Fire's Embrace [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 6] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove)

by Scarlet Hyacinth

  Even now, Hareem and Kael were waiting for him for yet another meeting which they had decided to organize without the physical presence of their mates. The day had put too much strain on Talrasar and Sari, and Taryn was only just recovering from giving birth and had a child to take care of anyway.

  Sari leaned against him and brushed a brief kiss over his cheek. “You do realize that we understand your duties and we don’t blame you for it?”

  “That doesn’t mean I don’t wish things could be different.” He had known when he’d accepted his brother’s suggestion that his agreement would imply additional responsibilities, but the thing with Alwyn had made the situation even more complicated.

  All too soon, they reached their quarters. Karein pressed a kiss to Sari’s lips and gestured him inside. “Get some rest while you can. I imagine your father will want to speak to you later.”

  He regretted even mentioning the entire matter when Sari shuddered in obvious distress. It wasn’t Selbrian’s arrival that had him so upset, but Eanera’s strange sickness. “I feel so helpless, Karein,” he confessed. “I don’t want to hate Rachen’s mate, but…” He released a little sob, pure misery shining in his beautiful eyes.

  Instantly, Karein pulled Sari into his embrace. Hot tears stained his shirt as Sari buried his face in his chest. The only thing Karein wanted right now was to comfort his mate, to make Sari’s pain go away. He realized all too well that Sari was trying to be brave and understanding when he ached to go back to Alwyn and force him to fix this. Just seeing Sari like this physically hurt Karein. “Hush, baby,” he whispered. “Eanera is a strong woman, and Jenarra is on your side. I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

  Sari just held onto him, his fists clenching in the material of Karein’s clothing, his shoulders shaking as he wept. The outburst didn’t take long. It never did, because more often than not, Sari avoided tears altogether. It was a leftover quirk from his childhood, when he’d always thought that he needed to do his duty above all else and that making demands would be selfish and useless. Even now, he didn’t cry in front of anyone except Karein. It was a testament to the extent of his pain that he’d even done so in the hallway, where everyone could see them.

  He finally pulled away from Karein’s embrace and wiped his eyes. “I think I needed that,” he said with a tremulous smile.

  That small twist of lips was nothing like the way Sari used to beam, but it was still something. Karein smiled back. “Sometimes, we all need it.”

  “Give me a moment,” Sari said. “I’ll never be able to rest now, but I’ll run to visit my mother. It won’t hurt to see how she’s doing. I just need to wash my face so that she can’t tell I’ve been crying.”

  Karein would have liked to go, too. He’d have wanted to tell his mate not to put too much strain on himself during these visits. But Eanera refused to allow anyone except Sari to see her. Even Karein, who unavoidably knew the exact details of her condition, was forbidden to enter her quarters. The servants only went there under Sari’s direct supervision. The irony was that Karein didn’t think it was her youth that Eanera missed. Rather, she felt bereft and ashamed without her connection to her goddess, the one thing that had been there all throughout her life. Karein could relate, but not because he needed a closer connection to the Overlords. It was his brother whom he missed, his twin who had once been a part of him.

  Wondering if he’d ever be able to fix his relationship with Rachen, Karein entered their quarters with Sari at his side. The fae headed into the bathroom, while Karein waited, just giving his mate some space. Sari moved quickly, and when he came out of the bathing chamber, he looked much better. “Okay. I’m—”

  His words were cut off when a loud blast sounded in the distance. The palace shook, and with a cry, Sari lost his balance. Karein caught his mate before Sari could fall. Unfortunately, due to his pregnancy, Sari wasn’t as fast or as well balanced as he used to be, and that made Karein even more protective and this new development all the more worrisome.

  “Karein,” Sari gasped out. “You don’t think…”

  “I don’t know,” Karein replied. “I don’t want to make rushed judgments. It could be anything.”

  “We have to go see,” Sari pointed out.

  That was very obvious, but Karein was reluctant to bring Sari along in a place that could be dangerous for him. At the same time, though, he didn’t want to leave him here alone. “I’ll be fine,” Sari insisted, taking Karein’s hand. “Come on. We need to hurry.”

