Blaze of Wrath (Phoenix Rising Book 5)

by Harper Wylde

  “The summit is still a day and a half away,” Theo informed us, propping his hands on his hips and hanging his head. “We’ve made incredible progress. It usually takes humans fourteen days to reach the top, but at this rate, if we stop now, we’ll never make it in time.”

  Hiro mirrored Theo’s concern. “The Council’s crew will beat us there.”

  “I don’t understand. Won’t we catch them on the way up?” I knew the mountain was huge, so it was completely possible that we wouldn’t cross paths, but there had to be a chance that we’d run into them, even if it was small.

  “We’re taking the harder path in an effort to go unnoticed by both humans and the tactical team.” Ryder shook his head, his eyes taking on a hopeless expression I’d seen too much in him lately.

  “I’m going to scout ahead,” Killian said, before jogging off, the spikes on this shoes keeping him upright on the ice.

  “Damien.” I waved after Killian. “Keep tabs on him for me?” I nearly begged. I hated being separated, even if it was only for a short period of time.

  Already ahead of you, Damien pushed mentally. Communicating privately with Killian, he strode away and began pacing as he focused.

  “I wonder if I could span the distance in my alter form?” Joshua mused quietly to himself as he shrugged out of his pack, letting the black bag fall to the snow.

  I strode over to him with force behind each step. “Don’t you dare!” I lashed out a hand and stilled his rapidly working fingers as they unzipped his jacket. “Your Basilisk doesn’t stand a chance out here. It’s much too cold for him.”

  “We have to try, hun. We haven’t come this far to give up,” Joshua reasoned, his hands covering mine where they lay on his chest. “Think of all the innocent people who are about to be attacked, and tell me it’s not worth the risk.”

  Magic built and sparked against mine, and the air filled with the salty, fresh scent of the ocean.

  Theo’s blue eyes glinted in the twilight. His jaw worked, sharpening his cheekbones as he gritted his teeth. The jacket he wore was discarded on the ground, and although I knew my Kraken was mainly immune to the cold, I winced at how cold he must be, standing in the snow in nothing but his snow pants and a navy blue, long-sleeved shirt. His styled blond hair blew in the gentle breeze the force of his power created, as he held his hands in front of him, aiming them at the icy gorge.

  “Move her out of the way Joshua,” Theo demanded, his voice deepened by the presence of his Kraken. His eyes began to glow blue and my own widened as I watched him. Joshua tugged me closer to Ryder, away from whatever the Kraken was up to.

  “Theo!” Hiro’s eyes grew wide and apprehension built inside of me from his ominous tone.

  But Theo ignored the call. His muscles bulked and the fabric of his shirt stretched to accommodate his built shoulders, chest, and arms. The mountain creaked and the ground under our feet groaned as snow lifted from the ground in slow motion, each flake swirling and dancing through the air around the Kraken.

  The snow shifted and ice formed, slowly creating a pathway across the dark abyss.

  “Be careful, Theo,” Damien warned, his own hands outstretched like he was trying to tame a wild animal. “You’re not useless. Your alter is strong and powerful. None of us have ever doubted that.” He eased closer, his words belying what Theo must have been feeling inside.

  My heart ached and tears clouded my eyes. “Theo, I love you.” I pushed the depth of my feelings toward Damien, hoping that Theo would be able to see himself through my eyes, much like he’d helped me do just the other day. I sent him image after image, reaffirming the way I felt about him, how sexy he was when he was engaged with his work, how hot he looked when he pleasured me, how sweet he was when be brought me coffee every morning, the incredible way he was always trying to solve all our problems. “Our family isn’t complete without you, and we think you’re amazing just the way you are.”

  Helpless eyes locked on mine as Theo’s muscles trembled.

  “He’s losing control!” Damien yelled. He dug his feet into the rocky terrain as he ran, trying to get to me as I moved to reach Theo.

  The world slowed.

  Spears of ice jutted from the ground around the Kraken in deadly spikes. Theo threw his head back on a roar worthy of his Kraken, and my ears rang from the deafening sound. I felt his power grow to exponential levels as Damien thrust our connection open.

  “Theo!” I screamed, at the same time my name left Joshua’s lips on a terrified wail.

