Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,169
trying to wiggle his way free. I shifted at the same time he did, and I panted as I stood over his naked, bleeding body, the vines only having tightened with his shift, tearing deeper into the fool’s skin rather than shredding to pieces as he had apparently expected.
“You shame me, Naoko. Since when is your hatred of me so deep that you’d come across the world to attack me and my mate at the behest of a mad Councilman? Are we not brothers despite our different powers?” I asked in Japanese.
Naoko laughed, the sound more chilling than the surrounding snow. “Do not call me brother, you weakling.” With a swirl of his hands, another shadowed creature rose from the trees beyond, taking to the air on a trajectory that would intercept Nix.
Red bled into the edges of my vision, and my hands turned to fists. The ground shook as I raised my chin, the power of my Kitsune surging with his fury over the threat to our mate.
My fingers splayed wide as my power obeyed, bending to my will. For the first time in my life, I grew something from nothing as easy as breathing, the white, poisonous flowers bursting forth with nothing more than a mere thought. Stooping over my brother, I fought the urge to end his life, the penance required for his sins against me and my family. I was well within my right according to the old shifter law—though, in war, we were all operating well outside the old code—to kill him. The Council had taken lives for far less severe transgressions, but I wouldn’t be like them. I wouldn’t be like any of them.
And I was determined to prove it.
“You were right,” I told Naoko softly as his panicked gaze met my sure, steady one. “We are not brothers, and after today, I never want to see your face again. If I do, I can promise you I won’t be so lenient next time.” Grabbing his cheeks, I forced his mouth open and settled a single petal on his tongue. The poison would work quickly. I gave him just enough to slow his heart for a little while and knock him out, incapacitating him for the remainder of our battle. He’d wake in an hour or two.
The shadow creature fell apart as his eyes closed, and only then did I loosen his binds. I’d make sure Nix lit a fire nearby for warmth, and that was the last kindness I’d ever show him or my blood relatives.
I shifted and dropped to all fours, loping off into the night to join the fight. The chains of my past broke away as I went to help my real family.
The ones I loved.
The ones I’d chosen.
Forty-One
Ryder
The Pertyon dove out of the sky, aiming his razor-sharp antlers at me as he bombed straight down. Like I was fucking dumb enough not to dodge his attack.
I’d just shifted after another round of healing my friends, and I pranced to the side quickly, my Ceraptor nimble on his feet. Huffing and stomping the ground with my hooves, I watched as the asshole leveled out and landed, throwing his head back with a pissed off grunt. His leathery wings flapped behind him, and I stretched my own out, my wingspan impressively larger. Just like everything about me, I was sure.
I lowered my head and aimed my horn in his direction, ready to tear this motherfucker apart for daring to threaten me… my family… my precious, innocent niece.
Seeing her in the Harpy’s grasp had slayed me, her scared whimper slashing through my heart like a steak knife through butter. She looked just like Allie, the same nose, blonde curls, and pretty eyes, though hers were terrified instead of mirthful like Allie’s had usually been.
I swore I would make Emersyn smile like Allie used to, I’d make everything right and put my broken family back together again. It might never look the same, with glue holding the cracks together and small slivers missing from the way things had shattered, but I’d do the very best I could with the pieces I had left. And I had something more to offer Emersyn now. A place with my mate and brothers. I knew they would accept her into the fold and spoil her just as rotten as I would, though raising a child had never been something we’d talked about, too focused on trying to find Emersyn to discuss what life would look like afterward.