Hidden in Smoke

by Harper Wylde

  What I saw when he drew near was the same self-assured look in his eyes that I almost questioned what I’d seen, but I was almost positive of the emotions that had crossed his features only a minute beforehand. I smiled, sure it looked fake as I motioned to the kitchen around me.

  “Breakfast is almost done! I just need to finish the crepes, make Damien’s protein smoothie, and make sure everything is warm.” I rambled as I got back to work.

  “Great. What can we do to help?” Ryder sounded cheerful, but I caught a hint of something underneath his tone. Did anyone else pick up on that?

  “Ryder, you’re the worst in the kitchen.” Hiro laughed at him. “I think the best way we can help is to get out of Nix’s way.” The Kitsune slung an arm over his friend’s shoulders and led him from the room, heading toward the living room sectional. I released a sigh, trying to let go of my stress as I focused back on the tasks at hand. The highs and lows of emotion I was feeling were wearing on me, and the sun had only recently started streaming in the windows.

  “Want any help?” Damien washed his hands and rolled up his sleeves.

  “I had wanted to do all of this alone… to surprise you and thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

  “Sweetheart, you don’t have to thank us. We want to help you. You’re a part of our family now. That’s what family does for each other.”

  I couldn’t focus on my worry over Ryder, so I relented and allowed Damien to help me with the crepes as I went to work on his smoothie. He worked effortlessly beside me in companionable silence, but I felt him prodding my mind for information on what made my mood switch from happy to downtrodden so quickly. Sighing, I turned to him and opened up my mind, holding eye contact as he accessed what he wanted to know. I saw his cheeks pinken a little at the intrusion he realized I felt, but he took his time sorting through my thoughts and emotions before nodding and handing the spatula over to me.

  “Damien, don’t!” I hissed. I ran a hand over my face as I watched the guys have a heated discussion in the other room. Infuriating. I knew Damien was generally the peacekeeper of the family, but the way he butted into everything was sometimes brutish. BRUTISH! You hear that, don’t you Gargoyle? I threw the thoughts at him, knowing he’d hear them. His mouth quirked quickly but settled back into a straight line just as fast as he talked with Ryder.

  I steeled my nerves and decided to ignore them, flipping the crepes and setting them on the plate next to the stovetop. I wanted breakfast to be a success, and right now it was spiraling out of control. Throwing myself into my work, I heated the breakfast items and laid them out on the counter. My heart squeezed in my chest as I thought about the look on Ryder’s face. It wouldn’t leave my head. I’d never stopped to consider that one of them in the group might not want me, and if one of them didn’t, what did that mean for the rest of them? This was why I was so hesitant to move things out of the friendship zone. I couldn’t imagine losing them. I felt the press of tears behind my eyes as the crepe in the frying pan blurred in front of me.

  “Hey.” The sweet sound of Ryder’s voice behind me made a tear escape and roll down my cheek. I swiped it quickly, realizing I had no way to cover up the movement. He noticed. He made a move closer to me, but I held up a hand, not turning to look at him.

  “It’s ok, Ryder. You don’t have to say it.”

  “Say what? That I’m sorry and I was stupid? Because I do owe you an apology for that.”

  Pivoting, I decided to face him, ready to tell him that it was ok if he was only interested in Hiro. I’d never judge him for his feelings, it would just hurt to know he didn’t want me, but determination surged through my veins. I didn’t have to lose him as a friend if I reacted well to this.

  Cocking his head to the side like a puppy dog, I realized he was listening in on my internal struggle, compliments of Damien. Without breaking eye contact with Ryder, I pointed a finger in Damien’s direction where he remained in the living room, watching us.

  “You, butt out!”

  Ryder outright laughed, and I gaped. “You think I don’t want you? That I only want Hiro?” The fucker! How dare he laugh at me.

  My heart thudded wildly. “Am I… am I wrong?”

  He nodded his head, the shock of faded purple hair falling into his eyes as he did. Pushing his hair from his face, he stalked toward me. I backed up with every step until my back hit the counter. He pinned me in place with a hand on either side of me, gripping the smooth surface in his hands.

