Chapter 36
Aiden clutched Jamie’s hand in a near vice-like grip. He wanted him out of the seizing man’s mind. He didn’t know what Jamie had seen in there, but he didn’t much care at the moment. He just wanted his mate safe.
“Jamie, I’m losing him,” Mac hissed.
Aiden watched his mate’s face for signs of distress. His eyes were closed, but he didn’t seem to be in pain. Suddenly, Jamie blinked several times, sucked in a big breath, and leaned back in his chair. He smiled weakly at Aiden.
“He’s out,” Aiden said to Mac.
One of her hands was on the captive’s forehead, the other on his chest. Warm orange beams of light flowed from her hands to his body and back. The light coming from the man’s body was much paler in hue than the light coming directly from Mac’s hands. Mac’s eyes were closed and her jaw tight.
Ted let out several barks.
“Mac? Should we call someone to help?” Jamie asked in a tired voice.
“Shh,” Aiden said to him. “Just take a minute and recover. We’ve got her.”
“Do you need to use some of my power?” Iris asked, stepping forward from where she stood close to the door with Annie.
“No, I…” She lowered her head and dropped her hands from the man. “He’s gone. He started seizing, and I couldn’t stop it. It wasn’t a matter of more power. There were just too many areas in his brain affected.”
“I’m sure you did everything you could,” Iris said solemnly.
Aiden took in Mac’s stricken expression. She rubbed her hands over her crossed arms as if cold. “As fast as I healed one area of his brain, another area was affected.” She glanced from Aiden to Iris and back. “I think your father did something to him. To his brain. Almost like a self-destruct system. I’ve never seen anything like that before. He was wounded, but his central nervous system was fine until Jamie went in looking for answers.”
Jamie let out a soft whimper. “Sorry,” he whispered.
Anger stirred in Aiden’s chest. “No, no, no, don’t you feel bad,” he said to Jamie. “This”—he jabbed a finger at the dead captive—“is all my father’s doing.” He lowered his head and kissed Jamie’s temple. “Not yours.” He nodded at Mac. “And not yours either.” He pulled himself away from Jamie so that he could look him in the eyes. “Now, can you tell us what you found?”
Jamie blew out a breath and sat up straighter in the chair. “Yeah. So, this man was a hyena shifter that was unable to shift, just like Terris and his friend Miles. Just like them, he was enticed or tricked into helping your father. He promised to heal him so he’d be able to shift into his animal form. I didn’t get his name, but he was an engineer, I think, something with machines and computers.” Jamie coughed several times and shivered.
“Do you need a drink? Are you cold?” Aiden asked.
“My throat is dry and, yeah, suddenly I’m freezing. I’m not sure why,” Jamie said.
“Shock?” Mac offered. “Maybe from what you saw in there.” She nodded to the dead man.
“I’ll get you something,” Aiden said.
He went to move, but Jamie tugged his hand. “No, don’t go!” In a calmer voice, he added, “Please just stay here. Having you close is helping me with all of this. Some of the stuff I saw in there was familiar. The memories…” His voice trailed off.
“Stay with mate,” his phoenix insisted.
“OK, I won’t leave,” Aiden said, nodding. “Come on, let’s sit on the sofa.” He gestured to a small sofa that was against the wall. He led Jamie over and took a seat next to him. He wrapped an arm around his shoulder and tugged him closer, hoping his warmth would help stop Jamie’s shivering. Jamie leaned his weight against him and huffed out a breath. Mac grabbed a blanket off a chair in the corner and covered him up.
“Guys, I’m going to head upstairs.” Annie gestured to the baby in her arms. “This one has had enough excitement for the morning. I’m going to put her down for a nap. Ted can shift back and keep watch over her. As soon as they’re settled, I’ll bring some coffees and snacks down. I assume Iris and Mac want to hear what you have to say. I’ll let Heath know what’s happened, too.” She nodded toward the dead man still tied to the chair. “He’ll know what to do with the body.”
