Phoenix Fire

by S. D. Grimm

  A painful tug weighed my heart down. “Has there ever been a time in the past that I’ve chosen to not forgive you for your sins?”

  He bowed his head. “Do you forgive me now?”

  “Of course.” I touched his face and nudged him to look at me. “I know enough. I know your heart. And it’s good.”

  He started to shake his head. “Do you not remember? I slaughtered people.” Tears filled his eyes.

  I recalled his comrades, dead around me, and I ached as I realized what he must be remembering. “As a werewolf.”

  “The monster is still me.”

  “And that’s why you can control it.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Ava

  Wyatt rubbed his thumb across my hand then let go. “I think you should go home tonight, Ava.” He started backing away from me.

  I grabbed his hand. “I’m coming with you.”

  “Ava.”

  “Don’t try and stop me. You should know better.”

  “You want to be with a werewolf on his most dangerous night?” He sort of smiled.

  I squeezed his hand. “I don’t want you to be alone.” And I didn’t want him vulnerable in case Gwen tried to come after him.

  He sighed. “Okay, but promise you’ll—”

  “I promise to stay safe.”

  He walked me to the car and got my door. As I slipped into the passenger’s seat I asked, “Where have you been changing?”

  “There’s this abandoned cabin in the woods. There’s a cellar. I set up down there. I have chains.”

  I grabbed his hands, finding it difficult to breathe. “No. This is why I need to come with you.”

  He looked at me as though he wanted to protest, but he didn’t say anything, just turned his attention to the road and pulled out of the driveway. I texted Nick to tell him where I’d be in case Gwen came looking. But I wasn’t going to leave Wyatt tonight.

  …

  Wyatt drove through the woods to a rundown log cabin.

  He pulled up next to it, and we got out of the car. I looked up at the quaint cottage. “Who owns this place?”

  “I think my family still does. It was my dad’s. He’s in another state now, though.”

  I helped him take his duffle bag and my bag of weapons inside—just in case Gwen or her monsters found us. We walked inside. The scent of dust and wood and sweat from fear and a hint of blood filled the place. Wyatt lit a candle. The couch didn’t look used—more layers of dust than I could count. Only footprints on the floor.

  I set the bag down. “Wow. Cozy. Please tell me they have running water.”

  He winced.

  I groaned. “You didn’t tell me we’d be going back in time.”

  He chuckled. Then he set down the car keys on the dusty table. “If anything goes very wrong, I can get home. Take the car and go.”

  He motioned over his shoulder toward the door to what looked like a mud room. “I have to go now.”

  I tugged his arm and pulled him to face me. “Wyatt, you’re not alone tonight. Please don’t act like I’m not a part of this.”

  “Ava, I’ve been handling this alone for the past two years.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  A rueful smile hit his eyes. “It’s not your fault.”

  Except that I had brought him to a new timeline. Over and over. And he’d had to go through the whole thing alone every time. I gripped my shirt collar with one hand and hugged my stomach with the other. “Is there anything I can do to help you…get ready?”

  “No.” He wouldn’t look at me.

  Every breath hurt. “We won’t let that happen to you again. Nick said the house we’re staying in has a room. You could go there.”

  “No. I want to go away until Gwen is gone. I can’t let her control me again.” He looked away and winced. “I’m not strong enough to—”

  “Yes. You are.”

  He led me into the mud room, carrying a candle. There was a cellar of sorts. Cold air rushed out as he opened the door and headed down the stairs. The ground was packed dirt. The walls stone.

  “This might not be much, but it’s better than your brother’s interrogation room.” He lit more candles, revealing the room. Shadows danced on the walls. Light brought to attention the chains mounted into stone. Claw marks marred the floor. Bite indentations covered the leg of what seemed to be the fourth chair from the dining table upstairs.

  I turned to see him remove his shirt. The bullet wound I’d seen in his house what seemed like ages ago stared back at me. I touched his shoulder. The one the silver bullet had penetrated. I rubbed my hand over the small ridge. “Do you have scars, too, from the things that killed you in the past?”