  “I admit it; I was jealous. I wanted to be in Damien’s place, sucking your neck and turning you on with Hiro. We haven’t had any time together, and what I want most in the whole world is to spend more time with your sexy self.”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. Holy hell, I’d let my mind and my worry run away with me and the relief I felt now was palpable.

  “Bloody hell, I haven’t even gotten to kiss you yet, but some of my brothers are getting seconds already.” His eyes strayed to my lips.

  I felt it necessary to point out that they hadn’t all kissed me yet. “I haven’t kissed Damien yet either, and Theo’s was just a little peck.” I gave him a shy smile as I realized how bizarre it was to be talking about kissing so many guys to another guy you undoubtedly wanted to make out with. “But if its a kiss you want…” I reached over and dipped my finger into the bowl of filling, “… that can be arranged.” I placed a dot of batter on my lips.

  The light in Ryder’s eyes drew me in as he leaned closer, bringing his mouth an inch away from mine. I felt sparks as our magic collided, both holding ourselves back from closing that last little inch.

  “I’d like nothing more…” his thumb skimmed along my bottom lip, spreading the dot of filling. “… but I have plans for our first kiss.”

  I darted my tongue out and flicked his thumb as I tasted the sweet cream cheese, trying to entice him in. Ryder closed his eyes and groaned, then spoke louder and addressed the room. “And she thinks I don’t want her,” he scoffed playfully. When his eyes opened again, I saw the heat in them. Closing the last little bit of distance, he pressed his lower half against mine, and I felt his hardness against my stomach. “Don’t you ever think I don’t want you again, understand?” The words were soft yet husky; so odd to hear such a solid command from my playful unicorn.

  I nodded and he withdrew this thumb. I was riveted to the spot as I watched him place that thumb into his mouth, sucking it clean. My pulse jumped, and I swallowed hard as dirty images flew through my mind from his simple act. I felt a hum rumble through his body.

  “If you only knew what she was thinking right now.” I knew Damien was listening to my litany of fantasies and my face heated. Looking in their direction, I saw they had come to join us in the kitchen. Damien was leaning against the open doorway with his arms crossed across his chest while Hiro stood just off to the side of him with his hands in his pockets. I had to shake my head to clear it. How had I gotten so lucky as to garner their attention like this? My reaction followed by my relief over the knowledge that Ryder wasn’t pulling away from me wasn’t lost on me. I cared for all of them more than I had admitted out loud.

  “Care to share?” Ryder turned his head to look in their direction.

  “Let’s just say she’s as bad as what we were sharing with each other last night.” Hiro grinned at the information that was being shared.

  “You were sharing naughty thoughts about me with each other?” My eyes lit with interest.

  “So you admit to thinking dirty thoughts about us, Nix?” Hiro’s eyes were daring me to deny it.

  My face flamed with heat but I squared my shoulders. “Maybe, maybe not.”

  “Damien. “ Ryder turned, freeing me in the process. The whine in his voice apparent to all in the room. “Details man! Please!” He begged.

  “I’d much rather enact the fantasies than hear them from the Gargoyle’s head.” Theo strode into the room, sans shirt, and interjected his opinion while he ran a hand over his abdomen.
Drawing my attention to the ropes of muscles angling into the waistband of his blue sweatpants, I couldn’t move my eyes from the way they rippled under his skin. My mouth was dry as I let my gaze rake up his form to land on his bed wrangled blonde hair. Yes, these men might be the death of me if my heart kept skipping beats like this. Holy hell!

  Trying to cover my perusal, I waved all of the men from my kitchen. I needed to get breakfast on the table as well as steer the conversation away from topics that would end up with me jumping one of them—two birds, one stone. Looking at the mess around the room, I decided we were done making crepes and started cleaning up the cluttered counters when I had an idea. Closing my eyes, I focused on speeding up the process and pushed my ideas to my Phoenix, hoping she’d be able to lend a hand. With an excited coo, I went flying at the speed of light toward the counter where I slammed into it and slowed my pace. Yeah, this was going to take some practice. After a few more tries I had the dishes done, the counters cleaned off, everything put into its place, and had the blender on as I combined the ingredients for the protein smoothie Damien liked to have in the morning.

