Forged in Flames

by Harper Wylde

  “Like Rini's mom?” I asked, curious.

  He nodded. “Exactly. Though you do see more of it with animal shifters than you do with mythologicals, since depending on rarity we tend to separate ourselves more. I highly doubt that Rini's mother owns the house she lives in, but she wouldn't pay rent for it either. Each group is given a stipend by the Council to help them live, then money can be used communally for the good of everyone who lives there, though, of course, there will always be some who have more—if they work special jobs, possibly, but usually just if they are rare or favored by the Council in some way.”

  “So they save up all of their money for mating bids?” I couldn't believe that someone would be willing to do that, although I had heard of dowries before, so I assumed this was merely the shifter version.

  “Yes. That's why bids are strategic. If a shifter bids but feels they truly have no chance, they may not waste their bidding fund. Others take drastic measures in the hopes it will change their position. Remember, even if you choose not to take one as an actual mate, if they bear a child with you, it will still greatly raise their esteem in the eyes of the Council and the people, and will bring in rewards of its own.”

  I swallowed against the nausea that wanted to rise in my throat. “I don't think I'm quite comfortable with that idea. It's like they're paying to, well…” I blushed, letting Gaspard fill in the rest of my sentence.

  “Of course that's what they're doing. I assumed you realized that already.”

  “So, I take it I’m not allowed to refuse any of these presents?” I questioned wearily.

  “I would suggest you do not refuse any gifts you are given,” Gaspard said, tapping his chin as he thought. “If the Council sees you attending dates and receiving gifts, it may simply seem as though you are one of the more high maintenance females.”

  “But isn't that almost like I'm stealing from them?” I thought briefly of Cedric whom I had met at the gala. It had been clear his family hadn't had much money, and for me to accept gifts from him, potentially draining his fund and the main method for him to gain a mate… It was a disturbing prospect.

  “I'll speak to Cedric's father,” Gaspard offered, then chuckled when I gaped at him. “I could see the thought running through your mind. I won't tell him to remove himself from your suitors, if you're alright with that.”

  “Why?” I asked curiously.

  “The longer he remains a potential suitor for you, the better his chances are for a different potential match in the future. They'll see that he was wanted by you, an extremely rare shifter, and that you seriously considered him. It may seem foolish to you, but it's a huge step up for him and his family.”

  “Is that why you let him bid?” I hedged, considering him with shrewd eyes.

  Gaspard offered a small smile, before shrugging his shoulders in an elegant gesture. “I know where your choice lies, however wise I may find it.” I blushed, but he merely continued as though his comment hadn't fazed me. “I also know that you're a kind girl. You needed fake suitors and his family, though poor, is incredibly kind. I count his father among my few true friends. I will mention that you do not find gifts appealing to his father, a holdover from your days in the human world. He'll understand. Although, that does mean you will be expected to go on an actual date or two with him in order to show that you are maintaining interest.”

  I grimaced, but nodded my head in acquiescence. I was sure my mates would understand when I explained it to them, and at least something positive would come out of this situation. “Alright. Is there anything else I need to know?”

  “There's much you still need to know, but for the moment you should be good. I'll report back to the Council that you will be making steps with your suitors soon, so you will need to take the initiative in arranging the next meeting. And I don't need to warn you that immediately dismissing all of the Council's choices for you would not be a good idea.” He tapped my nose, giving me a telling look.

  “I'll reach out to Joshua and Cedric.” I felt nauseated at the thought, but we all knew we had to play the game until we could find more answers. “Ciarán's always around, so I think he should count just by bugging me.”

  “That young man is very odd.” Gaspard's brow wrinkled as he considered their interaction. “It's hard to see his relation to Killian.”

  “It's hard to see his relation to anyone sane,” I muttered, in my irritation. “Come on. I think the first round of cookies are done.” I led him toward the delicious smells of cinnamon that were permeating the room, ready to get my distaste out of my mouth with a little bit of sugar.

