by Evi Asher
“Not now,” she said, her brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to summon an image of Ath that would be strong enough to work through the flames.
“Let us leave. We can go back to Radcliff,” Michael persisted, breaking Angelica’s attention again.
She gritted her teeth and spun. “I said, not now.”
What was with these men and their demands for attention, their high handedness, and their ability to do a Tango on her last nerve?
“He is unworthy of you, Angelica.”
The whisper floated near her ear and she wished for a moment that she could make him physical so she could backhand the ghost.
“Michael, I’m asking you nicely to shut up. I need to have all my attention focused, and if you keep talking to me, I can’t do that.”
Silence answered her plea, so she turned towards the fire and collected her mental images of Ath.
“Let’s hope this works.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Angelica leaned all the way forward, putting her face right up to the flames, but not in them. The heat was delicious to her. It felt safe and comfortable.
She took a moment to wallow in the warmth, like a lizard baking in the sun, letting it fill her energy reserves.
Then she forced herself to focus once more, and closed her eyes.
Ath…
The image she drew in her mind of Athera was one where the other phoenix was laughing, her doe eyes crinkled at the corners with mirth after some prank she’d played on Kel. Angelica could almost hear the musical tinkle of Ath’s laughter.
“Athera, hear me now.” Angelica’s eyes snapped open and looked deep into the flame, past the yellows and oranges, past the heat and the incandescent light.
Nothing happened.
Angelica sat back and let out a round of foul curses, then blushed because she never spoke like that and she was sure Michael had overheard her.
Angelica leaned in again. She wasn’t going to give up after one failed attempt.
She drew the image in her mind, her focus total, so much so that the rest of the room disappeared to her until all she saw was Ath’s laughing face.
Angelica’s eyes snapped open and the flames became a mirrored surface. “Athera, answer me damn it!”
Chapter Six
“We're lost.” Ath glared at Laz as if he were to blame.
“We are not lost, we just don’t know where we are right now.” He said the same thing he’d been saying for the past half hour while they argued.
Ath looked around them and huddled closer to the fire. It was her fault. She’d been so determined to go find Angelica that she’d led them right into the gaping maw of a blizzard.
Lost and not knowing what to do, Ath had said a thank you to any deity listening when they found an abandoned cabin. It was falling down, but the partial roof gave them some cover from the howling wind and driving snow.
Archer had built a fire and now the four of them huddled around it trying to stay as warm as possible.
The wind shrieked through the broken building, and Athera glowered in Laz’s direction.
“Put more wood on the fire. I’m freezing,” Scarlet said through chattering teeth.
Archer reached over and picked up one of the few pieces of firewood they had left and threw it into the flames.
The flames shot up a foot, and the four of them fell back in shock.
Laz frowned at the flames. “Was it a piece of wood or gas you threw on there?”
They were still burning about a foot higher than they had been burning. He sat forward dusting snow off his hands as he glared at the flames.
A voice seemed to shout of the flames making them all jump. “Athera…”
Ath felt her eyes widen as the realization that she knew that voice struck her. It was Angelica’s voice. Was her fellow phoenix trying to communicate through the fire? It would be a good natural medium for them, though Ath had never heard of anyone doing it that way. They usually used mirrors.
Ath leaned closer to the flames.
“Angelica?”
Nothing.
She leaned even closer, stopping to snap her head in Laz’s direction and glare when he put out a restraining hand. “The fire won’t burn me.”
He let go of her arm and shrugged. “Okay.”
Turning her face back to the flames, Athera leaned right in and put her face in the flames. It was so warm and comforting. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see Angelica’s face floating in the flames right in front of her.
“Where are you?” Ath asked.
“I’m in a small village in Alaska. He’s keeping me prisoner.” Angelica spoke fast as if she was worried that she would get caught. “Where are you—you have to come get me out of here.”
“Um…Little problem there,” Ath said. “The good news is, we are in Alaska, and we are looking for you.”
“What’s the bad news?” Angelica’s expression was resigned as if she had an idea what was coming next.
“We are lost.” Ath sighed.
“Great!” Angelica hissed. “I need to get out of here now, Athera.”
“Is he hurting you?”
“Well…” Angelica paused. “No, he hasn’t hurt me.”
Ath frowned. “Doesn’t he give you food, or has he denied you warmth?”
“I’ve gotten food, and I’m talking to you via fire so…Duh.”
Ath felt laughter bubble up her throat. It was good to see some of Angelica’s former energy and cheek coming back. She’d been so miserable for the last while, Ath thought they had lost their friend forever.
“Is he hideous and ugly?” Athera was teasing, but when she saw the blush creep over Angelica’s cheeks, she realized the other phoenix was attracted to her captor. “What’s the frigging rush then?”
Another face appeared in the flame as Scarlet joined the conversation.
“There isn’t enough room here for both of us, Scar.” Ath grumbled.
“Stuff it. The guys are getting antsy and they want to know what the hell is going on.” Scarlet nodded at the other phoenix. “Hey, Angelica.”