  Looking up, I realized that Killian was still sleeping. “Hey, can one of you go wake up Kill? I want him to eat while everything is still hot.”

  “Kill’s not here.” Theo mentioned it so casually; I repeated his words back to him in question form. “He left before the sun was up to track Michael.”

  “Without backup?!” I screeched.

  That damn bunny! I knew he was scouring heaven and earth to find the threat against me that still existed, but he shouldn’t be out there searching alone! Not to mention what he’d do if he found him. While I didn’t care much if Michael lived or died these days, I sure as hell didn’t want Killian doing something he’d regret. It’d also be nice if I could get some answers from the fucker. Answers like how the hell he’d gotten a hold of me and what truly happened to my mother. My stomach was twisted.

  Theo whipped out his phone and shot a series of texts back and forth. He knew I was worried and I needed a status update. I wanted us all home together, but I knew they were all trying to eliminate the threat against me. Honest to God, I wanted to be out there with Killian myself hunting down that sadistic a-hole.

  Theo’s gentle voice soothed me slightly. “He’s on his way home now. Unfortunately, he hasn’t found any leads.”

  Nodding carefully, I motioned to the counter, inviting them to dig into the food so they could begin eating.

  As the guys plated their food, I tried to get out from under my anger. If I let it fester, I’d be a bitter person, and I refused to give Michael another inch.

  As we sat down, the guys all hummed in appreciation. “Nix, I can’t believe you did all of this.” Damien beamed at me, eggs, sausage, and his protein smoothie sitting in front of him. Ryder had piled waffles on top of each other, slathered in butter and confectioners sugar, and he looked like he was in heaven. Theo had a waffle on his plate, topped with syrup while Hiro had a heaping plate of eggs and sausage. I filled my crepes with the coveted filling and settled in to eat content to have most of the guys around me. Now if Killian would just hurry his butt home, it would feel complete. Taking a bit of my breakfast, I savored the sweet filling and felt my face warm as I thought of all the trouble it had already gotten me in this morning. The very best kind of trouble.

  Fifteen

  Nix

  Eating and bantering back and forth about the game the night before, I blushed a rosy color as they teased me. Ryder was animated replaying a critical move when a knock sounded at the front door, interrupting his show. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate timing—I couldn’t decide.

  The molten heat in Hiro’s eyes was blazing as he stood to answer the door. The look he sent me before he turned toward the entryway held promises of more fun times like the night prior.

  I had just focused on breakfast again when I heard Hiro curse from the entryway.

  The mental link flew open as everyone started communicating silently.

  NIX! Upstairs, NOW! The fact that Damien was yelling in my head had me instantly on alert. Oh shit! It had to be Michael! But wait… Michael would never just waltz up to the front door and knock. It wasn’t his method. Then again… I hadn’t pictured him using a gun either… so my judgment couldn’t really be trusted.

  What I did know was that I trusted the guys with my life. I dropped everything on the table and raced up the stairs with Ryder and Theo on my tail. Turning when I reached the landing, I couldn’t help but watch the way they moved as they bounded up the steps. Damn, but they were sexy. Not the time, Nix, I tried to scold myself and focus on their rush to get out of sight. Someone was here, and it was someone they didn’t want me to meet.

  “Who is it?” I whispered as Theo took my arm and ushered me to my room. The way he grabbed me had my heart racing, and I tried to hold off a flashback of my foster brother grabbing me in a similar way as he forced me into his room. The situation had me struggling against Theo as tears threatened behind my eyes.

  “Theo! Let go of her. You’re making her upset!” Ryder stepped up just as Theo looked down into my panicked face.

  “God, Nix. I’m so sorry.” He let go of me. “Bloody hell. I’m sorry.” He backed away, leaving me to Ryder as he descended the stairs looking frazzled.

