Page 63 of Fire Bird

“Where the fuck have you been?” Rev shouts, striding towards us as if she’s going to wag her finger and give us all a detention. “I was watching from the window. I saw what happened, and then you all just left! You walked off. You didn’t think to come back here and let us know that you were all right.”

“If you were watching, you knew we were all right.” Luther smirks, heading for the fridge. He takes out a bottle of water for himself, then throws one to Tanner while Nova reaches around him and grabs a carton of orange juice.

“Well?” Rev says, putting her hands on her hips. “What happened?” She narrows her eyes. “Nova is that blood in your hair?”

Nova takes a strand of hair between her thumb and forefinger. A slow smile twitches her lips, but she shakes it away and says, “Long story, Rev.”

In the corner of the room, Sarah says nothing just fiddles with the hem of her cardigan and keeps looking furtively at Nico, as if she’s worried he’s going to rip her head off at any second. She watches the door, but when it doesn’t open again, she says, “Where is Sam? Why isn’t he with you? And Mack?”

“There’s a lot we need to explain,” Nova says, sitting down at the table. For the first time since she returned, she seems tired. But she rallies and straightens her shoulders as she says, “I’m going to move quickly, so pay attention.” She looks from Sarah to Rev then, just as she promised, rapidly reels off what happened by the lake.

She tells them we drank her blood, and that we are now supercharged mages capable of pretty much anything. She tells them that Mack and Snow split into two separate creatures, and then she pauses. She squeezes the carton and it crumples beneath her fingers. It’s empty, so she throws it into the trash and starts to pace.

I want to do something to help. I want to do something to make her feel better, but I can’t think of anything. The others can’t either.

Finally, she stops and says, “Kole and I were wrong about Sam.”

A quivering silence hangs in the air.

Sarah looks as nervous as usual, and Nico? Well, I still can’t tell what Nico is thinking. “Sam?” he says. “Is he okay?”

Nova turns to look at him. He is the same as he always was; lanky, unassuming, with a placid face and irritating hair. “Are you feeling better?” she asks, not answering his question.

“I feel more like myself.” He looks past Nova at Rev, then continues, “Rev’s been helping me. The voices are gone now.”

“There were voices?” Luther asks roughly. “Nova, are you sure we need this guy?”

Nova shoots Luther a frustrated stare.

From her corner, Sarah says, “What are you talking about?” She has taken her wand from her pocket. I don’t think she intends to use it, but she is moving it from one hand the other. “Please Nova, where is Sam?”

Nova inhales slowly. Looking at Nico instead of Sarah, she says, “Sam is not one of my fated mates.”

My stomach lurches. Just to say those words must be killing her. The blood bond we share, stronger now than ever and surging in my veins, tells me to go to her. Make her feel better. Soothe her. Take away the ache in her heart.

“We thought he was because we have such a strong bond.” She inhales sharply, like she’s in physical pain. “When the voice told us to look for a werewolf, we assumed it was talking about Sam because I wanted it to be him. When Kole’s mother showed us a vision of the Original Six, we assumed it was Sam because he looked…” She hesitates then makes herself say it. “Because he looked so much like you.”

Nico’s face remains completely still. Even his eyes barely move. I try to focus on him and Nova instead of the pounding dread in my ears when I think of the voice and my mother’s part in it. I should tell Nova, but not now. She has more important things to worry about right now.

“Nico? Can you hear me?” Nova asks.

Nico dips his head almost imperceptibly. “I hear you. I just don’t understand.”

Nova bites back a sigh and swallows hard. “When Sam tasted my blood, it made him sick. He couldn’t swallow it. He couldn’t even watch the others—” She stops, her cheeks flushing a little. “He knew it before I even said anything, and I knew it as soon as I came back.” She steadies herself with the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “It’s not Sam I need for the final fight. I love him and I always will, and I don’t love you, Nico, not even a little bit—” Her voice hardens and pride swells in my belly as I watch her square up to the man who once hurt her so much. “But I do need you.”

“What do you need me to do?” Nico asks, drawing back his shoulders. This time, he isn’t scared like he was before—when he was pathetic and terrified of putting himself in danger—just utterly clueless about how he could be of any help.

Nova glances at the door and taps her foot nervously. “I wanted to do this when we were all together, but I don’t know when Mack and Sam are coming back, and we have a timeline to stick to.” She pulls out the chair and sits down.

As if she can tell Nova needs either some caffeine or some sugar, Rev presses a mug of coffee into her hands. Nova sighs and stares into it for a moment, then looks up.

“Nico is our way in into The Hollow. He’s a Hellhound shifter now not a werewolf, which means he can get through the barrier.”

“Can’t you do that?” Luther asks her.

“No, Luther. I’m powerful but even I can’t break Eve’s protection spell on the mansion. It’s reinforced with The Shadow King’s dark magick. But if Nico gets inside, he can do what you were trying to do before the ritual.” She looks at me and my stomach turns.

She knew what we were doing. Even though she wasn’t here, she knew, which means she knew we had failed her.