Sunday.
“This has been the slowest six days f my life.” Nixy ran her hand over the phoenix egg sitting on her outdoor barbeque. The internal flames still chased her hand like a plasma ball. “But, if everything goes as planned, we’ll see each other again this evening.”
What she needed was a solid night’s sleep—preferably with Kai next to her, in her bed. The chaise lounge was not comfortable by any stretch of the imagination. But it was close to Kai, and for that reason alone, she’d keep sleeping on it no matter how long it took him to hatch.
“Fyad and Raven have been so sweet to me since you morphed.” Because that was an easier word to wrap her head around than exploded, or combusted. “They bring me food and sit with you so I can nap. They’re back at the suite making lunch right now. Fyad did a good job explaining what was happening to you. Including the part that you will be mortal.”
That was something she should’ve asked Kai about before professing her undying love. She’d damn near lost it when it’d occurred to her that eventually she’d die, and he’d rebirth. But Fyad swore Kai would come back mortal.
“Let’s see, what else? Did I tell you that Adam convinced Jordan, my supervisor that I had worked myself to exhaustion? He got her to reschedule our meeting and give me the rest of the week off.”
Adam deserved a damn bonus and a pay raise, which she’d discuss with Jordan at their rescheduled meeting in a couple of days.
“I have been working on my resume, though. May as well have that together. Also, Fyad contacted your clan. He told them everything except where you are, and your most esteemed elder flipped his lid. Fyad’s been super-protective of you.” Thank God the trade negotiations had been put on hiatus until Prime Advisor Rol returned from Bezchi. Everyone was too distracted by that scandal to even notice the phoenix egg chillin’ on her barbeque. “Oh, and he told me there’s a new baby phoenix in your colony.”
“Who in the world are you talking to over there, Nixy?”
She jerked her head up at the unexpected voice. Her gaze landed on the tiny elderly woman standing on the other side of her backyard friendship gate. “Myself, as usual, Mrs. Lentz.”
Yeah, crazy lady talking to an egg, here.
Not that her cute little neighbor could see it inside the barbeque, but still.
Mrs. Lentz laughed, her thinning white hair bright under the autumn sun. “The story of my life, dear. Do you need any eggs? My girls have been working overtime and I have more than I can use.”
“Sure.” Kai might be hungry after he hatched. If he ate eggs. That was another question to ask Fyad when he got back. She should write it down so she didn’t forget.
“I’ll put them by the gate.” Mrs. Lentz waved and made her way back into her garden.
“I think you’ll like Mrs. Lentz, Kai. She’s a sweet neighbor, always looking out for me, and all. We’re both widows, so it’s been nice to have her company.” A sympathetic ear, and someone who really understood.
She bent and pressed her lips to the warm surface. “No matter what happens, I’ll still love you.”
In just six more hours, give or take, she’d be able to tell him that in person, again. Seven-twenty couldn’t come fast enough. She lowered herself on the edge of the chaise, swung her feet up, and grabbed a home improvement magazine. Had to do something for the next few hours, may as well read.
Within moments, her eyelids grew too heavy to keep open.
She opened her eyes and gazed up at a sky so blue it bordered on sapphire.
“Wow.” She breathed the word out.
The closest she’d ever seen a similar color sky was the summer she’d visited the Rocky Mountains in her twenties. Even then, it didn’t come close to the jeweled tone of this sky.
A whir reached her ears, and some sort of golden beetle flew over her head. She rolled onto her side to watch it, propping her body up with her elbow. The insect circled a patch of tall orange wild grass before disappearing into it.
Where am I?
She let her gaze roam over the unfamiliar garden. It was like a southwestern desert, except rather than pastels, everything was jewel tones. The amethyst and ruby succulents, carnelian shrubs, and short, emerald-fronded trees—all were rich and vibrant.
Even the stone she lay on was a brilliant white, as if it wouldn’t be outdone by its lack of color.
“What is this place?” Another dream, maybe?
“It was my home for almost four hundred sun migrations.”
That sounded like Kai. She sat straight up, heart racing as the source of the beloved deep voice came into view, striding toward her along the sandy path. He was different, younger than he had been before he’d blown up in her office. No more than a couple of years older than her. He even moved like a younger man, more fluid, his yellow pants billowing around his legs.