  Since Sari was right, Karein exited the room, his mate in tow. He knew exactly where he needed to go. The sound had come from the direction of his brother’s room. Taking into account Sari’s condition and their urgency, Karein took his mate in his arms and just carried him there.

  He deposited Sari on the floor a few feet away from his twin’s quarters. There was already quite a crowd gathered at the entrance, which both concerned and relieved Karein. Leaving Sari outside, he slipped into Rachen’s quarters.

  He needn’t have worried, at least not about anything dangerous being in Rachen’s quarters. Oh, the sound had clearly come from here. Judging by the scorched walls, the melted glass and the hole ripped into the wall, it was fair to say that something had happened after Alwyn and Rachen had made love.

  However, there was no sign whatsoever of Rachen or Alwyn. Hareem, Sage, and Kael were there, but they seemed just as puzzled as Karein. “What happened?” Karein asked.

  “I wish I knew,” Kael replied, staring at the hole in the wall. “Personally, I think that when we find out, we won’t like the answer.”

  His guess was confirmed moments later, when a guard burst into the room and reported, “The men have caught sight of two figures flying away from Draechenburg. One of them seems to be a fire dragon. The other is…well, a huge bird.”

  Karein just shared a look with the other two Imperial Consuls. It seemed that they’d run out of time.

  * * * *

  Rachen flew through the sky, trailing his mate and cursing himself for his stupidity. He was officially the biggest idiot in existence. The sprites had told him that the illusion was fading because of him, and he’d gone and claimed his mate anyway. True enough, the enchantment might have faded on its own given time, but that time could have been used to find a solution to their predicament.

  Now, Alwyn had just changed into his phoenix form and flown off. One moment, Rachen had been in heaven, and the next, he’d descended into his worst nightmares, forced away from his mate by Alwyn himself.

  There seemed to be no reason left in Alwyn. The jumble of thoughts and emotions filling their bond made it difficult for Rachen to even focus. It all seemed to rotate around a few simple concepts. Fly. Escape. Fire. No.

  It was clear to him that the phoenix was still very much affected by its extended stay in the mysterious box. Still, Rachen tried to reach out to the rational mind hiding behind the panic. “Please, baby, stop this,” he sent out. “Let me help you. I love you.”

  The phoenix released a deafening screech but didn’t otherwise acknowledge his words. It just kept flying, faster and faster, until Rachen started having trouble with keeping up. He probably wouldn’t have managed, but he knew that if he lost sight of Alwyn, his mate would most likely be gone forever.

  At first, Rachen couldn’t really figure out which way Alwyn was going. He actually thought the phoenix was flying in a random direction. As it turned out, he was terribly mistaken in that regard. He only realized it a long while later, when their wings carried them over the Eifel mountain range.

  The Eifel was the only place in Germany where volcanism remained active. Whenever he flew past it, Rachen felt the flames hiding beneath the surface of the seemingly quiet mountain. As the phoenix began to descend, Rachen panicked. Fire was the only thing the phoenix truly understood, and the energies of the earth were familiar and comforting to the great fire bird. But if Alwyn followed the call of the blaze, he could very well start an eruption. As a phoeni
x, Alwyn might not acknowledge it, but the man Rachen knew and loved would never forgive himself if he caused such destruction.

  He summoned memories of the two of them kissing, making love, touching, or just simply spending time together, talking and laughing. The phoenix released another screech, but now, it sounded pained, in agony. The great bird seemed to have trouble flying now, and after a few moments, plunged from the sky.

  Rachen tried to reach the phoenix before he hit the ground, but he was much too far. No matter how fast Rachen flew, he didn’t get there in time. The fire bird collapsed in the greenery, its flaming feathers setting fire to the forest.

  By the time Rachen landed, the blaze was already spreading quite quickly. Using his abilities, Rachen did his best to absorb the magic behind the fire. It wasn’t working as well as it normally did, which, in hindsight, made sense. It was beginning to be quite clear for Rachen that the phoenix’s power went way beyond anything they’d ever seen.

