by Brenda Trim
The townhouse had an open floor plan, so the kitchen was wide open to the living room where her television was paused mid-battle. Nothing obscured her view of the nightmare standing next to her grey couch. “Fucking hell,” she muttered, unable to hide her surprise.
The angel’s massive blue wings sucked all the air from the room. In an instant, Kennex was transported back in time to the day she met Jared. As a young Phoenix of only 18, she had yet to fully mature into her powers and hit her transition. She hadn’t even had her first molting yet. She had the exuberance of youth and believed she was invulnerable.
Kennex’s best friend, Serena, had convinced her to sneak away from her parents for a night so they could go to a popular supernatural nightclub close to Atlanta. She was just beginning to notice males and wanted to have an adventure. Serena borrowed her cousin’s car and before she knew it, they were in the bar drinking and she ran into Jared.
Now, the handsome Angel stood in her house glaring at her with such hatred she flinched. He was pissed at her for hiding from him for the past decade. No doubt the fists he clutched at his sides itched to pummel her. For the millionth time, she wished she could go back in time and refuse Serena’s invitation that night, so she never met Jared.
The bile in Kennex’s throat thickened with emotion and she almost lost the contents of her stomach. This could not be happening. How the hell had he found her? Had her spell worn off? The way her mind and emotions whirled prohibited her from being able to sense the hum that had surrounded her for the past fifteen years.
“Ah, my lovely little firebird,” Jared murmured. “I’ve found you at last.”
Unable to stop herself, Kennex dropped the boxes she held and wrapped her arms around her torso. “How did you find me?”
Jared scanned her from head to toe and crossed from the center of the living room to the shelves on the far side. It was then that Kennex realized he hadn’t used the door to enter her home. As an Angel of the earth, he had many talents. One of which was being able to sense the fire that branded her kind. Jared had a powerful connection to the Earth and her kind was created from a vital element. Fire was as much a part of the planet as water, air and earth. He always maintained that gave him rights to her body and soul.
Dread coursed through her over the fact that he’d discovered her after all this time. The order she placed for wards to secure her home hadn’t arrived from Black Moon Sabbat yet. Kennex wanted to kick her own ass for not realizing she should have paid the extra money to have the powerful Rowan sisters visit her home and place the wards in person. The decade-plus of safety made her complacent.
Of course, Jared would be able to sense the cluster of Phoenixes in the area, and from there her home would have been a giant black hole to his powers. The shield she carried hid her from view entirely without leaving anything behind. The ward would have mimicked human inhabitants and not drawn his attention like the absence of anything.
“I mourned your death, Kennex. How could you put me and your family through that?” His accusations struck like a fist. She’d devastated her parents when staging her death all those years ago. The posts her parents put up on T-Rex told her enough to know they still suffered from her loss. The temptation to reach out to them overwhelmed her from time to time, nearly making her cave.
“There was no reason for you to mourn me,” she retorted, hating the way her voice broke in the middle. All the venom and rage of less than an hour ago vanished only to be replaced with abject terror.
Jared picked up the books on her shelves and grimaced, showing his distaste for the fantasy fiction. Ants crawled across her skin as he pawed her belongings. She wanted to dump bleach all over everything to erase his taint. “You’re mine, little firebird. Never forget that you carry my mark.”
Kennex gripped her elbows tightly to keep from running her hand over the internal scar that ran from her right hip to under her left breast. That was one of Jared’s lessons she would never forget. He sliced her open and left her to bleed out when she disobeyed and tried to deny him.
Now, so many years later, phantom pain burned through her organs, and flames burst past her control to race up her arms.
Her entire body was trembling. Embarrassing as it was, she was a quivering mass of Jell-O. The bravado and hatred she displayed so easily to Ayil was nowhere to be found. She was once again a powerless young Phoenix under the control of a domineering angel.
“I’ve molted many times since then. I no longer carry your mark,” she lied. It was the only fight she could muster.
