by Unknown
“I thought I’d lost me,” I chuckled in return.
I felt Jax brush past me and watched his shadowy figure as he checked up and down the hall. “All clear. Let’s go,” he ordered, moving forward like the well-trained Marine I knew he was.
Scouting around every corner while Grant watched the rear, Jax got us out of the dungeon, into the main house, and back into my suite unseen. I collapsed onto the first available chair, trying with all my might not to cry or faint or some other demeaning girlie act. (Had I been by myself, I would’ve done all of that and a hell of a lot more, but I had a rep to protect, ya know what I mean?)
Grant locked the door, then slid the armoire in front of it for extra protection. Jax was making sure all the windows were locked and shutting all the curtains. I almost crapped a brick when he came back from his room with a gun and two full clips.
“Locked and loaded there, Sarge?” I asked, hoping I was just seeing things.
The look he gave me was one I was sure more than one enemy had seen in Jax’s time in the service. His voice was low and direct. “Damn straight. They try to get you and they die.”
The sound of another gun being cocked had me spinning in my seat.
“Ditto,” was all Grant said as he leaned against the wall next to the door.
Several tension-filled moments ticked by while I waited for something to happen, or someone to speak…anything to relieve the pressure threatening to choke us all. When it was obvious the guys would be able to stand guard for hours without a word spoken between them, I gave in and broke the silence.
“I really can’t believe you didn’t tell me could change into a lion. Anything else you think I should know?” I blurted out.
“I love you,” was Grant’s answer.
“What…how…you…what the hell did you say?” I stammered and sputtered.
“You heard me. I said I love you,” he repeated, as if it was a statement of fact I should’ve already known.
I stood and walked towards him, speaking like he was a man on a ledge. “How could you love me? You don’t even know me.”
“I admit we haven’t known each other for long, but from the moment I met you I knew that you were the woman for me. It’s the way of my kind. My heart and soul recognized you as my one true mate. I had planned to sweep you off your feet before showing you my true nature, but Helena’s actions kind of forced my hand. As soon as we get you safely through the Trial of Leadership and put your crazy half-sister behind bars where she can’t hurt anyone else, we’ll work on our relationship, deal?”
“Wait one freakin’ minute, Mufasa. Work on our relationship? What relationship? And while we’re at it, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s just too weird that you…a big honkin’ cat, thinks that he’s in love with me…the chick that’s supposed to be a bird. I’m not sure what kind of crazy shit you’re into, but I’m nobody’s chew toy. Hell, I didn’t even know this shit existed before today, and now you think you’re in love? Snap out of it! You’re losing your mind here, big guy! Get a grip!” I screamed.
I knew I was rambling. Could hear how completely out of control I sounded. But could not stop no matter how much the voice in my head told me to sit down and shut up. All the insanity of the last however many hours was crashing down around me and I was freaking the hell out.
Grant was walking towards me and I could feel Jax at my back. I was sure they had good intentions, but if either one of them touched me I was going to completely and totally fall apart. Doing the only thing I could think of that would get me away from them and preserve what little sanity I had left, I dropped to my knees and crawled as fast as I could to my bedroom.
As soon as my ass crossed the threshold, I kicked the door shut, jumped to my feet, locked not only the bolt but also the chain lock, and took one long deep breath. I heard both Grant and Jax holler my name, but all I could do was slide down the door into a heap of crazy curvy woman.
Leaning against the door trying to decide when the world got turned upside down and I got turned inside out, I heard Jax’s voice. Laying my ear against the door, I listened intently as my surrogate big brother counseled the man who thought he loved me on how to deal with Phoebe O’Byrne. Any other time I would’ve laughed my ass off right before firmly inserting my size ten up his ass, but on this occasion the big jerk brought tears to my eyes.
