“In bed,” Jabari answered. “Which is where you’re about to be.”
“I’m not a child,” Tee told the room.
“Nope you’re a teen, I’m too young to have a teen!” Quinn screeched.
“Ivory get back here and undo this!”
Phoenix wasn’t sure who was calling for Ivory since everyone decided to chime in. He slowly made his way to the door leading into the living room. It was going to be chaos in the house for a day or two. He was going to have to do something for Ivory to say thank you. He made his escape going to the other side of the house so he could access his wing on the second floor.
Chapter Five
Phoenix’s rooms were a little on the sparse side. The kitchen was complete. Having food for was something he, and his brothers struggled with as they fought and died for their creators. Since his wing was on the other side of the house away from quick access to the kitchen, he had his own private kitchen.
The living room and the other rooms were all barren except for a plush rug. After many years of living in the barren desert, he preferred something soft to walk on. He went into the bedroom which was furnished but didn’t stop until he entered the bathroom.
He needed a shower for what he was going to do next. It had been centuries since he willingly opened himself up. The fate of his family and his mate depended on him once again getting in touch with that part of himself.
The warm water calmed him. He dried off and found a pair of loose joggers to wear. He went into the living room and sank down into the plush carpet. His legs were underneath, his ass sitting on his heels. He placed his hands in front, palm up resting on his thighs.
He took several deep breaths and closed his eyes looking to center himself enough to touch the inner part humans called precog. The flow of the air in the room surrounded him with a comforting embrace. He allowed his consciousness to fall within himself as he reached for a hazy future that was anything but predictable.
Snapshots of Rylee playing with her cat went through his mind. She was dressed differently in every snippet of the future he caught. He looked around to see a calendar or a clock but there was nothing to tell him when he was seeing.
She was in her room dressed in a pair of shorts with a gauzy top. She was going to bed. Elfin laid with her; a yowl was heard as the snapshots went from one to the other. Then time slowed down. She was lying still, her chest rising and falling silently.
Beside the bed, a form rose from the floor. It was dressed in black with a hood covering its face. The reaper, he tried to scream to warn her. He was held transfixed in a vision he couldn’t escape or change. A knife appeared in his hand. He raised it, then brought it down over her chest. Before he struck Phoenix was knocked out of the vision.
He was lying on the floor struggling to breathe as her name came from his lips. When, when will this happen? He focused on what he had seen, but there was nothing to tell him when the reaper would kill Rylee. Would it be tonight or a year from now? He was powerless to stop it. He stood and strode into his bedroom. He needed to talk to her to know she was not in trouble although there was nothing he could do.
He called her praying it wasn’t too late, and she didn’t ignore her phone.
“Hello?”
“Rylee!” Relief pooled in his voice.
“Phoenix? Is everything ok?”
“Yeah… I just wanted to check on Elfin. Do you need anything?”
“I knew you would love him.” Her laughter came through the phone softly. “We’re fine, but I am so telling him you called.”
“I won’t keep you. Rylee, will you do something for me? I know it will sound strange, but please.”
“What is it?”
“When you go to sleep tonight, sleep on the side of the bed closest to your door.”
“Yep, that sounds strange but okay.”
“Remember you agreed to call me if anything happens, even if it seems inconsequential.”
“I remember. If anything happens I will call you if I can’t call I will come directly to your house.”
“You remember the directions?”
“You programmed them into my phone, then you wouldn’t let me out the car until I memorized them. I can find you in my sleep Phoenix.”
“That may have been a bit of an overkill.”
“You think?” She was laughing so he knew she wasn’t upset. “I’ll call you in the morning I promise.”
“I’ll talk to you then.” He hung up and went to stand on the porch. Morning couldn’t come fast enough.
*~*~*~*
Rylee couldn’t get rid of the silly smile on her face.
“I think he likes me, us, Elfin.” She was attracted to Phoenix from the first time their eyes met.
There were days she was sure he was attracted to her, then there were days he hardly acknowledged her. She’d been living in a state of does he or doesn’t he for two years. She wasn’t passive aggressive, alright maybe she was, but she wasn’t into pain or angst. Why hadn’t she asked him out sooner? Because she knew that the last thing she should do was get involved with a good man like Phoenix. If he ever found out her secret, he’d be running for the hills.
The best thing to do was to stop whatever attraction was growing between them. He might want to touch her, caress her, and then she would… no! She wouldn’t think about it. It made no sense to torture herself.
“I’m going to take a shower Elfin; I'll make it quick because this is your first night with me.” Phoenix had also scared her, but she wasn’t going to comment on that.
She came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of leggings that had a pocket in the back. She might have tucked her car keys deep into it. Her purse was lying on the bed, in case she needed it quickly. Her shoes were sitting on her nightstand where she could grab them. Her phone was charging as it lay inside her purse.
Phoenix had more than scared her; she was jumping at shadows.
“Elfin, I’m going to sleep with the bedroom door open, but please stay with me. If something happens, I don’t want to have to look for you.” She was talking to the cat like he could understand her. Geesh no wonder they wanted her to see someone for help. A humorless chuckle escaped as she laid down.
