I’ve felt so weak and insecure for the last month. When I first transformed, I felt different, so full of power. Kyle left and I lost that confidence.
I’ve been so worried about my damn feelings for him and how to make my life work, loving both Eden and Kyle, it’s taken something from me. Yet as I listen to this man talk, I’m getting it all back.
This monster who stands before me means to hurt me, kill me even. He’s hurt his daughter, a soul that was entrusted to him. Our Creator is with me and will help me to take this creature away so he can do no more harm.
With a newly-found strength, I smile at the filthy, immoral, and corrupt being who holds the needle poised to pierce my skin and take me from this world.
“Well, you really have talked quite enough, Mr. Stiles. I can see you believe you’re going to drug me, then beat and rape me. But you aren’t.” I wink at him as I lace my fingers together and push them from me to loosen the joints. “You are fixing to get the beating of your life and when you wake up in the nut house, you can tell everybody it was a useless girl who kicked your ass.” I let him know, just before I run at him.
I hit him square in the chest as hard as I can. He flies back through the air until he hits the cement wall. The wall was quite a ways behind him and the thud his body makes as it connects is loud.
Wow! That was a pretty great shove if I do say so myself!
I hear a gut-wrenching smack as his head hits the wall. I almost feel badly about causing him so much pain. Then I remember what he’s done to his daughter and that feeling goes away.
“I hope you enjoyed your flight,” I tell him.
I walk toward the door to unlock it. Amazingly, he starts to come at me again, trying to stop me from getting to the door. I don’t stop my progression until he’s about three feet away from me. He reaches out to punch the needle into me. I take a quick jump and kick him in the chin with my foot, splitting it open and making him fall back as he clutches at it.
“Save yourself the pain, Stiles. Stop trying to hurt me. Our agents will take you to a nice place to live under sedation for the rest of your life. It’s much more compassion than you’ve ever shown anyone in your life,” I say.
I move towards the door again, only to find he’s regained his footing and is still coming towards me. I look at the sink I’m standing by. A bar of soap rest on the side of it. I pick it up and hurl it at his forehead. It strikes him, but it only seems to make him mad, not hurt.
His voice is a growl as he says, “Fucking bitch. This is going to feel so good when I take you down!”
He’s on me before I know it. He has me pushed up against the cold cement wall with my back to him. Pushing his body up against mine, he presses me up against the wall. I feel his hot breath on my neck. The smell of cigarettes and whisky almost choke me. I close my eyes and throw my head back as hard as I can.
I hear the thud of my skull hitting his. The pressure is off me as he falls back, stumbling and falling across the room, away from me. I take the chance to get out.
The walk to the door isn’t that far and I begin to remove the small iron bar he used to lock it. The door opens and my Eden’s face is right there.
My, he’s a handsome and welcome sight!
He grabs me, then I feel a pain in my shoulder. Almost immediately, I feel cold rush through my entire body and start to feel like I’m falling asleep. Eden picks me up. I hear him yelling, “You son of a bitch, what did you give her?”
I hear Stiles say, “A lethal dose of morphine. Say goodbye to your little birdie.”
Kyle’s voice fills me ears. “You piece of shit,” he yells, just before I hear a smacking sound. “There you go, guys. You can carry his ass out of here now.”
Then everything goes black.
CHAPTER 54
EDEN
My mate lies nearly lifeless in my arms. Her heartbeats come slower and slower, her breaths shallow with long lapses between them. I wasn’t fast enough to stop this.
We follow one of our protectors who works at the zoo to an empty stable once used for giraffes. Kyle runs by my side, holding Alyssa’s hand in his.
He looks almost as bad as I do.
My father and Alyssa’s follow close behind. The agents have taken the asshole, Stiles, away. We’ll never be seeing him again, thank The Creator. Large doors open and I take my mate inside the dark area.
Placing her body on the ground, I look around at those who surround us. “I have to get her to transform. That’s the only way her body can beat the amount of morphine he put into her.”
Kyle steps back and says, “Do it.”
I wish it was that easy!
