Born of Embers Read online

  I pulled him to a stop on the sidewalk. I needed to clarify this before things went any further. “Listen, before we go into this mall I need you to understand two things. The first is that I can’t pay you back right now, but I will. The second is that this shopping trip has to be no strings attached,” I stated this firmly, then decided to clarify further, “I mean, I won’t owe you anything… other than monetarily.” I looked to the ground as I finished that sentence. I didn’t truly think Killian was that kind of guy but I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting him buy me anything if I didn’t say it all out loud.

  “Absolutely, Nix,” I could see his eyes harden slightly, but I wasn’t sure why.

  Killian guided me into a store that specialized in outdoor gear. The array of coats, shoes, boots, tents, skis, and more was overwhelming. I followed him down the narrow aisle, accidentally brushing his arm in the process. I took a deep breath but realized that the contact didn’t freak me out as much as usual. Why was that? Maybe it was the public place, which made me feel safer? Maybe it was that I was the one to brush by him instead of the other way around? Or was it just that I was getting more comfortable around Killian? Did I trust him? I thought maybe I was starting to. Obviously I was here with him.

  “Here. Pick one.” He motioned to a line of women’s jackets. I walked by the jackets, lightly running my fingers over them as I scanned them. Discreetly, I tried to look at the prices on the tags of each coat, trying to locate the cheapest one. He raised an eyebrow, clearly seeing through my strategy. His voice was low as he said, “If you pick the cheapest one, I will purposefully find the most expensive one and buy it instead. Just find one you like. What’s your favorite color?”

  “Purple,” I looked over the coats again, finding a few purple ones in the lineup. One caught my eye that was fitted and drew in at the waist before flaring out again. I thought it might look good on me and I loved the deep plum color. Pulling it from the rack, I noticed it was thick and warm with a lining of fluffy insulation under the synthetic outer layer. I thought it would do well to keep me warm when the temperatures plummeted. I slipped it on and fastened it up. Spinning in front of a nearby mirror I turned to get Kill’s opinion, since he was buying it and all. “Well?”

  He nodded in my direction. “Come on. We need a few more things.” He proceeded to lead me through the store gathering gloves, a hat, reflective gear, toe warmers—who knew those even existed—and a backpack with a water spout attached. Before we got to the register, he also forced me to pick out a pair of long underwear and winter boots. I fell in love with the boots instantly. They laced high up my calf and were fur lined. My feet felt like they were encased in clouds. When he paid the cashier I chose not to look at the total. Instead, I walked into the mall and waited for him to join me.

  We walked in silence past a few stores before I heard him chuckle.

  “What?” I asked, realizing that I loved the sound of his amusement.

  “You don’t happen to need anything in there, do you?” He motioned to a lingerie store with large ads featuring women in bras with seductive looks on their faces. The smile on his face was full of mischief, emphasizing a wicked glint in his green eyes that made me want to smile in return. I couldn’t help myself; I decided to toy with him.

  “Actually I do,” My voice was low as I tried to make myself sound sultry. I gave him my best sexy smirk as I took a few steps backward towards the store. I watched as his eyes darkened and he stepped after me before I continued. “But you’re not invited to that little fashion show and I happen to have enough to cover what I need.” I gave him a fingertip wave and turned to walk into the store. Looking over my shoulder, I caught him checking out my ass and laughed before I added, “I’ll only be a few minutes. I’ll meet you over there.” I pointed to some benches just down the way. His eyes narrowed on me as I walked into the store and out of sight.

