Blood of a Phoenix (The Nix Series Book 2)

by Shannon Mayer

  I blew out a slow breath and brought myself to the present once more. I blinked a few times, the wind whipping around me cooling my skin as sweat beaded along the back of my neck. If I looked at my hunts, I could pick out places where I had done exactly what Vivian was saying. Even dealing with the Stick Man, I’d found an unintentional ally who’d shown me the way to kill him, at the cost of her own life, and I’d survived the un-survivable.

  I was nothing if not pragmatic, and I would not let this little bombshell throw me off doing what I had to do. If anything, it should’ve given me hope. “Basically, you’re saying I’m good at making it through tight spots.”

  Vivian tipped her head to the side. “Yes, an element of luck seems to ride with you, enhanced by your natural abilities and all the training you’ve had. I’ve no doubt you earn your fair share of injuries along the way but—”

  “She doesn’t heal like one of us,” Simon cut her off. “You can’t be right about her.”

  I wondered the same thing. In fact, there were times my injuries were even slower than normal.

  “Ah, that is because the ability she has is buried. It will remain buried unless she learns to accept it, which has its downfalls. Healing slowly like a normal is one of those downfalls.” Vivian shrugged and lifted her stump to show me the palm of her hand had emerged from the bone, and five tiny stubs had erupted out of the disk shape. “You will never heal a wound like this, I think, but the likelihood is you will never face having to as your abilities will keep you from getting maimed.”

  I rubbed a hand over my face. “And any child I have would have this ability to survive catastrophic things?”

  Vivian adjusted her seat. “That is correct.”

  My mind raced with the possibilities. Like going in after Bear now, breaking him out of my father’s clutches and then . . . my cell phone rang, snapping me out of the daydream.

  I picked it up, saw Zee’s number and answered it.

  “What’s wrong?” There was no other reason he’d call me at this point in the game.

  “Bear escaped your father.”

  All the air in my lungs whooshed out. “How?”

  “I don’t know. I got a call from an old buddy. You remember Jake? He helped the kid get to where he thought he would be safe.”

  The blood in my body slowed and thickened. “Where did he go?”

  “You aren’t going to believe it.” He paused and then finally spoke words that could not have shocked me more. “He went to Killian Fannin.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  I held the phone to my ear, frozen in place while the traffic rushed by us on the interstate. Zee’s words reverberated in my head over and over. Bear had escaped my father, but had put himself into the hands of another mobster? Why, why would he do that? And how the hell did he even know about Killian?

  “I don’t know,” Zee answered softly and I realized I’d been asking the questions out loud. “What I know is that Jake just wanted to give me a heads-up.”

  I’d met Killian Fannin, Irish gangster and up-and-comer in the criminal world, when I’d gone after Romano’s business in Hollywood. Fannin had given me a bit of help, knowing if I damaged Romano’s business, Fannin’s would have a leg up and he wouldn’t even be held accountable. I did not trust him, though, and to think that my son had put himself into the gangster’s hands made every muscle in me tense.

  “I have Killian’s number. I’ll find out if this is really happening,” I said.

  Simon looked back at me. “You need me to pull over?”

  I shook my head. “Keep driving, this could be nothing but rumors.” Though if Zee was calling me, this was more than rumor. He had to trust his informant, Jake, and that meant there was a high probability it happened. That Bear was truly with Killian.

  “I’m in New York,” Zee said. “I’m going to Mancini like we planned, but I’m on the ground if you need me to go after him. To be honest, I think he might be safer with Killian than even Mancini. It’s an unexpected move, which could buy us time.”

  “Wait for my call,” I said and then hung up. I dialed in Killian’s number, my recall perfect, despite only having used it once before. Was that part of my being an abnormal? My guts clenched at the thought of being one of the monsters I’d hunted most of my life and not even knowing it all these years. Then again, if it helped me get my son back, I would do anything. Be anything, no matter the cost.

  The phone rang twice before being picked up on the other end.

  “Mancini?”

