Blood of the Phoenix: Book 17 of The Witch Fairy Series Read online

  The almost seventy-foot-tall structure splits down the center, the opposite sides separating from each other. When they are about ten feet apart, meaning I need to expand my circle, something begins to rise from the ground. If my retinas weren’t currently being burned, I would be able to tell what it is.

  Pinches on my back announce the arrival of my wings coming to protect me from harm. I expand the right one, wrapping it around Eliana to shield her, as well. Ra may be invincible, but Eliana’s mortal body is not.

  “You cannot defeat me!” Huma roars. Great, now my ear drums need protection, too. I wonder how many times ear drums can rupture and be repaired before they finally give out completely. I’m hoping not to find out.

  “I am not here to defeat you,” Ra tells her.

  If I could open my eyes at the moment, I would be staring at Eliana as if the god inside her had lost his mind. Since I can’t, I have to settle for scowling in her direction with my eyes shut tight. Since hers probably are as well, the point is likely moot.

  The Phoenix isn’t buying Ra’s words. “You have called forth the primordial stone. Tell me you do not believe it has the power to kill me. You fool! Nothing can kill me,” she insists at about two hundred decibels.

  “Must you keep shouting?” I ask, turning my face in the direction of her voice. Since it is behind my wing, she still can’t see I’m looking at her. “It would be nice to have only one of my senses disabled at a time.”

  A flash of heat shoots toward me. The Phoenix may not be able to see me, but she can certainly hear me. Maybe this wasn’t the right time to provoke her. Regardless of what Ra is doing, she still has control over her Cosmic Fire. My wing holds against the onslaught of heat, but there is the distinct smell of singed feathers in the air. “Hey!” I exclaim. “These are the only pair I get!”

  “Huma.” Ra’s voice is still velvety smooth, but there is a layer of steel just below the surface. “Stop.” To my great surprise, she does. The attack of Cosmic Fire ends before my blood begins to boil and melt my skin from the inside out. When this is over, I need to remember to thank him. Through Eliana, of course. Darn, I said I wasn’t going to use that phrase anymore.

  “What does it matter?” Huma asks. “What do any of these mortals matter? They are here only to suffer and die.”

  “Um, I for one get a lot more out of life than that,” I inform her.

  “You are not truly mortal,” the Phoenix spits out. It’s a phlegmy sort of spit, like she really worked up a good one to show her disgust at the possibility of my not dying with everyone else. She really knows how to make a person feel unloved. And wet.

  As Huma is speaking, I sense a shift in Eliana. I somehow know that Ra is retreating and my friend is once again in control of her body. And her voice. Next to me, Eliana’s voice comes out in a raw whisper. “Sunglasses would be nice.” Her vocal cords must be tired after having to create Ra’s much deeper voice.

  Sunglasses. Huh, why didn’t I think of that? Oh, yeah, because I suck at that kind of magic. Still, I concentrate on creating sunglasses good enough to keep our retinas intact. I make them the kind that wrap around the eye completely like goggles. I don’t want any stray light seeping in to blind us.

  “What is this?!” the Phoenix cries.

  Daring to open one eye, I lower my wing. It is still amazingly bright in my circle, but I can just make out a pair of dark glasses in front of me. Apparently, I made a pair for the Phoenix, as well. A quick glance around the perimeter of my circle informs me that everyone walking by is also wearing my special brand of sunglasses. People are stopping in their tracks and trying to pull them from their faces. Hmm, that’s going to be difficult for someone to explain. Makes me glad I live in the Fairy realm. Remembering that Eliana does not, I give her a sheepish smile.

  My friend shrugs. “I live in the United States.” So glad she can take things in stride like that.

  Giving up on trying to get her sunglasses off, the Phoenix rounds on Eliana. “Ra has retreated? He finally understands this is the end, then.” A smile born from true sociopathy forms on her face.

  Eliana shakes her head. “No, he has simply realized that you cannot be reasoned with anymore. Not even by someone who once loved you with all of his heart.”

  Before the Phoenix has a chance to respond, Eliana reaches her hand toward the obelisk and the light emanating from it. Closing her eyes, she whispers, “Let me touch the sun.”

