“Where is she?” Bron demanded, barging into Emily’s apartment.

Emily’s head shot up from the piles of papers spread across her small table. The one with a scorched hole. Her face burned bright with anger.

“How the hell did you get in my house?” she asked.

“I have a key,” Fenrir said, stepping in behind him.

“You have a what?” Emily’s face grew even redder. “How the hell did you get that?”

“I had it made at one of those hardware stores.”

She balled her hands into fists.

A moment ago, Bron would have sworn that he was the most upset person in the room, but now he wasn’t so sure. Emily looked mad enough to tear into Fenrir with her bare hands, even though she had to know that was a battle she stood no chance of winning.

“Okay,” she said, letting out a tight breath. “Why did you do it?”

“In case I needed to get into your apartment,” Fenrir said plainly.

Apparently, this wasn’t the answer she was looking for. She rose from her seat on the couch and stormed toward Fenrir with her palm stretched out.

“Give me the key,” she demanded.

Fenrir furrowed his brow. “But if I do that, then I won’t have one.”

“Yeah,” Emily said with a groan. “That’s the point, you overgrown labradoodle.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Stop this now,” Bron shouted. His voice shook the walls. “We’re not here to argue about locks and keys.”

Emily swiveled around. “So, why the hell are you here?”

Bron pulled his shoulders back. He took a step forward, so he towered over Emily’s head. She had to lift her chin to keep her glare going.

“Where is Adele?” he said.

She shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Em,” Fenrir said, his voice thick with warning.

She didn’t look all that intimidated. “It’s the truth,” she said.

And Bron could see in her eyes that her words were true…but the ones she wasn’t saying mattered more.

“But she’s been here,” he said, looking around the room. There was a recent indentation on the couch, a second cup of tea on the table. “Hasn’t she?”

Apparently, Emily knew better than to lie. “That’s none of your business.”

Anger surged inside him. Hot enough for Fenrir to sense the intensity of his emotions. He threw his arm across Emily’s chest and pulled her back from Bron’s wrath.

“Adele is my business,” he said. “She’s my responsibility, my friend, my…”

He stopped himself before he could go any further. These feelings were new to him and he wasn’t sure he was willing to share them with these two.

Turned out, he didn’t have to.

Emily looked up at him with knowing eyes. A hint of a smile curled the corner of her lips. “You love her, don’t you?”

“That’s none of your business,” Bron said, shooting her words back at her.

“And here I was, worried that Adele was making a terrible decision risking her neck for you,” she said with a laugh.

So, she had been here. “Where did she go?”

“I really have no idea,” Emily said. “She didn’t tell me.”

“Why did she come to you?” Fenrir asked.

“She had questions about the phoenix,” Emily said.

The phoenix? Not the Redcap? Bron wasn’t expecting that.

“She wanted to know how to free it.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“The truth,” she said. “The only way I’ve heard of, with fire. Hot mythical fire.”

Fenrir turned toward him, his face paling. “She means to free the firebird.”

Bron swallowed hard. He’d never heard even a hint of fear in the wolf’s voice before. The terrible truth was, Bron couldn’t blame him.

A Redcap was dangerous, but a free phoenix, here on Earth with no magic to stop it? That was terrifying.

They needed to find Adele before she went through with this plan.

“She wouldn’t set the phoenix free just anywhere,” Bron said, his mind whirling. “She knows the destruction it’s capable of. She’d never let the bird out in a place that would put other lives in immediate jeopardy.”

“So, she’d only do it if she knew the Redcap was meeting her somewhere remote,” Fenrir said. “Somewhere built to withstand a blaze.”

Bron’s stomach dropped. “I know where she is.”

He only prayed they could get there in time.

* * *

Adele’s whole body trembled as she walked across the long empty shipyard.

With every step, she flicked her gaze from side to side, certain at any moment she’d see the Redcap flying for her throat.

But that didn’t happen. The only movement was the tumble of litter caught in the wind. The only sounds were her footsteps echoing off the abandoned buildings.