  I blinked, for a moment forgetting that the phone ID came up with Mancini’s name. “No.”

  “Ah, I wondered how long before you called me.” Killian’s voice with that Irish lilt to it echoed down the line.

  “Do you have Bear?” I didn’t play around with niceties.

  He laughed softly. “Yes, I do.”

  I swallowed hard on the sudden lump in my throat. My son was away from Romano, and while I didn’t trust Killian, I didn’t think he would hurt Bear. “Let me talk to him.”

  “It’s the middle of the night, lass. He be sleeping.”

  “Wake him up.” I bit the words out. “Wake him up now, Killian.”

  A sigh slid from him and then a shuffle as if he were getting out of bed. “A minute, then.”

  More shuffling, the sound of cloth rustling, a door opening and closing, footsteps and then a knock.

  “Lad, I got someone on the phone who is insisting on talking . . . oh, you’re awake?”

  I heard him then, though he wasn’t on the phone with me I heard that voice I thought had been taken from me forever. That voice that haunted my dreams and broke my heart every morning I woke up without it.

  “Is it my mom? I had a dream she was going to call.”

  A shudder slid through me and a sob caught on my lips. My boy, that was my boy, and he was alive.

  “Mom?” Bear spoke into the phone now, clear as a bell as the tears streamed down my face, swept away by the wind around me. “Mom, are you there?”

  “Hey, baby, I’m here.” I had to fight to keep the tears from my voice and even then, I could hear the shudder and twitch of my words. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I am. You sent Abe to me, didn’t you?”

  “I did.”

  “I lost him, Mom.” He hiccupped a sob. “I lost him and Grandfather took him away, but he helped me escape. He saved me.”

  I closed my eyes, not caring what Vivian or Simon thought of me as I sat in the back of the truck crying, the phone pressed hard to my ear as if I could somehow touch Bear through the lines. “That’s his job, Bear. Abe will always protect you first, and that’s okay that he’s gone. You didn’t lose him.”

  Simon cleared his voice from the front seat. “We’re getting close.”

  Shit, fuck, damn. “Bear, listen to me. I am going to come for you, but I have to make sure . . .”

  “You have to make sure Grandfather leaves us alone, don’t you?” he said softly. “He’s a very bad man, isn’t he?”

  “Yes,” I breathed the word out. “Yes, he is a very bad man. And he will keep coming to hurt us if I don’t stop him now.”

  I’d never let myself get to that conclusion before now. Because before now, I’d been under no illusions. I’d planned to fight Romano until my own death, no longer how or when that happened. Now . . . now I had a reason not only to fight, but to stay alive.

  “Sweet boy, no matter what happens, you know I love you. I will always come for you.”

  He took a shuddering breath. “I love you, too, Mom.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “No matter what,” I paused, struggling to find the right words, “we’ll get through this. Don’t give up, and don’t stop fighting. Okay?”

  “Okay. Will we get Abe back?”

  “I don’t know.” I wasn’t one to lie to him. “Bear, give the phone back to Killian, please. I need to talk to him.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,�
�� I said and the phone was back to Killian.

  Fuck, it killed me that he had Bear, but at the same time . . . “Thank you,” I said.

  “He’s a scrapper. Didn’t believe he was yours until he took out half my pub.” Killian laughed softly. “Nah, go back to bed, lad. Your mom will call again when she can.”

  The click of the door and I waited for the second click of a door opening and closing. “You aren’t going to hold him against me?”

  “Why would I do that? You be going after Genzo, and that works in my favor. The lad is a good boy, hardly a problem. And it pisses your daddy-O off to no end that he’s missing the boy which makes my heart bloom with happiness.”

  My lips twitched with a smile. “Yes, that it would do to Romano. How did you know I’m after Genzo?”

  The car slowed and Simon twisted around. “We’re here.”

  “I know a lot more than you think, Phoenix. Don’t worry about the lad. Take care of Genzo. I’ll look after your boy until you be done with your job.”

