The ground shook as Damien rushed at the bastard who hurt Nix. An inhuman roar pierced the air as his ears elongated and his fangs burst forth, giving way to his alternate form. Large leathery wings exploded behind him as he went flying, grabbing the part-blood off of Nix and sailing through the air a few hundred feet before driving the man into the ground-hard. The vibrations from the impact ran up my legs as I chased after them, knowing the rest of my brothers were taking care of Nix.

Hiro’s cry of outrage rustled the leaves on the trees and caused every blade of grass to stand at attention while the man who hurt our girl growled and fought back against Damien’s grip on his throat as they grappled. If I weren’t so enraged it would be laughable, no one could beat Damien’s alter. The rage pouring through our mental connection was thick and consuming, but none of us tried to reign back our emotions. I felt Ryder’s steely determination to save Nix, the brewing storm of Hiro’s wrath, and Theo’s seething anger and worried panic as he worked out what the asshole had done to our Nix.

Nix’s cry of agony split the air, and all our creatures surged forward; ready to protect; ready to defend, ready to fucking end the piece of shit that dare lay a hand on her.

She’s gone. Ryder’s words and desperation entered my mind. I couldn’t fucking save her. I healed everything I could.

My Puca snarled in my head, ready to be unleashed. I had never felt him so angry before, and while I may be a fucking rabbit in my alternate form, I had no doubts that he would tear shit up if I let him loose. The thought was tempting—the need to destroy aching bone deep.

I could feel Damien slipping, losing control. I knew the Gargoyle was, first and foremost, a protector, even if he wanted nothing more than to end the villain in his hands. I knew he might resent himself later if he took things too far and actually killed the guy. I couldn’t say I would feel the least bit sorrowful if he did. My Puca and I had no such qualms. We protected what was ours, and we had already claimed Nix as our own, no matter whether that meant as friends or more. The years of torture and pain he put Nix through… no, I couldn’t say I would be sorry in the fucking least.

Damien. Let me. I pushed that thought as hard as I could through the fog of anger clouding his mind. I might not be able to mind read the way Damien could, but he was projecting loudly, all his attention focused on the fight and not on his mental barriers. Close to losing his control, Damien roared in the part-blood’s face before easing off of him, letting me take his place.

Faster than either of us imagined, the bastard took advantage of our distraction as we switched places and used the opportunity to scramble to his feet, throwing himself at me in a series of punches and kicks. He landed a few hits to my jaw as I took him down, but I couldn’t even feel the hits through my outrage. He deserved to be on the ground. Fuck, he deserved to be six fucking feet under. Straddling Michael’s abdomen, I punched him as he bucked, trying to unseat me and free himself. He was stronger than I would have imagined for a part-blood and I filed that information away for later. Now was not the time to allow my thoughts stray. I let my anger fuel my hits, and my knuckles peeled open as I pounded my fists into the asshole’s body. It felt so good to make the ugly bastard bleed. He hurt my Nix. He would never get to touch her again.

Damien stood sentry over where I dolled out my punishment, returning the favor and making sure I didn’t take things too far, as well as providing me with backup should I need it. I knew he wanted this bastard to suffer as much as I did. We all felt the same way. The abuse that Nix had suffered at his hand, not only tonight but her entire life… I couldn’t even think about it without my vision going red around the edges.

“Killian.” The deep, ragged voice of Damien’s Gargoyle called out to me, full of warning as he heard my thoughts, pulling me back from the edge of control I was teetering on.

Keeping the fucker pinned, I breathed deeply, using the surroundings to pull me back from the darkness that was overtaking me. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed while I was lost in the red haze, but I could hear Hiro, Ryder, and Theo murmuring to a still Nix behind me.

“It’s alright, Nix. We're right here.” Hiro’s voice was soft and choked.

