by Bianca D’Arc
“My cousin, Peter, is a Kamchatka bear. One of the biggest in the world,” Paul told them, shaking his head. “But you’re right. I do not share his animal spirit.”
“What are you, then?” Lance asked, breaking one of the taboos shifters grew up with. It was considered very rude to just ask. If you couldn’t figure it out, then you had to find out in other ways, but asking direct wasn’t done.
That told Paul a bit more about Lance. His hesitancy to speak of Paul’s other half and his apparent confusion all led Paul to believe that Lance was new to his powers. Whatever they might be. Whatever it was, Lance was something incredibly strong, and fire was his element. Perhaps he was a magic user. A fire-witch of some kind?
No. Paul sensed a duality of spirit that indicated Lance was a type of shifter, but whatever it was that shared his soul, it was something Paul had never encountered before. Stone cringed but quickly erased the expression from his face. The wolf Alpha was loyal to Lance, that much was clear.
Paul was saved from answering by the opening of the door behind Lance and Stone. The moment Paul saw the man who had entered, his face broke into a big grin. He was definitely among the good guys if Slade was friends with these two clowns.
Slade stopped short in the doorway, catching sight of Paul as their eyes met.
“Lebchenko?” Slade said, clearly surprised, though he was also smiling. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Slade, my old friend. It is good to see you again. I did not know you had moved to these parts,” Paul said, truly glad to see the mysterious cat shifter he had befriended long ago in a place far from here.
“You know this guy?” Stone asked as Slade made to move past him to get to Paul. Slade paused and turned to look at Lance and Stone.
“I have known Paul for years. He’s on the right side. Or, at least…” Slade turned to give Paul a hard look. “He was the last time I saw him.” Slade grinned and closed the distance, reaching out with one hand for a strong handshake accompanied by a back-thumping bro hug. “I can see not much has changed. Still searching?”
“Always,” Paul replied. Slade was one of the few people Paul had trusted with knowledge of his past and his ongoing search for others of his kind. “But I believe I’m getting closer.”
“Glad to hear it,” Slade said, moving back to regard Paul with a friendly smile and easy stance. The others seemed intrigued as the tension in the room ratcheted down another few notches. “What do you need?”
“Backup,” Paul answered succinctly. “There is a woman in danger, and I cannot do all the guarding myself. Especially when I do not know the full extent of the threat yet.”
Paul took a few moments to fill in Slade on the situation with Syd and those who had invaded her house. At Slade’s questioning, Paul gave them all more details about what had happened, and what he suspected. This time, when he went through the facts, he got more the reaction he’d been looking for from the beginning. Slade’s brows drew together in concern, and his lips thinned into a grim line.
It was Lance who noticed that customers were heading for the lobby. He nodded toward the window and suggested they move to his office, and all four of them did so in short order. The office was big enough to hold them all without being overcrowded, though there was a great deal of magic present between the wolf Alpha, Slade, Paul, and whatever Lance was.
They spent about a half hour discussing options for surveillance coverage, which was where Stone proved his worth. It would be his Pack members doing the legwork on this one, and Paul was grateful to find the werewolf was willing to help once Slade had vouched for Paul’s character. The impromptu meeting broke up as Stone headed out to talk to his people. He promised to have someone at the nursery within the hour to keep an eye on things. Paul thanked Stone and gave him his contact details, so Paul could coordinate with the backup personnel when he headed over to the nursery himself.
But, first, he wanted to catch up with Slade. It had been a while since Paul had seen his old friend, and Paul hoped Slade would be able to tell him more about the local talent. Werewolves were a known quantity to Paul, but he still had many questions about Lance. He wasn’t sure Slade would give him answers, but he at least had to try. One thing he knew for certain—Slade would not lead him astray.
By his very nature, Slade was a holy man. A shaman. A being close to the spirit world, serving the path of Light in one of the deepest ways possible. Slade was also now mated to a Priestess of the Lady. A more spiritual couple would be hard to find.
