“So this island… It’s in the Pacific ocean?” She asked.
“Yes, though if you want to get technical, It’s in the Gulf of Alaska.” Ryder strode to the window as he answered, running a hand through his newly dyed purple hair. The shock of color stood out against the white walls of the boat and the rock colored cliffs and snow-capped mountains beyond that we passed as we exited Resurrection Bay.
“It’s spelled so humans can’t see it. You won’t find it on any map.” Killian’s gruff voice spoke from a seat nearby; he had been sullen and quiet all morning.
“It’s safer that way. Keeps the secret. All shifter communities have barriers to keep humans away.”
The wind on the water made the day much colder, and the chill filled the cabin. Reaching into a compartment hidden under the seats, I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. We needed to get her a new jacket. She’d been using one of Ryder’s old ones since the shooting, but it was big on her. The further we traveled the more her mood sunk. She even turned down Theo’s offer to steer the boat, and we all knew she would have loved the new experience.
Theo, who sat stately behind the wheel, motioned Damien over to take it from him. Slipping past everyone in the cabin, he exited out the back door and crouched down, held on to the boat, and thrust his hand into the water, closing his eyes. I wasn’t sure if he was calling the water life to show off or stay away, and when he returned to take the wheel back, I followed him into the helm. His eyes were glowing more electric than more usual.
He shrugged when I arched an eyebrow in question. “There was a pod of orcas heading this way. Her first experiences shouldn’t all be tainted by stressful situations. I asked them to keep their distance. I want her to experience the ocean with me, just not this way.” He motioned to where Nix sat with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, closed off and focused.
Nodding my agreement I watched as the first glimmer of the barrier shimmered ahead of us. It was easier for me to see than my brothers, given the fact that a member of my species made it, however, it wasn’t long before the guys all noticed it as well. As mythologicals, we were able to see the spelled walls easily, and when Nix looked up, I knew she saw it too as we drew near.
“Let’s get this over with.” She sighed, and none of us could agree more.
Twenty
Nix
Theo docked the boat expertly and, after disembarking himself, Hiro reached out a hand to help me step onto solid ground. It took me a moment to gain back my equilibrium as my body adjusted to the steadiness of the hard ground beneath my feet. The mood from the ride over had grown more tenuous the closer we drew to the hidden island. It didn’t help that I was picking up on the guys’ nervousness, which only helped to fuel my own. I really did not want to meet these people. I had finally escaped from someone who controlled every step of my life, and now I was about to step right back into that lifestyle. I wished I could just flick them off and keep things going the way they had been—just me, my guys, and Rini. Our own little family.
None of us knew what to expect from the Council. How they would react to the situation—my being a phoenix and the fact that the guys had kept me a secret—had me stressing out. Damien’s grandfather had made it sound as though we didn’t have a choice in this meeting and that the guys should all expect a punishment of some kind for “keeping me hidden”. The last thing I wanted was for them to be punished for what was my fault. I was the one who had wanted to keep myself separated from the shifter world—still intent on living my life as a human the way I had always planned. I was the one who had led Michael here, endangering myself and the others in the process.
Leaving the dock, we started the trek up the path. I tried to look around and take in the surroundings. This was where the guys had grown up, and I wanted to appreciate it, but my anxiety was eating at me too much to enjoy the trip. Maybe, if things went well, they’d be able to bring me back here someday. I wouldn’t hold out hope though. I was used to things in my life always going to shit, and my expectations for this meeting were no different. Hiro rubbed his thumb along my skin as we walked and I tried to memorize the feel of his skin on mine. The sound of tires crunching gravel had me looking up, and I spied a black SUV pulling to a stop in the large parking lot up ahead that seemed to belong to the marina. As promised, Damien’s grandfather was here to pick us up. Whether he was trying to be nice or trying to make sure I didn’t bolt, I couldn’t be sure.
I claimed a window seat and Theo sat next to me in middle row of the car. As I leaned my head back onto the headrest and closed my eyes, his hand gently found my leg, settling just above my knee. He rubbed small patterns into the fabric of my jeans and I took a deep breath, trying to let his touch soothe my Phoenix and I. The guys couldn’t seem to stop touching me, and I didn’t want them to.
The green scenery blurred past the window while we traveled and I turned my attention to absorbing the view. I spotted several small groupings of cabins in the woods, their size and elaborateness growing larger and fancier the further inland we went. Narrowing my eyes, I studied the landscape as it flew past while the guys all murmured around me. When I was sure about my observations, I turned to Theo.
“So… the houses are all different.” I realized how stupid that sounded the second it came out of my mouth, but most of my brain was still focused on freaking out about having to meet with the Council. “Let me rephrase that. The homes seem to be getting nicer the farther we go?” I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I hadn’t expected the shifter world to have such a clear division of class like that.
Theo looked over at me and leaned in. “The stronger packs, sleuths, etcetera live closer to the home of the Council. Groups containing mythologicals live the closest. Weaker and less influential groups live closer to the island’s coastline.” He didn’t sound happy about it, and I found comfort in that because the whole idea seemed fucked up.
“I didn’t expect it to be so monarchist.” I knew my voice was thick with snark. I wasn’t sure I was going to fit into shifter society when I already hated their social hierarchy. Why the hell couldn’t all the shifters be considered equals? I knew being a mythological automatically put me in a “higher class”. The idea was preposterous. I grew up in a shack with no money. I was never a popular girl in school. In fact, I’d rarely had any friends growing up. I wasn’t fancy. I was a pretty low maintenance person—a casual, jeans and a t-shirt kind of girl. There was nothing about me that made me better than anyone else, and I resented that idea in society. Just because someone was born a mythological shouldn’t automatically make them better than a normal animal shifter. Rini was a far nicer person than I was, and yet she was considered lower on the proverbial totem pole than I was? It was insane.
I tensed up the closer we got to the Council’s headquarters. Breaking through the treeline, I stilled and gaped through the front windshield. The clearing was easily the size of many football fields, and the massive wooden structure situated in the middle was several stories tall. Large glass windows were set into the log beams that made up the giant house—if you could even call the sprawling lodge before me a house. Dozens of chimneys jutted from the roofline, and decorative peaked roofs and balconies were in abundance.
“This is where the Council meets?”
“They live here along with their families.” It was Hiro who answered my question from the back seat.