by Cara Carnes
The fury distracted any onlookers from the real objective. Ignoring the increasing burn in my blood from the phoenix toxin, I settled my blurring focus on the man behind my mother. Cripes.
I wasn’t ready to see him. He looked too much….
Don’t go there.
“You killed him! Your failure—yet again—ruined the one thing I lived for, the one person in my life I loved.” My mom sneered. “I should’ve killed you years ago before he realized you hadn’t been taken, too.”
A gasp accompanied by a feral growl permeated the air behind me. I focused again on Severin. Tall with long flaxen hair, broad shoulders, and a powerful build, he exemplified strength in my Realm. Few who’d seen him survived the encounter. Exposed long enough to serve a death blow to his enemy, he existed so far beneath the radar he was a fable, a whispered rumor to keep people in line.
My fingers on both hands began moving, each speaking in a code he’d taught me when I was seven and he twelve. Toxin weakened my digits on the right side, making me wonder if only half my desperate plea reached him. His gaze remained locked with mine. Was he reading my hands or not? Was his rage so focused on my failure he didn’t care? I repeated the first statement.
Lucian and Baldar intend to strike Demonia. Must take them or Riles dies. Wolves die. You die.
He cleared his throat and shifted. Yeah, okay. We both knew the two men wouldn’t ever be able to handle Severin. Unlike my father, who’d been cowed by his love for us, my cousin held no such attachments. Uncle Lucian’s minions had slaughtered Severin’s family during the civil uprising.
“You disgust me. To think he died protecting you. Nothing else makes sense. He was too strong to be taken and destroyed so gruesomely.”
Terror panged my insides a moment. The plan I’d formulated contained serious flaws. My mother’s inability to filter her thoughts was number one.
“You don’t know what happened, Bettina,” Severin stated. “Keep your comments on point, or I return us to the Realm.”
Thank you.
Don’t thank me. She’s right. You should’ve asked for help earlier. I could’ve helped. I would’ve saved him.
Tears ran down my face. The foreign display of weakness honed my mom’s gaze on the bandage. She ripped it off. I moved to cover it, but the toxin slowed my response. Her sharp nails dug into my wrist, making my blood burn with a new burst of poison.
“I see he finally branded you the whorish slave you are. He was supposed to destroy you, not make you his pawn. You’re pathetic. I’m glad your father’s dead. Seeing the whore mark on you would’ve ruined him. You should’ve died, not him. And now you shame me with a brand?”
“He’s your brother. How could his mark be shameful?”
She punched me again.
A feral growl sounded behind me. Startled I’d forgotten Lane’s presence a moment, I looked behind me and groaned. Severin had constructed a wall of angel fire between me and Lane, Macen, Riles, and Vira.
Its presence encased the room in a potent defense against any lurking phoenixes. Even though they’d consumed angel blood, Uncle Lucian’s assassins would have a distinct body composition Severin’s residual power would spotlight.
I scanned the room. A red mass hovered in the corner nearest the window. It angled out of the open crevice quickly. Severin’s eyes widened.
Good. Alone. Time to enlist his help.
Help me save them. Please. I signed the plea again and again until he sighed.
How?
Exhaustion plagued me. I forced the abbreviated order out as my mind shut out my mother’s spewing hatred. Sanctuary. Tonight. Party. Cover. Bringing phoenixes. Crossing Demonia. You there. Kill. Always watching me. Can’t let guard down. Need help. Please.
How do they watch you, Xandra? They lack the ability.
Angel blood. Drink. Temporary.
His eyes widened, but he remained otherwise stoic, his stance unchanged.
Please.
Done.
I sighed in relief. With my goal filled, I’d taken enough of my mother’s hatred. I met her gaze and listened. “I hope the toxin kills you. I will never render aid.”
“I’d die before asking you for a thing, Mother. You can leave. You’ve been notified, as was my duty. I will contact ROAR and have them contact Severin about the remains.”
“I will handle arrangements myself.”
“No.” My voice rose. “You won’t ever be near him again. Your bloodline destroyed him. This is as much your shame to carry as mine. Your mating marked him a dead man decades ago.”