When Stone left the office, and it was just Lance, Slade and Paul left, things got quiet. Paul would have left, but Slade motioned for him to stay and took a strategic spot between Paul and Lance.
“I didn’t see this coming, but I think it’s important that you two meet,” Slade began. Paul realized the import of the holy man’s words right away. Lance looked a bit more skeptical. “You are both shifters of mythic origins,” Slade went on, making Paul shoot him a surprised glance.
“Seriously?” For one breathless moment, Paul got his hopes up, but then, he realized there was no way Lance was a dragon. He just didn’t feel that immense. He was just as powerful, but he was something much smaller in scale than a dragon.
“What are you?” Lance asked again, and Paul tried not to take offense.
“That’s not normally something people ask,” Slade admonished the other man gently. “It’s considered impolite in shifter circles, but since you’re new to all of this, I suspect my friend, Paul, will cut you some slack.” Slade’s ghostly blue gaze turned to Paul, seeking his agreement.
Paul shrugged. In the grand scheme of things, getting upset over a few misplaced words wasn’t really worth it. “I’ll tell if you will,” Paul said, using a bit of humor to hopefully diffuse some of the tension.
Lance looked at him warily, then seemed to come to a decision. He nodded his blond head and said just one word. “Phoenix.”
Paul didn’t understand. Was he talking about where they were? Apparently, his confusion showed on his face because Lance sighed and clarified.
“I am a phoenix shifter.”
“No shit?” Paul wasn’t quite shocked. This, after all, would explain part of Syd’s visions. “She saw a phoenix and a dragon,” Paul murmured, then spoke in a stronger voice. “I am a dragon shifter. The only one I know of. I am looking for my kin, if any still live.”
In for a penny, in for a pound. That was the saying, he thought. Paul figured, if Lance knew of any dragons around, he might be willing to share that information, now that they were establishing trust between them.
“I take it the woman you’re protecting is the one having visions?” Slade asked, his gaze filled with interest.
“Yeah. Syd has started having visions, and they include both dragon fire and phoenix wings. She wasn’t sure what she was seeing. I think she still believes it’s some sort of metaphor, but considering the two of us…” Paul motioned toward Lance and then himself. “Well, I think what she’s seeing is probably literal.”
“I think I may need to talk with her,” Slade said, surprising Paul. Slade usually wasn’t one to interfere directly, but maybe his mating had changed the reclusive cat.
“I can arrange that. Syd’s pretty friendly, and she really wants to know more about her visions. Until recently, she was just a regular human being with no special powers,” Paul explained. “This is all very new to her.”
“I can understand that,” Lance muttered, making Paul look at his sharply, seeking more. Lance sighed and sat heavily back into his desk chair. Lance and Slade sat again in the guest chairs, the meeting reconvening, apparently, with one less member. “I was a regular guy until a few months ago,” Lance explained. “Then, all this phoenix stuff started happening, and we got attacked by a Venifucus mage and a bunch of her goons. There was a show down right out in the car lot, and all hell broke loose. Then, I…changed…and all of a sudden, I was flying and using this immense power to just turn all the bad gu
ys to ash.”
Lance seemed a little shell-shocked still. Paul was aghast that such a fierce magic battle had happened here, and there wasn’t the faintest residue that he could detect. That phoenix magic must be potent, indeed.
“Phoenix shifters have many gifts, but being able to see evil and send flames to combat it are among the most powerful. No trace is left behind when a phoenix uses its flame. This entire car lot is testament to that,” Slade marveled.
“I can’t sense anything of what you say happened here,” Paul confirmed. “Even I can’t do magic without leaving something behind.” He looked at Lance with newfound respect.
“Like dragon shifters, phoenix shifters are nearly immortal compared to human lifespans,” Slade went on. “That first shift, though, is a doozy. Legend has it that, if they succumb to the call of the sun during their first shift, the phoenix will consume itself and wait to be reborn.”
