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A low growl yanked my attention from the ground that was hurrying to meet us, and onto the group of guys sitting across the aisle, several rows behind me. The five men had boarded together, and to my shame, I had spent a good portion of the trip sneaking glances their way.
The beautiful dance of fire had always calmed me, but not at that moment.
I came to when my lungs spasmed and filled with air. Excruciating pain rippled down every nerve ending in my body as I ground my teeth, waiting for it to be over. It didn’t matter how many times I regenerated, the kick-start was always horrible.
the bystanders assuming I was a streaker that enjoyed practical jokes. While that was embarrassing, it was far better than being taken to a secret laboratory for people to study, poke, stab, and whatever else they were likely to do to me, all in the name of science.
It usually only took me a minute to regenerate, which meant the plane had crashed only a couple minutes before. I knew it was futile, but I decided to check for any survivors.
It didn’t matter how much the voice of reason told me to leave the plane and get to safety, I couldn’t resist the urge to keep going.
My entire life I had tried to hide my odd abilities, but I couldn’t see any other way to get these men free. Ignoring the burning sensation in my lungs, and the frantic beating of my heart, I concentrated and sent heat rushing to my palms.
Every cell in my body was repaired; scars disappeared, even the slight signs of aging that occurred between my deaths, and subsequent regenerations, were corrected. Basically, my body was reset to factory settings each time I died. I looked twenty years old after each regeneration. The major downside of being able to die and come back, besides the horrific pain, is the amount of energy the magic has to use to make the repairs to my body. Whenever I regenerated in the past, I always found a safe place to curl up and sleep for several days.
My weakened magic stirred and began to reach for him. My magic had never reached out for a person before,
The longest I had stayed awake after a regeneration was thirty minutes and I hadn’t used any additional magic those times.
I staggered over to the man on the beach. I rolled him over and felt for a pulse. He was one of the five guys that seemed like they were important to me, somehow.
I gripped the man tighter and twisted, trying to toss him as far as I could. My abilities were heightened, but there was a huge size difference between us, and he flew a mere few feet before sliding into the sand. As soon as I let go of him, I darted to the side and grabbed the piece of metal. I lifted it and ran toward the crumpled man. I launched myself in the air just as the world exploded behind me.
I had always regenerated in the past, but I had never regenerated twice in the same day, let alone twice in less than an hour. I had also depleted my magic, something else I had never done. This might actually be the day I die.
Anzac POV
I had tried to use the mental link to reach the other guys. I had hoped they would be able to free us, since my shattered arms were completely useless. But the mental bond was silent; either they were dead, or they were unconscious. The utter stillness in the bond was more terrifying than the plane crash.
We were the supernaturals sent on the assignments that no one could know about. We hid in the darkness, and by the time a target realized we were there, it was too late. We were sent to clean out the corruption in both the supernatural and mortal world. Which is why this assignment was utterly ridiculous. It was a simple retrieval mission. A rumor had begun to circulate that a phoenix shifter was alive, and the directors had nearly lost their minds at the possibility.
What we hadn’t been expecting was the missile that had slammed into the wing of the plane, ripping off the engine, and sending us nose diving toward a wild sandy beach in South America.
Her long, wavy red hair floated around her in the water, moving as the current rocked her body. Beautiful golden eyes locked with mine and I watched as her pouty lips opened in a scream. She quickly kicked toward the surface, and I watched as the toned muscles in her legs rippled. My eyes continued to trail up her legs and if I hadn’t been underwater, I probably would have drooled over her perfect round butt.
Descript of Amaryllis...short but cute at a lil over 5ft
As soon as our lips touched, the roar of the mating bond tore through my mind and body.
Her toasted marshmallow scent had soaked into my pores. It was all I could smell, and my cat pushed forward harder.
A tiny, and very naked, human female was doing the impossible to save our lives.
She hadn’t even attempted to get under the metal. She was using her body weight to hold the metal in place to protect my brother.
I had never wanted a mate. I had my shadow and my work; I didn’t have time for a mate. I especially hadn’t wanted a human mate, and while the tiny woman had smelled incredible, her scent was that of a human.
The guy who had spoken edged slowly closer and met my panicked gaze with his cool blue eyes. He was the man I had pulled from underwater,
Anzac—voice deep n raspy like vocal cords damaged, blue eyes, jaguar like rest of his shadow brothers, 1st kiss when she shared air with him
“We located three of our backpacks and a few other usable supplies.
We’re going to need to get to a city where we can call our boss to get us out of here. How a tiny human like you managed to survive is beyond me, but if you want to continue to survive, then you’ll have to keep up.”
I lived dull life. My insurance premiums were probably lower than anyone else on the planet because I took exactly zero risks. Yep. I was boring.