  Wow, and I thought some of my ideas were bad. Calling upon the sun seems like a recipe for speeding up the Phoenix’s plans. I am about to tell my friend this, when a beam of light extends down into my circle from above. Pure, unfiltered sunlight. Hot, hot, hot sunlight. Hot because it is not just light. It holds within it energy from the sun itself. It is not Cosmic Fire, per se, but if I was being burned by the two, I really wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Either way, I would be dead.

  “What are you doing?” Huma demands, her voice higher now. She is beginning to suspect that her plan is not going to work.

  So am I. As soon as the energy from the sunlight hits the energy of whatever that is inside the obelisk, we are all knocked on our butts. Eliana is the first to rise, her hand still extended toward the ray of sunlight and a smile in place on her face. She turns to the Phoenix. “Even you cannot destroy the primordial stone. It is older and more powerful than you are.”

  “Neither can it kill me,” Huma counters.

  “True,” Eliana nods. “But as long as it calls to the sun, time will not move forward.”

  What?! I swing my head from side to side, just now noticing that the people outside my circle have stopped moving. Some of them in mid-step. Time really has halted. Crap, what does that mean?

  It is only when Eliana turns her smile on me that I realize I said that last part aloud. “It means we are in a stalemate. If time does not progress, the Cosmic Fire within the Phoenix cannot expand.”

  “Meaning she can’t destroy the universes. Got it,” I nod in approval.

  “As long as time stands still, neither of you will see the ones you love,” Huma snarls.

  I pretend to think about that for a moment. “True,” I say slowly. “But, Eliana and I will be kept company by all the wonderful memories we have shared with them. You, on the other hand, will continue to be tortured by whatever demons you are carrying around inside you. For eternity,” I add. “Between the three of us, I think it’ll suck more for you.”

  Huma screams in frustration and my wings close in around my head in an effort to protect my eardrums. Eliana almost chokes on a feather when they do the same for her. “You cannot do this!” Huma howls.

  Pushing my feathers aside, Eliana’s smile grows wider and cockier. “I carry the Sun God within me. He can wield the power of the sun for eternity, so yes, we can do this.”

  I can see it in her eyes the moment the Phoenix realizes she has been beaten. “My sisters told you what to do,” she says bitterly.

  I shake my head. “Nope. They pretty much just said ‘figure it out or you never get to see your friends again.’ Apparently, sociopathy runs in your family.”

  Huma glares at me. “Liar.”

  I shake my head yet again. “Nope. A little birdie told my Familiars.” After a pause, I clarify, “Actually, a little birdie’s memories, you know, all the dark ones, told my Familiars. As they pointed out, you really shouldn’t let something evil like that loose after keeping it caged for millennia. It’s likely to turn on you. Especially if its survival is at stake.”

  Huma screams in frustration once again. Damn it, immortal or not, I’m sick of it. Ramping up my magic to immortal level, I take her ear-shattering voice away.

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  Talking about Taz and Felix makes my heart clutch. Are they okay? Did I get us away from them before the Phoenix killed them with her Cosmic Fire? I need to find out. Which means we can’t really spend eternity here in a stalemate. An idea pops into my head and even I am impressed by its brilliance.
And my modesty. “Look, this is getting old. How about if I arrange for all of your bad memories to be stripped from your soul so you don’t have to feel all this pain anymore?”

  Huma stares at me in bewilderment. “Only the Phoenix ritual can rid us of our memories.”

  I cock my head to the side. “Are you sure about that? I mean, have you ever tried another way?”

  The Phoenix’s forehead scrunches together in thought. “There has never been a need.”

  Eliana rolls her eyes. “Yet, here you are carrying around all this baggage from who knows how many lives. I think there’s a need.”

  There is the teeny tiniest glimmer of hope in Huma’s eyes. “How can this be done?”

  I smile. I guess she doesn’t like being a sociopath, after all. That’s good to know. I can’t even imagine the amount of soul pain she has been living with to drive her to this point. “If you get us back to the Phoenix realm, I’ll explain.”

  Huma’s eyes harden again. “This is a trap. Once I am back among my sisters, they will force the ritual upon me.”