And, hell’s bells, those abs of his were more defined than before, too. Try as she might, her mouth didn’t seem to want to work right, or form coherent words. Then, Kai was there, sitting next to her on the stone, close, but not touching.
“How are you, my flame?”
“A-as good as I can be after watching you spontaneously combust right in front of me. And you?”
“Eager to be out of my shell.” He grinned. “Eager to hold you…real you…again.”
“Me too.” She moved to slide her leg over his and straddle his lap. “Because that kiss you gave me in the office…mm-mmm.”
“Aye.” He brushed her hair back behind her ear.
She frowned at him. “Your clan says they want you back. They want to send someone to bring you home.”
“Pah, just a lot of blustering. My home is on Earth, with you. Once I have rebirthed, our most esteemed elder will be forced to concede.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am. Remember the new baby phoenix you told me about—”
“You heard that?”
He gave her an oh, come on look. “I have heard every word you have spoken since becoming an egg.”
“Wow. I had hoped, but I didn’t know. So, what about the baby?”
“It is my successor. The colony must have a consistent number of phoenixes, and nature has always provided.”
“So,” she wiggled on his lap, “two phoenixes did the wild thing and had a baby?”
His laughter was clear, and the garden seemed to brighten for it. “No. Phoenixes can only mate with their soul mate, and our soul mates are never another phoenix. New phoenixes come from the clans. I came from the Landwalker clan.”
“Wait a minute. You’re telling me that two regular ol’ Bezchians from the Landwalker clan gave birth to a phoenix?”
He nodded once.
“And they just handed you over to the elders?”
“Aye. It is a huge honor to be the life givers of a phoenix.”
“Huh. Well, I guess so.” They were going to talk about that more later. “I wouldn’t be very happy if I had to give up my baby.”
“I was never theirs. An implicit fact all Bezchians are aware of.”
“Still don’t get it. I have a feeling I’m in for some culture shock when this is over. So, how do you know the new kid is your successor?”
“When a new addition comes to the colony, it means that one of us is about to leave, or has left already. In most cases, it is because the one leaving has found their soul mate.” He nipped at her chin. “And that is why you must wake up now.”
“Huh?”
“Wake up, Phoenix Vogel.” He took her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “Something is wrong, and your help is needed.”
“But—” She wanted to stay here, with him.
“Go!”
“Wake up, Ms. Vogel.” Someone was shaking her as she surfaced from the dream.
“Uhhh.”
“Hurry.” The urgency in the voice cut through the fog of her nap. “We have a problem.”
“Fyad?” She forced her eyelids open and her gaze went immediately to Kai’s egg. It looked perfectly fine. “What’s the problem?”
She swiped the back of her hand over her cheek drool. Ick. That was so not sexy.
“Prime Advisor Rol is back.” Fyad squatted next to the chaise lounge, his black gaze more intense than usual. “He is demanding to see Elder Kai.”
Everything rushed back like a tsunami coming ashore, and fear wrapped its barbs around her heart. “His clan wants him to bring him back?”
“That is my suspicion.”
“Crap-o-la.” She pushed herself upright. “Where’s Rol now?”
“I left him and his mate, Ms. Faulkner at the Silverstar suite. Raven is distracting them so we can move Elder Kai before they take him.”
Over my dead body would that happen. “Or, we could light him now.”
Which made more sense. Kai couldn’t fight extradition if he was an egg. She scrambled off the lounger. There was a stick lighter somewhere in the barbeque cabinet.
“But, it is too early,” Fyad protested.
“Screw that. It’s harder to carry away an unwilling person than an egg.” She yanked open the cabinet to the right of the grill and peered inside. “Got it.”
Fyad’s large, muscular arm snaked around her waist and swung her away from the barbeque.
“Eep. Dammit, Fyad!” He was holding her up so high she couldn’t touch the ground. Instead, she kicked her feet. “Put me down, you big bully.”
“Not until you listen.”
“We don’t have time for this.” Kai didn’t have time for this.
She wiggled like a fish in a net, but it was no use. It was Fyad’s way or the highway. If only she was thirty years younger, and a man. A really big man. But, if she was, they wouldn’t even be here.
She let herself slump in his grip. “Fine. I’ll listen.”