She raised her fist to punch me again, but someone hauled her from me. The shield holding Lane back had lowered.
Rage resonated in his voice. “Leave before I forget I don’t kill women.”
My phoenix sensed her rising heat. I lunged for her, summoning what angel fire I could, and grabbed her with my left hand. Pain shot through my body. My veins felt as though they were being burned from the inside out. I locked my knees to remain standing as she winced and pulled away.
Shaking her hand she laughed. “You stupid bitch. Didn’t you realize calling your angel power when you’re infected weakens you faster? I hope your angel dies because I want no part of him in you. You don’t deserve his blood.”
Severin grabbed her, and they vanished. Relieved, I took a couple of deep breaths. Strong arms caught me when I tumbled forward. Not good. I needed the toxin handled, sooner rather than later. My mother’s words rang in my ears.
I grabbed at Lane’s arm. “Outside. Need to shift.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Riles moved into my personal space, and I pulled away.
“Don’t touch. Infected.” Fuck. I’d let her touch me earlier. The baby. Words proved impossible to form. “Come. Both. Shift.”
Suddenly, I was moving. Fast.
I closed my eyes. “Riles, too.”
“They’re behind us. You’re going to be okay. Tell me what to do.” He settled me on the grass the moment we were outside. My phoenix stirred restlessly, as though sensing the imminent loss of its constant companion.
It’d taken me a long time to reconcile the two beasts, teach them to inherit the same body without ripping me apart. Losing one would destroy the other. Anguish assailed me. My own blood hurt me. Again. Why?
She blamed me for his death. Perhaps she deserved to see me dead. I’d accepted the guilt prior to her arrival. All I needed was a few moments of stillness and the toxin would finish me off.
“Xan, I don’t feel too good.”
Fuck. Riles.
“Do something,” Vira hissed in my ear. “Don’t you dare fucking lay down and die. I’ll suck every drop out if I have to, but you will live. I won’t have her mourning you like a fucking martyr.”
I blinked, aiming my gaze toward Riles’s voice even though my vision blurred hues of crimson and black. “Close eyes. Focus on phoenix. Let rise to top. Make angel sleep.”
“I don’t understand,” Riles whispered. She threaded her fingers through mine and squeezed. “You go first, and I’ll watch.”
No. Needed to get her safe. Protect baby.
Then I remembered the first time Severin helped me summon my angel for its first solo flight. I’d been too terrified to strip one beast from another. He’d forced the beast from me by assaulting me with his power.
Dare I risk it?
I couldn’t be sure she wasn’t infected. Why hadn’t I remembered the toxin could be spread to another angel through touch?
I grabbed for her, feeling her soft flesh beneath my fingertips. With a groan, I shoved what power I could through my fingertips. Unable to see, judging distance from the building was impossible. I’d have to trust Lane got us far enough away.
My phoenix surged forward, drawing and shoving her power forward and into Riles through the contact I’d established. Her scream of terror ripped the last of my resolve away as my human reality surrendered to the feral instincts born from too many wars, too much
death. Tonight, I’d make them pay for every drop of blood I’d spilled for the sake of a crown I’d never worshipped.
First, I’d save Riles.
I pulled and pushed power until I sensed her phoenix edge forward, along with her angel. Fuck. She’d naturally blended the two the one time she’d ever shifted. The two animals expected to work in tandem. The sheer power of her natural ability astounded me. It’d taken me years to do what she’d done by raw instinct.
My phoenix coaxed her angel to rest and dragged her compatriot forward until Riles’s body contorted. I hung on the cusp of shift long enough to ensure her safety, then followed suit. Her phoenix was beautiful—a lush melding of midnight blue and amber. The bird stretched its mighty wings and regarded me with a short, hesitant gaze and then looked downward.
Wrong.
Riles needed to learn the importance of focus. I struck her with my weakened wing when she looked away. A primal caw rumbled from her belly. The rich, thick sound made my beast calm. Good. The strength of our royal bloodline would cleanse her quickly.
