Klutz: Phoenix Heat (But Did You Die?, #2)

by Sedona Ashe

while scratching a line on the wall to mark the number of times I had died over the last twenty-four days. Yep, they were killing me four times each day.

Willard, my personal guard, groaned. I laughed and started back over at one. Willard was alright, for a guard. He brought me extra treats, sometimes played his phone loud enough I could listen to music, and on rare occasions, he would carry on an actual conversation with me.

I still wasn’t sure how to activate said powers, and Imp hadn’t been inclined to help. They also kept me drugged up between the experiments,

I was learning valuable information with each passing day. These people knew every detail of my boring life, and between my lack of any dangerous outbursts or past training, and because I had yet to try to escape, the guards and scientists had grown relaxed around me.

The CEO saw me as property, not a living being who was deserving of basic human decency. In his mind, conducting the tests was important, and there was no need to waste time or resources to ensure I was comfortable throughout. The scientists, bless their hearts, weren’t quite as comfortable seeing me suffer excruciatingly painful deaths from tests that involved knives, toxins, crushing, and my personal favorite, exploding.

Deep down, I knew they had told the truth about us being fated mates, but honestly, it was going to take a lot for me to forget what had happened in the jungle.

Men shouldn’t have perfect eyebrows, just like they shouldn’t have long lashes. It is simply unfair, and a waste, since most men can’t even be bothered to notice them.

Jackson—deep laugh, British accent, friend of Trevor who finally came to rescue him, calls her Sparks, can phase short distances, cousin of Xerxes leader of drakon, can mindlink Xerxes but causes pain

So, I did what I had been dying to do since these people barged into my cell. I snapped my teeth at him and growled.

Imp, while virtually useless as a sidekick since our kidnapping, perked up. Always up for a game, she trilled in my mind and then stretched out her wings. To my shock, the wings I could see mentally were suddenly flapping gracefully behind my back. The fiery feathered wings brushed against either wall of the tiny space, causing sparks to explode

Dagger POV

Her potent scent lingered in the air. I had missed her by mere seconds. Panic surged through me, muscles bunching as I prepared to launch a hunt for my mate. My brothers had rushed into the yard and then into the tree line, chasing me down and slamming me hard into the hard dirt.

still be someone watching to report back on any signs of life. It was better that they were left alive to report back on our demise. Hopefully, our mad dash from the house in the cover of darkness had been fast enough to ensure our escape went unnoticed. It would make things easier to rescue Ryls if they weren’t watching for us.

Mace glanced at the emblem on his hand, an expression of raw pain on his face. Emotion made his voice thick when he spoke again, “I know we all want to chase after her right now, but the bond marks aren’t strong enough to take us straight to her. We need equipment, weapons, and food if we are going to rescue her.

I had never felt this lethargic in my life. It wasn’t just exhaustion that was weighing me down, though. The separation from my mate was eroding my very soul. We had mated and claimed each other, and within hours, they had stolen her from me.

Looking back to where Mace was dusting drywall off his hand, our eyes met. His voice broke as he answered my unspoken question, “Nae. I cannot feel her strong enough to trace her either.” Everyone in the room forgot how to breathe. Emotion, other than anger, from the big guy wasn’t something we were accustomed to. Ever.

he hadn’t shown any signs that he had feelings for her. Sure, we had all watched with shock when he adjusted her sleeping form against him gently, and we even caught his brief stumble when he tripped while looking at her instead of the trail. Yet, here

I strode to the door and slammed my flattened palm against it over and over. I enjoyed the screeching protest of the metal as it buckled beneath the force of each harsh blow.

It is strange being the ones locked in this room. How many times have we questioned suspects and prisoners in here?

But we have done nothing to make them think we would turn on them. Mace and Dagger covered their marks, so they don’t even know about the mate thing,

That idiot guard, Keith, is new and is constantly doing careless things like this. I will make sure he hears all about this.” Gregg’s reaction seemed sincere. He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at the roots and making the hair stand up at odd angles. “Crap. I’m so sorry, guys.” Told ya. Jett’s voice was colder than a brass toilet seat on the shady side of an iceberg.

All traces of emotion were gone from Mace’s tone. He was all business and back to speaking about Ryls like she was nothing more than a USB drive. I swallowed back a growl of irritation. This new, colder version of Mace was so different from the guy I’d grown up with, and to be honest, I wasn’t a fan.

the council has spent millions of dollars and man hours looking for that place for years. If the underground is correct, then the amount of information on supernatural species stored in that lab is mind-blowing. The first priority is to get the Phoenix, but your secondary mission is to bring back copies of all that data and then destroy the lab.”

listened through the unmuted speaker as they gossiped over Jackson’s arrival. I couldn’t tell you why, but it relieved me to find out he didn’t run the lab, nor did he seem to have been here prior to today. He didn’t seem to have any stake in Ridgeforce or its holdings, but I seriously doubted they invited law-abiding citizens to stop by for tea, which meant he was probably into some shady crap of his own. The techs were thinking along similar lines, and they started gossiping while clicking away at their keyboards. With some practice, I had figured out that if I let my shoulders droop as though I were depressed and had given up, everyone around me assumed I wasn’t paying attention. It was strange

I was the perfect office mouse and an invisible wallflower at the few parties I attended. Now those skills have paid off. The men continued chatting.

