Firefighter Phoenix (Fire & Rescue Shifters 7)
Chapter 14
Past
20 years ago…
Blaze lay awake in the dark, watching Rose sleep. Even exhaustion couldn’t drain the tension from her body. She huddled against him, one arm thrown over his waist, her face pressed into his side. Every now and then her fingers twitched, clutching at him as though to make sure he was still there.
He stroked her hair, sending gentle reassurance down the mate bond. “It’s all right,” he whispered. “Sleep, Rose. I’m here. You’re safe.”
It was a lie. She would never be safe.
Not while she was his mate.
A soft beeping noise made him start. A light on the hotel phone was flashing, next to a label saying Front Desk. Rose stirred fretfully, mumbling something.
“Shh,” he murmured, tightening his grip on her. “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”
Rose sighed, relaxing again. It took him a second to pull back his own fire to the point where he could pick up the phone without melting the handset. He fumbled with it, getting it the right way round on the second attempt.
“Mr. Blaze?” a voice said apologetically in his ear. “Sorry to disturb you, sir, but I have a call for you.”
He rubbed his aching eyes, trying to concentrate through the haze of exhaustion. “A call? For me?”
“Yes, sir. He asked for you by name. Would you like me to put him through?”
He suddenly felt cold, despite Rose’s warm body pressed against his. “Yes.”
A click.
“This is a demonstration,” said a familiar, icy voice.
Rose flinched in her sleep. He held very still, gripping his emotions tight to stop them from spilling down the mate bond.
“Corbin,” he said.
“You are at the Hilton at S
acramento Airport,” the warlock said, in the same factual, level tone. “Evidently booked in under your own name. You traveled there today at speeds which suggest a car or taxi rather than flight. Is that sufficient to convince you how closely that I can track you, or shall I continue?”
Blaze forced himself to breathe calmly and evenly. “Tell me my mate’s name and animal.”
The briefest of pauses. “Her identity is irrelevant. I can scry her easily, always, thanks to the bond you have foolishly forged with her. By linking your souls, you have sealed her fate.”
The tightness in his chest eased a little. Corbin still didn’t know who Rose was. It wasn’t much, given that the warlock could still find her by magical means, but at least they didn’t need to worry about more mundane methods.
“What do you want, Corbin?” Blaze asked.
“That should be self-evident. Your willing submission.”
“Never. You have no leverage. You lost the wendigo, your best weapon against me. You don’t even have the element of surprise. You won’t have another chance at my mate.”
“Still letting your beast think for you,” the warlock said. “Really, Blaze. Do you really think you can guard her every minute of every day? I can tell that she is sleeping at this very moment. I will know the instant that you surrender to exhaustion—careful, now. You’ll wake her, if you don’t control yourself.”
His fingers dug into the softening, scorching plastic of the phone handset. He clenched his teeth, pushing the fire back down.
“If you harm her,” he breathed, “if you touch her, I will destroy you. If it takes my entire life, I will obliterate you all.”
“Yes,” Corbin agreed, not sounding at all concerned. “And your mate would still be dead.”