CHAPTER EIGHT
Phoenix paused at the door to the racetrack clinic and stalled out with his hand on the metal pull. He needed the details on his twin’s status but despite Storme’s help, his mojo ran wild in his veins and he teetered on the edge of losing control. The powerful darkness that surged within him had broken free and wasn’t about to settle and be locked away without a fight.
That made him dangerous.
He didn’t want to hurt anyone. He also didn’t want to hide away because he couldn’t hold it together.
Fury boiled in his veins. Man, when they fucked up, they did it with gusto. Seth ignored Zander’s order to clear the building. He’d lost his tether and went full dark wizard in front of his brothers. They’d taken out two extra buildings to cover the damage. Yep, the Archangels would skin them all for the exposure they’d caused.
Storme gripped his wrist and siphoned off some of the power crackling in his cells. As grateful as he was for her help, his bride looked nauseous and unsteady. Which, in turn, made him more furious that he was hurting her.
And on and on.
He was beginning to hate this clinic. Ironically, only weeks ago the operating tables were turned. Then, it had been Seth furious with him for ignoring the danger and hurting himself.
Yep, they were quite a pair. Nothing dysfunctional here.
“You going in, big guy?” Storme asked, squeezing his wrist. “Whatever you need, I’m with you.”
He nodded, too raw to speak through their connection and not suck her into his emotional whirlpool. After drawing a deep breath, he swung the door and got his size sixteens moving.
Thankfully, the wide corridors of what used to be the horse stables left plenty of room for massive warriors to maneuver and still feel comfortable. Except, he didn’t feel comfortable.
He felt like he might crawl out of his skin.
“Phoenix,” Zander said, rising from the arm of one of the leather sofas outside the operating room.
What’s the latest? he signed.
“Three hours in and getting nowhere. Kyrian’s fighting to keep him stable while Drina tries to remove the alloy shards. It’s a losing battle, though. I’m sorry.”
He figured that. Pipe bombs filled with red-metal alloy. Who’s fucking idea was that?
Zander frowned and turned to the gangly teenager looking dwarfed on the sofa next to his other brothers. “Hey, buddy, why don’t you show Phoenix what you showed us.”
Ringo’s expression brightened as he rose but remained a far cry from his usual goofy grin. “I’ve been drawing a lot but didn’t understand the pictures. Z knew what it was about. I’m real sorry about Seth, by the way. It sucks that he’s hurt.”
Zander squeezed the kid’s shoulder and tried to offer him hope when he obviously felt none. “Yeah, it does, buddy.”
Phoenix was thankful Ringo found them. To spare one of their own the loneliness and abuse the rest of them had suffered gave them all a giant warm fuzzy. Ringo was the walking, always talking future of their Nephilim brotherhood.
The kid opened his drawing pad and flipped back the pages to the recent additions.
Ah, the Shedim bitch of Hell had taken a new lover. A toxic pair, that. The busty blonde in the drawing was cozied up to one of Gregor’s Serpentine-turned-Leviathan sons.
How predictable.
“Who’s that?” Storme asked, looking over his arm.
“That’s Cassi’s evil half-sister, Emmalixa, a.k.a. Thrash,” Bo said, standing to stretch. He twisted to the side and the bones in his back popped. “Take everything you know and love about Cassi and imagine the polar opposite. Then multiply that by a spoiled, selfish bitch-factor of ten, and that’s her.”
“Have a seat, lass,” Brennus said, rising from the sofa and gesturing for her to take his place. “Ye look like ye might keel over if ye don’t take a load off.”
Storme glanced up at Phoenix and he nodded. I’m good, kitten. Take a load off.
“New couches?” she said, easing down beside Ringo.
“Aye,” Brennus said, shuffling to the mini-fridge and handing her a ginger ale. “With all the time we’ve ended up out here lately, Austin figured we needed something with more cushion than those fucking plastic chairs.”
“Good call,” she said, sipping at the rim of the can. “Though, I wish you guys would stop ending up here.”