Normal people get a burning sensation in the stomach when they’re hungry. They joke about their stomach eating a hole through their backbone. For me, it’s my entire body that burns and churns with hunger pains. The pain ceases as soon as I eat my fill after a regen. If I don’t eat fast enough, the pain increases, and I suffer migraines and debilitating fatigue.
“The rude guy is Mace.”
Mace—slight Scottish sexy brogue, red haired giant, green eyes, looked to lead shadow b/c of control n natural ability
black-haired man I pulled from the plane moments before it exploded. Jett’s eyes were such a dark shade of brown that they almost appeared solid black. His skin looked radiant
Jett—black hair, eyes dark shade of brown almost black, radiant skin, silky voice, Native Amer. Heritage, uniquely close with his jaguar, quick with hilarious retort n eyes dance in amusement from inside joke
on the beach after the crash. I stared up at the rippling wall of muscle. This guy should be cast as action hero in every blockbuster movie. All the guys were built like Grecian gods, and had faces that would outshine models, but this man was almost too beautiful to look at.
Dagger—almost too beautiful action hero, golden eyes, beautiful dark jaguar, smells of sandalwood n dark roasted coffee
“I’m Knox.” The green-eyed blonde spoke up before Anzac could introduce him. He wasn’t pale anymore, and instead had a sun-kissed windblown surfer look to him.
Knox—green eyed blonde, 2nd kiss after Anzac b/c she did CPR, looks like windblown surfer, gold jaguar with spots, smells like fallen rain
I started to introduce myself, but Mace cut me off. “We don’t really care,” he snapped. “You are not our problem, and once we reach a city, we go our separate ways. We’ve wasted enough time giving you our names while you stare like an idiot. Move out, guys!”
He freaking sniffed me like we were two dogs at the park in a meet and greet. I stiffened. He pulled away shaking his head, before standing and walking in the direction the others had gone. His words carried over his shoulder to where I was still frozen in irritation. “I must’ve hit my head harder than I realized,” he murmured. “I imagined you doing things that would have rivaled the action scenes in the superhero films that are so popular now, but to my disappointment you are just a human female. You are ordinary.
I lay still, absolutely dumbfounded by the cruelty of his words. My chest tightened and tears prickled my eyes as the sense of rejection slammed into me. Wait, why would rejection from strangers hurt me at all? But I had a right to be angry.
I wasn’t an idiot. While I knew I would eventually make my way back to civilization, it would be a lot faster, and hopefully safer, if I followed the jerks.
I hung back about ten feet behind. They had made it clear that I was not their problem. They weren’t happy about my presence, and my pride would not allow me to force my company on them.
My mind suddenly flashed back to the last time I went ice-skating. It was one of my favourite things to do; I had spent many hours alone on the ice. My parents had died in a car accident when I was eight years old and I was placed with a friend of my dad.
I must have made a sad picture, sitting huddled in the corner, finding some happiness in watching the joy on the skaters’ faces. Mr. Jim, the owner of the rink, took pity on me and after two months, he approached me with an offer.
But what it didn’t repair was the pain in my heart when Mr. Jim became so worried about a lawsuit and decided it was best I didn’t skate again without a guardian present. I was fourteen at the time and hadn’t even seen Beth, my guardian, in two years.
They were jaw-droppingly gorgeous, clearly in top athletic shape, and yet they were cold-hearted bullies. These men were more disappointing than an unsalted pretzel, and as a serious lover of soft pretzels, that is a serious insult.
I had dealt with bullies my entire childhood. This was nothing new. But the pain I felt from each of their insults was unexpected. I was well past the point of words hurting me, but for some reason, my heart cracked a little more each time they spoke. My physical and emotional pain was at an all-time high.
a serious problem. A snake had slithered into the space the men were currently snoozing in. I am not a snake expert, but as I’ve said before, I’ve watched hours of nature documentaries.
snake and my entire chest froze in fear. This was a bushmaster—a very large and venomous viper.
might have something ‘other’ in them, like me. But they had nearly died in the crash, so I doubted they were able to bounce back from death quite the same way I could.
I didn’t want to startle Anzac. If he turned, he would be bitten too, so I swallowed my scream of shock first, and then swallowed my scream of pain as the venom pumped into me like liquid lava.
I looked around the area and realized we were on top of a cliff. To the right I could see a picturesque waterfall
My mouth dropped open in horror. Only 700 feet? There was no way they hadn’t noticed that my arm was limp and useless at my side, or that my midnight-blue-colored ankle had swollen to several times the normal size.
I became so focused on moving my damaged body, I let the men and the world around me fade away. I forgot to keep my thoughts to myself. I had always enjoyed carrying on conversations with myself, out loud, but as an adult I realized how weird that made me.
Dagger POV
