Page 6

6

PHOENIX

I ’ve eternally been known as the frightening one in our coven, darkness—death. It makes sense, considering what I can do. Normally, I try to avoid embracing my powers, for obvious reasons. But when Nico and I dragged that fucker into the woods, I lost my shit and control over my powers.

“If you keep letting it seep through him, you’ll kill him,” Nico said as we meandered deeper into the shadows of the trees.

“Would you care?” I asked as I repositioned the weight of the dumbass that was slung over my shoulder.

“No, but his death would haunt you, and I care about that.” Nico stepped up beside me and met my gaze. “And do you really want to be in that headspace right after we’re united with our heart ?” Grass and twigs crunched under our shoes as we hiked further into the trees. “She … I think she ne eds us to have clear heads … She seems like she’s been through a lot.”

I smashed my lips together, recalling the instance I first laid eyes on her. It was right after this fucker, who’s across my shoulders, smacked her across the face.

Kill , my powers screamed. Kill, kill, kill him.

I might have if it weren’t for her. I didn’t want to scare her—she’d already looked so terrified. But in the fear, a spark of fierceness had resided.

She’s been through a lot—I could see it on her face. I can see it now as we make our way to the SUV so we can drive to the house she’s staying at and get her stuff. It makes me okay with my decision not to kill the human who hurt her. Although he’ll suffer a lifetime without the ability to remember anything, even his name, because Nico wiped his mind clean.

And I may have permanently paralyzed his hands, which wasn’t part of the plan, but I figure that way he won’t ever be able to hurt anyone again.

She’s quiet as we walk to the SUV, and she keeps her eyes on the ground. The wind is blowing through her long, wavy locks that are various shades of brown, reminding me of autumn leaves.

And don’t even get me started on her eyes. Gods, I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my life. Every single color is in them, and light seems to absorb into colors, not reflect, as if her eyes are rainbows absorbing the sunlight.

Just then, those eyes I’m obsessing over lift to mine. I’m a bit uneasy about being caught staring at her, but I’m not the only one. Wylder and Nico are eyeing her just as intensely. Wylder looks a bit apologetic when she notices him studying her. Nico being himself, though, offers her a smile and a wink. I mentally roll my eyes while Wylder sighs. And Emberlynn? She gets this adorable quizzical look on her face, like she doesn’t quite know what to do with Nico. No one really does.

“Here we are,” Nico announces as we reach our SUV.

It’s a beastly vehicle with a lift, massive tires, and tinted windows, and the glass is made of faerie crystal, which protects against magic from getting in. Usually, we don’t drive around in this massive thing, but it’s the safest vehicle we have. And considering why we drove here, we’re going all out on safety.

“Your chariot, my lady,” Nico says to Emberlynn as he opens the back door and bows at her like a weirdo.

As ridiculous as he is, Emberlynn cracks a smile that she hastily stifles, as if she didn’t mean to do it. Then she moves past him and quickly climbs into the vehicle.

“I got her to smile,” Nico whispers while beaming from ear-to-ear.

Usually, I’d have some smartass comment to toss back at him, but he did get her to smile, so I bite it back.

I kind of regret my decision when I climb into the back seat with Emberlynn and hear Nico laugh then whisper to Wylder, “Dude, he didn’t even chew me out. I think I won that one.” Then he starts to hop into the back seat, but I put my hand on the spot he’s about to sit down on and shake my head.

“Your giggling ass can sit up front.”

Nico’s eyes narrow, but a smile tugs at his lips. “I didn’t giggle. I chuckled.”

“It sounded like a giggle to me,” I tell him, refusing to move my hand.

He remains standing outside the car and rests his arms on top of the SUV as he dips his head and levels his gaze with Emberlynn. “How about we let Emberlynn decide?”

When I glance over my shoulder, I find she’s observing this entire exchange. With how quiet she’s been, I don’t expect her to say much of anything.

Her gaze travels from me to Nico, and she gets this spark in her eyes. “It sounded like a giggle to me.”

Nico deflates a bit. Wylder, who’s standing outside behind Nico, drags his hand across his mouth to conceal a smile. I have to bite back one, too, which doesn’t happen often—I’m not a smiley sort of guy.

