by Connor Crowe
The water from the Nox Bay Dam had finally caught up. Torrents of water poured over the cliff face and rained down upon us. Dirt, rocks, and debris littered the ground and bounced to a stop. It lasted only seconds, but just as soon as it had started, the roar faded. Water trickled down in little rivulets and streams now, no longer the tsunami of destruction it once was.
It was over.
I wiped a sodden strand of hair off my forehead and looked to our leader. Markus was still peering upward, watching as the last droplets of water fell.
“What are we going to do about the rest of the supplies?” I asked. We’d salvaged what we could, but our truck and the rest of our haul was still atop the cliff.
“Leave ‘em,” Markus said. He shook his head, crossed his arms. “It’s gonna be too much work to get back up there, and everything’s probably all waterlogged anyway. We press on.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Tristan, tell me you still know where we’re headed.”
Tristan peered at the horizon, shielding the sun from his face with a hand. He squinted, screwed up his face, and then turned to Markus. “We’re a bit off track,” he admitted. “But I think I know how we can still get there. If we hurry, we can reach the Sky Ferry by nightfall.”
“You don’t think we need to stop and take care of Hugo first?” It wasn’t that I wanted to stop again, but both of them had just been through a near-death experience. As the only one with any medical training in the group, it was my duty to make sure they were all right.
Well, that, and the mysterious connection I couldn’t get out of my mind...
“We’ve been resting all day, feels like.” Tristan’s voice was determined. “Resting is what got us into this mess, or don’t you remember?”
I opened my mouth to say something, but thought better of it. No sense in fighting him on this. If he wanted to press on, who was I to keep him here?
“We keep going,” Markus announced. That settled it.
For better or worse, we would keep moving. So I shouldered my pack, stretched out my sore limbs, and followed Tristan further into the unknown.
About an hour into our walk, Tristan fell back and motioned to me and Hugo. I slowed my steps and let Hugo catch up and the others pull ahead. “What’s up?” I muttered.
“We need to talk about what happened back there.”
“Now?” I hissed, shooting a glance toward the others.
“Why not?” Tristan shrugged. “We’ve got a long walk ahead of us and not much to do.”
“Hugo?” I asked, glancing over at him. “Are you doing okay now?”
“Yeah,” he said. Hugo shoved his hands in his pockets and watched the ground. “I told you, it’s the phoenix thing. I can’t always control it. Sorry. I panicked.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Tristan replied. “You know it’s not.” He sighed. “When you started freaking out, flying away...”
“I was scared for you.” The words came unbidden. I hadn’t meant to interrupt, but it was the truth.
“So was I,” Tristan agreed. “When I saw you falling, something within me...I dunno, clicked. Reached out to you. And then I was shifting, and flying, and...” He shook his head. “I didn’t know what I was doing. It happened so fast. But I knew I couldn’t let you go that easily. I knew I had to do something.”
There it was. The words that had been on my mind all afternoon, but that I couldn’t find the means to say. The feelings that had been flooding through me ever since I rushed to the library and found both Tristan and Hugo there. Ever since we set off on this crazy mission together.
“Looks like we have more in common than we thought,” I mused.
“Hmm,” Hugo said. I could have been imagining it, but I swear he took a few steps closer, almost close enough to touch...
“Hmm,” Tristan agreed, and without another word, he slipped his hand into mine. I thought it was a mistake at first—perhaps he’d simply drawn too close and our hands brushed—but no. His warm fingers clasped around mine. He was holding my hand.
And in the next breath, Hugo reached out from the other side of me. His fingers laced through mine.
Two men. So different from one another, yet together we had overcome obstacle after obstacle. It wasn’t just one of them that I wanted anymore. To think that would be to deny part of myself.
I wanted them both. And together? Maybe we could make this work after all.
The ground crunched beneath us as we approached a thick forest. Dry leaves crackled underfoot and the air grew heavy with the scent of pine and dirt. A few shafts of light filtered through the canopy to the forest floor, but not for much longer. The crickets began to chirp, and the air began to chill.
Night was on her way.
“Well,” Tristan announced at last, “here we are.” He spread his arms wide, though what he was gesturing at, I couldn’t tell.
I looked around and squinted my eyes. Maybe I was missing something. I had to be. But I’d expected some sort of extravagant contraption when he told us about The Sky Ferry. Everything about this fabled city was said to be the height of splendor and opulence. So, I just assumed, the way to access The Flying City would be just as intricate.
“Um...” Lionel started. “Where is it?”
Good. He voiced my concern, so I didn’t have to. From the looks of it, I wasn’t the only one that was confused.
Tristan smiled. “Well, here is where we will depart. In the morning, anyway. They shut down at dusk for safety reasons, and besides, only an Ataraxian can call a lift.” Even in the fading light, I saw his downcast expression.
“Good thing we have you with us, then.” Markus said. “Shall we set up camp for the night?”
Tristan snapped his eyes away from the canopy, then nodded. “Yes.” He took a deep breath. “In the morning...we will arrive.”
8
Tristan
So, this was it.
After so many years of trying to forget, I was only hours away from setting foot in the one place I never wanted to again.
