Chapter 45 - I missed you

NOVA

My heart swelled and swelled. When I was drowning in the bathtub I knew I would not die, but I wasn’t sure what would happen. I felt Ambrose’s determination for a moment and prayed he wasn’t about to make me worst nightmares come true. I got just enough air in my lungs to yell ‘no’ before I was holding my breath again.

My whole body ached from the cold and adrenaline was pumping wildly through me. This would not be how I died, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t going to hurt me. I decided I could take this much, and I would fight to my last moments because I would not be dying in a bathtub.

Right after that I felt a warmth building in my chest. At first it was painful, but soon it was more than welcome and it took over everything that I had become to make me what I was. I felt my talons in my fingers and lashed out at he first form I could see through the water in my eyes. Everyone that touched me after that regretted it as my flames, that no one could smother, covered their bodies and embodied their regrets. My strength was returning all at once and, as grateful as I was, I wondered whether I’d be able to control it.

I lost myself for more than a few minutes as I crossed the room. The only thing that guided me towards the patio was the knowledge that my mate was in that direction, but when I looked into the direction the pull was coming from I was momentarily distracted with the one that wanted to make a deal and told them to put me in the ice bath.

He couldn’t even hold my gaze as I sensed that he had made a bad deal, and then he was jumping off the balcony. Just like that his deal was over and my dad was saved what could have been years of waiting for someone else to kill him. As he died I felt a pair of eyes on me and turned to see my mate staring desperately towards me.

I rushed to the door and turned the locks to get to him. His touch calmed my flames and as they went out I felt the electricity of our mate bond fill me with a calmer warmth.

“My angel, oh Goddess my angel,” Ambrose whispered softly, kissing my neck, moving to my lips and then continuing to kiss my neck on the other side.

I shivered with delight in with his touch and I heard my dad roaring from somewhere behind me. I gave him my own shriek in return and then made my soft cooing noise to calm my mate. These sounds were reserved for calming member of group and our family, and Ambrose would always be my family.

And now I could mark him as such.

I felt the familiar ache of my small keratin teeth forming in my mouth and Ambrose shivered with delight with my feelings. It was like he could innately feel what I was about to do and he moved his neck to give me my choice of marking spots. My own body shook with delight and I bit down into his shoulder as hard as I could to break the skin quickly and minimize the moments of pain.

I could feel Ambrose’s joy and he groaned with the satisfied desire of me finally being able to mark him like he wanted. He would have never held it against me before, but he and Emry’s neededthiskind of claiming. This animalistic act of marking him as mine helped bring me and my animal closer together and I couldn’t wait to embrace everything I had missed about being a phoenix.

His hand was in my hair, everywhere he touched brought me pleasure and I felt his mind tentatively touching mine.

‘Her hair isn’t wet, thank the Goddess she isn’t cold anymore,’ he thought and I smiled.

‘No, I’m not cold. My flames dried me out. I’m okay now.’ I felt his surprise through our link and I giggled against his skin. ‘We never got a chance to discover everything through our bond the first time, but this is part of the perks. You are mine now Ambrose, and you too Emry’s. I will never let you go, and we are connected always.’

I heard a small whimper and opened my eyes to see Daley and Ellion. Daley was softly crying, holding her mate and trying to muffle her sobs with his arm. I was so caught up in Ambrose that I forgot there were still other people around and slowly started to pull my teeth free.

‘We can talk more later and forever,’ I assured him as I licked the skin I’d marked and looked around at everyone around us.

My eyes clashed with a familiar face and I felt my heart clench. I waited for the pain, all too grateful when it didn’t come.

“Father.”

I could feel myself smiling and Ambrose returned my feet carefully to the ground, making sure I was stable before loosening his grip. My hands moved to his face and I held him as I gave him one more kiss.

‘It’s ok Nova, I understand, go see your dad,’ he assured with a smile.

I didn’t need any further motivation and bolted for my father. His arms opened wide for me and I jumped into them. His strong arms made me feel like a kid again and I welcomed the familiar security he offered. He smelled like home and my arms wrapped fully around him to pull him as close as possible, as he did the same to me.

“My jewel.” My father’s voice was soft, and after not hearing it for so long I started to cry at the two words.

My father always called me his jewel, ever since I was little, and I didn’t realize how much I missed hearing him say it. He held me tightly to him and I could feel his tears as they fell on the side of my face.

“I missed you, so much,” I whispered.

“I’ve missed you far more my jewel. Granting your bargain was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and your brothers have been testing my every nerve ever since,” his final words came out a low whispered and I filled with excitement.

“My brothers? Where are they?”

“On their way,” he assured. “I think I have Osric to thank for getting you back to us. Little shit will probably never let me forget it either.”

I laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll put him in his place,” I assured.

“They’re bigger now,” he warned. “Full grown men that have embraced their curses fully.”

I pulled away to stand in front of him. “I’ll always be their elder sister, no matter how big they’ve gotten, and with my phoenix….” I drifted off. I had my phoenix, I could feel my animal inside me, and something was missing. “Coy.”

I dropped out of my dad’s arm and spun around to look for her. Covyn was sitting on the ground with her in his lap, gently stroking her cheek as she smiled at me. My heart sunk as I realized what was missing and I rushed over to kneel beside her.

