Hidden in Smoke (Phoenix Rising Book 2) Read online

  “Just consider what I said, my dear. We can always reassign your dorm if it’s necessary.”

  I slung my back over my shoulder, trying to keep my anger contained for the few more minutes I would remain in her office. “May I ask who brought this to your attention?”

  Ms. Stone reared back, pulling her hand to her chest in a fluttering gesture. “I’m not quite sure how that’s relevant.”

  I tried to smile, putting all of the false sweetness into it I could. “I just wanted to thank whoever was looking out for me. I think they would make a very good friend if they’ve gone to this extreme to make sure I’m taken care of.” I put as much wide-eyed enthusiasm into the statement as I could.

  After a slow perusal of my features, Ms. Stone smiled brightly. “I think that’s an outstanding idea. Two of your classmates brought you to our attention.” She pulled a small, red file from her desk drawer, flipping through what appeared to be sheaves of notes and emails. “A young woman named Ahmya mentioned that you hadn’t been spending time in your dorms. A young man from your Intro class and your Biology class, Mason, also approached us with concerns.”

  “Thank you; you’ve been very helpful.” That bitch! At this point, I didn’t know if I was referring to Ms. Stone or Ahmya. I closed the door gently behind me, allowing the painful smile to drop from my face as the latch clicked. I should have expected Ahmya would have done what she could to stop me from spending time with the guys, including reporting me for not spending enough time in my dorm room. I had absolutely no idea who Mason was, though. It wasn’t a surprise that we shared multiple classes, as they were both freshman courses, but I wouldn’t have been able to pick him out of a lineup.

  Walking back outdoors, I hesitated for a moment, my hand on my bag. I wanted to call the guys to rant and rave about the meeting I’d just had—about how Ahmya was trying to cause problems. That bitch just didn’t know when to stop. What did she think she was going to accomplish? Did she think she’d ever find herself back in the guys good graces after the things she’d said? After tattling on my whereabouts? If she did, she was delusional. I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t judge Mason because I had no idea who he was, but I wanted him to keep his nose out of my business. Taking a deep breath, I tried to sort it all out in my head. While the interaction and accusations were stressful and annoying, they weren’t anything I couldn’t handle on my own for now—especially Ahmya. I already felt bad about burdening them with my past, Michael, and needing escorts to class. They didn’t need to worry about this unless it truly became a problem. They were already on edge and didn’t want me back at school, and none of us needed anymore stress in our lives. For now I decided to just monitor the situation while we figured everything else out, and talk to the guys about it if it became necessary.

  Pulling my phone from my bag, I strode further down the pathway and stepped off onto the grass so I was out of the way of students rushing to and from classes. I shot a quick text to Damien to let him know where I was so he wouldn’t panic. Slowly, I breathed deeply, counting every breath and holding for five seconds before I released it, enjoying the cold crisp air in my lungs. The wind bit against my cheeks as it flowed through the many trees on the school grounds, and from my position, I could see the mountains that rose against the brilliant blue sky on the side of campus. I had enjoyed watching those mountains from the moment I stepped off the plane. Their solid, imposing, beauty had struck a chord within me that I hadn’t even known was missing as they stood sentinel over the rugged landscape. I had never seen mountains in person, having spent the majority of my life living in Florida, and now I couldn’t imagine living anywhere without them.

  Eleven

  Hiro

  I knew that Nix was starting to go a little stir crazy under our constant care and concern. She had been remarkably patient since waking up, but we were quickly pushing her to her limits. She and Killian were currently glaring at each other from opposite ends of the couch, Killian’s face flushed with irritation and a pout settling over Nix’s gorgeous lips. Killian had refused to allow her to accompany him on the trip he was planning to search the area for Michael. Our hot-headed little Phoenix had taken great objection to his flat rejection of her involvement. Her fury over Michael not being her father and her need for answers were driving her. Truthfully, none of us wanted her out there searching for him. Killian just happened to be the one going to battle for us and bearing the brunt of her anger.