“Come on, Grant, leave her be. I made sure that room was secure. She can’t get out and they can’t get in. Phoebe just needs a minute to get herself together and then she’ll be back and better than ever. Trust me. I have seen that girl come through shit that would’ve made every Marine in my platoon wet his skivvies. She’s made of tough stock. And if you don’t mind, I have one little piece of advice…”
“Sure. What the hell. Can’t be any worse than what I’ve already done.”
“Aww, now don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a take charge kinda guy, I get that. You saw what you wanted and you went for it. I can appreciate that, but with Phoebs, you have to remember one thing. She’s spent her entire life thinking she was unlovable. Imagine spending twenty-five years thinking your mom left you because she didn’t want you? Then add to that finding out she did want you but was killed and her one dying act was to try to save you. Heavy shit, right?”
I listened to the silence, trying to imagine the looks on their faces and waiting to hear Grant’s answer. Chuckling, I thought about how it was the most I’d heard Jax speak at one time to anyone but me since senior year, when he had to give a speech on what America meant to him. I was proud of my best friend and so incredibly grateful that fate had given me such an awesome big brother. Blood may be thicker than water, but our bond was made of tears, dreams, and a lifetime of understanding…it could withstand anything.
“I see what you mean. I didn’t think about it that way. I only wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. I mean, I know she’s always had you, but I wanted her to know she had me too and that I would do whatever it took to keep her safe.”
Gone was the arrogant, super-confidant attorney. The voice I heard was a man, just a man (Well, technically also a lion, but you get what I mean) that wanted a girl, not a phoenix, or a princess, or even a queen, but just a girl to love him as he loved her. I knew I liked him and I was pretty sure I could love him, but before that, we had to deal with my bitch of a half-sister.
First, though, I needed a shower, clean clothes, and a pair of shoes. I was seriously tired of running around barefooted. Jogging to the bathroom and stripping out of my yucky dungeon clothes along the way, I took the quickest shower of my life and got ready to prove I was my mother’s daughter.
When I finally opened the door to the sitting area of our suite, I found Grant on his cell phone and Jax studying a map of the grounds. Looking up, he smiled. “What’s up kiddo? All better now?”
“I will be as soon as we clip a raven’s wings.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Grant answered as he disconnected his call.
Throwing caution to the wind, I walked into his outstretched arms. His sigh of relief told me he needed the contact as much as I did. If this thing between us was going to work, it was going to take compromise, something I was sure we were both rusty at. Way too soon, he kissed me on the top of the head and said, “You ready to call your Fire, my dear?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I answered into his chest before pushing away and taking a seat next to Jax.
“What’s the plan? Oh, and do either of you know how I call my Fire?” I asked.
“I was just talking to Willburn,” Grant grinned and took the seat across from me. “He said all you have to do is turn your sight inward. Find the spark within you. Envision that spark becoming a fire and that fire flowing through you. Once you feel it fill your veins, then all you have to do is force it out. The old guy assured me that your Fire wants to come out. You are past the Dawning age and it has been building in you for just this occasion.”
“That’s all?” My voice so
unded high and disbelieving, even to me.
“That’s what he said.” Grant was quick to reassure but then added. “Oh! And you have to say ‘Tine’”.
He smiled and nodded like that one little word made all the difference in the world.
Jax, who’d been overly interested in his map while Grant spoke, finally added his two cents. “Come on, Phoebs, you got this. After all, didn’t Ms. Greta always call you her little ball of fire?”
“Yeah, she did,” I laughed. “Guess I have to prove her right, huh?”
“That you do, kiddo. That you do.”
“Who’s Ms. Greta?” Grant asked.
“If we live through this, I’ll tell you all about her,” I answered.
“Oh we’re gonna live, Princess, and we’re gonna do it in style,” he answered, pulling me onto his lap, and for the second time in just a few hours, kissing me senseless.
“Get a room you two,” Jax chuckled.
Once again embarrassed, but this time with plenty of light for everyone to see, I climbed off Grant’s lap. The shit-eating grin on my best friend’s face made me want to slap him, but the happiness in his eyes told me that no matter what happened, he’d always support my decisions. Quickly changing the subject, I asked, “So what’s the plan, Stan?”
