Chapter 9 #2
"NO, Kai, not at all." Jack followed me, taking my hands into his. "You'll never, ever be a captive again. Not as long as I'm breathing. The club is just to give you time to regenerate. That's all. It will be easy to get away from them. As soon as you're back to yourself, we're gone. You and I."
"But Jack, this can't work. I can't leave Mortis. The magic will bring me back. This carnival is how far I can be from him. Not one foot more."
"Not if I kill him." Jack reached into his other pocket and pulled out two bullets. He set the bullets in my hand. "You told me a blessed bullet could kill Mortis. I read online that phoenix energy can be a blessing. I need you to bless these. Do you know how?"
I picked up one of the bullets, studying it. "You're prepared to kill him?"
"To free you?" Jack put his palm on my face, drawing my eyes to his. "I'd rip him limb from limb until there was nothing left but a bloody pile." Jack kissed my forehead. "But since you said it has to be a blessed bullet, I'll go with that. Now, will phoenix energy bless them?"
I looked down. "I think so. All I have to do is touch the object with both of my forms. Human and phoenix." I looked from the bullet to Jack. "If the fire's too hot, will they explode?"
Jack tilted his head. "Yeah, probably."
"Fuck."
Jack laughed. "Now, that's my girl." Pride shone in his eyes. "If we blow up, we blow up together. Go for it."
I took a steady breath, holding the bullet in my right hand.
I raised my left middle finger and summoned my fire.
After being in the sun all day, it was easy.
A small, golden flame ignited at the tip—hot and controlled.
Before I could second-guess myself, I bent my right middle finger together, my human finger and my fire finger pressing against the bullet simultaneously.
Power surged through me, warm and electric. The bullet glowed briefly, absorbing both my human essence and phoenix fire. When I pulled my hands away, the bullet looked normal, but I could feel the difference. It hummed with energy now.
"It worked," I breathed, handing him the blessed bullet.
"I should say so. Your eyes glowed."
Shocked and excited, I asked, "They did?"
"Yes, it was amazing."
"That's phoenix power. I haven't done that for a long time. It felt good." I picked up the other bullet and repeated the process.
"These are going to save us," he said with absolute conviction.
"I hope you're right." I twisted my hands together nervously. "But Jack, even with blessed bullets, Mortis is powerful. He'll transform, use his full voodoo god form. And when I burn—"
"That's why I need you to tell me everything." He took both my hands in his. "What happens when you burn? What do I need to know?"
The mate bond flared at the care in his voice, the fierce protectiveness. "When I burn, it's a transformation fire. It doesn't hurt—it's actually euphoric. Like finally being able to breathe after holding your breath too long. The flames will consume me completely."
"How long does it take?"
"Maybe a minute. When the flames die, there will be a pile of gold ash—enough to fill both your hands.
Mortis usually collects it in a special container.
" The thought made me sick. "In the center of the ash pile, you'll find me.
I'll be a chick, about the size of a baby chicken, covered in golden down feathers. "
Jack was memorizing every word. "No wonder you're helpless."
"Completely. For all purposes, I'm a chick. I can't fly, can't defend myself, can barely walk for the first hour. I'll be weak and disoriented." I squeezed his hands. "Jack, for those first twenty-four hours, I'm utterly reliant on you. If something happens to you while I regenerate..."
"Nothing's happening to me," he said firmly. "What do you need? Food? Water?"
"Small pieces of fruit and some small chopped nuts if you can get them.
Berries are best. And water—I need a water source.
It helps the process." I thought about what else he should know.
"Warmth is crucial. And sunlight if possible.
Wait," I grabbed the bag and handed it back to him.
"Put the cinnamon in my sleeping area. It will speed up the transformation and make it less painful. "
He took the bag. "You got it. I can get more. How long until you're back to yourself?"
"Those sticks are fine. I'll grow gradually—chick to juvenile phoenix, then back to my adult human form around hour twenty-four.
Maybe quicker with the cinnamon, but it's been a while since I've been around it, so we'll have to see.
The first twelve hours I'll be bird-shaped but growing.
I'm going to look dreadful, but it's the process.
My mom used to tell my sister and me that no one was beautiful all the time.
Everyone has a rough-looking time. Once I'm an adult phoenix, I can shift back to myself. "
"I'll keep you safe." His voice was steel. "I swear it."
I believed him. Against all logic, against three years of hopelessness, I believed him.
"But Jack, what if another silverback gets to me first? One squeeze and I'm dead."