Fyad set her on her feet, and turned her to face him, his huge hands clamped around her shoulders. “I believe I got away from the suite without the prime advisor following.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“What time is it?”
He glanced over her head to where the clock was. “Two-thirty.”
“Four hours. That’s less than two years to go. Fifty-seven is close enough to fifty-five.”
“Yes, but that’s not what—”
A loud screech filled the air, and every hair on her arms stood on end at the sound of a predator cornering prey. Something large and dark hurled to the ground, landing on her grass with a thud that vibrated the paving stones under her feet. Then Rol straightened up from his crouch and regarded her with solid black eyes, no whites showing.
Well, crap. Her heart plummeted to her stomach. How could she fight off someone so much bigger and stronger?
Rol inclined his head in the direction of the barbeque. “Is that the elder?”
She stepped between him and the egg, and raised her chin. “Why do you want to know?”
The corners of his stern mouth twitched as though he was suppressing amusement at her blatant stalling tactic. She ground her teeth together so hard it was a miracle her fillings didn’t pop out. That arrogant jerk could move her as easily as Fyad had, but that didn’t mean she’d give in without a fight.
Fyad moved to her side. “How did you find us?”
“Hunting vision.” Rol blinked, and his eyes returned to normal—one gray and one blue. “And superb hearing. You left the suite too soon, Fyad.”
“What do you mean?”
“He means…” A familiar older human woman with a cascade of golden curls strode around the corner of the cottage. “…that he should’ve talked faster so you’d all know that I spent the entire trip back to Earth combing through Bezchian law to make sure I could cover your asses if the Firewings tried to lodge a formal protest to your match.” Meryl Faulkner came to a stop next to Rol and gave him a critical once-over. “You sure love your grand entrances, don’t cha, big guy?”
Rol gazed down his nose at Meryl, his eyes sparkling with mirth.
That almost sounded like a good thing. Like maybe Rol wasn’t here to take Kai back to his clan. “So? What did you find out? Can they take him away?”
Meryl shrugged her shoulders. “They might think they can, but by the time they find him, he’ll be hatched already. Not a damn thing they can do about it then.”
“How did you find out the elder and Ms. Vogel are soul mated?” Fyad asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I am certain Elder Kai did not know himself until last Monday.”
“That was me.” A timid voice pulled her attention to Raven, standing at the same corner Meryl had just come around. “I’m sorry, Fyad, but I used the deep space communicator to contact the prime advisor for help.”
“It is Representative Rol, now,” Rol corrected.
Raven nodded. “That’s right. And he’ll be the Bezchian Intergalactic Trade Guild’s spokesperson on Earth once the trade agreement is ratified.” She wrapped her arms around her middle and focused on Fyad. “Are you mad?”
The corners of Fyad’s mouth rose in a slow grin and he spread his arms. “I am proud of my little reporter.”
A silly grin blossomed on the young woman’s face and she ran straight into his embrace.
“Well, Ms. Vogel?” Rol folded his arms across the wide expanse of his chest. “None of us have had the honor of witnessing the rebirth of a phoenix. Is it really time to light him now?”
“Not exactly.” She quickly explained the logistics of years and days, and Kai’s wishes on the matter, as Fyad and Raven backed her up. “So, we should actually do it between seven and eight this evening.”
Meryl made a fist pump. “Yes. This’ll be over before anyone is the wiser. Would it be okay if we stayed?”
“I guess.” After all, it wasn’t every day that a phoenix hatched on her barbeque.
The afternoon passed by in a blur of conversation, and eventually dinner—served on her best paper plates, of course. The whole time her gaze kept going back to the fluttering flames, which seemed to get progressively brighter and more active than the flickers they had been the past few days.
“Earth to Nixy.”
She turned her attention to Raven. “Huh?”
“It’s seven fifteen.”
“Oh.” Her heart thumped harder as anticipation gripped her by the chest. It’s time.
She launched herself toward the hearth, accompanied by the amused chuckles of her friends. It was wonderful how that sound lifted her spirit. Or, was that because Kai would be with her again in a few minutes? She pulled the door of the built-in cabinet open, and there it was, her stick lighter. In fire engine red, of all colors. How appropriate.
She drew it out, wrapped her finger around the trigger, and pulled it back. Click. The little yellow flame danced on the black tip of the lighter. She stepped closer, and lowered it to the underside curve of the egg.
