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I remember a man with light hair telling me everything was okay. It was normal for my body to do that. I was a growing girl. I remember him smiling, looking so proud as he stared down at me. I was his little queen and one day, I was going to grow up to take over the kingdom.
—Nyssa’s Journal
The pounding on the door did nothing to make my morning easier. I couldn’t shake the tiredness and didn’t bother getting up once I woke. Then the pounding began.
It matched the drumbeat in my head and because I was a complete masochist, apparently, I lay there and listened for a good five minutes. Part of me hoped whoever it was gave up and left.
No such luck.
So I reached out and touched them.
Slade.
“Damn.” He knew I was there and he was relentless enough to keep knocking until I answered.
Or until his Alpha called for pack business. Pack had always trumped everything else for him. I was of the opinion that he needed to re-prioritize his commitments, but he never asked me what I thought. So when I did tell him that, he brushed me off. The shmuck.
Finally having had enough, I climbed out of bed and stomped my way to the front door, collecting momentum and anger to toss some drama his way. My lip curled into a sneer as I threw the door open.
“What?” I snarled, doing a very good job sounding feral.
He hesitated, blinked in dumbfoundedness, and then averted his eyes.
“Nyssa, clothes.”
“No. I sleep naked. You interrupted my sleep. I like sleep.”
He glanced at my face, taking in all the tiredness I felt. He always saw through the bullshit.
“You weren’t sleeping.” His frown deepened. “Put clothes on, we’re going for a walk.”
I looked him over. “You’re wearing your running clothes.”
“I’m not going to take you on a run, only to have you collapse on me. Just get dressed. It’s time we talked.”
I forced a grin. “Don’t sound so grim.”
He growled. “Nyssa, my patience does not exist right now. Get dressed.”
“Fine.” I stomped my way back, not caring that he got a good view of my ass.
When I came back, he was just inside the closed front door, waiting.
“I’m ready,” I grumbled.
He didn’t say anything and opened the door for me. It was a cooler summer day now, and I took in a deep breath, realizing how hot my house had been. Was it because of me? The air conditioners were running.
Slade nudged me toward the park. I wasn’t sure what to say or do. Slade and I didn’t have the kind of relationship that had us strolling through the park for the fun of it, and definitely not to “talk.”
He didn’t say anything so I did the adult thing and didn’t say anything either. If that was all we were going to do, then I was happy with that. Slade finally found his voice and interrupted the peaceful world I was pretending to live in.
“What is going on, Nyssa? What is really going on?”
“You’ll have to be more specific. There’s a lot going on. We currently have a madman trying to wipe everyone out. The city thinks the world is ending with all the gates, and you guys are too divided to get together long enough to deal with it.”
“None of that. I’m not talking about any of that shit, Nyssa, and you know it. You had a bloody nose while we were running. Your energy levels are low, and I heard you had fucking claws when we retrieved the kids.”
“Maybe I have a sick bug?”
“You haven’t gotten sick in the four years that I’ve known you.”
I sighed and focused a little too hard on the kids playing a weird version of baseball. The goal was to hit the ball at a base and if it landed within a certain area, then that was the base they could run to.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m far from okay. I’m just dealing right now.” I shook my head, resigning myself. “No, I’m not even dealing. I think I buried my head in the sand and now I’m too scared to come out and face the truth.”
“What truth is that?” he asked in a soft voice. I never knew he could talk like that, like he was willing to take in all my problems for me. That he’d listen, and then he’d make it all better.
“I found out what I am,” I whispered, knowing I didn’t need to say it louder for him to hear.
He took in a sharp breath.
“Maura helped. She found an old journal and translated it for me.” I went silent.
Slade didn’t say anything. He was using that annoying tactic of waiting the person out. It had the disturbing ability to work. He didn’t even have to pry the information from me.
“I’m a fucking phoenix, a damn bird.”
That got a reaction out of him. His eyes brows rose in surprise and his mouth popped open.
“Exactly. What am I supposed to do with that information? I’m a myth.”
“Shit.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Who else have you told?”
