TEN
PHOENIX
Idid not mean to go full flamer in the middle of a swanky bar but this girl is utterly maddening.
The warm night air is doing nothing to extinguish the burning embers glowing red with heat across my flesh.
The blackened skin of my monstrous form is cracked, the flames below like flowing lava beneath the surface of rock.
I let sparks shoot from my back, alleviating some of the building pressure within.
The golden feathers of my wings glimmer in the moonlight as I glide high through the night sky where no one will notice the flaming ball of fire that is my current state.
I can usually control myself better than this. But watching Mikhael’s hand slip beneath her skirt pushed me over the edge. The monster in me roared to life, demanding I slaughter anyone that dare touch what belongs to me.
Marisa is mine.
A feral cry rumbles up from my chest and tumbles out of my lips.
I can’t seem to stop the monstrous side of me from being unleashed.
It’s been centuries since I felt this out of control.
The problem is that I don’t just want her—I crave her, down to the very marrow of my fucking bones.
The urge to completely consume her in the fiery embers of my desire is blinding.
My cocks leak at the very thought of her pinned beneath me, fear and pleasure swirling through her icy irises as I slide both my members into her tight little cunt.
Sorry for dropping precum on you people below.
Another roar slips from my lips as I try to control myself.
I beat the beast back down, willing him to control his feral urges so we can land somewhere and figure out our next steps.
It’s clear I can’t continue with this bet.
Letting her flirt with Mikhael in order to get close to him and steal the painting is not an option.
Part of me had planned to let her win. But that’s absolutely not going to happen.
It’s clear that I will slaughter Mikhael, ripping him into a thousand pieces and scattering his dismembered body across the world before I let him get close to her.
So Plan B it is then.
She will probably protest but the truth is that she won’t need the money.
I have absolutely no intention of letting her walk away from this, from me.
Soon, she will have access to my immense wealth and won’t have to play conwoman anymore.
Don’t get me wrong, I would have no problem with her continuing to con sleazy men as long as they don’t touch her, or talk to her, or look at her really.
Fuck, I don’t want anyone else even thinking about her.
I am utterly wrecked for this woman in the worst possible way, huh?
“Oh, Marisa, we know all about you,” Mikhael’s deep baritone carries across the warm evening wind. The mention of her name pricking my ears.
The threatening tone puts me immediately on edge. She’s supposed to be wrapping him around her finger like the minx she is. What if something’s gone wrong?
“How do you know my name?” Marisa replies, her voice distant and muffled from this far away, but even still, I hear the unease in her tone.
Absolutely the fuck not. Not my woman and not in my territory.
I cut the flames, reeling in the flicking fingers of fire beneath my skin. My body returns to an inky blackness that makes concealing myself among the shadows of the night simple. My golden feathers tuck in tightly, eliminating any unnecessary glow from my wings, as I soar lower and lower.
“Get in the car,” another voice barks.
I break through then damp clouds, circling until I find a ledge of a nearby roof to perch upon. Crouching down, I let myself fold forward. If anyone were to look up, they’d simply think I was a rather unusual stone gargoyle placed on the top of the building.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Marisa barks back at them.
Good girl.
I hone in on the scene below—my Little Spark is surrounded by a group of brutish men in dark suits.
Bratva, I’d guess, based on the tattoos I’m able to make out peeking from beneath the dark fabric of their clothing.
Mikhael looks above her, his face red with annoyance.
Next to her is a less imposing but equally worrisome man—Nikolai Kirovsky, The Serpent.
If the Wolf and the Serpent are working together, then something is definitely going on.
The Solentsevskaya Organizatsiya has four main leaders, all under the head of the Brotherhood—the Pakhan.
The Pakhan might rule but it’s the Four Brothers, as they are called, who do most of the dirty work.
The Wolf, Mikhael, handles the east end of the city.
He’s known for being absolutely ruthless.
The Serpent, Nikolai, mostly handles the drug scene.
He has a line of enemies longer than most, which is probably how he earned his name—stabbing others in the back like a snake in the grass.