“From your lips, lass.”
Phoenix fought his need to march straight into the operating room, knowing the moment he did, Storme would jump up and be at his side. He could wait a minute or two while she rested and sipped at her soda.
Hark patted him on the back. “He’ll pull through. Seth’s too stubborn to let death win. He’ll find a way around this.”
Phoenix disagreed. Stubborn is the problem. He should have left that kid and cleared out when Z ordered the withdrawal.
“Maybe,” Zander said, glancing through the window at the clinic trio working on his brother. “Or maybe having that kid draped over his chest and back saved Seth’s life. He had no critical damage to heart or lungs.”
The kid’s body shielded him?
“Seems so.”
If his major organs aren’t swiss cheese, has he got a shot?
Zander shrugged. “It’s the volume of alloy in him. Drina and Cato can’t get it out of him fast enough. Kyrian’s acting as life support, but Seth’s healing can’t kick in until that shit is out of his system. The Greek will run out of steam at some point.”
“What about the Archangels?”
Zander shook his head. “They made it clear when you were in here that they weren’t going to deus ex machina anything for us. The time for all-for-one-one-for-all has passed. We’re on our own once again.”
“We need a high-powered magnet,” Ringo said, picking up his pencil and sketching out his vision. “Then we could suck all that metal out of him at once.”
Bo shook his head. “That would dice him up on the exit as badly as it did going in, doubling his wounds.”
Ringo’s face fell. “Sorry, dumb idea.”
“Nah,” Brennus said, stepping over to watch the kid draw. “If life was a Marvel movie, that would be our answer, lad.”
“If life was a Marvel movie,” Ringo said, “Hark would be Hawkeye, Bo would be . . .”
Phoenix phased out the conversation, stuck on Ringo’s first thought. A magnet drawing all the metal out at once would be Seth’s best chance. But yeah, Bo was right too. It would cut him up bad.
“What are you thinkin’, sugar?” Austin blinked up at him. “’Cause I smell the wood burnin’ and know that look.”
Austin’s presence proved just how distracted he was. He hadn’t even realized she was there. He bent down and kissed her cheek. Just wondering about the extent of my powers. If I can somehow dissolve the metal and pull it out as a liquid, maybe Kyrian could stabilize him long enough for his healing to start doing its thing.
“Makin’ metal into liquid sounds crazy hard on a good day. To do that in his entire body after you just levitated a building sounds like you’re pushin’ too hard, baby. We don’t need two warriors down.”
“I agree,” Storme said, joining them. You’re not in control or recovered yet. What you’re talking about would take a huge toll on your body. You know there are consequences for using magic. It’s too dangerous. Maybe in a day or two.
Phoenix shook his head, his determination solidifying by the moment. Consequences be damned. If he could save Seth’s life, he’d risk his own safety.
He doesn’t have a day or two. I’ve got this. He gazed into the panicked eyes of his mate and offered her a reassuring smile. Seriously. I’ve got this.
“Bullshit. You’ve got nothing but your head up your ass. You’re going to kill yourself.”
He squeezed his bride’s elbow and bent down to look straight into her eyes. You and I have a baby to make and a long life to plan. I have no intention of missing out on that.
“Wishing it doesn’t make it true.”
He chuckled at Storme’s snark. How he loved his wildcat. He turned to Zander and raised his hands. I’m going to try something. I need you to clear the clinic and keep everyone out until it’s over. Just me and the medical three.
Zander cast a subtle glance to Storme and frowned. Do you really think she’s going to leave your side?
She’s overloaded from this afternoon. I won’t risk her. Do what you need to keep her safe and clear of this building until I’m done.
Z was about to argue, so he pulled out the big guns.
What would you do to keep Austin safe . . . even from you?
Zander cursed and turned to the others. He signed the plan, and everyone got moving. Z and Danel moved in tight to block him from attacking, while Brennus and Hark grabbed Storme and rushed her out of the clinic, kicking and screaming. Bo ushered Austin, Ringo, and Ronnie out and then, Danel and Z backed off.
