It was silent as he glided through the air. It was not his body flying but more like his consciousness was entwined with the thing that was. He was a mere spectator but could feel whatever it felt. Beneath them, the earth seemed tiny. The snow-covered mountains, the scattered trees, and then the city. The city he knew all too well.

As Lucas tried to move his head to the side he felt the creature doing the same thing. Flame-covered wings slowly beat next to its body, keeping them afloat. It felt strange to see the wings moving, not making a single sound. He used to hate silence but it felt so tranquil and comforting now as his feelings entwined with those of the Phoenix and maybe even… Azura's?

The head snapped back to look back to earth again. Was he a guest, a passenger, or a parasite on this ride? Were they aware he was with them? Lucas stared at Pleyvale from above. He could recognize everything. His own house, his old schools, and even the climbing hall. It was so strange seeing it from up here. So serene.

Do you trust me?

The voice sounded like Azura but not entirely. It should have spooked him as it spoke up so suddenly but Lucas felt as if he were expecting it. It was part her but part Phoenix as well. The question itself was strange though. Why wouldn't he?

As if Lucas's eyes were opened again he found himself staring through the eyes of the Phoenix at the city. He saw the flames of the tail and the wings flash by at times but the ground was no longer moving. They were hovering above the city. Waiting for something...or someone as it turned out.

Lucas stared at the male figure beneath them. He looked straight up at them and kept on walking until he was at the main square of the city. The man had no face but he seemed familiar. There was something about him, about the way he stopped and kept their gaze even though his face was blurred. Lucas tried to look around again, but this time he couldn't. Had the Phoenix allowed him to look around the first time?

He felt the heat building up. The flames coiling and growing on the inside. It felt so powerful, Lucas seemed to forget where he actually was. The sheer force that was growing deep within the belly of the beast drew him in. It was mesmerizing and for a moment he felt like walking right in the middle of it. A yank in the back of his mind drew him back as he again stared down at the city, at the man on the square. As the human raised his arm, Lucas knew.

He was staring at himself as the Phoenix and Azura prepared themselves to spew the largest amount of fire at him he had ever seen. She wanted to do it, Lucas could feel it as he stared helplessly at the scene in front of him. The Phoenix and Azura would really do it. The heat, the flames, and the power he had felt and loved for a moment now felt distant and terrifying. They would kill him. He watched in horror as he looked at himself down there and the flames rolled out of the beak of the Phoenix creating a wall of fire going straight down. Right when the flames would hit their mark, everything turned white and a deafening sound roared through his ears.

*

A pair of blue eyes dug into his green ones as his fingers scratched the dirt. Lucas slowly raised his head when he realized he was flat on his back in a puddle of dirt and mud. Azura was kneeled down next to him and just stared at him without touching his body. He slowly sat up straight and cleared his throat.

"Well... That was different." He smirked and rubbed the back of his head. Azura still stared at him, insecurity was written all over her face and she wasn’t attempting to help him up or even reach out to him.

"Do you trust me?" Did she sound frightened?

Lucas tried to read her face but she had put up an astonishingly good mask. He frowned and thought back to the feelings he had felt from her and the Phoenix as they were about to burn him into oblivion. He was still here though, alive and well and he couldn't simply ignore the feelings he had gotten right before that when they had shared that kiss. Well, more than a kiss. He didn't know how to describe it so he decided to answer with the only thing he could say.

"Yes. I trust you. Always have. Seriously, what's up with that question though. It gives me goosebumps."

Azura laughed, obviously happy with his answer, and lunged towards him for a hug. Lucas tried to catch her, but the force she used caused his hands to slip in the mud and make him fall backward with her thin frame on his chest. She laughed and muttered an apology but remained where she was. She placed her chin on his chest and looked up at his face.

"I don't know what the thing is with that question. People ask me that damned thing all the time and all I know is that when someone asks it, shit is about to go down."

Lucas frowned as she said it and twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. "Wait... Then why are you asking me that damned question?"

She shrugged and trailed circles on his chest with her fingertip. "Because the Phoenix asked it in the vision."

Lucas grabbed her hand, stopping her from fiddling around, and pushed her off of him. He sat back up and helped her up as well.

"You call that a vision?! Is that what we saw really going to happen?" She flinched visibly as his words came out harsher than he meant them.

"I don't know! It's just like with my nightmares. They feed off false information in my mind, creating something that doesn’t represent the truth. But they are based on facts. Maybe that's the case with this as well. There might be a core of truth behind it, but the rest we should take with a grain of salt. You know I won't kill you. You know the Phoenix won't kill you. It likes you. It actually wants you... In a different way than how I want you, thank God. That would be awkward..."