“God, Nix, love. What the hell did he give her? She should be regenerating.” Theo’s voice was shaky as he knelt next to her, inspecting the bottle that had fallen to the ground when Damien had flung Michael across the clearing. “I need to figure out what he gave her. This is taking way too bloody long. I don’t know why she’s not waking up!” Theo was trying hard not to lose his mind as he analyzed the scene, but I could see that the leash he kept his beast on was slipping. His human form had noticeably bulked up as he fought his shift. Theo always had control over his monster, and seeing him so unhinged now shook me.

The bloodied part-blood shifter beneath me had the audacity to let out a sick, garbled laugh, and I fucking lost it. Pulling my arm back, I let my fist fly directly into his face, effectively knocking him out. Whirling, I growled at Theo. “Of course she’ll wake up! She’s a fucking Phoenix!”

Theo stood, glaring at me. “Killian. Her regeneration is taking longer than it did when she was shot. If I can figure out what he gave her, maybe I can figure out a way to speed up the healing! Who knows if what he gave her could prevent her from regenerating at all!” His voice brokered no arguments, and, damn it, he was right.

Reigning in my anger, I stood reluctantly. Michael was still unconscious, anyway. Damien took a step closer, staying nearby in case he needed to help restrain him. “If we can wake him up, we can let Damien dig through his head. I don’t trust a word this fucker says. He’d tell us the wrong thing just to fuck with us.” My voice was raw and harsh as I sputtered the words.

Theo nodded in approval. “Ryder.”

Ryder snapped from his position on the ground, cradling a bleeding Nix. “No fucking way, dude. I don’t want to heal that bastard.”

Theo sighed, pressing his fingers against his eyes. “I don’t want to heal him either, but we need to be smart about this! Something’s wrong. We all feel it and until I can figure out what, we can only wait! If something is interfering with her ability, I want to help her! I won’t lose her, so get your ass over here, now!” He was nearly roaring as he finished speaking, emotion lacing his words.

Ryder sighed and brushed a soft kiss across Nix’s head, before passing her into Hiro’s waiting arms. I was glad one of us had her. We would never let her go through this alone. I was kicking myself for allowing her to leave earlier this evening and wished with every fiber of my being that we had insisted she stay with us. I should have never agreed to let her go back to the dorms. Fuck! My Puca and I should have been able to see this coming. Rage seethed through my body and out into my limbs, making me clench my hands into fists again. The hatred I felt toward myself for not being able to see this, for failing her, was eating me alive. For once, my Puca stayed silent, in complete agreement with my human half. Her body was completely still; no breath nor magic had yet returned. “Phoenix can’t die. Phoenix can’t fucking die…” kept playing on repeat in my head.

Damien cleared his throat and winced a little. “Kill, shields up. You’re screaming that at me. It’s starting to hurt.”

I growled, trying to bring my shields back into place. I wanted them down; wanted to let my Puca help sense any change around us, so we would know when her rebirth started. Before I sealed them in place, I felt my Puca push his magic out across the clearing, searching and reaching for Nix’s, hoping to lure it out of her and bring her back to us. When the tendrils continued across the clearing and crawled up the spelled barrier, I sighed and forced my Puca back, mentally barring my thoughts from Damien.

Ryder crouched next to Michael and swore. I saw his fist clenched as he battled with himself over his desire to hurt rather than to heal. “Bloody Hell.” He eyed me, and I caught the dark glint in his eyes. “I’ll heal him, but when we get what we need, I want you to knock him the fuck out again.”

I smirked as I thought about that silver lining. It was a dark thought for Ryder, but my Puca growled his approval. Watching Ryder heal the fucker was going to be cruel and unusual punishment for us; hopefully, it wouldn’t be pleasant for the scumbag either.

Ryder’s hand hovered over the fucker, and his hand gave off the typical blue glow that signified his healing touch. Clenching my jaw, I watched him stir slightly on the ground and had to take a few steps backward to prevent myself from jumping him again. Besides, it wasn’t my turn. Theo hadn’t had a chance to deal with the devil yet, and I just knew his Kraken was waiting in the wings for his turn at satisfaction.