Hugo and James kept me busy with fixing dinner and gathering firewood. I told them it might not be a good idea to start a fire. We never knew who might be watching. In the end, Kit won out when he complained about being cold. After all, he was the pregnant one.
One by one, each member of our team drifted off to bed. They set me for the first watch, which was fine by me. I wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway.
So I just sat there, watching the glowing embers of the fire and the sparks crackling up toward the heavens, thinking about what the next day would bring.
This wasn't how I had wanted to return. Hell, I hadn't wanted to return at all. But like this? We were practically invaders. To barge in like this was an act of war.
My mouth twisted into a grimace. Not that I was welcome there anyway. Even if it was my homeland, they'd made it clear long ago that I was not one of them. I would never belong. All because of some "mistake" of my genetics.
I sighed and poked at the dying fire. It sputtered and crackled, letting off a fresh stream of sparks. I watched them rise, one by one, toward the land I'd once called home.
Had things changed? I wondered. What would it be like, to set foot there once more? To see the life I'd left behind?
My ears pricked up at the sound of a snapping twig behind me.
Had I missed something? Instantly, my body went on alert, my skin prickling with the need to shift. I didn't want to make a scene, but if I could turn around, ever so slowly...
He was right behind me.
I lunged forward, ready to fight—
"Hey!" A familiar voice hissed. "It's just me."
It took me a moment to process the words. My brain was still locked into fight or flight mode, but the voice planted that first seed of reassurance.
The intruder crouched down, closer to the warm glow of the fire. It wasn't an intruder at all. It was Hugo.
The flames danced across his face.
The tired lines. The wrinkles. But the flames most perfectly reflected in his eyes. Amber-brown and full of concern. For me?
"Shit," I breathed, sinking back down to the ground. My muscles ached, my heart still felt like it was about to pop out of my chest, but at least for now the danger had passed. I wiped a sweaty hand across my forehead. "You trying to make me have a heart attack, sneaking up on me like that?"
"I hardly snuck," Hugo insisted. "If you couldn't hear me coming then maybe we need a different night guard after all."
I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Whatever, come here. Sit down."
"We need to talk," Hugo said. He didn't move.
"Yeah, no kidding," I agreed. "Now come over here so I don't have to shout. I'm not trying to wake the whole forest tonight."
For a moment, I thought he'd simply go back to his bedroll. I wouldn't have blamed him. We'd been doing a perfectly fine job of avoiding each other for this long. But just as I turned away from him and back to the fire, he started moving again.
Hugo sat down next to me. Not close enough to touch, but enough to where I could feel the heat of his body, even from here. With two fire shifters in his blood, he ran hotter than just about anyone I knew.
He wouldn't need this fire to keep warm.
As if at the thought of it, a sharp breeze cut through the trees and over the campsite. One of the burning logs cracked in two, showering the air with sparks. Leaves rasped through the branches and past my head. I shivered despite myself.
"Probably should get a bit more firewood," I muttered, really only to myself. But of course, Hugo heard it. What's more, he saw my goosebumps.
"You're cold," he said. It was a lazy, casual statement. But at his words, I shivered even more.
"Nah," I said, shrugging. "I've been through way worse than this." I pointed upward. "Being up so high in the air, it's pretty cold too. I got used to it when I lived there."
"And what about now?" Hugo's gaze was still fixed on me. I gritted my teeth. This was stupid. The fire was sputtering out and the wind was picking up. That was all.
"I told you," I huffed under my breath. I got up and peered toward the treeline where we'd gathered the dry sticks and wood for the fire. "We just need to get the fire going again. Just cause you're not cold doesn't mean that others aren't."
I rushed away before I could say anything else, grumbling something about wood over my shoulder when he called after me. What I couldn't say was that I was nervous.
Nervous that the way we'd been avoiding one another was maybe for the best, for both of us. If we dared voice our feelings, if we dared give this a chance...
I huffed out a frustrated breath and grabbed another armload of fallen branches. If we didn't get involved, then there would be no disappointment. There would be no heartbreak.
At least, that's what I kept telling myself.
"Tristan," the voice came from behind me again. A hand on my shoulder. A warm hand. Too warm.
I sighed. "Hugo. I said I'm fine."
He didn't move his hand. "You don't look fine. You're shivering. Look."
I closed my eyes and let out a breath. Despite me trying to conceal it with exertion and tensing my muscles, the tremors still came through.
Damn him and his perceptiveness.
And damn my body for betraying me.
"Let me take that," he said. Somehow he managed to maneuver around me and my armful of kindling. He took a few of the small branches out of my hands before I could stop him. The weight posed no visible problem to him at all; he handled them with ease.
It was a simple enough task, transferring the kindling over to him so we could share the load, but it had me shivering all over again. This time for a different reason.
Hugo sighed and placed the pile of kindling to the side. He took the rest of the wood from my hands and set it on the ground before turning to me and placing his hands on my arms. "Tristan, you're freezing. Come here." He pulled me into his embrace.
It didn't take much. I stumble-stepped a few paces forward and wrapped my arms around him in turn, marveling at the warmth of his skin and the soothing comfort that washed over me like rainfall. For a moment, the rational brain short circuited. The anxiety vanished. I felt safe, for the first time in a long time.
