The Girl with the Fire Heart
Chapter 17

She stops short when she sees a burly man with a thick beard and even thicker arms block her path to the exit. She looks around and her stomach drops at the realization that it's just the two of them in this area, not another person in sight.

She silently berates herself for not getting more answers from her friends about their plans for the day. She is even more upset, however, that she told no one where she was going and who she would be with. If something happens to her, heaven forbid, no one would know how to replace her, let alone save her.

The man takes a step toward her and she takes a step back. She glances around at her surroundings, just as Damon taught her.

“Always look for a second way out if your first one fails. And remember, there is always a second way out.”

He told her this during one of their training sessions and she is suddenly glad for the instruction. She had teased him, asking him if he really thought they were that dangerous that people would set out to harm them. He laughed but it had been a bitter sound and it was enough to sober her up.

She realizes his candidness just might save her life. If she didn’t fully believe him before, she did now. Her eyes snag on something behind her that she hadn’t seen when she first walked in. From where she's standing, it looks to be a set of stairs that could lead to one of two places: one, a more secluded place for this man to attack her, or two, a second way out.

The fire in her necklace rages at the second thought, something like intuition telling her to listen and make a run for it. She looks back at the burly man and she guesses if she pushes herself, she can make it to the stairs before he realizes what's happening. She looks back at the big burly man, briefly making note of his element, before turning and running, not once looking back.

She hears his big feet pounding on the concrete floor behind her as she runs. It is at this precise moment that she is grateful for the beginning of her training sessions with Damon. His first lesson for her had been speed. For weeks, he would bring a young, able bodied and incredibly swift horse and for weeks, he would force her to chase after him until she could keep up.

For weeks, she hated that he would do this to her. Today, she is so very grateful he had. She can hear behind her the man’s breathing start to labor as he chases her. She's barely winded. She makes it to the stairs and flys down them following its path around the building towards the same place she came in from.

She pushes herself faster as she follows the road, not sparing a glance at any of the buildings or all the people she saw when she came this way the first time. As she runs past, she hears the confusion and then the gasps that follow when they see the man chasing after her. She's somehow aware that no one intervenes. She runs faster and faster until she can see the faint outline of the village ahead of her.

In her mad dash to the safety of the village, she isn't too aware of her surroundings. She's caught off guard when she feels someone come from beside her and tackle her to the ground. The force of the person colliding with her knocks the wind out of her but she moves quickly, rolling away from them and pushing herself on to her feet. She feels fire surge through her and pulse into her hands, waiting to be unleashed.

But when she looks down at the person who tackled her, she sees the boy with the marble heart on the floor, his back to the ground breathing heavy. She sees his face lined with bruises, swollen and bloody, something that wasn't there before. She wonders for a moment if he won the fight, but she pushes that out of her moment, focusing on getting out of here and to her parents and Damon. She sees him looking up at her, his gray eyes full of fear and possibly a little admiration.

She's reminded of the first time she bested Damon during one of their sessions. He found himself in this very position, without the bruises, swelling, cuts and blood on his face. His hands had been poised for her attack, the water in his necklace brimming to the top waiting to spill over just as her fire had been.

He looked at her with pride and admiration, the fear in the boy with marble heart's gaze was something new for her. She remembered the feeling of joy flashing through her when he finally stood, taking her hand to help lift him up although they both knew he didn’t need it. He told her he was proud of her. That if there was ever another situation like this one, she couldn’t hesitate because her attacker wouldn’t either. She assured him she wouldn’t.

Standing here now, she thinks for a split second that she shouldn’t use her fire. She shouldn’t weaponize her element the way so many people expect her to. But then again, she should because she knows somewhere deep inside of her that she had been ambushed today. She can hear the sounds of footsteps, light and cautious, making their over to the spectacle that is Valentina and this boy. She ignores it.

He lifts his hands in surrender, a slight hesitation passing through his eyes that she may not care he is relenting. She slowly drops her hands but the fire is still pushing at the tips of her fingers and at the base of her palm. It's as if her element knows she might need to summon its power again and it is waiting for her next move.

She watches as he gets to his feet slowly, letting his eyes briefly flicker to someone standing behind her. That's all it takes. She spins so fast no one sees her move before it's too late. Her eyes land on the nearest object that will cause the least harm, which happens to be a decaying pillar and fire leaves her as she flings it in its direction.

As everyone ducks away from the collapsing pillar, she bolts towards the village, using everyone’s momentary distraction to her advantage. It isn't long before she makes it back to her house to replace Damon pacing outside of her door, her father standing nearby with worry lines creasing his features.

Both men look up as they hear the sound of feet pounding against gravel and dirt. Jonah shouts for Yasmin, Joaquin and Carmen while Damon races out to meet her, swooping her up in his arms in a tight embrace.

Without thinking too much about it, she wraps her arms around his neck, her chest heaving from the adrenaline of the chase and the use of her power. She winds her legs around his waist, tucking her face into his neck as he pulls her impossibly closer, tucking his face into her neck.

For a moment they stand there, wrapped up in each other, chests heaving and simultaneously inhaling the other’s scent. Neither cares that none of this is proper or appropriate. Valentina can feel Damon's element whirling around just as much as Damon can feel Valentina's element burning between them. They stay this way long enough for their element's to settle and for the comfort of their embrace to calm them down.

Finally, Damon gently places Valentina back on her feet, the effects of his element enveloping her the way it always does.