by Linsey Hall
“Do you have any advice for completing the task ahead?” I asked.
“Stick with Ares. It’s not over yet. And it’s not going to get any easier.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear it. Not like I was surprised to hear her back Ares up. The reserved vampire was such a mystery.
“Well, I’d better get going or I’ll turn into a prune.” Laima climbed out of the hot tub. “See you soon.”
She disappeared before I could ask what she meant.
Dang. But it was time to get out. I didn’t want Ares getting worried and coming after me.
My mind stutter-stopped. Why did I assume he’d be worried about me at all? That he cared?
Probably because of what Laima had said. And what he himself had said about liking me. And he had helped me out. Maybe I needed to get over my own wariness.
I reached for the soap and scrubbed up, washing away the dirt and doing a mediocre job of cleaning my hair. My muscles still ached and my hands hurt from the jellyfish stings, but it was a lot better than it had been.
Finally clean, I climbed out of the water. I debated a while about whether or not to conjure clean clothes and settled on expending enough energy for socks, underwear, and T-shirt. This time, I chose a Xena Warrior Princess cat shirt. She was a badass warrior—in feline form.
The forest was quiet as I made my way back to the cottage. Ares was inside, crouched near the hearth. A small fire burned inside. His hair was damp.
“Did you take a bath, too?” I asked.
He nodded, rubbing a hand through his wet hair. “Farther down the river.”
I sure hoped he hadn’t heard anything that Laima had said. “So, we’ve got until tomorrow morning before this thing starts up again?”
“Yeah.”
“And I can sleep. Without worrying that something will jump out at me.” I tapped my chin. “Specifically, I’m thinking squid or other many-armed creatures.”
“No more many-armed creatures. Not for tonight.” He crossed his heart. “On my honor.”
And I believed him. I was waffling on trust a lot these days, but I believed him in this.
“Then I’m hitting the hay. Dibs on the bed.” I left him with the couch which was probably too short, but I was mercenary. I wanted to survive this.
“Sure.” He walked to the table and picked up some leaves. “But first, these. For your hands.”
He crossed the room toward me, holding out the slender green stalks. My heart warmed.
“Arrowreed? Where’d you find it?” The slender green plants soothed burns and other wounds and even had some healing properties.
“By the river. I thought you might want it.”
“Thanks.” I thought of what Laima had said about him being solely dedicated to his work these past ten years. But here he was, thinking of my wounds and scavenging for helpful herbs.
“Hold out your hands,” he said.
My gaze darted to his, then I followed his instructions, holding out my hands with the backs facing up. The wounds were the worst there, particularly on the right hand, where one of the jellyfish had landed a direct hit.
Tension thrummed across my skin as I stood still, watching Ares break the end off of one of the delicate reeds. He used it like a paintbrush, swiping the clear fluid over my wounds.
His touch was delicate as a butterfly’s, the soothing gel leaving comfort in its wake.
“Turn them over.” His voice was rough.
Suddenly, heat flared inside me. He was standing so close. I could smell the chill winter air of his magic and the warmer scent that was distinctly him, freshly clean from the river. I sucked it into my lungs, trying to be subtle but unable to help myself.
Ares painted the gel over my palms, his hands steady and calm. Soon, the pain had diminished to almost nothing, which left more space for me to focus on what it felt like to stand so close to Ares. While he was taking care of me.
It was heady stuff, making my mind buzz and my body warm.
“Lift your head.”
I jumped slightly, and did as I was told, lifting my chin and tilting my head so that he could get to the jellyfish sting on my neck.
My gaze met his, just briefly, and the heat in his eyes made me swallow hard.
Apparently he was just as affected by the closeness as I was. And maybe, just maybe, he liked taking care of me.
My gaze darted away—pure self-preservation—and he applied the gel to my neck, painting the clear fluid on with a delicate touch. After a moment, it felt good. Delicate sweeps of the brush that made me think of other things. Hotter things.
Then it was over.
He lowered the Arrowreed. I looked at him.
“Better?” he asked.
“Much.”
His hot gaze traced my features. The muscles at his neck tensed, just slightly, and I realized that his hands were fisted. As if he wanted to touch me, but didn’t dare.
“You’ve done well in the challenges, Nix.”
“Thanks,” I whispered.
The tension between us—pure chemistry—crackled in the air. It was electrifying, as if we were connected by invisible threads that struck with delicious energy every time either of us so much as breathed or shifted.
An image of me kissing him flashed in my mind. I could just wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips to his. Taste him and feel him and just be with him.
I’d leaned in and almost raised my arms before I realized how dumb that was.
This was a terrible time. And considering that I didn’t know if I could trust him—there was probably never going to be a good time.
I stepped back, face flushed and body going wild.
Down girl.
Ares stepped back, face suddenly shuttered. All the heat was gone, except for the tiniest banked fire in his eyes that he couldn’t hide.
That was some small satisfaction for my frustrated self. He did want me. A lot. This cold, quiet man who’d given up girls after he’d joined the Vampire Court.
