Ivory Inferno

by LeAnn Mason

  Allya swatted the scatter-shot array of debris with a giggle much too girly to ever be associated with her. If we hadn’t heard it with our own ears, it probably wouldn’t have been believed. As it was, the sound had the rest of us rolling in belly-deep laughs of our own. It felt good to laugh. We hadn’t done much of that lately. At least, I hadn’t.

  My eyes shot toward Nick, a reflex of remembered fun upon hearing his deep, unabashed entertainment. He’d always been good for that. I wished we could get back there, to the time where the awkwardness was from me trying to play it cool and calm about having the hots for him. Now, the awkwardness was mirrored, each of us remembering just what could go wrong.

  ...And there it was, his mirth-filled chocolate eyes met mine and shut down. Humor locked down tight from just one look. Awesome. This was a great idea, B.

  While Allya and Jason weren’t physically joined like Mae and Rory, they weren’t far from it. Folding chairs nearly rubbing, their arms and legs were touching the entire length. Then there was Nick and me. We sat on opposite sides of the arc of chairs facing the roaring bonfire. I couldn’t seem to look away from it. Fire held even more allure, more comfort, if not a little more wariness than it ever had before.

  Fire was known as a destructive substance. A consuming, killing force, but I’d always found it beautiful. Now, I even realized its metamorphic abilities. A lightning strike, or the heat therein, could turn sand into beautiful glass tendrils. Volcanic lava, when quickly cooled, created beautiful obsidian. Though I hoped to never have a close experience with that material again.

  The extreme heat of phoenix fire must rival that of a volcanic eruption to be able to turn an entire body, my entire body, into nothing but ashes and dust. How, exactly, I was “reborn” was still a mystery. One I wasn’t sure would ever be solved. Maybe if I challenged Mae to discover all things phoenix, we’d have answers within our lifetime. That girl lived for scientific and research opportunities.

  Just ask Rory. And she’d been hard at work, trying to untangle the curse that was upon poor Nera Rose, princess of the Vampire clan in Grimm Hollow. That research had taken a backseat to my… situation. The girl moved from one impossible situation to another without so much as a blink.

  Marie, being a gifted Shaman, had probably deduced the reason for her asking but, thankfully, hadn’t let on or pried. She’d just gathered all of the books the library contained with any mention of phoenixes.

  “Oh, Bianca, I finally found some references to phoenixes in the mythology section, go figure. Anyway, there were conflicting reports about visuals. One said an eagle Shifter was reborn in fire. Another said a Mage.” She shrugged. “Maybe it has happened both ways and it spans different species, or maybe, the Shifter was a hybrid? I’ll have to keep digging. But I also found something that backs up what the dwarfs said.” Mae perked, falling into a roll she adored: scholar.

  Physically turning her petite body atop Rory, she allowed his large hands to come to rest on either side of her waist as she pivoted to face me, opposite of where she’d been jesting with Allya. “I discovered a reference that made note of a phoenix losing their immortal status once they beget progeny. The gift seeming to migrate to the child, leaving the parent to live out the rest of their life in near-human, or Mage rather, mortality.”

  My mind stalled, again, on the idea that I had been the reason that my mother had been killed. If I hadn’t been born, she would have just reincarnated as she’d done who-knew-how-many times before that fateful day.

  So many reasons I’d do almost anything to have my mother back. I’d gladly give up this immortality if it meant I could have her back. If she could come back from death.

  “That would explain… some things,” Jason ventured cautiously, eyes flitting to meet mine for only a second before he trained his attention back on Mae. He attempted to not put the spotlight on me, for which I was grateful, but with the topic, there was nowhere else for my friends’ focus to land. When talking of mythical creatures, one turns to the said mythical creature in their midst.

  And until very, very recently, each of us here in Grimm Hollow would have been considered a creature of myth, legend, and folklore for our resident human. Pity it was down to just me who got to feel a crimson blush steal up her neck so often with such topics of conversation.

  “So basically, don’t get knocked up until you’re truly ready to move on.” Allya’s quip, though delivered sarcastically, was spot on.

