The Phoenix Agency_Arctic Burn

by Amy Ruttan

  Lexie stood up and saw the cracks in the asphalt of the bridge. The ferry that was on the banks of the Mackenzie had toppled over onto its side from the dry dock, and the river was moving quickly.

  Shit.

  What had she done?

  You know what you did.

  And then she took a step back from Bryant, instantly worried that she’d hurt him. He had been touching her.

  Oh God.

  If she’d hurt him again she couldn’t live with herself.

  “You didn’t hurt me,” he said gently, as if reading her mind, and he held up his hand. “I’m okay.”

  “I didn’t hurt you?” her voice trembled.

  “I’m fine.” His blue eyes were just as intense as she remembered and, when their gazes locked, a shiver of longing moved through her.

  “You didn’t hurt me, Lexie. Please don’t run.”

  Only he didn’t say those words out loud. She seemed to hear his thoughts.

  Bryant always did have a connection to her and she couldn’t help wondering if he’d heard her. Whether what she’d been putting out there drew him to her. There was no other explanation for him being here, right now, when she needed him most.

  When her life depended on it.

  Except a part of her didn’t want to believe it, because she was always told by her mother never to use her abilities.

  That her abilities were an abomination.

  Evil.

  Her mother thought Lexie was possessed and, at times like this, she believed her mother.

  “What’re you doing here?” she asked, breaking the connection by looking away.

  “I’ll explain later, but I think we need to get off this bridge.”

  She looked over her shoulder. There were no cars. There rarely was traffic along the highways in Northwest Territories, but there would be the odd car, and it would look a little strange to see two people talking in the middle of the Deh Cho bridge.

  “Right. Of course. Where can we go?”

  “My truck is over there.” He pointed over his shoulder. “I was heading to Fort Smith. Where were you heading?”

  Anywhere.

  “I’ll go with you, if that’s okay?”

  He nodded. “Sure.”

  And she knew, deep down, that he knew what she was running from. It put him in danger too, and she hated herself for that, but she needed someone to rely on. She’d run from Bryant once but, though she never wanted to hurt him again, she was glad that he was here.

  They didn’t say anything as they walked off the bridge toward his truck. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, as a car slowly approached behind them when they were about two feet from Bryant’s truck.

  This is trouble.

  “Everything okay?” the driver asked.

  Run. Danger.

  She took a step back behind Bryant.

  Bryant glanced at her briefly, as if knowing.

  “We’re fine. Just stretching our legs. It’s a long drive south,” Bryant said politely.

  “South eh? Yeah it’s a long drive.”

  That should been the end to the conversation, but still the driver lingered.

  “Yeah,” Bryant answered, unlocking his truck. “Well, thanks for stopping. We’re okay.”

  There was the sound of a gun cocking. “Yeah, this isn’t really a stop to see if you’re okay, pal.”

  Her pulse thundered in her ears. The sound distortion was loud, squealing like nails on a chalk board. A guy slid out from the back of the car, with a gun pointed at Bryant.

  She winced in pain and tried to focus through the metallic screech filling her head.

  No. No. No.

  “What do you want?” Bryant asked calmly, as if he wasn’t bothered at all by a gun being pointed in his face.

  “The woman. She’s with us,” the passenger with the gun said.

  “I don’t think that she is,” Bryant responded.

  “You picked up the wrong hitchhiker, pal,” the driver replied. “She’s with us. Step to the side and we’ll let you go. She’s a danger to be around and we’ll take care of her.”

  A smile crept onto Bryant’s face, challenging them. “I don’t think that you’ll let me go. I go with the dangerous woman and I’m dead, I let her go with you and you’ll shoot me in the back of the head.”

  The passenger smiled. “Suit yourself.”

  No!

  Lexie reacted as the passenger pulled the trigger. She slowed the bullet down and turned it around, releasing it as it struck the gunmen in the neck.

