FLIRTING WITH A FIREBIRD
Broderick knows that the beautiful firebird he freed from a curse wants nothing to do with him. He doesnotknow why she suddenly shows up in his office with a list of questions.
Broderick Shelly moved to the small magical town of Folk Haven to be closer to his witchy sisters. Before he even finds a place to rent, the man is shirtless on the night of a full moon casting spells to destroy some twisted magic. But when his hard work reveals a gorgeous woman with fiery powers, Broderick is immediately smitten.
Unfortunately, Ophelia the firebird flies off after he makes an ill-advised compliment. Certain that he’s ruined his shot, Broderick decides to keep his pining to himself.
But Ophelia has other plans…
1
BRODERICK
“I don’t seewhy this spell requires me to take my shirt off.”
My younger sister, Ame, continues to light the necessary fires as she answers, “You wouldn’t have to if you agreed to let me perform the spell.” She pauses and tilts her head, as if in thought. “Imight have to then. Take my shirt off. Jack will be grumpy about missing that.”
“Nope. No. Never mind.”
It is in everyone’s best interest that Ame’s werewolf boyfriend stays un-grumpy.
Or at least less grumpy than his normal amount.
“We need skin-to-skin contact for you to draw on our magic. Closer to your heart, the better,” Mor, my older sister, explains as she reads through the steps in the grimoire. “I can’t believe you performed this on your own, Ame.”
The youngest of us stands up and offers a mild shrug, her long red hair sliding over her shoulder with the gesture. We all share the shade, along with our pale skin, and magical heritage. Our current group is missing the fourth sibling, but even thoughAnthony, my twin, is in town, none of us expected him to join. The man hates magic.
“It was uncomfortable,” Ame admits.
Which probably means it was agonizing. Ame is not a complainer.
With a sigh, I reach for the buttons on my shirt and prepare for multiple discomforts. Along with whatever magical bothers I’m about to deal with, there’s also the fact that it’s cold. Georgia might stay warm longer than England—where I just spent the last few years—but this full moon night in December is only just above freezing.
As I slip the buttons free, my eyes seek out the reason we’re all out here on this frigid night.
In the center of a chalk-drawn diagram sits a fluffy rabbit. The creature is the color of milk chocolate with ears that droop and an overall aura of fear. The tiny thing quivers.
Guilt hits me hard in the stomach and hurries my fingers.
I’m an ass, bemoaning my momentary discomfort, when there’s a person trapped in the wrong body only feet from me.
A few years ago, Ame found a black cat on the side of the road. Instantly, she knew there was something other about the feline, and she spent all her time trying to figure out what. Eventually, she broke the curse placed on him, freeing Jack Lim. A werewolf. A man who now is thoroughly in love with her.
Turned out, Jack had been captured and transformed by a sorcerer—also known as a human who utilizes twisted spells to steal magic from mythical creatures. He’d been feeding off of Jack for years before the guy managed to escape.
When Ame, Jack, and a group of other powerful mythics sought out the sorcerer who had cursed him for retribution, they found the evil man had taken another captive.
Tonight, we free them.
And I volunteered as the curse breaker this time around.
“Okay. That’s everything.” Ame stands up, wiping her hands off on her overalls. A small fire burns with pungent herb-filled smoke, matching three more she lit around the circle. “Moon is high. Time to do this.”
The aptly named Cold Moon is round in the night sky, its full glow blotting out the surrounding stars. Energy seems to spill from the orb, encouraging our casting. A shadow flits across the spotlight of the moon, and a soft hoot alerts us to the presence of an owl. Hopefully, it’s not eyeing Bunny for a midnight meal.
One more reason to get this over with. The world is a dangerous place.
Despite how tiny the rabbit is, I feel like I can hear the animal’s panting, terrified breaths from where I stand. Goose bumps trace over my skin, but not from the cold. There’s a tug on my magic I normally only feel around distressed humans.