  I was actually thrilled to be in a lingerie store. My bra was horribly uncomfortable, being a thrift store find, and I had been wanting to get measured and properly fitted. I was worried about someone actually doing the measuring though, so when the assistant offered to do so, I refused and had her instruct me how to do it myself. Apparently it wasn’t uncommon as the employee didn’t bat an eye as she walked me through the measurements and the math involved. After trying a few on, I finally found my fit and bought a couple in different colors with different styles of underwear to match. The price made me wince as I checked out. Why the hell was underwear so damn expensive? Even buying sale items I had just spent more on underwear than I normally spent on two years worth of clothing in Orlando. I needed a pick me up. Deciding to torture Kill some more, I let a little black lace hang over the edge of the bag and, sure enough, his eyes zeroed in on that little bit of dark fabric when I left the store. I could see his throat work as he swallowed. His eyes flared in challenge when I grinned impishly at him. His eyes locked tight to mine as he reached out to stroke a large thumb across the fabric before sliding it deep into my bag. It was my turn to swallow hard at that move. He smirked and shook his head slightly before pulling me back into the streams of people.

  We spent the rest of the afternoon having fun together shopping in different stores. I dragged him into a clothing store that specialized in darker styles of clothing and he took pictures on his phone of me trying on different beanies with fun sayings, my favorite being one that said: “I have strange friends”. After that, I made him try on an archer's hat. With his dark red hair and the green pointy hat I had to admit that he made a sexy Robin Hood! Against my will he bought me one that said: “I solemnly swear I am up to no good!” from one of my favorite movies, Harry Potter.

  “Hungry?” Killian led the way out of the store and guided me through the mall.

  “Actually, yes.” I reached into my pocket to see how much money I had left on me. I would need to go to an ATM soon because I only had a few dollars left. That had to be enough to buy a slice of pizza or a hotdog though. Before I could contemplate my choices any further I felt Killian’s finger under my chin, lifting my face to his. My breathing picked up but for once I couldn’t tell if it was because someone had touched me, or if it was because of the feel of Killian’s skin against mine. The light contact was enough to cause my heart to pick up pace and I had the startling realization that I had my answer. I looked up into his green eyes and literally had no words for him.

  “I’ve got you,” he murmured, his deep voice flowing over me and somehow, I knew he meant more than just buying me dinner. He ran his thumb quickly along my jaw before dropping his hand and walking into the food court. I traced the tickling line of heat that his thumb had left in its wake with my own fingers before I hurried along after him. We ended up getting Thai food and sat together to eat at one of the small two-seater tables in the food court.

  “So you like Game of Thrones.” Kill smirked at me before taking another bite of food.

  “How in the world did you know that?”

  “‘You know nothing Jon Snow.’” He teased me. Oh God. I forgot I had thrown that at him when I stormed out the other night.

  “I’ve seen it.” My voice was more of a chirp than conversational and embarrassment heated my cheeks. Now that I’d had a little distance from that night, I felt that I may have overreacted a bit. I knew, deep down, that the guys were just trying to protect me. I just wasn’t used to having people care.

  “It’s one of our favorites. Are you caught up on all the seasons?”

  “No. We couldn’t afford to have many channels, much less HBO.” I took a bite, eating between the conversation.

  A curious look crossed Killian’s face. “How did you get into the show then?”

  Shit. “Uh… an ex-boyfriend of sorts, actually.” My cheeks colored slightly. Why was I embarrassed to tell him that? “I watched some of the episodes, but when we stopped hanging out I was never able to keep watching.” I shrugged and dug back into my meal, hoping to waylay any further questions.

 
He hummed quietly, eyeing me. “Have you dated much?”

  “No. Not really. Nothing meaningful. What about you?”

  “Nope, no boyfriends.” His signature smirk crossed his lips.

  Arching an eyebrow I replied, “And girlfriends?”

  “No.” His reply was short. I could tell there was more there than he was willing to tell me right now, so I dropped the subject.

  “How far have you gotten?” His question brought my attention back to him.

  “Excuse me? Are you asking if I’m a virgin?” I couldn’t decide if I should be shocked, outraged, embarrassed, or amused.

  A deep burst of laughter startled me. “Fuck no! That’s a conversation we can have another time.” His eyes, which were swimming with mirth only moments ago, darkened as he held my gaze. “What I meant was, how far into the show have you been able to watch?”