Nothing happened. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon.”
Fwump!
Purple and red flames engulfed the entire egg. A collective ah came from the rest of the group as she took a step back from the heat.
Wow. It really is beautiful.
The mesmerizing flames grew taller, nearly as tall as the brick chimney; then sparks shot straight up into the air, snapping and crackling.
Rol stood up, his expression grim. “Everyone, step back.”
But her feet refused to follow the order, and somehow that didn’t concern her. Not with the stunning pyrotechnic display ramping up in her barbeque.
“Come on, Ms. Vogel.” Fyad’s meaty hand closed around her biceps and he tugged her toward the back wall of her house.
“But, why—”
BOOM!
A scream escaped her as she was thrown face down, pinned to the patio stone by Fyad’s weight. Chunks of bricks, mortar, and flaming eggshell rained down around them like Armageddon. Above her, Fyad made an occasional grunt of discomfort. Poor guy was taking the brunt of the fallout to protect her.
Then, it was over. The silence was almost complete, except for the sputtering hiss of dying embers. Fyad’s weight disappeared, and suddenly she could breathe again.
She rolled herself into a sitting position. “Holy moly.”
Her brick barbeque looked like Godzilla had taken a bite out of it, and the shattered chimney debris was strewn across the backyard. Thin whisps of smoke rose from a smattering of black burn holes in the chaise lounge’s cushion, and the scent of burnt cinnamon hung in the air. Yet after all that, her house was still standing. In fact, it didn’t seem to have been affected at all.
Raven and Meryl peeked out from under the protection of Rol’s wings.
“Well, shiiit,” Raven breathed.
That was an understatement, but, yeah. Shiiit. She peered through the clearing haze of smoke, and her attention zeroed in on the figure crouching, head bowed, in the middle of what had once been her barbeque.
“Kai.” She’d barely whispered his name, but he jerked his head up and locked onto her gaze. Her heart seemed to do a loop-de-loop in her chest at the intensity of love in his deep violet eyes. “Oh, my.”
All the lines and creases on his face had been smoothed away. Now, no more than a hint of crow’s feet crinkled the corners of his eyes, and laugh lines bracketed his mouth. But where were his beautiful wings?
“Kai, your wings are gone.” The sadness of his loss blanketed her.
Kai rose to stand, and wings of flame unfurled behind him in magnificent glory. If not for the bright red headfeathers, he could be an avenging angel. One who was as unconcerned as a newborn that he was buck naked. She let her gaze track down his body—whoa. Naked, and ready for action.
A pulsing need came to life in her core. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one looking for action. She shifted her butt from one side to the other, but it did nothing to relieve the growing ache.
“Okee, time to go.” Meryl grabbed Rol by the hand and led the bemused Bezchian out of the backyard.
Fyad stood and brushed himself off. “Welcome back, Elder Kai. Come, Raven, I need help attending to my back and wings.”
Seconds later, it was just her and Kai.
Naked Kai. Yummy naked Kai with a full-blown hard-on, striding toward her like a man with a purpose.
He stopped in front of her and extended his hands. She automatically grasped them and allowed him to tug her to her feet, bringing her face within centimeters of his.
“Hello, Phoenix.” His voice was rough with need, making her given name sound beautiful for once.
It was enough to melt her girly parts. “Hi there, handsome. Nice wings.”
The flaming appendages disappeared, and a small gasp popped out of her. “What…?”
“It seems I am able to turn them on and off at will.”
“Well, that’s cool.”
“Nixy, dear?” A concerned female voice from the back fence sent a cringe through her.
Kai’s mouth twitched with suppressed amusement as she leaned to one side to see around him.
Opal Lentz peered over the back gate. “Is everything okay? I heard an explosion.”
“Yeah, sorry. Just a, um, science experiment gone haywire.”
Opal’s gaze lowered to Kai’s butt. “I can’t wait to read the lab notes for this one.”
Heat burned her cheeks, but her neighbor grinned and turned back toward her own house. Well, that was…awkward.
Kai dipped his head until his lips hovered over hers. “I may owe you a new outdoor barbeque.”
“The old one sucked, anyway.”
Then his mouth was on hers, nipping, tasting, exploring, as her senses whirled into chaos.