“Only Cecil.”
He nodded. “Keep that information to yourself. I have a feeling if others were to find out, you’ll be hunted.”
My gaze focused on him. “What do you know?” I asked.
His jaw clenched. “You’re a myth because there used to be hunters who hunted your kind down hundreds of years ago. As far as we knew, everyone was killed.” He shook his head. “Landus knows more about it. He lived through it. I believe he was part of the group who wiped out the hunters. They came from a special family, had a family gift that allowed them to hunt your kind. Landus is definitely someone you’ll want to speak with to learn more.”
I snorted. “We can’t even hold a normal conversation.” I shook my head to stop him from bringing it up more. “And no, I’m not talking about it to you.”
“I don’t want to be between a relationship spat anyways.”
“There is no relationship.”
“Right.” He sounded like he didn’t believe me. “Being a phoenix, what does that mean?”
I shrugged. “Not like I have someone to go to to ask. It does explain my sensitivity to energy and gates. Why I tore apart Maura’s living room.”
“Why you survived the Woodlands.”
I shrugged. “I’d like to think I’m just that awesome.”
He grunted. I smiled and poked at him. “Now we know why I’m so hot.”
That drew a chuckle from him. “Lame joke.”
“Still worked.” I shrugged.
“So all the shit happening to you is because you’re a phoenix?”
“Yes?”
“Like growing pains? You’ve been getting stronger.”
“From research. We have a thousand-year cycle before we die and are reborn.”
“You’re not at the end of it, are you?” If I thought Slade could look panicked, I’d say he did right now.
“Definitely not. I’ve never shifted, Slade. I’m still a baby.” I elbowed him. “I’m not that fucking old.”
He winced and rubbed his side. “That actually hurt.”
“No, it didn’t.”
“Nyssa, it really did.” He lifted his shirt, revealing his gorgeous abs and his ribs. A bruise was already forming where I hit him. I stopped walking and turned to him with wide eyes.
“Holy shit.” I grinned and poked it. He winced. “Baby.”
“It hurts.”
I couldn’t get rid of my smile. “Do you know what this means?”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.”
“I can kick your ass.” I released a playful manic laugh. “Your ass is going to be hurting now.”
He didn’t like that, so I kept teasing him. It was better than listening to the screaming in my head. I was fine with change. Okay, that was a lie. Change was hard. I could adapt when I needed—that was the only way to survive the Woodlands. But changes to my person? That was hard to swallow. I’d been an adult for so long, learned all about myself, knew my strengths and weaknesses. Now I had to go through puberty, apparently. I didn’t remember much, but according to my body, I already went through that. Why did I have to go through it again?
The walk with Slade ended up being exactly what I needed. After he got tired of me laughing at him, he growled, and forced me to head back to my place. We were almost there when there was a loud explosion as the ground shook and rumbled in response.
We glanced at each other.
“Please tell me there isn’t a safe house around here,” I said.
His expression hardened.
“Shit.” I spun to face where the explosion came from. Billows of smoke reached up into the late-morning sky.
“We need to hurry.” Slade took off at a sprint and I pushed to stay by his side. He was fast when he wanted to be. The building was about three blocks away. A large crowd had already gathered as first responders tossed whatever magic they had at the building to put it out. Slade scanned the crowd, but I wasn’t sure what he was looking for.
Movement caught my eye on the third floor. “There’s someone on the top floor.” I pointed up.
Slade’s head whipped around to look at what I spotted.
“Damn.” He dove forward and I followed.
“You can’t go in there!” someone called out.
Slade released a growl as he shoved by. I didn’t give them time to block me. If Slade was going to go into a burning building, I wanted to go too. I believed Cecil mentioned this being the epitome of friendship.
The flames were hot and sweat dotted my skin. Slade looked worse off as the flames tried to eat his clothes. The sound of something cracking and breaking caught my attention. Above us, a support beam decided it was done and gave up on life.
“Watch it,” I said and shoved him forward, helping him avoid the falling beam.
