by Gina Kincade
She bolted up the stairs and ran down the long hallway leading to the first one. She took the stairs two at a time, ignoring the burning in her lungs. She made it all the way up and twisted the lock, then brought the heavy metal bar down with a loud clank, securing it before sprinting down again.
She rushed back up, heading toward the other turret when a heavy pounding at the door startled her. She took a step toward the door when Jasmine stopped her. “No. Don’t open it. Come on.”
“You have to tell me what the hell is going on,” Cortney said, her voice high pitched and much louder than she’d intended.
“The door to the other turret is locked,” Trista said as she came running back in.
Jasmine ushered them deeper into the castle into an area she hadn’t explored. It was darker, gloomier, with no windows to allow the sunshine in. “The phoenixes that you saw, the ones that are attacking, are here for you and Trista.”
“What? Why?” Trista asked.
“Because you’re compatible with phoenix shifters, and you’re unmated. There aren’t enough female phoenixes, which is why the PMAC was put into place to begin with, and since not many humans are suited to mate with our males, that makes you very valuable.”
“I’m not a mate,” Trista denied. “I’m only here to keep Cortney company while she’s here.”
Jasmine opened a heavy door and flicked on a light before leading them into a large room with couches and a big screen. “Do you believe that?”
Trista opened her mouth, her cheeks flushed, and she snapped it shut again.
Cortney swallowed hard. Draven was out there, fighting other phoenixes. “I don’t understand. I’m Draven’s mate. What do they want with me? It’s not like I can mate with just any phoenix.”
Jasmine hesitated and took a deep breath. “Well, yes and no. You’re a match for Draven. That doesn’t mean you can’t be compatible with someone else. Same with you, Trista. I’m guessing they’re hoping to find someone for you to mate in their Odyssey.”
“They’ll be alright…right? Ry, and Draven? And the others?” Trista asked, her face becoming paler by the second.
“If something happens they’ll just rise again. Right?” Cortney asked again when Jasmine didn’t answer right away.
“It’s not that simple. Phoenix shifters are hard to kill, but we can die. Severe injuries that the phoenix can’t heal quickly can kill us.”
Cortney turned to go out the door again, but Jasmine was there first, blocking her in.
“I have to go out there. I can’t just sit and wait. What if the men need our help?”
“Draven needs you to stay down here. Knowing you’re both safe will help him and Ry more than anything you could do out there. I promise you that.”
“She’s right, Cort. What are we going to do against phoenixes?” Trista said, her voice a little shaky.
“They’ll be fine,” Cortney assured her. They had to be.
Jasmine went to the wall with the huge screen and tapped in a code on the panel next to it. The monitor flicked on, and immediately, the battle raging outside came into view.
Phoenixes, at least eight that she could see, flew in every direction. It took a few seconds for Cortney to find Draven among them. A smaller phoenix came at him from the side at the same time as a larger one swooped down from above. A cry tore from her throat as she watched him careening back at the impact, then came crashing to the ground.
Her breath caught in her lungs. For a second, Draven didn’t move. He didn’t even look to be breathing, but then with a screech they could hear from inside the castle, he shot into the air again. Ry came in next to him, and another flanked his other side. Together they pushed the others back.
When the largest of the others came at him, Draven attacked. Flying to the side, he whipped around, grasping him with long, sharp talons. The beast struggled against his grip, but Draven’s hold was too strong. Draven dropped like a stone from the sky, only to swerve at the last second and send his prey crashing into the trunk of a huge pine down by the water’s edge.
Cortney gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
“You don’t have to watch this,” Jasmine told her.
But she did. As horrible as the battle was to watch, she had to see. Phoenixes chased and charged one another as the battle continued. This was what she’d set herself up for if she decided to stay.
Two smaller fire birds swooped low, capturing their fallen brethren and flying high into the sky, retreating over the lake and toward the forest beyond. Then, one by one, the rest followed, taking them away from the Odyssey.
Draven flew out of sight, and Cortney held her breath. Where was he going? As vicious as the battle had been, he had to have sustained injury. He popped back into the camera’s line of sight, then came to the ground near the castle. He looked right into the camera, then shifted.
Cortney cried out at the sight of the angry, gaping wound on his right side. He nodded at something Ryland told him, before starting toward the front door.
“I have to go to him,” Cortney said as she turned to face Jasmine.
The woman kept her gaze trained on the screen. “Not yet. He hasn’t given the signal,” Surprise, then terror flashed in her wide eyes. Her mouth gaped open, and a strangled sound came from her throat.
“Turn around,” Trista screamed, but she wasn’t speaking to Cortney, she was yelling at the monitor.
Cortney whipped around, her heart thudding so hard she couldn’t hear anything else. There, on the monitor, a huge phoenix glided silently on the wind from high above, heading straight for Draven. She was at the door and running down the hallway before Jasmine could stop her.
She had to get to him. Deep inside, she knew she’d never make it in time, but she still ran as fast as her legs would take her. She struggled with the lock, before finally throwing the door open. Jasmine and Trista were right behind her, but she didn’t look back. Rushing into the yard, she spun in a circle, searching. Where was he? Ry flew fast and hard to the left, then up and over the trees, his blue flame trailing him.
She swiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks and blinked the blurriness away as she ran toward the beach. A sharp stone cut through the skin of her heel, but she kept running. She hadn’t had time to get shoes since the damned dog had stolen her flip flop. She was almost there when a loud, piercing screech filled the air, sounding right above her.
The phoenix that had been going after Draven flew over the water. In its huge claws, Draven lay limp. Blood trickled from where the bird’s talons dug deep into his sides. Cortney stumbled to her feet, a sob ripping from her throat. He had to be okay.
Another screech and Ry was on him. His mighty wings flapped, fanning his flames so that seeing him was next to impossible. With his talons stretched out, he grasped the other phoenix at the back of the neck.
The phoenix tried to peck at him, but Ryland was out of reach. He gave the bird a mighty jerk, and its head snapped to the side as its neck broke. Moments later, its claws loosened their grip, and Draven fell.
Chapter SIXTEEN
Cortney screamed as she ran. She was already in the water by the time he created the splash when he landed. He was at least thirty feet out. The water was deep enough that it would cushion his fall, but even a phoenix had to breathe.
Her lungs burned for air, and her arms ached, but she kept swimming. Flipping Draven onto his back once she reached him, her heart stuttered, and another sob tore out of her. His lips were blue. He wasn’t breathing. She had no way of knowing if his injuries were too severe to heal, but damn it, she could do CPR if she could just get his body onto the shore.
She tried to maneuver herself into position to give him a breath, but she was still too deep. Kicking hard, she dragged him closer and closer. Her arms and legs trembled under the strain. “You can’t do this to me, Draven,” she yelled at him, her throat raw.
A flash of blue overhead was all the warning she got. The next second, Ry had sh
ifted and dropped into the water next to her. The splash he created sent her and Draven underwater. She spluttered as she bobbed back to the surface.
“I’ve got him,” he told her as he took over pulling Draven through the water.
When they reached the shore, she fell to her knees, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. “Put him down here,” she ordered between gasps.
“Fuck,” Ry cursed as he did as she asked, before covering the largest wound with his hands applying pressure.
The sand beneath Draven stained red with his blood. He was losing so much.
Trista was there in seconds, starting compressions, while Cortney positioned his head and neck, opening his airway.
“He doesn’t need CPR,” Ry said, his voice hoarse. “We need to slow the bleeding so his phoenix can heal.”
“He does. Unless a phoenix can live with lungs full of water,” Cortney bit out. There were many things she wasn’t sure of, but this, she knew. Her training took effect, steadying her hands, and her mind for the task at hand.
Jasmine dropped to her knees on his other side and pressed on another deep wound.
“One, and two, and three, and four,” Trista counted out loud, not stopping until she reached twenty, pausing just long enough for Cortney to blow two breaths into Draven’s lungs.
Ry’s eyes grew wide, and he nodded.
After the next set of compressions, water bubbled to Draven’s lips. “We have to turn him onto his side to let the water out.” At once, Ry log rolled him, while Cortney steadied Draven’s neck.
Lake water spilled from between his lips, but he didn’t cough. “Turn him back,” Cortney ordered. “Breaths first,” she told Trista. It went against every textbook, and all of her training, but she had to try.
She gave him two slow breaths, then sat back on her heels. “No more compressions,” she told Trista, who looked at her like she’d grown a second head and put her hands on his chest again.
Cortney sobbed and shook her head. “No more, stop compressions,” she said, her voice wobbly. More than anything she wanted to see his chest rise and fall, but doing compressions wouldn’t help. The need to keep the heart beating, and the lungs breathing had repeatedly been drilled in her mind during her years at university, and still throughout her nursing career, but that wasn’t what Draven needed. The bleeding had to stop, and the best way to do that was to stop the heart from beating. At the instinctual level, it was so wrong, but she knew she was right. “He’ll bleed out more if we do compressions.”
Trista gasped and immediately stopped.
Ryland loosened his hold on his friend’s wound, and sure enough, the blood leaking from the gashes slowed to a trickle.
“How long before we know,” Cortney asked Ryland past the fist-sized lump in her throat.
Ry wouldn’t meet her gaze. His cheeks turned red, and he sniffled.
“How long, Ryland?”
“He lost a lot of blood,” he choked out.
Cortney shook her head, and a whimper slipped past her lips. “No, he’s not dying for real. He’s a phoenix, damn it. How long until he explodes into a huge fireball and comes back to me?”
When Ry didn’t respond, she squared her shoulders and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Fine. I’ll wait.”
“Cort,” Trista started, her voice thick. “He might not make it back.”
Cortney was vaguely aware of the people surrounding them. Tears streamed down many of their faces, but she stayed where she was with his head on her lap. “He will.” She refused to believe otherwise.
Trista knelt beside her, wrapping her arms around her. Pain tore through her, but she didn’t give in. She wouldn’t.
Jasmine came close, speaking to her, but she didn’t hear a word. A small tremor started deep in the center of her, shaking her to her core. Her eyes blurred with fresh tears, and she brushed them away with jerky movements. Her lungs burned, and her throat ached. She swallowed hard, trying to keep herself together, but one sob broke free, then another.
