Chapter 2
Every family had its secrets.Mine had kept me away so I could spare my brethren from seeing me perish for the final time. As the only phoenix shifter in existence, I was now faced with something neither of my five brothers ever would.
Mortality.
But while I hid, two of my brothers had found their mates. The prophecy we had all been anticipating had finally begun. I’d almost lost hope, as the one brother who would die if I didn’t find mine soon.
As a phoenix shifter, every century I would die and regenerate. It’s a pain in the ass, but I’d come to accept it until I recently learned that my next birthday could very well be my last if I wasn’t mated.
That little tidbit had been kept from me by our mother. She claimed she didn’t want me focused on my eventual demise. Unfortunately, I’d drawn the short straw in the immortality games.
Her sisters, the Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, had agreed to keep the secret of our birth from the rest of their siblings. Mainly because all of them were jealous of Athena, searching for any excuse to knock her out of contention as the favorite child of their daddy, Zeus. Because of their blackmail, I was chosen to be mortal.
Well, at least I’d gotten centuries out of the deal.
As the days drew close to my birthday, the less I could fully shift back into my human form. I would not fully regain that control until I went through the regeneration process. In the past, my brothers knew and accepted I would hole up at my home in central America until it was over. But not this time.
I’ve been hopscotching from one place to another so my brothers wouldn’t see this final decline.
My usually vibrant red, orange, and gold coloring had diminished, my skin tone more ashen each day, and my hair had gone totally white.
With my wings on full display and feathers lining my arms and upper back, it would be near impossible to be among humans, so if I did travel, I would wait until nightfall.
But none of that matters today. I’ve been alerted to perimeter alarms at our main headquarters and our oldest brother, Quinn’s, Scottish castle in the Highlands. The concern wasn’t the breach itself. It was that none of my brothers were responding to my texts. Ironic, I know, considering I’ve been radio silent for weeks, but knowing that the Duke of Hell, who had sworn to keep us from our fated mates, had almost succeeded twice, made the timing of their absence more than worrisome.
It turned my blood cold.
Had Dante finally discovered our stronghold and attacked? We’d been battling the demon for centuries. He’d made it known he would do whatever necessary to keep the prophecy from starting.
It had become known as the Brethren’s Prophecy and decreed that once the six of us had found our mates and bore the next generation of brethren, the continued survival of mankind would be ensured. But if we reached a millennia without our mates, all bets were off.
Dante had gone so far as to murder a powerful Celtic Goddess, Brigid, whose future daughters were thought to be our mates, after the demon discovered our father hadn’t wanted to wait for the prophecy to begin in its own time. He’d been the one to approach Brigid because he didn’t trust the Fates. And when he’d discovered Athena’s deal to make me the sacrificial lamb at the end of our tenth century, their already rocky relationship had fallen apart, and deceit and lies had become the cornerstone of their feud. It made family gatherings so enjoyable. Luckily, we’d only had the one in the past nine hundred plus years.
I’d tried repeatedly to reach each brother: Quinn, Keir, Mac, Roane and Gavin. But after an hour of no response, I used the closest portal to my recent hideaway in Cairo to investigate for myself.
The hum of the portal we used to travel between ancient standing stones overpowered my senses as I stepped from behind the stone nearest the castle. A sharp ping bounced around my chest. Unfurling my wings, I pushed back the temptation to take flight. I didn’t sense demons or anything else immortal, so I wasn’t going to take any chances of becoming a target without any backup.
I kept my system on full alert as I walked the path toward our headquarters. Instead of ruins, my family’s castle stood silent in all its glory. The cloaking spell had been broken.
What thefuuuck?
Screw the potential hidden dangers.
I snapped my wings wide, then shot into the air. Circling the perimeter, I scanned the entrance, the towers on either end. My gaze darted from window to window. Nothing. No movement. No siege. No brothers.
What, or who, had triggered the alarm?
Movement caught my attention when a figure darted from the shadows, running toward the edge of the drawbridge, then, unbelievably, they threw themselves over the side.
