Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,55

of a bitch.

“Nix!” I called out, knowing she wouldn’t answer. “Dad!” They were the two people I cared about most in this world, the guys were a close second.

I didn’t want to give up, but I didn’t have a way to break out of this fucking cell, and I wasn’t about to waste the last few minutes of life I had left. I closed my eyes, leaned back to rest my head against the wall, and pictured Nix’s smile. She was free and happy, surrounded by the guys, and dressed in white. I wanted to marry her. Mate her. Claim her. I wanted to grow old together. Have babies. Be blissfully happy. I pictured it all as tears rolled down my cheeks. “I fucking love you, Nix,” I rasped, coughing as the smoke grew thicker.

I hoped she knew just how much I cared about her. My heart hurt worse than my arm, but I held onto the vision of her.

“Joshua!” I heard my father’s panicked voice and my eyes flew open, causing Nix’s gorgeous face to fade from view. Was I dreaming? Or was he actually here somewhere?

Orange flames flickered against the far wall of the basement as the stairs continued to ignite one after the other, making shadows dance and weave before falling back as the blaze chased them away.

“Dad?” I called, but the shout was hoarse, barely greater than a squeak. I cleared my throat and tried again, the yell only marginally more successful.

Smoke grew heavier in the air as the flames grew taller, the accelerant creating an inferno.

“Joshua!” The thud of footsteps flying down the stairs echoed in my head like a hammer pounding nails, and I coughed from the thickening smoke burning my nose and throat as I struggled for oxygen. “Hold on!”

Blinking through watering eyes, I saw Tao and my father skidding to a halt in front of the cell door. I jumped to my feet and rushed to the bars, watching Tao hesitate with his hands hovering over the metal rods coated in venom.

“Don’t worry. It’s a common misconception that touching venom can cause harm. It’s only dangerous when it mixes with blood,” my father informed Tao, as he searched frantically for a key to unlock the cell.

“No use,” I warned him, attempting to convey that the key wasn’t our biggest problem, but the smoke was wreaking havoc on my dry vocal cords.

Tao reached for the bars and yelped when he was stung by Ishida’s ward. “Now I know what happened to your arm. You look rough, man, but we’re going to get you out of there.” A cough racked his body as the fire crawled closer, advancing too quickly for comfort. “Just hold on.”

“I’ve got nowhere to go and all the time in the fucking world.” I bent my good elbow over my mouth to try and block the smoke.

“Councilman Williams,” Tao called. “It’s warded.” The two of them shared a knowing look and began wildly searching the cell. I realized they knew about the keystones.

I quickly pointed out the faint markings on either side of the cell, and my father rushed to one while Tao went to the other.

“I do not wish to be called Councilman any longer.” My father grunted as he scratched at the keystone, distorting the sigil while Tao did the same on the other side. “Call me Drake,” my father said, anger suffusing his tone as his magic built with his rage. “I may not have said it out loud for fear of my life and my son’s, but I renounced the Council and cut all ties with those treacherous snakes the moment they began torturing my son.”

The ward flickered and died in a burst of shattering light.

Rushing back to the cell door, my father tried to open it with brute force. The growl he emitted threatened death and revenge.

“It’s no use! There’s no goddamn key!” My dad let loose a string of fowl curses, and Tao joined him in effortless Chinese.

“Move,” my father instructed Tao, before backing up a step and stripping out of his shirt and pants as fast as possible. He tossed them to Tao to hold and stood before me in nothing but his boxers as he gathered his power. For anyone else, this might be weird, but nudity was common among shifters, and I was eager to get the fuck out of this cage.

His magic burst over his skin, sparking with the flames growing closer and burning brighter. In his place was the