again. “Yes,
yes, Aidan is fine. But why is Kaijin the only one who can touch that thing?”
    All heads turned to Kaijin.
    Kaijin got up from the mud,
his clothes and face smeared. “How in the hells am I supposed to know?” He
wiped the excess mess from his eyes as best he could.
    “Maybe you really are a
druid, Kaijin.” Zarya said.
    Kaijin shook his head firmly,
flinging more mud off his face. “No, I assure you, I’m not. I know absolutely nothing
of the