Forever Burning

by Evi Asher

  “Looks like I do. I’m almost completely healed.”

  Ath turned a circle to look around. “So where are we?”

  “A suburb, is my guess. If we are in Crossroads—”

  “We are in Crossroads.” Ath blew her fringe out of her face and cast them a glare for their doubt.

  “Well, then I suggest we make our way into town. That’s where the Outsiders’ building is, but we can’t go into town looking like this.” Scarlet held her arms out to emphasize her point. They had dirt covered on their body along with other unmentionable substances. The whip had shredded Scarlet’s robes at the back, and they all looked like bedraggled urchins in need of a good scrub.

  Scarlet looked around her again, peering at the suburban houses. “Time to learn a new skill, ladies.”

  “What skill is that?” Kell asked.

  “Breaking and entering.”

  Scarlet found an alley that led to the back of some of the houses, and after peeking over the wall, she said a prayer of thanks that some people still hung their washing on a line.

  “You go over, Dani. You are the smallest of us, so go fetch clothes, and don’t be picky,” Scarlet instructed as Ath and Kell gave Dani a boost over the wall.

  She was back soon, tossing random articles of clothing over the wall, and the women shielded each other as they changed into the garments.

  Scarlet ended up in a plaid shirt and a men’s pair of jeans that was hopelessly too big for her, but it would do the trick. They needed to get into town without drawing too much attention to themselves.

  “What now?” Dani asked as she shimmied into a skirt.

  “Now, we start walking.” Scarlet led the way back to the road and towards town.

  * * * *

  Archer looked carefully at the weeping statue, and in the daylight, he could see the resemblance to Jasmine.

  He had trouble believing what the statue had said—or was that the ghost of the other part of Jasmine? What a mixed up mess.

  He could understand Dimi’s venomous hate of Jasmine now. When Dimi and Jasmine had been together, Archer had never spent much time with Jasmine, but he had thought she was a nice person, someone good for Dimi.

  Then, one day, Dimi had come home and gone mad, torn up the offices completely, and disappeared for a year. That was when they’d installed the panic room.

  Now, Archer had an idea why. Jasmine was a piece of work, all right. She had ambition in her veins, not blood.

  None of that was important. What was important was that Archer come up with a plan to get Scarlet back, and he thought he might have the beginnings of one.

  He was going to need everyone to pull this off, but first, he needed to solidify the idea in his head.

  Archer always thought best when he ran, so he took off into the forest at a run. He let his beast get lost in the run, so Archer could think, and in the process find a way to outsmart the devil.

  Chapter Ten

  It didn’t take them that long to get into town and find the Outsiders’ building. Scarlet almost wondered if she had some kind of homing ability that had led her right there.

  Kell was bitching about her sore feet, and Ath was bitching at Kell about the bitching, so it was to a chorus of feminine bickering that Scarlet led them into the building and onto the elevator.

  When they reached the loft, Scarlet breathed in deeply, her heart pounding in her throat. What would it feel like to be in Archer’s arms again? Would he be glad to see her?

  Of course, he will. Don’t be an idiot. Scarlet scolded herself and stepped out of the elevator, hiking up her too- big jeans. No one was in reception, so she cleared her throat and yelled, “Hello? Is anyone home?”

  The women clustered behind her, and she could feel the nervous energy coming off them in waves.

  “Hello…” she trailed off as Zane came around the corner.

  He stopped as if someone had slammed on the brakes in front of him. “Scarlet?”

  She couldn’t help but grin. “I better be, or my body has been taken over by body snatch—”

  Scarlet felt herself picked up in a bear hug before she could even finish the sentence.

  “We’ve been so worried, pulling all-nighters to try and find a way to bring you back. Did you know there is nothing on phoenix in the books—absolutely nothing worth a damn.” Zane didn’t stop to take a breath.

  “Ease up. You are going to crack my ribs.”

  “Oh, sorry.” He put her down and looked over her shoulder at the others. He turned his gaze back to Scarlet with a question in his expression.