“Hi, Scarlet.” Angelica smiled, but it seemed forced. “Please come get me.”
“Didn’t you hear me say we are lost?” Ath rolled her eyes. “We need some rescuing.”
Scarlet nodded. “Before we freeze.”
“You are supposed to be rescuing me,” Angelica said, and Ath heard the indignation heavy in her tone.
“We failed.” Scarlet sighed, without out any trace of guilt.
Angelica sighed with obvious frustration. “Describe where you are.”
Angelica peeked out of her cell door, looking around the cabin for Colt. He was sitting on the couch staring at the fire. He seemed to be deep in thought.
“Colt.” She spoke his name in a low voice, half hoping he wouldn’t hear her, or would choose to ignore her. The last thing she wanted to do was ask him for help. She had no choice. Her friends needed her help.
He kept his eyes on the fire as he spoke. “What is it, Geli? Did you come out to screech at me some more?”
“I do not screech.” She felt her temper start to quicken, so she took a deep breath and told herself to calm down. Yelling at the stubborn male was not going to get her the help her friends needed.
“I need your help.”
She must have surprised him, because he turned on the couch, and pinned her with a stare. “What?”
She swallowed audibly and spoke a little louder. “My friends are lost in the blizzard, two of them are phoenix, and they are going to die if we don’t go find them.”
He stared at her saying nothing, and his silence made Angelica fidget with nerves.
“How do you know this?” His glare was scary. Angelica stepped back, and then realized what she’d done. She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. “I contacted them. Please help me find them.”
“You what?” He rose in a swift motion and walked around the couch to tower over her.<
br />
“I’m not saying it again. There is nothing wrong with your hearing.”
“How did you contact them?” he demanded.
“It doesn’t matter, Colt. They need help.”
“And I’m not helping you until you answer my questions,” he answered in a low growl.
Angelica gritted her teeth against arguing more. “I used the fire. I can talk to another phoenix as long as they are near an open flame.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“Please help them, Colt, I think they are close.”
“What makes you think that?”
She took in a deep breath. It was difficult for her to tell him everything. She felt like she was giving the little bit of power she had away. “I don’t think they would have come through so clearly if they had been far away.”
“You don’t think?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t even sure I could use the fire to communicate with them until I tried it and it worked.”
“You were trying to get them to come rescue you.” It wasn’t s question.
Angelica kept quiet.
“Geli.” His voice held a note of warning.
“Yes, damn it, okay, yes. I wanted them to come fetch me.”
He stepped closer, forcing her to tilt her head back so she could keep eye contact. “You will not be leaving me, Angelica.”
“You can’t make me stay.” She had to argue with him. Her hands went to her hips as if they had a will of their own, and she glared at him.
He surprised her when he started laughing. “So strong, but not strong enough, Gelibean—you bear my rune. You are mine, and I won’t ever give up something that belongs to me.”
“I…” Angelica started to argue with him, but changed her mind. There was no point. She would prove him wrong with her actions.
“They need your help. Please, Colt, I can’t do this on my own.”
She wondered if it was her please that moved him because he stepped back.
“How many are there and did they tell you where they are?”
“There are four of them, and no, but they described the surrounding area. They don’t know where they are.”
“Tell me.”
Angelica described the fallen down cabin and a few of the surrounding landmarks.
Colt kept quiet as she spoke.
“Do you have any clue where that is?” she asked him as she finished speaking.
He ignored her and walked towards the door.
“Colt!”
He turned and looked back at her, his dark curls falling to cover one eye. “I’ll get them out the blizzard, Geli, but you won’t be seeing them again.”
He yanked the door open and strode out, pulling it closed behind him as Angelica stood there unable to think of anything to say.
* * * *
Colt got the snowmobile out of the shed and drove it to Jericho’s cabin.
His friend stuck his head out the door when he heard the engine approaching.
“Get your ride, we have a search and rescue to do.”
Colt was glad when Jericho didn’t argue, but just nodded and ducked back inside for warmer clothing. He must have gone out the back, because he came roaring around the side of the cabin in his skidoo.
“We are going to need more space.”
“I’ll go get Clint and meet you here in five,” Jericho said as he sped off north into the village.
Colt wished he’d gone with Jericho. He didn’t want to be left alone with his thoughts, and the startling burst of fear he’d felt when Geli had told him she’d contacted her friends.
That she was able to do that scared him. He didn’t want her to have any way to get away from him. He told himself it was because he owed her a debt of punishment, but part of him knew it was more than that. Letting the beautiful phoenix go was something he was unwilling—no, unable to do. He clenched his hands on the steering bars of the snow machine and the leather of his gloves creaked.
Had the phoenix come through from their dimension to come and rescue her? He wasn’t sure, but they weren’t taking Angelica away from him. He would go rescue them, because…Why the hell was he racing out like a knight on a motorized war horse to go save Eternals who were going to try and take her away?
He shook his head when he realized why.
Angelica had asked him to, and as much as he wanted to punish her, he always seemed to end up doing what she wanted him to anyway.