She stroked Elfin until she fell asleep.
Was it a sound or had the temperature in the room dropped? She wasn’t sure what woke her, but something had. She thought she saw a shadow and jumped at it. It was just a tree swaying in the wind. She let out a sigh, Phoenix really scared her.
She went to lay back down when a darkness began to form over the side of her bed. A figure coalesced raising its hand with a shiny blade in it. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as the blade came down right where she usually slept.
Rylee jumped out of bed. Her purse was around her shoulder; Elfin was clinging to her shirt. She grabbed her shoes and ran for the door right before her bed went up in flames.
“Fire!” She screamed as she ran down the hall pounding on doors. She ignored the elevator going down the stairs. People started pouring out of their apartments. “Call the firemen,” she screamed before she entered the stairwell.
She kept screaming as she ran down ten flights of stairs. It wasn’t until she reached the lobby that she realized the whole building was up. She could hear the sirens in the distance. There was a stitch in her side that should have stopped her from running, but she ignored it.
What kind of fool lived on the tenth floor? Wait… she was that fool. She hit the key fob then tossed everything in the car, including Elfin and her shoes. Driving without shoes, there was a first time for everything.
She started the car and took off like a bat out of hell. In her rearview mirror, she could see what was in her room. There was no knife in its hand now. It looked like he was carrying a sickle. Maybe Phoenix was right, and the door to The Vortex had opened. How else did she explain mister creepy?
Oh God, where was she going? Phoenix, she was going to find Phoenix. She knew where he was b
ecause he made her memorize the directions. Thank God for anal men!
Chapter Six
She stumbled her way to the side door not being able to find the main one. The lights came on, but there were no alarms; he needed alarms. Holy batman, he lived in a freaking mansion. No, he lived in a mini estate or at least a small county. How big did one person need a house to be? She knew he lived with his brothers and their girlfriends or wives. Still, she was sure a football team could live in there with no problems. Maybe they were planning on lots of children.
She banged against the door screaming his name. Now was not the time to be polite. She didn’t think that thing umm man followed her, but she couldn’t be sure. How had it gotten into her room? It came up from the floor, an illusion? Poof, it was there like a ghost. No, ghosts aren’t real. The supernatural is not real. True, you saw it happen in movies, but her life wasn’t a movie.
Maybe she ate something bad at dinner. Could Elfin have some disease that made her imagine things?
“Phoenix,” she screamed as she pounded harder on the door.
The door was opened by the broadest man she ever saw. He was all muscle. She met him once. This was Slade, Phoenix’s older brother.
“Come in Rylee.”
She’d be freaked out that he knew her name, but it was impossible to be more on the edge than she was now. An elevator opened, and a couple stepped out. A door next to it opened, and two more couples came out. Then Phoenix was coming from a different way.
It wasn’t until she saw him that she took a big breath and realized there was a strobe light effect going on with different colors. Not caring she threw herself into his arms. That was the only place she would feel safe.
“Rylee, what happened?”
“There was a man in my room.” She tripped over her words trying to make sense of them. “He came from the floor, big knife, tried to kill me.”
“How did you get away?” Slade asked her. He was watching the death grip she had on Phoenix.
“Phoenix,” she stuttered his name.
“What’s that mean?” One of the women she didn’t know asked her.
“Let’s sit down,” Quinn said.
“Brandi, are you getting the tea?” Piper asked her.
“I am, what do we have to go in it?”
“Rum, I’m on it.” Piper started looking through the cabinets. She pulled out a bottle they kept hidden and a cup.
“Get me a cup two, please Piper, I think I need some.” Serenity told her.
“Me too, I think we’ll all need a drink for this,” Quinn added. Heads nodded and soon there were five cups out with tea and rum. The guys didn’t drink unless it was something not found on earth.
“Thanks.” Rylee took the cup that was offered surprised to see that her hands were shaking. She took a few sips to get the rum and the heat of the tea inside before she started speaking.
“When you called me earlier Phoenix, you scared me when you asked me to sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door. I always slept on the other side. Then your insistence that I call you or come here if there was a problem had me thinking you were either crazy or prophetic. Combine that with making me memorize your number and directions to your house, I was spooked.”
She took another drink and looked around the room. The women were sitting at the table while the men took up space along the counters and the walls. They were all watching her. Were they judging to see if her story was authentic? Would they believe what she was about to say?
“I couldn’t help the nervous feeling I had. That made me decide to sleep in leggings and a cami. I hooked my purse over my shoulder, made sure my keys were in there. I put my car keys in the pocket of my leggings that way I wouldn’t have to look for them. I placed a pair of shoes on the nightstand and went to sleep, eventually. Then I asked Elfin to sleep with me. I didn’t want to have to search for him if there was trouble.”
She shook her head knowing how crazy she sounded. Phoenix stroked her arms, his strong fingers helping her more than the rum.
“I called you, remember? If anyone is crazy, it’s me.”
Oops, did she say that out loud?
“Wait until you hear the next part.”
