“Killian.” The deep, ragged voice of Damien’s Gargoyle called out to me, full of warning as he heard my thoughts, pulling me back from the edge of control I was teetering on.
Keeping the fucker pinned, I breathed deeply, using the surroundings to pull me back from the darkness that was overtaking me. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed while I was lost in the red haze, but I could hear Hiro, Ryder, and Theo murmuring to a still Nix behind me.
“It’s alright, Nix. We're right here.” Hiro’s voice was soft and choked.
“God, Nix, love. What the hell did he give her? She should be regenerating.” Theo’s voice was shaky as he knelt next to her, inspecting the bottle that had fallen to the ground when Damien had flung Michael across the clearing. “I need to figure out what he gave her. This is taking way too bloody long. I don’t know why she’s not waking up!” Theo was trying hard not to lose his mind as he analyzed the scene, but I could see that the leash he kept his beast on was slipping. His human form had noticeably bulked up as he fought his shift. Theo always had control over his monster, and seeing him so unhinged now shook me.
The bloodied part-blood shifter beneath me had the audacity to let out a sick, garbled laugh, and I fucking lost it. Pulling my arm back, I let my fist fly directly into his face, effectively knocking him out. Whirling, I growled at Theo. “Of course she’ll wake up! She’s a fucking Phoenix!”
Theo stood, glaring at me. “Killian. Her regeneration is taking longer than it did when she was shot. If I can figure out what he gave her, maybe I can figure out a way to speed up the healing! Who knows if what he gave her could prevent her from regenerating at all!” His voice brokered no arguments, and, damn it, he was right.
Reigning in my anger, I stood reluctantly. Michael was still unconscious, anyway. Damien took a step closer, staying nearby in case he needed to help restrain him. “If we can wake him up, we can let Damien dig through his head. I don’t trust a word this fucker says. He’d tell us the wrong thing just to fuck with us.” My voice was raw and harsh as I sputtered the words.
Theo nodded in approval. “Ryder.”
Ryder snapped from his position on the ground, cradling a bleeding Nix. “No fucking way, dude. I don’t want to heal that bastard.”
Theo sighed, pressing his fingers against his eyes. “I don’t want to heal him either, but we need to be smart about this! Something’s wrong. We all feel it and until I can figure out what, we can only wait! If something is interfering with her ability, I want to help her! I won’t lose her, so get your ass over here, now!” He was nearly roaring as he finished speaking, emotion lacing his words.
Ryder sighed and brushed a soft kiss across Nix’s head, before passing her into Hiro’s waiting arms. I was glad one of us had her. We would never let her go through this alone. I was kicking myself for allowing her to leave earlier this evening and wished with every fiber of my being that we had insisted she stay with us. I should have never agreed to let her go back to the dorms. Fuck! My Puca and I should have been able to see this coming. Rage seethed through my body and out into my limbs, making me clench my hands into fists again. The hatred I felt toward myself for not being able to see this, for failing her, was eating me alive. For once, my Puca stayed silent, in complete agreement with my human half. Her body was completely still; no breath nor magic had yet returned. “Phoenix can’t die. Phoenix can’t fucking die…” kept playing on repeat in my head.
Damien cleared his throat and winced a little. “Kill, shields up. You’re screaming that at me. It’s starting to hurt.”
I growled, trying to bring my shields back into place. I wanted them down; wanted to let my Puca help sense any change around us, so we would know when her rebirth started. Before I sealed them in place, I felt my Puca push his magic out across the clearing, searching and reaching for Nix’s, hoping to lure it out of her and bring her back to us. When the tendrils continued across the clearing and crawled up the spelled barrier, I sighed and forced my Puca back, mentally barring my thoughts from Damien.
Ryder crouched next to Michael and swore. I saw his fist clenched as he battled with himself over his desire to hurt rather than to heal. “Bloody Hell.” He eyed me, and I caught the dark glint in his eyes. “I’ll heal him, but when we get what we need, I want you to knock him the fuck out again.”
I smirked as I thought about that silver lining. It was a dark thought for Ryder, but my Puca growled his approval. Watching Ryder heal the fucker was going to be cruel and unusual punishment for us; hopefully, it wouldn’t be pleasant for the scumbag either.
Ryder’s hand hovered over the fucker, and his hand gave off the typical blue glow that signified his healing touch. Clenching my jaw, I watched him stir slightly on the ground and had to take a few steps backward to prevent myself from jumping him again. Besides, it wasn’t my turn. Theo hadn’t had a chance to deal with the devil yet, and I just knew his Kraken was waiting in the wings for his turn at satisfaction.
Michael grunted and groaned as Ryder healed his concussion and patched him up enough to bring him back to consciousness. If this guy was smart, he’d be shitting his pants right about now: four mythologicals, rigid as stone, pissed as hell, looming above his place in the dirt ready to reign justice down on his head.
Theo leaned over Michael, his blue eyes hard and cold as ice. “What was in the vial? A drug? A poison?” His voice was full of authority and command, and I saw Michael flinch under the weight.
Coughing and spitting blood between his broken teeth, he tried to sneer at us through his swollen eyes. “That bitch got what she deserved. May as well bury her now.”
My Puca lunged, trying to gain the upper hand.
Theo merely cocked his head, somehow staying in control. This was one of the many reasons why he was the leader of our group. “You’re an abusive asshole, but you’re still a shifter. You obviously were using her for something. You wouldn’t have tracked her here just to kill her; it doesn’t make sense. While you’re not intelligent, there should still be a semblance of logic behind your actions.” His electric blue eyes narrowed and flashed with dangerous intent as he continued, “You’re obviously not her father, which means you’ve been harboring a minor for a reason. You can either cooperate and tell us what we want to know, or I can let my companion here…” he inclined his head towards Damien, “… dig through your head. I can assure you he won’t leave it in the same condition he finds it, although your sanity is already questionable.”
Michael paled, seeming to finally realize the depth of the situation he now found himself in. Glancing at the hard, cold, rage-filled faces around him, I saw some of the fight leave his posture, and he licked his lips. “I’ll tell you, but I want this one to heal the worst of this shit first.” He pointed first to Ryder and then motioned to himself. While nothing looked particularly broken, other than a few teeth, I knew his ribs must be cracked and his body would be riddled with bruises within the hour, some already showing up on his face—spread around his eyes and over his nose and cheeks. I wasn’t fucking sorry, and I could tell that Damien wasn’t either.
A noise rumbled through Theo’s chest, and I saw a flicker of his beast as he tried to keep his Kraken under control. His sea monster wouldn’t do us any good here in the clearing; although, if he did shift, his alternate form would probably smash the guy, so it’d be a win for me.
“Ryder, heal the worst injuries,” Theo ordered.