‘Coy, you already gave up enough of your life for me,’ I told her, reaching for her hand.

‘You gave me a life I never would have had staying at home. Being your familiar was the greatest honour I could have experienced, and you always treated me more like a part of your family.’ She continued to smile and it broke my heart. “I love you,” she whispered, squeezing my hand.

I dove into her, crushing her into Covyn as I cried. “You are family, and I love you more, Coy. More than anything. You are the sister I never had, and now you’ve…”

Sequoia interrupted my whimper by wrapping her arms tighter around me and squeezing. “I wanted to, I wanted to help you get your family back. I can still go back to my family without being able to shift, and I couldn’t let my mate lose his wolf….”

Her eyes grew wide and she tensed in my arms, not letting me pull away to look at her. I heard feet shuffling around us and tried again to pull away.

‘Coy, is Covyn your mate?’ I asked her silently but I felt her resistance in answering me.

‘He doesn’t feel the same,’ she thought quickly.

I pushed away from her, and looked from her face to Covyn’s, seeing his sly smile as he moved to stroking her arms. ‘I wouldn’t be so sure of that,’ I smirked. ‘You two have gotten very close over the last little while. You’ve had real conversations and gotten to know each other on a deeper level than just the pull.’

“How long have you known?” Covyn asked her gently, his lips near her ear.

She shivered on top of him and I moved further off her as she replied. “Since the day my human eyes met yours, when Nova was taken from her and Ambrose’s room.”

He frowned slightly. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It wasn’t something you were ready to hear, and not something I was ready to deal with,” she admitted, moving to place her hands on top of his to still their movement. “It wasn’t important….”

“I accept you Sequoia,” Covyn whispered softly to her. “We don’t need to take it further right now. I’ve been enjoying getting to know you, and I think you’d enjoy some time on your own. I can wait.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a genuine blush on Sequoia’s face, but there it was, blooming out from the apples of her cheeks. Ambrose came up behind me and pull me to stand as Sequoia and Covyn moved to do the same. They didn’t lean on each other or move to embrace, but I saw her hand reach over and gently brush her knuckles over his. They would be good together, and Sequoia would be a wonderful leader.

‘Where are you?’ I sent out the mental call searching for the only people this moment was missing.

I waited as the others talked around me, and though it had only been seconds I felt impatient. We can think so much faster than we can talk, and I was anxious to see them. I had spoken to them in passing over the years, never able to say much and neither willing to risk any lasting consequences. But I could feel them now, and they were getting closer.

‘We were trying to wait for Osric,’ Varro returns and a smile stretched across my face.

Ambrose felt my glee and brought me close to his chest, wrapping his arms around me. Soon after, a shadow passes overhead and I recognize it instantly as Varro. He’s much bigger than before, as I suspect he’s flying at his natural size, but I expected them to be.

’He wanted to wait for hisgirlfriend,’ Caius adds in, following behind Varro and circling in to fly back towards us and shift as they walk.

I’m bouncing with excitement and I hear those around my giggling at my display. I don’t care, let them watch and laugh or tease me, anything they want; my brothers were here. My father chuckles and then his wings shimmer into place as he moves, like they were always there draped around his shoulders and are just now catching the light of the sun. He unfurls them and gently jumps onto the railing to glide down toward them.

He turns towards me before he does, but I don’t immediately jump to him so he smiles and glides down without me. I’m still practically vibrating, but I’m also nervous to shift for the first time, even just a part of my body. I hadn’t thought about the teeth, they just came with my emotions, but now I was worried I’d embarrass myself in front of everyone.

“Go on Nova,” Ambrose nudged. “I’ll meet you down there, you take the shortcut.”

He winked at me and I didn’t have time to second guess myself. My mate was confident in my ability, and that was all I needed. I jumped onto the railing and then into the air feeling the breeze on the skin over my arms as it morphed into long red feathers. My arms were much longer as wings, and I closed my eyes to fully take in the feeling of having them back.

I was about to complete the shift and take off for spell when I heard my brothers again.

‘Don’t you dare take off before giving me a hug.’ Caius spoke roughly, like he was trying to be demanding but still had a healthy fear of me.

‘If she does, Osric will catch her and cart her back,’ Varro laughed.

‘Watch your energy my jewel, you haven’t made enough deals to support all your power and there’s no way you’ve been eating enough for much more than this,’ my father added, and I hated admitting he was right.

I glided down towards them, flapping my wings toward them to slow down and land. The gust of wind sent their hair back from their face and had them blinking, but their smiles were broad. They were on either side of me, wrapping their arms around me before I’d fully gotten rid of the feathers so I brought my wings around them as they shifted, slowly weakening the hug but also allowing them in closer.

This close, and with my power back I was able to better sense the deals they’ve made and I cuffed Caius up the back of his head. They were both at least five or six inches taller then me but he stumbled back, looking worried and guilty; as he should. I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms across my chest.

“Raising the dead?” I muttered. “Really Caius, even for a short time….”

He scratch at the back of his head and looked away as he replied, “it wasn’t the same without you.”

I hugged him again. “I’m not sorry I did it, but I’m sorry it affected you so.”