He silenced her with his hand as she kept on talking. She was quick on the defensive while he hadn’t meant to attack her verbally. Lucas couldn't help but smile as the image of a frisky Phoenix wedged itself into his mind. He removed his hand from her mouth and before she could do anything, crashed his lips onto hers.

When he was sure she would remain silent if he withdrew, he did just that. A smirk on his face, he traced his fingers along her cheek and forehead leaving dirty smudges behind.

“You know,” He spoke, “if you told me four years ago when we first met, we would be here sucking face and whatnot, I wouldn’t have believed a single word of it. Also… You got something on your face. I bet you didn’t see that coming four years ago either.”

The retaliation came fast and hard just as he had expected from her.

* * *

Azura connected the last plug for the floor lights on stage and gave a thumbs up to the lighting board operator who sat behind his lighting desk. He proceeded to turn them on one by one to see if they were working properly and gave her a thumbs-up back after everything seemed in order. She made her way off stage and saw the stage manager talking to an elderly man. She guessed him to be in his mid-sixties judging by the gray hair and scruffy beard. He seemed a bit restless and slightly on edge but Azura just shrugged and sat down waiting for something new to do.

It was almost the end of her shift and they were ahead of schedule. In three days there would be a big congress with diverse speakers from all over the country with their findings and ideas about what the future with humans and supernaturals would look like. Some speakers were theoretics, historians, book writers but also leaders of packs and groups. It was a fascinating subject and she was looking forward to seeing and hearing different opinions about the subject at hand. It was a welcome change from her rather dull meetings with Professor Sloan and Andreas about the blood-bond she shared with Nora.

"Earth to Azura!" The stage manager flicked the back of her head with a sly grin on his face.

"Hey, that was uncalled for!" Azura rubbed the sore spot and gave him an angry glare. They were on good terms though and this was not the first time he did it.

"I am going to show Mister Omayr around but his son should be here any minute. Could you wait for him to show up and tell him to wait here? We won't be long. After that, you can go home. You're here Sunday again right?"

"Yep. Sunday for the second rehearsal and Monday for the conference itself."

"Good. Have fun tomorrow with your man and see you on Sunday!"

Omayr gave her a courtesy nod and followed the stage manager towards the offices. Azura sank back in the chair waiting for the son to show up. She grabbed her phone to play a game and kept her headset on in case the lighting or sound engineer needed something.

It was another ten minutes when the door opened and Nora walked through followed by a tall man somewhere in his late twenties. When Nora spotted her, she squealed and lunged towards her embracing her in a tight hug.

The feeling was mutual. Whenever they were apart there was this nagging feeling deep down in her gut. When they saw each other again, Azura immediately felt at ease and happy. The pin prickles on her skin would flare up but that feeling made her feel alive. It was also getting harder to ignore the pull to be close to Nora. The feeling had intensified over the course of the last year and even though they knew the cause was the blood-bond, they still didn’t know what had triggered it or where it came from. Well, there was a suspicion, one that terrified Azura.

Nora let go of her and Azura turned to the man who had witnessed their little reunion with slight amusement.

"Sorry about that. I'm Azura, deputy stage manager."

She shook his hand and couldn't help but notice the vibrant sparkle in his green eyes. He had a one-day stubble on his face and his brown hair was cut short and stood almost upright.

"I'm Lucas Omayr. I believe my father is somewhere around here?

"He is here, yes. The stage manager is giving him a small tour right now. They'll be back shortly. They asked me to keep you here in the meantime so make yourself comfortable."

She grabbed a chair and offered it to him. Nora had already made herself comfortable on Azura's spot. For a moment, Azura was tempted to kick her off but decided against it with Lucas around. She was deputy stage manager, she had to maintain some sort of professionalism around guests. To her surprise, he had grabbed a book from his backpack and seemed to be reading.

"Can I get you anything in the meantime?" Azura took another chair from around the corner and sat down next to Nora who immediately grabbed her hand as if they were a couple, and started playing with her ring. Lucas watched with slight interest and responded with a shake of his head.

"I'm fine, thank you. This gives me some time to actually try and read some more." He turned his attention back to the book and after making sure he really wouldn't ask for anything else she turned to Nora who had been waiting for her to shift the focus.

"Floyd came back early." Nora squeezed her hand, her voice soft and almost sad. "I'm going to see him tonight. He wouldn't take no for an answer plus we haven't seen each other for over a week."

"You're ditching me for him? What am I supposed to do now?! Charlie is with his parents, Theresa has a party somewhere I simply refuse to go to and my Friday evening is not going to be spent hanging around Alpha Andreas or Professor Sloan!" Azura tried to sound as hurt as possible to guilt-trip her close friend. It didn't seem to work though, as Nora just started laughing.

