Page 2 of Fire Bird

Like a frightened child, she shrinks into herself as she weaves through the crowd of werewolves to find Ragnor. When she reaches him, he pulls her to his chest, then cups her face in his hands and strokes her hair from her cheeks. She whispers something I can’t hear. His expression changes to one of deep concern. Still staring at Elena, he shouts, “Back inside, everyone! My wife wishes to celebrate somewhere a little warmer.”

There is a murmur of discontent, but it quickly dissipates when Ragnor snaps his head up and marches forward, arm fixed firmly around Elena’s shoulders.

When they reach the steps, Eve catches Ragnor’s arm and mutters something in his ear. He shakes his head and waves a dismissive hand at the fountain. Eve nods, looks furtively back at it, then follows Ragnor inside.

I wait until the beat of loud, angry music drifts from the house, then I break my cover. I stride quickly to the fountain but pause a few feet away from it. I flex my fingers at my sides; my palms are hot, and my hands are shaking.

Part of me wants to turn away so I don’t have to see, but the part of my blood that is bonded to Nova’s can still sense her. It does not understand that she is gone. It vibrates and hums beneath my skin, pulling me toward what is left of The Phoenix’s body.

When I reach the basin, I brace my hand on the large concrete column at its center. I breathe heavily as blood pulses in my ears, then I force myself to look down.

Inside, there is nothing but a pile of ashes. Ashes, and five wooden rings.

2

MACK

Snow is growling at me. He’s pissed that we’re just standing here in the woods. He’s pissed we let Nova walk away from us, and he’s heartbroken thinking about the possibility of losing her. He wants me to shift. My skin itches from the inside out. My muscles twitch with the urge to grow, and harden; to become something bigger and stronger. Something capable of ripping trees from the ground and roaring at the sky so everyone knows the anguish we’re feeling.

As my thoughts spiral downward, inevitably returning to The Hollow and all the awful things that place has witnessed over the years, Luther approaches and puts a stoic hand on my shoulder.

“You okay, Baloo?” He’s using my nickname but he’s not smiling.

“Are any of us okay?” I look around the group. We are huddled beneath the cover of the trees right where Kole and Nova left us. We haven’t moved since they walked away.

“It’s been hours,” he says, looking up at the dark canopy above our heads. We can’t even see the stars from here.

“We should go look for them.” Sam has been sitting with Tanner, but now he stands and walks into the center of the group. I’m on the floor, back against a tree, trying to resist the urge to pace like a caged animal. “It’s been too long,” Sam adds. “Hasn’t it?”

Suddenly, I realize they’re all looking at me. Expecting me to make a decision, but what the fuck do I know? There was a time when I thought I was in control of all this. A time I thought I knew what was coming and how to prepare for it. But now? All I know now is that if Kole was wrong and Nova doesn’t return to us, the world can burn for all I care because my life won’t be worth anything without her in it.

I’m about to answer Sam when we both, at the exact same moment, smell something on the breeze. Smoke. Remnants of smoke, and…the Viking.

“Kole?” I spring to my feet as he appears through the trees. He’s cast a small green light in front of him to illuminate the way and it’s painting his features in an eerie glow.

“You waited,” he says, striding into the small clearing.

Instead of rushing forward and bombarding him with questions, the four of us stand quivering with nervous energy, staring, trying to read his face. Snow releases a grumble of tortured anticipation that makes my skin prickle. “We waited,” I repeat, my mouth so dry I can barely get any words out.

I glance at the others. Tanner is the one to ask, “Where is she?” He looks behind Kole as if this all might be some elaborate joke and Nova’s about to jump out from the bushes and yell, Surprise!

“What happened?” Sam says, scraping his fingers through his curly hair.

“You didn’t see the smoke?” Kole’s shoulders have dropped. He looks exhausted.

I shake my head and exchange a knowing look with Sam. “We smelled it, just now when the wind changed direction. Before that…” I swallow hard then repeat Sam’s question. “What happened, Kole?”

Kole lets his arms hang by his sides, shakes them and holds them in front of his stomach instead, then unfolds them again. Even when he was coming off F.H.B. I never saw him this agitated. “She let Ragnor and Eve capture her as we planned. They—” He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. Watching him, my heart plummets to the bottom of my stomach. “They put her in the fountain and drained her blood.” He’s speaking quickly now, eyes still closed. “They filled a vial. They said it was for The Shadow King. They were about to fill more when the flames started.”

“They set her on fire?” Tanner’s eyes widen. He shivers and rubs his forearms.

Kole shakes his head solemnly. “No. The fire just… was.” He looks at me. “You really didn’t see the smoke?”

“We really didn’t see,” I tell him.

“She burned for hours.” Kole suddenly wavers and looks like he’s going to fall. Tanner lurches to catch him. Sam helps, and they ease him to the ground. “I didn’t take my eyes off her. I stayed with her until the end.” Kole looks up at us. “When they left—the wolves and Ragnor—I went to her. I wanted to bring her back to you—” He chokes on his words and a guttural sob escapes his lips. “I thought if we buried her, maybe that’s how she’d return but—”

He is not holding a body. Was she too badly burned? Did he try to save us from having to see her like that? I’m about to tell him I don’t care, that I can handle it, that I just need to see her, when he reaches into his pocket. His fist is bunched tight, knuckles whitening.