Of course, that meant it ended up hitting me since there wasn’t enough room to dodge. Pain hit my arm and vibrated up to my shoulder. I grunted and fell to my knees, remembering to breathe through it.
“Damn it, Nyssa, what are you doing in here?” Slade snapped.
He yanked on my arm and checked it. Then blinked.
“Is it bad?” I asked, refusing to look. Looking at wounds always made the pain worse. “I can’t feel anything anymore, so I’m assuming it burned through all my nerve endings? Is it still there?”
“There’s nothing there,” he said in a low voice.
“What? Like my arm is gone, nothing?” I looked down at my arm, expecting to see black flesh and scorched bones or for it to have been amputated. “Holy shit.”
“The fire didn’t hurt you.”
I grinned at him. “I’m indestructible.”
“Only against fire.”
Something else crashed in another room, reminding us why we stood in the middle of a burning building.
“How about we argue the semantics after getting whoever is trapped here out?” I asked.
Slade slipped by, making a run toward the stairs. A blast of flames came flying out of a nearby room, aiming right for us. I did the automatic response of raising my arm to protect my face.
A whooshing sound filled my ears and a cool breeze slammed through the room with revenge. I gasped; it felt like something was being pulled out of me. The fire and the smoke receded. Slade barely spared me a glance before taking the stairs three at a time. I wasn’t as tall as him so I had to settle with taking them two at a time instead.
At the top, I spotted Slade long enough to see him disappearing into a room down the hall. Damn he was fast. He was holding back on me during our runs.
When I went into the room, I came to a halt, trying to take in the scene and understand what I saw.
Slade held an older woman. She was so small and frail that I thought she would break in his muscular arms. She probably would have if Slade didn’t hold onto her with a gentleness that I rarely ever saw.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“Window.” I nodded behind him. “We’re back that way. I’d rather not have a fiery beam taking us out.”
He nodded his agreement and waited while I went over to the window and tried to pull it open, but it refused to budge. With time wasting, I smashed my elbow through instead. The glass shattered and the summer heat tried to compete against a burning house and failed miserably. I cleared as much of the glass as I could.
The smoke sent the old woman into a hacking cough.
“Can you do something?” Slade asked, looking pained. He deeply cared for the woman.
“Only because it’s you.”
Focusing on my energy, I tried to send it out. I was probably the most surprised when it worked and cleared the smoke.
“You first, then help me,” Slade said.
I nodded and dove out. Turning around, I helped the old woman through. She felt as delicate as she looked. If I barely squeezed my fingers, she’d break.
As soon as Slade squeezed through, he grabbed her, and we worked our way to the edge of the slanted roof.
“I’ll jump,” I said. “Lower her and I’ll grab her, then you come down.”
“I can jump.”
“No. I don’t need you breaking a leg. I can’t carry the two of you. Even I’m not that good.” Refusing to give him the opportunity to argue, I jumped down the three stories, landing softly. Then I stood up, and raised my arms.
Slade lowered her quickly and quickly followed. I barely had her in my arms for three seconds before he was already taking her back, a growl raising from his throat.
“Stop that,” I snapped. “I’m not a wolf and I’m not going to eat your grandmother.”
That shut him up. I left him there, looking for a way around. Problem was, we were in the backyard and the fencing that was surrounding it was on fire too. We were stuck here until help got through the gate on the side of the house, but at least we were out.
“The fire is going to spread,” Slade said.
“Then I’ll take my newly discovered awesomeness and protect you. Now go over by that tree and sit your butt down. Check on your grandmother.”
“She’s not my grandmother.”
“Girlfriend? I think Cecil calls that a golddigger?”
He gave me a “be serious” look, raising his left eyebrow slightly and deepening his frown.
“You treat her like she is,” I said undeterred by Mr. Grumpy Face.
“She’s an elder.”
“Whatever. Go be a grump somewhere else.” I shooed him away from me.