Michael grunted and groaned as Ryder healed his concussion and patched him up enough to bring him back to consciousness. If this guy was smart, he’d be shitting his pants right about now: four mythologicals, rigid as stone, pissed as hell, looming above his place in the dirt ready to reign justice down on his head.

Theo leaned over Michael, his blue eyes hard and cold as ice. “What was in the vial? A drug? A poison?” His voice was full of authority and command, and I saw Michael flinch under the weight.

Coughing and spitting blood between his broken teeth, he tried to sneer at us through his swollen eyes. “That bitch got what she deserved. May as well bury her now.”

My Puca lunged, trying to gain the upper hand.

Theo merely cocked his head, somehow staying in control. This was one of the many reasons why he was the leader of our group. “You’re an abusive asshole, but you’re still a shifter. You obviously were using her for something. You wouldn’t have tracked her here just to kill her; it doesn’t make sense. While you’re not intelligent, there should still be a semblance of logic behind your actions.” His electric blue eyes narrowed and flashed with dangerous intent as he continued, “You’re obviously not her father, which means you’ve been harboring a minor for a reason. You can either cooperate and tell us what we want to know, or I can let my companion here…” he inclined his head towards Damien, “… dig through your head. I can assure you he won’t leave it in the same condition he finds it, although your sanity is already questionable.”

Michael paled, seeming to finally realize the depth of the situation he now found himself in. Glancing at the hard, cold, rage-filled faces around him, I saw some of the fight leave his posture, and he licked his lips. “I’ll tell you, but I want this one to heal the worst of this shit first.” He pointed first to Ryder and then motioned to himself. While nothing looked particularly broken, other than a few teeth, I knew his ribs must be cracked and his body would be riddled with bruises within the hour, some already showing up on his face—spread around his eyes and over his nose and cheeks. I wasn’t fucking sorry, and I could tell that Damien wasn’t either.

A noise rumbled through Theo’s chest, and I saw a flicker of his beast as he tried to keep his Kraken under control. His sea monster wouldn’t do us any good here in the clearing; although, if he did shift, his alternate form would probably smash the guy, so it’d be a win for me.

“Ryder, heal the worst injuries,” Theo ordered.

Fuck no. Ryder spat the words and Damien sent them to us telepathically.

Ryder and Theo locked eyes as a silent battle commenced. This is our chance to help her. I have no idea what the hell he gave her, and until we know, all we can do is sit around and pray she wakes up. What if whatever he gave her ends her? He had a purpose in coming here. I just got her; I’ve barely had any time with her; I won’t let her go. I’m not going to just stand here and do nothing. There’s five of us and one of him. Heal. Him.

After a short stand-off, Ryder finally nodded his head once. Fine. Growling, he pushed his fingers through his hair, leaving some blood clinging to the purple tips. “I hope this fucking hurts.”

Crouching down next to the part-blood, he hovered his hands about two inches above the guy’s body. Closing his eyes, I watched as Ryder’s hands glowed blue while he read the man’s injuries. Without any fanfare, Ryder pressed his hands into the man’s ribs, eliciting a scream from him as he hastily knit Michael’s bones back together.

Ryder’s grin edged towards feral as he retracted his magic as quickly as he had started it. “It’s enough.” His voice was rougher than it had been only minutes before, deepened by the magic of his animal.

Michael was gasping, breathing heavily, his face white when Ryder stepped away. I growled. I didn’t like the idea of the bastard having any kind of relief. The momentary glimpses we had gotten from Nix during her first shift were only snippets of her pain. He should suffer just as much.

“Speak. Now.” I’d had enough. He could give us the information we needed, or he could let me undo all the work Ryder had just done as I knocked him out again.

“Kill.” Theo’s voice was hard—a warning to reign in my temper. Narrowing his eyes on Michael as the man sat up on the hard ground, he pushed for answers. “What did you give her?”

