Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,34

on much lesser offenses.

“Are you alone here?” Stepanov questioned shrewdly, his eyes narrowed as he moved into the shifter’s personal space.

Forced to take a step back, the preacher bumped into a pew and nodded profusely. “Yes, of course. I’m just getting ready for this weekend’s sermon.”

“Are you sure that is your answer?” Ishida’s sly voice broke into the mix as he stepped forward to join the charade. “Because that’s not what I heard, fox.” He spat the term like it was disgraceful to have to share any similarity of his species with the man.

“What’s this about, Ishida?” I countered with a harshness to my tone that had my father shooting daggers my way, thoroughly disappointed in my inability to keep quiet.

“The little boy speaks.” Ishida pivoted to turn in my direction with a snarling smile that looked deranged on his face. “And yet one has to wonder.” He paused, dramatically tapping his temple as he prowled forward, his unkempt black hair falling across his forehead as he glared. I didn’t even flinch, simply happy to have him away from the poor preacher who was shaking in his loafers. “Which side are you truly on, Basilisk?” Ishida leaned far too close for comfort, his breath moist against my cheek. I rolled my shoulders and stared straight ahead, refusing to allow him to goad me. Ever since I’d become Khan’s replacement, he’d had it out for me, unwilling to accept my disillusioned act regarding Nix and the guys. And he, more than anyone, had reason to doubt. He’d seen Nix and me in the forest the day Ahmya met her unfortunate end, witnessing a devotion that was not so easily dismissed. That I’d first defied his attempt to mate me with his daughter, and then witnessed how he accidentally destroyed her, didn’t help matters either. I knew the truth about what happened that day, and whether he admitted his blame or not, he resented me for her death.

“Have I not proven my loyalty to all of you throughout the years?” I questioned softly, but the angry lilt in my timbre was pronounced. The cut of my clenched jaw was as sharp as jagged stone. “I have always done everything asked of me, including courting the Phoenix girl,” I spat with contempt. The lie was sour on my tongue, but I forged forward, needing them to believe my frustration.

“We’ve been over this, Ishida,” my father remarked in exasperation. “You know I pushed him in Annika’s direction. A mythological who cannot die easily would have made a good mate for a Basilisk, and had she been more pliable, the pairing would have worked well.” Ishida scowled at the logic, and the crazed gleam in his brown eyes made him appear unhinged. “However, we all know how that turned out. I should have encouraged him toward your daughter instead, bless her soul.” My dad sighed, playing his role so well I nearly believed him. “However, we cannot change the past, can we? Do not blame the boy for my mistake,” my father reasoned, patting Ishida’s arm as an excuse to move closer so he could defend me if the mad Kitsune decided to rashly attack. Ishida hadn’t been right in the head since Ahmya died, too lost in grief and revenge to think clearly. He had truly snapped, and I was just waiting for the day he decided to try and take my head. I was a liability to him. Completely and utterly expendable once I slipped up and gave him an excuse to off me.

“Enough,” Stepanov barked, a thick, dark cloud of doom storming over him as he snarled at us like we were pesky, bickering children. “These petty disagreements are not why we are here.”

I grabbed onto the segue like a leech after blood. “Yes, precisely. But why are we here?”

“Because,” Stepanov began, grinning darkly, “we have a traitor in our midst.”

The blood froze in my veins, the air in my lungs growing as frigid as the temperature outdoors. Fuck. They couldn’t know, could they?

“And what better way to expose him and warn others that this type of betrayal will not be tolerated than by making an example of him?” With his hands clasped behind his back, Stepanov stalked forward, circling around me while Ishida grinned like a kid who’d just received candy. The preacher squirmed, and a glistening sweat broke out on his forehead as he fidgeted in place.

I felt my father shift on his feet, but I dared not look in