  Six

  Nix

  “Family meeting,” I called out the moment Gaspard pulled from the driveway. I knew Damien would hear me and spread word to the others. Footsteps echoed throughout the house as everyone pulled themselves out of hiding, drawn to the sweet scent of the snickerdoodles.

  “How did that go?” Ryder asked, around the cookie in his mouth, his hands already full despite Damien swatting at him in an attempt to get him to leave some sweets for the others.

  I blew out a breath, shaking my head and helping myself to another treat. “Okay, I guess.” I toyed with the cookie, nibbling on the edge of it as I played things over in my mind.

  “Did you want to talk about something?” Theo prompted gently, repositioning his glasses as he studied me.

  “A few things, actually,” I admitted with a shrug. The cookie was landing like lead in my stomach, crashing against the ball of nerves that was active there.

  “Did Gaspard stress you out?” Hiro inquired worriedly, rubbing a gentle hand across my knee.

  “A little. But he wasn't saying anything I didn't already know.” I puffed out a breath and set my cookie aside, so I could twine my fingers together. “He was letting me know what was going to happen with the suitors.”

  Killian growled, a quiet sound that was mirrored by most of my mates. “We'll send whatever gifts they give you back in pieces,” he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.

  I arched a brow. “Yeah, I'm sure that would go over really well with the Council. We all agreed to this.”

  “She's right.” Theo rubbed at the bridge of his nose, massaging away the headache I was sure was developing. “We all knew what would happen. Molly's suitors have already been active, I'm surprised none of Nix’s have done anything so far.”

  I winced, realizing I had yet to inquire how Molly had fared. “How's she doing?” I asked, backtracking from my own thoughts slightly. I liked Molly, and though I knew that Theo would be looking out for her best interests, I still couldn't get past the emotions it drew up in me. I didn't care for the idea of young girls being bid on or seen as potential breeding stock.

  “She's excited,” Theo grimaced, “and happy with some of her choices. She'll listen to Mom, I think, so we should hopefully avoid any really bad matches.”

  “Good.” I wasn't sure that was exactly the sentiment I should express, but it was better than lashing out about the misogynistic treatment of teenagers.

  “What else is on your mind?” Ryder pressed, jumping up to sit on the edge of the counter, and earning himself a whack with a spatula from a frowning Damien.

  “Well, with everything going on…” I chose my words carefully, keeping them as vague as I could. I knew that Ciar's friend had recently been over to help strengthen the wards we had on our house again, but I still wasn't sure about speaking freely. What we had was nowhere near as sophisticated as the ward placed at the coffee shop, but we all understood that with the possibility of Councilmembers showing up at our house, the risk of installing such a secure warding method was too great. They’d be sure to notice and it’d put not only ourselves but the rebellion at risk. “I figured we needed to try and look at things realistically. I have to attend events with suitors, and there's so much training I still need.” I tugged at my interlaced fingers, letting the motion draw my eyes so I didn't have to look at any of the men.

&nbs
p; “You know we're happy to help in any way that we can,” Damien said, rubbing a soft hand down my hair. “If you want to train with us, you can. We want you to learn. And for the suitors…” He cleared his throat, shifting slightly. “I know what they mean for us. We'll help you there as well.”

  “I think I should drop out of school.” I spat the words out in one quick stream, unable to hold them in any longer. Silence greeted me and I swallowed, beginning to fill the silence with babbling. “I mean, as much as I want to get my degree, I've missed so much at this point that I'm going to struggle to catch up. Add that to the fact that I should be spending time training or with you, especially since what little free time I would otherwise have if I continued school would be spent with other males and that's not what I'd want, I mean—” The rest of my words were muffled when Ryder laid a hand over my mouth.

  “Okay, let's calm it down,” he suggested, his hand still firm on my mouth. “You're making me dizzy.” I glared at him, attempting to bite his palm so he'd remove it. He laughed at me, pulling his hand away and wrapping his arm around my shoulders in a hug. “Do you really want to quit school, Nix? We can make this work.”

