Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,59

called from the trees, running back toward us with a pronounced limp. He carried a limp child in his arms.

“Gods.” I rushed to Tao. “Is he…” I couldn’t say the word ‘dead,’ though I was sure with those explosions, there would be casualties.

“Alive. Can you take him? I need to get his mother!” He thrust the small body into my arms, and I cradled him against my chest. Children didn’t usually get too close to me, sensing the danger of my alter. I embraced him tightly and hurried back to my father who was just getting to his feet.

“Come on! We have to get out of here.” Curling tendrils of smoke poured into the sky as the fire opened its jaws to devour the forest, closing in one foot after another.

I spotted Tao running in our direction with a woman leaning heavily on his shoulder. He picked her up and carried her the rest of the way as we all bolted for the boats.

The red and orange glow of the blaze reflected in the water as we got the mother and her son aboard a vessel. Tao barked out orders, filling the boats to capacity. Together, we untied them and pushed them out into the gulf, then the sound of motors roared to life. There had to be at least fifty people trying to get off the island.

“There have to be more.” I whipped around, searching the shadows rapidly being eaten up by fire.

“Many shifters already defected, while the others joined the Council when they evacuated,” Tao informed me. “The ones here thought they’d be safe—left out of the coming war.”

“This is all my fault,” my father muttered repeatedly. “I never… I had no idea they’d take things so far.”

When Tao tugged my sleeve, I wrenched myself from his grip as I stared into the trees. “There have to be more.”

“I’m sure others escaped from different ports and airfields. But… the rest are gone, Joshua. It’s time to go.”

I shook my head, my mind railing as I took one step backward, then another, waiting on anyone else to run out of the fiery hell, but when no one emerged, I let my dad and Tao drag me onto the last boat.

The remaining shifters eyed my father warily, scooting as far away from us as they could given the small space we’d all packed ourselves into. Adrenaline kept my pain manageable as the motor came to life. I cast us off, throwing the rope into the dark water. We pulled away from shore, leaving the island and all its horrors behind.

Finding a seat on the boat, I sat with more than a wince, the adrenaline finally yielding to the agony. Black dots swam in my vision, and I embraced them, needing to find a way to sleep so I could reach Ciarán and tell him what happened.

Scalding tears pressed behind my eyes as I watched my home burn to ashes, my heart aching for those lost to the flames—just more careless deaths on the Council’s hands.

Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes as a small voice reminded me that the island wasn’t my home any longer. Perhaps it never truly had been.

Or perhaps home was no longer a place, but a person.

Nix.

She was my dream.

My fate.

My destiny.

Nix was my home, and I was ready to be back in her arms.

I’m coming home, honey. Just a little longer. The darkness of sleep slipped over me as easily as sinking into the waves.

Thirteen

Nix

I paced along the hall, biting the edge of my thumb as I turned and strode back the way I’d come.

“It’s going to be okay, Nix,” Theo murmured, trying to ease the worry I was sure flooded through our mental connection, drowning us all. Nothing, however, would settle the sick churning of my stomach or the rapid flutter of my heart until I laid eyes on Joshua and knew he was okay. “Ryder’s with him. He’s going to be fine,” he reasoned, but the reminder that Joshua had been injured badly enough to require immediate medical attention from Ryder didn’t help me feel any better.

“I can’t believe they burned the entire fucking place down,” Killian growled, his muscles flexing with his anger. “I knew they were all vicious assholes, but even I didn’t expect this.”

“None of us did,” Damien added, his horror over the Council’s actions reflected in his russet eyes and the tense set of his shoulders.

“It’s a common military strategy called scorched earth. In this case, the Council