by Carly Hansen
It felt good to be in his arms.
Fenix felt safe there. Safe and so very comfortable.
Involuntarily, she sighed. Tears welled up behind her eyelids.
The moment felt sweet. It was enchanting.
It was something she’d not experienced before. She wanted to stop the hands of time so that she could go on feeling this way forever.
But the moment was painful, too.
Fenix swallowed hard against the lump that formed in her throat. Micha Angelo was stirring emotions in her that she had no right to feel, not when it came to him at least.
He’d just saved her life, and he held her tenderly now, but that could all change in an instant.
She’d seen the vicious side of him. His fangs were longer and sharper than those of the other vampires she’d faced earlier. The terrifying glow of his red eyes signaled the destruction he was capable of.
He had called on his brutal power in order to protect her.
But what if that savage nature was turned on her?
Alda’s warnings had stirred a fear in her that it wasn’t a matter of whether he’d one day see her as a creature he was created to destroy. It was more like when.
She drew in a deep breath and sighed.
They neared Alda’s warehouse.
Although it was enchanting on the inside at night in the glow of the flaming torches, the exterior of the building always seemed dismal in during the day. The plaster was crumbling. Where there was paint, it was all blistered and peeling. The wooden windowsills were gray, black, and rotting.
Yet, Fenix’s heart leapt as the dilapidated building came into view.
Home, a little voice inside her cried.
Chapter 21
Fenix was dying to get into the warehouse with the sweet smells from Alda’s medicines, the enchanted plants in the garden, and even the chaos of the centuries worth of junk Alda hoarded on the ground floor.
Alda’s mass of wiry hair was stuck out Fenix’s window. The bedsheet still hung along the wall. It seemed the witch spotted them because she immediately disappeared inside.
A few seconds later, the front entrance creaked open.
Alda came running out with her arms outstretched. “Give him to me,” she said.
Micha didn’t break his stride. “Just hold the door open for me.”
“He’s my charge. Give him to me.”
“If you don’t hold the door for me, I’ll have to kick it down.”
Alda grunted and ran ahead to let them in.
Fenix felt spent, totally drained. It was as if the events of the previous night and in the abandoned warehouse had sucked almost all the energy she had. She could barely keep her eyelids open.
Micha tramped through the garden. The makeshift sled bearing the man in the purple robe clanged and clattered as it bumped along the rough stones of the pathway.
“What’s this?” Alda said. The witch pressed her back against a pillar as she let them pass. Her eyes almost bulged out as she followed the movement of the toboggan.
“A subject for interrogation,” Micha said.
He marched resolutely toward the staircase at the same pace he’d kept up outside. His powerful leg muscles would have had to work extra hard because the sled twisted, bounced, and sometimes got caught in roots and branches.
“How dare you?” Alda said as she caught up to Micha again. “How dare you bring a stranger into my place?”
“I couldn’t leave him where he was.”
“You have no right to bring this person here.”
“Fenix wants to ask him about the girl.”
“Fenix wants what?”
The venom in Alda’s voice made Fenix shudder. She guessed she was in more than a little trouble this time.
“You can deal with that later,” Micha said.
“No, we’ll deal with it now.”
“Just unharness me and secure the sled so this fellow can’t get away.” Micha’s tone indicated the matter was not up for debate. “I’m taking Fenix to his room.”
Fenix could only imagine the expression on his face and how his eyes looked. She figured Alda knew better than her that Micah was not one to be crossed.
After a brief silence, Alda disappeared behind him. His body jerked as she pulled and tugged at the harness he’d improvised.
“Fenix wants to ask about the girl,” Alda grumbled. “So, Fenix can make decisions about who enters my place now…”
Alda was still mumbling to herself when Micha, now relieved of the sled, strode toward the staircase with Fenix in his arms.
He pressed her more closely against his chest as he gingerly took the steps.
Fenix’s body suddenly felt as if it were on fire. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. From the tips of her toes to the top of her head, a pulsating heat rushed through her. Her mind focused on the hand that was under her arms. His fingers clutched her side, but they were dangerously close to her left breast.
Her heartbeat sped up, and she bit her lower lip.
He must have been able to feel the crazy thumping of her heart. If his fingers crept any further, he would surely discover she wasn’t a boy.
Stupid as it may have been, in that moment, she wanted him to make the discovery. It would probably have been the beginning of her undoing, but every cell of her being craved his probing touch.
She turned her face into his shirt. Added to the sandalwood and musk that she’d detected on him earlier was an undernote of sweat. It wasn’t unpleasant. It made her think of his manliness, the strength and power of his body, and all he’d just done to keep her safe.
Overwhelmed by emotion, she groaned softly.
“Don’t worry,” Micha whispered. “We’re almost there. You’ll soon be able to rest.”
“Can’t rest now,” Fenix said.
“What’s that?” He bent his ear to her lips.
“I need to find out where the girl is.”
“We will. I’ll make sure that fellow tells us all we need to know.”