"What are you doing?" I whispered against his chest.
I couldn't see his face, but I just knew he was glaring at me. "What does it look like I'm doing? Trying to warm you up."
Oh yeah. That. I deflated for a second, but he held me firm.
"What can I say? With all that dragon and phoenix blood swimming around inside me, you could say I'm pretty hot."
"You just did not!" I laughed and pushed away from him, grinning like a loon. "Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously," he chuckled. "What? I like a good pun."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but I was still grinning. "That was awful. Now come here." This time I pulled him to me, and when our lips met, all trace of cold vanished.
Our first kiss was slow at first—I couldn't quite believe I'd kissed him either. But after a moment, both our bodies reacted in kind. His scent filled my nose. His stubble brushed against my face. His lips were impossibly soft, just plump enough to catch between my teeth and—
"Oh."
The soft voice broke our embrace. I looked up, stunned and slightly out of breath. Hugo pulled away and turned to see what I was looking at.
And there was the other man I'd been terrified to face.
James.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. No explaining my way out of this one.
"What are you doing here?" Hugo asked, taking the lead when I couldn't.
James jerked a thumb toward the trees. "I had to pee. Was on my way back to camp when I heard movement. And, well..." Even in the pale moonlight, I noticed his blush.
Hugo glanced at me, then back to James. "You might as well stay. All three of us need to talk, it looks like."
"Should we go back to camp?" James asked. "Who's keeping watch, if not you two?"
I frowned. Shook my head. "I got carried away. Sorry." I bent down and scooped up my portion of the firewood, leaving some for Hugo and James as well. "Just came out here to get some more kindling, let's go."
We walked back to the campsite, supplies in hand, but it was hard to focus on simply stoking the fire. A different fire had started deep within, and there was no putting it out now.
No one talked on the short walk back. I expected as much—they were probably just as stunned and confused as I was. When we got back, the fire had almost completely fizzled out. I set to work arranging the kindling over the glowing coals and Hugo even helped with a bit of his dragon's fire. Once it had started burning on its own once more, I sat back down on the fallen tree we'd been using as a bench.
Well, no more putting it off. I gave myself a shake. It was now or never.
Hugo and James sat down on either side of me, each of us waiting for the other to speak first. Finally, I did.
"Whatever has been going on between us," I started, still searching for the words. "Whatever this is...I don't think it's just a coincidence. I don't think it's one of the weird effects of the Keys, either."
"Then what is it?" Hugo said softly. "Say it."
I swallowed, took a deep breath, and said the words that had been plaguing me for days:
"I think we might be mates."
I noticed Jame's reaction first. He gave me a small, sad smile. Only his eyes showed the true depth of the emotion.
"Anyone could see that," James offered. "Between you and Hugo, I mean. You've been eyeing each other ever since you came back from the Emerald Isles."
Oh. He thought...
"That's not what I mean, James." I hadn't realized anyone had noticed. "Was it that obvious?"
"Very obvious." James rolled his eyes. "But really, it's fine. I'm happy for you." Those words fell flat when he broke away and stared at the ground, his lower lip quivering.
I huffed and c
rossed my arms. So much for being subtle. "I mean," I started, looking straight into James' eyes, "that all three of us are mates."
James stared at me. "Is that...even possible? Do fated mates come in threes?"
"You tell me," I said. All the tension and anxiety about this moment fled, and in its place was a cool, calm surety. "What does this feel like to you?"
I scooted over toward him and wrapped an arm over his shoulder. I lay my head against him and let out a breath. He was so small in my arms. So delicate. I planted a kiss on his bare shoulder, then worked up to his collarbone. His neck.
James let out a sigh and threw his head back. His eyes went glassy.
"Well?" I asked with a smile.
"Feels good." James closed his eyes and pulled me closer. "Feels...safe."
"Do you still doubt me?"
"Hm?" James looked up. His eyes cleared for a moment and he pulled away, looking over my shoulder at Hugo. "I just...I didn't want to come between you and Hugo. I know you've had eyes for him, and you deserve another alpha..." He stopped then, his face red.
"For what?" I barked, a little too loudly. "To make babies with?"
"Uh, yeah? Alphas and omegas go together. Not two omegas."
I sighed. Poor guy. He didn't know. "I wish I could," I said at last, steeling myself against the surge of emotion in my body. My gryphon cried out in pain and despair, flapping his wings and begging to be let free. I couldn't lose control again.
Not this time.
"Being an omega isn't the only reason I was exiled."
"What happened?" James asked, softly.
"I can't have children, James. I'm barren." And there it was. The truth I'd been running from for so long. I couldn't look at Hugo's face right now. Couldn't bear to see his disappointment. So I kept talking. "Do you know how tough that is? All I have ever wanted was a family. A child. A little piece of my soul to nurture and grow and share my life with. And the fates took that away from me." I hung my head, tears forming easily now. "I'm broken."
Hugo grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face him. I couldn't see much through my tear-streaked gaze, but he didn't look upset. At least, not upset at me.
