Page 14 of Fated to the Phoenix

“Okay, Bex, it’s no big deal if the door doesn’t open. You’ll just go back to your phoenix shifter, snuggle in, and whisper naughty requests into his ear. But, if it does open, then you’ll have your own clean clothes to wear. So, win-win either way.” I placed my hands on the beam of wood and closed my eyes. Lifting the wood from its resting place, I shouted, “Yes!” Swinging it wide, I scrambled outside, then bent down.

With my fingers gripping the handle, I lifted the luggage, then let out a yelp when pudgy fingers wrapped around my wrist. Stunned, I looked up into the face of my attacker. I didn’t have to look far. He wasn’t that much taller than me.

“So, Lassie. Since you didn’t come back as promised, you can join me and those two gents behind me. There’s someone who's been waiting to meet you.”

The weasel of a barkeep grabbed my other hand, wrapped a length of twine soaked with vinegar around both my hands, cinching it tight.

Dammit!

Before I could kick him in the knee, he said, “Freeze.”

I couldn’t move and then one of the two meatheads behind him lifted me and carried me to a vehicle at the end of the drawbridge, tossing me into the backseat. The fools had forgotten one thing, though. They’d neglected to prevent me from yelling. I screamed, my voice raw the entire way, and prayed to the goddess that Trace would hear me through the thick stone walls.

“Tut-tut, lass. Your brethren mate isn’t invited.”

A rag was shoved into my mouth mid-yell. Idiot. “Too late,” I shouted. But it sounded more like “oo-ate.”

But who was the real idiot? My inept kidnapper or the witch who’d had her own spell used against her?

CHAPTER TWELVE

TRACE

Protect mate! Protect mate!

I woke to the sound of Bexley screaming, and my phoenix squawking its beak off. She wasn’t in our bed. And worse, my cycle had accelerated. But would I be reborn? I could only hope that we’d found each other in time.

But if dying for the final time was the only way to protect my mate, then I’d die.

A rush of emotion and what-could-have-beens bombarded me: Images of Bex round with our child. Had my seed taken within her womb?

Holding my first born, a son, and no longer being the only phoenix shifter in existence.

Being another step closer with my brethren to ensuring humanity’s safety.

Ending once and for all Dante’s cruel crusade to either kill or enchant our fated mates, tethering them to the vile demon.

I feared all of it was no longer in my future. But Bex and our child would have one.

Her screams began anew, and my inner phoenix had had enough.

Racing from the castle, the change happened as I cleared the threshold, stepping onto the drawbridge. My limbs were no longer human. Sharp talons grew in place of my fingers as my arms became part of my wing structure.

Wasting no time, I shot into the air, then watched in horror as feather after feather fell. Floating to earth, creating small piles. My core temperature rose as I battled it back down to manageable levels. Saving Bex was now all that mattered.

Catching a thermal current and with my enhanced vision, I found the vehicle carrying my mate. I’d sent out a distress call to all my brethren, but I knew I was on my own. They would never make it in time before the demon and his soldiers crossed the boundary back into human-controlled land. If I somehow made it until then, I’d risk the discovery of what I was.

The farther she was taken from me, the faster my death crept. I had to find another level of strength to close the distance between us. So, I did what I swore I’d never do. I reached out to my father, our sire. The being who from his first breath on Earth had begun this prophecy, through not only his belief that he was superior to the gods already ruling this planet, but his disinterest in training his sons for fear we would eventually make him obsolete.

He could choose to ignore me, as he’d always done, or surprise the hell out of me and provide me with even a tenth of his ability to overtake the demon vehicle and reclaim my mate.

“Trace!”

Bex’s cries sounded closer. I was gaining on the Humvee.

“Help me!”

I felt no link to Tiegh or any of my brethren, but I somehow made it to her. Chasing away the need for explanation, I flew even with the vehicle. Blacked-out windows reflected my image so I couldn’t tell which side of the vehicle she occupied. Through our link, which had been in place since we mated, I now heard her pleas for help in my head.

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