He placed the picture face down on the bed in his bedroom, then gathered her jeans and top from the floor and her other shoe, and folded her clothes neatly on top of the picture. The desire to hold them close and breathe in her scent one last time overwhelmed him, but he didn’t succumb.
Phoenix put everything that would remind him of Katarina into a bottom drawer. Out of sight and out of mind.
His doorbell rang. Nix swore. He was still naked, for goodness sake. After grabbing his robe from the back of the door, he traipsed downstairs.
Egan stood at the door, holding up a carton of milk and grinning like a buffoon. “Morning, brother! I brought you some milk. Stick the kettle on. I’m parched.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Unless you have company, of course.”
Nix rolled his eyes at his brother’s blatantly obvious reason for paying him a visit. “Hello, Egan. Thanks for the milk.” He grabbed the carton even though he had several in the fridge already. Turning, he then walked back inside.
“Wait, can I come in, or what?”
Nix shrugged. “Do what you like—you usually do.”
Egan closed the door behind him. He didn’t say a word as he followed Nix to the kitchen.
Nix switched on the kettle, waiting impatiently for what he knew was about to come. Best get the brotherly interrogation done, then it would finally be over.
His brother didn’t fail. “So, how did it go last night?”
He fetched two cups from the cupboard. “It didn’t. End of.”
Chapter Nine
Kat stepped inside the apartment she shared with Selene and closed the door quietly so as not to wake her friend. Leaning her back against the door, she let the tears flow freely down her cheeks.
So many questions left unanswered. Maybe she shouldn’t have run, but what choice did she have?
Toby trotted towards her, his tail wagging. He barked.
“Shh, Toby,” she whispered. “You’ll wake Selene.” She swiped her cheeks with her coat sleeve. Except it wasn’t her coat. The coat belonged to Phoenix. Because that was his name. She was sure of it. She’d even called him Nix as they’d made love.
Kat’s legs gave way, and she slumped to the floor. She’d shot down the stairs so fast, she’d forgotten she was only wearing knickers. It wasn’t until she got downstairs that she’d had the sense to swipe a coat from a hook by the front door and grab her handbag before she escaped into the woods, terrified, refusing to believe the changes that were happening to her.
After running barefoot through the woods, she’d found the road that led into town pretty quickly, as if she’d suddenly gained an excellent sense of direction—something she’d never had before. It had still taken her hours to get home, though, walking through the night and trying to make sense of everything. And now she knew.
Her dog climbed on her lap, and she ruffled his ears.
“You’ll still like me, won’t you, Toby? Even if I am a monster?”
Her feet were filthy, and she ached all over, but she didn’t care. She’d called Nix a freak as she watched his skin turn into… into something beautiful and magnificent.
If anyone was a freak, it was her.
Kat pressed her lips together, mustering a little strength to control her sobs. She had to see it again. See for herself what she was becoming, what her true identity was. For so long, she’d yearned to know, but could she handle the truth?
She slowly pulled back the coat sleeve to examine her arm.
‘They’ were still there. An area no bigger than a few inches, but instead of skin, Kat gazed at the unmistakable scales of a dra…
She couldn’t even think the word. Tentatively, she brushed her fingertips across the scales, marvelling at their smoothness, the way they moulded to her arm like a second skin, ice-blue and iridescent, kind of mesmerising.
No, go away, she whispered inside her head. To her surprise, they did. Scales returned to skin.
She recalled the old picture Nix had shown her, the sense of déjà vu. “You’re like me,” she’d said, but she’d assumed he was a lost soul, living with reincarnation and not knowing what he was.
Kat frowned as his answer played in her mind. “Yes, you and I are similar.”
He hadn’t actually said he was a reincarnated spirit.
She gulped.
Tears flowed again, but not out of despair. Relief washed over her in waves, as though every one of her reincarnations rejoiced in the knowledge of finally understanding who she was. What she was.
The memories still weren’t clear, but she knew one thing without a shadow of a doubt.
She was a dragon.
A freaking awesome dragon!
The ice dragon from the story she’d read in Jim’s bookshop. The dragon cursed by an evil sorceress, along with her soulmate, the fire dragon.
Nix.
Blood pulsated in her ears. Her heart pounded.
They were the last of their kind. And she’d left him.
Oh dear God, what have I done?
Toby shoved his wet nose into her hand, his brown eyes blinking sympathetically, as though he understood everything. She half smiled, recalling how her dog had taken a shine to Nix in the woods that day. In fact, if Toby hadn’t got lost, she might never have found her magnificent fire dragon.
Kat scooped Toby off her lap and leapt up. She had to see Phoenix.
Toby barked excitedly as she ran towards her bedroom to change.
Selene came out of her bedroom, rubbing her eyes. “Bloody dog, what’s he barking for now?” She squinted at Kat. “Oh, hi. What time is it?”
“It’s early morning. Sorry if Toby woke you.”
Her friend’s eyes widened as she took in her dishevelled appearance. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“Yes… no.” She wrapped Nix’s coat around her and blew out a breath. “I will be, I hope.”
