I could feel how much my clothes were bagging on me and I realized he was right. I took a small bite of the eggs and winced. Apparently, Damien hadn’t been joking before when he’d said there was a reason he was the cook. Tiny bits of shell, scorched egg, and more salt than I believed was possible coated the inside of my mouth. I swallowed rapidly, chugging some of the juice. Damien coughed to cover a chuckle, and Ryder pouted.
Scooting the eggs aside I focused on the toast, loading slices with blackberry jam. I was starving. Now that I knew everyone was alright—although I couldn’t wait to get my eyes on Theo—I took time to think through all my other questions. The most pressing one was “what the hell had happened” and “where the fuck is Michael”? My Phoenix hissed angrily when that name ran through my thoughts. I tried to sort through the memories, arranging them and trying to piece the puzzle together from the fragments I had. I remembered Michael showing up and him cutting me with that knife while forcing stuff down my throat. I remembered dying in Ryder’s arms. “I’m so sorry that Theo got hurt. Did Michael injure anyone else?” I could barely force the words out of my dry throat. I had done exactly what I feared—led danger to their door—and while I knew they were alive, that didn’t mean they hadn’t been hurt while they were defending me. I was sick over the whole thing.
“None of that.” Killian reached out to grip my chin tightly. “None of this was your fault, Nix. Get that thought out of your head.”
Hiro glared at him and smacked his hand away. “Other than Theo, none of us were hurt, Nix. We don’t want to scare you, but you need to know.” I froze. Oh god, what else had he done?
“Shhh.” Damien’s fingers stroked through my hair. “Stay calm.”
“I’m sorry, Nix. He got away.” Hiro’s gentle words echoed loudly in the nearly silent room. My heart stopped. He got away? How was that possible? “We needed to know what he gave you, so we had Ryder heal him enough to get the information we needed out of him. He did give us what we needed to know, more actually, but Rini came to check on you, and in the shuffle, Michael shot Theo. The bullet was silver. I had you, Theo went down protecting Rini, Ryder was keeping Theo alive, and Kill was obscuring the clearing with illusions. Damien was set to take on Michael, but Theo was losing too much blood and we…” He took a deep breath, looking away from me. “We needed to focus on getting you and Theo out of there. It took two of us just to move him. The second Killian dropped the illusions, Michael bolted, and Damien couldn’t get through the barrier in his shifted form.” Hiro’s hands were gripped so tightly into the blankets that I was surprised he didn’t tear right through them.
Ryder reached out to grip his shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. “If it hadn’t have been for the gun, we would have had him.”
“Rini’s ok, right?” I couldn’t believe that Rini had rushed into the clearing. I was devastated. She’d been put in danger and had to watch her brother, for all intents and purposes, get shot right in front of her. Defending her. What in the world had she been thinking rushing into the fray like that? Would she even want to be friends anymore? Would her guys ever let her around me again?
“She’s fine, and of course she still wants to be friends with you, Nix.” Theo’s voice from behind me had me jumping. When the hell had he gotten here? My Phoenix trilled, curling up in contentment inside me. All of us were here, all of us were safe. My Phoenix was appeased, happy in the knowledge that they would all protect her and she could rest. She was still feeling the effects of whatever in the hell had been done to us.
Pushing the tray aside, I bolted as fast as I could in my weakened state and made my way to Theo. I ran my hands over his chest, neck, and up to his face, cupping my hands there as I looked into his eyes. He really was alright.
“You’re ok.” I smiled up at him, hoping he wouldn’t push me away.
“You’re alive and awake.” He smiled back and reached out, running his thumb down my cheek. “You scared me,” he practically whispered.
“Where were you shot?”
He winced but raised his t-shirt, showing me the small puckered scar just under his ribs. I ran a finger over it before placing my hands on his abdomen, running them up his defined chest. My Phoenix rumbled happily. “Thank you, for saving my best friend.” Leaning up, I pressed my lips to his cheek and felt his breath catch. I could tell he was nervous about the mark on his skin, so I strained to lean up close to his ear. “You’re still perfect to me. Theo.”
Stepping down and away, I blushed as I turned back to the room. Everyone was watching us with varied expressions of amusement and happiness. I felt like I just passed some sort of test. Shaking off the moment, I changed the subject.
“So what exactly did he give me? I’m still so weak. It’s odd…” I really didn’t like surprises when it came to my body. Anything new was always cause for concern. Hell, for all I knew I had a limited number of rebirths. Was this like a cat thing? They had nine lives. Did I have a certain number as well?
Damien gripped his head, his mouth twisted into a grimace of pain. “Nix, baby, can you focus on your mental wall. I’m not sure what happened, but you’re projecting loudly, and I‘m not sure you actually want me in your head right now.” Okay, he was right. I did want my privacy. Hell, I didn’t want to be in my own head right now. But building a wall took so much energy that I just didn’t have. Going back to my tray, I took two more bites of toast and jam and then worked to focus hard on building up that wall brick by brick.
“So, what happened?” I kept the question neutral, unsure of what to expect as an answer.
“He poisoned you.” That was Theo, succinct as always. I couldn’t help giving him a playful eye roll.
“I figured that out already. It’s not the first time he poisoned me.” I shrugged and yawned simultaneously, covering my mouth with my hand. Killian hissed beside me, his fingers twitching madly in what I was coming to recognize as a physical cue that he was having issues controlling his Puca.
“He used Vish Kaya venom.” Theo’s voice was hard and wary as if he expected me to panic.
“What does that mean?” If that had a meaning, it was well beyond me. Hell, I couldn’t even pronounce what he’d just said, let alone figure out why they were all looking at me as if I had done something far more miraculous than coming back from the dead—again.
“Vish Kaya are a form of shifter that are incredibly rare—almost as rare as a phoenix. When they’re born, they’re in quite a bit of danger due to how deadly they are. Shifters either want to use them for their own nefarious means or end up hunting them, hoping to wipe them from existence so their poison can’t be used against others. They are incredibly poisonous. One drop of venom from them is enough to kill most shifters. Back in the day, some of the strongest shifters would use their venom as a test of their strength and fortitude. If they survived the venom, they’d become stronger than before. Most didn’t make it. I have no idea where he was even able to get that poison from. There are no known Vish Kaya around. As for how you survived it, you’re much stronger than we thought—though nothing about what feats you can overcome should shock me anymore. You’re strong Nix, and I’m so damn glad you’re alive.”
Wow. Okay, I guess I understood now why they were freaked out. That was a lot to take in and scary—even to me. My Phoenix hissed in my head. She really hated that we’d been poisoned, and she didn’t appreciate my shock over the fact that we’d survived.
“None of this makes sense. Michael was a shifter? All this time?” I yawned. I was suddenly exhausted. I didn’t understand anything that was going on right now.
Hiro reached over and removed the tray from the bed to set it on the floor beside him. “Sleep some more, Nix. Your body’s still weak, and this has been a lot to process. For now just rest, and we’ll talk more when you wake up… we’re watching out for you. We’ll protect you.” His words acted as a lullaby as I leaned back into the pillows, no longer able to escape the exhaustion that swallowed me.
Four
Damien