The Falcon, Aleksander Kaschei, is the most powerful of The Brothers, second only to The Pakhan himself.
And lastly, the Shark. He handles business back across the water and rarely participates in any of the bullshit the other Brothers get involved in.
Rumor has it that the four of them have been at each other’s throats lately though, so having two of the four of them here doesn’t seem like a good sign.
“Get in the fucking car or we will put you in the fucking car,” Mikhael growls, and I can feel my fiery anger rising to the surface.
No one speaks to my girl that way, asshat.
“You’re gonna have to make me then,” she tells them defiantly as she crosses her arms over her chest.
I raise my head slightly to stare at her.
She’s so stunning that my insides clench in excited anticipation every time I look at her; as if I won’t be able to go another moment without wrapping her up in my golden wings and keeping her.
I can be a greedy fucking bastard, an unfortunate side effect of my monstrous other half, and that need to possess entirely seems to be especially prominent when it comes to the gorgeous woman with attitude to spare.
She cocks a hip and a brow. Her bright red hair shifts slightly in the evening breeze as her irises harden with an icy conviction.
Fuck me. I’d give anything to have her give me that sassy look. The punishment I’d give her in return would have her sore for days. Good luck getting her to cooperate, Mikhael.
“Have it your way, malen’kiy krolik,” Mikhael tells her indifferently before snapping his fingers.
Before I, or Marisa can react, one of the men has his hand wrapped around her face.
She thrashes against his hold, landing a nice elbow hit to his core.
The man lets out a pained grunt but doesn’t let go.
The monster within me immediately roars to life, flames shooting from my flesh, engulfing me in a ball of fire.
“The fuck is that?” one of the men asks, clearly noticing my flickering light of fury and flames.
“Get her in the damn car,” Mikhael snaps before getting in the dark town car next to them.
Marisa’s eyelids begin to sag as whatever is on the cloth that they’re holding to her face begins to take effect.
She looks so… defeated; and something inside me snaps at the look on her face.
She is bold and wild and brave. No one, and I mean no one, gets to make her feel weak.
My restraint breaks and I push off the stone ledge, spreading my wings and lifting into the night.
The men below scramble, throwing her limp form in the car then shuffling inside themselves.
Rage like I’ve never known before pumps through my veins, and like gasoline, it seems to fuel my flames higher and brighter until I am merely a ball of white hot fury pummeling through the night sky.
My feathers singe as I whip through the darkness towards the assholes who would dare touch what belongs to me.
I am fury. I am fire. I am flames. Who would dare hurt my fucking human?
A feral cry unlike anything I’ve ever made before rips through my lips as I tear across the night sky towards the car.
“My fucking human,” I growl beneath my breath.
The driver must spot me as the car peels out of the alleyway, the tires squealing as they turn onto the main road.
You can run, motherfuckers.
I open my wings, the wind lifting the cartilage between the bones and turning my body so I coast sideways.
The car speeds through traffic, zipping in and out of lanes.
I try to stay as close as possible without setting the entire world on fire.
Tiny embers shoot from my body, leaving a trail of sparks behind me.
They’re moving towards the Express Way, if they get in there, I will lose them in the hustle. Shit.
Beating my wings wildly, I pick up speed. The night air whips past my face as I fly faster and faster, desperate to get to her. I have no plan, no idea of what comes next once I catch them, I just know that I can’t let them take her.
Closer. Closer. I can see the license plate clearly now, I’m so close. I build up a ball of flames, ready to shoot it at their tire and blow it out. Closer. Closer.
And then feathers, crunching of bones, a honk.
I veer to the side, cascading to the left after hitting the motherfucking goose that flew into my path.
My wings fly out to catch myself as I reel from the collision with the small winged thing.
What the hell? I look back and watch as his charred body falls towards the ground, landing on a car with a thump.
Serves you right for flying in front of a ball of flames, you dumbass. Fucking birds.
My eyes flit back to the road. The car is gone. Marisa is gone. And I’m left beating my wings, wondering what to do next.