“Good luck, my brother,” Zander said. “May Lady Divinity bless you both.”
Thea paced at the far end of the underground tunnel leading from the clinic to the house. Austin told her that Zander ordered everyone out of the clinic on Phoenix’s advice, allowing him to attempt to save Seth, despite the danger to himself. Storme was screaming how reckless it was for Phoenix to access high-level magic so soon after his escapades down on the lakefront.
Thea hated the danger they faced each night.
She hated it even more when these men who protected the three realms put themselves in greater danger by acting like the heroes they were bred to be.
“Why did you let him?” she gasped as Zander and Danel jogged up the long corridor.
Zander squeezed her arm and offered her a sympathetic smile. “It’s his decision, angel. If Phoenix thinks he can help, and I block him, it only causes trouble when he tries anyway, and we hit head-on.”
“You’re all headstrong bulls.”
Zander’s chest bounced gently as he chuckled. “You’re not wrong. We do what we can. How are you . . . about Seth?”
She had no answer for that, everything within her at war and tumbling in chaos. “I barely know the man.”
“Fair enough. So, how’s Storme?”
“Incensed. She won’t be kept from her husband. You realize that, yes?”
“Brennus and Hark have wrangled determined females for centuries. I have no doubt that they’ll contain her until it’s safe. Come inside, there’s something I need your help with.”
Thea drew a deep breath and let him guide her back toward the stairs. Everything within her wanted to rush to the clinic and ensure Phoenix was well. Except, that wasn’t her place. If she was truly letting the male go to make her own life, she had to start somewhere.
“Tell me, Warrior,” she said, forcing her worries to the background. “What help could I possibly offer you?”
Zander’s low growl caught her by surprise. “Thea, you help Austin and I more than we can measure. Don’t you know that? I’m so fucking grateful that you ease Austin’s visual challenges with the baby. Having you here with her makes it possible for me to leave each night and do my job without worrying.”
Thea doubted she’d done all that much but appreciated the praise. After working for centuries, tracking the safety of humanity from the heavens, she’d felt adrift not contributing. “Helping Austin and Niobi is no chore. I love spending time with them. Now, what is it you need help with?”
The two of them emerged into the front foyer and Zander closed the door to the tunnel before they continued inside. “In the wake of the child’s recovery, I convinced the Djinn Master of Toronto to meet with me. He’ll be here within the hour.”
“What?” Austin rose from the living room sofa, wide-eyed. She studied the space and sighed. Between the baby, the chaos of a full household, and everything happening, he’d admit, the house was a bit of a warzone. “Oh, angelman, I wish you’d told me sooner.”
He shook his head and jogged to his wife. “No one comes into our private space, cowgirl. Not ever. I’ve invited him onto the property to test the waters.”
“Test what waters?”
“There are rumors that Thrash and the Leviathans have been enticing the other species to join the rebellion. The Djinn have refused to commit either way, so far, but with their psychic abilities, they’d be a much better friend than foe.”
“And since they were the victims in whatever the heck was happenin’ in that factory, you hope to build a bridge and extend our sympathies.”
“Brains and beauty,” he said, kissing her temple.
“What do you want from me?” Thea asked.
“I’d like you to help Austin get ready.” He hugged his wife against his chest. “We need to charm the pants off a man who, by his very species, hates my guts.”
Austin picked the baby monitor off the end table and headed to the kitchen. He followed, watching her grab her mixing bowls from the backer’s rack and selecting the size she wanted. “Thea, if you could grab two jars of peach preserves from the pantry, I’ll show you how to make up cobbler and a Hummingbird cake. Maybe cinnamon scones too. Do Djinn drink coffee? Tea? Hot Cocoa?”
Zander shrugged. “Keep it simple, cowgirl. You don’t need to go to the trouble—”
“Pish-posh. If you invite a guest for a PR heart-to-heart, there will be southern hospitality. Now, if not here in the house, then where?” She popped the lids off canisters and grabbed her measuring cup.
