by Lynn Hagen
She looked at Phoenyx in wonderment. “You did this to me, for me?” She threw her arms around him. Phoenyx ignored the fact that her blanket had fallen. “You gave me back my memories of my grandson. Thank you so much!”
When he looked at his mate, Edward held a shaky hand over his mouth, unsheathed tears in his eyes.
Estelle turned and hugged Edward, unabashed that she was in her bra and underwear. Edward didn’t seem to care as he wrapped his arms around her and held on to her.
“Goodness!” She giggled. The woman actually giggled like a little girl, which made Phoenyx chuckle. “Where are my clothes!”
She grabbed the blanket and took off down the hallway, her strides steady and strong.
Edward gazed up at him. “Thank you doesn’t begin to show you my gratitude for what you did. How long will this last?”
Phoenyx shrugged. “A few years, maybe. If she starts to decline, we’ll just give her another glass of tea.” He couldn’t be one hundred percent sure since he’d never healed anyone like Estelle before.
Edward laughed as he threw himself into Phoenyx’s arms. The feel of Edward against him, the way his mate held on, the pure joy on his face had been well worth it.
Phoenyx would give a glass of tea to the entire geriatric population in Brac Village if that kept a smile on Edward’s face.
He saw now that he was a complete pushover for his Golden Eyes and he would end up doing whatever the male asked. Phoenyx just prayed that wouldn’t lead to his damn downfall.
* * * *
After making sure his grandmother was truly okay and set for the day, the four of them made their way to Edward’s house. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to see, but the burnt-out shell was a devastating blow.
The ground was still saturated with water from the obvious fight the firemen had had putting the blaze out. Yellow caution tape curled around his house and yard like a snake, forbidding them from getting any closer.
Edward had lost everything.
Everything.
He bent over and pressed his hands into his knees, pulling in a lungful of air and letting it out slowly, trying his best not to fall apart. His clothes, photo albums, and keepsakes. The cherished pictures hanging on his walls. Irreplaceable things that he would never get back.
The locket that had belonged to his mother. The only thing he had of hers. The framed memories of his life with his grandmother. The birthday and Christmas cards from her. His iPad, the only expensive thing he’d owned.
Gone.
Phoenyx hunched down in front of him and slid a hand down Edward’s back. “I know nothing I say will help right now, but you escaped. You’re still alive, sweetheart.”
“You’re not homeless,” Deandre said. “Your home is with Phoenyx.”
In the demon realm.
Edward had taken too many blows in the past few days. How many more times was life going to sucker-punch him before he was finally knocked out?
His mate looked toward the house, his glare scorched at the edges. “I’m truly sorry you lost your house.”
“It’s not mine.” Edward took one last cleansing breath and straightened. “It’s a rental. The owner is going to be pissed.” Edward prayed the guy had homeowners’ insurance to cover the loss.
It had been a nice property, and Edward hated what happened to it. Of course it was his fault. There was no one else to blame. Lyle, yes, but if Edward hadn’t dealt with him in the first place he wouldn’t have nearly gotten his soul sucked out, choked in the diner bathroom, and had a fire-breathing creature torch the rental, almost killing him in the process.
Edward had to pull himself together. He’d lost material things, not his life, and that was what he had to concentrate on. For Phoenyx’s sake, because he stood there looking so helpless.
For Edward’s own peace of mind.
He had to restore some normalcy to his life, even if his normal had drastically changed. “We can leave.”
There was no use crying over charred remains.
Regardless of what Drake and Casey thought about him, Edward wasn’t delicate. He’d taken yet another blow, and anyone going through this would need a bit of time to go through the stages of grief, even if it was for a house.
Edward would get through this crisis and come out stronger on the other side.
Or become a basket case.
Edward was leaning heavily toward basket case. But damn, the way Phoenyx was looking at him, his jade-green eyes filled with warmth and… Was that love?
Hadn’t his grandmother said that the redhead was in love with him? Edward was too afraid to believe that was true, too afraid to hope that he finally had someone in his corner, besides his grandma.