  “Jesus!” the driver shouted. He put his foot on the gas, but Lexie wasn’t going to let him get away that easily. She was pissed off. The sound distortion in her head screeched for justice.

  “Save us!”

  She stepped in front of Bryant and lifted the car into the air, the wheels spinning and exhaust in her face as she tossed it like a stone into the Mackenzie river, watching it sink with the driver inside.

  Great. Now you’ve killed. Twice. Mother is right I’m evil.

  “Lexie!”

  Lexie looked down at her hands, which were flaming again. She tried to calm herself down, but she was still so upset. She ran to the river and jammed her hands into the frigid waters of the Mackenzie, dousing the flames as the car continued to sink.

  Oh God.

  A sob caught in her throat. She hated this. Hated this unchecked power inside her. She loathed the fire that consumed her.

  “Lexie!” Bryant shouted.

  She glanced over her shoulder and he was kneeling by the dead man, blood all over the highway.

  “Don’t touch the gun,” she said wearily. “The RCMP will think it’s a suicide.”

  Bryant scrubbed a hand over his face. “We have to get out of here. Are you okay?”

  She nodded and looked down at her hands in the water.

  No, she really wasn’t okay. For the first time in her life she’d used her powers to kill not one, but two people. She’d managed to escape the terrorists before when they cornered her, but no one died. That time. She didn’t want to think about it.

  This is what her mother always said would happen if she used her powers.

  She was a monster.

  “You’re full of Hell fire, Lexie. You’ll burn when you die!”

  Tears stung her eyes and she hung her head, her hands still in the river. She focused on the crystal clear, bitterly cold water as it washed over her hands. Her fingers digging into the riverbed. The current was strong and all she had to do was lean over just a bit and let the river take her away.

  “Lexie.” It was gentle this time, and he knelt beside her. “It’ll be okay. I’ll take care of you.”

  “You don’t have to.” She didn’t want Bryant to risk his life for hers. “You should just walk away now.”

  “I can’t. I’m in this and I’ll take care of you. Come on.” He stood and held out his hand and she could see the scars that she’d caused, the burn scars that ran up from his wrist under his long sleeved shirt.

  She reached out and took his hand. So strong and warm. Just like she remembered. He helped her to her feet and, before she could stop herself, she let him pull her into an embrace. She buried her head against his shoulder, drinking in his scent.

  It reminded her about the only good part of her life. One good year she had with him, five years ago.

  The good part that she’d ruined with her damned fire.

  Bryant held her, but only for a brief moment. “We got to get out of here. I doubt they were alone.”

  Lexie nodded. “Yeah, they’re not alone. There’s more of them.”

  “Okay, then let’s put this behind us.”

  Lexie moved out of his arms and climbed in Bryant’s truck. She was nervous.

  She never relied on anyone else.

  Never put her life in anyone else’s hands before, but at least it was Bryant. She just hoped his kind soul and his willingness to protect her didn’t cost him his life.

&
nbsp; She’d burned him once before. She couldn’t do that again.

  Chapter Three

  The radio was the only sound in Bryant’s truck cab, as they crossed the Deh Cho bridge over the Mackenzie, south down toward Hay River and eventually Fort Smith. Crackling music and tension was what was in the air. It was making her feel uncomfortable, but she couldn’t find the words to say what she wanted to.

  How do you apologize enough for burning the man you loved? For ruining his career and then leaving him without an explanation because it was the best for him?

  Yeah there were no words.

  She couldn’t believe he was here in Canada. She was sure after his honorable discharge he would’ve gone home to Houston. Maybe settle down and have some kids.

  Even if the idea of him with another woman set her on edge. He could lead a normal life, one she couldn’t lead. One that she wanted desperately.

  “You know, maybe you should talk first,” he said, breaking the silence. Then he cleared his throat awkwardly and became serious. “Why don’t you tell me what you were doing back there.”

  “You know why I’m here. Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing in the Northwest Territories?”