I tested my wingspan, noting the slow spread of my right one. Not good. Tonight was critical, especially after the debacle I was currently undertaking—her first lesson in shifting. I stepped forward and nudged until she moved backward toward the open clearing.
Wings spread, she hopped and flapped in an awkward mixture of a slow gait and a pathetic run. We lacked time for her to shift slowly, like our children did. Impatient and pained, I knelt until my belly was pressed fully onto the grass. Wings spread wide, I waited for her to crawl on.
Oh, right. She wouldn’t know what my position meant. Damn. She mimicked my stance like the good pupil she was. Sweet, innocent. So trusting. Her gaze never left mine. Excellent. She was a quick study.
“I think you’re supposed to get on top of her, Riles,” Vira stated.
I cawed my agreement and settled my head to rest on the grass. My blood burned, but my vision returned quickly. Tingling in my right wing concerned me, but hopefully, it’d go away soon enough. Riles’s slight weight settled on me, her wings sprawled atop mine.
I flapped my wings, pressing hers upward with mine. A scream ruptured from my throat as pain knifed through my right side. Riles stilled.
I continued, fighting through the agony. She needed my help more than I needed the pain to stop. Each second of searing discomfort reminded me why I was here, what I’d vowed even if the action meant my death.
I rose until she hopped off and settled in a mimicking crouch beside me, her wings flapping in time to mine. Pride rose in my belly, forging a bond I’d thought severed long ago. She was my sister, the only good blood I had left except for Severin. Tonight, I’d teach her to soar. Then I’d fly into the bowels of Demonia and wage the impossible war.
***
Lane
Macen growled beside me as the two women we’d vowed to protect rose higher and higher in the air until they resembled tiny flecks in the distance. The blue spot sat directly atop the crimson-and-black one.
“They shouldn’t be so high,” he groused.
“Oh, right. Because we know so much about how they train,” Vira commented.
Though I suspected she was right, I agreed with Macen. “Xan is sick. You heard what their bitch mom said about a toxin.”
“She looks fine. Tonight, we’ll have someone look them both over, make sure they’re okay. We have blood samples from Riles we can use to test against to determine what normal is.”
“Good.” I regarded Macen a moment. “Tonight. We’ve gotta keep the party, man. Xan says it’s important.”
“Why?”
“She didn’t say.”
“Surprise of all surprises,” Vira retorted. “I’m not down with Riles being exposed, and she’d never miss Vanessa’s party.”
“My mate won’t be bait,” Macen growled.
“Riles isn’t part of the plan,” Vira said as she looked at me. “I didn’t get all of what Xandra signed, but the movements your woman was using while her mom was using her as a punching bag reminded me a lot of an ancient language my father tried teaching me as a kid.”
“What? A sign language?” I asked.
She nodded. “Never used what little I learned, but he seemed to think knowing was important for an ambassador’s daughter, said the skill was once a requirement. I think the language must’ve been used when Demonia interacted with the Realm.”
“Makes sense,” Macen stated. “You translate any of it?”
“Enough to know whatever she has planned goes down tonight at Sanctuary. The party’s a cover. She wants the guy, whoever he was, to be there. The rest was a blur.” Vira crossed her arms. “I don’t trust her. We should let her handle this without your involvement. Batten down the wolf hatches so to speak.”
“We will not abandon her,” I growled.
“My mate isn’t bait.” Macen edged into my personal space. “She asked for wolf help yet?”
My jaw twitched with the swallowed response. I hated the bastard for pointing out the obvious. She didn’t want my help. Worse, she didn’t trust me.
“Then we step aside, let her see what happens when you fight alone.”
I lunged, grabbing him in a chokehold before anyone could stop me, not that Vira could. “We aren’t abandoning her.”
“Pack protects pack. Riles is pack in every way. Last time I checked, Xandra wasn’t anything but a job you took on to protect my mate,” Macen challenged. “If she’s more, man the fuck up and say so because I’m not hanging any of our pack out to twist in the wind until there’s a damn good reason.”