“Stop!”My shout bounced off the stone walls, too late to do any good. A high-pitched scream followed. Swooping down ready to attack, another, sharper ping erupted inside my chest, robbing me of my breath. For a moment, time stood still as I hovered in the air, then as I drew closer, a figure came into sharp focus.
Long, midnight black locks swayed in time with the female’s lower half as she struggled to hold on to the wooden beam.
Mate!filled my mind as my phoenix released an earsplitting bellow only I could hear.
My eyes zeroed in on her hands, her fingertips now barely grasping the edges. Her accelerated breathing filled the air between whimpers that I thought at first were fear-filled, but it quickly became clear were curse-laden cries.
I hovered behind the pissed-off curvy woman who somehow had penetrated the security of the castle, both human designed and magical. Usually, the remote location above the sea appeared as a long-forgotten castle ruin. But in reality, was an intact castle hidden behind the veil of magic our mother had gifted.
“A little help here would be appreciated.” Her frustrated demand knocked me from my musing.
I’d still yet to see her face, but the view of her backside was something to behold. Thick thighs, nipped-in waist and curvy hips made me momentarily forget the danger she was in.
The drop from the bridge to the frigid water of the moat had to be at least two stories. Not something a human would successfully survive without major injury. I gripped her waist and pulled her flush against me, then shot up into the air before setting her down on the bridge.
Shock hit me hard as yet again my phoenix screamed mate, which was followed by a sense of calm washing over me. The female in my arms had done that. After centuries of not being able to touch a female without causing her skin to burn, my hand brushed her exposed midriff where her blouse had risen, and instead of her writhing in pain, she stilled. Looking down, there was no red mark on her smooth flesh, no blisters. Only my mate would suffer no ill effects of my touch.
Dazed, I lost my balance when her body bucked against me.
“Let. Me. Go.”
I locked my arms, fearing she would injure herself. With at least a foot in height difference, her legs dangled, but then her feet kicked out, striking my shins as she continued to squirm. When her rounded backside rubbed against my erection, a thunderous roar echoed in my ears, my blood pumping at hyperspeed along my veins.
Now rock-hard and dizzy, with her scent surrounding me, my phoenix released a high-pitched squawk. The thing that I’d begun to believe would never happen—happened.
The woman in my arms was my mate.
Cradling her, I had so many questions, the least of which was how she came to be here and why was she fighting me?
Again, she stilled for a moment, as if she’d read my thoughts. “I’m going to ask nicely this time. But if I have to repeat myself a third time, prepare for a battle. Please put me down.” My mate”s words were filled with frustration.
Relived she no longer fought me, I was reluctant to let her go, even with her warning. If she was in my arms much longer, the need to claim her as my mate would soon overtake, but I had to see her face before I released her.
“Now why would I want to do that, mate?” Shifting her so she now faced me, I peered into her flushed face.
The color of her eyes struck me first. Vivid green, full of defiance and something suspiciously like sass. The prophesied shape of her right pupil, key shaped, was just like my brothers Quinn and Keir’s fated mates were.
In awe over her arrival, I nearly missed the subtle sign of impending escape as her luscious body suddenly went lax at the same time she raised her arms in an attempt to slide from my grip. She was smart, but I was determined to keep her close until we went inside, where it’d be less likely she could run from me.
“Although I commend your efforts at escape, there is no need. You seemed eager to get inside, so allow me to assist you into our headquarters. I need to deactivate the alarm you set off and figure out where my brothers are.” With her still in my arms, I strode over the twenty-foot doors and placed my hand over a sensor.
At my touch, the heavy wooden double doors opened. Once over the threshold, they shut behind us. The clatter of the locking mechanisms engaged, but again I was reluctant to release her. As far as I was concerned, she was where she belonged, in my arms.
“Wait, my bag is still outside. If you put me down, I can go grab?—”
“And make another attempt to run from me? No, it can wait. First things first. Tell me your name.”
