Chapter 17 #2
My eyes teared up, knowing that there was a possibility I might not come back.
Maybe I couldn’t be reborn. Maybe I wasn’t really a phoenix and the last time had been some weird circumstance…
Or maybe I would drown and they wouldn’t be able to find me.
God I didn’t want to lose this. I didn’t want to lose what I had with Marco.
What I had with all of my mates. Those thoughts and the fury I felt towards Pastor Malcolm had my chest burning like an inferno right as my head started to pulsate.
Right at that moment, something I couldn’t explain happened.
My throat burned like someone had stuck a hot coal down it.
My skin felt dry as if it was going to break and crack open.
My mouth was dry.
My tears evaporated and I could almost smell my hair and skin smoking.
My limbs hurt as a scream came from my throat.
Then, I caught on fire.
Something exploded from my chest and I was airborne, soaring up.
I let out a strangled cry as pain soared through me paired with relief.
In my peripheral, fire like wings sliced through the air as I pushed upwards past the cliff and into the night air.
Smoke and sea salt clouded my nose as my body moved agilely.
I dipped back down soaring over the water, a dart of flames.
Oh my.
I had shifted. The reality of what had happened hit me right in the chest and suddenly, I was soaring back up and flying over the cliff side where my father and Lorn were unconscious and bleeding. A dark dangerous looking wolf let out a bark as I circled over head and let out a responding sound.
I had done it!
I had shifted!
Joy filled me and washed away any negative thoughts from my father.
I almost landed but then a roar sounded and everything lit up inside of me.
I shot up as six massive forms zoomed above and around me.
My eyes widened as I watched the dark scaled forms of my dragon mates fill the sky in a stunning pattern.
I had no issue telling them apart, along with their confusion, then joy at my shift, before they realized that my father and Lorn were passed out.
I zoomed past Marco and Atlas, the latter dipping below me as Marco landed on the cliff, shifting immediately.
Croy shifted and I could feel the anger there…but it was hard to focus on it because I could fly. I was literally flying!
Ledger let out a low rumble as I zoomed around him, my wing brushing over his snout as Anani let out an amused huff from nearby.
I continued to fly between the two of them as well as Sai, Henry nudging me with his snout as I started to glide.
My wings felt sore and I could feel my energy dipping slightly. But still this was fantastic!
I could also feel the connection I had with the flight, some elements stronger than others because of the mating bites, but all very apparent.
I could also feel the dragons that resided in their souls, thrilled to have the chance to take front seat to this moment.
I couldn’t lie -- it was pretty amazing.
When I finally landed on the cliff, my wings folded in as the others shifted back. I watched as Ledger sat down in front of me, running a hand over my feathers, the fire not hurting him in the least. “Come on, firefly, shift back. I know you’re probably exhausted.”
I was. Letting out a small soft sound, my chest relaxed and I felt my form shimmer as I shifted back.
The cold ocean air biting my skin covered in ash.
A happy smile slipped onto my face as someone wrapped a jacket around my shoulders.
Honestly, I could barely focus on the anger at my father and Lorn.
I didn’t worry either. I knew they would handle it.
Sleep took over and for the first time, I knew exactly what that small flame in the center of my chest was.
Anani
“Holy shit,” I mumbled under my breath as Maya’s small form, wrapped in my jacket, passed out in my brother’s arms. Fuck, she was so beautiful, even exhausted and covered in ash.
Her long lashes brushed across her gold cheeks and freckles.
I was still amazed that I had just seen her shift to begin with. It had been…extraordinary.
No. That wasn’t a good enough word. I didn’t have a word for how absolutely perfect she’d been. My dragon and I could only stare at her in shock and quiet surprise. My heartbeat was loud in my ears. My brother shifted her into my arms as if he knew how much I needed to hold her.
Once her body was curled in my arms, the air around me settled slightly and the earth softened so that her body was more comfortable against me.
I didn’t care how long we had to sit here as long as I got to hold her.
My dragon let out a low rumble thrilled to have her so close and not wanting to do anything to risk her moving.