“I see how it is,” Nico says to Emberlynn, his smile returning. “But you know what? I think you’re right. It was kind of a giggle.” With that, he moves back, gestures for Wylder to get in, then climbs into the passenger seat. Kaiden is already in the driver’s seat and has the engine running as Wylder gets in and closes the door.

The moment he does, the scent of her floods the cab. She smells like everything that’s wonderful, all sugar, and warmth, and sunlight, and I discreetly breathe it in .

“Do you need my address?” she asks, directing the question to Kaiden.

He shakes his head as he shifts into drive. “We have it in the file we have on you.”

“Oh.” A crease forms between her brows. “What else is in that file?”

“Not much,” Kaiden says as he drives forward.

She wavers. “Can I see it? The file, I mean.”

Kaiden nods then signals for Nico to retrieve it in the console. Once he gets it out, he hands it to Emberlynn.

She’s sitting close enough to me that our legs touch as she slants forward, and when she reclines back, she doesn’t move it away as she sets the folder onto her lap.

When she flips it open, she frowns at the photo of herself. “Where the heck did this photo come from?” She crinkles her nose before glancing up at me.

“The council probably had the witch who reported you take it,” I explain, partly paying attention to the conversation and partly fixated on how her knee is still touching mine.

“She reported me?” Emberlynn questions uneasily. “Why?”

“Because you set off your magic. Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble or anything,” Wylder tells her. He’s leaning forward so he can look at her. “It’s actually good that you did. It helped us find you.”

The corners of her pretty lips dip downward. “Using my magic is never good. It’s why I didn’t use it on Liam.”

“Who’s Liam?” I wonder, noting how much she seems to hate her magic. It reminds me of how I feel about mine sometimes and makes me wonder what she can do.

“The guy that you allegedly didn’t kill in the woods,” she says, returning her gaze to the folder.

“We didn’t kill him,” I insist. “We just made it so he’ll never be able to hurt anyone again.”

Her gaze flits to me again. “And how did you do that?”

“By wiping his mind,” Nico answers, rotating in the seat to look at her. He lets out a soft laugh. “And then Phoenix?—”

“Helped dump him in the woods,” I cut Nico off, glaring at him, warning him to keep his mouth shut.

But it’s already too late.

“What did you do?” Kaiden asks, his eyes colliding with mine in the rearview mirror.

He’s pissed, and while I’m not afraid of him or anything, he’s annoying to deal with when he gets like this.

I carry his gaze. “I just added an extra precautionary measure to make sure he never puts his hands on anyone else again.”

Kaiden’s eyes narrow, and he continues to stare at me in the rearview mirror, even as he drives down the road. He says nothing. Neither do I.

Emberlynn’s gaze dances between the two of us. She no longer appears to be afraid, just curious.

I exhale in exasperation. “Fine, I paralyzed his hands.”

Emberlynn’s eyes widen, and she mouths, “ What the fuck ? ”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” I defend as I sink back into the seat and cross my arms. “And he deserved it.”

“I don’t give a shit if the guy can’t use his hands anymore.” Kaiden steers onto a road that leads into a neighborhood where all the houses are similar two-story brick structures. In the magical world, all buildings and homes have unique qualities to them, so seeing this world, the world where my heart has lived most of her life, is depressing. “But we were supposed to be limiting our use of magic, something I’ve stressed multiple times …” He trails off as he slows to a stop in front of a massive hole in the middle of the road.

Emberlynn scratches her cheek. “Yeah, that was my fault.” She pulls a whoopsie face that is seriously the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen.

Nico’s eyes glitter in delight. “That’s impressive.”

“Not really.” She frowns. “Someone could’ve gotten hurt. And I didn’t mean to do it. Liam threw this shake at me, and when it hit me in the chest, it threw off my concentration enough that I let some of my magic spill out.” She flings her hand in the direction of the hole in the road. “And that’s what happened. Thankfully, I managed to rein it in before the entire neighborhood became a giant hole.”

“We can help you learn to control that,” I tell her at the same time Nico and Wylder both say, “He threw a shake at you?”

She glances at the three of us before her gaze lands on me. “Control it like I won’t have to worry about it twenty-four seven? ”

I nod. “Yeah. I mean, if your emotions get too intense, like if you get pissed off, it’s a little bit harder. But, for the most part, with some training, your magic can coexist with you.”