“Liar,” he whispered. “There is no escaping an injury from a sword of light. Not even your fiery rebirth can eliminate my brand. That paltry spell that hides you even now will not stand up to me. I will always find you.”
He was right about that. After all, there was no denying that he’d discovered her when it seemed impossible. However, she never would have called the charm weak. The most powerful witches in any realm created it. His words made her heart and her side throb. No matter how hard she tried she wasn’t whole, just like her skin may have no longer bore any evidence of the injury, but she felt the pain inside nearly every single day. It was a driving reminder of her worst days.
“Come on. I know you missed me. How could you not after what I meant to you?”
Kennex’s jaw dropped open. To add insult to injury she stood there acting like a fish, opening and closing her mouth. She swore she would never allow the bastard to have so much power over her ever again.
That was easier said than done, she realized. There was no shoving her fear aside. The rose-colored glasses she wore the night she met Jared were demolished one blood-soaked night. Unfortunately, many more blood-soaked nights followed.
Mustering all of her courage, Kennex reached for the remnants of her anger. “You mean nothing to me, but a terrible nightmare I hoped to avoid forever.”
Jared’s brown eyes flashed and then her head was whipping to the side so fast she didn’t know what happened. A grunt left her mouth as pain exploded through her cheek. Her vision blurred then turned red.
She stumbled back from the blow and lifted her hand to feel a wet cheek. Pain staggered her when her finger hit her swollen flesh harder than expected. “You are MINE!” Jared roared.
She ducked his next swing, but not the one that followed from her now blind side. As a Phoenix she healed fast, but not fast enough to avoid further injury. His fist felt like a sledgehammer as it connected and shattered the bone in her cheek.
Disoriented, she tried to get away from him but stumbled into the side table, sending the lamp flying to the floor. Her fingers wrapped around a large candle in a glass cup and she threw her arm out, putting all her muscle behind it as she turned. The grunt was satisfying, but short-lived as he twisted her wrist until it snapped.
The scream left her throat but didn’t stop her from lowering her head before she sank her teeth into his hand. It was nearly impossible to ignore the shards of glass in her face and sharp pain lanced through her hand to fight back against him. She refused to be his victim again.
“You bitch,” he snarled as he shook his hand. The action sent drops of blood flying across her grey couch. That shit would never come out, dammit. Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and picked her up. Blood rushed to her head, and Kennex felt faint. She was going to pass out, but Jared didn’t give her time to do that. He lifted Kennex off her feet and slammed her into her television.
Glass shattered and she crumpled to the floor. Her side landed on her Xbox, breaking the black casing. The only two objects she cared about were ruined. Her rage finally resurfaced, and she latched onto the biggest shard of glass she could find.
“You belong to me. I know you haven’t been with another male since me. You clearly know I am the only one for you. I am going to enjoy this,” Jared spat.
With numb fingers, Kennex clutched the makeshift weapon behind her back and rolled to her knees before getting to her feet. “I am not yours,” she
denied. There was no keeping her mouth shut now.
Jared leaped over her furniture with his wings spread. Kennex took advantage and jumped onto her coffee table while lifting her hand into the air, aiming for the sensitive underside of Jared’s blue wings. Her wrist screamed at her when the glass embedded into flesh and hit bone. Blood spurted around her fingers.
Jared kicked out with a shout. Kennex managed to jump onto the sofa. Her speed sent the couch onto it’s back before she rolled into the kitchen. Scrambling to her feet, she raced for the knife block.
Jared wrapped his hand in her hair and yanked her head up. Kennex needed to call her fire and scald him. “You shouldn’t have done that, bitch.” He slammed her forehead into the wood floor once.
When he pulled her back to repeat the process, Kennex pulled her knees up and shoved off the ground, once again trying to reach her flames. Unfortunately, her efforts were unrewarded. Her body was in motion and Jared let go of her head and wrapped his arms around her ribs. Loud cracks were followed by more excruciating pain, but she was beyond caring at the moment. Her heart stopped when he lowered one hand and ripped her jeans open.