  “Oh!” God, how had that conversation gotten so far out control? “I think I made it to the end of season two.”

  “Alright, well, we’ll have to binge watch it together. You have a lot to catch up on. It’s a date.”

  Date? Did he mean alone with him? Or with all of the guys since they all loved to watch it? I wasn’t about to broach that subject, instead I changed it.

  “So tell me something I don’t know about you? What are you majoring in?” It felt like a good place to start. The connections I had with all five of them felt bone deep, magical, and strong, but it wasn’t lost on me that I didn’t know much about them.

  “Aviation Technology.”

  “You’re kidding. You fly?” At his smirk and nod I added, “That’s impressive! I would never be able to do something like that.”

  “Afraid of heights?”

  “No. I mean, I flew here and I did alright.” I shrugged.

  “Was that your first time flying?”

  I nodded as I chewed, trying to keep my decorum polite. Even though it was mall food, it was delicious. I had eaten better in the last few days than I ever did before I moved. I couldn’t remember the last time I actually ate three meals a day.

  “Well, we’ll have to fix that.” He smiled at me.

  “Fix what?” Damn me for getting caught up in my thoughts.

  “Your lack of flying experience. I’ll take you up.” He pointed upwards as he finished his meal and sat back, watching me.

  Excitement raced through my veins. “You have a plane?”

  “Kind of. It was a gift from the Council.”

  I whistled. “Some gift!”

  “Perks of being a mythological. Plus, the planes help us make runs for supplies during the winter. We don’t want for much here in Anchorage, but where the community is located is rather isolated. They bring most of their supplies in. Food, medical supplies, those sorts of things.”

  “It sounds… rustic.” I couldn’t keep the skepticism from my voice.

  “It’s not. Trust me. It might have a rustic appeal but shifters want for very little. They have a state of the art medical facility, schools, even a few places to eat. I mean, everything is smaller scale but it’s all there. You’ll see it someday.”

  Just after he finished his sentence, I got that sudden strange feeling again. I wasn’t sure if was the thought of going to the community which would mean I’d have to face the Council or my more ominous fears, but the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention and my Phoenix hissed in my mind. I felt the familiar tingle in my fingers and dropped my fork to grip my hands into fists. I would not, could not, lose my cool here in the middle of a public place. I quickly scanned the people around me trying to assess if there was truly a threat. I was getting tired of feeling scared all of the time. I would have brushed it off as a trigger or my insecurity getting the best of me except that my Phoenix seemed to sense it too, unless she was just playing off of my own emotions? Having another creature tied to you was confusing.

  “What is it?” Killian scanned the area for whatever was bothering me.

  “I’m not sure,” I said, because, hell, I wasn’t. I looked around for the last time, still not spotting anything before I got Killian’s attention. His shoulders were tense and his eyes were dark as they kept a close watch on our surroundings. “Kill, can we leave?” I needed to get out of here. Being this public was suddenly causing the walls to creep in. I was too exposed here. There were too many people, too many places for someone to hide, too many sounds coming at me from every direction. It was impossible to sort out where a threat could be coming from, and how best to protect myself from it. I also feared losing control. There were tons of children around me, if my Phoenix thought she was protecting me and released fire again, I may accidentally injure someone.

  Without responding, he grabbed our trays and motioned for me to follow him. I stood, gathered our bags, and stayed by his side as he dumped our trays and headed out of the mall.

  On the way to his Hummer he reached for my hand. The roughness of his fingers holding mine felt good. For the second time today, I wasn’t freaking out because someone was touching me. No. This was Killian touching me, and somehow, that fact alone helped put me at ease instead of causing me to tense up. Right now, it helped me to feel safe and I took a step closer to him as we hurried to the car. He took the bags and threw them in the back before opening my door and helping me inside. Shutting it, he ran around to the driver's side, climbed in, and sped away from the shopping complex. I couldn’t help the breath that escaped my lips as I let out the tension from dinner. What the hell? These occurrences were getting closer together and I was starting to feel paranoid. I kept talking myself off the ledge, telling myself I was overreacting, but the more frequently I felt watched or like someone was following me, the more unsettled I stayed.