She thanked her lucky stars. She was going to need perfect timing for this plan to work. That was going to be hard enough with shaking hands and feet, let alone surprise attacks.

The more she thought about it, the more she shook, until the quivering had risen all the way up from her feet to her knees. Yet somehow she managed to keep moving.

It wasn’t hard to tell what was different this time.

She wasn’t trying to save herself. She was trying to save Bron.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Deep down, she hoped she was saving both of them. That she was saving their future, their little house in the glen with the blue door and the bed of flowers.

But if despite her best efforts, she couldn’t do that, she could still save him.

She could keep him from the kind of death that could only be found here on Earth. The final kind. She’d meet the reaper before she’d let him go.

So, she’d swung by a hardware store in the Mission and picked up a bag of sulphur, a bottle of lighter fluid, and a windproof lighter.

Now she just needed to get close enough to the Redcap to put her plan into action.

Her pulse skyrocketed and her steps slowed as she neared the door of the pump house. Oh, no. She couldn’t let her courage run out when she needed it most.

She wrapped her hand around Silver and felt a shudder run through the stone.

She wasn’t the only one who was afraid.

Strangely, the realization made her feel better. Adele didn’t need a pep talk. She just needed to know she wasn’t alone.

And she wasn’t. They were both going into this with their eyes open, knowing that, come what may, they were doing the right thing.

Adele laid her hand against the metal door and pushed. The hinges groaned, louder than before. No doubt, the heat from the hellfire blaze had warped the metal. Good thing sneaking up on the Redcap wasn’t part of her plan.

She stepped inside and looked around. She didn’t see anyone.

But she did see the red stain on the floor. A large, imperfect circle of dried blood. Adele’s stomach twisted into a knot at the sight.

It was a staggering amount of blood, more than enough to kill anyone. Anyone mortal. It was a grim reminder of what she was up against. A being that couldn’t be killed with bare hands or knives. A creature immune to conventional weapons.

But that was fine. She’d come with an unconventional one instead.

“I want to know one thing before I kill you.”

Adele’s blood ran cold as the thin voice echoed off the walls. She turned around and the Redcap stepped out from behind the rusting pump in the center of the room. He was still several feet away, but the space didn’t give her any comfort. She knew he could close that distance in less than a heartbeat.

“I want to know how you—a frightened, little nothing—managed to become such a thorn in my side?”

Adele’s hands twitched at the sight of his pale, grinning face. She wanted to be ready for him, but how could she be when fear was threatening to swallow her whole?

“I-I don’t know,” Adele answered.

The Redcap shook his head slowly, menacingly.

“You have to know,” he said. “Tell me how you took the phoenix from me.”

She shook her head. “I-I don’t know.”

“Stop saying that.” Anger flashed across his face, his grim smile becoming all the more severe. “There isn’t a power in any of the three worlds that could have broken the bond I had with that soul cage, but you stole my necklace like it was nothing.”

“I didn’t steal her,” she said. “She came with me, because she likes me.”

“Likes you?” The Redcap let out a laugh. The sound chilled Adele down to the bone. “That thing doesn’t like anyone. It doesn’t feel anything.”

Adele shook her head. “You’re wrong. That’s why she lets me hold her. That’s why she doesn’t burn me. She knows I don’t mean her any harm.”

The Redcap narrowed his eyes and took a step forward. Adele immediately skittered back.

Damn it. She knew she needed to hold her ground for this plan to work, but it turned out knowing something in your mind and seeing it through were two different things. Especially when you were staring down a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.

“No,” the Redcap argued. “There must be something else. Some secret you’re hiding. Some hidden magic you’re using.”

He walked around her in a wide circle, like a cat circling its prey. He was closing in. Adele steeled her spine. She only had to hold on just a little bit longer. Just until he was close.

“No magic,” she said.

“You want me to believe that you—an inferior, mortal creature—took my phoenix, escaped my grasp, and wounded me in battle without any aid?”

Adele swallowed down hard. This was it. The moment of truth.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” she said with a shrug. “I’m just better than you.”

