Page 59 of Deal with the Dragon
Except…her body was gone.
I whirled, Gideon still held aloft in my grip, still struggling to free himself, but Elena was nowhere in sight.
“Alaric,” I called, “find Elena.”
Fear and fury collided. If one of those dirty, grubby handed bastards put one more hand on her, the entire country would pay for it. I wouldn’t stop until their children and their children’s children paid for what they’d done to her.
As Gideon pleaded with me, Alaric and the guards searched, having tied up the humans and thrown them in piles by the steps. But they couldn’t find her either. My hold on Gideon relaxed enough that he could draw breaths through a purpling face.
I reached out, closing my eyes, ignoring all the chaos around me, and concentrated on the thread between my solar plexus and hers. Her being and mine. If there was enough life, even a little, remaining in her body, I hoped it would lead me to her so I could put her to rest. The thought was abhorrent, but I forced myself to push even harder. There was nothing.
“Rhys!” Alaric shouted, but I ignored him, trying to concentrate.
Then, I felt something. Something different. My heart thudded in my chest. Certain I was making it up, I turned back to Gideon to deal with him.
Then I’d seek vengeance.
“Rhys!”
But there was a tugging, nagging feeling I couldn’t get rid of. I snarled and tossed Gideon’s limp body on top of the other humans.
“Tie him up,” I told Alaric. “I’ll figure out what to do with him after I find Elena.”
Alaric punched me, snapping my head to the right. Then he pointed to the sky. “LOOK!” he shouted in my ear.
Against the blackened sky and surrounded by stars, a brilliant light shot across the horizon. My heart stirred, my dragon hissed, and I scowled. I didn’t have time for this.
I started to say as much, but then the light grew closer and I realized it wasn’t a light at all. It was a small dragon, but its scales were glowing and gold-slicked. It was like no dragon I’d ever seen before.
“What in the bloody hell is that?” Alaric said.
“A phoenix,” Gideon whispered in awe, and I motioned for the guard tying him up to bind his mouth as well.
Phoenix.
I’d heard of phoenix shifters, though they were rare. There was only one in Acasia at any given time, but no one had seen one in decades. He couldn’t be right.
“Rhys,” Alaric said beside me.
I ignored him, my eyes locked on the soaring figure as it grew closer.No one had seen a phoenix in decades. Since Elena’s mother had died bringing her into the world, I realized.
My feet automatically carried my body backward, and I wanted to flee, but Alaric, who was stronger than he looked, gripped a hold of my arm and held me in place.
The phoenix was slim, but powerful, and had a tail of multicolored feathers that trailed after it. It was the most beautiful shifter I had ever seen. My dragon rumbled its approval in my head and I reared back against Alaric’s hold, not comprehending.
It landed in front of us, engulffedblinding yellow light. When I managed to refocus I found a naked woman in its place. I fell to my knees at her feet, my head bowed.
Certain I was seeing things, but absolutely overjoyed by the delusion, I pressed my head into her stomach. My dirty hands rounded her hips, and I released the breath I’d been holding since I saw her die right in front of me.
“Elena,” I breathed.
She tipped my chin up, and I drank in her blessedly unblemished features. “Rhys,” she said with a sigh.Someone brought her a cloak to cover her body.
“I don’t understand,”I said, reaching out a hand to touch her face. “How is this possible?”
Her smile was radiant. “A phoenix can only be reborn after they die. I’m as surprised as you are.”
“This isn’t possible!” Gideon shouted. “You aren’t supposed to be able to do this.”