Those fangs of his would surely act faster and more effectively than any truth serum, if such a thing existed, Fenix thought.
Micha entered her door and crossed the room, laying her gently on the soft, crumpled sheets of her bed. He held onto the brass bedhead and bent over her.
“Rest now,” he said.
Fenix nodded.
The sun was up high enough now that she could see his face clearly. His eyes were blue again. They showed only gentleness and concern.
Well, maybe there was something more. Fenix thought, perhaps, she was imagining things, but it seemed to her there was an undercurrent of emotion there.
What was it?
Could it have been the same impulses that were making breathing difficult for her now that she could look into Micha’s eyes as he hovered over her?
Her mind felt muddled and confused. Surely, he didn’t have the same stirrings inside like she did, not when he thought she was a boy. Or did he?
And what was this strange, intense feeling that overtook her, anyway?
All Fenix knew was that from the depths of her heart, she longed to touch Micha Angelo and be touched by him in return.
His perfect red lips looked so inviting.
Fenix felt an intense burning in her cheeks as she imagined herself combing her hands through his silky hair, then tenderly lowering his head so that his lips met hers.
********
Alda’s grating voice pulled Fenix out of her reverie.
“Okay, he’s latched to a tree,” the witch said as she entered. “He’s not going anywhere.”
Micha stood up quickly and turned to Alda.
She narrowed her eyes, focusing a piercing stare at Micha. Then she switched to Fenix.
Fenix immediately looked away.
Normally, Fenix would stand defiantly in front of Alda, no matter how terrible the transgression she was accused of. The witch hadn’t blamed her for anything now. But for some reason, Fenix felt gu
ilty and exposed, and she couldn’t let her eyes meet Alda’s.
Micha cleared his throat. “I’ll go find him,” he said.
He brushed past Alda and left, ending the awkward moment. Fenix hoped, anyway.
Ah, but Alda didn’t want to let it go.
“What the hell was that all about?”
“What?”
“Don’t try to play games with me. I saw those looks.”
“What looks?”
“On your faces.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Fenix folded her arms and tried to put on her most innocent expression.
“I’ve already warned you, Fenix.” Alda blew out a sharp breath. “You’d better watch yourself with him.”
Fenix stared at her fingernails and remained silent.
Alda propped her hands on her hips and paced in front of the bed. “But you’d better watch yourself with me first. I have a half a mind to throw you out right this very minute.”
“What for?”
“What for?” Alda looked up to the ceiling and shook her fists. “She openly defies me, almost the very second after I laid down the law, and now she has the nerve to ask me what for?”
Alda stormed to the window, tugging at the bedsheet Fenix had used to lower herself to the ground. “What for?” She noisily pulled in the sheet. “What for? You want to know what the hell I’m angry for?”
Alda gathered the cloth up in a tight ball and flung it at Fenix.
Fenix ducked and the bedsheet just barely missed her.
Alda snarled. “Didn’t I just tell you to keep your nose out of Micha Angelo’s business? To let him go on his way so things could get back to normal around here? Didn’t I just tell you that?”
“But I wasn’t thinking about Micha’s mission to Birstall.”
Alda folded her arms. She fumed as she resumed pacing.
Fenix continued. “When I saw that guy in the robe, all I could think about was the girl I saw kidnapped right here in Tresmort. He was with the vampires who took her.”
Alda shook her head and raised her fists at the ceiling again.
“This is important to me, Alda,” Fenix said. “I feel it deep inside. Why can’t you understand that? Why are you trying to hinder me instead of helping me?”
“I am trying to help you.”
“How? By forbidding me from trying to save a young girl’s life?”
“By trying to save your own life,” Alda shouted.
Fenix sank back in the bed and stared.
“Foolish, innocent Fenix Graystone,” the witch said, more calmly now. “Can’t you realize that the more you let yourself get roped into this, the easier it will be for them to find you?”
“Me?” Fenix’s mouth fell open as she wrinkled her brow in confusion.
“Yes, you,” Alda hissed. “Can’t you see? It was you those vampires were after in Birstall.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Have you never noticed that mark—”
The door swung open and slammed against the wall, causing Alda clamp her mouth shut.
Chapter 22
Micha entered with the purple-robed man slung over his shoulder. He slid the guy off and propped him on a chair against the wall.
The man looked like a sad imitation of a mummy. His arms were pressed against his sides, his feet were squeezed together, and he was tightly bound with wire and strips of rubber. Only his neck and head were free of the straight-jacket Micha had fashioned out of the debris from the collapsed conveyor belt. The man’s head was still hidden under his hood.
Micha stood back and looked at the bound man like an artist inspecting his canvas.
He dusted himself off as he spoke. “What did I hear you say about vampires in Birstall?”
Fenix and Alda exchanged glances.
“How much did you hear?” Fenix eventually said.
“Nothing really. All this metal was clanking in my ears as I brought this one up the stairs. I just made out the word ‘vampires’. I’m attuned to it. It’s like someone calling my name.”