  The fire bird was already getting up, apparently unharmed. He did seem a little dizzy, but Rachen suspected it was because of the thoughts that he himself was feeding into his mind, through their mate bond.

  Hoping to appeal to the man within the beast, Rachen changed shapes. It seemed to take him far less than usual, the flow of magic coming naturally to him. To a certain extent, he wasn’t surprised. He felt the fire of his dragon closer to him now, brighter and stronger than ever before. Karein’s powers lingered within him, but they were hidden in a corner of his heart, ready to be drawn out when needed, and yet, no longer so preeminent. Rachen didn’t know if it was a side effect of the mate bond or if drinking Alwyn’s blood had caused it, but he hoped that he would have some sort of pull over Alwyn, too.

  He stepped through the fire without being harmed, heading toward his mate. The bird released another screech, his eyes watching Rachen carefully, somehow both very aware and very confused.

  “It’s me, baby, Rachen,” he said. “Can you remember me? Do you remember how you said you would be mine? My mate.”

  This time, the phoenix’s cry was softer, pained, almost desperate. A part of him did recognize Rachen, but he was having trouble reconciling his memories as Alwyn Cyraltin with his true essence.

  Rachen walked to his side, in awe with the beauty of his mate. It should have been dangerous, but Alwyn’s power didn’t hurt him. If anything, it comforted Rachen. In this form, Alwyn looked positively majestic. Rachen simply had no words to explain how absolutely perfect he was. He literally glowed, the fire emanating from his body wild, desperate, yet still so very beautiful.

  Beneath them, the ground shook, the sleeping volcano awakening at the call of the phoenix. The forest continued to burn, and the fire would likely reach a human settlement soon. Rachen knew all this, but even now, his main concern wasn’t for all the people who could suffer in such a scenario, but for his lover.

  It was hard for Rachen to be so close to his mate, yet so far away. Following a sudden impulse, he reached out to his mate. From what he’d been told, the phoenix was a being of pure energy, or at least, he had been created from it. But the phoenix had to have a physical form. As long as Rachen was immune to the flames, perhaps he could touch the great bird.

  His fingers touched strikingly soft feathers, the blaze of the fire tickling his hand like a caress. “Don’t be afraid,” he murmured through their bond. “They can’t catch you anymore. I’m here.”

  It didn’t immediately work. The phoenix just looked at him, his blazing eyes painfully familiar to Rachen. They were no longer just plainly black, like Alwyn Cyraltin’s. Instead, they looked like burning coal or lava, dark with sparks of red and little explosions flashing through them. Fascinating, unpredictable, lovely, just like Rachen’s Alwyn, the Alwyn Rachen loved so much. No, not Alwyn. The phoenix.

  The fire bird responded to that thought. Out of the blue, his form began to blur. His flames flared so bright they made Rachen’s eyes ache. And then, the fire died out. The forest stopped burning and the ground no longer shook. The phoenix vanished, and Rachen’s mate slumped into his arms, now in his human form.

  “Rachen,” he moaned. “Oh, Rachen…”

  Rachen’s heart skipped a beat. He almost couldn’t believe that he’d managed to bring his mate back, that in spite of everything, their love had been more powerful than even the fiery blaze of the phoenix’s essence. “Oh, thank the Overlords,” Rachen said, cradling his lover to his chest. “I thought I’d lost you, Alwyn.”

  Much to Rachen’s surprise, his lover tensed and pulled away. His eyes were fiery coals as he fixed Rachen with a glare. “I don’t understand,” he replied. “Who is Alwyn, and why are you calling me that? I don’t think I like you using the name of another man for me. My name is Phoenix.”

  * * * *

  It took quite a while for Rachen to convince his mate that no, he wasn’t cheating, and no, there wasn’t anyone else in his life except him. Impossibly, it seemed that his lover didn’t remember anything from his life as Alwyn, except the fact that he was Rachen’s mate.

  Finally, Phoenix relented and melted into Rachen’s arms, much like he had before. “All right. I’ll believe you, although I must admit I’m still very confused. Now…I’m feeling a bit off. Can we go back to our nest?”

  “Nest?” Rachen repeated, blinking in confusion.

