by Zoe Chant
As Beau watched, an orange glow seemed to suddenly light up Rosalind’s chest from within. Rays of light spread out from her body – rays that quickly became tongues of flame, completely engulfing her.
What the – what the hell –
He’d never seen a shifter like this before. He stared, unable to drag his eyes away, as Rosalind became a column of flame, standing there in the middle of the floor.
Scott yelped, lifting his arm to cover his eyes, trying to escape the burning fire that Rosalind had become.
And then, in a flash, she transformed: massive wings made entirely of fire spread out from her body, and her head became that of a crested bird, while a long tail trailed out behind her.
No. No way, Beau thought as he stared, dazed. She’s a phoenix.
A phoenix.
The rarest of the rare.
Rarer even than wyverns and unicorns, who were considered extremely rare.
Beau had never even met one before, let alone seen one in its shifted form, but he knew a little about them.
That would explain why I couldn’t sense the danger, he thought grimly. Aside from being ancient, phoenixes had low-level telepathic abilities, and Rosalind had obviously been using hers to dampen his ordinarily sharp senses. At least now that he knew about it, he could be on alert for it – though right now, Rosalind’s telepathy was not the first thing on his mind.
He watched as Rosalind – the bird of fire she had become – rose into the air on her flaming wings, her eyes fixed on Scott as he trembled below her.
“Oh – fuck – shit!”
Scott was clearly panicking. His face was a picture of fear as he raised the hand holding the gun –
“NO!” Beau bellowed, as, too late, Scott noticed one of Rosalind’s taloned feet rise up, raking his arm and throwing off his aim.
The sound of the gun going off was like a gong being struck right next to Beau’s ear.
In an instant, he saw where Scott’s hand was pointing – saw the direction the bullet would travel in. He saw who it would hit.
Annie.
No. No. No.
At once, his hippogriff rose up within him, wings spread, beak opened in a roar of terror and fury.
The energy he had been beginning to pool within himself to shift into his hippogriff form was immediately, unconsciously repurposed. It cascaded through him like a dam over flowing, and Beau realized immediately that his hippogriff’s instincts had kicked in as soon as it had realized its mate was in danger.
My ability –
There had been no conscious thought involved at all. All Beau knew was this was his chance – his one and only chance – to save Annie.
In the next moment, everything around him seemed to slow down to the speed of trickling molasses.
The bullet still moved through the air. The flames of Rosalind’s wings still flickered and danced around her.
But Beau was moving faster than both of them.
He could already feel the strain tearing at his muscles from the moment the powerful energy had exploded through him. Clearly, it was this that made a hippogriff’s power so dangerous for them to use: nobody, shifter or not, could contain so much power.
From the corner of his eye, he could see the bullet flying toward Annie, moving far more slowly than it would have been in real time, of course, but still fast enough that he knew he would have to push himself to his very limits to beat it. Agony tore through him, all his muscles screaming within him, his heart feeling as if it were about to burst within him.
But right now, Beau didn’t care even slightly. The pain in his body receded into the background of his mind as he reached out for Annie.
My mate. My mate.
The word sounded within him with every pounding beat of his heart. It kept him going, even through the pain.
Beau looked at her face – at the strands of curly blonde hair that fluttered across her throat and fell across her forehead. Into her beautiful green eyes, open wide with fear. At the pink of her full, slightly parted lips.
I would have liked to kiss her, just one last time.
He beat the bullet to Annie, but only by a moment.
There’s no time. No time.
Even pushing himself to the limit like this, Beau knew he’d barely have a moment to save her.
There’s really only one thing I can do.
He’d known it even as he’d been racing across the floor to her. He’d known it when he’d thought about how he would have liked to be able to kiss her just one last time.
I’m sorry, Annie, he thought, as he grabbed her shoulders, her skin warm against the palms of his hands, and spun her around, putting himself between her and the path of the bullet.
The last thing he felt was the bullet tearing into the back of his shoulder, his hippogriff screeching out in pain – and then nothing.
Chapter 14
Annie felt almost as if she was rushing to the surface of a lake, after having been submerged in the water for a second too long.
She gasped in a heaving breath, her lungs burning, her head swimming.
What – what happened –
The next thing she was aware of was the heavy warmth of Beau’s body as he fell forward on top of her, limp as a ragdoll.
“Beau? Beau?!”
He didn’t answer. Annie frantically wrapped her arms around him, trying to hold him up but he was too heavy, and together they slipped to the floor.
It was only then that she noticed the bloodstain blooming across his back.
Annie felt as if the breath had been knocked out of her lungs as she stared at it. Around her, she was vaguely aware of shouting voices and running, but she could only stare at the wound in Beau’s back.
I – I – what happened –
It all came back to her in a rush. Scott had grabbed a gun. Rosalind had transformed into – something, made of wings and flames. And then –
Horror rushed through her.
The gun went off – and then I felt like I was waking up – oh my God –
Staring down at Beau – at his ashen face, his limp, lifeless body – Annie realized suddenly what had happened.