But he wasn’t going to make the first move.
And it was so clear why. His role in the Vampire Court put him in a position of power over me. And he wouldn’t abuse that.
I liked that as much as I hated it.
But I’d think about it later.
“Thanks for the Arrowreed.” The words came out scratchy, as if my throat wasn’t ready to break the quiet spell over us.
“No problem.” He put the unused reeds on the table.
“I don’t remember seeing any of that by the river.” And I usually had a really great eye for this stuff.
“I didn’t say I got it from this river.”
“So you went far away for it? Teleporting?”
He smiled, and it was kinda… gentle. “Do you need all the details?”
“I guess not.” I knew enough anyway. It was enough to warm my heart. Unable to just stand here staring at him, I turned and went to the bed. I’d just gotten under the covers and tugged off my jeans when he spoke.
“How did you get the name Phoenix?” he asked.
I yawned. “Gave it to myself.”
“Why?”
“I liked it.”
“That can’t be all there is to it.”
I leaned up, eyeing him. He lay on the couch, arm behind his head. “Why are you so interested?”
He shrugged. “You’re interesting.”
“Hmm.”
“People don’t just name themselves Phoenix without a reason.”
I sighed. Could I trust him? Laima seemed to think so. And it couldn’t hurt to tell him something that was in the past.
“I don’t remember my life before I was fifteen. Just snippets I’ve gotten from dreams. I had a good family, I think. But when I was fourteen, I was abducted by a man I called the Monster. He wanted to make me a slave—force me to use my FireSoul powers to serve him.”
Ares’s hands formed fists and his brows dropped low over his eyes. “What happened to him?”
“Not just for the constellation,” Ares said. “Your past was rubble. A nightmare you couldn’t remember. But you planned to rise again, greater than before.”
Tears pricked my eyes. My throat tightened. It took all I had to squeeze out a tight, “Yeah.”
“You’re impressive, Phoenix Knight.”
“Thanks.” I swallowed hard, clearing my throat. “Why are you so serious all the time? Do you like being the Enforcer?”
I didn’t explicitly mention what Laima had said, but he got my drift.
“I do,” he said. “I wasn’t always this serious. In fact, I didn’t want to be the Enforcer when I was young. But when my father died—it was terrible. He’d protected us for so long, and then he was just gone.”
“How did it happen?”
“He was hunting a murderer. A particularly violent one. He was ambushed. Never saw it coming.” His voice sounded tight. Pained.
“That had to be hard. To sneak up on a guy like him, I mean.”
“Nearly impossible.” Ares’s gaze was dark as he studied the ceiling above his head. No doubt he was seeing memories he didn’t like. “A friend betrayed him. It was the only way they got the drop on him.”
“So you avenged his murder.” It was so obvious.
“I did. But I had to change everything about myself to do it. Become stronger, quieter, more ruthless. My father was full vampire. I am not. I had to overcome that weakness.”
“But isn’t it a strength, since it gives you greater magical powers?”
“Some might see it that way. But a vampire’s ruthlessness—the ruthlessness that overcomes me when I’m in this realm—that’s key to the job.”
“So you changed everything about yourself and succeeded.”
“Eventually. And now I do what I do.”
“And you spend as little time as possible in this realm.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a sexy smile. “That’s for my sanity.”
It was stupid of me not to trust this man—at least with information about the men who’d killed Marin. I needed to catch those guys—for so many reasons. And Ares was the perfect person to help.
“Have you learned anything more about the people who arranged for Aleric to kill Marin?” I asked.
“Why are you interested?” he asked.
I leaned up and met his gaze. “It has to do with the Triumvirate thing that Laima was talking about the other day.”
“Which you never explained.”
“I’ll explain more if you tell me something good.”
He nodded. “Fine. We’ve learned that Marin’s death was arranged by a man who leads an international criminal organization.”
“Do you know anything about him?”
“He’s powerful. He has connections in Europe and Asia. Black magic connections. We’re trying to sort them out now.”
That would explain the magical enchantments protecting his compound in Magic’s Bend. “Are you trying to catch him?”
“We haven’t yet found him, but we have some clues. And yes, we’re trying to catch him. Marin’s death cannot go unpunished.”
“But you don’t know why he killed Marin. At least, what the information was that he sought.”
“No, but you do.” His serious gaze met mine. “And I’m hoping you’ll tell me.”
Understanding dawned. “Hey, whoa. Have you been waiting this out? Giving me time to tell you what I know?”
Was he running a long-con on me—gaining my trust until I confessed all—or being nice and giving me time to tell him?
“Basically,” he said. “You needed to complete the trials. The court demanded it. But you also have information that will help us. It’s one of the reasons we’d rather be your allies than your enemy. And we don’t force our allies to tell us things.”
“Instead, you’re slowly gaining my trust. While torturing me with these trials.”
“I admit, it’s a bit Machiavellian. But we really do need to know that you’re not a corrupt FireSoul. And that you can handle your powers. I now believe you can. Doyen and Magisteria will come around, too.”