It was why he was being so damn quiet. It was annoying because I hadn’t even realized the fucker could be so controlled when it came to her. Damn bastard.
Honestly, it didn’t surprise me completely that he was acting weird because I felt like my entire world had shifted seeing her in flames.
Seeing her elegant frame soaring through the air, quieting any other emotions but awe.
Which is saying something considering what exactly I’d been feeling, which was a lot of different shit.
Intense shit that was probably unhealthy.
That wasn’t new though. Everything I felt for her was intense.
I’d never had good luck being able to hide my emotions like Ledger could.
Despite my father’s abuse being hyper-focused on me, I never stopped crying as a kid.
Mostly, because it never stopped hurting.
When I came to Marco and the rest of the flight, I flinched a lot.
I didn’t flinch anymore, mostly because there wasn’t a lot I was afraid of. Except maybe Maya. I was a bit scared of her because she had my heart in her small delicate hands. I just hoped she wouldn’t crush it.
I think that was why I continued to collect stuff from her. I wanted to always have her things around me so even if she didn’t want me one day, I would have things that reminded me of her. Reminded me of when she did love me.
I mean, I couldn’t expect the woman to fall in love with me like I’d fallen in love with her.
Hell, how did I even tell her or begin to tell her how I felt?
Ledger said that she knew about me taking her stuff and how I felt.
I wasn’t positive that I believed him. Yet, at the same time, I wanted to believe it.
I wanted to believe her soft smiles and touches were representative of a future of us together.
I didn’t want her to get tired of me. I wanted her love more than I had ever wanted any shit before.
Well, besides of course, some of the stuff I collected from her.
I loved collecting her shit. It was weird, I knew it.
I was weird.
Henry’s voice was getting louder and my arms tightened on her small frame, a pulse of fear hitting my chest. Now that she was in my arms, there was far less panic and fear, but not much better.
I’d been terrified and furious when I’d been woken up, feeling odd as if something had shifted in the house. As if something had changed.
Then we realized Maya was no longer in the house. Atlas had essentially lost his shit, letting me know just how he felt about Maya because the man didn’t get very worked up. Sai kept saying he knew something was off.
I think we all knew Maya wouldn’t just leave the house like that.
It wasn’t something she would do. Right?
Croy had immediately shifted to scent her path and we followed above from the air, keeping an eye on his path.
My stomach had bottomed out as we neared the edge of land and the roar of the ocean.
Then I smelled Pastor Malcolm and Lorn. Fury had rolled over me and the urge, which had never hit me so strongly before, flooded through me to snap both of their bodies in my jaw…but then, they didn’t matter nearly as much.
Maya had appeared in my view and like I said everything seemed to center in on her small, elegant frame. She had soared easily, naturally, through the space and filled my entire chest with a proud, awed, feeling that almost hurt. She was that fucking beautiful, it hurt. It was physically painful.
For a normal Earth realm bird, she was large like a massive raven, or something along those lines.
Her entire neck and legs were colored in golden scales and her body was made of thick gold and red feathers that were ablaze with fire.
But not just normal fire—no, her wings were painted with red, orange, and purple flames.
Her body a royal blue and purple inferno.
She was like a blaze of angelic beauty. Now, as if it had never happened, she was resting in my arms with a smile on her lips, eyes closed peacefully, keeping me completely entranced in her beauty.
“Her father is a fucking witch?!” Sai exclaimed, looking panicked.
“Yes, he must have been one hell of a shielder for us to not notice.” Marco deemed, his jaw clicking, “We need to get him and Lorn back to somewhere we can contain and question them. I want them taken to the local wolf pack lands. Alpha Creed has cells for new shifters and I don’t want them let out until we know how the fuck she was taken from our house and how Lorn was part of this. ”
Atlas looked up from his phone. “Marco the cameras show her walking out, like she was sleepwalking.”
“This is fucked up,” my brother muttered.
“He used magic then?” Croy demanded, but we all knew the answer.