“Beau!”
He’d explained to her earlier what happened when a hippogriff used its powers. He’d explained to her the toll it took on their bodies; how his own mother had been in a coma for three weeks after using her own power to save him from tumbling into a ravine.
And now he’s done the same for me, Annie thought, hands clutching at his chest desperately.
She’d barely had time to realize Scott had been waving the gun in her direction before it’d gone off, but Beau had seen it.
He used his power to throw himself in front of the bullet. He saved my life. But –
But, it seemed, at the cost of his own.
“No – Beau, please –”
Annie couldn’t have cared less about the commotion going on around her as she leaned down, crying out Beau’s name. She was vaguely aware of her purse falling over, spilling its contents across the floor, her dress tearing up the side seam as she scrambled to pull Beau onto her lap. She felt his warm blood on her hand, and panic tore through her.
How can I help him if I don’t know how?! she thought desperately, forcing herself to lift her head and tear her eyes away from his unconscious face.
“Someone – please, help me –!”
She cut herself off as what was going on around her suddenly came into sharp focus. Her mouth dropped open.
There were black-clad agents spilling into the massive foyer from the doors behind her, shouting at the guests to remain where they were – most were not, and were either fleeing on foot or had begun to shift into their animal forms.
Annie counted three massive eagles trying to bully their way out the door, while a peacock, long tail trailing, was flapping its way upstairs.
A wombat waddled past her at surprising speed, followed by no less than three of some kind of hopping mouse.
> And there, over by the front of the staircase, was the massive, fiery bird that Rosalind had turned into, flapping its flaming wings as it screeched furiously in the face of – of a –
Is that a unicorn?!
It was a horse, shimmering white, with a golden horn in the middle of its forehead.
Okay, yeah, that’s a unicorn.
The fire bird swept the flames of its tail through the air, making the unicorn dance back on its silvery hooves, parrying the blow with its shining horn.
Annie blinked, dazed, and wondered if this could possibly all be real.
I wish… I wish it were a dream, she thought, looking back down at Beau’s face. I want to wake up. I want to wake up back in my bed, with Beau’s arms around me, and find that all this was just a nightmare –
She couldn’t lose Beau now. Not when they’d only just found each other – not when the only reason he was dying was to save her –
“What’s happened here?”
Annie looked up at the sound of a man’s deep voice in her ear, eyes wide. A man with a no-nonsense expression and piercing gray eyes had come to crouch next to her, a small first aid kit in his hand. He opened it quickly and efficiently, revealing not only neatly packed standard medical supplies, but a lot of other items Annie didn’t recognize at all.
“He – he used his hippogriff powers,” Annie managed to stutter out as the man looked at her, face serious. “A gun went off – he must’ve seen that it was going to hit me, so he used his powers to get in the way of the bullet –”
Cold fear surged through her as the man grimaced, his lips pulling taut.
“Is – is he going to –”
Annie could barely force the words past her lips. The look the man gave her – half sympathetic, half grim – did nothing but make her heart plummet, sinking like a stone deep into her stomach.
“I don’t know,” the man said. “Using his powers… well, it takes a lot out of them, but they can usually recover. But combined with the bullet wound…” He shook his head. “Let me check. Help me turn him over.”
Wordlessly, Annie did as she was told. Part of her was still refusing to believe this was real, but all the same, she was still only just holding back the terrified scream that was trying to claw its way out of her throat.
No. This can’t be happening. No!
“My name’s Landon, by the way,” the gray-eyed man said as he probed the wound in Beau’s back with his fingers. “And you are?”
“Annie.” Her voice came out as nothing more than a whisper, in stark contrast to the frenzied cry she wanted to let out. “I’m Beau’s – I’m his mate.”
Landon looked up at her, surprise clear in his eyes. “His mate? I didn’t know he –”
“We only just met. He only told me a few hours ago. He said I’d meet his family –” Annie was aware she was babbling, but at the moment she just didn’t care. Somewhere in her brain, she realized she thought that if she told someone about their bond, about what they were to each other, then that would mean Beau would make it through.
He can’t – he can’t die. He told me I could meet his friends’ mates. He told me I could meet his family – that they were my family now too. If I tell people about it, then that means he has to keep his promise, right?
Landon nodded, but he was once again clearly focusing on the wound in Beau’s back – and he didn’t look very hopeful.
“It’s like I thought – dragonsbane. It’ll slow his healing, on top of him having already used up all his energy using his time pausing ability. But it’s not as bad as it could be. It’s missed his organs. It’s only gone into the muscle of his shoulder.”
Annie had no idea what dragonsbane meant, but she could guess it was serious by the way Landon rifled through his medical kit quickly, pulling out a long pair of forceps.
“All right, first things first – we have to get that bullet out of him, and the dragonsbane with it,” Landon said. He glanced up at Annie. “And you can help. I’ve seen this work before. The mated bond is a way for shifters to gain strength. I need you to focus on that – on the bond between you. Don’t worry about anything else, all right?”