“And then?”
“And then, we work together to help each other. We protect you if the need arises—from any threat, including the Order of the Magica. And if you have information that will help us find the man truly responsible for Marin’s death, then you tell us. Symbiotic. Allies.”
I lay down and stared at the ceiling. He had a point. And though it was twisty and cunning, it was also very honest. “Okay. That could work. Sounds reasonable.”
Exhaustion pulled at me, reminding me that I’d had a hell of a day.
“What is the information that Aleric was after, then?” he asked.
“Dragons,” I said.
Shock covered his face, making his brows rise and his lips part. “Are you serious? But they’re gone.”
I shrugged “The only thing that I understood were the words ‘dragons’ and ‘returned.’ The rest was encrypted a long time ago by the Cathar Perfecti.”
“When we were there, they said they coded the secret,” Ares said.
“Exactly. I’d like to ask them what the code is, but I doubt they’ll tell us.”
“Perhaps we can try later. Do you know if Aleric passed the information onto his boss?”
“No idea. If so, hopefully he hasn’t broken the code yet.”
“We can only hope.” I yawned hard, my eyes closing against my will. I could feel Ares’s desire to ask me more questions—and maybe even his desire for something else, like a tension on the air—but all he said was, “Get some sleep.”
After everything I’d been through, it was easy to oblige.
Chapter Ten
We woke early the next morning, which felt weird, since it was still dark. Honestly, I had no idea it was morning except for the fact that I was awake.
While Ares woke, I went to the back garden to collect more apples.
There was another moon in the sky, this one slightly larger. At least, I thought it was larger. The silvery forest surrounding the cabin seemed a bit brighter, at least. And I could see the Pūķis better. They flew high above the house and I was certain they were keeping an eye on me.
Maybe it was fanciful, but I didn’t care.
I was pulling one of the shiny red fruits off the tree when the magic in my comms charm ignited.
“Nix?” Del’s voice was quiet but clear.
“Hey!” I tucked the apple into the bowl I’d found in the house.
“How’s it going with the challenges?” Cass asked.
“Fine.” Surviving Kraken, chilling with a goddess. All in a day’s work. “Hopefully done today.”
“Good,” Del said. “Because we may have found a way into the compound.”
“And it’s not going to be easy,” Cass said.
“What is it?”
“We’ve got to go by sea. No way to get through the enchantments on the fence that surrounds the land portion. Or the guards. The sea is our only bet.”
“Damn.” My recent experience traveling via water had not gone well.
“We’ll do a bit more recon today, hopefully find out a bit more,” Del said. “But right now, it’s looking like we’ll be doing a water approach.”
“Learn anything else?” I asked.
“Definitely the dragon gang and not a coincidence. We’ve now seen ten with the marking.”
“Geez.” I stared down at the apples. “Not ideal.”
“Nope!” Cass said. “But we’ll let you know if we learn anything more. Be careful, okay?”
“Yeah,” Del said. “Watch your back. We don’t want anything happening to you.”
“Thanks guys. G
ood luck at the compound. And don’t go in without me.”
“We won’t,” Cass said. “And we’ll be fine. We’re bringing Claire for backup. She’s good at these kinds of things.”
“Excellent. Talk to you later. Love you.”
“Love you back,” they both said.
We cut the connection. I grabbed one more apple, then headed into the house. Fortunately, my magic was feeling rejuvenated after my sleep. Having to recharge was annoying, but at least I’d managed it.
Ares looked up from where he knelt by the fire, stoking the flames. “Were you talking outside?”
“Just to my friends.” I pointed to the comms charm. “Just letting them know how it was going.”
I handed him the apples and conjured some more bread and cheese. We dug in, finishing our breakfast in record time, enjoying the heat of the fire. Though it wasn’t freezing outside, the morning was damp.
“Ready to get a move on?” I asked.
As much as I dreaded what was to come, I wanted to get back to my deirfiúr and help them figure out the mystery of the dragon gang and the stolen beaker.
“Sure.” He brushed off his hands and stood.
I grabbed the rest of the healing Arrowreed off the table, shoved it into my pocket, then led the way outside. I pulled the map out and consulted it for the twelfth time. I’d figured out my next move earlier this morning, but I just wanted to double check.
“We’ll go left, back around the cabin and through the woods,” I said.
“Lead on.”
Ares and I walked single file through the forest, once again constrained to the narrow path. We shouldn’t have to leave it, according to the map. Normally, I’d be grateful. But the Vampire Court had a way of putting nasty surprises on their route.
As we walked, the Night Terrors leapt from silvery tree branch to silvery tree branch, keeping an eye on us. There were a lot of them—enough that should they decide to mount a coordinated attack, it’d become a real pain in the butt.
We walked for what felt like hours, weaving our way through the forest under the watchful gaze of the Night Terrors. Overhead, the two Pūķi swept through the sky, accompanying us. At least, I liked to think so. Eventually, they were joined by more, tiny red specs in the sky, their red wings illuminated by the light of the huge moon.