Phoenyx placed his hand on Edward’s nape. “How does going to Jake’s sound?”
“Perfect.” After the past few days Edward could use something to drink. That was if he’d been a drinker. But a coffee sounded heavenly and normal.
Anything to get away from his burnt-out house. The smell alone was too painful a reminder of what he’d lost.
“I’m really sorry about what happened.” Phoenyx took Edward’s hand and led him toward the side of the house. It was getting lighter and lighter by the minute, but there was a shed in the corner of the yard. Edward suspected that was where they were headed, though he wasn’t sure Phoenyx would fit in there.
But he did, and he pulled Edward to his rock-hard chest, hooking his arms around him. They were no space between them. Edward was crushed against Phoenyx, but Edward loved the closeness, the way he could look up into Phoenyx’s eyes, smell his masculinity, and feel just how hard the guy was for him.
The loss was easier to bear when Edward had this big, gorgeous warrior wrapped around him, looking down at him as though Edward meant the world to him. Phoenyx was a rush to the senses and a high that made Edward dizzy.
He could see himself loving his mate for the rest of forever. Even though they hadn’t even known each other very long, Phoenyx was easy to fall in love with. Despite Phoenyx’s terrible past, Edward knew the warrior had a heart of gold.
Which made him even sexier.
“Let’s go home.” Phoenyx slid his knuckles over Edward’s cheek.
That word held a whole new meaning for Edward. Not a rental that hadn’t really felt like a home but only a place to lay his head, a lonely existence that sometimes became too much.
An apartment in the demon realm that overlooked a beautiful city and where his heart lived. The man standing before him. The guy who had saved him multiple times without wanting anything in return.
“Let’s go get some coffee.” Edward smiled.
Phoenyx closed the shed door, bathing them in darkness. Edward clung to his mate, but the feeling of falling never came. Instead, the shed dissolved, and Edward gasped as he found himself in a thick, dark forest.
* * * *
Phoenyx knew something was terribly wrong when he’d felt a suction feeling, pulling him out of the shed and slinging him… He had no clue where they were, but he immediately shoved his mate behind him as he looked around.
Crows cawed, and the leaves rustled heavily with the wind. Phoenyx’s senses were on high alert as Edward clung to the back of his shirt.
“Where the hell are we?” Edward’s voice was a combination of fear and intrigue. “This isn’t part of the demon realm, is it?”
“No. I have no idea where this place is.” Phoenyx leaned his head back and shouted Panahasi’s name, hoping the demon leader heard him. He waited a few minutes, but nothing. “We need to get moving.”
Phoenyx had the strange sensation of eyes on him. Someone was watching them as he grabbed Edward’s hand and carefully walked forward, his head on a swivel, his senses wired, and his instincts telling him that this place wasn’t as serene as it looked.
An uneasy niggling started at the back of his mind, but Phoenyx couldn’t figure out what it was. There was something about this place. He wished he knew what that was, bu
t it was as if the revelation was on the edges of his mind, just out of his grasp.
“Can’t we just leave?” Edward whispered. “Can’t we just find somewhere dark and go to the demon realm?”
Although the canopy of trees provided cover from the blazing sun, the branches and lush, green leaves didn’t block out enough of the rays. Phoenyx looked around but didn’t see where he could use a doorway back to Serenity City.
“We need to keep looking.” Phoenyx advanced forward, keeping a tight hold on Edward’s hand. A part of him was freaking the fuck out, but he kept that part hidden from his mate. Right now Edward needed Phoenyx to be strong and steady and use his brain to figure a way out of here.
He moved around a few trees, searching for a break in them, some kind of clearing or house or something that would tell him where they were.
Phoenyx stopped when he felt a warm sensation in his chest. When he looked down, he saw a soft blue light, the shape of a small ball, hovering near him.
Then it was gone.
“I don’t like it here.” Edward gripped his arm. “I don’t think we’re even in the human realm anymore. You feel that? I feel a strange buzzing around us, like we’re walking through charged energy.”