  Thick, painful power crackled down Theo’s arms and built in his hands, and his eyes squeezed shut as he lost control. The force of the explosion rumbled through the ground, vibrating through my feet and legs, and I threw my arms up to block the icy assault that exploded from his hands.

  The snowflakes halted and hung in the air. I watched as my breath left my lungs and clouded around me while my Phoenix cried out, forcing control as she blasted heat, combating Theo’s frozen waves with fire.

  Shrill screams rent the air and unbidden tears streamed down my face. I begged my Phoenix to pull her fire back in time, fucking frightened that I’d burn Theo when his powers finally abated.

  With a squawk, she relented and eased the burning flames away as Theo’s magic lessened. He collapsed. When the mist cleared, my heart dropped straight into the fucking crater that had caused all this chaos.

  “No!” The whisper left my parted lips as I staggered, looking at the destruction and devastation around me. My heart cried while my mind worked to pull itself out of shock. “No,” I murmured again, the word becoming a litany on my tongue as I assessed which mate to go to first. There wasn’t enough of me to go around. It was my worst nightmare come to life, manifested in a way I never could have imagined.

  My mates. My heart bled as I took in their still, frozen forms. Breath sawed in and out of my lungs as I raced first to Ryder, who appeared to be in the worst condition as crimson marred the ground around him. I hit my knees like a baseball player sliding to home base, and the frozen blood around him cracked and shattered as I disturbed the pool it had created under and around him. A thick icicle had pierced his side, cutting through his jacket and ripping his flesh. My hands shook violently as I held them over his body.

  “Please. Oh god, please.” I squeezed my eyes shut and focused every atom I possessed to heat my hands slowly and push that warmth in even, controlled waves over Ryder—melting the ice he was encased in. I increased the temperature to searing levels, my eyebrows furrowing and my jaw clenched tightly as I tried to manage my power and keep from burning my mate.

  Ryder’s gasp of air had relief pouring from me on a sob, though he still seemed unable to speak.

  The sound of cracking filled the clearing and I dared a glance as Ryder coughed and sputtered, the blood trickling out of his side. I pressed my hands to his wound to try and stop the bleeding, while I watched Damien flex inside the block of ice he was stuck inside. His head tipped to the sky, his fangs elongated in an angry scream that finally burst from his lungs as the frozen water crumbled around him. His partial shift didn’t recede as he came back to his senses.

  Past Ryder, Hiro’s block of ice gave way to the multitude of vines that snaked through the frozen surface, forcing their way through every crack and crevice until he, too, had freed himself.

  “Hiro!” I rasped, and he shook himself from his stunned state. “Ryder’s hurt! I don’t know how badly.”

  Killian, get back here! Damien ordered, and the Puca relayed his location, already racing back in our direction.

  “Joshua,” Ryder gasped, his eyes fluttering slightly. “Saved me…” He barely managed to get the word out of his lips. “Jumped… in front…”

  He’s going to be okay, Hiro promised, shifting Ryder until his head was in his lap, and stroking his hair as the Ceraptor regained consciousness. Go!

  Stay with him, I commanded.

  Damien moved past me to Theo, and I released Ryder to Hiro’s care, racing
to Joshua.

  My hands met the smooth, cold ice surrounding him, his block thicker than the others, and I banged my fist against the cube on a cry, staining the crystalline surface with Ryder’s blood. My Basilisk couldn’t take the cold at the best of times, and I knew this had to be a form of torture for him. He’d been trapped longer than the others, and I doubted he was able to get oxygen through the thick wall. Joshua was so incredibly pale and panicking. I blasted my incalescent power, pushing past warmth and heat to the flames that lived within my veins.

  Mate. That word echoed over and over again as the ice melted. When the block finally receded past Joshua’s face, I begged him to breathe. His lips were so goddamn blue and a strangled wail squeezed from my lungs. I wanted to give him my own breath, the power of my Phoenix that allowed me to regenerate, anything to keep him alive.

  As the ice turned to nothing but water, I watched Joshua’s limp form fall into the pure white snow.

