Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,52

get home to her rode me so hard I could barely breathe, but I didn’t want my mate to ever see me like this.

After a few minutes, I pushed to my feet. Or tried to. My legs wobbled, the muscles wanting to slither rather than straighten. I stumbled, reaching out and bracing myself against the wall as I heaved in oxygen.

Fuck. Nix’s blood was so damn strong. The power of her Phoenix had increased my own natural abilities until it had become too much. Fucking Ishida had injected an excessive amount this time as he tested the effects of Nix’s blood on me before the Council tried it for themselves. This was my third dose in as many days, and the buildup had brought my Basilisk forward in a rage. I’d never lost control of him before, but he’d lashed out at anyone who came near him, and sprayed venom to coat the bars lining the front of the cell. He bashed against the confines of our prison until he’d bled, stopped only by the Council’s threats of execution. Eventually, coiled in the corner to protect us as the potency of Nix’s blood worked its way through my veins. He remained like that until it diluted enough for me to control my impulses once more.

The venom in my fangs had grown more lethal, and the amount I was able to produce flooded my mouth over and over again. My eyes felt raw and gritty, the power to kill with a single look as easy now as flipping on a light switch. The choice was there, right in the forefront of my mind, though the power seemed to lessen and fade each time Nix’s blood worked its way out of my system. I’d never wanted the ability, but after a few days in captivity, I realized what my father said was true—I had control over it, much to the Council’s disappointment since I refused to use my death stare for their purposes.

Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Ishida’s taunts tolled like church bells in my head, rattling against my mind. My Basilisk hissed in anger and warning, and I groaned, trying to clear the fog I seemed to be enveloped in. It felt like I was torn in two, my mind both human and snake. I inhaled deeply, hoping the extra burst of air would help me think straight, only to scent the acrid smell of gasoline.

“Ah, I’m glad to see you’re finally back to yourself, Joshua,” Ishida chirped happily as he descended the stairs to the basement, gleefully swinging a telltale red jug of gasoline. “This wouldn’t have been fun if you’d still been in your shifted state.”

“What the fuck?” I slurred, my tongue feeling like cotton in my mouth. My throat was as dry as the desert sand.

“I’m here to free you.” Ishida paused when he reached the bottom step, his head cocking to the side to study me. I narrowed my eyes, glaring at him the best I could, though I knew the effectiveness of my glower was lost in the weakness of my body’s transition back to being human. “At least… those are my orders.” Ishida’s evil grin spread across his face, the expression as crazed and disturbing as that of the Joker’s. “Too bad I don’t intend to follow them.” He cackled as though he amused himself.

“Why are you here?” My voice sounded like shattered glass, rough and unrefined, but I pushed the words out anyway.

“I was so hoping you would ask me that.” Ishida moved a step closer, each stride calculated and controlled despite the demented gleam in his eyes. I couldn’t be the only one to have noticed that his madness had grown from an ember into a raging flame, burning away at the strips of sanity that remained. “It would be terribly inconvenient if I didn’t get to see your face when I take from you what you’ve taken from me.” His tone turned venomous with each word, the poison shooting dread straight through my heart like an arrow piercing flesh.

My throat stung as I struggled to swallow. I waited, just waited for the blow I knew was coming.

“You see, Joshua,” he began, spitting my name, “while Stepanov refuses to see you for the traitor you are, I have no such qualms about ending you and the threat you pose to our cause.”

“What cause?” I growled, pushing off the wall to stand straighter. My legs shook, but I tightened the muscles, refusing to look weak in