“It’s Vish Kanya venom.” Snarls ripped through the clearing, the most ferocious coming from the kitsune holding Nix. He may not be right there with us—instead, he was guarding Nix—but he was far from left out of the proceedings.

“Fuck.” Ryder visibly paled and hurried away, heading back towards Nix to check on her.

“Why?” Theo ignored Ryder, keeping his eyes trained on the murdering, sadistic creep. “That’s not an easy substance to get ahold of, and there are far easier ways to kill someone.” The menace in his tone did not go unnoticed.

“She’d just revive if I used other means.”

“Except for iron, but you already know that.” The conversation between Theo and Michael continued as we all listened in. “Hence the knife.” Theo motioned to the weapon lying in the grass several feet away. “You knew she was a Phoenix. You didn’t want to kill her.”

I was trying to piece together the information, but it was hard to think through my anger. Thank fuck we had Theo.

A disturbed laugh came from Michael. “Oh, I have no problem killing her.” Damien and I roared at the same time, but Theo stayed a hand in our direction.

“Careful, part-blood.” The menace wasn’t lost on him.

Sobering, the asshole rephrased. “I don’t care what happens to her if she’s useless to me. I expected the bitch to change years ago.” Hiro snarled through our mental line. Listening to this fucker talk shit about our girl was pushing all of our patience.

“What does it matter to you if she changes or not?” I couldn’t keep quiet any longer as I spit the words out.

The sick bastard chuckled, his eyes glinting. “Not so smart after all, are ya? Don’t know much about Phoenix shifters, do ya? That girl’s worth her weight in gold. All I needed was her Phoenix’s blood. Could’ve made a fortune selling it. Stupid slut, too fucked up to shift. Her human blood is useless! I needed to bleed her Phoenix!” He was shouting the words by the time he finished, trying to get his eyes on Nix’s prone form. His face flushed with his anger and his eyes brightened as he yelled towards the other end of the clearing. Turning back to us, he sat up. “I could make you all rich beyond belief. I’ll let ya have a cut if you turn her over to me now. I fucking know she should be able to shift. Now, with that there venom, she should be a gold mine.”

The growl that ripped through the clearing wasn’t mine. I hadn’t had the chance to get a sound out before Theo’s form bulked up in size, and he grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt and hauled him up off the ground, winding up with his other fist and letting it fly in the asshole’s stomach.

“You fucking bastard!” Again, not my words… even though I was damn well thinking them. “You killed her!” The feminine cry let the air as Rini strode across the clearing, purpose flaring in her eyes as tears streamed down her face.

Theo shoved the asshole away, pushing him towards the ground before he turned to catch Rini as she flew toward Michael. She shouldn’t be here; her bears would kill her if they knew she had put herself in danger like this.

Everything happened so fast after that. Just as Ryder, Damien, and I started to move towards Michael so that Theo could deal with Rini, the bastard pulled the gun from the back of his waistband.

“THEO!” Damien roared as we rushed forward.

Aim.

Theo turned, throwing himself in front of Rini.

Fire.

The silver of the bullet glinted in the moonlight as it flew towards Theo. It was like everything had changed to slow motion, and my eyes widened as I watched it pierce his skin. Grabbing hold of his stomach, he went down.

“Theo!” Rini screamed and lunged at his fallen form.

Anger burst from me as I unleashed my Puca, who had rushed forward the second we saw the gun. I let his magic flow freely from my fingertips, aiming our illusion around the clearing. The hallucination of thick fog swirled around everyone, blinding Michael and the guys in the process. Faking him out, I threw projected images of Damien and me around the clearing. The dark misty shapes flashed in and out, giving Michael a false sense of direction.

Killian! Help me! I can’t see! I need to get to Theo! Ryder begged telepathically.