  Twenty

  Nix

  “No!” Tears poured down my cheeks, dripping onto Joshua, only the heat I continued to pump out preventing them from adhering to his skin. I scrambled forward, my gaze glued to his chest as I watched for any signs of life. I placed my palms over his heart, one on top of the other, and pumped over his chest the way I’d seen in movies. I counted off each push, and then my mouth covered his as I forced air into lungs that wouldn’t breathe on their own. “You can’t do this…” I buried my head in his neck and inhaled his clean scent, taking that small piece of him into myself and memorizing it. I gripped his jacket and held him to me. “You can’t leave me. Do you hear me?” My tears soaked him as I wailed and lay down next to him. My heart felt like it wanted to die with him, and my Phoenix let her flames consume her, her body burning to ash in my mind.

  A sound of complete devastation ricocheted off the rocks, and it took me a long time to realize the noise was coming from me. A piece of my soul died on that mountainside, in the snow alongside my mate, and I could do nothing but cling to his still form.

  “Nix,” Hiro murmured, approaching first, his hands outstretched in a soothing gesture as he kneeled close to me.

  “No,” I rasped so low I was surprised he heard me.

  “You can’t stay out here like this. Even your body is growing cold.” Hiro tried to reason with me, but I blocked him out.

  “No,” I repeated. It seemed to be the only word I could utter. I didn’t care about the cold, or the fact that my Phoenix had stopped trying to warm me up, too involved in her own mourning.

  “Nix.” Theo’s voice cracked as he spoke, and the utter desolation he felt was the only thing that registered as Damien pushed his emotions toward me little by little. “I’m so fucking sorry.” Tears wet his own cheeks as he watched me, my body pressed against the length of Joshua’s, refusing to move from his side. “I… I didn’t mean this… any of this. I just wanted to help.”

  I didn’t have the energy to speak. The puddle of salty tears staining Joshua’s blue jacket grew by the minute as I silently cried.

  What did you do? I directed the question to Theo, and Damien acted as our open switchboard, funneling our thoughts and emotions to the best of his ability. I felt their distress and sadness reflected through the connection, each of the guys feeling our loss keenly, adding their grief to my own.

  “I drank a vial of your blood.” Theo drove his hands into his hair. “I thought it would help me be an asset on this trip. I had no idea… I never would have…” He stumbled over the words, unable to get them out past the choke hold on his throat. “I never meant to hurt anyone.”

  “You weren’t done running tests!” Damien hissed. “What were you thinking?”

  “You know my answer better than the others. I thought I could handle it. Being outdoors like this made me a perfect subject for my own tests. I just never expected…”

  “To lose control,” I finished for him, my hoarse voice breaking.

  “Fuck!” Killian roared as he jogged into the scene, taking in my prone form lying on the ground. “Baby…” He knelt down next to me and slid a soothing a hand over my back.

  The tender touch was enough to melt the numbness that had stolen over me, and I shook with sobs. One leg was thrown over Joshua’s and my hand was fisted in his jacket. “I…” I choked on my tears. “Oh my god, I love him.” The dizzying thought flooded me until it was all I could think about. “I love him,” I mumbled, Joshua’s jacket muffling my declaration. “I love him, and now he’ll never know it!” The realization was like a dagger slashing through my heart over and over again, and I wept. Killian rubbed my back through it all.

  Slipping his hands underneath my wrung out body, Killian lifted me effortlessly against his chest. I curled up into a small ball and let him bear my weight as I went nearly boneless in his arms. Resting my head against his chest, I wet his shirt with my grief.

  My Phoenix rose again in my mind and blasted a wave of heat over all of us. Off in the distance, I sensed Theo, Damien, and Hiro. I hadn’t realized they’d given me my space, but I wasn’t mad. In fact, I barely felt anything anymore. They had erected the tents quickly and Killian made a beeline for them, passing Damien who suddenly straightened and tensed.

  “Wait.” His order shot adrenaline back through my body as I lifted my head to study him.

  “What?” I pressed, my voice no more than a croak.

  “Nix, do that again.” He gestured his hand toward me and with a hop in his step, he took off at a run. “Heat up the world, Nix,” he demanded as he passed us, and my Phoenix belted a cry as her spark turned into a roaring pyre. Fire licked from my hands and heat erupted from my body in a wave so hot, Killian had to release me. I landed on my feet, expecting the way he jumped away from me, and I followed after Damien, my powers scorching and strong.