“I don’t know how to change her. I can only change myself,” I say. “You and I both have telepathy with her. We must use it to try to get her to picture herself as the bird. I don’t know about you, Kyle, but I can’t see a thing moving in her mind.”
Kyle frowns as he looks down at her. Kneeling beside her, he places his hand on her forehead. He looks at me and I kneel of the other side of her. I place my hand on top of her head.
Nothing!
“Maybe her heart will feel us,” I say and place my hand over half her heart, leaving room for Kyle’s.
His hand touches mine as we hold them to her chest. Light thumps pulse beneath my hand. “I saw a flash, Eden,” Kyle says.
I nod. “I saw it. The clothes are constricting her. They have to come off.”
I turn back to look at my father and hers. “You may want to turn away. We have to remove her clothes.”
Her father, David, raises his eyebrows. “You sure about that, son?”
I nod and turn back. Kyle removes her shoes as I unbutton her blouse. I press my forehead to hers, trying to send her pictures of herself as the bird. Pushing the shirt off her shoulders, I turn her to take it all the way off. Kyle steadies her as I pull at it, then unfasten her bra.
She’s going to be so embarrassed!
“Just hurry, Eden. I’m not scoping her out or anything. Let’s just get this done and her transformed,” Kyle says as he quickly unbuttons her shorts, which I pull off her.
I look up at him. My wife is lying on the ground, bare chested. Nothing is left on her but a small pair of lacy black panties. “I beg you not to look below her waist once I remove these,” I say to him.
His hand clasps my shoulder. “You have my word.”
I pull them off and stand up. Kyle holds her head up, cradling it in his lap. “Maybe you should change, Eden. Maybe you can get to her mind in that state. I’ll work on this end and you on that,” he says.
It might work!
“Cover your ears,” I tell them all.
I picture myself as the bird and suddenly I’m seeing things differently. I open my mouth and a loud shriek comes out. Fluttering my wings, I push air past my mate as I call to her with my mind.
Please let this work!
CHAPTER 55
ALYSSA
I feel wind blowing in my face. The beating of wings fills my ears. My eyes open to see Eden in front of me, but he’s in his bird form. His emerald eyes look at me.
“What happened to me?” I ask, but all I hear is a shallow shrieking sound.
I must be in bird form too. I move my arm and feel the wind ruffling my feathers. I stand up but feel a little wobbly. Eden walks around me. I keep my eyes on him and then I see Kyle standing next to me. I look right at Kyle, who’s smiling like crazy at me.
Eden moves out the large doors which lets in the only light into this dark thing we’re in. He sends thoughts to me, telling me to follow him. Then he shoots up into the sky, shrieking at me as his mind says, ‘Follow me.’
I stumble out of the barn thing, the light in the sky nearly blinding me. Moving my arms up and down, my feet lift off the ground and I’m in the air.
The wind on my face helps me to wake up. I feel groggy, but every flap of my wings seems to clear my brain a little more. Eden leads me very high up into the evening sky.
>
The sun is beginning to set over Lake Pontchartrain as we fly over it. The colors are so brilliant.
The mansion comes into view. I suppose we’re going there as Eden begins to fly lower and lower until our feet hit the ground.
I’m surprised to see we’re both birds still. I take a few steps, then I see Eden looking at me. He blinks his eyes a couple of times, then I hear his voice in my head, ‘How do you feel?’
‘I think I’m okay,’ I send back.
He sends, ‘Picture yourself in human form and you’ll turn back.’
I close my eyes and try to see myself as a human again. I feel a change. I can feel the breeze on my skin. I open my eyes slowly to find my husband standing in front of me. I’m engulfed in his embrace right away.
“Thank God, Alyssa. It worked. I was so afraid. I love you. I love you so much. I’m so sorry this happened to you,” he gushes.
“I’m okay, Eden,” I tell him as I laugh a little.
As he pulls his body away from mine I notice the breeze on my skin. My entire skin. Looking down at myself, my mind goes blank. “Why am I naked?”