“Whatever this is about, it’s about Riles. Keeping her safe. We follow Xan’s move tonight. If we don’t get results, we’ll cut her loose.” The statement soured my gut, but I made the right call. Pack protected pack.
As much as my wolf wanted otherwise, I possessed no hold on Xan. And until she said otherwise, she was not mine to protect.
Chapter Eight
“One hour of life, crowded to the full with glorious action, and filled with noble risks, is worth whole years of those mean observances of paltry decorum.”
—Sir Walter Scott, Waverly Novels, Count of Robert of Paris
Xandra
“So, I can summon one or the other or both at once.”
“Yes. You’ll want to summon the angel and fly with her more—she’s more versatile and can do a lot more but requires more practice.” I squeezed her hand until her gaze lit on me. “You did great, Riles. Practice the angel fire wall when you can. It’s your best defense since your angel is so strong. You’re a natural.”
“I had a great teacher.” She hugged me close. “Promise me you’ll be careful tonight.”
How she’d known the party was still on when we never discussed the shift in plans escaped me a moment. Then I realized she and Macen must share a telepathic bond of some sort. I’d heard wolves carried the ability. I envied her raw talent, natural defensive mechanisms.
Perhaps she’d inadvertently honed them thanks to the fucker of an alpha who’d raised her. The moment the mess with Uncle Lucian and Baldar ended, the pricks would die. Assuming I survived tonight.
The sun flirted with the horizon. Time passed too quickly. Would Severin summon a large enough army? Would he bother? Lane lectured endlessly about trust, and I’d placed more on a cousin I hadn’t seen in years than anyone would realize. I’d also placed a great deal on the wolf pack.
I needed Vira’s buy in. Without her, the entire plan crumbled. Opening the portal and stepping aside for Uncle Lucian’s invisible army to enter would be too obvious. I’d need a distraction, a justifiable reason for the portal to be ripped open without warning. The possible scenario in my mind left my thoughts soured and my heart palpitating wildly.
I’d have to start a fight between the demons at Sanctuary and Lane’s wolf pack. The latter would outnumber the former because Macen and Lane wouldn’t allow us to be there otherwise. Reinforcements would be called f
rom the other side. Right?
As my mind worked over the possibilities, my gaze settled on the two alpha wolves in question. Voices lowered, they strode our direction with an observant, yet seemingly relaxed stance, one I’d seen many times in the phoenix and angel operatives I’d worked with.
“How did you know the party was still on?”
“Lane and Macen argued earlier. I sensed his agitation and got worried, so he told me.” Riles chewed on her lower lip. “I feel his emotions so much, but I haven’t told him. I’m not sure he’d appreciate my prying.”
“I’m thinking mates share emotions here. You should speak with him.” I smiled. “He’s a good man, an excellent warrior.”
“Lane is, too,” she whispered with a smug grin. “Did you know he refused to let anyone else in the pack follow you?”
My pulse quickened, and my gaze roamed to him of its own accord. Heat rose in my cheeks, and Riles’s soft chuckle made me wish the earth would swallow me whole. He met my gaze and pushed off from the wall, heading toward me.
“Great taste in men, even if you lack decision-making skills.” Vira stepped into my field of vision, forcing my attention from the incoming Lane.
“You don’t know me well enough to judge my skills.”
“True, but it’s not from a lack of trying. I don’t trust you, especially near Riles. Keeping the party on tonight is a bad call, but not my say. You’ve got Lane’s buy-in, and he’s managed to get Macen’s assent. You fuck us over tonight, I gut you.”
Riles gasped.
I squeezed her hand. Putting her in between me and the people I pissed off tonight would accomplish nothing. They were her family and future. Her security. “She’s right. I trust you with her tonight. Sometimes the most dangerous enemy is the one not seen.”
Silence clung for a few heartbeats before I continued.
“You know I was reading a book the other day about phantoms, invisible threats. You ever heard of them? I’m thinking if they really existed, there’d be a way to sense them.”
The odd rambling seemed out of place. I held my breath and hoped we were truly alone. Coming across as stupid and crazy to the vampire demon didn’t bother me if I got Riles safe tonight.