“I was thinking either the security cottage out by the road or the little receiving barn.”
She frowned at him. “We haven’t lifted a finger in either of those buildings. Is that what you want for a first impression?”
“Well, no. I wanted to meet at a nice restaurant or something, but with what we’re dealing with, I’m not leaving the property anytime soon.”
She nodded. “All right, you go check on Seth and Phoenix and leave the meeting with me.”
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I love you, cowgirl.”
“You better,” she said, measuring out the flour and dumping it into the bowl in a puff of fine white powder. “Now, go and ease our minds. Thea and I have things to do and are worried sick about the twins.”
Thea wasn’t sure she’d go that far on Seth’s behalf, though she was touched that he’d risked his life to save a child.
Phoenix waited until his brothers had evacuated the women and Ringo from the clinic before stepping into the operating room. Drina had X-rays up on the lightboxes and the peppering of dark spots lodged in his brother was staggering. He remembered the pain and poisoning of one blade lodged in him.
Seth had hundreds, maybe thousands, of pieces stuck in muscle, skin, and sinew.
He positioned himself opposite Kyrian and raised his hands to catch the Greek’s attention. His brother looked wiped. Zander was right, Kyrian was running out of steam.
With his hands moving, he explained what he planned to do.
Kyrian then relayed. “So, when his powers amp up, he wants Drina to step back and Cato to leave. I’ll be the only one in contact with Seth. He’s not sure how this will work or what this much dark magic might do to Cato as a Lightworlder.”
Phoenix sent the next message to Kyrian alone.
He nodded. “I’m sure. I trust you, my brother. Whatever you need. I’m all-in.”
With that, Phoenix swallowed and shook his shoulders out. The tremble in his hands was unavoidable. His muscles had seized tight hours ago. He’d need one hell of a massage after the day was over. Raising his palms before him, he focused on the magic firing in his cells.
This would work. It had to.
The roar of his beast was deafening inside his skull as dark magic sliced through him. His eyes burned white-hot, his Mark bursting into a supernova of green, and he released control on his darkest side. The agony was excruciating.
Phoenix would never be whole without him.
He hoped Storme would understand.
Thea gave Niobi back to her mother to let them rest while she followed Austin’s instructions. Zander’s wife was a true force. She’d enlisted all hands for the scheduled meeting and had whipped the household into action. If they were around, they were working.
Thea was tasked with finishing the baking.
“The scones are out and cooling,” she reported, turning to the massive country-styled stove. “The cobbler has eight more minutes. How would you like us to serve them?”
“In the dining room buffet. My mama’s beautiful antique maple tray is in the bottom, on the right.”
“Got it,” Ronnie said, jogging in from the adjoining room. “Oh, it’s lovely. My mother had one similar but with hand-painted tiles on the bottom.”
Austin smiled. “We had one like that too. This is my favorite though. Before I lost my eyesight, we went to a huge estate auction of one of the richest families in the area. The old grandmother died, and her kids and grandkids didn’t care for her collection of things. I took one look at that tray and fell in love. Mama let me hold the bidding paddle and I just kept raising it until the auctioneer declared us the winners.”
“Well, it was worth every penny, I’m sure.”
It struck Thea hard she had nothing of a mother—not a warm memory, nor a hand-me-down family treasure, nor any passed down wisdom to draw on when life grew difficult. She had nothing from a mother because she’d never been raised by one. Things were different in the Choir of Angels.
She’d been trained for a task—a life of serving as an angel of the Powers. She missed it, actually, filling each day and night with purpose, feeling like she truly made a difference.
Things were different here too.
Here, she had the chance to raise her baby and give it all the love and care she wished she’d had. She may have gone about it the wrong way, but like Seth said, she knew what she wanted, and she went after it. She owned it.
Bo came in from the old delivery dock, his long blond hair loose and wild from the wintery winds outside. He rubbed his hands together. “Man, it smells good in here.”
