I’ve heard rumors of vampires who can copy gifts, and if he could only summon fire because he touched me, then that means…
I focus my attention on my palms, at the heat radiating just below my skin. I’ve felt it all day, thought I was losing my mind. The sting reminds me of when I was ten, how I’d touch the door of my room only to yank back in pain.
Only, this heat doesn’t hurt like that pain did. This painsoothes.
Because it’s coming fromme.Because I’m the phoenix.
But how do I conjure fire?
Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. Rip is hovering over Justice as if about to drink.
“No!” I lunge for him, my foot connecting with his shoulder and sending him flying back about twenty feet. I crouch in front of Justice, protecting him with a snarl that sends a flock of birds fleeting from the forest.
Rip gets to his feet, dusting his shirt off and shaking his hands. Hissmokinghands.Shit.I just gave him the power back. Flames erupt on his fingers which he quickly forms into a ball, then chucks at me.
I dodge to the right, letting out a breath when the ball lands five feet behind Justice.
I have to save him.
Leaping across the clearing, I pull Rip’s attention away from the teen, then channel all the heat to my palm. It burns white hot, but no flame. I try to conjure a ball of fire, but the most I get is a pellet sized sphere.
Fuck! There has to be something else I can do.
Remembering the wall of fire, I swirl my hands around myself, imagining a thick curtain of smoke, then push it toward Rip. He stumbles, as if the smoke actually hurt him. Is that… are those embers? I curl my fingers, and to my amazement, flickers of gold flow from them.
Rip steps through the smoke, sputtering and waving a hand. His hair smokes as if singed. In a single jump, he leaps across the field, staring at me for a long moment before circling his hand in a wide arc. I brace myself for another ring of fire, but something is different about the way he arcs his arms wide. This time, the ring is around him. No, not around him,in frontof him. It grows larger and larger, until it’s taller than he is. With one last look, Rip steps through the ring and disappears.
Holy shit. It’s a portal.It’s a motherfucking portal!
I double over, clutching my knees, and try to catch my breath. Then I remember Justice. Scrambling over to him, I lean over to see if he’s breathing. He is, but barely.
I look around, hoping someone from his pack is nearby, but when I don’t see anyone, I realize I’m going to have to take him back to the house. And fast. He doesn’t have long.
Igniting my palms, I burn the other vampire before getting to my feet. Okay. Rip did this, so I can too. I just need to figure out how.
I think of the Clearwater house in as much detail as possible as I swirl my hands. The orb of fire grows and grows, as if the clearer I see the house, the larger the portal becomes. I stretch it, just as Rip did, until it’s large enough for me to step through. Before I do, I scoop the teen into my arms and say a prayer that he’ll survive.
22
EVAN
“Where’s Jericho?” I ask when Taren returns from her morning run. I’ve been a nervous mess since they left, watching through the window until they got back. But Jericho wasn’t with them. Neither is Neal.
“I don’t know,” Taren says. “Neal went back to look for him.”
“What do you mean?” Grant asks.
“We got separated. We didn’t realize he wasn’t with us until we reached the yard. Neal went back to retrace our steps.”
Everything in me resists the urge to run to him. “Where did he go?”
“I don’t know. The last we saw him was near Sasha’s memorial stone.”
Forest immediately gets up from his chair. “Did you see or hear anything?”
She hesitates. “Jericho thinks he did, but Neal and I… I don’t know!”
“Calm down and talk to us, Taren. What did Jericho say?”