  “Well, there’s one major reason not to have a teenage pregnancy.”

  “Hear that, man? No getting the phoenix preggers, yeah? We wanna keep her around a while longer. I think you do too.” Allya thumped Nick’s arm while waggling her eyebrows with the crude insinuation.

  “Leave it to you to be more awkward while trying to diffuse a tense situation.” Jason scoffed, shaking his head in apology for his girl’s wayward mouth. “But it’s true, man. We all want to keep the little phoenix around for many years to come.” He winked. I blushed, hard, burying my face in the crook of my elbow where it lay on the flimsy fabric arm of my chair.

  With the dark thought of teaching those two to shut it, I peeled a tendril of flame away from the bonfire and moved it along the periphery where no one noticed, slithering like a snake along the ground. When I’d positioned it between Allya and Jason, near where their legs played footsie, I turned it up. The little, benign tendril leapt to life like a bullwhip, tall and long enough to singe my friends with just a touch of pain from the licking flame’s lash.

  “Hey now, Sparky! Not cool.”

  “On the contrary, I thought that was very well deserved and executed magnificently, B,” Mae said, amusement plain in her tone.

  “I concur,” Rory murmured from beneath her.

  “Agreed,” Nick rumbled. I thought I detected a little humor in his tone, lighting his dark eyes, until he continued. “There is no need to worry that I will get your dear Bianca with child.”

  “Gee, thanks so much,” I grumbled from my spot. The one furthest from the broody bear. “Glad to know I’m so desirable.” Okay, so maybe my surliness about the change in my circumstance was leaking a little. I didn’t want to be bitter, especially since I was still trying to leave my lingering prejudice behind too, but hearing him scoff about being with me? It hurt. “I’m thinking I might need to go get some sleep. Big day tomorrow and all that.” I scooted out of my chair, sliding it across the dirt with the force of my release.

  “That’s not what I meant, Bianca,” Nick called with the popping of the bonfire punctuating his words. The rest of the circle fell silent in anticipation of what they deemed a good show. I’d swear, at least a couple of them were holding their breath. Not Rory though. He looked on with an almost clinical calculation, his fingers still firmly affixed to the hips of his own desirable person. “Please, don’t be like that. Don’t leave like this. I’ll leave.” And he turned to do just that.

  “Well, that does seem to be where we’re at nowadays, isn’t it? You can’t stand to be around me, always making any excuse to leave. Or if you can’t reasonably pull that off without feeling like a jerk, you just make sure you’re as physically far away from me as humanly possible! And forget talking to me.”

  Holy poo, I had no idea where all that had come from, but I meant it, body heaving with the conviction of my accusations. It really bothered me, and probably even lent to my worries about being near him because, hey, he sure hadn’t wanted to be around me. So, I played it like it was better. Like I was afraid. But I wasn’t. Not really. All I wanted was for him to wrap me in his ginormous arms and tell me he wanted me. That he would watch out for me. That he would be there for me.

  As if I’d willed it into being, the next moment, I was engulfed from head to waist by huge, curling arms. Crushed into Nick’s warm and muscled torso, his pecks like a rock-hard pillow he’d crushed my face against. Instead of fighting the instinct, questioning the why’s, I gave in. Winding my own, much smaller arms around his massive bac
k, I locked my hands and placed the big teddy bear within my own circle of protection.

  His head came to lay atop my own, completing the encapsulation and creating our very own bubble in which to exist, if even for only a moment. “I’m so sorry I hurt you, Bianca. I’ve been so terrified of repeating it, of losing control, that I’ve stayed away. Pushed you away. But even then, I couldn’t stay away, not really. I still watched over you. I know Emest and the others knew. Honestly, I was surprised he didn’t call me out sooner.” His reverberating self-deprecating chuckle vibrated from deep in his chest, the sound rumbling beneath my ear glued to the spot.