  “What happened in there, Nix?”

  “I know as much as you do.” There was no way I could tell him that I was worried my murderous father or my sick, abusive ex-foster brother were stalking me so they could kill me or rape me again before dragging me back to the hellhole that Orlando had been for me. Logically, I knew it couldn’t be my ex-foster brother, Scott. He was still in prison, where I put him. And if it wasn’t Michael, could I really tell him my other fear? That someone from the Council was after me? Those were his leaders, for all intents and purposes, and I wasn’t about to say anything negative about them until I knew more.

  Blowing out a breath he asked, “Would you like to come back to the house?”

  It was tempting. I had been avoiding the guys yesterday and today but there was a huge part of me that wanted to see them. I wasn’t ready to acknowledge it yet but there was also a part of me that felt safe with them. I fought against that feeling though. Nothing was safe. I knew better. Even if they would never hurt me physically, I knew they already held the power to do so emotionally. Shaking my head no, I looked out the window. I was already at my limit emotionally for the day.

  “Listen, some of the guys are going hiking tomorrow. It’s a pastime of ours. Why don’t you join us? I know you still have questions and you’ve had two days to think up more. It’s a public trail, and I’m sure other hikers will be out, but it’s also private enough to ask your questions and get some answers.”

  I arched an eyebrow at him, “Is that what all the reflective gear, hats, and the bag were about?”

  “Well it’s not just for tomorrow. We’re all pretty active and our animal sides like to be outdoors. We hike often. There are some great locations that are spelled for shifters too, it’s nice to be able to shift when we need to. We thought you might want to join us when we go out.”

  The idea of answers and being able to shift and spread my wings, literally and figuratively, sounded good. Agreeing, I wondered just what tomorrow would hold and despite trying not to, I looked forward to seeing all of the guys again soon.

  Twenty-Three

  Ryder

  Hiking was completely pointless. It was dirty, cold, and the clothes weren’t even cute. Going somewhere to shift, that was fine. My Cerapter needed time
to play just as much as I did. That wasn’t the plan for today, though. We were actually hiking a trail. I made a face at Theo, though he wasn’t looking at me, as he checked his gear. I still didn’t understand why we couldn’t go with my choice for the day. I would have loved to see Nix in a bikini. I let my mind drift, ignoring where Hiro and Theo stood at the trailhead waiting for Rini to drop off Nix. I could easily see Nix in a bright red and gold bikini, the same colors as her wings in Phoenix form. The way the colors would bring out her golden skin and emphasize her long, dark hair, the way the material would cling to her damp curves. Yeah, I would much rather have taken her to the pool than done a stupid hike. The slamming of a car door drew my attention to where Rini had just peeled out of the parking lot, leaving a nervous looking Nix behind.

  My one condition for allowing the hiking trip had been that only Theo, Hiro, and I would go. Killian had gotten the chance to go shopping with her one-on-one and she was still a little nervous around Damien’s mind-reading powers. Dinner with all of us again would be a big step for her, and I just wanted to remind her about how much fun we could have. I knew Killian had pressed her, saying that with all the privacy she could ask us all the questions she wanted, but to me that was secondary. She’d get used to the shifter world eventually—its classism, its rules, its divisions. She should have fun. From what I could tell, that girl hadn’t had enough fun in her life.

  “Nix!” I hollered, running over to her and performing a sweeping bow that caused my hat to fall from my head. I heard her snort, and looked up in time to see her trying to hide a smile behind her hand as she adjusted her coat.

  Hiro stepped forward with a wave and smile for Nix, while Theo merely nodded his greeting, raking his gaze over her to assure himself she was properly outfitted for our trip. “Good morning, sweetheart! I’m sorry that we’re stuck outside in the cold, but I was outvoted.” I pouted prettily at her.