  “This is from the first time I died—or almost died. To be honest, I can’t tell the difference.”

  “The first time.” I looked into his eyes as realization washed over me. “When I saved you?”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed.

  Slowly, I touched his chest, right over his heart.

  And like with Nick’s wounds, the memories barreled back into me. Wyatt dying. My grief.

  I touched his side, the left, where I was certain he’d been skewered. I felt ridges of a scar. He swallowed. His fingers trailed over my neck and sent a shiver over my spine. “Ava, I’m alive right now.”

  His words halted the grief. Not all of it. But it made it feel like mourning from something that had happened already. Something that still hurt, but that I’d already grieved. I looked at him. Felt the love. I loved him. This Wyatt was the same Wyatt from the memories. All those emotions I wasn’t sure I wanted to feel. I let them in.

  Love poured into me, so foreign and familiar at once. Warmed me to my core. Made me feel alive.

  His finger trailed up the side of my neck beneath my ear, along my jawbone. My heart fluttered. And he turned me to face him. “I’ve lost you, too.”

  “I’m here right now, aren’t I?”

  “I wish you’d stop choosing to be here with me, when I change. But at the same time, when you’re here, you make it easier.”

  “Then I’ll always be here.”

  The way he stared back at me made me step closer, as if annunciating my promise. His chest heaved. He bent closer so that his breath tickled my ear.

  “Thank you.” He brushed his fingers over my cheek, my neck. Then he kissed me. My heart thundered and thrummed and pounded. It was so full. Full of emotion. Full of love. For this man. Wyatt was Wyatt no matter which cycle. No matter which decade or century. A tear slid down my cheek. What we had together was amazing, and I didn’t want to lose him.

  “Ava?” He wiped the tear from my cheek with his thumb, and I pressed my hand against his, keeping his warmth against my face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. As long as I don’t lose you, nothing is wrong.” I touched the wound on his shoulder. The memory started to pull me in. This was the wound that had nearly killed him. That I had healed that night outside the marquis’s house.

  But another memory begged to come back. Another time I’d saved him.

  It flooded into me before I could react.

  I was in the barn outside of the marquis’s house. Wyatt with me. His arm had been broken. He’d—he’d broken it trying to escape the chains, but it hadn’t healed yet. Changing back had taken so much out of him that some of his wounds remained. And he lay on the ground, sleeping. Dawn would be here soon.

  I’d gotten him to fall asleep. I’d been able to keep him calm enough, as long as he didn’t feel that his life was threatened, he didn’t lash out. And tonight had been a success so far. I’d planned to tell Nick. Ease him into the fact that Wyatt was already on my cycle.

  He arrived, panting and dirty, Cade with him. “Ava! We were worried sick.” He gripped my arms and looked me over. “Are you all right? That monster had you.”

  “No. I had him. Nick.” Why was it so hard to breathe suddenly? I wiped sweaty hands again
st my skirt and tried to look my brother in the eyes. “Wyatt is a werewolf.”

  He backed away from me, slowly. “Wyatt? The stable hand? The one…” He shook his head. “What a shame.”

  My heart tripped and fell. Seemed to beat in my chest bruised. “A shame? Why? He—”

  Wyatt came out of the cellar behind me, head low and hackles raised.

  “You.” Cade raised his weapon.

  Nick raised his.

  Blood pounded in my ears. Every nerve jittered, raw and exposed. “What are you doing?” I raced in front of them, standing in front of Nick’s weapon. “Stop this instant!” They would scare him! An icy tingle pumped through my veins. I had to stop them. “I told you, he’s not a monster. Let me show you.”

  “Look at him, Ava. He’s a creature of the dark. Manipulated by the dark. Don’t you understand? Gwendolyn controls the darkness. That means she controls all of them. And he’s no different.”

  A sob clawed its way out of me. None of this was going as planned. “He is different. You know him, Nick.”

  Cade stood back, shaking his head, like he wasn’t sure what to do. “He saved my life, Nick. That night at the cavern. He pushed me out of the way. I’m sure of it.”

