Page 14

Ever

B ellamy brushes my sweaty hair out of my face tenderly. “That’s enough, pretty girl, I’m calling it for the day.”

Hands on my knees, I suck in ragged breaths. “No, I can do this. It was a little easier this time, I just need to practice more.”

Ledger appears with a cup of water, face pinched. “You've been at this for six hours. It's okay to take a break.”

Easy for him to say. Pretty sure Ledger's never had to stop and catch his breath in his life. I can just picture him as a tiny, buff toddler doing pull ups in his sleep, the jerk.

“You're overthinking it and stressing yourself out. Come on, I know what'll get your mind off things for a little while,” Bellamy says, gently unclenching my fist and lacing his fingers through mine.

Of course I’m overthinking it. The only factor here that isn’t working is me. Even Kiara can borrow powers on command, and though she tries to hide it, I’ve noticed how much it hurts her.

Arson’s cool, soothing shadows envelope me like an emotionally dependent snake.

A little alarming, a small threat of being strangled to death, but mostly offering the same type of comfort as a weighted blanket.

He helps switch off the anxiety chewing at my brain, telling me that I’m not good enough.

That I’m a failure. There’s never been a problem I haven’t been able to solve before, but with every day that ticks by with barely any progress, my frustration grows.

Even the children in the compound can do this as easy as breathing.

Stewing in my terrible mood, I follow Bellamy automatically as we leave the training arena, but get distracted the second I see we’re headed for that shimmery barrier that I noticed was off-limits on my first day here.

Bellamy types in a code in a discreetly placed box embedded in the rock.

The moment the barrier disappears, he ushers us through quickly, and not two seconds later, it snaps back into place.

The jagged blue glowstone inlaid in the ground leads the way, keeping it from being too dark to see.

It took a day or two to get the lay of the land, but I finally figured out that blue means daytime, while purple is night, giving people a sense of time and normalcy without access to the sun.

Arson, Myles, and Ledger are two steps behind, never leaving either of us unsupervised since the kidnapping.

I get it. I hate it, but I get it.

Even Bellamy filling me in on his latest prank against Adam, hacking his social media and posting about how devastated he is that his girlfriend left him because he’s a cheating piece of shit with a small dick, doesn’t completely lift the dark cloud over my head.

Following the winding tunnels, we eventually end up in front of a modern door sturdier than all the others, and Bellamy inputs another code before turning the handle and waltzing in.

I stumble over my own feet, my bleak mood melting away in favor of awe.

It’s like we’re in a giant geode, the light reflecting across the numerous gemstones as prisms and sending rainbows dancing across the curved edges of the walls.

Throughout the cavern are a series of nests on multiple levels, a pile of brightly colored dust that glitters in the light in the center of each.

And fussing over those piles of gemstone dust?

Birds in various colors, flames dancing along their brightly jeweled feathers.

Phoenixes.

“Holy hell,” I breathe, taking it all in.

Kiara is bent over one nest, cooing at a phoenix like it’s a casual, everyday occurrence. I catch a flash of black creeping up the veins in her wrist before she notices us and jerks back, hastily tugging her sleeve down.

“Fates, you startled me.” Hand fluttering to her chest, she takes a deep, shaky breath.

The phoenix beside her squawks and Kiara rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, Steve, I heard you, calm your tits.” She yanks an emerald out of the wall, giving it to the agitated bird.

It starts pecking at it, heat rising in the room as we watch in awe as it begins to crumble under its attack.

As soon as it’s reduced to green ash, it rolls their egg around in the gemstone dust, scooping it up and trying to bury the egg again.

Myles’s voice is filled with awe. “Is it insulating them, or is it an instinct to keep their eggs hidden from predators?”

Kiara grabs a couple of different gemstones and gives them to a phoenix that’s looking particularly distressed, flinging a rainbow of ash out of its nest. “A little of both. It’s also what makes them different colors; whatever gemstone dust they’re exposed to while eggs affects their coloring when hatched.

I still can’t figure out how they choose which one they’re drawn to, though.

Clearly. ” She shoots a dirty look at the one that flings every single one of the new stones right back out of its nest. “They’re usually so sweet, but once they lay their eggs, they become high maintenance assholes that drive me to drink. ”

“I can't believe they’re actually real,” I breathe, chest constricting, slowly spinning to take in every detail and sear it permanently into my brain, desperately wishing I had a camera.

How many magical things have I missed out on in life because I didn’t know where to look?

Kiara frowns in my direction. “Your mate is a wolf shifter, right?” When I nod, she asks incredulously, “So where did you think dragon shifters and the like came from?”

Talk about feeling like the stupidest person in the room.

“When you put it that way… it seems kind of obvious. Ledger’s second in command at the bookstore is a dragon shifter, I just never really thought about it long enough to ask the bigger questions.”

Kiara looks at me with sympathy, letting me off the hook. “They're what gives the compound the magical glow laced into all of the rock, mimicking night and day down here; they’re in tune with the sun.”

“So how did they know to flash red when the wards broke?” Ledger asks.

She looks at him like he's dumb, and it makes me feel a little better about not being the only one playing supernatural catch up for once.

“They felt them break and sensed the danger. The warning wasn't for us, it was them communicating the danger to each other, and we benefit from it. They've evolved to realize calling out to each other makes it easier to be found by hunters.”

Suddenly, Steve lands on my shoulder, talons digging into my flesh. Afraid to so much as breathe, I watch nervously out of the corner of my eye, not wanting to startle him. For all I know, he’s going to burst into flames and burn half my hair off.

For several tense minutes, he simply preens, a little too casually, barely acknowledging me.