“Idiot,” he muttered to himself.
The roar of Clint’s snow cat sounded and Colt started the engine of his snow machine. The snow cat had a cab. They’d be able to squeeze at least two Eternals in there.
Colt stood up on the machine and pointed in the direction he was going, and then revved the engine and took off in the direction he had pointed out. He had a good idea where they were. He had grown up in these wilds. He knew every part of it the way he knew his face in a mirror.
He would go save the phoenix that had come to save Geli, and he’d lock them up in an unused cabin until he could convince them they were leaving without his mate.
She was marked. She was his. What he did with Angelica had nothing to do with these creatures that had come to fetch her back. She was his prize, his payment for what they’d done to him. He clenched his teeth at the memories, then sped up. He tried to stick to roads, not that any part of this territory had much in the way of real roads. They were more like paths made by the snow machines and other vehicles the inhabitants used to get around, and of course the game trails.
Jericho was close behind him, and the snow cat trailed a bit further back. It wasn’t as fast, but Colt knew that Clint would be able to follow their trail even if they were out of sight.
It took them two hours to find the cabin where Colt suspected the phoenix had taken shelter. The driving snow and whiteout conditions hadn’t helped. It was supposed to be a ten-minute trip.
Colt parked the snowmobile and swung off it, jumping to the ground, and regretting it when he sank knee deep in a drift. He cursed under his breath and pulled himself out. Jericho soon arrived and they had approached from behind the cabin, but they’d made enough noise, so why was no one coming out?
Were they even alive? Colt knew that Geli didn’t do well in the cold, and he suspected it had something to do with the fact that she was a phoenix. Fire was part of her makeup. He’d left her with two fires burning despite the fact that she could possibly contact someone else, just because he hated to see her hurting from the cold.
He called himself an idiot again and waded through the deep snow. Jericho was next to him before he reached the other side of the building.
As Colt stepped around the corner he caught a flash of something in his peripheral vision and ducked just as a large piece of wood came slashing past his face.
“What the fuck!” he yelled and grabbed the plank, jerking it out of the hands of his assailant. He turned to swing it and stopped it just in time as a short woman stepped between him and the man who had swung the wood.
Jericho braced himself for attack, too.
She held up her hands. “Wait! Sorry, we didn’t mean to attack.”
“Looked like he had every intention of putting a dent in my friend’s head, lady,” Jericho pointed out, glaring at the tall man standing behind the woman.
“I’m Scarlet, this is Archer. That’s Ath.” She waved a hand at a woman huddled in a ball as near to the fire as she can get. “And Laz.”
Colt lowered the piece of wood and dropped it on the snow. “Are you the ones Geli sent me to rescue?”
He felt a frown crease his brow. He was expecting women, no men, and he didn’t think there were any men in the other realm, from what he’d heard Geli say.
“Geli?” Ath stood up. “If you mean Angelica, then yes, but no one has ever called her Geli.”
“Well, I do.” Colt jerked his chin up as if daring her to object to the nickname he’d given his mate.
Ath looked at hi
m as if she was trying to read his mind, and smiled. “Okay, well we should get going. I’d kill for a warm bath.”
“Follow us,” Jericho said and led the way back around the fallen cabin toward the snow machines and the snow cat.
“Do you greet all your rescuers with violence?” Colt asked as they trudged through the snow.
Archer answered with a shrug. “I didn’t know who you were, and I wasn’t going to risk my She. I’ll hit first and ask questions later.
“So you are lycan. Who is your She?” Colt was curious.
Archer smiled at Scarlet as he yanked her out of a deep snowdrift.
“Never mind. Question answered.” Colt was still curious about the others, but he would ask questions once they were back in the village.
The women were loaded into the cat, and the men climbed on behind Colt and Jericho. They made better time back to the village. It looked like the blizzard had started to blow itself out.
Chapter Seven
Angelica spun towards the door as she heard the booted footsteps on the planking. Colt was back. She wrung her hands, stopping herself from racing towards him. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing how eager she was for news about her friends, or that she had missed him. She had admitted it to herself, grudgingly—she had missed Colt while he was gone. The lack of his presence had worked on her nerves. She’d jumped at every sound and felt…lonely. She hated to admit it, but she’s never felt as alive as when she was interacting with the stubborn ice-bear. He made her feel vibrant, and colors seemed brighter when he was around.
The husky at her feet let out a whine. The animal knew it was Colt, but he stayed by her side. The dog had come scratching at the cabin door about an hour earlier, and she felt too guilty to leave him outside, so she'd let him in. The canine had stayed by her side the whole time. Angelica reached down and scratched him behind the ear.
"Good dog." She didn't know which one it was. She would have to ask Colt.
The door opened and he stepped into the cabin, pulled off his coat and shook the snow out of his dark curls. She watched his hair caress his skin and had the urge to go brush it out of his face. The play of his muscles under his button down shirt was obvious and made heat shoot through Angelica. The male was attractive on every level, to every one of her senses.