"I could use a tour around the campus and town actually." Both girls fell silent and slowly turned toward Lucas who they had completely forgotten about.

"You what? Are you listening in on us?!" Azura spoke up first after a short awkward silence. She glanced at Nora for help but she just shrugged and kept her mouth shut.

"Well, it's not that hard seeing as you two are just a short distance away and this book is boring as hell. I've been stuck on the same page for way longer than I'd like to admit." Lucas closed the book and placed it back in his bag. "Look, it's my first time around this area plus it's actually quite tiresome to hang around with my father all the time. Since we're going to be here for a few days, I thought it was a good idea to get to know some people." He smiled at them. Azura tried to find any hidden intentions behind his face and words but truly couldn't.

"I might not be the right choice for that." She finally answered. "I'm not the most social butterfly around here." She bit her lip and tried to get Nora to support her. The werewolf was just grinning like an idiot, a clear sign she was loving this whole situation.

"She'll do it. Don't worry." Nora slapped Azura's shoulder and ignored the death stare she got in return.

The phone vibrating in her pocket couldn’t come at a better time and she took it out to see a message from Charlie. Hoping the other two would drop the subject if she just ignored it, she quickly read it and cursed softly. Nora seemed puzzled for a moment, waiting for Azura to tell her what was wrong.

"Charlie is not coming back tomorrow. Family issues. He'll come back Sunday." She groaned as she realized her day off tomorrow was not going to be spent together with her boyfriend. "All my plans for tomorrow just went down the drain. I really don't like his family at times."

"Just as they don't like you very much at times either, eh? But on another note, you still have plans for tonight!" Nora winked at her, trying to make her feel better. It was actually working and she hated it.

"No offense,” She turned to Lucas, “but it just feels weird going out with another man without my boyfriend knowing.” Emphasizing the word boyfriend, she hoped the male across from her would blow the whole thing off. Instead, it was the dark-skinned woman next to her who spoke up first.

"Charlie doesn’t care! Just tell him the truth and it’ll be fine. I’ve never seen that guy jealous and it’s not a healthy relationship if you’re not allowed to have a fun time with friends! It's not like he cares if you hang out with other people. I think he would actually encourage you to do this after he is done laughing in your face." Nora got up and faced Lucas. "Have fun. She's not as bad as she sounds." Before leaving, Nora hugged Azura tightly.

"Fuck you, Nora." Azura softly hissed under her breath while her lips were next to her friend's ear. Nora chuckled at the remark and replied loud enough so Lucas could hear her.

"Oh, I wish I could fuck you, hun. That would be fun." Nora immediately let her go and Azura shook her head while a big smile crept on her face.

Nora headed towards the door after waving to them both. Azura let out a loud sigh as she felt the all too familiar itch across her body as her friend left. She knew she wasn’t the only one who felt it. It was slightly disturbing as she thought back to how demanding it had started to feel in the past couple of weeks. Azura turned to Lucas who was beaming with fun after watching the two of them interact.

"Fine, I'll show you around. I don't have anything better to do anyway." She sat back down with another sigh and noticed the six-pack of water at the desk behind her. She grabbed two bottles and tossed Lucas one without warning him but he actually caught it to her surprise.

"Thanks. For the water and also for actually taking me along. The two of you seem close by the way. Almost like a married couple." Azura chuckled as he said that. It was not the first time people compared them to a married couple. He probably wasn't that bad a company for an evening and it did beat sitting in her dorm alone.

It turned out he was excellent company. They had the same kind of humor and he was surprisingly nice to chat with. She had quickly discovered he was actually quite a big softy on the inside. He also made sure to keep a certain distance at all times making her quite relaxed knowing he wouldn’t try to hit on her. After showing him around on the campus they ended up in one of the campus bars where they stayed till midnight.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" Azura drank the last remains of her beer. Lucas had finished his a bit earlier and was playing with a coaster.

"My dad has something planned in the morning. I have to help him with that. In the afternoon I have no plans yet. Why?"

Azura sighed and watched the bartender clean the bar. Fiddling with the golden ring on her finger, conflict raged in her head. Would she ask him to hang out again? On one hand, he was good company. Someone she felt like she could be friends with if he lived closer. On the other hand, he was someone she had only just met. She knew Charlie would be laughing his ass off at her again if he was here. He never was the jealous type and she was really thankful for that at times.

"Well, I had plans but they washed away this afternoon so if you would like I could show you around some more tomorrow." A coaster had piqued her interest as she plucked at it randomly. It had gotten wet and she plucked the cardboard thing apart piece by piece without even realizing it.

"Sure I would like that." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but return it.