  “We can, Nix. You don't have to quit if you don't want to,” Theo assured me.

  I sighed. “I don't want to, but I really think it's for the best. My professors have already noticed my extended absences, and let me know it's becoming a problem. My grades are dropping. Some teachers have even gone as far as suggesting I drop their classes.” I winced, looking away from them. I had always been proud of my schoolwork, using it as an escape, and the fact that it had become nothing more than a drain on my time with my mates was hard on me.

  “I hate that you're doing this just because you're expected to spend time with suitors.” Hiro pushed up from his seat and paced across the room. “We'll still be at the university ourselves, maybe we can help ease some paths for you. I could speak with your professors. Or maybe Gaspard… “

  “It's fine.” The words were bitter in my mouth as I spoke them.

  “It doesn't have to be forever, you know,” Damien reassured me. “How about thinking of it as a hiatus? We'll get through everything we need to with the Council and Ciar, and then we can address you attending school again if that's what you still want?” I hesitated, unsure. I hadn't actually considered that option.

  “A lot of people take a year off,” Theo added. “You live off campus anyhow, so you won't be missing out on the activities.”

  “True.” I shrugged a little. “I guess I just still feel like I'm failing.”

  “It's not failing.” Ryder placed a kiss on my cheek. “I’d consider it myself if it wouldn't alert the Council that something was wrong. I hate being away from you so much.” He paused, and then narrowed his eyes quizzically as if a thought just entered his mind. “Besides, think of how happy it will make the Council to hear that you’re dropping out. We can spin it, and make it appear like you’re taking their wants seriously and considering your duty to create more little phoenix. It will most likely get them off our backs for a while, which isn’t a bad thing with the political climate we’re in.”

  “Honestly, I hadn’t thought of that.” I pursed my lips, thinking through the positives now, instead of all the negatives of making such a massive decision.

  “You've progressed so far already with your training,” Killian chimed in, adding to the growing list of pros versus cons. “Imagine how far you could get if you focused solely on that.”

  “Well, I wouldn't be just focused on that,” I pointed out with a chuckle. Trust Killian to try and ignore the suitor portion of the events.

  “As we said, we'll support you,” Theo assured me. “We can figure out the rest as it comes, but Killian's right. Let's focus on your training for now. We'll just consider this a lateral move.”

  I nodded, and some of the knot in my stomach eased at the way they handled my news and supported me. “Alright. Thank you.”

  Killian pushed to his feet, crossing his arms over his chest. “Since we're already in a family meeting…” His words were drawn out, his eyes on the floor as he spoke. “We made an agreement for no more secrets. And while I wouldn't exactly consider this a secret, it was more strange.” We all stiffened, uncertainty and nerves thick in the air. “Before Gaspard arrived, I'd dozed off for a moment. I've been working late, and I was more tired than I thought.”

  “That's your secret?” Ryder dramatically threw a hand against his chest. “Killian finally caved in and napped when exhausted. Someone notify the papers.”

  Killian glared and I tapped Ryder on the head. “Be nice, Ry,” I scolded.

  “The nap wasn't the anomaly, I assume?” Theo interjected, indicating for Killian to continue with a wave.

  “No, it wasn't.” He hesitated, rubbing his hands together as small sparks of light flickered around him. My eyebrows shot up, and everyone tensed at the sight. If Kill's Puca was this irritated, then it meant that whatever had happened was more serious than he was letting on. “I had a dream,” he spat out. “Well, a sort of dream. It wasn't like I slept for very long, only a few minutes.”

  I gaped, and my shocked expression was mirrored across the kitchen on my mates’ faces. “An actual dream?” I squeaked. I knew he had flashes at times, which was why he tried so desperately to sketch them out.