  “I’m a bush pilot in Yellowknife.”

  “There are other places to be a bush pilot. Not just Yellowknife.”

  “Mason LaCroix, who owns the business I work for, is an old Air Force friend.”

  “A Canadian is an old Air Force buddy?”

  “He has dual citizenship. His Dad was an Air Force doctor and his mother Canadian. When Mason finished his service with the United States Air Force he moved to Yellowknife with his two brothers to operate a bush/float plane service.”

  “You’re a southern boy. I’m surprised you’re here,” she teased. “That you can stand the cold and snow.”

  “Winters suck!” He glanced at her briefly, and there was a twinkle in his blue eyes.

  She laughed at that. “You get used to them.”

  Of course winter never seemed to bother her, with fire running through her blood. Or at least that’s what her mother said. And that suited her fine. The isolation was worth it.

  She shuddered. She didn’t want to think of her harridan of a mother. Not right now.

  “You know why I came here,” he said gently.

  Her blood heated and her heart sank. Had he really come here for her? Why? They tried it once and she’d ruined his life. Now, she was going to ruin it again. She watched the forests slip past. Forests that had been burned long ago; singed, blackened trees and the lush undergrowth tangling and growing its way up to the sun at the edge of one the harshest environments on earth.

  This was her home.

  This is where she belonged. She was safe here.

  Not anymore.

  “Why are you running from help?” Bryant asked.

  “You think those men wanted to help me?” she asked in disbelief.

  “No. What I meant was, why are you running from the Phoenix Agency and the Lotus Circle? Both have been trying to contact you to help you.”

  Her stomach twisted in a knot. “Please say you don’t work for them.”

  “All right. I won’t say it.”

  “Pull over!” she shouted.

  “No.”

  “Bryant!”

  “No. Lexie, come on, what’re you so afraid of?”

  “I don’t need help from the Lotus Circle or the Phoenix Agency.”

  “So you’ve heard of them.”

  “Of course,” she seethed. The Phoenix Agency had come to her and warned her about someone up here who would come after her. She didn’t believe them, so she ignored their offers. And then the masked men came and it’s what she deserved for turning away help.

  “What’s with the bitterness?” he asked. “From my understanding they want to help.”

  It’s because they want to help and I don’t deserve their help.

  Lexie stared down at her hands, folded on her lap. How many times had her mother forced her hands under ice water for endless minutes until Lexie cried out in pain?

  She hated her power. Hated it, and wished it was gone.

  So no, she didn’t want the Phoenix Agency’s or Lotus Circle’s help to hone her skills. The best thing for her was to be alone.

  Really?

  “It’s just better if I’m left alone,” she said quietly. “They just need to back off.”

  Bryant didn’t say anything else. He knew about what her mother had done, sort of. She hadn’t really ever told him the depths of what happened, but she knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t just accept her answer that she was better off alone.

  He wasn’t finished with her yet.

  “So this terrorist group ambushed you?” he asked.

  “Yes. I was living outside of Fort Simpson. I didn’t think anyone would find me.”

  “It’s difficult for sure,” he chuckled.

  Her heart skipped a beat. “You were looking for me?”

  “Besides the bush pilot job, why else would I come here?”

  Hearing him come right out and say he’d looked for her had her excited, but also intensified the guilt that constantly plagued her. He shouldn’t have come after her.

  “You shouldn’t have come looking for me.”

  “Why?”

  “I was fine on my own, Bryant.”

  “Yeah, because losing control of your powers and almost bringing down a bridge is definitely the epitome of being fine on your own and having control.”

  “Fine, I’ll concede that in that moment I wasn’t in control. I was running from those bastards and got disoriented. I was running south, back into the tree line. That’s the last I remember.

  “Here I thought you were running to me,” he said. “How foolish of me.”

  “I didn’t know you were here,” she replied.