Winking before switching back to Sergeant Montgomery, USMC, Jax showed us the route the Magistrate had instructed him to take. It seemed like the longest way possible to get from point A to point B, but if it kept us safe, I was all for it. The guys were sure Helena already knew I’d escaped, but since there were no signs of a search party roaming the castle halls, it was a good bet she thought we’d headed straight for the airport.
The Magistrate was going to begin the Trial of Leadership like he was none the wiser, and when Helena declared that I had abandoned my responsibilities, as they were all sure she would do, I was to pop out from behind the largest boulder on the cliff. Both Grant and Jax agreed the element of surprise was our best weapon.
As soon as I was out in the open, I would call my Fire. Willburn would then declare me the Queen, Helena a traitor, and the Council’s claim to my birthright invalid. Everything sounded beautiful in theory. All I had to do was well…you know…why beat it to death.
At exactly eleven fifteen, Grant, Jax, and I snuck out of our suite, down the back steps, through a completely new set of hallways, through a garden with some of the creepiest statues I’d ever seen, to an iron gate that led to the cliffs. (I know what you’re thinking…that castle has a shitload of iron gates. Well, you’d be right, and it’s creepy as hell.)
The salty breeze from the Ionian Sea was cooler than I’d imagined, but still a welcome change to the castle. We hiked over rocky ledges and areas of grass almost waist high. The only constant was the song of cicada as we trudged on. I knew Jax had set his watch to chime at ten minutes before midnight, but the tinny beep beep beep still made me jump.
Grant snorted under his breath behind me and squeezed my hand. Ten more steps and Jax held up his fist. I knew that meant to stop, but still wanted to laugh at how naturally he fell back into his military training. Looking over his shoulder, the retired marine pointed to the light from a bonfire just ahead.
“That’s the party,” he whispered. “And there’s the boulder you need to be behind, Phoebs.” He once again pointed.
Looking over my head at Grant, he mouthed, “Everybody ready?”
I nodded and figured Grant had done the same when Jax turned around and headed towards the rocks. We reached our destination without being discovered and took a few minutes to catch our breath.
Willburn welcomed everyone to the ceremony and Grant leaned forward, whispering the words I’d been dreading since we stepped into the hallway almost forty-five minutes ago, “Time to start looking for that spark, Princess.”
Without another word, I closed my eyes and began looking inside myself. I had no clue what I was looking for, but Grant had assured me that I would know it when I saw it. Never one to shy away from a challenge and usually using at least some degree of logic, I began my search. I looked in my mind, and although there were many sparks, none of them looked like fire.
Helena’s screech sounded loud and clear, carrying to every ear that cared to listen on the sea breeze. I heard her lying to all the people my mother had died to keep safe. Anger and betrayal bubbled in the pit of my stomach. For just a second I thought I might be sick, but knew there was no way I could give that evil bitch the satisfaction of watching me fail.
The longer she talked the stronger the bubbling and churning inside me became. It was then I heard my mother’s voice. The same voice I’d heard in my dream, and once again, she was saving me, guiding me just as I’d always wished. “See Phoebe girl, I told you, you had it. There it is. All you have to do is grab hold and show the world who you are. I love you, my sweet girl, and I am so very proud of you.”
Standing with a confidence I didn’t know I could feel, I looked at Grant and smiled. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
“Whatever you say, Princess.” The man that professed his love for me was already proving he’d follow me anywhere, even into a fight he wasn’t sure we could win.
Jax stood, gave me a quick hug, and then whispered, “Give ‘em hell. Phoebs. I got your back.” He patted the gun in his belt and knelt to take his position.
Without a backward glance, I marched out onto the platform that had been erected for the ceremony. The crowd that had gathered saw me before Helena did. It took a moment, but she soon realized she’d lost her audience’s attention and searched for the reason. When her eyes landed on me I saw instant hate and loathing, but I also recognized fear. (Yay for me!) What she had dreaded most was now staring her in the face and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.