  “That’s it, baby,” Killian praised, and I felt the first tickle of Joshua’s awareness seep into my mind, propelled there by Damien as he encouraged me to keep pouring out my power.

  My heart beat once. My power flared again. Then twice. My pulse sparked to life and I dropped to kneel beside Joshua.

  “Damien?” All my hopes, all my dreams, were in the look I sent to my Gargoyle, who knelt on Joshua’s other side.

  We waited, barely moving, barely breathing, until Joshua’s chest rose a fraction of an inch.

  Fuck, he’s alive! Damien’s exclamation shot through everyone’s mind like a bullet.

  Pounding footsteps sounded through the snow as the others joined us—all except for Ryder. “How is that possible?” Killian gaped. “He was dead.”

  Theo looked wearily down at Joshua, waiting to witness the life in him with his own eyes. When his chest moved again—agonizingly slowly—Theo cursed.

  “Get him inside!” Theo ordered, some of his old confidence returning through his blanket of guilt.

  “What’s happening?” I grasped Theo’s arm as Damien and Killian lifted Joshua, and settled him inside one of the tents. “Explain, now,” I demanded, issuing an order of my own, my gaze hard and penetrating.

  “He’s cold blooded. The ice must have overwhelmed his system and he essentially shut down.”

  “Doesn’t that mean he was dead?” I waved my hands as I spoke, completely agitated and emotionally drained.

  “Joshua’s body went into a hibernation like state, called brumation. It’s a skill reptiles possess that allows them to go sluggish and inactive in the winter or during times of low temperature,” Theo rushed to describe. “His alter must have slowed his body down as a means of protection, essentially saving him in the process.”

  “So he wasn’t dead?” I held on to the hope that we were all going to survive this.

  “No, he wasn’t. He’s going to fine. His body just needs to warm up.” He paused. “He needs his Phoenix. You’re the medicine he needs,” Theo explained, deflating before my eyes.

  I should have been mad, furious at Theo for the mistakes he made, but I couldn’t summon the energy. All I cared
about was that we were all alive and would survive this. I threw my arms around Theo and hugged him. He held his hands up like he was surrendering to the law, and I hugged him tighter, waiting until he relaxed and his arms came around my body. “I’m so sorry, Nix.” Theo’s tears streaked into my hair and I felt him tremble beneath my fingertips. I soothed my palms over his back before pulling away, pecking his cheek before leaving him behind, and rushing the rest of the way to the tents.

  Ryder winced and tried to sit up when I entered, and I immediately moved to his side to press a kiss against his lips. His side was wrapped and he winced at my look of confusion. “I’m so sorry, mikró pouláki, but I can’t heal Joshua yet.” Ryder collapsed back down in a heap with a groan. “My alter is too exhausted.” He looked ashamed, and I cupped his cheek, the light shadow of scruff abrading my skin lightly.

  “I’m just happy that you’re okay, Twilight Sparkle. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” I glanced to Joshua. “Any of you.”

  “I felt your love for him,” Ryder admitted, and I looked anywhere but in his eyes, afraid I’d see hurt and pain. Ryder reached for me, gasping from the movement, but he didn’t stop until he touched my face and turned me toward him. “Love is a great thing. Don’t hide it away because you’re worried about our feelings. Joshua deserves to hear the depths of his mate’s feelings for him.” Ryder dropped his hand and clutched at his side, fresh blood staining the white bandages.

  I hissed and placed a gentle hand on his abdomen near the injury.

  “Don’t worry about me, go take care of your other mate.” Ryder grinned. “It’s not like you’ll be far.” His eyes roamed around the small tent and filled with mirth. “You’re only an arm’s length away. I think I’ll manage.”

  I settled down between my two mates and kept them both warm throughout the night.

  Twenty-One

  Joshua

  Heat enveloped me like a warm blanket as I drifted in and out of consciousness, and promises of love whispered through my mind. The familiar scent of flowers and bonfires wrapped around me like a hug, and a light weight against my chest finally roused me from my drugged state.