This was not happening, she thought. She was not giving up. She had to get away from Jared despite her terror of him. He was more powerful than she was, but that meant shit to her at the moment. Kennex lowered her head and threw it back into his face. She expected to hit his chin, given his height, but was rewarded by a crunch followed by his howl.
He tossed her forward as he clutched his nose. She laughed when she saw blood pouring over his upper lip. “Kennex,” Lexi shouted and banged on her door.
“This isn’t over,” Jared snarled before he vanished in a bright flash of light.
How could a male that evil still be in God’s good graces? Kennex wondered as Lexi burst through the front door, wielding a sword. Unable to remain on her feet, Kennex fell to her knees, clutching her hand to her chest.
“Oh my Gods,” Lexi cried out as she lowered her weapon and rushed to Kennex’s side. “What the hell happened? Do I need to call Sam?”
“N…no. No Sam.” Kennex probed her injured cheek. “I was attacked.”
“Yeah. I heard. At first, I thought you were playing one of your games, but then I heard glass breaking…holy crap, please tell me you weren’t,” Lexi mumbled as she scanned the room and the devastation and then Kennex’s body.
“I’m okay. No. Asshole just wanted to scare me, I think. Thank you for coming to my rescue,” Kennex said, hoping the female would leave. Part of her was terrified Jared would come back and wanted to keep Lexi close while the other part wanted to curl in a ball and sob.
He found her again. Her life was never going to be the same and Kennex didn’t think she would ever stop shaking. He knew how she hid from him and no doubt he would locate a way to see through protections and glamours or anything else she might use to evade him. Helplessness threatened to engulf her in flames. Immolating right now would heal the external wounds, but that wouldn’t be wise for the same reasons as when she was fighting Jared. Although, now she suspected she might actually be able to control them.
No. It was time to put some serious effort into her plans. But, first she needed to upgrade her wards. That fucker wasn’t getting into her home again without paying a hefty price.
“I’m always happy to help, but next time scream to let me know you need me. These walls are paper thin and I will hear you without a problem. Where are your trash bags? I will help you clean this up.”
Tears blinded Kennex as she got to her feet and crossed the kitchen. It was difficult to breathe, and the pain was agonizing. She didn’t make it beyond her kitchen table where she collapsed into a chair.
“Don’t move. You’re a wreck. I’m going to get you some ice,” Lexi replied. The female had become a close friend since Kennex joined the clan over a decade before. It was why she chose to share a duplex with the female. Kennex never would have imagined needing the female like she did right now.
“Here you go. I’ll clean up as much of this as I can while you order a new TV and game thing,” Lexi prompted as she handed over an icepack and draped a blanket over Kennex’s shoulders.
Kennex looked up and lifted the ice pack to her swollen cheek. “You’re a lifesaver,” Kennex told her honestly as her friend handed her the laptop Kennex had stored on the counter in her kitchen to charge.
Flipping open the top, Kennex allowed her desire for revenge to consume her. Jared would never get another chance to lay his hands on her ever again. No fucking way was this crippling fear taking over and forcing her to run again.
* * *
Chapter 4
“Why are we here?” Evzen asked as he entered the familiar war room at Zeum. It had been weeks since the last council meeting, and even then, it had been held via teleconferencing with Zander in Scotland near the portal to Khoth.
Unease crawled over Evzen as he shivered from cold. The welcoming warmth that encompassed him every time he entered the Dark Warrior compound since the mating curse was lifted several years earlier was no longer present. The sense of home was missing, and the atmosphere seemed distant, if not bleak.
His gaze skittered over the occupants of the room and he immediately realized why the building seemed empty. Their leader was missing. Zander was the Vampire King and it was his power that was noticeably absent. That combined with his Fated Mate, Elsie, created the void Evzen now felt.
Evzen was technically equal to Zander in power and standing in the Tehrex Realm, as were Hayden and Dante, but Zander was their de facto leader and not having him there was beginning to impact the realm as a whole. The others would never admit that fact, hell Evzen would never say it out loud, but he felt it as he took his seat around the large wooden table.