The Redcap rushed at her in a flash. Before she could even blink, his hands curled around her neck. Fear flooded her system. He pulled back his lips, bared the full length of his teeth to her. They glinted in the filtered daylight streaming in through the windows.

“You are nothing,” the Redcap growled.

He raised a hand to her cheek and dug a pointed nail deep into her flesh. A shot of searing pain shot through her face. Her whole body shook in fear and agony, but not hard enough that she couldn’t manage to slide her hands into her jean pockets.

“You are meat,” he said with a twisted smile. Pulling his arm back, he licked the blood that dripped off his finger.

Adele tried to recoil from the gruesome sight, but he held her too tight.

He lowered his finger to the chain around her neck and lifted the necklace up. Acrid smoke filled her nostrils the second he touched the metal, but the goblin didn’t so much as flinch.

“Now, give me my phoenix, and I promise to grant you a quick death,” he said.

Oh, thank God. This was what she’d been waiting for.

She nodded, and the Redcap yanked hard on the chain. This time, the necklace snapped off without a fight.

Adele balled her hands in her pockets, a handful of sulphur in one and a small container of lighter fluid in the other.

But before she could pull them out, the room shook with the sound of the metal door crashing against the far wall.

Bron.

He’d found her. Tracked her down fast…and at the worst possible time.

Even worse, he wasn’t alone.

Fenrir stepped in right behind him.

“Let her go,” Bron demanded.

“And if I don’t?” the goblin asked.

His fingers bit cruelly into her neck, but she didn’t dare cry out. She didn’t want to give Bron an excuse to come any closer. She needed him far away for what she needed to do.

“Then I will tear you limb from limb,” Bron said.

“And you think that your friend will help you succeed this time,” the Redcap said, turning his head toward Fenrir. “You must be the wolf I’ve heard about.”

“The one who will one day tear out the throat of your master,” Fenrir said, his voice low and deadly.

“We’ll see about that.” The goblin didn’t sound impressed.

“I will see it happen.” Fenrir made the promise sound like a threat. “You’ll die here today.”

The Redcap laughed again.

“No, I won’t,” the Redcap said confidently. He held up the hand holding the phoenix. The crystal dangled down between his fingers, glowing red and angry. “I won’t be dying this day, or any other. You’re too late.”

Adele looked over at Bron. His gaze clashed with hers. She shook her head, pushing past the pain of the Redcap’s brutal grip, silently begging him not to come any closer.

If he’d been to Emily’s then he had to know her plan. Now he just needed to trust her and let her finish what she’d started.

His lips pressed together tight. His chest rose and fell with each breath, betraying the conflict inside him.

Then he stepped closer.

The Redcap’s eyes snapped toward him.

“No,” she screamed. “You said you wouldn’t hurt him.”

The Redcap turned back to her with a look of pure malice.

“I lied,” he said. He let go of her throat long enough to slide the chain over his head. The crystal burned like a coal against his chest, but the goblin didn’t seem content. If anything, he looked even more bloodthirsty than before. “And now I’m going to kill every last one of you.”

“Not today,” Adele said, pulling her hands out of her pockets. She tossed the powdered sulphur into his face and followed it with a quick spray of lighter fluid for good measure.

“What is this?” the Redcap laughed.

Adele skittered back a step. She fumbled in her back pocket for the lighter, but two big arms wrapped around her middle, pulling her back before she could wrench it free.

Bron.

She struggled in his grasp. She had to get out of his hold. She had to finish this or everything was lost.

“Let me go,” she screamed. “I’m not done.”

“I need to get you out of here,” he said, pulling her back.

“Please, Bron,” she begged, knowing they didn’t have much time. “Trust me, the way I trusted you.”

His body stilled.

And then his hands fell away.

Adele sucked in a grateful breath. She knew that must have taken every ounce of courage he had.

But he trusted her more than he feared for her, and that meant more to Adele than anything.

“What are you doing?” Fenrir shouted at Bron from across the room.

