Chapter 2

Sharp pain stabbed through Nickie’s sternum all the way to her spine before shooting down her arm. Even though she’d survived the same thing countless times in her twenty-six years of life, she’d never gotten used to it. A grunt slipped past her lips as black dots swam through her line of vision.

“Nicole Belinda Grovin, if you die on me now, I won’t forgive you. Not ever. Do you hear me?” Jasmine yelled the question at her from the driver’s seat.

Nickie took a shuddering breath. “I’m having a heart attack. I’m not deaf.”

“You think this is funny?” The vehicle swung wildly over the gravel road as her best friend glanced her way, her eyes so wide the whites showed around the irises.

“Fuck. You’re going to kill us. Eyes on the road,” she barked back. Of course, it wasn’t funny. Nothing about it was humorous in the least. But it would be over soon. Her heart would stop, she’d be dead for a few minutes, and then it would kick into gear again. Thank fuck. Unless this time it didn’t start up again. None of the doctors had been able to give her any answers. “I’m sorry. I know this scares the shit out of you.”

Jasmine shoved her unruly hair out of her face. “We’re going to find that asshole this time. And he’s going to be yours—not one of theirs. I know it. I can feel it in my bones. And this is the last goddamn time you’re going through this. The. Last. Time. Then I’m going to kill the fucker for doing it to you in the first place.” The little quiver in her voice belied her tough words.

Nickie gasped, then giggled. “You know that will only make me go through it again, right? If he dies, I die. That’s how it works. Unless, of course, the witch was just a crazy old lady who didn’t know what the hell she was talking about.” The pressure in her chest increased, robbing her of her breath. She tried to hold back her moan, but the pain tore through her, fast and hard. If speed at which her symptoms were progressing were any indication at all, her mate was in rough shape.

“Fuck!” Jasmine yelled again. She slammed her fist against the steering wheel, making the vehicle lurch to the side. “I hate this. I hate it so much.”

“I do, too. It’s almost over,” she wheezed out. Her heart stuttered one moment, only to race like she’d run a marathon the next. “Just keep driving. The GPS says to go left—”

Another wave of pain crushed her, stealing the rest of her words.

“Got it. Left at the fork in the road. Don’t talk. All right? Just get better and hope to hell that old woman had the right coordinates. If she didn’t, she’s in for a world of hurt when we see her next.”

Clutching her chest, Nickie twisted in her seat. With shaking fingers, she wiped the cold sweat from her brow. The two SUVs that followed carried non-perishables, and three more women with the same ridiculous affliction she’d been born with rode in each. Adding Jasmine to the pile made eight of them in total. Why Jas had been allowed to come along for the ride, she had no idea, but she was glad. As long as her best friend was with her, she could get through anything.

“There it is. There. See it?” Jasmine asked, her voice rising, this time with excitement as she pointed somewhere up ahead. “We’re almost there. Just hold on.”

Nickie breathed through her nose and out through her mouth and a strange burning sensation in her nose made her sneeze. Maybe, just maybe, if they found him in time, they could save him, and in the process, save her. That, of course, depended on whether he was hers, but she refused to believe otherwise.

The Ranger skidded on the loose gravel as Jasmine swung to the left, taking the final leg of their journey at speeds that weren’t safe for any of them. But Nickie recognized the fear in her friend. The desperate need to keep from living through those few minutes when Nickie’s body was nothing more than a husk, waiting for life to come crashing back in, lived in her, as well.

She hadn’t understood it. Not really. Not until she’d witnessed Mac’s death a few nights ago. The terror of it made her shudder at the memory—blue lips, glassy, empty eyes, motionless body. It wasn’t anything she wanted to see ever again. Yet Jasmine had been there for her several times a year since the day they’d met. Somehow, no matter what had gone on in their lives, Jas was always the one with her when her heart stopped beating.

Jasmine raced over the rough road. Even when it turned into a rutted path, she drove on. It wasn’t until it was impassible that she put the vehicle in park. “You okay? We’re going to have to hoof it.”

No. Not even close. Her fingers were numb, and black spots swam before her again, but she blinked them away. “I’m fine,” she lied.