Austin smiled. “There’s plenty for everyone once we’re set. How do the two spaces look?”
Bo shrugged. “Well, we have a Hansel and Gretel cottage complete with cobwebs and mice armies hunkering down for the winter, or a mini horse barn with gaps in the wall boards and a lovely gusty gale whistling through it.”
Austin frowned. “Oh, dear.”
“What are our other options?”
“What about the riding arena?” she said. “We could set a table and chairs in the center of the ring and dress it up a little. Would the wide-open space be a comfort or a threat to a Master Djinn?”
Bo shrugged. “I’ve never met the man.”
Thea frowned. “Does it smell like manure in the arena?”
Austin chuckled. “No, it smells mostly like the soft footing that covers the ground. It’s a damn sight better than mice and winter wind.”
Bo nodded. “Okay, I’ll bring the truck around. What do you want me to take to dress it up?”
“The harvest table from the foyer and four of the kitchen chairs. Ronnie, can you run a quick iron over the white table cloth with the embroidered edges?”
“On it,” Ronnie said, hustling back to the dining room.
When the timer went off, Thea removed the cobbler from the oven. “Why is it such a stir that this man is coming?”
Austin shifted Niobi to her shoulder and patted the baby’s back. “Since Seth recovered the body of the boy before the factory crumbled, Zander wants to offer the family comfort and create goodwill. Seth might well die. That has to prove that the Watchers aren’t the monsters they are made out to be.”
Thea rubbed the wriggling mound of her belly, thinking of the child’s sire. “I honestly hope he survives. What happened, happened. There was fault on both sides, but I don’t want this child to suffer for it. I want my baby to know his father.”
Austin nodded. “You haven’t had the chance to get to know Seth either. The man you met . . . well, that was a terrible time. There is much more to a man than his actions on his worst day.”
Thea thought of Seth standing before her in the loft. He’d been brusque—so had she. He’d lied that first night—so had she. She supposed Austin’s point was true of her as well.
Being judged based on your actions on your worst day wouldn’t be fair.
Ringo returned to the kitchen with Stetson fresh from his walk. The stalky chocolate lab bounded in, his tail crashing and clunking against everything in his path.
“Austin?” Ronnie called from the hall. “Can you join us for a second? Bo has a couple questions.”
Austin laid Niobe into the bassinet and turned to Ringo. “Are you good to keep an eye on your niece for a few minutes?”
Ringo’s face lit up and he pulled out his chair at the end of the breakfast bar. Flipping the cover open on his drawing pad, he picked up his pencil. “Yep. I’ve got her.”
Austin ruffled Ringo’s spiky ebony hair and winked as she got her bearings and left the room.
“She amazes me,” Thea said, finishing up with the baking. “The way she maneuvers within this house, you’d never know she lacked traditional sight.”
“Unless you move the furniture. I made that mistake and she tripped. Zander wanted to punch me in the face.”
“No. I’m sure he didn’t. Accidents happen.”
“Yeah, he did.” Ringo went back to his drawing and smiled. “Hey, do you want to see a picture I drew of you? It’s not finished, but it’s pretty cool.”
Thea smiled and rounded the counter. “Of course.”
Ringo flipped back two pages and showed her an exquisite drawing of her smiling and speaking with a tall, well-dressed male outside of O-Zone. With short, dark hair and an earring, she found him quite attractive.
The background wasn’t filled in enough to get a sense of the context, but she seemed quite engaged in the conversation. She knew it was Zander’s club because she recognized the little plaque on the wall with his name, where they parked the truck.
“Oooh, who is that?” she asked.
“I thought you might know. A new boyfriend? Maybe the Dragon guy that got hurt last night?”
Thea liked that idea.
From what Danel said, the Dragon shifter was a good man, a military hero, and had gotten hurt defending the honor of a human woman from a pack of nasty Leviathans.
“When do you suppose I’m going to meet him?”
Ringo shrugged. “My visions don’t work good yet. They can be stuff that already happened, or what’s gonna happen, or what’s happening right now . . . I don’t have good control.”
