Page 29 of Wildfire Witch

He was going to help shape the narrative for what happened and why Nix would suddenly disappear out from under Lance Drakkon’s nose. It’d help him maintain his cover. As far as the gang knew, we’d never met before joining up and had become close fire brothers after surviving first initiation. He could spin this as a great betrayal and swear revenge, but knowing Coda, he’d do it with the drama of a high school theater kid and lay iton way, way too thick. It’d be a performance I’d want to record so I could watch it over and over and laugh my ass off each time.

He picked up a fragment of the conversation when we were in line for breakfast afterward. “I know you’d do the same for me,” he muttered.

I nodded in agreement. “And no need for halfsies anymore,” I said vaguely.

We were going to split the bounty if our mission ended with the captures or deaths of the gang’s most wanted members. But since I was dipping out, it was only right that Coda would get the money instead. Maybe he’d get a bed of gold for his fated mate?—

I stifled a growl at the thought. My dragon did not like the thought of being outdone, even theoretically, by a wolf shifter.

“Big, growly man,” purred the last woman I wanted to cross paths with on my last day here. She sat next to me at the picnic-style table I’d settled at with Coda and a few of the fire brother recruits whose company I could stand.

Jaida was a lioness, built nearly as broad and tough as any man. It was the only way she’d gotten through first initiation and become one of the few females around. The scarcity of competition made her bold. She drew a clawed hand down my bicep and flashed a coy look out of the corners of her eyes.

My dragon could not have been less interested.Not mine. She had the wrong build and scent. Too eager and without the touch of cynicism Nix had displayed. I liked a woman with sharp fangs.

I’d flirted with Jaida for information and to make my job easier, but regretted every moment. She had a fated mate out there whowould want her curves and strength. It just wasn’t me. “Paws off, Jaida,” I rumbled, shrugging off her touch.

“My my. Someoneisgrumpy today,” she said. Ignoring all signs that my second form was close to the surface, she leaned against my arm and reached to touch the middle of my shirt. “Maybe I have something you need?”

I pivoted and snarled at her, baring a mouthful of fangs and growing the protection of dark brown scales like armor over my arm and chest. She snatched away from me as if burned and released an involuntary whimper of submission to the dominance of my animal form. She followed this up with raised hackles. “The fuck is wrong with you, Rusty?”

“He’s acting like my brother did when he found his fated mate,” Coda commented.

Jaida flicked dismissively. “Just go,” I said to her, before she could start reasoning through Coda’s planted remark. We were the new blood in the compound, but knowledge of the phoenix witch’s capture would be spreading by now. I didn’t need her putting two and two together until after I was gone.

With a huff, Jaida grabbed her tray and sauntered away. I pretended to be bothered by it and shoved out of my chair five minutes later, taking my untouched breakfast with me. The other shifters at the table barely waited for me to be out of earshot before they turned to Coda to ask what was up with me today.

I carried the food straight to my fated mate, who sat in a corner of her cell, knees drawn to her chin. Shadows hollowed out the space under her eyes. “Oh, it’s you,” she said flatly.

My dragon surged, wanting to smother her. She shouldn’t ever have to take a tone like that with me—I was placed on her path in life to please her.

Calm. Down.She had to see the red tattoo peeking from the sleeve of my workout shirt.

“Brought you breakfast,” I said, sliding it through the slat in the door. I had had nothing to eat since we met yesterday. My dragon wouldn’t have it, not when she seemed so small and frail in that cell.

In reality, she was marked for death. Lance would’ve had a guard assigned to her and regular meals delivered if he intended for her to live. Things weren’t quite done with military precision around here, though. I doubted someone was watching the cameras to notice me taking up a post beside her cell. Most of the gang’s resources were being piled into vehicles and rolled out for the mission Benedict was leading.

Once they were gone, Lance would consider sending one of his lackeys to deliver Nix, and then he’d kill her. But that lackey would find an empty cell, if he was lucky. If he was unlucky, he’d find my fangs tearing out his throat if he arrived before I had the chance to sneak her out. I still had the key to her cell door and thorough knowledge of the compound’s weak points. I’d have her in an earthen dragon tunnel before Lance could sneeze.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as she scooted forward and started feeding herself the eggs and sausages the kitchen had cooked up. Her arm wasn’t swollen anymore and her scrapes were healed, I noted with a hint of satisfaction. The potion had done what she needed.

“Would it kill them to use some salt and pepper?” she muttered. It was too quiet for most ears, but my enhanced hearing picked it up without a problem.

“Food’s been shit the whole time I’ve been here,” I said in amusement. A protective growl laced my voice as I continued, “Eat it anyway. You need to keep up your strength.”

She rolled her eyes, but continued to eat. My dragon was pleased.We feed naked Nix a feast.I could practically feel my blood heading south as I pictured those plump pink lips sinking into real, good food. Like a barbecue rib, slathered in sauce, and I’d clean away any smeared on her skin with my tongue.

Fuck, this was out of hand. I burned with the need to claim and mark Nix as mine, but the situation couldn’t be more dire. I tried to think sobering thoughts and avoided watching her eat. I only turned when she skidded the tray away from her and popped the seal on the water bottle. “What’s the plan?” she asked in a low voice before gulping down half of it in one go.

My dragon watched her throat move in utter fascination. I shoved it to the back of my mind and considered. “Think you could take a cold shower in five minutes or less?” I asked.

“That’s exactly what I need right now.” Her sarcastic response confused me a little, but I figured no one wanted to take a cold shower. The cells had a single shower that was little more than a punishment box. The stink of an unwashed shifter body was an offensive weapon to those with an animal’s sense of smell, though, necessitating its existence to spray down long-term residents.

I reached into my shorts, where I’d kept the key to her cell. I unlocked it and held my hand out for her. “C’mon.” Shehesitated, and I cracked a smile, gesturing for her to leave the cell.

“You’re not worried I’m going to set you on fire and run?” she asked.

My dragon leaped at the idea. My vision shifted to its sharpness as I wondered if she’d follow through on this hypothetical. “It’s not a good idea to run from a shifter,” I rumbled. “Especially one with flameproof scales.”

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