I felt my Fire filling my veins, infusing me with a power I hadn’t known I possessed, but before I showed it to the others, I needed to say a few words.
“As you can see I have not abandoned you and neither did my mother. I know you were told that she was killed by hunters, but did any of you ever wonder how the hunters found her all the way in the states, hidden in the human world?”
The answering grumbles from the crowd told me some had wondered and now they wanted answers.
“Helena is how they found her. She sent the hunters to kill her own mother and half-sister…me! If that wasn’t enough, just today she had me kidnapped and imprisoned in the dungeon of Castle O’Byrne. Her plan was to have me killed, as well as my friends, and then tell you that I ran away, too afraid to take my rightful place as your leader.”
“This woman…my sister,” Helena spat out the word like it burned her tongue to even think it, “Is nothing but the product of a mating between a whore and her human lover. She is a half-breed, unworthy to call herself a shifter, let alone a phoenix. You cannot think to make her your Queen. She is unworthy!”
The roar of the crowd grew, drowning out Helena’s words. They began to chant, “Call your Fire! Call your Fire!”
I looked to Magistrate Willburn, who nodded for me to proceed. Taking one long, deep breath, I closed my eyes, focused on the fire that was filling my every pore, and spoke the word Grant had given me. “Tine!” rang through my mind and over the crowd. No sooner had the word left my mouth than the flock became silent as a tomb. It was as if someone had switched off the sound.
A loud whoosh filled the air just as Helena screamed, “NO!”
I opened my eyes to find myself and Grant completely engulfed in fire. It was over and around us, glowing with a brilliant golden light, but not hot…not burning…simply covering us.
Grant’s arm tightened around my waist as he threw me behind him right before Helena ran toward us wielding what appeared to be an ancient Amazonian spear. I gasped, pulling at Grant, trying to get him out of the way of the point of her spear, but the idiot dug in and refused to be moved.
Not that it mattered, because as soon as the tip of the psycho’s spear touche
d my Fire, it burst into flames, taking her with it. It was not a slow burn….but a flash fire. The flame flew so high it lit up the night sky before returning to its normal glow and leaving behind nothing but a pile of smoldering ash.
Magistrate Willburn appeared out of nowhere, shaking his head like a disappointed parent. “I am sorry it had to end this way. I knew Helena was troubled, but I had no idea the lengths she would go to, to be Queen.”
Looking up from the pile of ash that used to be my half-sister, he said, “You can put it out now, dear. Very good job.”
“I don’t know how,” I whispered.
“Well, that could be a problem,” he snorted and the crowd laughed along with him.
“All you have to do is imagine it coming back to you and say ‘Ais’.”
Closing my eyes and doing as the wise old owl had instructed, I felt my Fire return to me. When I opened my eyes, the aviary shifters in attendance were crowded around the stage, smiling and offering their congratulations.
Magistrate Willburn turned to the crowd, cleared his throat, and waited until they had quieted down. “I am happier than you will ever know to introduce your new Queen, Phoebe O’Byrne, daughter of Magdelina, granddaughter of Sorcha and inherent Holder of the Fire. Long may she soar! Long may she reign!”
“Long may she soar! Long may she reign!” The crowd thundered in response.
It took almost three hours, but I shook every hand of every aviary shifter in attendance. I also received more hugs than I’d thought it was possible to get. Apparently, I was a big hit with my feathered family…who would have ever thought it?
EPILOGUE
Seven days later and I still couldn’t turn into a phoenix. I’d gotten close a couple of times, even found tiny little down feathers when I brushed my hair, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not completely transform.
Magistrate Willburn tried everything he knew before calling upon the flock Elder, Annabelle, an albatross who’d helped others find their feathers. When she arrived in a flurry of scarves and flowing skirts, Grant and Jax excused themselves, saying they needed to run errands. (Chicken shits!)