Oh, fuck. I threw up my mental wall so fast that I was dizzy. That image would be burned into my brain. My Phoenix squawked at me in annoyance. “What?! I know! Shut up!” My face was flushed, and I kept replaying the vision he’d sent me. I wasn’t ready yet, but when I was… hot damn, it was going to be so good.
I hurried through my shower, taking the time to brush and dry my hair, scrub my teeth, and put on some basic makeup. This past rejuvenation had left my hair luminous and my eyes brighter; more so than was usual. There was no doubt that it had been one hell of a rebirth, and I wondered what else about me had been altered. I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was different, but I felt stronger; changed. Unfortunately, the changes I had gone through after waking up had left me looking a little thin, and my face hadn’t rounded back out yet. Sighing, I figured it was as good as it was going to get.
I returned to my room to put my dirty laundry in a pile next to my suitcase when a light blue box caught my eye. Rini was the best friend ever for packing my lady things—alright, let’s just say it, tampons—and I grinned before it quickly turned into a wince. When I had moved to Alaska, I had hoped that my cycle would finally regulate, but I hadn’t counted on dying again. I couldn’t explain it, but rebirth seemed to mess with my cycle. I was far from regular and never knew when I’d start. I wrapped an arm around my middle as I mentally calculated the days. It had been well over a month and a half since my last period. Sighing, I tried to view it as a silver lining. Most women hated their monthlies. Me? I just wanted an ounce of normalcy in my life.
Ready to face the day, I left my thoughts behind as I headed for the stairs.
Six
Nix
By the time I made my way downstairs, the mood in the house seemed to have sobered. Pausing on the last step, I looked around the room and noticed that no one was making eye contact with me except for Ryder, but the look was tense—so unlike the playful flirting I was used to.
“Morning sleeping beauty.” His smirk felt forced.
“What’s wrong?” My hackles rose, and I was immediately on edge. Gritting my teeth, I looked to Damien. We had just shared a moment upstairs, and I expected that he would be honest with me now. He was serving up the last plate, setting it on the island between the kitchen and the dining room space. The open concept layout allowed me to see straight into the kitchen from my vantage point. It let me see all of them. Theo, Ryder, and Hiro were all sitting around the dining room table while Damien finished dishing out the food, and Killian was leaning against the wall between the entryway and the kitchen, eyes closed. His arms were crossed, his head was thrown back, resting against the wall.
Surprisingly, it was Theo who spoke up. “Nix, we have some news we need to share with you. Will you come sit down and eat while we talk?” He nudged the chair across from him out from the table with his foot as his beautiful blue eyes sought out my brown ones.
“What’s this about?” I doubted I’d be able to eat with the pit that was settling into my stomach, and instead of moving toward the table, I held my ground on the stairs, clutching the railing. I just knew whatever they were going to say was grave, given their downcast faces. These boys had terrible poker faces. The edge to my voice didn’t go unnoticed, and Killian moved away from the wall, heading in my direction.
“Nix, baby, it’s important for you to have this information. I don’t know if you’ll see it as good news or bad news, but please come and sit. Hear us out. We’d never keep anything from you, and now that you’re stronger… it’s time that we filled you in.”
Grinding my teeth, I nodded once and let him lead me to the dining room table where a healthy plateful of eggs, bacon, and avocado toast was promptly placed in front of me along with a huge glass of water. Ryder quickly sat in the chair next to me, the legs scraping against the floor as he quickly scooted the seat toward the table and plunked a small glass of orange juice down next to my plate. He must have known it would make me smile because he fist pumped the second my lips tweaked upwards.
“You know that stuff is mostly sugar right?” Damien asked with an arched eyebrow.
“And it’s delicious and full of vitamin C. Cheers.” Ryder toasted the air with his glass before chugging half of it in one gulp. I wish I could join in his fun, but I was far too tense to joke around when I felt something life-altering hanging in the air.
“Alright. Out with it already. The anxiety is eating a hole in my stomach.” I gripped my churning stomach, trying to calm it from the outside. I hated having such physical reactions to stress sometimes.
“You remember when we told you we woke Michael up to get information from him about what was in the vial?” I was surprised that Killian was the one to initiate the conversation, and it seemed that the others were equally as shocked by his forwardness. Killian was my brooding bunny, and the fact that he started the explanation told me just how serious he found the entire conversation to be.
“Yes.” My mouth was as dry as sawdust, and I reached for my water, hoping that the sip would make talking easier and ease the ache in my stomach.
“Well, he gave us what we wanted…but we got a lot more information thanks to Theo’s quick reasoning.” The Celt leaned back against the wall, apparently passing the torch to Theo to continue.
Clearing his voice, Theo caught my eyes and held my gaze. “Nix, when I questioned Michael about the vial, it became apparent to me that he was after more than simply trying to kill you. His plan with the vial was to force your Phoenix to rise—he hoped she’d appear and protect you from the toxins. He wanted you to shift, and if you didn’t, well I don’t think he cared if the venom lived up to its reputation.”
“He knows what I am…” The words trailed off. Truthfully, I had so many questions from that night, but I hadn’t been able to stay awake long enough to voice my concerns.
“Yes. He’s known the entire time.” Theo’s soft, straightforward voice was interrupted by a much angrier one. Ah, there’s the Celt I knew.
“He’s been keeping you, waiting for you to fucking shift.”
“Killian,” Theo warned.
“Right. Got it.” He shut up.
“Keeping me?” I didn’t understand what he meant.
“Nix, Michael is a part-blood. You’re a full-blooded Phoenix.” He trailed off, looking at me expectantly.
“Listen, despite the fact that I’ve been sleeping for days I’m surprisingly exhausted. I haven’t eaten a full meal since the night of the attack, and I’m ravenous. Even though I’m starving, I can’t eat because my stomach is devouring itself due to the stress the tension in the air is causing me. So Michael’s a part-blood, and I’m a Phoenix? Can’t people get their genes from their mothers? I thought the stronger shifter usually won the genetic battle that is conception?”
“That’s usually true. The stronger shifter in a mating will usually win out when it comes to what the pair’s children will become. Not all those children will have the same powers their parents have. Example: a pairing between a griffin and a unicorn would probably end with unicorn offspring since it’s the rarest, most powerful shifter between the two.”
“No come-back for that, Ryder?” My words were weak as I tried to lighten the mood which was thickening around us. I knew it was a stall tactic.