Instead of answering me, he laughs. “How do you feel, really, Alyssa?”
“I feel okay, I think. The fact that I have no clothes on is problematic though. What happened, Eden? The last thing I remember, I saw your face and then heard Kyle knock that freak out. What happened to me?”
Eden takes my hand, leading me to the house. He pulls his shirt off and puts it on me, barely covering my ass.
“Stiles stabbed a syringe full of morphine into your shoulder just as you opened the door. I can’t believe he had the strength to do that after what I heard you do to him in there,” he tells me.
“I know! Like, I knocked him about six feet through the air into the wall and somehow he kept coming. Then I kicked him in the chin, splitting it open,” I say. “Then he pinned me against the wall, so I head butted him. I thought that was enough, but I guess I should’ve knocked him all the way out before I turned my back to him.”
I find we’ve made it to a side door I’ve never been in before. Eden opens the door, revealing a set of stairs. He leads me up them, and we come up to find a door at the top of the staircase. He opens it, and we’re at the back of our suite.
Once safely inside, Eden leads me to the sofa, and motions for me to sit down, then he kneels on the floor in front of me. “I’m so sorry this didn’t work out as well as I hoped it would. He should’ve never been able to lock you away like that. My mind was frantic at the thought he might hurt you and then he did. I wouldn’t blame you if you never forgive me for that. For the whole thing. This was entirely my fault,” he tells me sadly.
I have to stop him. “Eden, you stop that right now. I’m fine. I don’t know how I’m fine, but I am. Things happen. We made it through this without the ending being terrible. Now please enlighten me about what you did after I passed out.”
The skin crinkles around his eyes as he grimaces. “You really want to know, princess?”
I nod. “Of course I do.”
He proceeds as he looks down at my legs, rubbing them as he says, “Just as you passed out from the morphine, I was given a flash of what I had to do to keep you alive. The scene played out super-fast in my head. I had to get you into your bird form. I guess that, since you’re so much larger as a bird, the morphine wouldn’t be a lethal amount to you if you were in that form,” he tells me, then pauses for a second.
“Go on,” I coax him.
“I felt your breathing begin to slow to almost nothing and your heart beat was taking longer and longer between beats. Alyssa, please believe me when I say there was absolutely no time to waste,” he says with a sense of urgency in his voice.
“Why do you say it like that, Eden?” I ask, finding myself nervous about hearing the answer.
“You’ll see.” His eye twitches. “Well, one of our people works at the zoo and he took us to a closed off area they don’t use anymore. It used to be an enclosure for the giraffes, I think.”
“Okay, that’s not too bad,” I say.
“Um … let me see. How should I tell you this part?” he asks himself. “You know how sometimes people who get drunk pull their clothes off? Well, it’s because they feel constricted by them. The clothes actually make it harder for them to breathe. So, as you might have guessed, which I see by the blush on your face that you have, I had to undress you. I also had to ask Kyle to help me.”
“Wait a minute. I was lying on the ground, I assume. And I assume you covered me with something. So how much did he see?” I ask him.
“Okay, back to that then, huh? Like I said, time was of the essence and it became quite clear to me we had to hurry. So there was no time to go looking for something to cover you with. He saw everything, but I have to say he was a gentleman and didn’t ogle you,” he says.
“Oh, God,” I say, sitting up and leaning over. “I think I’m going to throw up.”
Eden stands up. “Should I take you to the bathroom, Alyssa?”
I sit back. “No, please continue. Don’t let my devastating embarrassment stop you,” I say, somewhat sarcastically.
He sits down next to me, taking my hand in his. “Well, as embarrassing as it is, everything worked. I transformed, then I was able to get you to come out of the drug’s effects pretty quickly after I got into your head, and got you to change too. Then I used my wings to blow air in your face, waking you up,” he tells me.
“And now we’re back home, and all that’s left to do is hide away from Kyle forever,” I whine.
Eden laughs a little. “If it makes you feel any better at all, I was embarrassed too. I never thought I would have to get my wife’s ex-boyfriend to help me undress her so we could turn into birds together and fly away,” he says.