I don’t mention an exception exists for this, like with certain abilities some witches have. Kaiden and I are in this category, but she doesn’t show any signs of that yet, so I’m not going to worry her unless it’s necessary.

Relief washes over her pretty features. “Good.” She directs her concentration back to the folder while Kaiden drives around the hole in the road.

“Did the shake hit you?” Wylder asks.

Anger crackles under my flesh at the reminder. I should’ve just killed him.

She tenses but keeps her focus on the file as she reads over the limited info on her. “It’s not a big deal. The worst part of it was that I lost control of my magic.”

“Okay, but did it hurt you when it hit you?” Wylder queries, swapping a look with Nico and me.

He’s thinking the same thing as I am—that she doesn’t care that much about herself. It hurts deep in the cavity of my chest to think about what she’s been through that’s caused her to feel that way.

She quietly sighs. “It hit me in the chest and left a small bruise, but?—”

A wave of darkness ripples across my skin. Her gaze snaps from my arms to my face, her eyes huge.

“Sorry,” I grit through my teeth as I take a few measured inhales and exhales .

I worry she’ll slide away from me, but she remains put.

“Is that what happens when you have too much emotion?”

“More or less,” I reply, the shadows of my magic absorbing back into my skin.

“Oh.” She considers this before looking back at the folder.

Kaiden parks in front of a—surprise, surprise—two-story brick house. The gloomy clouds shadow across the trees and landscape. A few neighbors are standing in their yards, watering plants and mundane stuff like that.

Wylder shoves the door open and hops out. I follow suit, and Emberlynn follows, leaving the folder on the seat. The moment she’s out of the SUV, Wylder stands in front of her.

“Let me heal your bruise,” he pleads, his eyes begging her to let him.

He can’t help it. Healer witches’ natural instinct is to heal, but the urge is more severe with Emberlynn because she’s his heart and his sole purpose is to take care of her—it’s the same for all of us.

She tugs her jacket tighter around herself. “It’s not a big deal. It’s a few days old, so I barely notice it anymore.”

“You should let him, anyway,” Nico tells her as he bumps the door shut. “It’ll make him happy.”

Her brows knit. “To heal me?”

Nico nods, stuffing his hands into the back pockets of his jeans as he steps up onto the curb beside her. “It’s a healer witch thing … sort of. ”

She fleetingly falters before glancing back at Wylder. “Okay, if you really want to.”

He nods, inching close to her. Wylder is tall—we all are—and while he has a few inches on Emberlynn, it makes me realize she’s on the taller side, as well, all legs that I hope one day I can have wrapped around my waist.

“It’ll be just like last time,” he explains while holding her gaze. “I just need to place my hand on the injury.”

Biting her bottom lip, she nods. “Okay.”

“Can you put my hand on where the bruise is?” he asks, being careful with her.

She continues biting her lip as she nods. Then she takes Wylder’s hand so his palm is lined right over where her heart is. It’s the same place where I felt that agonizing pain right before we found out about her existence. It makes me wonder if that’s what the pain stemmed from—her pain. It breaks my heart.

Her breathing increases as Wylder begins to heal her, and her eyes momentarily lower as if she’s basking in the sensation. I’ve been healed by a healer before, and it didn’t feel that great, but I’ve heard that it’s a different sort of experience for a healer witch’s heart .

She lets out this pleased little gasp that sends warmth pulsating through my body. I’m not the only one affected by it, either. Nico’s eyes flash with desire, and even Kaiden, who’s rounding the front of the SUV, missteps when he hears the noise. And Wylder looks utterly at peace as he moves his hand away, but only to brush his fingers along her jawline.

Her eyelashes flutter open, the rainbow shade shining brighter. “Thanks. I didn’t realize how much it hurt until it was gone.”

Wylder caresses her jawline. “Anytime.”

She offers him a small smile before turning away and facing the house. Wylder’s smile fades, his shoulders slumping. I know why—he doesn’t like that she was in pain at all. It’s the same thing we’re all thinking.

I make a silent vow right then and there to do everything in my power to make sure she never has to hurt again.