The Phoenix Prophecy: Nova

After a long, shitty day, the last thing I needed was to follow Mack on foot from The Cross to The Hollow. Five miles of watching him slam his big old bear shoulders into trees and tear bushes up from their roots. Occasionally looking back and growling at me to let me know he knew I was still following him and would likely rip my damn head off if I got in his way.

Not all shifters are like this. But drunk bear shifters? Especially polar bear shifters… let’s just say I’ve never met one who doesn’t go full-on Hulk and start ripping shit up.

Thankfully, we made it back to the mansion without being spotted; it’s not a great look for the sheriff to be caught willfully causing criminal damage in his own town.

When we reached the door, he stood on the front step, lurched up onto his hind-legs, and roared at the sky. Then he shifted back, walked his naked butt inside, and passed out on the couch.

I contemplated dragging him to his bed, but even in human form, he’s a beast. No way I could carry him alone. So, I pulled a blanket over him, left him a glass of water, and shut myself in the study.

Sitting in the bottle-green armchair near the window, I toy with the idea of lighting a cigarette. I’m supposed to be quitting. So, instead, I take out my lighter and toy with the flame. Twirl it round my fingers, send sparks up into the air, make it bigger, smaller, bigger again.

The guys hate me playing with fire. They worry I’m going to get lost in my own thoughts one day and burn the place down.

I’d like to say it wouldn’t ever happen, but I’d be lying.

Too often, when I look into the flames, they take me back. Back to when I lost everything.

But as I have the place to myself, I ignore Kole’s gruff voice in the back of my head and sit there playing with the heat.

Being alone is a rarity when you live with three other guys. Even though we’re on different shifts most of the time, there’s always someone else here. Always. So, I contemplate putting on the kind of music they all hate and cranking it up bone-rattlingly loud. I’m taking out my phone and searching for the Bluetooth speakers that always seem to disconnect themselves when I hear Kole’s bike.

Tanner’s truck isn’t far behind.

No prizes for guessing what those two have been up to.

I shove my phone back into my pocket and wait for them to find me. I hear them open the lounge door, then back out slowly; even Kole’s not brave enough to wake Mack after a drunken shift. Snapping the lighter closed, I clench it in my fist, stroking my thumb over the smooth, cold metal.

“Luther?” Tanner enters first. The eternal high school athlete; all floppy hair and sweet smiles.

I look toward the fireplace. In the grate, flames appear from nowhere and cast the room in a dim, flickering glow.

“How’s Mack?” Tanner walks toward the fire and crouches down, warming his hands. It’s late summer and the nights are getting colder.

I nod in the direction of the lounge. “Went Baloo and tore up half the forest, but that was as bad as it got. He’s been sleeping since we got back.”

Tanner grimaces. He might not have known Mack as long as Kole and me, but he knows his story. Most likely, he’s felt his story. Emotions that strong, even Tanner would struggle to block them out.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I’m about to ask what Tanner’s done with Kole when the Viking pushes the door open and strides in. So broad he takes up the entire doorway. He looks from me to Tanner, then says, “Have you told him?”

“Not yet.” Tanner stands up.

I’m about to make a joke about not needing to hear the details of their late-night activities, but something about Tan’s face stops me. “What happened?”

Kole lets the door swing closed behind him and walks in to lean against the desk. He frees his long, dark hair from the band that’s holding it and shakes his head. He looks exhausted.

“A girl turned up at the bar. Passed out in the street.” Tanner comes to sit in the chair opposite me.

I frown at him, waiting for the part where this gets interesting.

“She’s human,” Kole says gruffly.

Ah. Right. There it is.

“There’s something about her,” Tanner says. “We both felt it.”

“Something?”

Kole is flexing his fingers by his sides. “She made me…” He trails off. He might show weakness to Tanner, but not to me.

“Made you thirsty?” I ask, fixing my eyes on his.

He nods slowly.

“But you’ve been around humans since getting clean. You’ve always managed it.”

“I know.” Kole narrows his eyes, staring at the fire.

“That’s the point,” Tanner adds. “She’s not just an ordinary human. Something’s going on.”

They exchange a look.

“We heard something too.” Tanner bites his lower lip. “A voice.”

“A voice?” I narrow my eyes at him.

Gruffly, Kole adds, “Something’s coming… that’s what it said.”

I sit back in my chair and cross one leg over the other. Tanner’s an empath. Kole’s a seer with a nasty addiction to F.H.B. A concoction made up of Fermented Human Blood, sold mostly by deadbeat vamps from Europe.

With their history and their talents, they’re sensitive guys. So, I’m not freaked that they’re feeling something. But I am intrigued; the cop in me, I guess.

“Where is she now?” I ask.

“At the bar. She’s got nowhere to go.” Getting warm as the fire crackles away, Tanner tugs off his jacket and leans forward onto his knees. “Said she’s escaping a violent ex. No clothes, phone, or wallet. Just some cash.”

My muscles tense at the mention of the ex. Humans think we’re the monsters. My experience tells me otherwise. “How’d she get here?”

“Bus. Got the first one that turned up and it brought her here.”

“Where from?” I might not have my notebook out, but I’m making mental notes that I can scroll through later.

Tanner doesn’t answer, just looks at Kole.

“She wouldn’t say.” Kole has folded his arms in front of his torso.

I press my fingertips together. “Okay. Name?”

“Nova.” They both speak together. They say her name as if it’s an incantation — breathy, mystified.

“Just Nova?” They’d make terrible cops.

“Just Nova,” Tanner replies.

“So, what do you want to do?”

Tanner exhales slowly. “Will you and Mack talk to her in the morning? See what you think?”

I nod. “Sure.”

Visibly relaxing, Tanner stands up. He walks toward the door, then looks back at me. “And you’ll be nice?”

“Why wouldn’t I be nice?”

“Because we all know how you feel about humans.”

My jaw twitches. “I’ll play nice.”

Tanner bites his lower lip. He’s not sure whether he believes me, but he’s not going to challenge me on it now. “It’s late,” he says, his eyes flickering toward Kole. “I’m going to bed.”

Kole waits a beat, lets the door close, then says, “Me too.”

Deciding now’s not the time to make jokes about who’s bed he’ll be sleeping in, I nod and say. “Night, man.”

He’s halfway out of the door when he stops. “Luther?”

“Yeah?” Something about his voice makes me stand up.

He turns slowly. In the half-light of the fire, his sharp features cast ominous shadows over his face. “I think she could be the one.”

“The one?”

He fixes his eyes on mine. “The Phoenix.”