  I stayed quiet, willing the tears threatening to wet my cheeks, and his shirt, to stay put. They were for me only, a silent relief that what we’d had blooming between us wasn’t irrevocably broken. Maybe it wasn’t yet fully healed, but it could be. We could be. I moved my hands to clutch at the stretchy fabric of the shirt overlaying the warmth he radiated, no longer content with merely encircling his mass. My hammering heart, on the other hand, would be heard for a mile.

  “I know now that my instinct to protect you, to keep you safe, will always override any other directive. I can’t lose you again, B. Not at my hands or that of any other’s. I need you to stay alive, alight. I need you.” He’d moved his hands to cup my cheeks, raising my face so that I looked up at him while he poured his heart out. Half-lit by the fire, half-hidden in shadow, it was as though he stood on the precipice, ready to be tipped in either direction as he stared down at me.

  “Do it already, brother. Kiss the girl!” To my surprise, it was Rory’s thundering voice that jeered the order, and as if it were the permission the others needed, they each hooted and cheered their agreement and encouragement.

  “Better give the crowd what they want.” Then, his lips were on mine, their softness becoming almost rough with insistence. His eyes were pinched so tightly they looked screwed shut. It was as if he didn’t want to see. But not like he didn’t want me, more like he was afraid I wouldn’t want him.

  And it broke me open.

  Eyes slamming shut, I answered his silent question, opening my lips and letting my tongue escape to lick the seam of his, forcing a surprised gasp from between the lush pillows. His eyes sprang open in surprise at my forwardness, bringing his beast to the fore, eyes bleeding into a nearly glowing amber when snapped to mine. “I want that too,” I whispered. “Please, I need you with me. At my side for whatever comes.”

  His eyes fell closed, his whole body seeming to almost sag as he released the tension that had been riding him since that fateful day. “I promise. I won’t let her hurt you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  CHAPTER 27

  I could nearly hear the beat and chorus of an old song talking about how pressure pressed down on the singer as I stood vibrating with contained tension before the full-length mirror. Readying for the day, for Circe’s reckoning and my part in it, was equal parts nerve-wracking and invigorating.

  I had dressed in dark, loose-fitting attire befitting the Samurai I so hoped to embody, Birdie secured with her cord around the thick belt at my left hip. Wearing her, out and proud, was a big step. Seeing myself, almond-shaped eyes exaggerated with my signature cat’s-eye black liner, made my blue eyes more striking. And, of course, I’d applied my red armor as well. My tried-and-true brand though, not Circe’s tainted Candy Apple Red.

  That one was meant for another purpose this day.

  With trademark red lips, much like Allya’s cloak, I was ready to click my heels and drop a house on a certain wicked witch. Well, Mage, the idea was the same. “You’re as ready as you’ll ever be,” I blandly rallied my reflected self.

  At least, I’d gotten some sleep, more than I thought I’d get, which was nice. Emest and the rest of the dwarfen gang had shown up to crash our bonfire pep rally at the exceptionally opportune moment of Nick and my revelations that we indeed needed each other. That our future was more important than the past.

  It had been awkward, to say the least, especially with the rest of our posse already cooing and catcalling from the periphery. It had been tempting to send fiery tendrils out for a little scare, but I’d refrained, showing the maturity our friends had not. Barely.

  But the dwarfs’ news had all of us sobering in little more than the stuttered heartbeat it had taken to absorb their proclamation. Circe had arrived and was settling in for the evening at the Coven House, which meant that Gloria, too, would most likely be privy to the circumstances. At least, she would be once she attended the hearing. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Gloria was formidable on a good day, but she was very much about gathering as much power and magic as she could wield, and knowing how she treated Sasha in her home…

  She just gave me a bad vibe. Hopefully, having her in the loop wouldn’t backfire on me or anyone else. I sincerely hoped she wasn’t truly evil as I knew Circe to be.

  The dwarfs had ordered my friends and me each back to our respective homes to “get a good night’s rest.” Then, they’d plied me with a hearty draught that smelled pleasantly of lavender and chamomile and lulled me into a surprisingly restful sleep. I was grateful for it.

  I’d thought for sure that I’d be up half the night, tossing and turning as my mind threw a kaleidoscope of varying scenarios at me. If it had, they had played out to completion within my mildly drugged state, and I couldn’t remember any outcomes.