  “Come on, guys.” I tried to keep the pleading out of my tone. I was tired of playing mediator between those of us still freaked out by all of the injuries that had occurred in rapid succession over the last few weeks, and those of us trying to get things back on a normal keel. “Look, I know we’re all on edge, but it’s Friday night! How about we do something fun?”

  “Fine. Let’s go dancing.” Nix’s face was sullen as she studied Killian. A quick glance at Damien had him shaking his head, as he opened up the link between us. Overprotective Celt. This ought to tweak his freakin’ bunny tail. Ah, our girl definitely had a temper on her. I loved her fire.

  I cleared my throat, trying not to laugh at her inner monologue. She still wasn’t great at holding her walls steady when she was emotional and, with her improved range, was frequently projecting to Damien. “As much fun as that may be, why don’t we keep it calm for tonight.”

  As much as I wanted to see her sexy body moving around a dance floor, I knew we’d never get everyone to agree to go out with the threat of danger still lurking in the air. I wasn’t ready for yet another argument to break out. The expression on Nix’s face went from sullen to mutinous. If they don’t stop trying to protect me all the time, I’m going to jump off the freaking roof. I feel like I’m suffocating!

  I had to fight my instinct to soothe her. “I’m not sure Theo’s up for dancing quite yet.” Guilt flashed across Nix’s features as she glanced across the room to where Theo was sprawled on the recliner, his blonde hair mussed and falling into his eyes as he dozed. Her temper immediately cooled, and she looked a little sheepish as she realized I might be right. While she may not admit it, Nix was as protective of us as we were of her.

  Desperate, I glanced around the room. I knew she was sick of movies—frankly, I think we all were—and wanted to burn some energy. I wondered if her competitive streak could be useful here. “How about we play a game?”

  She wrinkled her nose in obvious distaste. “I’m sick of just sitting here.”

  “We’ve got some active games. Pictionary? Charades?” I wheedled a little, trying to get her to at least consider my options.

  “Fine. But I get to pick!” Nix sprang up and darted to the game cupboard I pointed her to. Over the years we had developed quite a collection as we each had varied interests. The cupboard held everything from chess, to Cards Against Humanity, to Mahjong. Cold board game nights had become a bit of a tradition, and I was thrilled that Nix could now be involved. As she rifled through the cupboard, I shot a look at Killian to remind him to behave.

  “How about we play strip poker. The way I’d play it, it could be very interactive.” Ryder waggled his eyes in Nix’s direction.

  Without even turning around, she scoffed at him, “Fat chance there, Ponyboy.”

  I smothered a grin at Ryder’s pout.

  “Yes!” The cry was high-pitched and girly, and Ryder lost his ability to keep the fake sullen look on his face, smiling at her infectious enthusiasm. Turning her back to us, she held the game she had chosen behind her back. “Everyone’s playing?” Murmurs of assent rose from each of us—even Theo, whom I had assumed to be asleep in his sprawled position. The grin on her face was just shy of evil, and I was a bit concerned, trying to do a mental inventory of the games we had in that cabinet that could put that expression on her face. She whipped the game from behind with a showy, dramatic wave of her hand. “Twister time!”

  I didn’t know whether to be thrilled at the idea of her hot body pressed up against mine, or terrified of the though
t that her twisting around us like a pretzel might lead me to pinning her against the floor so I could get a nice, long taste of her. From the looks on my brothers’ faces, they were in agreement. Ryder pumped his fist. “Hell yeah! I’m so in!” Jumping up, he ran to join her, swiping the box from her hand.

  “Twister?” Killian’s voice was skeptical, and I tried hard not to roll my eyes. Why did he have to keep ruffling her feathers?

  Nix’s chin jutted out as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes. Twister. Not only is it active, but I’ve always wanted to play.”

  Ryder’s draw dropped. “You’ve never played Twister? Oh hell, no. Kill, shut it. We’re so playing. Get your ass over here.” Kicking off his flip-flops he got to work pushing back the chairs and scooting the sectional as far into the wall as it would go so we had room to spread out the tarp.