With my hands spread out to my sides, I stood with my feet braced and threw my magic around the clearing, shielding my brothers as they moved. My eyes closed as I worked on sending them images of reality. I focused on getting Ryder to Theo first, watching as he reached him and knelt down, immediately applying pressure to the wound to staunch the Aussie’s bleeding. Theo coughed and gurgled, his eyes glazed over from the pain, as Ryder’s hands started to glow with healing power. Once Ryder was settled I checked on Hiro. He was cradling Nix’s body against his as he ran her to safety and was almost to the barrier. Changing my focus again, I pushed through the illusions I had created and sent the images to Damien, essentially giving him eyes. Michael was blindly aiming around the clearing, trying to get a lock on one of us—all illusions—as he backed up, working to find an exit.

It’s silver. I need to get this bullet out, or he’ll bleed out before we can save him! Guys! We need to move! Ryder’s voice was strong and sure as he ordered us.

Go. I’ll stay behind. Damien responded.

Like hell. I growled. We don’t split up. I’m not letting this asshole go. I’ll stay with you.

I watched through my illusions as Ryder tried to heft Theo off the ground, but he was still larger than usual, his Kraken having pushed against his restraints before he was shot. The result left Theo much heavier than he typically would have been. A dense heaviness. Rini tried the best she could to help, but she was no match for the mythological.

I can’t move him. Ryder grunted through our minds as he tried again. Get Rini out of here! She can’t see this. If we lose him… His voice cracked in our minds.

Goddamnit. There weren’t enough of us to handle this. With Theo down, Ryder keeping Theo alive, Hiro guarding Nix, and me using my powers of illusion, that left Damien.

The struggle warred within him. He could see from the images I was continuously feeding him that Michael was getting closer to the far edge of the barrier. Theo’s blood spilled in an ever-growing pool as the silver lodged in his stomach kept him from healing properly. Rini was crying, and Theo had mercifully passed out. The blue light continued to radiate from Ryder’s hands. Hiro was past the reach of my powers, and I fucking hoped that meant Nix was safely ensconced in my bulletproof Hummer.

I pushed an idea to Damien, realizing that we needed to take a chance. Counting down, I prepared myself to drop my illusions. Three. Two. One. I sucked the magic that was spread throughout the clearing back into myself, giving everyone their eyesight back. Michael was so close to the barrier; as soon as he saw the murderous Gargoyle, now over his aversion to killing the man who’d been slowly destroying our family, he turned and fled as fast as he could run.

The crash of Damien’s body hitting the magical force field shook the ground just as I reached Ryder and helped him haul Theo gently off the ground. Rini helped as much as she could, seeming to get herself under control now that she had a mission to complete: getting everyone the fuck out of this clearing.

The resounding growl that came from the Gargoyle was chilling, even to me, and I watched as he struggled to push past the barrier. Fucking hell. It must be spelled so that no shifters can cross in their alternate forms. The fucking bastard was getting away. My Puca hopped around angrily in my head, so upset and ready to charge after the villain, that I had to pull him back—hard.

“Damien. We need to go.” The words were tight as I fought my instincts to give chase.

Rini must have realized our internal battles because she quickly broke away from Theo, finding the inner strength to go to Damien. Placing her hands on the sides of his face she whispered to him. “We need to save Theo, and we need to save Nix.” Stroking the sides of his face with her fingers, she calmed him down enough to help him shift. It wasn’t done in any kind of romantic way, but touch was the strongest form of communication in our alternate forms, and it was what broke through his anger-induced state and helped bring him back. Breathing deeply, he forced his wings to fold away and his ears to return to normal. While he was still working to retract his fangs, I thought he would be able to cross the barrier now.

Anger and self-loathing seeped through the mental connection; while I didn’t blame Damien in the least, it didn’t sit right with me that the fucking bastard had escaped. Damien wanted to go after him, but I was sure he was long gone, and now we needed to take care of our own. I would be damned if I lost two members of my family tonight. No. Priority number one was to get Theo home and healed while we waited for Nix to regenerate. Everything else would have to wait.