“Whose coat are you wearing?” Selene squeezed her arm. “Oh my God, where are your clothes? What the hell did that Egan guy do to you?”
Egan? She’d forgotten all about her supposed date with Egan. Her friend’s concern touched her. “Nothing. It’s nothing like that.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m not hurt, Selene.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Her belly tingled. “Why don’t you go back to bed?”
“No, I needed to get up early anyway. Tell me what happened.”
“Okay, let me get showered and changed first. You’re going to love it; it’s something magical.”
“Ooh, I’m intrigued. I’ll get dressed too, and then I’ll make two of my famous espressos,” Selene said.
“Thanks, Selene, you’re a true friend.”
Kat headed into her bedroom, blinking at the bright morning sunlight that shone through her window. She took off Nix’s coat and held it against her cheek. She breathed in the scent of him, recalling the way he’d touched her, how he’d spanked her backside, and she’d squealed in delight.
Would he forgive her for leaving him like that? Granted, she’d been scared, and maybe he’d seen her fear, but she could only hope he didn’t think she ran because of him.
She owed him an apology. Big time.
Kat held her hand in front of her, feeling a sudden urge to try something out.
Inside her head, she called on her dragon.
Fascinated, she watched her skin colour change to pale blue. Iridescent scales caught the sunlight as she turned her hand. Her fingers elongated, her nails became curved talons. Holy shit!
She commanded the mutation to stop. It did. Her hand returned to normal. Or was it? Maybe it would feel more normal to be in her dragon form, succumb to the power that simmered inside, waiting to be released.
Yes, she needed to see Nix more than ever now. He would have the answers she sought—if he could forgive her.
A shower first, and a coffee.
She laid the coat on the bed and then went into her bathroom for a quick shower
. After slipping into a pair of loose-fitting trousers and a blouse, she met Selene in the kitchen, the welcoming aroma of good, strong coffee wafting up her nose.
Kat sat opposite Selene at the kitchen table and sipped her coffee.
“Something magical, you say?” her friend prompted.
“Yes, something amazing happened tonight, but it wasn’t with Egan. I met someone else.”
“Who?”
“Egan didn’t show up, but he sent his friend to apologise on his behalf. Nicholas, he said his name was.”
“So you spent the evening with him instead?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t explain it at first, but… there was magic in the air. We had the best evening ever, and when he asked me back to his home, I said yes.” She grinned. “We had sex, Selene, the most amazing, mind-blowing sex—”
Selene chuckled. “This Nicholas guy must be special; you usually wait until at least the second date.”
“Yeah, I know, I’m a slut.”
“You’re not. If something feels right, you should go for it. I’m so happy for you, Kat.”
“Thanks.” She drank her coffee. “Something else happened too, and I’m going to burst if I don’t tell you.” She paused for dramatic effect. “Nicholas is not his real name. It’s Phoenix.”
Her friend’s mouth dropped. “Phoenix? Are you certain? Why would he tell you it was Nicholas?”
“He had to.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” she said slowly.
“No, I didn’t at first, but then I found out what I am.”
“You what?” Her friend gripped her coffee cup so tightly her knuckles turned white.
“I think I might be a dragon. I read about it in this book, how an evil sorceress cursed the last two dragons—”
“That’s ridiculous,” Selene interrupted, her tone abrupt and disbelieving. “You can’t possibly be a dragon.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“Full-blood dragons died out centuries ago.”
“You’ve heard of them then?”
“Yes, I’ve heard the stories, but that’s all they are, stories; a romanticised myth written in a book that no one can prove is true.”
Her frown deepened. Why the sudden hostility from her friend? Selene said she was happy for her. “But…”
“But nothing, Kat.” Selene scraped her chair across the kitchen floor and stood. She marched over to the sink and poured her coffee down the plughole. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop this nonsense right now.”
Something about Selene’s manner put her on edge. Maybe her newfound dragon senses had picked up on something, but whatever it was, something was not right with her. “No, I won’t. It’s not nonsense. I might not have all my memories back yet, but I know this.” Kat lifted her arm, purposely changing the skin on her hand to her dragon’s scales, complete with talons instead of fingernails.
Selene grabbed at the worktop for support.
Heck, she hadn’t meant to scare her. She returned her hand to flesh and fingers. “Sorry, but I don’t understand why you won’t believe me. I thought you’d be pleased I found out what I am.”
“Why the fuck would I be pleased?” she spat out. “You’ve ruined everything.”
Selene’s eyes, once chocolate brown, darkened to black, the whites too, like demon eyes. Where there was once kindness in the woman Kat considered a friend, there was now a soulless void. Her expression twisted and seethed with a fury that shot a chilling shiver into her very soul.
“What… what’s wrong with you, Selene?” Kat shook her head, trying to remember what Selene looked like before because the woman standing in front of her was not someone she recognised. “We’re friends.”
“We were never meant to be friends, Katarina.”
“But… you helped me. You found me that day I had the car crash. You offered me a place to stay and told me about the supernatural world.”
She emitted a bitter laugh. “Who do you think ran you off the road?”
Kat’s stomach hollowed. She’d never recalled how she ended up with her car wrapped around an oak tree, but it all came back to her now, the flashback playing in her head like a horror movie.
