Phoenix Reborn (Woodland Creek)(28)

In her mind she summoned the fire. For once it would be her ally, her sole defense against this lunatic.

And then the balls hovered once again over her palms. She could do him some serious harm, she knew, using the missiles that she held in her power. But instead she shot them at the earth between her would-be attacker and herself, constructing a thick semi-circle of flame. It spread as though shot through a gun’s barrel in both directions, encircling her and rising up towards the sky.

On the other side of the flames she could see the man standing, poised. Contemplative. Would he leap through to her side?

And then, as though taking into account that possibility, the fire thickened, encircling Ashling, a wall of flame building, rising tall in a cylinder that seemed to reach for the sky, protecting her.

As the flames shifted about, she saw the dark form still frozen on the other side. Her enemy had seemed so determined to come at her when she’d been down by the creek, but now seemed daunted by her power, reluctant to cross her line of defense.

Ashling knew that she had only seconds to act, to do something other than hope that her prison-bars of flame would keep her opponent out. And for no reason that she could later think of, she looked to the sky as she always did, as though hoping to find an answer to her dilemma in the treetops.

And a moment later he was there, swooping towards her from the far reaches of the night sky.

The Golden Eagle.





13





The Eagle landed next to Ashling, enormous shining wings folding to his sides as he altered into human form before her. And in that moment, even as she gasped, everything seemed at last to fall into place. The pieces of the puzzle were coming together, joining in a strong bond to form the image that she’d so longed for, without even knowing it.

Hawke stood completely naked, his tall form towering over hers as her eyes widened, attempting to take in what had just happened. Of course. How had she not seen it? He was one of them, a member of the same magical species. A shifter.

And for a moment, Ashling forgot that a lunatic was still only a few feet away, readying himself to pounce through the fiery defences she’d erected.

“There’s no time to explain,” Hawke said, smiling only for the briefest moment as he watched Ashling’s eyes scan his nude body. “We need to go.”

“Go where? How? If I put out the fire, he’ll attack. I don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“Well then, we’ll need to fly out of here.”

“You’re the Eagle,” she said. “I can’t entirely tell you how happy that makes me, and I have to say that I’m pretty blown away. But you can’t carry me in your talons, Hawke.”

“No. But I said we’ll need to fly — not I. So sprout some wings and let’s go.”

“I can’t fly. I don’t know what you’re talking — “

Hawke pulled her to him and kissed her, even as the man on the other side of the fire wall altered into something inhuman; a creature who also had wings, and was spreading them wide, lunging repeatedly at the flame as though trying to find a way through.

But as she kissed him, it was as though a soothing veil had been dropped over her mind; Ashling forgot everything: where she was, what she’d been doing or why. All that mattered was him — Hawke, the man who’d come to save her. The man who was not at all what he seemed, who wanted to take her away and to protect her.

If only he could protect her from herself.

“I knew way back, all those years ago, that you were special,” he said when he’d pulled away. “When we were kids. I never told you — because I was selfish. I denied what I was to myself and to everyone around me. And so I denied what you were, too. Because I wanted a life where I could be normal, Ashling. So I did this — this thing that I do. I act; I pretend to be other people. The boy next door. Some guy who works at a bar and flirts with girls. Because I was always so afraid of who and what I am. But now I’ve found you again, and you’ve shown me what a coward I was. You have tackled this world alone, and I simply ran away and hid.”

“You’re not a coward,” she said. “You’re the bravest person I know.”

“Am I? Good. So come with me. Please. Trust me now.”

He changed again, and again the Golden Eagle flapped its wings, hovering a few feet above her, the tips of his feathers threatening to collide with the rising flames.

Ashling had no choice but to try and follow. Closing her eyes, she emptied her mind as much as she could, recalling the images that she’d summoned with Ranach’s help. She let the pictures come to her. A flying creature of flame. The creature that she might become.

As if by their own will, her arms pulled away from her body, stretching out to her sides. Her body was being pulled upwards, lighter than air, a summoned wind sweeping her away from the ground. Past the Eagle, past the rim of the flaming tunnel that she’d created. Now she was in the air above the creature who wished her harm. And helpless below, his head turned up to witness her flight.

She’d done it. She’d shifted. And below her now was a Vulture shifter. Wounded, lame, unable to coerce its own wings into flight. It let out a piercing cry as it watched its two foes take off, escaping to safety.



* * *



Hawke soared up, meeting Ashling, his Eagle crying out for her to follow. He led her through the air, though where they were going she couldn’t guess. In the dark of night all she could see was light reflecting off his feathers, causing them to dance in golden flashes as the flames had done down below.