His hands squeezed mine as a growl erupted from him.
“I had to learn to survive and surviving doesn’t leave room for much else. I had to do what I needed to do and that meant purging my memories so I could fill them up with information I actually needed.”
“And now?” Cecil asked, lifting her head up to look down at me.
“I remember everything.” I bit back a sob. “I remember my family. My mamma. My dad. My little brother. I remember everything.”
The sobbing escaped, a hard ball forming in my throat as I cried hard. I never had the chance to mourn my family, and now, centuries later, I finally had the opportunity. I let it all out. Cecil pulled me closer, and Landus crawled into bed. He cradled me to him until I was snuggled between two of the most important people to me. Neither of them said anything and I appreciated it all the more.
~*~
It took a while for me to calm down, but once I did, letting out the last hiccup that I had in me, I tilted my head up to look at Landus. At some point, Cecil had slipped out of bed to give us some privacy, having sensed that I needed time with just him. Landus was staring down at me, his expression twisted in pain.
“What happened after they told you about me?” I asked, wanting to hear the rest of the story.
“I hunted your ass down. You had shifted and flew a day’s journey and it took a while for me to find you. I was worried we wouldn’t get there in time. When we did find you, you were almost gone. I almost lost you. Cecil and the witches did a last-ditch effort, a Hail Mary so to speak, and did a ceremony they use to bind witches together to a coven or in a marriage. It was enough to snap our mate bond back into place.”
“You were in my head.”
He nodded. “That was after they did the spell. I didn’t wait and came right in. I needed to get you to want to live, to fight to live. It worked.”
I glanced around the room, not recognizing it. Everything smelled like Landus too, so I wasn’t sure where we were. It wasn’t Cecil’s place or mine. Not his place either.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“I have a cabin in the Woodlands. I had it built a long time ago so I had a place to escape when I needed time to myself. I knew the Woodlands felt like home for you, so I brought you here, hoping to make you as comfortable as possible.”
Nodding, I patted his chest. “Good man.”
He chuckled and the sound sent flutters through my body.
“I want to see,” I said.
“You should rest more.”
“Apparently, I rested for months. I want to see your little haven away.”
He sighed. “Okay, but I’m carrying you.”
“I can walk.”
“No, you can’t. You’re pretty much sticks and stones right now after a long time of inactivity. I’m carrying you. If you don’t let me, you don’t get to see where we are. Simple.”
I moaned, but nodded.
Chuckling, he scooped me up into his arms and we headed out of the room. Dark red wood surrounded us, with simple artwork lining the wall. He brought us down a gorgeous wooden stairwell to the first floor. Not giving me a chance to look around, he went out the front door and onto a massive patio.
“Holy shit, you built this?” I asked.
“Yes. Years ago. I think a part of me knew I was going to have someone special in my life to share it with, someone who would appreciate the Woodlands and what it had to offer.”
I nodded as he brought me over to a porch swing. He sat down, still keeping me in his arms. At that point, I didn’t fight him. I could already feel sleep pulling at me. I wasn’t going to be awake for much longer.
We stayed like that, cuddling on the swing for hours, neither of us saying anything or feeling the need to. I dozed on and off. It was nice. I wanted it to stay like this forever if possible. If this was the rest of my life, I’d be content.
My smile melted away.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sensing the change in my body as it tensed up.
“We’ll have to go back, won’t we?”
“Go back where?”
“To the city.”
“Only if you want to.”
I frowned. “But you have your pack and going back and forth would be exhausting for you. They’re a needy bunch. Don’t even know how to wipe their own asses if you don’t give them an order to do it.”
He chuckled and shook his head in disbelief.
“It’s true. They strive for order, to have a master giving them a command to do everything.”
His body shook as he broke out into full laughter. Once he calmed down enough, he tilted his head down and kissed my forehead.
“I already talked with the pack. I’m stepping down.”
“But you can’t do that.”
He smirked. “I can and I already did. That city nearly cost me my mate. I only ever took the role because the previous leader was completely insane and I wanted to help them get over it. I never intended to keep the role.”
“Who’s Alpha then? If you made Slade Alpha, he’s going to go crazy. That isn’t for him.”
“And he would agree with you. No, he’s not Alpha. There was someone else more than capable of taking over. I passed it along to him. He’ll make a good Alpha.”
“So, I don’t need to go back.”
“You don’t need to go back.”
“But—”
“Cecil is more than welcome to visit. So is Slade or anyone else you want.” Landus sighed. “So much could have been avoided if you felt comfortable enough to tell me that you were a phoenix. I have to admit, it hurt to know that Slade knew, and I didn’t.”
“I tried to tell you multiple times before everything went to shit. Then everything went to shit and it was over between us.”
“So much suffering could have been avoided,” he whispered and pulled me closer. He pecked my lips.
“My mouth tastes like a family of skunks made it into a den.”
“You taste delicious to me,” he said and kissed my forehead.
If he didn’t mind, then I didn’t mind. So I didn’t hold back and did what my body ached to do.
I kissed him. Hard. A growl rose out of my throat. He responded instantly, murmuring apologies and hopes of the future with me, strengthening our mate bond with his sweet words.
My memories from my past had definitely came back, crystal clear. It was indeed a very long childhood. It took me so long to mature, and yet at the same time, not long enough as the Woodlands robbed me of the rest of it. When I finally came out of the forest, I had lived for lifetimes already and I hadn’t noticed. The forest kept my sense of the world timeless, the years passing by while I focused on surviving.
Life was not kind to me. I had lost my family in a brutal way, found my mate, and lost him too, then the Woodlands took everything else from me.
But I was there now and so was Landus. He promised to stay. We were going to build a live together now. My phoenix had all of the Woodlands to explore, and maybe, a long time down the road, I might, just might, consider children. For now, I just wanted Landus.
And as he worshipped my body, every one of his touches told me he only wanted me too.
I was okay with that.
Author’s Note
It’s done! This was a story I did a couple years back and I thought that it was time to share Nyssa’s story. I think she’s one of my favorite characters. She’s definitely precious and if I had it in me to continue the series, I would. I love the dark side to her, that fierce loyalty to those she lets in.
Authors live a world of ‘What ifs’. What if this kind of character exists in this kind of world? What if this happens? What if the story went this way instead? In this case, for me, Nyssa’s “What if” was: What if you take an uncivilized, instinct-driven being and put them into a city?
I’m glad I got my answer.
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From the Author
Monster Academy
Finding Allies
Staying True (Coming Fall 2019)
Gifted Anomalies
Fate Foretold
Surviving Souls (Coming 2019)
Biomystic Security
Magical Intentions
Magical Temptations
Magical Attraction
Magical Seclusion
Magical Redemption
Magical Collision
From the Embers
Emergence
Transformation
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Transformation (From the Embers Book 2) Page 19