  “Teams or round robin?” Leave it to Theo to set the rules even when he looked to be three-quarters of the way asleep. Even though Ryder had healed him, the silver had left him weaker, and until it was out of his system completely, he needed to take it easy,

  “Oh! Let’s do tournament style!” Ryder seemed as excited as Nix to play as he turned to grab our second board from the cupboard. I knew he had been missing the ease and levity that were so vital to his personality—he needed tonight as badly as Nix did.

  Damien stepped up, seeing Nix’s confusion. “Twister’s technically only made for two to three people to play at a time. We’ll play three to make it more challenging—and more fun.” The last was added with a wink. “We’ll split into groups of three. The first group will play, and the last man or woman standing wins the round. Then the next three will play until we have a winner. Then we can have an elimination round where the two winners will compete for the championship.”

  Nix cocked her head. “So what will I win?”

  Killian scoffed, standing to begin stretching his arms overhead, loosening his muscles in preparation. Twister wasn’t his best game, but he and his Puca absolutely hated to lose. “House rules are that winner picks their prize as long as it’s not dangerous.”

  “We usually have a pretty good guess, based on who wins, of what they’re going to want,” Damien explained as he joined Killian in stretching.

  “Nothing dangerous. Nothing offensive.” The last was a warning aimed strongly at Ryder who was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at Nix again, this time where she could see it. He simply stuck his tongue out at me. One day I was going to show him another use for that… Damien coughed and shot me a look. Fuck. I’d forgotten my wall.

  “Rules are set. Prize is to be determined. Everyone in?” Damien stepped up to the spinner as he shot a grin to the group.

  “Let’s do this.” Nix slipped out of her slippers, a confident grin on her face. “I’m on team one.”

  “Me too!” Ryder was nearly bouncing with excitement.

  “I’ll take team one as well,” Killian added, stepping up to the side of the mat. “Someone has to make sure the unicorn doesn’t cheat.”

  Ryder wrinkled his nose. “God, will you stop that, Bugs?”

  As the two continued to jibe each other good-naturedly—well, at least semi-good naturedly—I watched Nix as the game began. She was extremely flexible—it was easy to see why she had been confident in her choice. She flowed from spot to spot—stretching, twisting, and arching as if the movements were effortless. I could barely breathe. My mouth was dry as dust, and I wanted to see how much farther she could twist.

  Ryder was the first to fall. In a dramatic move, Nix arched backward across his lap into a backbend in order to reach the blue circle that Damien called. Ryder swore, barely breathing from his prone position on the ground as he stared in shock at Nix. “How the hell are you able to bend like that?” His voice was husky, his eyes hot and greedy as he studied her. She simply shot him a cocky grin, remaining in her backbend.

  Ryder slid himself from underneath her body, coming to stand by me as he shook his head. “God damn it. I had no idea she could bend like that!”

  I leaned in, my mouth brushing his ear so that only he could hear me. “Ah, but imagine all we could do with her being that flexible. You deep in her throat, me deep in her pussy. With her ability to bend like that I’d be able to lean forward enough to lock my teeth on your neck.” My voice had dropped, the image I painted for Ryder taking hold in my mind as I studied them both. Ryder’s breathing was rapid beside me, as caught in the fantasy as I was he leaned towards me, his body swaying as it nearly brushed mine. “Would you like that? My mouth hot on your neck as I nip at you? Nix moaning around you, loving what we can do to her together? Her beautiful breasts hot and full in your hands?”

  A glance at the others showed me they were focused on the game—all except Nix, that was. Her eyes were caught on Ryder and me, curiosity and lust blazing in her expression. Holding eye contact with her, I leaned down, brushing my lips against the side of Ryder’s neck. As he tilted his head to expose more of his throat to me, I sent Nix a wicked smile. Quick as a whip, I slid down the collar of his t-shirt, sinking my teeth into the hollow of his shoulder, flicking my tongue over it as I sucked, letting him feel the rub of my tongue ring. Ryder nearly fell backward into me, biting his tongue to hold in a groan.