Locked in a silent stare off, her dimpled chin lifted, and her full lips thinned out into a mutinous line. The fact she wasn’t screaming her head off at the sight of my fully unfurled wings tipped me off that my mate was no mere human. She would know enough about our location to understand we were more than an average family, and definitely not mortal. Probably.
Her presence on our property meant that her purpose was beyond that of a lost and confused tourist. Hopefully.
“Please, could you turn off that alarm? My ears feel like they”re bleeding,” my mate shouted with her hands over each ear.
Using my left wing, I stretched it out, pressing it against the flashing square display mounted on the wall. Much as one would with a fingerprint, the device’s sensor recognized me and the squealing was silenced.
Huffing out a thank you, she looked around the castle’s great room, then started wiggling in my arms again.
Tightening my hold on her, I said, “I’m still waiting for a name.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to wait until never. There’s no need to exchange names since I’m leaving. Wrong house and all.” Pausing, her defiant gaze ran over my face, as if she was searching for something. Then, for a brief moment, her pupils widened before she quickly narrowed them in an attempt to hide her reaction from me. “Wrong everything. My driver must have dropped me off at the wrong address. I am not your mate, not your friend, not your anything. Please put me down.”
Ignoring the request, I reveled in the feel of her. So tiny, but her curves were perfect. My talons itched to descend. I barely managed to keep them hidden so as not to scare her. I could not have imagined a more lovely or desirable mate.
“I’m not ready. But I will tell you mine. My name is Trace Smythe. Whether or not you already knew that no longer matters. You obviously felt the mating bond and were drawn to this castle. I’m guessing you possess powerful skills to break the cloaking spell. Now, do you wish to tell me your name?”
My little mate’s eyes widened, and her stubborn chin fell, causing her lips to open in the most tempting way. Her unique scent surrounded me, and my phoenix chirped happily as it recognized her as ours.
“Deny that you don’t feel it and I’ll set you down.”
Tense seconds passed and when her gaze dipped to my lips, her pink tongue darted out, licking her bottom lip.
A low rumble erupted from me. On edge, I growled, “Last chance.”
She mouthed, “Oh, my.” Biting her bottom lip, then releasing the sweetest sigh I’ve ever heard, was permission enough for me.
I claimed her lips in a kiss I’d never been able to give another female in my almost millennia-long life.
Sweet ambrosia.
I’ve lived without the ability to touch any female who was not my mate and that meant I’d never kissed anyone either.
Her response was as incredible as it was unexpected. Instead of trying to get away from me, as her words just moments ago declared she was desperate to do, her arms wound around my neck and frantically pulled me closer. My heart sang as she tunneled her fingers through the length of my hair, her touch inflaming me.
The pull of the mating bond was overwhelming as it bloomed, then pulsed along every surface where our bodies were pressed together.
Lost in my frantic need to touch, lick, and devour every inch of her flesh, I shifted so we were pressed chest to breasts. Closing my eyes, I savored the moment. Savored her full lips. I savored being able to touch, skin to skin, my female. My mate.
She shifted her legs higher, and my phoenix screamed in anticipation of having them wrapped around us. Instead, she planted her feet on my thighs, launched herself away from me as her arms dropped, then she pushed my shoulders back.
Landing on her plump backside, she quickly scrambled to her knees before gaining her feet, and then ran full-out toward the locked doors.
All I could do was grin as I watched her struggle to lift the wooden beam. Her hair flying about her shoulders. She was glorious. She pushed back several strands that had fallen over her eyes, screamed in frustration, then whirled around toward me, shaking a dainty finger at me. Her whole body vibrated, but no words came out as she attempted to speak.
“She’s a spitfire, isn’t she, my son? You can thank me later.” The question, that voice, had me swearing as I turned around to face my mother—Athena.
I should have known she had something to do with this. But why had she waited so long to bring my mate and me together? And how long had she been observing us? She’d never been known for her timing or consideration for privacy.