12
RYAN
All I could see as the phoenix talked about the glory and beauty of fire was the night Ben's house burnt down. All the blackened wrecks we'd investigated in our pursuit of Wamp. The dead artreans. My childhood nightmares.
The way he talked about such atrocities as beautiful made me sick to my stomach. I should be grateful, though. His words should make things clearer for me. No matter if he was my mate, no matter if he carried my child, he was not safe. I couldn't trust him. I should remember that, no matter how loudly my lion roared to be close to him, no matter how my body remembered our hurried joining in the forest and longed to re-enact it with a slower, more attentive pace.
Asher approached me, drawing me from my thoughts. "Looks like the kids are enjoying themselves."
I