"Already thought of that," he said, his expression fierce.
"I told the President I need to be positioned close to the stage because I know phoenix physiology.
That you're fragile right after burning, need specific handling, or you could die.
He bought it. He doesn't want to lose his prize.
Don't worry. I'll be near you when all the chaos breaks out. "
"I'm kind of sad I'm going to miss all the action." I thought of something I'd forgotten to mention. "Jack, there's one more thing," I said, feeling heat creep up my cheeks again.
"What?"
"Because of the intensity of the regeneration fire, when I'm in my bird form, I'll have feathers, but when I regenerate back to my adult form... I'll be naked. My clothes will have been incinerated."
Jack's eyes darkened, and a slow smile spread across his face. "That's a benefit."
"Funny. It's embarrassing if I'm around people or somewhere I shouldn't be. Please, have clothes for me," I continued, trying to keep my voice steady despite the way he was looking at me. "Unless you want all of your club members seeing me—"
"Fuck no, I don't want any of those assholes anywhere around you," he interrupted, his voice a low rumble that sent shivers down my spine. "I'll have clothes ready."
"Jack," I whispered, suddenly very aware of how close we were standing. How his thumb was stroking the back of my hand. His eyes kept dropping to my lips. "You need to go, in case the red clown comes for me."
"Talk about assholes," Jack looked over his shoulder. "What's with those clowns?"
"What do you mean?"
"They're creepy as shit. Where did Mortis find them?"
I walked over to the side of the bed and sat down.
"It's sad, really. Mortis preys on the desperate—those who have a heavy need, be it financial, loneliness, mentally, human, and magical.
He makes massive promises, fills those needs, wins the people over.
They come to trust him. Then he asks the question: 'Now that I've helped you, do you promise to serve me? '"
Jack sat down next to me. "Once they agree, he curses them, but they don't care because the original reason Mortis sought them out is gone.
I've seen people actually thank him for cursing them.
" I shook my head. "The clowns were men once—bad men, men who shouldn't be in public.
They freely bound themselves to Mortis. I heard their curses were brutal transformations into what they are now.
Henchmen fits them perfectly. They're completely loyal to Mortis.
His eyes and ears. Believe me, nothing happens in the carnival that Mortis doesn't hear about.
He lets them do what they want except killing.
He says there are things humans will overlook and things they won't."
Jack took my hands in his. "That's horrid. I hate that you've been here for so long."
"Me too."
"The plan will work, Kai, but I should go," he said, not moving. "Soon, they'll be looking for me."
"You should," I agreed, letting go of his hands.
But Jack held on to mine. He looked at me with a look I'd never seen before. He ran his other hand up my arm, bringing his forehead to mine.
"Kai," Jack's voice had gone rough. "If I don't leave right now—"
The words left my mouth before I could stop them. "Don't leave. Not yet."
His eyes searched mine. "Are you saying what I hope you're saying? Because you have to know that once I start, I don't think I can stop. The mate bond, it's—"
"I know. I feel it too." I put a hand on his thick thigh, which he tightened as soon as I did. "I don't know if it's because of the stakes or that I'm about to burn, or maybe that we won't make it out..."
He kissed me, cutting off my spiral of fear with his lips on mine. And unlike our first kiss, which was sweet and tentative, this one was desperate. Claiming. His hand came up to cup the back of my head, angling me so he could deepen the kiss, and I opened for him with a moan.
The mate bond exploded between us, flooding my system with heat and need. This. This was what I'd been missing, what my soul had been crying out for.
When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Jack rested his forehead against mine.
"I—" he said, his voice ragged. "Not before..."
"Not before," I agreed, sliding my hands up his chest to loop around his neck.
I stood, swiveled, hiked my towel up, and straddled him. "I'm sure." I pulled him closer. "I've never been more sure of anything. Please, Jack. Before everything changes. Before I burn. I need—I need to be—"
"Mine," he growled, his hands already moving, one sliding into my damp hair while the other wrapped around my waist, pulling me against him.
Something in him snapped. The careful control he'd been maintaining shattered, and suddenly his mouth was on mine again, fierce and demanding. His hands roamed over me, learning the shape of me, and everywhere he touched left trails of fire in its wake.
"We have to be quick," he murmured against my neck, his lips finding the sensitive spot just below my ear. "Tell me if you want me to stop."
"Jack, I'm not very experienced. I mean, I've had sex, but it was—"
"Kai," Jack spoke into my ear.
"Yes?" I whimpered.
"Stop talking."