Numbly, Annie nodded. “I can do that.”
She tried to focus. Beau was so still in her arms that she couldn’t bear it. She heard him take a short, shuddering breath, but that was the only reaction he had to Landon probing his wound with the forceps.
Closing her eyes, Annie pulled her concentration inwards, reaching out for the strange, glowing feeling in her heart she’d felt since the first moment their fingers had brushed back in the bakery.
I didn’t understand it then, she thought desperately. I thought this was just going to be a three-day thing, a bit of fun without getting attached. I was scared of feeling too much for you. I was scared of how much I felt, even after knowing you for such a short time.
She took a deep, shaking breath, laying her hand on Beau’s cold, clammy forehead.
But I was wrong, Beau. I shouldn’t have been so frightened. I should have kissed you on that lake – I should have kept letting you teach me how to skate.
It might only have been an extra hour or so that she would have known the touch of Beau’s lips against hers, but right now, to Annie, it might as well have been a hundred years. It seemed so unfair that they’d had so little time together – even a tiny bit more would have been worth any price.
Please, Beau. I’m not frightened anymore. I swear. I want to be with you – to be your mate. There’s so many things we still need to do together. Please. I can’t lose you now.
Annie could feel tears streaming down her face, but right now she just didn’t care. She felt the golden glow inside her chest increasing, flowing through her, reaching out for the answering glow within Beau’s heart.
Beneath her hand, she felt him stir. It was the faintest of movements, barely perceptible. But it was there.
Beau, please…! I love you!
Annie called out frantically to him within her heart. She knew it was true, even as she realized she’d never thought or spoken those words until this very moment.
She felt the glow within Beau’s chest growing stronger, the beat of his heart somehow audible to her, as if it was being transmitted through their bond.
Beau, she called out to him. Beau –!
The light within him flickered out.
Annie gasped, opening her eyes.
“What – what happened –”
“I don’t know.” Landon’s tone of voice was as grim as his face. “I got the bullet out, and applied a poultice to draw out the dragonsbane.” He shook his head, swallowing heavily. “But it might already have been too little too late…”
He trailed off, shaking his head, as Annie stared at him in horror.
“No – no, I don’t believe you,” she whispered.
I felt it – I felt his heartbeat getting stronger for a moment –
Frantically, Annie looked around her. There had to be someone here who could help Beau – all these mythical creatures, all this magic and strangeness, and not one of them could do something to help him?!
“Wait – what’s that?” Landon’s voice was sharp, jerking Annie out of her terrified haze.
She looked around her, trying to figure out what Landon was pointing at on the ground next to her.
Vaguely, she realized it was her poker winnings from earlier – she’d stuffed the bills into her purse messily, along with the vials of blood and green goo and long, curving claws that she didn’t really want to think about any more than she had to.
“It’s – I won them in a poker game,” she stuttered out, feeling absurd. She lifted up the delicate vials in her hand.
Why is Landon asking about these? she thought. It’s not important. We need to help Beau –
Landon reached forward, taking one of the vials from her hand and holding it up to the light.
“Is this griffin blood?”
Annie blinked. She could barely r
emember what she’d been told her mysterious winnings were. It seemed like an age ago now. But the words griffin’s blood rang a bell in her memory – the way the woman sitting next to her had told her that the other player had stormed off because –
“I think so,” Annie said quickly. “At least, that’s what I was told.”
Landon’s lips pressed into a long, thin line.
“Selling or trading griffin blood is illegal,” he said, voice low. “But this might be our only hope.”
Annie’s breath caught in her throat. She scarcely dared to believe that she’d heard Landon correctly.
“Griffins have healing powers,” Landon muttered, as he uncapped the vial. “Usually their blood is the main ingredient in a lot of healing powders and potions – or at least it was, until it became totally illegal to use it. I’m sure you can understand why.”
Annie shuddered. Even in her current panicked state, she could understand what Landon was telling her.
But – but he said it could heal Beau –
Vaguely, she recalled that Beau himself had told her that griffins had magical healing powers, back when he’d been explaining his own powers to her.
“Please,” she blurted out. “Please, if there’s any chance it could help Beau, I’ll be the one to take the blame for using it – it’s mine, after all, I won it, I don’t care what happens to me, as long as Beau –”
“Maybe it won’t come to that,” Landon said quietly. “For now, I just need you to do what you were doing before. Put your hand on his forehead, and focus on the bond. And here.” He passed her the uncapped vial. “It might work better if it’s administered by you. The mated bond can have… unexpected effects.”
Annie reached out, taking the vial with shaking fingers, careful not to spill a drop.
“What should I –?”
Landon grimaced. “I don’t know whether it’s the dragonsbane or if he’s depleted his life energy from using his powers. Maybe… maybe you should just have him drink it.”
Annie’s stomach rebelled at the idea of making Beau drink blood, but right now, she would have tried anything, including drinking the blood herself, if there was even the slightest chance of it saving Beau.