I stopped paying attention though because Maya shifted in my arms, her face flushing pink as a pulse of magic rolled over her skin, causing a scale-like pattern to shift underneath it in a gold and sapphire motif.
My eyes widened as I ran a finger down her arm gently, the pattern appearing once again.
I’d seen that pattern once before, right before she had been reborn, but the blue was new.
It was stunning and odd. I wasn’t positive what was normal for a phoenix but she seemed to have an unusually unique and beautiful air to her.
Or and this was possible, I was completely biased when it came to her.
That was no doubt more likely the case than anything. But maybe it was both…
Croy confirmed my original thoughts as he crouched down in front of me, grasping her arm and brushing where the scales had just been. Underneath Croy’s fingers it pulsated as well and his eyebrows shot up. “What color was that?”
I arched a brow, “Did you not just see that?”
“I just need fucking confirmation,” he stated quietly, the others talking behind him about god knows what.
My brother, who was sitting next to me, spoke, “Blue and gold.”
Croy made a worried noise in the back of his throat, snapping his head around to look at the others. “Marco.”
“What?” Marco’s voice was harsh and stressed. I didn’t blame him for his reaction. This was probably driving him fucking crazy having a situation so outside his control.
Henry already looked like he was about to blow a gasket, his eyes flashing between the others and Maya’s sleeping form.
Sai was pacing back and forth, running a hand through his hair, looking worked up as all hell.
Atlas was just scaring me a bit. His silence was unnerving as all hell and it was never a good sign.
If anyone was liable to snap it was Henry, but I didn’t doubt that Atlas was close to that edge as well.
I think with Maya, we all were right on that edge.
I clutched her closer, not positive exactly how I felt right now as the awe fell away.
Fuck she had literally been drawn out of our own house. We hadn’t even started to consider shit like that when it came to her security.
“I think we need to get to the Dreki realm as soon as possible,” Croy answered, “I haven’t seen anything like Maya’s shifted form before. It is…unique, to say the least.”
“Is that not how phoenixes are supposed to look?” Henry asked as concern trumped his anger.
“We can’t go until we handle this,” Marco countered.
“We have to,” Croy stated softly, “trust me. Listen, I’ll call one of my associates. I have a few people that owe me a favor and one of them used to do military…um, interrogation.”
Torture. He meant torture.
“Can he be here by the morning?” Henry asked, looking concerned, “We need to head to LA to go to the portal for the Dreki realm as it is.”
“Don’t forget about that fucking Council event,” Atlas muttered.
“Event?” I asked, frowning. To be fair I wasn’t always updated on our plans until the last second. I had never minded my place in our flight because frankly, I didn’t want to be in charge, but right now I was sort of wishing I had been kept up to date more. To be fair, I could have asked though.
“Yeah, we have to meet the other dragons in the fucking area, introduce her to all the other flights,” Atlas explained.
“No,” Sai growled, “I fucking hate that.”
“We have to go out there anyway, it just makes sense.” Henry started with a grunt.
“Alright,” Marco sighed, “Anani, can you, Ledger, and Atlas all head home? We will take care of these bastards and then Croy will have his contact meet us there as soon as possible. You three can meet us there once she wakes up and is feeling better. Although, I would prefer for her to not show up at all, I need all of you there, just in case and I don’t want to leave her at home. Make sure the cat stays though.”
“Undetermined if possible,” Ledger chuckled, “but she will stay in the purse. None of the wolves will fucking mess with her.”
That was the honest fucking truth in reference to both Maya and Bella.
Atlas jumped off the cliff, shifting mid air, and flying around in a large circle as his wings pushed air across the cliff side and the trees behind us rustled.
I clutched Maya closer worried that she would get cold, although her body temperature didn’t make me think so.
I stood up easily, as my brother kicked her father’s ribs, a sharp crack sound making me smile.
Ledger jumped off the edge and shifted, floating right off the side as I scaled his back and locked her between his neck and my body. We were off within a minute and Maya muttered a few soft words under her breath, making my chest warm.
The further we got away from Lorn and her father the better I felt. Now, if only we could avoid going back to that fucking hell hole I grew up in.