  He hung up on me and I stared at the phone, fighting the urge to call him back and tell him he’d better give me my son back or I’d peel his pretty skin from his fucking bones while he wept for mercy no matter how nice his voice sounded with its Irish accent.

  I turned the ringer off on the phone and slid it into my back pocket. Vivian and Simon had already gotten out of the car. I slid my jacket off and adjusted my shoulder holster for my thigh draw. I had a feeling I would need the better placement now. I touched the two guns in their holsters. “You ladies have anything to say about what the Magelore told me?”

  Eleanor said, “We always knew you were special, and so did your sister.”

  “But not that you were an abnormal,” Dinah said.

  “Good enough. Let’s see how my luck holds tonight, now that we know.”

  I hopped out of the back of the truck and strode over to where Simon stood a few feet from Vivian. He’d left the lights of the truck on and they stood within it. Smart.

  She made a reach for him with her good hand as I drew close. I didn’t even think about it, just kicked out, snapping my boot into her forearm. She grabbed her arm and spun, her teeth bared. I faced her down, my face flat and emotionless.

  “I think you’ve done enough touching when it comes to Simon.”

  “He’s not yours. You have no hold on him,” Vivian spat at me. My eyebrows shot up.

  “He’s with me for now, which means for the moment, he’s in my circle. Don’t fucking touch him, you dirty bitch Magelore.”

  Simon made a choking noise. “Listen, while I absolutely love that you two ladies are fighting over me, perhaps we could get moving?” He gestured to the ramshackle hut in front of us.

  I moved so I was between Simon and Vivian. She snorted and stood up, her features smoothing. “You don’t love him. I would be able to tell when I looked at your soul if you did. My question is, why are you protecting him? Because you do not protect anything you don’t love, that much I saw in your deepest core.”

  I didn’t bother to answer her, mostly because I wasn’t sure myself, and I didn’t want to talk about my deepest core with her. Maybe part of it was that Simon reminded me a bit of Justin. The same kind of laid-back temperament, same kind of danger beneath the surface well hidden by a mild-mannered, everyday kind of guy. Especially that similarity was there now I knew Justin had been a scam artist before he met me, and I saw that same deception in Simon. I shook my head. “Talia is here? You’re sure?”

  Vivian took the lead, her long skirts swishing across the overgrown grass and bits and pieces of metal that stuck out of the ground like limbs reaching from beyond the grave. I arched an eyebrow. This was not what I had been expecting when Barron had given me Talia’s name. Barron, as a dealer of weapons and goods, had a mansion, had a place that was opulent and I’d wrongly assumed that his connection with Talia meant she would live the same way.

  The porch sagged under our combined weight, so I stepped back and let Vivian do the knocking.

  She raised her good hand, but before she could knock the door swung open and what I could only guess was a woman stood in the doorway. She wore a light gray loose flowing dress that looked more like a set of old school wizard’s robes, complete with hood that covered her face.

  It reminded me too much of the Shadow’s minion. “Hood off or I’ll introduce you to the ladies, right now.” I dropped my hands to my thigh holsters, touching Dinah and Eleanor lightly.

  Dinah tried to shimmy herself up into my palm.

  The hooded woman laughed softly. “You must be Phoenix. Barron said he would send you to me if he died. Is he truly dead then?”

  I nodded as I lifted Dinah and pointed her at Talia. “Hood. Now.”

  “I don’t want to scare you.” Talia’s voice was feminine and soft.

  “You could be a fucking zombie, for all I care. I don’t do hooded creatures.” I tightened my finger on the trigger as the tension rose between us.

  A sigh slid from her and she lifted her hand to her hood and pulled it back. The light from the truck’s headlights showed her face, or what was left of it, clearly.

  Three quarters of her face was scarred badly, a deep burn by the looks of it that was pitted and dipped. Most of her nose was gone and both eyelids had peeled back to show her eyes as if they were perpetually wide in shock.

  “Who did it?” I asked.

  “Your father,” she said softly. “I was a beauty once. I knew your mother and danced beside her until I refused his advances. He made sure no one would ever want me again.”

