Chapter 9
Pop!
They appeared in a small tunnel in the cave, just outside the open area where Tessa had built her nest. The two of them still held Leah’s hands. This teleporting stuff was getting easier. Each of the Guardians and their mates had practiced teleporting with Leah. The initial goal was to do it without vomiting, which they’d all finally accomplished. Grizzly shifter Beau had been the last to tackle this feat; apparently, he’d always had a queasy stomach. More recently, they’d been practicing to be completely free of the debilitating nausea, but they weren’t entirely there yet as Jamie could attest to, fighting a wave of nausea that hit him.
Aiden gagged and coughed, covering his mouth with a hand. He put a hand on Aiden’s back. “You OK?”
Aiden nodded. “I’ll be fine. Let’s go.” They followed Leah toward the room-like area where, just weeks ago, Tessa had gone to sleep.
“What the hell?” Aiden gasped.
The nest was on fire. The flames were unlike any Jamie had ever seen. White and yellow flames encircled a bed of cushions where a ruddy infant lay crying. “Oh, my God!” Jamie hissed. The baby sure had a good set of lungs on her. She was thrashing her arms about. Jamie reached out with his telepathy and tried to get a read on the child. He’d never tried to read the mind of a nonverbal person, but she didn’t seem scared. He had a sense the baby was hungry, but he wasn’t completely sure.
“We need your help,” Mac yelled. She ran to Jamie and pulled at his hand. “We can’t get to her. The flames are too hot.” Tears were running down her face. “Leah can’t even teleport to the baby. It’s too hot. We need to save her, please!”
Heath was attempting to find a way to jump over the flames in his wolf form. Jamie remembered how the black wolf was incredible at leaping through the trees high above Grey Lake. But even if he managed to get to the baby, how would he leap back with her in his wolf form? He couldn’t just carry her in his mouth, could he? No, that wouldn’t work.
Jamie and Aiden both crept closer to the flames. Incredibly, it didn’t feel too hot to him.
Mac and Leah remained well behind him. “How can you get so close?” Leah asked. She and Mac were sweating, their faces red.
“Because of your mate. Phoenix fire can’t hurt you,” Jamie’s wolf snarled in his head.
He leaned close to Aiden. “Keep them back,” Jamie said. “I’ve got this.”
“What?” Aiden gave him a flustered look.
“Hold them back,” Jamie yelled before taking a deep breath and running through the flames.
“Jamie!” Aiden screamed.
Whoa! He made it through. He patted his chest and glanced down at his body. Not on fire. Good, good. “I’m fine,” he yelled back. He looked down at the baby, who was now silently staring at him with teary eyes.
“Talk to the child. Keep her from screaming please,” his wolf begged.
“Oh, you’re fine. These flames can’t hurt you, can they, you little firebird?” he cooed. “I’m just going to pick you up, OK?” He lifted her and wrapped one of the smaller blankets that lay in the nest around her. “Now, let’s go see your new parents.” He could see an anxious Mac through the flames with her hands over her mouth. Heath had shifted back into his human form and was now pulling his clothes back on. “Yes, Daddy’s back to human, yeah,” he said playfully to the quietly observing infant.
“Be careful,” Mac called. Heath was now standing next to her, one arm over her shoulders, his jaw clenched. His eyes seemed to be begging him to keep the baby safe.
Jamie huffed a laugh and whispered to the child in his arms. “I think your mama is going to be a wee bit protective, wouldn’t you say?” he teased. Tessa had asked Mac and Heath to become the newly birthed phoenix’s adoptive parents, and they’d been thrilled.
“C’mon back,” Aiden yelled. “The flames are getting higher.”
Jamie saw that Aiden was indeed correct. “Let’s go, little princess,” he kissed the baby’s cheek, tucked the blanket around her, held her tight against his chest, closed his eyes, and strode back through the flames.
When he was through, Jamie opened his eyes to see the baby staring at him quietly. Her eyes were so similar to Tessa’s. “Good job, little one,” he cooed to her. He then handed the bundle to Mac. “Congratulations, it’s a girl!”
Mac took the baby in her arms and held her close, tears flowing freely down her face. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“How did you…?” stammered a shaky Heath.
Jamie looked at Aiden, who was glaring back at him. “You could have been incinerated,” he spat out.
“No, I just knew,” Jamie replied to both men but stared only at Aiden. “Something Tessa said.”
“She knew about this and didn’t tell us?” Heath choked out. He wrapped his arms around his mate and their new baby.
“Well, she wasn’t completely sure. She thought it was a power I might have,” Jamie answered.
“A power you might have?” Aiden asked, stepping closer to Jamie. His expression was blank. “Why would you take that chance?”
“The flames didn’t feel hot to me. Well, they felt a little hot, but nothing like the heat the rest of you felt. And the baby needed help.”
“We could have waited for Piper. She could have used her magic!” Aiden yelled. “I could have tried. It didn’t feel that hot to me either. I didn’t even have the chance to try. You just ran ahead before I could even think. Risking your life!”
Leah coughed, interrupting. “Are you all ready to head back? The flames are getting higher. You two guys may not have noticed, but the rest of us have.” She looked from Heath to Mac. “It’s getting hotter in here.”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Heath commanded.
“Everyone, come here,” Leah called. “Mac’s holding the baby,” she muttered mostly to herself. “Heath, hold on to Mac. Jamie, you hold Aiden.” She grabbed Heath with her left hand and Jamie with her right. “Where to?”
“Back to my parents’ place,” Heath said.
“Got it,” Leah replied.
Pop!