  By that time, all the Outsiders had come around the corner and Scarlet was looking for Archer.

  “Where is he?” she asked.

  Dimi answered her. “He isn’t here, and we don’t know where he went, but it is good to have you back. Would you introduce your friends, please?”

  Scarlet wanted to, but Outsiders hugging her and asking if she was okay suddenly overwhelmed her.

  Where had she been.

  Did they treat her bad?

  “Wait.” She couldn’t help but smile at the bombardment of questions. “I’m okay. It sucked, and these are the women who helped me escape.” Scarlet turned towards the other phoenix women.

  “Ath, Kell and Dani, this merry group of misfits are part of Outsiders Inc., and my friends.”

  Ath stepped forward with confidence and spoke. “We’ve heard a lot about you. It is our pleasure to finally meet you.”

  Heath stepped forward. “You must be starving.”

  “And in need of some soak time.” Sophia pinched her nose, and Scarlet grinned at her.

  “We landed in a sewer...sorry.”

  “I’m first to bathe,” Kell interjected and Scarlet nodded.

  “Yes, before you drive us all insane. I’ll show you where my room is.”

  Scarlet showed Kell to her room, while the rest of the women followed the Outsiders to the living room. The Outsiders then ordered food for them.

  Scarlet walked into the living room and Dimi pounced.

  “Would you mind being debriefed?”

  “Not at all.” Scarlet was surprised that Dimi asked her, and didn’t make it an order. She leaned against the fireplace wall, and told the Eternals all about the time she’d spent with the Phoenix.

  “So, time moves faster there than here? To us, you’ve only been gone two days.” Zane said.

  “Yes, I’ve been over there a lot longer than two days, and I have to tell you, there are some serious problems with that society.”

  “Like?” Heath asked and Scarlet looked to Ath.

  “The worst is the breeding.”

  “Explain,” Dimi replied in his terse way.

  “Eons ago,” Dani started speaking. “We phoenix lived on this plane.”

  Ath took up the thread. “But we were hunted by the Necromancers.”

  Trinity nodded, and sat forward in her chair. “Yes, that’s the story I was told as a child.”

  Scarlet kept quiet and watched as the Outsiders and the Phoenix spoke about the past and the present. She wondered what future they would have on Earth.

  “Our ancestors fled, but not before all our males were wiped out.” Ath shook her head. “The women left, blaming the males of our race for not defending us well enough.”

  “How did you propagate the species without males? The local males?” Heath asked.

  Ath shook her head. “No, there are no others on our plane, just the phoenix.”

  Heath frowned. “Then I have to repeat my question.”

  Ath looked down at her lap and seemed embarrassed.

  “Our people hunt shifters, Lycan and Thorpe males from this world. Then, they force them to breed our women.” The words spilled out of Dani’s mouth in a rush.

  “Oh, my God.” Scarlet gasped as everything fell into place. “That’s what’s going to happen to Angelica? I thought she was promised to a guy she didn’t know. I knew she wouldn’t get to keep him, but I didn�
��t know they were going to kidnap a sex slave for her.”

  “Scarlet.” Ath blushed. “It’s not like that.”

  Scarlet held up her hands in apology. “Oh, I know Angelica was despondent. I know.”

  “So the phoenix women have to be forced, too?” Dimi asked.

  “Not all of them,” Dani admitted. “But those of us who believe that this practice is wrong, yes we have to be forced.”

  “Like Angelica. She has never been bred before, and she doesn’t want to be bred now.”

  “And we left her behind.” Scarlet’s face fell as she realized the sacrifice Angelica had made so they could get back to Earth. “Can we go fetch her?” Scarlet straightened, and walked to the center of the room. “Can we open up another tear and get Angelica.”

  Dani and Ath looked at each other, then both looked at Scarlet. “No, we don’t have the power. Remember, we are still in training.”