  Probably better that way.

  I heard a door open and Emest’s booming command as it was tossed into the ether. “You best come in now. Come on. I might not offer again.”

  I was taken aback to hear Nick’s baritone in response after a few silent moments. “Thank you, sir. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t go home and leave her unprotected.”

  “What do you think we are? Worthless?” I chuckled at Rune’s sharp rebuke. That man was as shy as they came until someone he loved was threatened. Then he was a raging bull. One no one in Grimm Hollow had ever had the notion to see. I hadn’t even seen it in years. Since the day they’d taken me and fled from Andersenville.

  “We’ll forgive you your young, lovestruck mind, this time,” Selik replied in an uncharacteristically grumpy tone. He was the one known for always being happy or, at least, content.

  “Take a moment and eat some food. Maybe splash some water on your face and under your pits. Make yourself presentable for the hearing,” Tabbart said almost absently. I made my way down the stairs and toward the crowded kitchen, ready to face the day.

  Come what may and all that.

  Breakfast, the chatter, the food, were all a blur. An indistinct occurrence that passed the time until I was supposed to head out. The guys had all left soon after I’d come downstairs, citing that they had a part to play in the day’s events and I should stay back for about half an hour to let everyone else get gathered and situated before making my grand appearance.

  In their place, Rory, the frickin’ Prince Regent of all of Grimm Hollow Shifterdom had entered the kitchen, staying with me until time to make my entrance. Nick hadn’t been too keen on that idea, but I’d shooed him off. Rory’s order to leave hadn’t hurt either.

  I couldn’t wait to see the look on Circe’s smug mug when I strolled into their meeting. But that made me realize… “I don’t even know where this… thing is being held. Was I told, and it just went in one ear and out the other?” I honestly couldn’t recall.

  “They didn’t tell you. But I know where we’re going and when we’re supposed to get there, don’t worry,” Rory said magnanimously, plastering a smirk to his face as he pushed a crispy piece of bacon between his gnashing teeth.

  He was putting in a valiant effort to hide his tension from my view, but I could see the slightly mechanical manner in which he was operating. Like he was forcing himself to act as nonchalant as possible. All the while, his leg bounced like a pogo stick on steroids beneath the table. The coffee of his eyes muddied to swirling caramel as his beast instincts rose to the surface.

&n
bsp; Rory was definitely getting better about controlling his lion, but the struggle was real. Mae was the true grounding force in his life, but in her absence, I’d noticed a black, plug-like earbud wedged into his left ear. It seemed he loved his music, which was just another reason he and Mae were so well suited.

  Maybe one day, someone would say the same about me and Nick.

  “Okay, Regent, I’ll let you feel like you have it all under control. For now. Soon, it will be my time to shine.” Two could play that game, and I wasn’t about to let his attitude outstrip mine. I was world-class at the game Fake it ’til you make it.

  “It’s time. Are you ready? Need some music or something for a lead-in?” Leave it to him to think of such an awesome thing.

  “You mean like a soundtrack? A segue that clues the audience in that something epic is about to go down?” I gave my best lofty look even while thinking about it in earnest for a moment.

  I didn’t want anyone mistaking my attitude as dismissive of the event we were to initiate. Shaking my head, I shucked aside the immature notion, pretending it didn’t appeal to me nearly as much as it did.

  “You know you wanna,” he smirked, a true action that thawed his tension just the tiniest of bits as he rose from the chair, throwing a muscled arm in the gentlemanly gesture toward the door. Looked like the time had finally arrived for my secret to get out. For powerful people to know the truth of it. One said person had actively attempted to kill me and succeeded.

  “I hope we don’t stir up a hornet’s nest with this revelation,” I murmured, my version of a prayer as I stepped through the door that Rory now held open for me, preparing to head out into the unknown.

  “Lord help anyone who tries to test the theory.” Rory’s grumbled words buoyed my heart, but the truth was that there was absolutely the possibility of this whole thing going sideways.