Thea patted the boy’s shoulder, a new sense of wonder and intrigue playing with her emotions. “Like Austin always says. Things happen as they are meant to.”
Seth stood in the operating room next to Tanek, rocking an out-of-body experience. His body lay shredded to shit in front of them as a panicked crew worked to save his worthless life. “Well, this sucks,” he said, casting a sideways glance to the ghost of his dead brother-in-arms. “So, am I the next warrior enlisted as Lady Divinity’s protector? You here to ring me in?”
Tanek shook his head, the guy’s mannerisms so familiar it hurt to have been deprived of them the past year. “Not if the magic-medic dream team get this right. And I’m not so much a protector as an intimidating backdrop. Lady Divinity is the shit. She doesn’t need any man to defend her.”
Seth agreed. Their patron mother really was the shit.
He tried to breathe through compressed lungs, but Phoenix was hemorrhaging enough dark magic to choke an elephant. “It makes me want to puke that he went this route.”
Tanek shrugged. “The train left that station months ago, my brother. Stop your whining and get over it. You’ve all got more powerful, determined enemies coming for you these days. It’s not all bad to have that kind of power on Team Nephilim.”
The operating room door burst open and Phoenix’s witch wife stormed inside. “Are you insane? How dare you let this happen. It’s reckless and unforgiveable.”
Seth agreed. He would never trade his life for Phoenix’s.
“The guy’s polluted. It’s too high a price to pay.”
“Storme keeps him balanced.”
“Storme is his problem.”
Tanek slapped a heavy hand on Seth’s shoulder and gave a pinching squeeze. “Take a good, hard look at what’s happening in front of you, dumbass. There’s no turning back time. Phoenix absorbed your mother’s powers and it changed him. He’ll never be the man he was. The reason Storme is his mate is because she is exactly what he needs.”
Seth rolled his eyes and watched his brother’s wife run to grip Phoenix’s wrist. As the connection hit her, she buckled and narrowly escaped face-planting on the painted concrete floor.
“She’s amazing,” Tanek said. “Ying and Yang. That’s what Nephilim mating is about. Lady Divinity is giving you boys what you need in a better half.”
“And my brother needed a witch?”
“Are you so fucking jaded that you look at the two of them and don’t see that?”
Seth ignored the frustrated sigh leaking out of his former garrison commander. Whatevs.
Zander doubled back to the clinic, the pounding in his skull really taking root. Torture factories. Exposure. Seth. Phoenix. The Master Djinn. He was juggling too many balls not to beef something up bad. It was only a question of what it would be, and when.
As he approached the clinic, the level of dark magic that hit him was hard to comprehend. Phoenix was powerful—they’d all been at the lakefront and watched him lift the building into the air—but this was another kind of power. This was the kind of energy that was best left locked in a steel trunk and buried in a cave somewhere. This kind of power shouldn’t be wielded by anyone, no matter what their intentions.
The handle to the clinic door was hot to the touch and singed Zander’s fingers. “Well, that can’t be good.”
He hustled his ass into the clinic and jogged down the corridor to the operating room. To his surprise, Storme was in there with Kyrian, Phoenix, and Drina.
How the hell had she managed to get back there? And where were Brennus and Hark?
With no way to affect what was doing in that operating room, Zander fished out his phone and dialed up Brennus’s number. No answer. Next, he hit up Hark. Still nothing.
Thumbing through his contacts, he pulled up Bo. Will wonders never cease, the guy answered. “Yeah, hey. Storme’s here at the clinic and Brennus and Hark have gone dark. Drop everything and check on them.”
“Shit,” the Viking said, the background of the call going quiet. “You don’t think she’d hurt them, do you?”
“Not intentionally, but we were keeping her from her mate and she knew he was in danger.”
“On it. Give me a few.”
Zander hung up the phone, just as a kaleidoscope of light exploded. A violent energy wave blasted from the operating room, the force of the hit knocking him on his ass and cracking his head against the far wall.