“All I know is that no one in that family will tell their last name. They all go by first names. Honestly, from the stories I’ve heard, it’s better if you haven’t heard of them at all.”

We don’t exactly have pets here. All our subjects are vital to our research. Do you really think that the CEO would let Jackson buy one of them? For fun?”

It was one thing that I had to go through these sadistic experiments, but to know that others were suffering as well was devastating.

I hadn’t fought to escape because I wasn’t even sure where I would go once I was free. Before I escaped, I’d wanted to know where my parents were and why they had given me up. I also needed to know what my captors knew about me as a human and me as a Phoenix shifter. How could I move on with my life, knowing that my entire life was riddled with lies and betrayal?

Green Coat moved to the glass cylinder, presumably to check over the bundles of cords linking the glass cylinder to their computers. “I’m sorry I can’t give you something to dull the pain.”

please hurry this along? We have lunch plans I don’t want to miss.” Boredom filled his voice. Good. Let him be bored. I refused to be his entertainment.

Someone wrapped me in a blanket, and a warm set of arms encircled me. The last thing I heard was Jackson’s voice. “You better come back to us. Otherwise, I will join you in death when my cousin kills me.”

“I promise I’m not going to hurt you. Good grief, I couldn’t if I wanted to. Their last experiment left me more damaged than I care to admit.” He laughed, a soft, husky sound that sent shivers through me. The voice was young, but the sound was as smooth as a hundred-year-old scotch, and just like a good scotch, it calmed my nerves.

“I wouldn’t mind having a little company.” The voice was still just as beautiful, but there was a broken element to it. The broken part called to the broken part in me.

Well, maybe not a real angel, but just about as close as I figured an earthly man could get. Long golden hair hung limply down his back. His body was thin, no doubt from the abuse they had dealt him, but still, his muscles bulged.

Trevor—golden predator eyes, long pale creamy white hair halfway down his back, her fallen angel with whiskey smooth voice, tall so that she reaches his belly button, gold tipped deep chocolate wings have 20ft wingspan, gryphon, spent 18yrs in lab

I could handle my own suffering, but I had always been a soft-hearted fool and had never been able to stand the sight of someone else’s pain.

I could feel the feverish heat of his skin and the trembling of his muscles from pain or weakness, or maybe both. He was in terrible shape, and vaguely, I wondered if infection had set in. As our skin met, sparks danced between us.

“Yours. Always and forever. If you will have me?” The words held a vulnerability that broke my heart. Even half-starved and battered, this man radiated power. Yet, he seemed worried that I would reject him. I leaned in and kissed him.

“I have mates. I think. Well, one, or maybe two. I don’t know.” The truth was, I didn’t know how to explain the five jaguars who drove me crazy yet still had a place in my heart.

“My kind does not share mates. But you are mine, and nothing will stop me from claiming you. I will learn to adjust to these men. However, I must warn you. From what little you have told me and the pain I see in your eyes and posture, I am not pleased with them. I will not tolerate them mistreating you. Emotionally, or otherwise.

He let out a strangled laugh. Please. No. “You can read minds?” Had he heard my idiotic ramblings? I really needed to hide my crazy until we had bonded, otherwise, he might change his mind. “Nooo.” He drew the word out. “You said the alien bit out loud.”

“Because the fates have mated you to a beast with wings. Making love while flying is a special kind of pleasure among my kind. I cannot wait to show you why.” He yanked hard on the chains, causing dust to fall from the walls. Still, the chains held him in place, and he growled in frustration.

I thought about trying to get him out of the chains but decided against it. I wanted to attempt healing him, and I wasn’t sure I had the energy to do both. The scientists fed me well after each experiment, but I hadn’t eaten after the last one, and I was shaky. Not as bad as it was prior to the plane crashing into the Amazon, though. It was amazing knowing just how much stronger I had grown, even in only a few weeks’ time. Maybe it was because of how much practice I had been getting at the whole dying and regenerating? Mating magic.

“What’s your name?” He ground the question out between clenched teeth. “Ryls. What. Is. Your. Name?”

My heart leaped into my throat at the sight of Imp sitting happily on Trevor’s wing. His wings were on fire.

Trevor POV

When she had entered the room, I had felt drawn to her, but it wasn’t until she had rushed forward and placed her hands on my skin that I knew she was my fated mate.

I’d spent nearly a century dreaming of what my mate might be like,

Gryphons were a large species, both in our human and shifter forms. In all the decades I’d been alive, I’d never heard of a male Gryphon being mated to such a small female.

As a royal line Gryphon, my height and size made me stand out even among my own species. Yet, for some bewildering reason, the fates had paired me with a woman the size of a pixie.

Years of experiments and torture had left me weakened, otherwise, the rusty chains would have broken as easily as dental floss