Phoenyx felt it slide along his skin, making the hairs on him rise. He was one hundred percent sure they weren’t in the human realm any longer when he spotted a dark shadow lingering behind a tree just up ahead of them.
He stopped walking and again pushed Edward behind him, readying himself for battle.
* * * *
“What kind of weird shit is going on?” Deandre watched as Phoenyx and Edward stepped out of the shed and looked around. Phoenyx slung his mate behind him, stepping cautiously through the backyard.
Both their eyes had a weird, white film over them, as if they were possessed or something.
“Phoenyx,” Donny said. “Can you hear me?”
“Panahasi!” Phoenyx shouted. He gripped Edward’s hand and moved forward. It was the freakiest thing Deandre had ever seen. It was almost like they were in some sort of trance.
“No.” Deandre grabbed Donny’s hand. “Don’t touch them. That might have an adverse reaction.”
Donny walked over to the shed and closed the door. Seconds later Panahasi emerged. Deandre jutted his chin toward the pair. “I have no clue what the hell is going on. They went into the shed, closed the door, and then came back out doing that.”
“I don’t think they even know where they are,” Donny said to their leader. “And do you see their eyes?”
Panahasi moved closer, standing directly in front of Phoenyx, but Phoenyx simply walked around Panahasi as if the guy had been an obstacle instead of a person.
“Their minds are in some sort of trap.” Panahasi held up a hand, palm out, close to Phoenyx’s chest. He closed his eyes as Deandre wondered what he was doing.
A soft, incandescent blue light misted out of Panahasi’s hand, shimmering between them, before he dropped his hand. When he spoke, he snarled his words. “Dark fae magic that I can seem to penetrate.”
That shocked Deandre. He didn’t think there was much of anything Panahasi couldn’t do. He should’ve been able to break the spell with his eyes closed.
“We need to find Lyle,” he said to Deandre and Donny. “Something tells me he has a partner, because he shouldn’t be able to produce such powerful magic.”
“What do we do about those two?” Donny waved his hand toward Phoenyx and Edward. “We can’t just leave them out here to wander the backyard of a burnt-out house.”
Panahasi threw his arm out and a swirling black vortex, tall enough to accommodate their height, opened up. “I’ll take them somewhere they’ll be safe and won’t get hurt wandering around. Meet me by the Black River.”
“You expect us to use that shed?” Deandre was all for helping Phoenyx and Edward any way he could, but fuck if he was going to be sucked into a trance. He was surprised Panahasi had come out of it unscathed.
“He’s got a point,” Donny said. “The last people to go in their got their brains scrambled.”
Panahasi threw his arm out in their direction. Another vortex appeared. “I’ll be right back.”
After he walked the men into the vortex, Deandre looked at Donny. “The last time he said that he disappeared and not even his mates could get ahold of him.”
“I don’t like this shit,” Donny grumbled. “Too much crazy voodoo going on.”
Deandre snorted. “I thought you were Irish? Irish people don’t believe in voodoo. I thought the Gaelic believed in Tautha Dé Danann?”
“Come on before the vortex closes and I shove you into that shed.” Donny strode into the vortex and was gone.
Deandre grinned. He loved fucking with the guy and wasn’t done. Not by a longshot.
He gazed at the tiny wooden structure that had seen better days and shivered. Whatever the hell was going on, he hoped Panahasi dealt with it before more shit happened, because he’d kick that fairy’s ass if he got his brains scrambled.
Chapter Ten
Edward was not feeling this one bit. Something hinky was going on, and now Phoenyx stood as if he was about to beat someone’s ass. It took a second for Edward to figure out what he was looking at.
He slapped a hand over his mouth to stop the scream as a three-horned beast stepped into the path they’d been walking on. Its shoulders were so wide three men the size of Edward would be able to sit on them. Okay, maybe two, but damn, they were humungous.
It had a barreled chest with large nipples. Edward had no idea why he was staring at them, but they were round, brown, and had pierced barbells in them.