She’d been driving along a quiet country lane, a clear blue sky overhead, when she’d noticed another car come up behind her. She’d thought nothing of it until the car rammed her rear bumper. Kat swerved but managed to control her car. Fuming at having nearly been run off the road, she’d glanced in her rear-view mirror and had seen a woman behind the wheel, the determination on her face leaving her in no doubt she wanted to run her off the road. With fear coursing through her veins, she’d accelerated, speeding along the narrow lanes, desperate to get away from the psycho.
The other car pursued her relentlessly, and the second time the woman rammed her car, Kat hadn’t been so lucky. She’d blacked out, and when she woke, she’d been reincarnated again, her memories of her previous life erased.
Kat hadn’t recognised her then, but she did now.
That woman was Selene.
Her blood turned cold. “You…? But why?”
“Because I know who and what you are, ice dragon.” Selene’s words dripped with disdain.
Her head spun. Selene had known her true identity, and she’d never told her.
For two years, they’d been friends—was it all a lie? Kat had been so grateful Selene had found her, and when she’d learned her friend was a witch, she’d hoped she might have been able to help her. Selene had comforted her, helped her learn to live with not knowing who she was, but it was all a lie, some plan she’d been oblivious to and still was.
Nausea threatened. “You knew?”
Selene rotated her wrists like she was about to do her magic.
But instead of the sickly-sweet scent of good magic, something different filled the air. Something evil.
A herbal, fennel sweetness, like liquorice, swirled around her.
Aniseed. The stench of dark magic.
An energy ball appeared in Selene’s palm, the greenish-black flames flickering with something malicious.
Kat stood, her hands clammy, a twist of fear in her gut. “What are you doing?” Her voice wobbled. “I don’t understand.”
“No, you were never meant to.” Selene took aim and hurled the energy ball across the kitchen.
In a split second, Kat ducked behind the table for cover. The blast missed her but struck the table, demolishing it into smithereens and sending her coffee cup hurtling through the air.
Toby ran in, barking.
Selene’s blackened glare focused on the dog, another energy ball forming in her palm.
Without a thought for her own safety, Kat dived for Toby and scooped him into her arms. Selene had never liked her dog, and Toby hadn’t liked her either, but surely she wouldn’t hurt him? “You’re crazy!” she yelled at Selene. “Why are you doing this?”
Selene took aim, directing her dark magic at the dog. “You were never meant to find out who you were.”
But instead of throwing the ball, she hesitated, holding it in her hand, its flames glowing and pulsating, awaiting Selene’s command.
Beads of sweat trickled down Kat’s spine. Every fiber of her being wanted to run, get the hell out of there, but she had to know what happened to Selene, once a friend, to make her behave like this. “What difference does it make to you if I know what I am?”
She had no doubt Selene could have killed her with a flick of her wrist, but by the maniacal grin on her face, she appeared to be enjoying her new power, like she was revelling in using it to taunt her. Kat edged towards the door. “Who are you?”
“You still don’t know?” Selene released a scornful laugh. “How ironic.”
Kat shook her head. She’d had enough of her games. The woman clearly thought nothing of their friendship. “What do you want, Selene?”
“Phoenix,” she replied, her tone dripping with conceit, as though it should be obvious what her evil pla
n was. “I want Phoenix.”
Chapter Ten
“End of?” Egan said, his tone incredulous. “What happened last night? Did Katarina not show up?”
“Yeah, she showed up.” He scooped a spoonful of coffee from the canister. “We had the most amazing night. Katarina was sexy and beautiful and as headstrong as she always was; perfect, in fact, but—” Phoenix swallowed the lump in his throat.
“But what?”
The spoon knocked the side of the cup and scattered granules over the worktop. “I can’t do this to myself anymore.”
“Do what?” Egan elbowed him out of the way and finished making the coffees.
“Live with false hope.”
His brother regarded him for a moment, a frown furrowing his brow.
Nix could almost hear his thoughts; Mr. Doom and Gloom is back again.
He hated laying this on his brother, but he had no one else to turn to. Maybe if he got it off his chest once and for all, he could finally get on with his life.
“Come on,” Egan said, carrying the mugs into Nix’s lounge. “Tell me everything, and don’t leave anything out.”
Nix begrudgingly followed. “She recognised me, or I thought she did.”
“Sit,” his brother instructed. He placed the mugs on the side table.
“We came back here, and I showed her the picture.” He sat, expelling a long sigh.
Egan glanced to the wall where the picture used to be. “Why would you show her that?”
“She kept talking about déjà vu. I could feel the magic between us, and I somehow convinced myself the curse was weakening. I suppose I thought showing her the picture would help jog her memories further.”
“And did it?”
“I took her upstairs, and we made love.” His heart ached with a pain he knew would never cease. How could he even think he could forget her and move on? “And then I scared her, and she ran off.”
Egan’s mouth made an O shape.
Nix glowered at him. If his brother passed comment on how foolish he’d been, trying to force Katarina to love him, he’d thump him.
“So where is she now?” he asked. Wise man.
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