Chapter Four
My second vision was nothing like the first. Animalistic shrieks echoed in my mind, and the earth seemed to tremble around me.
Like lightning illuminating the night, disjointed images flashed in front of me. Thundering hooves. Explosive gunfire. Rage-filled faces of men I didn’t recognize.
The sharp snap of a whip felt as though it lashed across my heart, leaving a stinging pain and the coppery taste of blood in my mouth.
The transition between leaving the vision and jumping back into my body was so violent I didn’t have time to make it to the bathroom before getting sick. Not wanting to alert my somewhat-stalker to my plight, I tried to muffle the sounds of my retching.
When I finished, I took the blanket to the bathroom and did my best to clean it before shoving it into the dirty laundry hamper.
But the whole time, I felt as though I were being buried beneath the weight of impending loss. Time was running out and there was only one thing I could think to do. I’d follow the thread and hope it led me to wherever I was supposed to be.
Taking just long enough to clean myself up, I opened the doors to my balcony and stepped outside.
Using the metal chair as a step, I balanced myself on the balcony rail. Looking out over the ominous shadowed forest, I took a deep breath and sent my magic surging through the mental thread. I prayed it would strengthen the tentative string that was trying to guide me toward something important.
As my magic reinforced the thread, clarity hit my gut with the force of a physical punch. This was the pull of a mate.
I’d been so caught up in ignoring what was, or wasn’t, going on between August and me that I hadn’t recognized the pull of a second mate.
A second truth followed on the heels of the first.
My unknown mate was in danger.
For the first time since arriving on earth, I knew exactly what to do.
My wings snapped open, and I dropped from the balcony, catching a strong updraft that sent me soaring over the treetops as I rushed to my mate’s side.
One hour turned to two, then three. Judging by the position of the moon, it was nearing two in the morning when I spotted fire glinting in the woods ahead of me.
Flapping hard, I rose in the sky, higher and higher until I had a bird’s-eye view of the campsite far below. I studied the positions of every man moving around the camp, not wanting to risk my mate’s life by rushing in, only to have him hurt in the crossfire.
There was another reason for my need to observe before acting. I had no plans for mercy. When I dropped from the sky, it would be to destroy anyone who was part of the horrors I’d witnessed in my vision. If there were any other captives, I needed to know before I turned them to ash.
Circling the camp, I searched for my mate, but the confusion of the camp made it difficult to find him. A fence was down, and horses stampeded through the camp, sending men leaping out of the way of their thundering hooves. The men cursed, brandishing weapons and calling out orders.
A group of them leaped onto the backs of the horses tied to posts near the tents and tore off into the woods. I searched the camp but saw no other signs of life, so I glided over the forest in the direction the men were galloping.
It didn’t take me long to catch up. My eyes searched for what they were chasing, but other than glimpses of shadows and smoke, I couldn’t make out the form of a man or beast.
That was until the woods came to an abrupt end.
The horses neighed in terror, sending up a shower of small rocks and pebbles flying around their hooves as they came to a hard stop on a flat, stone overlook. It looked like a great place for a picnic, or for plunging to your certain death.
Undeterred, the men yanked on their mounts’ reins, quickly forming a semi-circle around their prey. They closed in until they were only fifteen feet from the gorgeous black horse?—
No, not a horse.
The beast was so much more. His coat was black as the velvet night sky and seemed to glimmer as though it possessed stars of its own.
Eyes as blue as my hair glowed in the darkness, making it clear this creature was paranormal. Although I think anyone who saw the wide wings that hung from his back and dragged the ground would have already suspected that.
The thread in my mind glowed brighter as I studied the magnificent pegasus. He flashed his teeth at the men, slamming his powerful front hooves into the ground with enough force to leave deep impressions in the stone.
“Thought you were smart, didn’t you?” One man grinned, dismounting, and walking slowly toward the trapped beast.
