Page 46 of Urn My Love

I snorted. “When you started insulting me in my head.”

Jazriel nodded. “Yeah, that was a risk.”

I turned my attention back to Iolani. “Cucalas?”

“My world, the phoenix afterlife.” She crawled across the bed, climbing onto my lap, facing me. “I’m a phoenix, and I was blasted through the veil between our worlds when I helped Ryls return to her mates.”

“You’re a phoenix.” All the pieces of the puzzle that didn’t make sense fell into place. “You didn’t survive the crash landing on that cliff. Or the waterfall. Or the horse running away with you. Or Jazriel throwing you off his back. You died all those times, didn’t you?”

She nodded, not meeting my eyes.

“Hey! She forced me to throw her, so I didn’t kill her.” Jazriel scowled at her.

“I still owe you for that one,” she said.

It made so much sense, and I wanted to bang my head against a wall for not putting it together sooner. The missing clothes, the lack of fear when facing death, the insanely fast healing, the flashes of blue I sometimes caught from the corner of my eye that must have been her fire.

I finally swallowed back my bitterness and looked at the intricate mark that Iolani had left on Jazriel’s chest.

The night they’d completed the bond, her sweet arousal had scented the forest, drawing me to her like a fly to honey.

Jazriel had spotted me almost instantly and had angled their bodies so I wouldn’t miss seeing him touch what could have been mine. I’d left before they’d marked each other, so I hadn’t been able to bring myself to look at the mark fully before that moment.

It was a phoenix. I’d purposely avoided looking too closely at any of the signs that pointed to her identity because I knew it would only make it harder to walk away.

It’s about freaking time, Jazriel yelled in my mind, the corner of his mouth twitching as he caught my wince.

Ignoring his attempt to aggravate me, I wondered if his actions had a deeper motive than simple gloating or male possessiveness. If he wanted her for himself, why did he continue trying to taunt me into getting over my insecurities and show her how I felt?

From the rumors about pegasus, they weren’t the type to share anything, especially not a bed. Yet Jazriel had left a space for me to sleep beside Iolani wherever we camped.

Even in that moment of sacred intimacy where they came together as mates, he hadn’t tried to hide her beautiful body from me or exclude me. No, he’d let me watch the emotions and pleasure on her face.

Jazriel snorted, then spoke into my mind. Yeah, to please my mate. I tried to get you to give in to what I knew both of you wanted. But don’t get it twisted… I attempted to push past my selfish desire to have Iolani to myself, but I seriously enjoyed rubbing it in your face.

Okay, he was definitely still a jackass.

Pegasus, Jazriel corrected. And for the record, our mate gets really turned on when you’re involved. Even if you just stand there motionless while I do all the work.

Not sure what to say to that, I turned back to Iolani. “Why didn’t you tell me what you needed from me? I never would have left. Last night, I could’ve given you power before you got hurt.”

I struggled to keep my voice from shaking. “Instead, I’m camping not too far from the lodge because I can’t bear to take another step away from you, and a fiery blue bird shows up. I was so sure I was conjuring it in my mind, until it landed on my shoulder and electrified the crap out of me until I got up. And every time I stopped following it, the tiny sadist would swoop back and light me up again.”

Jazriel snickered. “I would give half my fortune to see that.”

“You think it’s funny? Look at my back!” I sat Iolani on the bed and lifted my shirt to show him.

Jazriel’s laughter boomed in the small room. “I got a blue mane that matches Iolani’s hair and an intricate tattoo, and you look like you fought a grill and lost.”

“August!” Iolani sobbed, moving to her knees on the bed so she was level with my back. “My magic did all of this?”

“Of course not. Most of it is from whatever was attacking you two when I arrived.” I tried to pull my shirt down, but she wouldn’t let me.

Jazriel’s laughter faded, and Iolani’s fingers traced the deep gashes that criss-crossed my back and shoulders. In some places, I’d been scratched in the same place so many times that glimpses of my ribs could be seen.

While I’d waited for them to wake up, those had stitched themselves together, so at least she didn’t have to see the full extent of the attack.

“I thought she stopped attacking us because she’d used up her energy and faded to the point that she couldn’t physically touch the living without another recharge. But she didn’t leave. You let her attack you instead.” Iolani’s fingers grew hot against my skin, and I quickly turned, catching both her hands in one of mine.

---