Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,15

Come back to us, sweetheart, he called, the familiar tenor of my Gargoyle settling the turmoil of racing nightmares. I opened my eyes and sucked in a deep breath.

“That’s it, Nix,” Theo cooed gently, his hesitation clear as he touched my arm, reminding me that I was in bed with him. His palm only settled heavier once he realized I wasn’t going to pull away, scream, or ball in on myself—all reactions I’d had since we’d left our lives in Anchorage behind. I missed their house, the familiar rooms, the comforting scents. Ever since we’d fled, life had been foreign and frightening. “You’re safe,” my sweet Kraken soothed, his thumb lightly brushing my bicep over the fabric of my sleep shirt.

“You okay?” Killian asked gruffly, shuffling to the end of my bunk, looking thoroughly bed rumpled. His hair had grown a little longer and was currently stuck up in a shaggy disarray of red spikes as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Yeah.” I swallowed past my dry throat, and before I even had to ask, Hiro had slipped lithely from his top bunk and padded off, returning only seconds later with a cup of water.

“Here you go.” He held it out, and I sat up in bed, wrapping my fingers around the chilled glass. The cold water was like a balm for my parched mouth, and I offered him a wobbly smile behind the rim as I tried to ground myself in reality, fighting to regain the happiness from my dream with Joshua.

“This keeps happening,” Theo noted behind me, and I peeked over at him, a sheepish expression blooming across my face. It had been his turn to share my bed, and here I was ruining it.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured with a wince, but he didn’t accept the apology. Theo cupped my cheek with his hand and turned my face in his direction.

“Don’t apologize. I only wish you weren’t struggling. If there was anything I could do to make you more comfortable, to take the nightmares away, I would.”

“I know.” I placed my palm over the back of his hand and leaned into his hold. “But you already do so much for me. Just having you here helps.”

“It’s all this moving around. We’re never in one place long enough for you to get comfortable and grow used to your environment,” Ryder murmured with a sigh, dangling his legs off the bunk he was sharing with Hiro.

The newest compound we’d taken up residence in was an abandoned resort surrounded by rows of individual cabins that climbed up the mountainside. Unfortunately, quarters were still tight, and until everyone could be sorted, we’d volunteered to take one of the smaller rooms in the hotel, sacrificing creature comforts to help conserve space for others. Every day, more and more shifters joined the rebellion. The news of my fiery attack against the Council acted as a catalyst that spurred others to finally pick up and leave the evil regime they’d lived under, hoping for a better life outside the unfair class systems and the wards they’d been shielded behind.

“I’m fine. Really.” I broke eye contact with Theo and fidgeted with the sheet. Sharing a room with the guys didn’t allow me to hide any of my reactions, and while I loved getting time with them every evening—especially with how busy we’d all been integrating into the rebellion—it was tough when privacy was lacking. Instead, they had front row tickets to see all my thoughts and feelings, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The truth was, nothing was fine. Nothing was normal. Your average college student didn’t have to deal with corrupt governments full of powerful shifters, losing loved ones, joining a rebellion, and dealing with a brewing war that promised nothing but more pain and death. Sometimes, I wished the biggest thing I had to worry about was my classwork and what to wear to the next college party, but that wasn’t my life and I’d come to terms with it. In my heart of hearts, I knew the rebellion was where I was meant to be. Taking down those who abused their power over others had always been part of my life’s goal, I was just going about it in a different, unexpected way.

But there was no questioning that the Council deserved to die, and I was happy to be a rebel fortifying the movement against their rule. I wanted to watch them burn for what they’d done to Damien’s family, to those