  Nick looked at Wyatt, and a low rumbled resonated in Wyatt’s throat.

  “Please!” I tried to stand between them, but Cade slowly raised his weapon and stepped to the side so he had a clear shot. I couldn’t protect Wyatt from both of them. Tears broke free, streamed down my cheeks. “Please!” I screamed, the words burning in my throat. My chest.

  A howl far in the distance reached our ears. An icy shudder shot through me. I glanced over my shoulder. Wyatt’s eyes shone brilliant gold. His ear swiveled.

  I was aware of Cade in my periphery. He lowered his weapon. “Ava, he’s going to attack. Please, move.” He held out his hand for me. I glanced at Nick, who was ready to shoot.

  “No!” I dove toward Cade. Wyatt launched over top of me. His body sailed into my brother and knocked Cade to the ground. His jaws clamped down on Cade’s neck.

  I screamed.

  Nick’s gun went off.

  The shot rang though the air. Loud and deafening and yet I heard nothing. What I heard was like the imagination of gunshot. Wyatt jolted back, falling off my brother.

  He looked at me, a strangled whine in his throat.

  I grabbed his shirt. Blood poured out of him. My hands pressed against the hole in his chest. He wasn’t healing.

  Nick would never forgive me. It didn’t matter. I loved Wyatt. He wasn’t a monster. And Nick would find out anyway. I pressed my hands against his gaping wound, and heat so bright and so deep filled the depths of me. My soul. My strength. This bright light filled all of it. Every crevice of my being and with one surge, I pumped everything into him.

  And Wyatt gasped. His eyes popped open. He gripped my hands.

  “Ava. What have you done?”

  That voice was Nick’s. I turned to him. Fire blazed in my gut. “You didn’t listen to me. You never listen, do you? You couldn’t handle love because you’re nothing but a cold, unfeeling man who has no room for love. You’re a killing machine, Nick. You—you are the monster!”

  Shaking, I pulled out of the memory, my heart still racing, and I looked at Wyatt.

  He stared back at me, huddled in the corner. “You remembered.”

  My voice trembled in a whisper. “My brother killed you.”

  He shook his head. “Ava, look at me, I was already dead.”

  “No.” I staggered away from him, the room seeming to tilt. “No.” My voice sounded airy. I swallowed, trying to ground myself in this reality. Here and now. And I looked at Wyatt. His round, wet eyes. A tug in my chest reminded me how I felt about him. “You aren’t a monster, Wyatt.” I approached him and hugged him so close. He hugged me back like a lifeline. I touched the scar again. “You are a hero, Wyatt. A hero. My brother is the monster.”

  “Ava? Ava, wait.”

  But I wouldn’t wait. I had to stop Nick before he killed more creatures who didn’t deserve to die.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Cade

  I twirled the sword in my hand, my muscles recalled the movement. And my brain recalled the surge of cockiness. “Hey, boys, long time no see.”

  The reapers growled.

  The one on the left took a step.

  Ava might have just cracked open her speed, but I’d picked mine up quickly. The only problem I had was the stupid timing my powers had for shorting out.

  That was where skill came into play.

  I could only hope I’d trained hard enough, because now it wasn’t just me on the line. It was Yuki, too. I held the sword in front of me. It blurred in my vision as I waited for them to make another move.

  The one on the right started to spring forward.

  Target locked. I dashed forward and cut down, slicing that beast’s head clean off. Then I whirled around before the second one had a chance to move. I stabbed it through, pulled the sword out, and as it staggered, I chopped through its neck. The head rolled. Then I raced forward for the third. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, fueled my speed, covered every thought except one: get Yuki out of here alive.

  Yuki stood, ready. But she wouldn’t get a chance if I could help it. I climbed up its back and stabbed through the skull. With a moan, it slammed into the ground.

  I decapitated the last one.

  They turned to dust—blood and all—and I looked at Yuki.

  “Look out!” She pushed me aside and let out a yell as she charged a final beast I hadn’t seen. A different creature entirely. It looked almost like a living shadow. Yuki stabbed it through and the monster wrapped its clawed hand around the blade protruding from its stomach.

