Page 7 of Bound By Destiny

And I hate myself for it. I hate Destiny, too. Because there’s only one woman I chose to offer my heart, even if Fate didn’t agree.

“You’re completely out of your mind,” Destiny finally mutters. “Go away before I… do something. Just leave.”

“I wish I could,” I retort icily. “But honor to the Guild binds me to stay with you for at least three weeks. And my word isn’t something I barter with.”

Just like the promise I made to Isobel the day I married her. True, the minx made me swear I’d look for my mate once she was gone. But the way I see things, the instant I said ‘I do’ I gave myself to her only. I’ll never let anyone take Isobel’s spot. That would be trampling our love, as well as all the battles we fought to achieve our few decades of paradise.

“I’m going to call the police,” Destiny threatens, shakily brandishing her phone. “Leave or I – Hey! What are you doing?!”

“Welcoming myself in,” I snap back as I force my way though and roll my suitcase in, “since you’re obviously a terrible host.”

A blow to my tibia has me doubled over in pain.

“You kicked me, you…” Deeply ingrained chivalry from centuries ago prevents me from calling her the name I have in mind, though I’m pretty close. “Looks like Thyra didn’t pass her character on to you.”

“Who?”

“Your ancestor,” I hiss through clenched teeth as I massage my leg. “The one who lived in a secret Kingdom. You have her eyes… But none of her meekness.”

“You’re claiming you met my great-great – well, whatever she is.”

It’s not a question, and I don’t let the sarcasm in her tone daunt me. “Yes. A timid creature.”

Mainly because Thyra was the daughter of the Oþala King, yet contrary to her lineage, she never revealed herself as a phoenix. Which back in the day, was the utmost humiliation among our kind – one I only narrowly escaped.

“And when do you say this happened?” She eggs on.

I shrug. “Four, five hundred years ago. It was at a party and honestly she didn’t make much of an impression on me, so the memory’s a bit hazy.”

Destiny nods as if she’s in a daze. “I bet it is.”

I can see I haven’t convinced her yet, so I decide to take matters in hand. Without further ado I swivel around until I’m back to her, and make fast work with the buttons of my top. It’s only when I reach the fifth one that I hear a sharp intake of breath. Seems like someone awoke from their stupor.

“Stop right this minute, you creep!”

A smirk spreads across my lips. “I wouldn’t have to do this if you just read the letters.”

“Don’t you dare take that shirt off!” At my lack of reaction, she cries out: “That’s it! I’m calling the police.”

Not concerned in the slightest, I let the fabric fall to the floor. There’s a small cry – most likely due to the presence of a bare-chested stranger in her apartment – and then a louder one. I smile grimly. That’s what I was waiting for.

Because behind me, I know a pair of wings are splayed, with feathers in various shades of gold and red, wide enough to graze either wall of the room.It feels so good, I tell myself with an internal sigh. I haven’t flown in years, and had forgotten all about the liberating sensation of shifting into phoenix form. I could also morph my hands into talons, but Destiny has probably had enough surprises for one day.

I count a minute in my head before I turn around. I almost laugh when I catch sight of Destiny’s comical state of shock: mouth forming a perfect ‘O’, arm still suspended mid-air holding a long-forgotten phone.

It doesn’t escape my attention that despite her shock, her eyes dart to my naked chest. Her cheeks blossom a lovely shade of red, sapping my good humor away in an instant.Looks like I’m not the only one who’s getting all hot and heavy.

And I don’t like it. Not one bit.

Because there’s one last detail in this whole mess that’s been torturing me since I received Aleixo’s snarky email.

“W-why me?”

Bingo.Why, of all places in the world, did the first phoenix in four hundred years have to appear in the one place I reluctantly picked? And not just Arizona, to make matters worse. Catalina Foothills. The tiny point on the map where my finger landed at random at the first Guild meeting, one hundred years ago.

If I were completely honest with myself, I have an idea why. But I won’t let my mind so much as formulate the most obvious explanation.And her name, for goodness’ sake.What a joke. A cruel, unwarranted joke from above.

Not that I’ll share my thoughts with Destiny. I shrug.

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