  She wished she knew he was here sooner. Over the five years since she’d last seen him she’d wished he’d been with her. He’d been her first and only love. Bryant haunted her dreams and her nightmares, when she recalled burning him while she experience pleasure for the first time in her life. But mostly, when it came to Bryant, when she was actually able to sleep the dreams were pleasant. The dreams made her long for what she couldn’t have.

  There were so many nights she thought of the way his hands felt on her body. The way his kisses made her melt and how safe she felt in his strong arms.

  “And would that have changed anything? Would you have come back to me?”

  Her stomach twisted in a knot, because he knew the truth and there was no point in lying to him. “No. I wouldn’t have. I still don’t know why you’ve come here.”

  “You called me, Lexie. I heard you.”

  A shudder ran down her spine. “What do you mean, I called you?”

  He pointed to his head. “I heard you. I’ve heard you calling for me since the day you left.”

  There were nights she cried out for him. Nights she missed being in his arms, nights where she needed him, but she had no idea he heard her or she was projecting that far. Or that anyone could hear her over the constant noise in her head.

  Heat bloomed in her cheeks. “You heard me?”

  He nodded. “I just didn’t know where to find you. I stayed put in Yellowknife, hoping you’d come there. Your voice became stronger when I decided to go south, but I seriously didn’t believe you’d show up. I gave up hope that I’d see you again, and was resigned to being haunted by the memories of you.”

  Bryant couldn’t believe he was admitting that but, then again, five years ago he didn’t believe in any of this kind of stuff. He didn’t believe in pyrokinesis, telekinesis, or being able to project one’s self.

  It was all hocus pocus to him. Until he met Lexie and believed there were things beyond his understanding.

  And now, with this favor to Mike D’Antoni, and getting involved with Phoenix Agency, he couldn’t help but wonder what he was getting into.

  A world
of hurt.

  “I’m glad it was you who came along,” Lexie admitted, breaking the silence that had fallen between them again.

  “Me too.”

  “So, why Fort Smith?” she asked. “It’s a long way from Yellowknife.”

  “I have a float plane and a trailer in Fort Smith. I decided to hide away for a while in Wood Buffalo National Park. The interior is a great place to get some peace and quiet.”

  “It’s a good place to hide,” Lexie whispered. “It’s bigger than Switzerland.”

  Bryant nodded. “I can keep you safe, Lexie. I’m already sucked into this situation. There’s no need to protect me.”

  Honestly, he didn’t know why he was asking for her permission to protect her, because even if she said no about him protecting her, he was going to do it anyway.

  Not now.

  Not after he just found her.

  She was the reason he came to another country when he was discharged from the Air Force. This is why he didn’t go south, but went north of sixty instead. It was all for her.

  “I’ve already caused you enough harm. I can’t drag you into this.”

  “You already have! You don’t honestly think those two thugs were the only ones after you, do you?”

  Lexie shuddered. “No. You’re right. There are a lot more of them. They’re after something and say they need me to get it, but I don’t what they’re after or why they need me.”

  “So, no idea what they’re after? They just need you.”

  “All the Lotus Circle told me was those thugs needed me to retrieve something for them. Of course I don’t want anything to do with the Lotus Circle, so I didn’t ask for more information, but I have my suspicions.”

  “Oh?”

  “It’s just an old ghost story. I’m not sure if it’s real.”

  “Ghost story?” he asked.

  “There’s a rumor that up near Baffin Island in Nunavut there’s an island even the dogs from the dog sledding teams avoid. An island the polar bears won’t hunt on, even if there happened to be a plethora of food. The locals say it’s cursed or haunted. There are so many speculations about it. Some say aliens. I don’t know, but there’s something that keeps the animals away. There’s something in the ice.” She held up her hands. “I set fires too you know, powerful ones. Why do you think the smoke is so thick in Yellowknife? I had to set one to get away from those men. Perhaps whoever is hunting me wants me to melt the ice.”