  I blinked and lowered Dinah. Talia’s words were meant to throw me off my balance, but I’d heard worse about my father. Hell, I’d heard worse about myself when the rumors flew fast and hot.

  “He went to my mother after he burned you?”

  “Yes, and I warned her not to refuse him, no matter what he did. I thought he would play with her a while, and then go on his way.” Her eyes flicked to mine, a soft silver gray framed with the darkest of lashes here and there where they hadn’t been charred away, like a natural eyeliner. Yes, I could see the beauty under the scars.

  “What did he do to you that you didn’t heal?” I frowned.

  “Abnormals’ blood burns hot, you know that?” she asked.

  I gave her a tight nod. She sighed. “He used the blood of one of his guardians from what I understand. More than even abnormal blood, it burns hot and for a very, very long time.” A shudder went through her and she swayed against the doorway. Simon stepped up beside her.

  “Are you okay?”

  I watched as he put a hand under her elbow and steadied her. Watched as she flicked those gorgeous eyes of hers at him.

  “Thank you,” she whispered and I suddenly knew what she was—a form of succubus called Imagella. They had combined abilities with Hiding and spells, and took energy from those they fucked.

  “Simon. She’s spelling you,” I said softly. “Only works on men, huh? But didn’t work on Romano, did it?” Suddenly I wasn’t sure I felt bad for her. If she’d tried to control Romano, she got what she deserved. And I understood why she and Vivian got along. They were two of a kind.

  Her eyes flashed and Simon stumbled back. I pointed at the car. “Wait for us there.” I handed him Dinah. “I’ll hear her if you have to shoot something.”

  His hand brushed mine as he took Dinah. “You know, I used to be a badass tracer and assassin in my own right. Now, I’ve been relegated to sidekick.”

  I laughed, my heart lighter than it had been in months. All because I heard Bear’s voice. In that, Eleanor was right. I was softer when I knew my boy was alive. But now, I had even more reason to fight, to put Romano in the ground once and for all.

  “It looks good on you,” I said. “Now, sidekick away from the abnormal who is making you stupid.”

  He gave me a wink and then was gone, Dinah grumbling about being left behind with a guy who didn’t know anything about her abilities.
r />   I turned back to see Vivian and Talia both watching me. “You see,” Vivian said, “you make no sense. You don’t love him.”

  I shrugged. “He reminds me of someone I did love once.”

  “Ahh, now that makes sense. To honor the dead love, you protect what was lost.” Vivian sighed. “Now, what do you have for Talia?”

  Here it was, the only thing I had left from Justin. His coded papers. I pulled them from inside my shirt. “You want to do this on the front porch?”

  Talia beckoned us in and I let Vivian go first. I could see the moon beginning its descent and knew that while morning was some ways off, Vivian would feel the pressure of it coming. Her eyes flicked toward the dropping moon as well.

  “You got a dark room, Talia? Vivian needs to have a sleepover,” I said. Because there was no way I was taking her with me after this.

  Talia nodded and took Vivian through the small house. Standing there alone in the main room, I just stared. The inside of the house was bigger than it looked from outside, but I wondered if that was like the place at the all-night convenience store. If it was a spell or a well-hidden reality.

  I hated all the fucking guessing with abnormals.

  And now you are one of them.

  I shook the thought away before it could take root.

  The room was clean, swept, and free of any dirt or dust. I let my feet take me around, touching a small shelf of books, a trinket on the countertop, an open book on the table. There was no refrigerator, but there was a propane stove and canned goods lined up.

  “I live a simple life,” Talia said softly.

  I turned to see her in the hallway that led from the main room into the back of the house. “You must be paid well for your services.”

  “I have two children. I pay for them to go to an excellent boarding school in England, one where abnormals are welcomed and can have their abilities trained and extended.”

  I smirked. “You mean a real-life Hogwarts?”

  She laughed softly and the sound soothed my anxiety. Which pissed me off because I knew it was a natural spell that flowed off and around her. “Something like that, I suppose. Perhaps you will consider it for your son.”