  “But…”

  “My sister opened that tear,” Ath declared. “If not for Decembara’s skill and my pointing her at Crossroads, we would not have been able to come through.”

  Scarlet wanted to scream in frustration. “You told me you could open a tear.”

  “No, I said we’d make a plan to escape. I was always relying on my sister. Like us, she doesn’t believe the phoenix are doing the right thing.”

  “She’s right, Scarlet. We are, in essence, babies.” Kell spoke from the doorway, her blonde hair damp. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt out of Scarlet’s supply.

  “We have power,” Dani spoke up as if defending the women. “But we don’t have much control. It is something we are going to have to teach ourselves, now that we are on Earth.”

  “I’m not going to bring up the fact that there are necromancers here who will be after all of you,” Erik said.

  “So you’re not going to mention it?” Heath asked him with a scowl.

  Dimi stood taking control of the situation. “Stop, before this turns into an argument.”

  Zane chose that moment to come in with the food. “Uh, am I interrupting?”

  Dimi waved his hand, and Zane moved around the room handing everyone food.

  “What you eating, Zane?” Trinity asked with a cheeky grin. “Should I volunteer?”

  Zane scowled at her, but didn’t answer.

  Poe reached for a glass on the tray Zane was caring. “I will give you my word now. As Prince of the vampire court, you have our protection and allegiance.”

  Ath bowed her head in response. “Thank you for that.”

  He grinned at her. “No, thank you. An allegiance with a group of Phoenix should put me back in Daddy’s good book.”

  “You have a job working for Outsiders if you want, as well,” Dimi said in his deep rumble. “Your skills will come in good use, and since you don’t have people here on Earth…” He let it trail off.

  “I speak only for myself, when I accept your offer.”

  Kell glared at Ath. “Bull, you speak for all three of us and we gratefully accept, thank you.”

  “You think the others can bicker, but you have experienced nothing, yet,” Scarlet warned Dimi.

  He graced her with a rare smile that took him from stern and foreboding to drop dead gorgeous. Scarlet felt her eyebrows scoot up her forehead in surprise. Then she felt a pang of pain as she longed for Archer to get back.

  Archer, where are you? I’m waiting.

  Scarlet took a bite of her burger as the others ate and talked, but as hungry as she was, her food tasted like cardboard. All she wanted was her Archer. All she wanted was her wolf.

  * * * *

  Archer had been running for hours. It felt good to stretch his body and let his wolf take over the mechanics of movement as his long legs ate the miles and his mind gained clarity.

  He was going to go to the meeting with Jasmine in the cemetery, but he was going to take all the available Outsiders with him. It would be an ambush, and as soon as the tear was opened and he could get Scarlet, he would spring the trap and make sure that Jasmine was too dead to try to become a god.

  Yes, he liked that idea, and while he was at it, he’d take out the necromancer, too. That Eternal was beyond slimy.

  Archer’s foot hooked on an exposed root and his arms pin-wheeled as he fell forward. He rolled, taking the impact on his shoulder and hissed in a breath as he came to a stop.

  What the fuck?

  His beast had been in complete control, and it never made rooky mistakes like tripping over an exposed root, so why the hell was he laying in leaf mulch on the forest floor.

  “Archer!” He heard his name and it took him a moment to realize the sound was internal, and it was Scarlet.

  “Where are you. I’m waiting?”

  His heart rate sped up. His pulse was pounding so loud in his ears that he couldn’t hear her voice anymore.

  Archer pushed himself up onto his knees and stood. “Scarlet?”

  He stopped and took in his surroundings, weighing everything with his Lycan senses. That was when he realized that something fundamental had changed in his world.

  Scarlet was on this side of the tear. She was on Earth, and she would go to only one place if she were in control of her movements.

  He had to get back to Outsiders Inc.

  His wolf roared its agreement, and Archer realized his inner wolf had made him trip on purpose because he’d been so lost in his plotting that he hadn’t sensed his She’s return.

