Page 94 of Phoenix Falling
“So…a new phoenix has taken the throne.”
Shit.I skidded to a stop and twisted around, my hand going automatically to my thigh where normally my short sword was holstered within easy reach. But not today, not in the throne room of my people’s lair with no threat present.
Except, apparently, there was a threat, one I’d completely missed in my haste to escape. How the hell had that happened?
Moving cautiously, I stepped toward the throne, the only solid piece of furniture in the room. Was that where they—whoevertheywere—were hiding? “Who’s there?”
“No one you know, obviously.” From the shadows near the entry to the garden, a massive form stepped into the room. Easily seven feet tall, one of the biggest shifters I’d ever seen—he had to be a shifter at that size, almost dwarfing the doorway he’d stepped in front of. His head was covered with a hoodie, seeming incongruous in someone so powerful, but it effectively hid much of his features where he stood, backlit with sunshine. What caught my attention most was the electric-green light shining from his eyes. Those eyes sparked something in the back of my mind, but for the life of me I couldn’t grab hold of the thought with that stare searing me.
“How about you introduce yourself?” I moved closer to the middle of the room.
“Not sure that would help you much.”
“Try me.”
“I am the Source.”
I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Source of what? Good? Evil? Food? Bubble gum?”
The male chuckled. “Good point.”
“Glad I could amuse you.”
He moved into the room, his steps taking him closer to the throne. Waving a hand in that direction, he said, “You seem less volatile than your father was.” Green eyes narrowed on me. “I wonder if that’s true.”
I turned with him, keeping myself face-to-face with the stranger. “How did you know my father? And you still haven’t answered my question.”
“And here I was, hoping to distract you.” At the throne now, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his fatigues and propped a foot up on the dais. “I knew him because I made it my business to know him.”
“How?”
Without moving an inch, the male seemed suddenly to be looming over me. “Like this.”
Between one breath and the next, everything stopped. A presence slashed through my defenses, entering my mind with ease, and scoured me inside and out, reading everything I was, everything I had ever been or would ever be. No corner was overlooked, down to the minutest detail.
And then the presence was gone, faster than I could think to fight it, and I could breathe again. I sucked in a lungful of air, choking at the draw. “What the fuck?”
The male’s lips tugged up in a barely-there smile. “Give yourself a minute. It can be hard to get used to.”
Hard? It wasn’t the mind scan that was hard—I’d lost track of the number of times my father had invaded my mind, taking what he chose without permission or concern for his victim. No, it wasn’t the invasion that surprised me; it was the fact that it didn’t hurt. My body had immediately seized up, but in anticipation of pain. There had been none.
“What are you— How can you do that?” Only the royal line had the ability to take someone else’s mind with such ease. “Tell me who the hell you are.”
The shifter sighed. “I think you know who I am. Arik told you about me, didn’t he? He should have. He was working with you by then.”
That nagging sense of knowing came back. He was right; Arik had told me that a shifter with bright green eyes had helped him save Kat in the fight against Maddox. None of us had known whom he referred to. It appeared the mysterious stranger had decided to introduce himself.
The question was, why?
“How did you know about Arik and Kat?” I asked.
The male seemed more concerned about the tip of his shoe than about the fact that he was standing before the king of the Archai. “I know a lot of things.”
“So do I, but I don’t know you. Before Arik, we’d never heard of you.”
“Not me.” He tipped his head in acknowledgment. “Maddox knew me, though, very well. Helios knows me too. Not that either one of those is a ringing endorsement.”
“No, definitely not.” And the connections didn’t bode well for who this male was, nor what his intentions were. Besides, I was getting fed up with his fake bullshit. I’d try one more time though. “How did—do—you know them?”