  I swung to chop its head off, but it looked right at me. Those eyes staring into me made me balk. “You’re too late. She will kill you this time. Her plan is already in motion. And it’s all your fault.”

  Yuki pulled her sword free and swung. The creature’s head toppled to the ground. Breathing hard, she turned to me. “What did that mean?”

  I stared back at her as feeling flooded back into me. I started shaking. “It means we go tell Nick she’s coming. And to be honest, I didn’t know those things could talk.”

  Yuki nodded. “I’m bringing the sword.” But she blurred and my head hit the floor.

  …

  I opened my eyes to a memory. I felt battered and bruised mentally, and I wasn’t where I thought I’d be.

  I walked down by the riverside with a beautiful woman on my arm. Red on the horizon over the water reminded me—she wanted to be here. To see the sunset despite my pleading that she should be in bed.

  She looked up at me with brown pools of eyes. Her golden hair fluttered in the breeze. A halo around her head. I leaned to kiss her. “Nick is going to kill me.”

  “As long as he doesn’t kill me.”

  I gently stroked her cheek with my thumb. “He won’t.”

  “He might. Making his little brother fall in love.” Her smile tugged at something deep in my heart.

  “Look.” She turned away from the sunset to look at the darkest part of the sky. “First star of the night. Beautiful, isn’t it? How such brightness travels so far through darkness just to show us its pretty light. It’s like hope through a dark cloud.” Her last word was choked off as she bent, coughing and holding her stomach tight.

  I grabbed her, afraid she might fall over. Every muscle in her body was taut. She practically fell into me. I cupped her head close. “You’re burning up. I told you not to come out here so ill.”

  “I wanted…to see…stars…again.” The cough wracked her body. Her eyes blinked closed and blood speckled her lips.

  “Angelica?”

  She fell against me. “Cade, you’re like a star. When I look at you, you shine so bright.” She smiled, and her face was so strange looking with the glassy eyes.

  “You can’t die, Angie. Don’t die.”<
br />
  “I told you…”

  “No. Yesterday you weren’t this sick.” It had happened so suddenly. My heart crumbled. Where was Nick? He was supposed to bring me the medicine she needed. He’d said not to get attached. That was why I’d kept the relationship a secret, but Nick was too astute. He’d figured it out.

  I pulled her head onto my lap.

  She curled into a ball, coughing again. Every muscle in her frail body tensed, and there was nothing I could do to help her. Blood dripped out of her mouth. She pressed her palm against my cheek, her touch weak and clammy.

  “Cade?” Her voice seemed strained. “Promise me something?”

  “Anything.”

  “Promise me you’ll move on. Prom—” She coughed again.

  No. I could do something. Who cared about the stupid Phoenix laws?

  She looked up at me. “I’m sorry I…won’t be able…to meet your…brother.”

  Her head lolled to the side. Nick was coming. He’d forbid it. Forbid everything. He already did. I was already the brother who never did anything right anyway.

  “Yes. You will.” I set her gently on the ground and touched my hands to her chest.

  I could save her. Phoenixes weren’t meant to be alone. The reason they’d made the law in the first place proved that. We craved companionship. I pulled every emotion that I’d ever felt for Angelica in our short time together to the surface.

  My hands glowed. Warmth, light, and emotion poured out of me and flushed into Angelica. Filled her. Filled me. All consuming, the light drenched both of us. She became a part of me and I felt her pain. The poison attacking her. And just like I could heal my own body, I healed her.

  “Cade?” Nick’s voice muffled through the all-consuming presence of my power. “No!”

  Nick’s anguished cry blasted into me full force as everything came back clear and the light faded.

  Angelica looked up into my eyes. “You—you saved me. You—I feel—how did you do that?”

  “Cade.” Nick’s voice was measured. “Please, back away from her.” He stood there with a wide-eyed Ava.

  “What’s wrong with you, Nick?” I pulled Angelica into me as tears streamed down her face. Down mine. We’d be together forever.