“Human woman is a savage,” his phoenix said with awe. “Not even fazed by a dead man in her home.”
“I would have to agree with you on that,” Aiden answered. “She’s seen a lot, living so long among shifters and raising two of them. I wouldn’t want to mess with her.”
“Thanks, Annie,” Iris said. Mac nodded glumly.
Once Annie and her protective wolf husband left the room with the baby, Aiden tucked the blanket tightly around Jamie’s body until he was satisfied. He then put his arm around him and gathered him close. “So, what else did you learn from him?”
Jamie described exactly what he’d seen. “He’d been through some experiments… at least, I think. I saw flashes of a hospital, syringes, nurses, and doctors. He’s also been training with one of those guns.” He nodded at the phoenix-fire gun that Mac had placed on the desk. “He’s seen pictures of all the Guardians and you and Tessa. He even knows about the baby.”
“So, he thinks Jamie’s dead and he wants all the rest of the Guardians dead except for me,” Iris said. “He wants Aiden taken alive. I’d say that was quite fatherly of him, but I bet there’s an ulterior motive to that. We kind of figured he was planning on burning Grey Lake to the ground. I don’t get the Amber part, though. First, how does he already know about her? Second, why a vessel? A vessel for what? He’s a full phoenix. He’ll be reborn just like Tessa was.”
“Unless something’s wrong with him,” Mac said. “Maybe something’s preventing him from another rebirth.”
“Maybe he needs another phoenix for something he’s planning,” Jamie offered. “Maybe that’s why he wants you both alive, too.” Jamie gazed at Aiden, fear in his eyes.
Iris shook her head. “I get wanting Aiden alive since our dad might know Aiden can shift, or maybe he’s working on a way to help him shift. But why me? He knows I’m a bear shifter, not a phoenix.”
A chill ran down Aiden’s spine. “Maybe he doesn’t want you, but…” His eyes darted to Iris’s pregnant belly.
Her hands flew to her abdomen. “What? Why?” Iris asked. “He or she is going to be a bear or a wolf shifter. Maybe even a human!”
“Well, there’s a chance your baby could be a phoenix, too. In shifters with mixed heritage, sometimes shifter genes can skip generations. It’s not common, but we’ve seen it happen. Maybe he knows something,” Mac said. “Maybe he’s seen a glimpse of the future.”
Iris’s eyebrows shot up near her hairline. “Oh, hell no!” She scrunched her eyes shut, and when she opened them seconds later, they flashed the bright amber of her bear. She opened her mouth, her bear’s razor-sharp teeth on full display, and roared loud enough to shake the two windows in the home office. “He’s not getting my child!” Her voice was a mix of human and bear.
Mac walked over with her hands palms out, as if begging her to settle down. “Iris, calm down,” Mac gently soothed. “Stay human for your baby’s sake. Please. We won’t let him take you or your child.”
Aiden didn’t blame her for being pissed. Hell, he was furious. There was no way he’d let that monster take his nephew or niece. No effing way. “That’s for damn sure,” Aiden said. He needed her to calm down. “I promise I won’t let him do it. I’ll kill him first. Please.” His phoenix was pushing to shift. When his vision changed to that of his beast’s, Jamie stepped closer to his side and placed a hand on Aiden’s cheek, drawing his attention from his sister.
“Can you please stay human right now, too?” Jamie asked. “We need human Aiden right now.”
The phoenix immediately retreated. He placed a hand over Jamie’s. “Thanks.”
“Iris?” Mac asked. “Can you ask your bear to rest for now?”
Iris closed her eyes and slowly lowered her head. She ran a hand through her dark locks. “Sorry about that.” When she lifted her head, she was back to her fully human form. “My bear just needed to make her feelings clear. She’s settled back down, at least for now.”
“Good,” Mac said. She sighed heavily. “Alright, we need to figure out our next move.”
“Get the rest of the team over here,” Aiden said “We need to figure out where all these soldiers of his are hiding. Jamie got us some good intel, but we need more.”