“We have another major problem sweeping through the supernatural population,” stated Orlando Trovatelli, a shifter and member of the Seattle Dark Warriors.
Hayden, the Shifter Omega sat forward with his hands clasped around a steaming mug of coffee. The male’s dark brown eyes held the subtle glow of his inner animals. If Evzen inhaled, he’d catch the scent of freshly churned earth and pine emanating from the shifter. “What kind of problem are we talking about? Do you need more CLAW to help on patrols?”
Santiago, another Dark Warrior and shifter shared a glance with his partner, Orlando. Evzen didn’t know what the look was about, but it raised the hairs on the back of his neck. “More CLAW would help, but that isn’t the answer. We’ve seen new supernatural deaths due to drug overdoses.”
Evzen’s jaw dropped at hearing the news. Supernaturals weren’t susceptible to most drugs. In fact, there was only one drug ever to have any effect on them at all. Angel’s Kiss. A mix of meth, angel’s blood, and spells. But they’d killed the sorceress responsible for creating that drug.
If there was another sorcerer creating lethal substances, it was Evzen’s responsibility to take care of the issue. He was the Guild Master and the head of all sorcery. Not for the first time, he wished his immense power included that of foresight. Guilt weighed on his shoulders for failing the realm and the Goddess, yet again.
He should have seen what Lady Angelica was up to. After all, everyone knew she was evil. He didn’t know exactly how she tortured Jace, but he was aware that his cousin was held captive by the sorceress for over a century. It was the reason the mantle of Guild Master fell to Evzen when Jace’s father was killed during the Great War.
Evzen tugged on the lapels of his robe. “Is it Angel’s Kiss?” he asked nervously.
Orlando ran his fingers through his short white-blond hair. “It looks different, but we haven’t been able to get our hands on anything yet. It hasn’t hit Seattle, but Jax reported two supernaturals overdosed last night in San Francisco. The bodies are still in the hands of humans.”
Hayden’s growl echoed throughout the room. Evzen saw the way both shifters tensed and bowed their heads, baring their necks to their leader. “Why the fuck hasn’t som
eone retrieved them? Not that I care if the humans discover our existence, but they deserve a proper sendoff to Annwyn.”
Evzen didn’t agree with the Omega about revealing their existence to human’s and wanted to put space between Hayden and himself for fear the Goddess might strike him down for his disobedience. Not that Morrigan was a vengeful Goddess, but the last time supernaturals tested her the realm suffered a mating curse that lasted over seven hundred years, placing their kind on the brink of extinction.
Evzen had heard Hayden’s accusations of blindly following orders and underestimating human compassion. Problem was, there was too much evidence of what humans did out of fear for that to be an effective argument for Evzen. Sure, there were a few good ones, but if they were willing to kill millions of their own for having different coloring or beliefs, they would not tolerate a being more powerful than themselves.
Chaos erupted in the room as Nikko, Killian and Dante all started objecting to humans discovering their existence. Evzen’s heart raced as sweat beaded his brow. He was the most powerful sorcerer in the Tehrex Realm and an integral member of the Dark Warrior Alliance council. He should be able to channel the discussion.
“This isn’t productive. We need to focus on the matter at hand,” Evzen said loud enough to be heard over the arguing. “We are not here to discuss if we allow humans to discover us. Beings are dying right now, and we need to stop it.”
“He’s right,” Killian agreed. “I will search T-Rex for any noise about a new drug. How can this happen again?” The computer genius twisted and grabbed a laptop from his backpack hanging over the back of his chair. With swift fingers Killian went to work searching the Tehrex Realm’s social media site.
Zeum’s majordomo, Nate, entered with a tray filled with pastries and sandwiches. “Did you really think addicts wouldn’t be clamoring for more? I might be new to Earth, but one thing that doesn’t change no matter the location is the need for an escape whether it’s from old hurts or moldy walls, they want to be free of whatever traps them.” Evzen glanced at the dragon shifter from Khoth with new eyes. Clearly, Nate had depths beyond his love of females.