Edward had to be trippin’ balls. He was in some kind of coma. It was wishful thinking, because being here in reality made his heart leap right out of his chest.
The thing also had a tail that swished back and forth, the end furry and brown. It didn’t have ordinary legs, either. Fuck. Edward was seriously losing his mind. Were its feet really hoofs?
It was like looking at a warped bull on steroids.
Looking down, Edward spotted a tree branch and grabbed it. He wasn’t sure what he would do against something so big, but damn if he would face it empty-handed. Maybe, if the creature was male, Edward could whack it in the nuts, giving Phoenyx a fighting chance to kill it.
Good lord. He’d been around the demon warrior too long if he was contemplating going into battle. Just a few days ago Edward would’ve gone running and screaming and trying to find the nearest exit.
The new Edward was holding the branch like a baseball bat, ready to swing at the first opportunity. Too bad he didn’t have a gun or he’d up the creature.
He’d just learned that word a week ago. Up. Meaning shoot. Edward didn’t understand why Oliver had used the term, but he considered himself progressive and wanted to be current with the latest slang.
Even if the term was dumb as fuck. Crap. Now his mind was wandering. He wasn’t great under pressure. Pretty much cracked under it. But with Phoenyx at his side, Edward had stolen a little of the guy’s bravery.
Just a little.
“Put that branch down and get behind me,” Phoenyx growled.
“I don’t doubt you’re a badass warrior, but I’m not putting anything down.” Though Edward had moved a foot behind his mate as a precaution just in case he actually did chicken out.
Which was a huge possibility because the limb was getting heavy and Edward’s arms were shaking too badly. He was liable to hit Phoenyx before he even got close to Bullzilla.
The beast snarled, and Phoenyx charged it. No warning, no heads-up, just straight forward with a deep growl from Edward’s mate. The two were roughly the same height, but the creature was a lot thicker, and Edward was terrified it would overpower Phoenyx.
Then Edward saw it. The creature glitched. So had some of the trees. They flickered for a moment, just a tiny second, making him think he imagined it.
Were they really in a forest fighting s
ome bull-like creature, or was this one of Lyle’s tricks? Phoenyx must have noticed it, too. He stopped before he reached the thing and turned to look at Edward, his brows pulled down in a pinch.
“Is this all in our heads?” Edward dropped the branch and walked over to the nearest tree. It felt solid under his hand, felt real enough, the bark pressing into his palm. He smelled earth, the scent of pine, and felt the breeze caressing him, ruffling strands of his hair.
“Look out!” Edward grabbed the branch he’d tossed aside as Phoenyx spun to stare at the advancing creature, its beefy hands reaching for his mate.
Phoenyx ducked, rolled, and got to his feet, slamming his fist into its side. He followed that up with a few blows to other parts of the body, but the creature acted unfazed.
Even as big as it was, it should’ve felt something.
Edward squeezed his eyes shut, telling himself that none of this was real, chanting those words over and over again. When he opened his eyes, he caught a faint outline of a room, walls, no furnishings, but big enough, with wooden flooring and floor-to-ceiling windows.
They were in Serenity City.
But not.
Edward knew when the image faded that they were trapped in their own minds. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he did. And he didn’t think anything Phoenyx did to the bull would matter.
It wasn’t real.
“Imagine him bleeding and on the ground,” Edward shouted. “None of this is real!”
Phoenyx appeared confused but nodded. He swung away from a hard blow that would’ve caught him dead center in the chest. Edward gasped, fearing the fake thing would actually hurt his mate.
He looked down at the branch then back at Phoenyx. Shit, this was too bizarre for words. The bull was on the ground, bleeding!
Phoenyx hurried over to him. “We’ve got to break the spell somehow.”
“No shit, but how do we do that? We know this is all fake, yet we’re still here.” They couldn’t wait for help to arrive. They’d gone into the shed, and there was no telling what had happened after that. Had they made it back to the demon realm, or were they still at Edward’s house? Did Deandre and Donny know what was going on?