Then, fast as lightning, he snaps at a few strands of my hair, ignoring my yelp as he takes off with them tightly clamped in his beak, landing in his nest. Without sparing me a second glance, he gently wraps the teal strands of my hair around the egg amongst the rest of the turquoise dust.

Wincing, I rub at my tender scalp. “Do I even want to know what he wants with my hair?”

“Consider it an honor, they hate most mysts. And if it gets Steve to fucking chill, I’ll pay you to let me me give you a haircut.” She huffs, annoyed. “Even his mate ditched his ass to handle tending the egg solo, he’s so neurotic about it.”

Kiara is busy bent over a nest, a silver glow emanating from her hands as she keeps her back to us.

“People think it's their ashes or feathers that make them valuable, and sure, they’re useful to a degree. But the real power is in their tears. All my years working here, and the only time I’ve seen one cry is when some idiot stole an egg to try and raise it as a pet.

One drop, and he couldn’t use his powers for weeks, and since then, every phoenix has dive bombed the stupid oaf as soon as he’s in sight.

They may look majestic, but these fuckers hold a grudge. ”

She shakes her head with a fond smirk and waves me over. “Here, you can help me. Parents abandoned this one, so I’ve been trying to tend to the nest and pray to the Fates it’ll work. Slowly rotate the egg so it can soak up the warmth from your hand. Then we’ll bury it in the ashes.”

Save the magic phoenix baby. Sure, no pressure or anything.

The guys give us the illusion of space, exploring the rest of the hatchery while keeping half an eye on me the entire time.

Honestly, it’s the most space I’ve gotten since I was kidnapped, and I’m both relieved they don’t consider Kiara a threat, and anxious at the newfound space after getting used to them living halfway up my butt.

She drops her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“Those mates of yours seem like a handful. Are you planning on snagging a few more while you’re here, or is your bondgroup at capacity?

” When I raise an eyebrow at her, she lifts her hands in surrender, laughing.

“You wish. No, not asking for me, or even for a friend. But rumors make their way even this deep in the tunnels, and I hate to tell you, but you’re the most exciting thing that’s happened in ages.

I’m just shamelessly living vicariously through you. ”

I buzz my lips on a heavy exhale. “I’ve got my hands full with four fated mates. Any more, I’m pretty sure we’d all kill each other. The bathroom schedule is already at the point of drawing blood.”

Her eyes widen in shock. “Fated? Damn, they conveniently left that out of the rumor mill.”

“Is that… bad?”

She scoffs, helping me bury the egg and letting the gemstone dust absorb the heat of our hands.

“Are you kidding me? I think it’s a sign that things are changing.

The Fates finally deigned to give a mimic some badass protectors so you can live without jumping at shadows.

” She sighs wistfully. “It’s all any of us dream of, honestly.

Or at least, those of us brave enough to admit it. ”

I frown, the reality of how she must have grown up starting to click and carefully asking, “If you didn’t have to worry about anyone forcebonding you, what would you do with your life?”

Kiara’s eyes flare in surprise. “Honestly… I’ve never really let myself think too hard about it.

It’s always been a matter of what I was qualified for and what the community needs.

Which locals I could see myself potentially settling down with despite the fact that none of them have really stood out to me and I was getting to the point of resignation; choosing the least offensive options available.

Because any new recruits would either be kids, or mimics coming out of really shitty situations, and I’m not sure I’m willing to bet my future around the off chance that the perfect mate will magically show up one day. ”

My heart hurts for her. Sure, she’s grown up somewhere safe, but she’s sure as shit not happy.

Shooting a quick glance to the guys to make sure they’re distracted, I hesitantly whisper, “What if you came with us when we left?”

She sucks in a sharp breath, and the look on her face is so hopeful, it’s heartbreaking. “Seriously?”

Nervously, I wet my lips. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s dangerous out there, especially for a center.

” I gesture at the tattoo on her wrist she usually keeps hidden beneath long sleeves and go on to repeat what Ledger explained to me about the supernatural world.

“Admittedly, I’ve had limited exposure to myst society, and that colors my perspective.

I think the people here have only experienced the worst the world has to offer, though,and that makes them biased as well.

Nowhere is wholly good or bad. But if you’re willing to fight for it…

I think the world might surprise you with all it has to offer. ”

Exhaling a weary breath, I glance around me and admit, “Forewarning, it’s nowhere near as magical as this.

Us humans seem to have sucked the magic out of everything and forced it underground.

Maybe you’re better off down here, away from all the bullshit.

No worries about backstabbing motives and greed driving people to hurt others.

It seems simpler here, and that’s magical in its own right. ”

Kiara looks at me funny. “Well there’s your mimic problem, ding dong. You still consider yourself human.”

I freeze, fingers buried in purple ash and realize… she’s right.

“If you want to see something really magical, I could take you out past the ruins,” she suggests.

Immediately, Bellamy whips his head towards us, clearly eavesdropping. “Are you insane? Did you forget what happened the last time you went poking around in its lair?”

Kiara rolls her eyes. “Ugh, you’re never going to let me live that down, are you? I told you, it was my fault for startling the poor thing.”

Bellamy’s jaw tics. “It tried to eat you.”

“Hence why I was bringing him food!” she argues.

Bell’s eye twitches. “You’re not feeding my mate to the basilisk, Kiara. End of story.”

“Of course not, I was going to see if she wanted to help me feed it, you big buzzkill. But fine, I’ll drop it.” She winks at me and mouths ‘ Later.’

I snort, shaking my head, knowing there’s no way in hell that’s going to happen. But one thing’s for certain; I don’t need to worry about Kiara coming with us. It’s the world that needs to brace itself for her.