“I can attest to that, too,” Lance said with a rueful shake of his head. “The call of the sun was very powerful, but my mate grounded me, and I was able to make it back to her. If I hadn’t had her, though, all bets would have been off, and I probably would’ve chased the sun until I died. I can see why my kind don’t often make it past the first shift.”
“And the third most common trait of phoenix shifters is that they are reputed to be able to see the future,” Slade said in a quiet voice, which made both of the other men look at him.
“Not another one?” Lance said, his words making Paul frown. Another what? Another phoenix?
Slade held up his hands palms outward. “I’m not saying she is, but I’m also not willing to say she isn’t.” Slade turned his gaze to Paul. “Lance isn’t the only phoenix shifter to earn his wings lately. There’s another. A female. And, though this kind of thing is incredibly rare, there have been signs all over the world lately that the side of Light is gearing up for a major battle. Rumors abound about the return of Elspeth the Destroyer to the mortal realm. If she really has come back, it makes sense to me that the most magical beings on the side of good would be awakening in response. Lance could’ve gone the rest of his life without his phoenix spirit coming to the fore, yet now, in less than a year, not one, but two phoenixes have manifested here, in this place.” Slade looked from Paul to Lance and back again. “And then, you show up.”
“Syd saw dragons. More than just me. A cavern full of sleeping dragons,” Paul admitted.
Slade slapped his hands down on his jeans-clad thighs. “Well, doesn’t that just beat all?” he asked rhetorically. “Two—maybe three—phoenixes and a passel of dragons. Fasten your seatbelts, boys. I think we’re in for a wild ride.”
Paul spent another few minutes talking with Slade and Lance. He received a text during that time from Stone, who had gone himself to watch over the nursery. Stone said he’d already laid eyeballs on Syd and was keeping track of her from afar, awaiting further instructions. Paul told the werewolf Alpha to sit tight. He’d meet up with him within the hour.
Paul made the executive decision to invite Slade over for dinner that night. He’d learned that Slade’s priestess wife had stayed home in Las Vegas, so the holy man was riding solo. Declining to go to Syd’s home, possibly drawing more attention to her, Slade suggested dining together elsewhere. At that point, Lance got into the act, issuing the invitation for them all to have dinner at his house.
After deciding on a time and receiving directions, Paul took his leave of the two men. He got into the borrowed car and headed for the nursery. Every moment away from Syd weighed on his nerves. Was she really some kind of un-hatched phoenix? Paul had no way of knowing for sure, but the possibilities had his head spinning.
When he pulled in to the huge parking lot in front of the nursery, he chose an out-of-the-way spot to one side of the big lot. He spotted Stone when the man peeked out from his observation point and waved Paul over. He’d chosen to sit at a picnic table under a tree that provided good camouflage despite the fact that the seating area had been designed for patrons of the nursery to access a small snack bar on the side of the building.
The main selling point of the picnic area in Paul’s mind was the excellent view it gave them of the nursery yard and the pretty woman who worked there, watering plants, pruning them and generally giving them all her attention. Syd seemed oblivious to the fact that she was under close observation, though she looked up when Paul approached the picnic area, and their eyes met across the distance that separated them, whittling it down to nothing. Or, at least, that’s how it felt.
Syd felt a tingling awareness run down her spine the moment before she looked up and saw sexy Paul walking across the parking lot toward the picnic area. There was a side entrance to the nursery yard that allowed visitors to access the snack bar, which was most popular when they had events going on but was mostly empty now. As she met Paul’s gaze, time seemed to stand still for one breathless moment before picking up the pace once more and marching on.
Paul walked confidently toward a picnic table by a giant old oak, and she realized there was a man already sitting there. Paul nodded to the other man and sat down with him, speaking in a low voice that she couldn’t hear from this distance. It looked like they knew each other. Maybe this strange man was part of the backup team Paul had mentioned. If so, they’d come through very quickly. It wasn’t even lunch time yet.