  Phoenix arched a brow at Rachen. “We do have a nest for the two of us, don’t we? I distinctly remember us mating…Surely, we couldn’t have done that without a nest. Where is it?”

  Oh, Phoenix was referring to their home. “We live in a palace. It’s a good distance away from here, built—”

  Phoenix interrupted him before he could finish the phrase. “In a building?” Phoenix shook his head, breaking away from Rachen and seeming horrified. “No…I can’t live in a building. I need to be free. I need to spread my wings, to be out into the wild.” He turned pleading eyes toward Rachen. “You understand, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I understand,” Rachen replied. Apparently, Phoenix expected them to live in an actual nest. Rachen felt like he’d fallen into some sort of peculiar dream. “However, we do require some sort of shelter from the elements. I don’t want you to suffer from any discomfort.”

  “I’m a phoenix. I’m not afraid of a little rain.” In spite of his words, though, Phoenix seemed to consider Rachen’s point. “But I suppose you’re right. A simple nest wouldn’t be safe enough from predators. We need something more secure, especially for our eggs.”

  Wait, what? Eggs? Now, Rachen was the confused one. He needed to take a step back and get accustomed to this new side of his mate. It was all happening too fast, and Rachen couldn’t make heads or tails of what Phoenix was saying.

  Their mate bond was still working perfectly fine, though. Phoenix looked hurt at Rachen’s less than enthusiastic reaction. “You don’t want to have hatchlings?”

  “That’s not it,” Rachen said quickly. Images of small children with Phoenix’s blazing eyes popped into his head, and Overlords, Rachen wanted that so badly it hurt. But it would be irresponsible to bring a child into this entire mess. “I need you to listen closely. You have to remember what you were before.”

  Phoenix looked away. “I remember. I don’t want to be that again. I don’t want to be used as a weapon anymore.”

  Painful memories of a time when Phoenix had had no control over his fire flooded their bond. Rachen winced. The last thing he’d wanted was to make his mate remember that. “You were that, but also more. Do you remember how we met?”

  The dark recollections started to fade as Phoenix tried to access the part of him that had once been Alwyn. It hurt. Rachen felt it, and he engulfed his mate in his arms. “I don’t know,” Phoenix said, sounding more confused than ever. “I can’t…I know we did. I know I fell in love with you, but I don’t remember the context.”

  It was very difficult to watch his mate struggle with this and know that there was little he could do to help. “Just breathe, bab
y,” Rachen said. “Calm down. Don’t force yourself. You’ll remember. I’ll talk you through it, step by step.”

  “That sounds good,” Phoenix replied, his voice trembling. “I don’t want to lose my memories. I get the feeling that they were very important to me. So…I take it we met in this palace?”

  He was beginning to sound more like the man Rachen knew and less like a lost, confused little bird. He certainly no longer seemed so horrified of buildings. Rachen released a sigh of relief. All right. The first step had been taken. That was a good thing. Now, Rachen just needed a little time to work Phoenix through the information he’d need.

  Sadly, it didn’t seem that he would be granted that time, at least not just yet. Rachen felt several familiar presences approach. Phoenix must have sensed them as well, because he tensed visibly.

  “Someone’s coming,” he murmured.

  “I know, baby. It’s just my family.”

  “Your family?” Phoenix attached himself to Rachen’s side. Apparently, some part of him remembered that his relationship with the Tersain hadn’t been ideal. “Will they hate me?”

  “Of course not,” Rachen answered. He had no idea how his brothers would react to this new development, but he could only hope they’d get accustomed to it eventually. “They’ll be surprised, to be sure. You’ve met them before, and now, you don’t remember, so it’s going to be a little strange. But I’m sure that together, we can figure out a way to fix that.”

  Phoenix didn’t look convinced, and Rachen didn’t blame him. He couldn’t even convince himself, let alone his mate. It was very hard to come up with exactly what he needed to say to prepare his mate for the upcoming confrontation without upsetting him too much. “I won’t lie,” he continued. “Your abilities have given us some trouble in the past. You couldn’t seem to control them, and it made them wary of you. But they don’t hate you, far from it.”