I have to laugh a little as well. “We’re some messed up people, Eden. That’ll probably scar Kyle forever,” I say.
“He didn’t seem to mind,” Eden tells me as he laughs.
I blush seven times harder than before. “Eden, don’t tell me that!”
He smiles and stands up. “We need to get cleaned up and dressed. I bet everyone will be here soon,” he tells me as he pulls me up, then leads me to the bedroom.
He opens the door to our room. I’m pleased to see the glass on the balcony door has been replaced. It looks like nothing ever happened in here. I find I missed this place and my beloved jacuzzi tub.
CHAPTER 56
EDEN
I sit on the bed, watching my mate as she braids her hair. “I’m so glad that’s over, Alyssa. You have no idea the relief I feel, knowing you’re safe again.”
She rises, done fixing herself up. “Ready to go downstairs? They’re sure to be here by now.”
Her confidence is back and she glows with it. She chose a tight-fitting, navy blue dress, which fits her body like a glove. It occurs to me that many men would rather their wives not dress so sexy. Yet I love her to be full of confidence, and if she feels like dressing this way, I’ll be damned if I let some insecurity in me bring her down.
Taking her by the waist, it reminds me of how I held her when I brought her home from the hospital after her accident. I smile at her, then place a gentle kiss on her perfect cheek. “I have to hold you close to me right now, princess. I almost lost you today.”
She giggles as she leans into me and we walk down the staircase. “I love you and relish your attention. Your quick thinking saved us all.”
Niles is at the door to the formal dining room. “Your friends and family have been waiting for you. Please come in and sit down,” he instructs us.
“Good evening, Niles. It’s so nice to see you again. I’ve missed you,” Alyssa tells him.
His eyebrows raise slightly. “Well, I missed you too,” he states stoically.
My eyes scan the room quickly. I notice Galchobar is here, as well as my family and Alyssa’s, and Kyle and Laura. My eyes catch Kyle’s. He’s staring at my wife, his mouth slightly ope
n.
Alyssa blushes and clings to me. She sends me, ‘I can’t do this. Get me out of here.’
I tighten my arm around her waist and send her, ‘You got this, princess. Keep up that confidence you have back.’
Galchobar rises and comes to us. “Good evening, Alyssa. I see everything has turned out well, all the way around,” he says as he motions to Kyle and Laura. “It’s a shame you were drugged. Thankfully, Eden was given the answer to your dilemma before it caused you permanent damage.”
Alyssa smiles at him. “Thank you for coming this evening, Galchobar. It’s nice to see everyone after the day I’ve had.”
“Everyone had to see you, Alyssa,” I tell her as I take her to sit at the table. Purposely, I seat her next to Kyle, then I sit on the other side of her.
The quicker she faces her embarrassment, the better.
She looks at the tablecloth as if it’s a work of art. I know she doesn’t want to look at him. I guess Kyle does too as he takes her by the chin and makes her look at him. “Hey, girl, you look a hell of a lot better than when I saw you last.”
“Please don’t remind me,” she mumbles.
Kyle looks past her to meet my eyes. He seems confused, so I say, “She asked about her state when I brought her home. I had to explain what we had to do.”
Laura leans up and looks at me. “Her state?” she asks.
Kyle gives me a slight head shake and I smile.
Shit, Laura!
Alyssa takes Kyle’s hand, moving it from her face. “Have you thought about what I offered you, Laura? About becoming a member of The Phoenix Foundation. Kyle’s a member, you know,” she says, and Kyle’s eyes go wide. “It just happened. Don’t be upset with him.”
Laura’s voice becomes high pitched. “Kyle! You joined the cult?”
Kyle closes his eyes and he turns to her. “It’s not a cult and I’d like it if you joined us,” he says, then turns back to look at Alyssa. “You didn’t tell me you asked her that, Ally.”
“Are you mad?” she asks him.
“I’m not mad, Al,” he says. “A bit confused, but not mad.”
His Beautiful Revenge: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 147