His lip curled into a snarl, but at least he did what I said. He gently put the woman down and began checking her over. I faced the house, noting the massive fire as it consumed it. About a year before I came to civilization, I had gotten trapped in a forest fire. Two beings had decided to kill each other and the trees had suffered for it. Compared to that experience, this was nothing. In fact, it felt comforting to me, as if I could connect with it. My arm twitched as I fought against the instinct to reach out to the fire.
“Nyssa?”
“Yeah?” I turned to face them.
Slade looked pale and I rushed to his side.
“What happened? Are you hurt?” I asked.
“I’m fine. Listen to what Lady Monraya has to say.”
The old woman looked up at me. “He’s looking for it.”
I frowned. “Looking for what?”
“All the ingredients to a curse. He’s going to end us all.” She looked so frightened as she spoke, her eyes wide and bulging. She grabbed onto me, her grip stronger than I expected. “Do not let him find it. Stop him. You need to hurry.”
Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped forward. Slade scooped her up and checked her over quickly.
“She’s fine. Just exhausted.”
“What the fuck was she talking about?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Slade looked worried as he glanced around the property. “Lady Monraya is rare. She’s a feline shifter, but she has magic too, her blood having mixed with shamans at one point. She knows shit, Nyssa. If she says we need to hurry and stop him, then we need to.”
“Let’s focus on getting out of here first,” I said.
“Think you can make use of that wind thing?”
“I can try. Grab her. If this works, we need to move fast because I don’t know how long it will last.”
He nodded and picked up Lady Monraya. She curled into him, still out of it. I approached the fire, a little wary. Sure, I didn’t burn the first time but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t this time.
I focused on the energy thrumming through me, the way the air felt against my skin. I knew basic spells and ways to manipulate energy—just enough to aid me in a good brawl. But to use it to this extent was foreign. I didn’t have a frame of reference on my approach.
So I did what made sense to me. I imagined the energy around me spinning in a bubble. Slade’s presence pressed against my back as he moved as close as he could. The air stirred and I opened my eyes, not even realizing I had closed them.
Wind whipped around us.
I blew out a breath. “Ready?”
“Go. I’ll be on your heels.”
“Let’s make sure this works before we sprint into the flames,” I said.
Slade did stay on my heels as I approached the burning gate. Fire tried to burn us, but the wind around us took care of the issue. It was working. I was impressed with myself and I didn’t even realize I could get more impressed.
“Okay. Let’s make a run for it.” I ran for the gate, not needing to look back to know Slade was with me. The mental image of our wind shield stayed in my head as I popped the lock off the gate and shoved it open. I ran through, the flames from the house trying to reach us. We broke through the front, where everyone was.
Yelling erupted and as shifters sprinted our way, I released the wind, not knowing what it’d do to a person. They surrounded Slade and his charge. I stepped out of their way, not wanting to be mowed down by the mob of shifters.
“Are you okay?” Landus was at my side.
I frowned at him, a different kind of wariness taking me over now. He was looking at me with concern.
“I’m fine.”
His eyes slowly looked me over before he nodded and joined the others. I stared after him wondering what the heck was going on. He was confusing me.
I thought he wanted nothing to do with me. Asking if I was okay was the opposite of that. And it fed into my hope.
My lungs tightened and I went into a coughing fit. I turned away from the crowd. My lungs burned.
“Smoke inhalation?” a man asked.
I shook my head and waved him away. “I’m fine.” I cleared my throat. “Just a lot of excitement is all.”
“I can check you over.”
“She’s fine.” Landus was there again, this time holding the woman.
The man paled, nodded, then scurried away.
“Slade told me what she said. We need to gather everyone for when she wakes up.”
“She should rest,” I said.
He shook his head. “She’s fine. She isn’t as weak as everyone treats her. She hasn’t become the oldest shifter by being weak. Don’t let her trick you.”
I thought about how strong her grip had been and nodded. “Fine. I’ll give Cecil a call. She’ll update everyone. I’ll find a neutral place for everyone.”
“There’s a house near here that isn’t claimed. We will meet there.”
Irritation rose up. “Fine.”
“Fine.”
I huffed and walked away.
What the heck was Landus doing? He was confusing me and I hated being confused.