Dark, ominous clouds loomed ahead, swirling in a way that should have sent them running for cover. The other SUVs pulled up next to theirs, and the women spilled out. Each of them looked straight at it, strapping blades and guns onto their bodies. She wasn’t the only one hoping for salvation in the form of a supernatural being—a phoenix.

When the witch had come knocking, Nickie had laughed at her outlandish stories, but the more she spoke, the more what she said rang true. Call it wishful thinking, call it misguided hope, but just the possibility of healing her body was enough to send her on the journey they were on.

Being mated to a stranger—who, for all she knew, could be a total asshole—wasn’t ideal, but it had to be better than dying every couple of months. Right?

“Maybe you should stay here,” Jessica, one of the other mate hopefuls, suggested sweetly, but it was anything but kind. “I hate to say it, but you don’t look so hot.”

Nickie couldn’t even get pissed about it. It stood to reason that one less woman to make it to the phoenix would increase the odds of those who got there. If Nickie could convince some of the others to sit this one out, she would.

“Back off, bitch. She’s going if I have to carry her the whole way,” Jasmine spat before Nickie could respond.

If it weren’t for the fact that the women were needed to find the rest of the phoenixes, each of them bringing something different to the table, she might have considered going off with only Jasmine. But the witch had been clear. They had to stick together or none would survive.

Jessica’s lips turned up at the corners, but there was no humor in her eyes to back it up. “He’ll already have chosen before you get there. You’ll only tire yourself out more, but you know, suit yourself,” she mocked as she turned and jogged to catch up to the group who had already set off for the clearing.

Nickie took a shallow, wheezing breath. It wasn’t that far. She could make it. She’d be the last to get there, but this was it. She felt it in her bones. Or maybe that was the death rattle. She couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that she wasn’t giving up.

By the time the others had disappeared into the heavy rain, Nickie was struggling to keep her feet moving. Each step sent the crushing pain in her chest pounding harder, faster.

“You’re almost there. Come on,” Jasmine said, propping her up on her shoulder.

“I’m going to owe you a sundae with all the fixings when this is done,” she told her friend, her voice nothing more than a hoarse croak.

“Ten fucking ice creams. Twenty. With nuts. And Cherries. And caramel. The caramel is going to run down my fucking chin, there’s going to be so much of it. And not from the cheap place, either. You’re taking me to one of those gourmet places. You better hope your shifter is fucking rich as hell. Those sundaes are going to put a huge dent in your savings.”

Nickie smiled at the outrageousness coming from Jas’s lips. Again, it was the fear talking. She always went on when the terror was at its highest, and she fought to keep herself together.

The first cool drop of rain hit her square in the chest. It would have felt good on her overheated body if it weren’t for the deluge that followed. She went from sweaty to drenched within seconds. The water sluiced over them in thick sheets, obliterating her sight.

“Keep going straight,” she yelled to Jasmine, as the storm howled louder.

Whether she heard, Nickie couldn’t be sure, but they kept moving. After what felt like an eternity, the wind and rain vanished from one breath to the next. The sudden departure left her stumbling to the ground.

“There they are. Come on,” Jasmine said, hauling her up again.

Not twenty feet ahead, the other women stood, staring at a motionless lump on the ground.

Jessica turned, shaking her head with a disgusted look on her face, and strode toward them. “No way am I strapping myself down to that. You can have him,” she said, as she walked away.

With a grunt and another blast of pain, Nickie joined the women. What she found when she got there ripped a sob from her throat. A man, tall and emaciated, lay there. His chest rose and fell, barely. Every inch of his naked body was torn to shreds from what she could only imagine were claw, fang, or maybe beak marks. She hadn’t seen any predators on the way to the clearing, but the rain had blinded her.

A deep, agonized groan came from the guy who struggled with his last breaths. How could he live through this? He couldn’t. The pain in her chest squeezed the air from her lungs. Falling to her knees, she got closer. It had to be him. He was at death’s door, and he would take her with him one last time.

“Rest, mate. Things will be better when you rise,” she promised as she collapsed onto his chest.