Adele didn’t waste a moment. She ran toward the Redcap, pulling out the lighter as she went. The Redcap’s eyes glowed with arrogance as she approached. He sniffed at the powder on his shirt.

“Hellfire? You’re a fool if you think you can destroy me with hellfire,” he said. “I’m warded against brimstone flames.”

Now, it was Adele’s turn to smile.

“We call it sulphur, asshole, and it’s not for you.”

She tossed the lighter toward him, rushing back the second it hit his chest. Blue flame erupted instantly, engulfing his face and chest…but more importantly, the phoenix.

Silver glowed bright, turning from red to blue. A thunderous crack sounded, shaking the foundation of the building. The Redcap screamed in agony.

Flames flew from the side of the Redcap’s chest in the shape of giant wings. The heat rolling off them was so intense that the hair singed off her arm.

Adele stumbled back from the heat, right into Bron’s arms. Fenrir was by their side. Adele tried to peer through the smoke to see what was happening as Bron wrapped his hands around her waist and hauled her back.

They hit the door and kept going, out into the wide concrete clearing of the shipyard. Even out here she could hear the goblin’s howls as blue lit up the windows. All three of them looked on in stunned silence as the shadow play of the Redcap’s body being torn to bits flashed before the glass panes.

After a few minutes, the screams faded. The light show died.

Adele looked up at Bron. “Is it over?”

“I hope so,” he said, his jaw tightening. “Now, all that’s left is to face what we’ve done.”

“A phoenix,” Fenrir said. “Loose on Earth. May the Heavens help us.”

Adele shook in the protective wrap of Bron’s arms. “I’ll go,” she said.

“I’ll come with you,” Bron said, sliding his hand into hers.

Together they walked to the metal door of the pump house and pushed it open. Adele steeled herself for what she was about to find inside.

Given the light show they’d all just seen, she was expecting something massive, something frightening and terrible…but instead, all she saw perched on a pile of pale grey ash was a parrot.

Okay, maybe not exactly a parrot, but Adele figured Silver could pass for one, even with her unusual coloring. She was a bright blue that glistened and shone in the light, with long shining silver feathers from her tail.

She was gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. Certainly nothing to be feared.

“Silver,” Adele called out.

The bird made a beautiful trilling sound and flew toward her.

“Be careful,” Bron said, his voice tense, but Adele wasn’t afraid.

Not even a little.

The bird landed on her shoulder and lowered its head, rubbing her crown against Adele’s injured cheek. In an instant the pain disappeared and the bleeding stopped.

Adele petted the bird’s back.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you,” Adele said. She felt a glow of appreciation flow through her.

Apparently, not as happy as Silver was to be out.

“I know you’re not home yet,” she said. “But I promise, I’m going to do everything I can to get you back there.”

Adele looked up to see Fenrir poking his head through the door. She laughed.

“Seriously?” she asked. “You guys will rush in to face a Redcap, but this lady scares the hell out of you.”

“A wolf is never afraid,” Fenrir said defensively. “But we can be cautious. You forget. I know what that thing is capable of.”

“And I don’t?” Adele said, looking down at the pile of ash that used to be the Redcap. “But I also know a good heart when I meet one, and Silver here has one of the best.”

“You’re certain of that?” Bron asked.

“Of course,” Adele said. “Tell him, Silver.”

The bird trilled a beautiful sound before taking off and flying in a wide circle around the small building.

“See,” Adele said, looking up. “She’s fine. She won’t hurt anyone.”

“This is going to take a lot of getting used to,” he said.

“Who, me or the phoenix?”

“Both,” he said. “I have a feeling you’re a package deal until we can return her home.”

“Damn straight,” she said. “Maybe even after.”

“Oh no,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll promise you those silly flower beds before I promise to open our home to a phoenix.”

Adele’s brows shot up. “Our home?”

He pulled her in close for a kiss.

“Ours,” he said.

“Does that mean I definitely get my blue door?”

“For you, my love,” he said. “Anything.”