  “Are you alright?” Ryder lifted his arm like he wanted to touch me, but decided to keep it to himself, for which I was grateful.

  Swallowing back my tears, I nodded and tried to ground myself in the present. I was with the guys. I was safe. At least, I thought I was.

  “Who’s at the door?” I tried to loosen my throat to get the words out.

  My grandfather. Damien answered my question silently.

  “Is that bad?” I wasn’t grasping why they were all freaking out.

  Gently, Ryder reached for my hand and pulled me into his room, shutting the door quietly behind us.

  “He’s a shifter, Nix. If he sees you, he’ll have to report you to the Council. He’s very old school in his beliefs, being a retired council member himself, and he won’t hesitate to bring you before the Council.” He paused, trying to tune into the conversation downstairs. “It might already be too late.” His grip on my hand tightened as my stomach dropped. I knew staying hidden forever wasn’t in my cards, but this was all happening much faster than I had anticipated.

  He knows. It was Hiro this time.

  I closed my eyes and focused, willing my Phoenix to help me hear and praying extended range was within the realm of my powers. I wanted to fist pump when I heard—albeit quiet—voices floating from the entryway.

  “Aren’t you going to let me in?” The unfamiliar, older voice asked. “Very rude, you know, to keep your elders waiting.”

  “Of course.” I could hear the clipped edge in Damien’s tone.

  A soft shuffling and the man spoke again. “Who is the girl, Damien?” The grandfather asked a little gruffly. Well he sure didn’t waste any time. I decided I definitely didn’t want to meet him, even if he was Damien’s blood relative.

  “She’s a friend.”

  “And a shifter.” The grandfather paused before I heard his voice again, “A strong one.”

  “A mythological.” Damien confirmed, and I gritted my teeth. Was he going to give me away?

  “I’ve never smelled a scent quite like it.” The man was inquisitive.

  “What brings you by, grandpa?” I took a breath. He was trying to get the conversation off of me.

  Thank you. I sent the message to Damien and then tensed. Oh shit! Could Damien’s grandfather hear my thoughts? Hell, I wasn’t even sure if it worked that way. I knew Damien could hear the guys and now me. Could he hear other people if he tried? I wasn’t sure because he didn’t hear me until I shifted. Could he only hear shifters or had he just been protecting my privacy when I was still “human”?

  He can explain the ins and outs later. Right now, I’d suggest throwing up your wall. He’s suspiciou
s, and I’m not sure the extent of his psychic abilities. It was Theo in my head.

  My Phoenix squawked in my mind, just as uneager to be outed to the Council as I was. We worked in tandem to erect my mental wall, and I felt her checking for any cracks as I turned my attention back to listening. It was harder to hear now that I was multitasking my powers. I came in on the middle of their conversation.

  “He’s just worried about you and the boys. It’s unlike you to be away for so long. Although, I’m starting to get a clearer picture of what might be going on here.”

  “They need to realize I’m an adult. I belong to my own group. I’m no longer under their wings.”

  “Yes. I know that, and I’m sure they do as well.” I could barely make out the man’s weary sigh. “The girl, Damien. Her scent is all over the house, as is yours and your brothers. You’re delusional if you think you can hide this from me. I see why you haven’t been back to visit your parents or update the Council; she smells quite alluring.” I scrunched up my nose. Yuck, it was almost akin to be checked out by an old dude. The creep factor had me skeeved out, especially because the man was closely related with Damien.

  “Grandpa!” Warning filled the exasperated endearment.

  Chuckling, the old man replied, “I felt the same way about your grandmother, god rest her soul, as you probably do about this one. However,” everything about his speech hardened, “ I was not born yesterday. I know everyone, as you well know, and I cannot place her creature. She’s a strong mythological, if I’m not mistaken. Smokey… almost dragon-like, but that’s not it.” Footsteps echoed lightly across the wooden floor as he began pacing. Lowering my wall slightly, I could pick up on the tension from the silent Hiro and Theo. Fuck.