  Archer started to run. It was going to take him a while to get back to his car at the cemetery. He had run miles from there, but he’d do it in record time because his mate was here and he had to get to her.

  * * * *

  Time dragged by for Scarlet. Every minute felt like forever as she waited. She wandered from the living room, into reception where the rest of them were still getting acquainted as each of the women took turns cleaning up.

  “Is he picking up his phone, yet?” she asked Zane for the tenth time in the last five minutes as she hovered over the reception desk.

  “Scar, you’d be the first to know if I got hold of him.”

  “Are you sure I can’t go look for him?” She looked over at the grate on the elevator as if it were an escape route from a maximum-security prison.

  “We don’t know where he is, so it would be pointless, but we do know he will come back here at some point.”

  Zane’s logic was sound, and Scarlet suppressed the urge to call him a know-it-all.

  Heath came out of the living room, and joined them at the reception desk. “You do realize that your tension is vibrating the whole place out of sync, right?”

  Scarlet glared at the precog, and shrugged.

  “I thought I’d mention it.”

  “I’ll be less tense when Archer gets back, so until then, you will have to deal.”

  “Sure.” He took a step back as Ath, Kell, Dani, and Trinity came around the corner.

  Heath knocked into Ath and spun to catch her before she fell.

  As his skin touched hers, his face went blank and his eyes started to swirl with the silver incandescence of his visions.

  “Sorry…” Ath trailed off as she caught sight of Heath’s face and eyes. “What’s happening to him?”

  Scarlet moved around Heath quickly, so she could see his face. “Heath is a precog, he’s having a vision.”

  He started to speak in a strange monotone.

  “The ice-bear is going to take her. He is going to take her, and he is going to punish her for what she’s stolen from him.”

  “What?” Ath asked as Heath stepped back, his eyes back to their normal sky blue. “I zoned out?”

  “Yeah.” Scarlet nodded. “You spoke about an ice-bear taking someone and punishing her.”

  He shrugged. “Beats me.”

  “No, you can’t say that.” Kell stepped in front of Ath. “What does a bear have to do with us?”

  “Don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s important. Remember what
I said.”

  “Are you okay?” Scarlet put her hand on Ath’s arm, and Ath seemed to shake off her stupor. “Yeah, of course. We are about to go shopping.”

  “Ah huh, I’m taking the ladies to go buy clothes.” Trinity stepped forward leading the way to the elevator.

  “Don’t worry about the money, I’ll charge it all to Dimi.”

  Zane nearly choked on that, and Heath laughed, “Have fun.”

  “Oh, we will. Come on, ladies—I’m going to make real women out of you,” Trinity said. She wiggled her eyebrows, and Ath laughed, as Dani and Kell followed her.

  “I’m assuming you don’t want to come with, Scarlet? Seeing as you might miss Archer’s return if you do.”

  “I’m good.” Scarlet smiled. There was no way in hell she was going to leave the building right now. Archer could walk in at any time, and she was planning on kissing him until his toes curled before she gave him hell about getting her hitched without her permission.

  She didn’t even want to leave her post at reception to go have that longed-for shower, but she knew she better, and as she waved goodbye to the women, she turned for the hall.

  “Come knock on the bathroom door if you get hold of him, Zane. I need to have a shower.”

  “Will do.”

  Scarlet stopped and turned towards Heath. “You have no idea what that predication was about?”

  “Nope, not even a little.”

  Scarlet nodded slowly, then turned and walked to her room, stripping off her dirty clothes as soon as she kicked the door shut. She made her way to the shower, and prayed that the other women hadn’t used all of the hot water.

  Chapter Eleven

  The hot water was divine, so hot, it made Scarlet’s skin tingle as she stepped under the spray.

  She leaned her head back, and let the water soak through her long hair.

  She reached for the shampoo and groaned in pleasure as she massaged the foam into her scalp. She’d missed showering, the soothing heat of the spray that itched and almost burned her skin. She felt like writhing under it.