  He nodded, with color working its way into his cheeks for a moment before draining away to leave them paler than before. “I guess you'd call it a nightmare, really. There was so much blood. All of us were in shifted form on a rocky coastline. There were other shifters there that I didn't recognize. They wanted Nix.” He sent me a worried glance before continuing, “We had to have been fighting for a while, because we were all gasping for breath, and all of us were injured to some extent. Nix had a giant wound down her arm that she was nursing and Theo was shooting water jets out of the ocean to try and keep everyone away from her. Then this dark shadow approached and Nix screamed.” He shivered for a moment, his eyes dark and haunted. “I woke up before I could figure out what was coming at us and had her so afraid.” He bowed his head as if apologizing, and I darted across the kitchen before wrapping my arms around his waist.

  “I'm right here, Kill,” I reminded him, rubbing my hands over the tense muscles in his back. “Safe, whole, and right in front of you.” His arms came up to wrap tightly around me, his hand massaging the nape of my neck as we rocked back and forth together.

  “It's possible it was just a nightmare,” Theo said hesitantly, but I didn't miss the glances the guys exchanged while Killian was distracted.. “A rocky shoreline is not exactly uncommon in Alaska, you could be assigning more meaning to it than it needs due to residual feelings about our island experience.” It was my turn to shiver at Theo's words as a rapid image played through my head of water spraying against jagged rocks, hulking trees, and shadows in the distance before pain shot through my skull. Damien hissed.

  “Ryder, she's giving herself a headache.” Ryder's hands were cool on my temples before Damien even finished his sentence, pulsing blue light as he fought against the headache that now raged there.

  “Could it have been your Puca?” I asked, resting my forehead against Kill's chest and letting Ryder's healing powers wash through me.

  He hesitated before answering me. “I don't think he's sure. I know I'm not.” Multicolored sparks winked around me and my Phoenix chirped, apparently agreeing with Killian's statement. The sparks seemed more confused and apologetic than playful, but how I understood that, I wasn't sure.

  “You know, there’s another part we haven’t considered,” Hiro spoke up. “If this is really a premonition, we need to try to figure out what it’s for.”

  “What do you mean?” Damien asked, with a growl in his voice.

  “Well, if it’s about the island, then logic states that it involves the Council. If it involves the Council, then there may be a connection to the rebellion as well. The question would be, is it because we joined the rebel
lion or because we didn’t?”

  I winced. I knew we hadn’t really talked about the rebellion yet mostly, I assumed, because we didn’t have much information. It didn’t seem we’d be able to hold off on that discussion for much longer. “Whatever it is, Abra, we'll face it together,” I murmured, as my other mates surrounded us. “I trust you, all of you. Whether we're facing nightmares, or there really is a battle ahead, I know I'll make it through. I've got all of you and you have me.” My Phoenix hissed her agreement, finishing the thought with a battle cry at the idea of anyone touching our mates. “I guess that means it's time to train for battle. Come on, let's go while there's still light outside.”

  Seven

  Nix

  I let hot water of the shower beat down on me, soothing my sore muscles after the workout Killian had insisted on. His dream had made him edgy, and he was more persistent than ever that I learn to protect myself in both forms. My Phoenix cooed as the steamy water flowed over me, content in the idea that she was gaining strength.

  I washed the soap from my hair, pulling at the dark strands. The scent hit me and I chuckled, realizing I had used Ryder's shampoo instead of my own. Well, it was his own fault for putting them in matching bottles. My Phoenix chirped as our attention shifted to thoughts of Ryder. He was still spending so much of his time alone, his mind focused on the island and his sister. It wasn't like I could blame him. My own thoughts attempted to return there frequently also, but it usually ended in a headache as my memories jumbled together.

  Damien? I called hesitantly, unsure if it was a good idea to reach out to him mentally while I was in the shower. However, I was enjoying the luxury and warmth of the water too much to give it up in favor of the cold that awaited me outside of the steamy bathroom.