“I woke up, figured I was jumping at shadows. I was about to close my eyes when I saw something off to the side. I turned my head, and a man appeared coming up from the floor. It was like smoke and mirrors at first, then he was there. He had a knife in his hand. He brought it down over the spot I should have been sleeping in.
“I saw it cut through the mattress. I would have been dead if I had been lying there. I was immobile unable to move. Then a look of shock followed by rage took over his face. It broke the spell, and I jumped up grabbing my things and ran for the front door.”
“He didn’t follow you?” Phoenix asked her.
“I don’t think he could; the bed caught fire hindering him.”
“How did that happen?” Mekhi asked her.
She lowered her eyes and shrugged. “How did any of it happen?”
“Rylee has a good point. I don’t know if you remember me. We met once a while ago, my name is Quinn.”
“I remember, nice to see you again. Phoenix says a lot of nice things about you. About all of you.”
Jabari gave Phoenix a grin before turning back to Rylee. “You’ll have to tell us some of the things my brother said about us.”
She looked between Phoenix and Jabari before laughing. “There is no way I’m getting in the middle of this.”
The mates laughed and high fived her.
“The last time you saw the person trying to kill you was in your apartment?” Slade brought them back to what was happening.
“No, I saw him out of my rearview mirror as I was pulling out the parking lot. He didn’t try to come after me.”
“He knew you were coming here. He must have seen us out together.”
“I think it’s time for me to ask the obvious.”
“Whew, I’m beat,” Serenity said standing up and taking Akron’s hand as they moved through the open hallway.
“I need to check on the kids.” Brandi stood, she and Jabari walked to the elevator hand in hand.
“Coming,” Piper called out.
Faster than Rylee thought the kitchen was empty of everyone except her and Phoenix.
“Your family got ghost fast.”
“They excel at it.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but they are a little…”
“Do you know that movie about not feeding the creatures after midnight?”
“Gremlin’s, I loved that movie.”
“That’s my family.”
She looked at him, eyes wide before she gave into the laughter bubbling up.
“Then the explanation should be good.”
“All the females, my sisters, are human.”
I rolled my eyes. What else would they be?
“My brothers and I are aliens.”
“Seriously? Really? Did Troy put you up to this? Was it some type of projection you used in my room?”
“Holy hell!” she screamed and hid under the table. The freaking table Rylee? Cause that will save you from whatever Phoenix turned into.
“Not human.” His voice came out like thunder; it was deep and rolled over her.
“Sorry to scare you. I need you to believe me.” He dropped to his knees and crawled under the table.
“Don’t get any closer,” her voice came out shaky. “Your evil, unnatural.”
“Unnatural?” He was sitting at one end of the long table, and she was at the other curled up into herself.
“Anything or being not of this world that does not conform to this world is evil, it is unnatural; therefore, it must be put out of its misery.”
“You’re right. I am unnatural; I was designed and made in a lab. My sole function was to kill. I was the first defense for a planet that couldn’t defend itself. When they were done with me and the others like me, they too called u
s unnatural and tried to kill us.”
“You were designed in a lab?” Her green eyes roamed his face looking for a lie.
“Is that all you heard?” He choked back a laugh and ended with a sigh.
“It’s what I choose to focus on.”
“Yes, I was created in a lab, like all my brothers. Unnatural.”
“No! I don’t believe that.” Her breath was coming fast, and her heart was racing. Once again, she was standing on a yawning cliff. Her choices would once again make her life. Was she going to buy into the lie or walk away from the only safety she knew?
“Unnatural is what the mad scientists would have us believe. They want us to think that not everyone deserves life or a chance, but they are wrong. The whole world is wrong. You are not evil.”
“There are some days I’m not sure I agree with you.”
“That only makes you human,” she laughed, and her eyes sparkled. Cautiously she got up until she was on her hands and knees. One slow motion at a time she crawled to him.
He reached out and drew her into his arms. This human, Rylee, his mate accepted him as he was. Only one other female ever did that. He thought back to Brie and how empty all of their lives were after she died. This amazing feeling, though still small, this is what Brie made Slade feel. In that moment as he rejoiced for himself, he mourned for what they had all lost.
“Phoenix?” There was a question in her voice as she felt him detach himself from her.
“I’m here.”
“I have to be going. Elfin and I need a place to spend the night. I don’t think I can go back.”
“You can’t. Your apartment might have survived the fire, but the reaper knows where you live, and he will come back.”
“Why, how?”
“I led him to you.” He bowed his head as he confessed his sin.
She placed her hand under his chin and tilted his head up. “He is not the first or the last to track me. Every day I live I call it a miracle.”
Chapter Seven
“Are you sure it’s alright?” She was standing in the doorway of what Phoenix called his wing. Elfin was clutched against her chest. Her purse was over her shoulder, and her shoes were hanging from her fingers. That’s when it hit her. All she had was on her. She ran from her apartment being chased by a reaper while everything she accumulated went up in smoke. Her knees buckled; she fell against the wall.
Phoenix (The Broken Book 5) Page 3