“It was nothing concerning you,” Fenix said.
Micha looked at her and smiled, a little condescendingly, she thought.
“Everything that deals with my kind concerns me,” he said.
The man on the chair groaned.
The distraction gave Fenix the chance to change the subject. “Thank you for all you’ve done, but we can take things from here.”
“Not so fast,” Micha said. “I want to find out what he knows, too.”
“This really doesn’t involve you. I’m sorry if I took up any of your time with it.”
Micha waved his hand. “No need for apologies. Someone was kidnapped in my territory. That’s enough reason for me to be involved.”
“But your authority comes from the Vampire Council,” Alda interjected.
“Ensuring there’s law and order should be everybody’s concern,” Micha said. “Besides, I don’t think the Tresmort cops can get into this matter fast enough to have any chance of saving that girl.”
Micha turned away from them and faced the seated man. With a broad sweep of his arm, he knocked the man’s hood off his head.
Long, sandy-blond hair flew every which way. Much of it covered the fellow’s face.
Micha threw his big hands unto the man’s shoulders and shook him. “Where’s the girl?”
A groan came from under all that hair.
Micha slapped the man’s face. “Wake up, you!” He placed his hand under the man’s chin and pushed his head back.
The blond tufts flipped back.
Fenix sat up in surprise.
Under the hair, there was barely a man at all, more like someone just into his twenties. His eyes were shut and his mouth was open. His face had a sweet, boyish look of innocence.
It was definitely not what she expected of a kidnapper.
Micha formed a fist and struck the young man across the chin.
The man’s head swung to the side.
Fenix winced. “Have you considered that he may need some time to recover?”
Micha turned sharply and looked at her with wide eyes. He seemed taken aback by the very notion that she’d questioned him.
“I deliver swift justice,” he said. “In my experience, it’s the most effective way to deal with criminals.”
“I’m not questioning your experience, but he hasn’t been tried for anything. And besides, we need him to be lucid to tell us about the girl. If you hurt him—”
Micha narrowed his eyes and cut her off. “Criminals respond best to violence. It’s a language they understand.”
Alda marched over to the chair and put her hand on the man’s shoulder. “Be that as it may, I will not allow this man’s blood to be spilled under my roof.”
Micha and the witch glared at each other, with neither showing any sign of backing down.
The young man groaned again.
Micha turned, grabbed up a handful of hair, and pulled the man’s head back. He bent his face close to the man’s ear and shouted. “Where’s the girl?”
The man squeezed his eyelids tightly and grimaced.
“Tell us now!” Micha yelled.
“I don’t know,” the young man groaned. “I don’t know where the vampires took her.”
Fenix and Alda exchanged quick glances.
Alda flung her arm up, knocking Micha’s hand away from the captive’s hair. “Okay, that’s enough.” She shoved Micha in the direction of the door.
He hardly budged.
“You got the evidence you came here for,” Alda shouted. “You have no business here anymore. My crew and I can take things from here.”
Micha tilted his head and looked at Fenix. “Did he just say vampires?”
Fenix folded her arms and bit her lip.
A tumult of emotions raged in her. She was angry at Micha for having overstayed his welcome. She was cross at him for having got the information about the
involvement of vampires out of the young man. But she was in awe of that, too. He clearly knew how to do his job.
Most of all, though, Fenix quaked inside. Alda’s warnings about Micha rang in her ears. How long would it take before his probing uncovered Fenix’s unexplained, secret powers? And how long after that discovery would it be before she’d have to face a fanged, red-eyed Micha Angelo as her mortal enemy?
Micha’s eyes searched hers, as if seeking to rekindle the unspoken connection that had existed for a brief moment between them. It put her on the spot.
His eyes asked her whether she sided with him. She hated that she could see no choice other than to betray the sweet moment they’d shared.
Micha pressed her further. “He said ‘vampires,’ didn’t he?”
“He must be delusional.” Fenix shrugged. “Leave him alone.”
Alda gave Fenix a slight nod and smiled.
The witch shoved Micha again. This time, she seemed to have caught him off-guard. He fell back a step before he regained his balance. “So, go on now already,” Alda said.
The young man moaned. “No, I know what I’m saying, Fenix,” he said.
Fenix was shocked to hear this stranger use her name. Then she figured he must have heard Micha or Alda say it earlier. Determining how he’d learned her name was less important than the thought that struck her next. Although her head felt light and her limbs didn’t seem to have any power, her only impulse was to jump out of the bed and cover the young man’s mouth. The less Micha heard from him, the better.
She quickly realized the action she made could hardly be described as jumping out of bed. It was more like wobbling and stumbling like a drunkard.
She’d made it halfway to the young man’s chair when his words stopped her dead in her tracks.
“It was vampires who took her, Fenix,” he said. “It was vampires who kidnapped Catelyn.”
Chapter 23
Fenix’s heart pounded so hard she felt it would shatter a few ribs any minute.