“I thought he was supposed to be some type of shifter, but I think our intel was wrong. He’s as dumb as the rest of the animals I work with day in and day out.” A second man chuckled, slipping from his saddle.
“I told you that no matter how many times you run, we will hunt you down. Dead or alive, I will drag your carcass back to camp.” The first man taunted my trapped mate.
The pegasus reared, the feathers adorning his hooves moving gracefully, even as he warned the men to back off.
Mesmerized by the beauty of the beast, I forgot to watch the rest of the men.
CRACK!
The whistle of a whip rang through the air, slicing into the pegasus’ side, leaving a long gash in his flank. My eyes widened as I noticed the countless other marks. Some were almost healed, but others oozed fresh blood.
He reacted by spinning around and kicking his powerful back legs at the man’s head, sending the man diving out of the way.
“Shoot to maim, not to kill, boys!” the second man shouted.
Rage like I’d never felt boiled inside me, and tucking my wings tight against my back, I dove toward the earth.
Five thousand feet, a thousand feet, eight hundred feet, five hundred feet, two hundred feet.
Still, I didn’t pull up. I had only one thought burning in my mind.
Death and fiery destruction.
It was time to test whether I could die and return as many times as Amaryllis… or if my death as I entered Earth was a fluke.
Calling my magic a moment before I slammed into the ground, I braced for the shock of death and rebirth.
The instant before I hit the ground, I released part of my magic, throwing up a wall of blue fire between the men and the pegasus. Then my body impacted the earth with the force of a bomb.
Men were blown off their feet and hurled into the woods. Horses screamed, bucking the remaining riders to the ground before galloping away.
Rising from the ashes, I stepped from the crater I’d created, ready for a showdown.
The men regained their footing, then cautiously moved to block me in. They kept their guns leveled on me, and I almost smiled at the confusion and terror I saw in their faces.
The man who’d taunted the pegasus took a step forward. “What the he?—”
“I’m not from Hell, but close enough.” Liquid fire was still pumping through every cell in my body. “When I’m finished here, there won’t be anything left of you to send to Hades.”
As one, the twenty men unloaded their weapons on me. Not wanting to risk the pegasus getting injured further, I spread my wings wide, allowing blue fire to cascade over my wings like water rippling over rocks in a river. It created a bulletproof barrier.
When the men stopped to reload, I brought my wings forward, sending hungry blue fire rushing across the dry rock and barren ground.
A whip cracked, slicing across my cheek before I could stop it. As it tore through my skin, the pegasus appeared at my side, snatching the leather in his teeth and yanking hard. The man on the other end was flung over the cliff side, where his cries went on for far too long before he reached the bottom.
Taking a deep breath, I focused on the remaining twenty-five men and sent fingers of fire streaking across the ground directly toward them. They didn’t have time to even scream before my fire engulfed them, devouring them until there was nothing left, not even ash.
For a moment, the night was silent, other than the crackling blue fire that was slowly dying out. The victory was short-lived as the ground beneath my feet gave a bone-rattling groan and crumbled away.
The pegasus and I were sent hurtling toward the inky abyss below. I tried to create a plan as the world seemed to slow.
He wouldn’t be able to fly, not with both his wings appearing to be broken. I knew if I shifted into my full phoenix form, I would be large enough to carry him, but there was no way I had the energy to maintain that form after the magic I’d just spent to rebirth and fight.
That left me with one option.
I’d do my best to slow our fall, and at the last minute, twist so that I landed beneath him. He should survive, and I would rebirth.
It should work.
Probably.
Dodging the falling rocks, I locked my arms around the pegasus’ neck. I tightened my legs on his back and prepared to open my wings wide. Gritting my teeth, I braced myself for the pain I knew would rip through my muscles thanks to his size and the speed with which we were hurtling toward the ground.
But a heartbeat before I extended my wings, an angry shriek pierced the night and claws hooked the pegasus’ back. We were yanked from amidst the falling boulders and carried out of the path of danger.