Her shoulder shook as she bent over him, pressing her wet lips to his. “You have to come back,” she whispered as she stroked his cheek. “Please, for me.”
She pressed her trembling fingers to his cold cheek. “He needs a blanket. He’s so cold,” she said.
Trista nodded. “Someone get him a blanket,” she called out, then tucked it all around him when it was handed to her.
When one was draped around her shoulders, Cortney burrowed deeper beneath it and eventually lay down next to him. One by one, the people lingering around them mumbled awkward condolences and stepped away.
She watched his chest, hoping—needing—to see it rise and fall, but it didn’t. Damn him.
Trista cleared her throat. “I think we should go in, Cort.”
Cortney shook her head. “I can’t, not yet.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice breaking, “but it’s time to go inside. Ryland will bring him in. They have ceremonies they’d like to perform.”
“I. Said. Not. Yet.” She glared at her friend. “There’s still time. Ryland said it could take hours.”
“It has been hours, hon.” She looked at Trista, then to her surroundings, only then noticing that the sun was setting.
She wanted to tell them all to leave her the fuck alone. She wasn’t ready to give up, but if she said that, they’d just get pushy and try to fix her. But there was nothing to fix. Draven wasn’t fucking dead. “I just need some time alone with him. Please. I’ll come in later, I promise.”
Trista sighed but then nodded before she stood and held her hand out for Ry to take.
“Knock on my door when you’re ready,” he told her before heading off.
Chapter SEVENTEEN
Crickets filled the silence as Cortney lay there with her head on Draven’s shoulder. She could be wrong, but she thought a frog might have bumped against her leg. Every minute that passed had her heart squeezing tight, making it harder to suck a breath in, but she stayed where she was.
When—not if—he rose, she was going to be there. And the jerk was going to be in so much shit for putting her through all that. Once he’d made it up to her, she’d tell him that she would be his mate.
She pulled the blanket closer, fighting a losing battle against the chill that had seeped into her bones earlier that day. Her nose was like ice. Even cupping her fingers around her mouth and breathing warm air onto it did nothing to warm it. That was another thing he’d be paying for, making her freeze by herself all night. She closed her eyes, relieving the burning grittiness from too much crying and not enough fluids had caused. There wasn’t a chance in hell she would sleep, but it felt good to rest them.
Someone came by to check on her, but when Cortney didn’t open her eyes, they left again without saying a word. A deep voice mumbled something a distance away, and then they were gone.
Good. Cortney didn’t want to have to deal with sending anyone away again. She opened her eyes to a pink and orange tinted sky. She blinked, focusing her eyes.
Leaning over Cortney kissed his blue lips, and stroked his cheek. “When are you coming back? I could use a bathroom break,” she said even though she knew no one could hear. Sitting up, she rested her hand on his chest. At least she’s stopped shivering while she’d dozed.
She gasped and pressed her other hand to his skin. It wasn’t cold. It wasn’t all that warm, but it sure as hell wasn’t dead cold. And she knew from working at the hospital what that felt like.
Torn between running to get Ry and staying in case Draven rose, she just sat there with hot tears streaming down her face. She tried to call out for Trista, but her words came out in a husky whisper that sounded more like a croak that a yell.
“Come on. I’ve waited all night. It’s time for you to get back here,” she said as she ran her fingers through his hair. She took a deep breath, then another. The heat radiating from his body rose quickly, warming her fingers.
She heard a door close
a distance away, and whipped her head around. Trista walked toward her with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The look of pity on her face morphed to one of confusion when Cortney smiled at her.
“Where’s Ry? He has to come out.”
“He’s coming. Are you okay?” Trista asked tentatively.
“He’ll rise soon. Tell Ry to hurry, or else he’ll miss it,” she said as she brushed her hair out of her face. She must have looked less than sane, because Trista knelt next to her and pulled her into her arms.
Cortney pushed back. “I’m not crazy. He’s warm. Touch him. His skin is warm.”
Trista hesitated, but then did as she asked. Her eyes grew wide. “Holy shit.” She glanced over at her, then jumped to her feet and ran to where Ryland was already coming out his front door, but it was too late.
Bright yellow and orange flames exploded from Draven’s body, blinding her. Her hair blew away from her face with the force of the energy rushing past. Heat swept across her skin like a lover’s caress, soft, and titillating. She couldn’t see him, but she kept her hand on his chest, grounding herself in the storm blasting around her.
Her heart pounded, and she could hardly breathe, not in fear, but with the excitement of knowing that Draven was coming back to her.
The brightness of his flames dissipated much slower than Kirk’s had. Maybe it was because no one tried to absorb the energy for her as he had done at the hospital, or maybe it was because Draven’s phoenix was that much more powerful, but either way, she was glad to be at the center of it.
It wasn’t until the flames died out that his chest finally rose and fell as he gasped for air. He drew in a long breath, and his entire body stiffened.
Cortney leaned close and pressed her lips to his. “It’s about time you came back,” she said when he finally opened his eyes.