The Warrior King (Inferno Rising #3) - Abigail Owen Page 0,46
would typically be hunted down and killed—was on their side. Great.
“Who is this other phoenix?” Skylar said. “That’s what I want to know.”
Rune turned his stare on Tyrek.
Meira’s uncle didn’t acknowledge him. He did, however, take a step forward. “I’m afraid I can’t help answer that.”
“Did you know all our names?” Meira asked. An obvious question, but one Samael hadn’t thought of.
“No.” Tyrek swallowed. “When your mother got in touch years ago to set me up as a safe haven for Skylar in the event of Serefina meeting a violent death, she only told me about Skylar. She implied more children, but not how many or any other names. I eventually heard about you. Whispers, mostly.”
What was Pytheios’s play here? Samael couldn’t see it yet.
Everyone absorbed that information in silence.
“If this woman is a phoenix, she may not be our sister, but she’s our kind,” Meira said. “We have to help her. We can’t leave her with that monster.”
Skylar glanced off to the side, likely at Angelika or Ladon. “Agreed.”
“First, we must find my king,” Samael said, already hating the idea forming in his head, one that had a lot to do with strategy Meira had already gotten him to agree to. “If you’re going inside Everest on a rescue mission for this woman, you need all the clans behind you that you can get.”
Every protective instinct bucked against the suggestion, reactions so complicated he couldn’t untangle them. His job was to keep her safe, dammit. But this was Meira. He might not like the way her need to help those around her led her straight to trouble, but he was beginning to understand that the beauty of her soul was her heart. She had to protect the world. He had to protect her. Not even a choice.
He looked at Meira, who regarded him with an emotion he couldn’t quite pin down. Something uncomfortably close to gratitude. Not the emotion he wanted from her, but maybe the one he’d have to settle for.
“What’s the plan?” She put the question to Samael, not turning her gaze away.
“Like you said. If Gorgon is alive, the most likely place is—”
“Everest,” she supplied.
He nodded.
“Damn,” Skylar said. “I seriously didn’t want to go back there any time soon.”
“I think this time it’s my turn,” Meira said.
Samael scowled at the words, but his dragon rumbled a different concern, not at the specific words, but the way she slurred them.
“No,” Skylar snapped.
“Mama trained me, too, Sky,” Meira said with a frown of concentration. She was also starting to sway on her feet. “I can get in and out easier. Move from room to room faster. You know I’m right.”
“Meira?” Samael held a hand out to steady her, and the image in the mirror started to flicker. “That’s it. I’m calling it,” he said. “Shut it down.”
She blinked at him with eyes turning heavier by the second. “We’ll call again later,” she said, not turning her gaze away from his. Then the flames shut off, the mirror cutting off whatever protest Skylar was about to make.
She’d listened to him. Not even a question. Samael had to keep himself from scooping her up and running off with her. “What next?” he asked.
“Sleep,” she murmured, visibly drooping. “Definitely sleep.”
Chapter Nine
Meira blinked herself awake to a pitch-black room. No window. No source of light. Nothing.
The all-too-familiar sensation of having no idea where she was kicked her heart rate up. Meira jackknifed to sitting and frantically felt around her to figure out her situation. A bed. She was in a bed with sheets, pillows, and a soft blanket. That couldn’t be bad, right?
A soft click sounded an instant before a light turned on to her right. Meira blinked then forced her eyes to focus on the man sitting on the floor in the corner of what appeared to be a cave bedroom.
“Sam?”
As soon as the name left her lips, protectiveness gathered around her like another blanket. His protectiveness toward her, she realized. Like he’d taken the walls he put around himself and built them up around her instead. He got up and sat on the bed beside her, dark eyes searching. “It’s me. You’re safe.”
She blew out a low breath as her body relaxed into the knowledge that he was here. Watching over her.
He supported me. Without question. About going to Everest to rescue that other phoenix. He hadn’t been happy, more resigned. But also…accepting. She’d felt it, even as she’d been focused on keeping her powers running. “Sorry.”