Thinking about it, she decided she’d go out to join Paul when it came time for lunch. For now, she had to do some work with the bushes and trees on the back lot. They needed a bit of work before they could be put out on display for sale, which was one of the jobs she most enjoyed. With a little wave and smile, she headed for the supply shed and then made her way around to the private area of the nursery where stock was brought in from the fields and prepped for sale.
The area she needed to work in today was at the farthest edge of the property. She took a pair of large shears and some other supplies she’d need to prune the various trees and shrubs that had recently been brought in from the growing fields. Nobody else was around, which was normal for this part of the nursery unless field workers were bringing in stock from the farms.
Today, the area was empty of life except for the plants and herself, which was just how Syd liked it. She did some of her best work when it was just her and the greenery, and she knew from past experience that time would fly while she tended to the trees. She really loved this part of her job.
Setting to work, she lost all track of time while inspecting each tree closely. She was so engrossed in the work that the sound of footsteps took her by surprise sometime later. Syd spun around to see who might be coming back here, only to find herself backed into the corner she’d been working in by the appearance of Elliot…and he didn’t look friendly.
“You’re a pain in the ass, Syd,” Elliot began, his voice angry. She knew nobody in the public portions of the nursery would hear them way back here. Even if she screamed, it was unlikely anyone would notice.
“So are you, Elliot.” She fought back verbally, knowing it wouldn’t do to show weakness to a bully. “You sent people to bug my house! What the hell did you think you were doing?” Better to have it out in the open since he probably knew damned well that she knew it had been him behind the sudden appearance of a goon squad at her home.
“I was thinking we could work together, but now that you’ve brought in your bodyguards, plans have changed.” He walked closer, picking up her long shears as he went. Those things were designed for trimming bushes and had foot-long blades that she, herself, had sharpened just that morning. A formidable weapon.
“Whose plans?” she asked, even as she backed away as much as she could. She was truly trapped now, between a dense wall of trees that had been piled on one side and a tall security fence on the other. Elliot was blocking the only escape route.
“Mine,” he answered shortly, clearly enraged. “And my master’s. You were going to be my ticket up the hierarchy. If I could deliver your untrained power to my maste
r, I would have been richly rewarded. As it stands, if you can’t be recruited, you’ll have to be retired. Permanently. Can’t have rogue powers out there interfering with our plans.”
Retired permanently? That didn’t sound good.
“I’m not a power. I’m not anything. I’m just a woman trying to make a living, and you’re having delusions of grandeur!” she shouted at him, even as she felt a tingling heat building in her core. Fight or flight? No. This felt different. More like fight and fry…
“Something’s happening,” Paul said, standing from the picnic table as Stone followed a beat behind.
“What is it?” Stone asked, ready for action immediately, proving his worth as backup. Paul was grateful the man was here, though it was clear he wasn’t attuned to Syd yet and didn’t feel the buildup of magical power taking place somewhere…in the back of the property.
“Not sure. Follow me,” Paul instructed, already going around to the back of the fenced-in property. He’d have to deal with the fence, but it wasn’t that high. He could probably jump over it if he couldn’t find a gate to open.
Stone was right behind him when Paul felt the energies ratchet upward by a phenomenal degree. Syd was in danger, and something powerful was gathering around her. Whether it was her own magic or someone else’s, he couldn’t yet be sure.
He caught sight of a man through the bars of the tall fence. He was holding a pair of long metal clippers that gleamed sharply in the sun. His stance was threatening as he waved the tool like a weapon toward where a clearly frightened Syd was standing.
She had one arm outstretched, and Paul could see the glow of her magic manifesting at the tips of her fingers. She was shouting at the man to stay away, and it looked to Paul like her magic was the only thing keeping the aggressive man at bay. It was working, but the guy was fighting Syd’s shielding magic, encroaching by slow degrees.