  Nix’s eyes lit up, and she swore as she hit the ground. I had already stepped away from Ryder as she shot me an irritated look. “That was totally cheating.”

  Damien, Killian, and Theo all turned to look at where she was glaring. I smiled serenely, blinking slowly as though confused. Damien was the first to catch on as he glanced at Nix, then me, then Ryder. His deep laugh filled the room as he had to fight to stand upright. “Well, I had thought Ryder would have been the cheat. Looks like Nix is going to add a whole new dynamic to our games.”

  I want to play some games… I didn’t try to keep the thought to myself this time, projecting loud and clear. Nix swallowed hard as Damien—a helpful friend as always—projected my thought to her.

  “Kill wins round one. He can use the spinner for the rest of us.” I slid my glasses off, never moving my eyes from Nix as I did. She was starting to pant slightly, her eyes holding mine steadily. Shaking her head as if to clear it, she moved to stand by the second mat.

  Did you actually bite Ryder? Damien’s mind-speech was amused, but his face was serene as the game began.

  Oh yes. And she enjoyed every second of watching us. I could tell that Damien had opened the link to all of the guys when I heard them chuckle.

  That was a seriously dirty trick. Nearly as bad as her backbend. Ryder complained.

  From the flush on your cheeks and rate I can hear your heart beating, I don’t think you truly object. Leave it to Theo to be analytical even now. Our telepathic communication was no deterrent for the Kraken. Even on dry land, the guy moved like water, flowing and bending effortlessly from space to space.

  Hey, you would be too if you’d heard the story he was spinning. Before I could say another word, Ryder blasted an image down the mental link of exactly what I had been painting for him. A needy, wanton Nix sandwiched between the two of us, pretzeling backward with ease, her skin flushed and covered in sweat as Ryder and I pleasured her.

  Killian nearly dropped the spinner, and Damien slid with a thud, nearly knocking himself unconscious as his jaw slammed into the ground. I’m not sure that’s entirely feasible, was Theo’s dry response. However, I would be very interested in trying it. Huh. Go Theo!

  Will all of you settle down! Killian’s voice was a roar in our head. You’re going to scare the crap out of Nix!

  Oh, I don’t think you will. Damien’s mental voice held plenty of amusement as he rubbed the ache from his jaw. She’s projecting constantly since this last rebirth. What she is projecting is very, very interesting. She seems to still be struggling with building a wall, so I’ve been trying to wall her out of the link. I think she would be very interested in what we’re discussing—though at this point I don’t think her imagination is q
uite as wild as Hiro’s.

  Interesting. I occasionally envied Damien his power to hold a mental link, especially when it came to understanding my brothers or Nix. I would have loved to know her fantasies and to spend hours—days—acting them out on her one by one.

  Theo and I continued our dance across the Twister mat, each of us twining around the other as one move after the next was called. I wonder what it’d be like to have them twist around me like that. If Theo moved just a little closer I bet Hiro could kiss him. Nix’s voice was loud in our heads.

  “Fuck!” Theo was down for the count. I couldn’t help but laugh when his mouth barely missed mine as he slipped. I stood with a flourish, bowing to the room in general. This was more fun than I had expected.

  Twelve

  Killian

  “Totally not fair.” Nix jutted her lower lip out in the cutest fucking pout I had ever seen. “Hiro played dirty earlier. I want a redo. Or at least another game.” She placed her fists on her hips as she worked to keep the sad look on her face while she stared us down, begging for another chance to make it into the elimination round. Who knew our girl had such a competitive streak?

  “Yeah, guys, let her play again. Then I can show her what playing dirty really looks like.” Ryder gave her a salacious grin, but since he was on her side, she didn’t even roll her eyes at him.

  I won’t object to her bending around us a little more. Hiro interjected into our minds compliments of Damien.

  Well, she won’t be bending around you, since you’re already in the finals, but she’ll be bending around me. The smugness in Theo’s tone was surprising. The fact that his loss may have landed him a chance to play a round of twister with Nix was making him and his Kraken happy.