  I can understand her concerns. Mostly because they probably will do exactly that. “Yes,” I nod. “You are about to go supernova, and they are going to keep that from happening. But, I promise you will be happy in your realm once again. You won’t be living with this pain any longer. Look, this is going to take trust on both of our parts. You need to trust that we can do what we say we can, and we need to trust that you won’t destroy the world once Eliana lets the energy from the sun go, right?”

  Her shoulders slumping in defeat, Huma asks, “Can you truly do as you say?”

  “I can’t personally,” I admit, “but I know some people who can.” I really, really hope they can. I don’t say that last part aloud. Nor do I mention how painful the process will probably be on someone who is still living. If the Phoenix is in so much emotional pain she is willing to destroy universes to make it go away, then she probably won’t care about the physical pain. Well, she might while it’s happening, but it will be worth it in the end. “Do we have a deal?” I ask.

  After a long moment of internal deliberation, Huma finally agrees. “We must hurry. I do not have long."

  Eliana nods. “We know. Do you still have the ability to transport us to your realm without going supernova?” Exerting that much energy may push her over the edge.

  “Yes.”

  I hope she’s right. In a great leap of faith, Eliana pulls her hand back and releases the energy she and Ra called upon. The beam of light retracts, and the primordial stone and its own blinding light disappear into the earth once again. The obelisk slides back into place. That’s convenient. I was worried we’d have to explain breaking the thing. Except for the freak sunglasses incident, we are going to leave this place the way we found it. How unusual for me.

  When everything is set, Huma holds her hands out to us. As I place mine in hers, I wince. She is even hotter than she was a few minutes ago. Huma nods and simultaneously, I drop my circle and she transports us to the Phoenix realm. Nobody in the area should have seen a thing, it happened so quickly. Besides, they’re all still too busy trying to get their sunglasses off to notice anything else. I pull my magic back as we leave the realm, relieving them of the problem. I try not to think about how far away people were affected by the sunglasses since I was using a lot of magic at the time. It’s probably for the best not to know. Plausible deniability.

  We are met by a round of applause when we arrive in the Phoenix realm. The identicals gather around us and gush over our success. If they hadn’t held our friends hostage while we were gone, I would appreciate it more. “Could you just perform the ritual?” I drawl. “She’s about to blow.”

  Turning their attention to their sister, several among them gasp. Chol steps forward. “To the temple. Hurry!” Several of the Phoenixes grab hold of Huma and practically drag her away. For happy souls, they’re not very gentle with each other. As Chol turns to follow them, she says over her shoulder, “You will wait here.”

  “Yeah, kind of figured you weren’t going to let us watch,” I mutter.

  When they are gone, Eliana glances around. “Where do you think they put the others?”

  “Probably locked in a dungeon somewhere,” I offer. “I can’t sense any of them close by.”

  Eliana frowns. “Do you really think they have a dungeon?”

  “I think they’re crazy enough to have a dungeon.”

  “You got me there,” she agrees.

  “I guess I need to try to make good on my end of the deal,” I say. “I’ll be right back.” To Eliana, I will literally be right back. No matter how long it takes me in Angel time, it will feel like no time has passed for her.

  I rely on my wings to bring me where I need to go. I am not surprised to find myself in the grand garden where many of the Angels like to congregate when they have down time. Several of them wave to me and I wave back, not one hundred percent certain who they all are. I really should spend more time here and get to know more Angels. They are my kin, after all.

  It takes a few minutes of wandering around, but I finally find Rashnu. She is having a discussion with another Angel, and it does not appear to be going well. Rashnu is wearing the expression she wears right before she turns into a giant, soul-eating monster. It doesn’t take long for the other Angel to back down and slink away. I hurry up and turn around, ready to come back later when Rashnu is in a much, much better mood.

  It’s too late. She spotted me. “Xandra,” she calls. “Have you not come here with a request?”

  How does she already know why I came? That question must be on my face because Rashnu smiles, all traces of the annoyance she was feeling a moment ago gone. The Angel has some serious mood swings. As long as they swing in my favor, I’m okay with that. “Word of someone promising the services of my Angels is quick to reach my ears.”

  Uh oh. Maybe her mood is not swinging in my favor, despite her smile. I feel a hundred different shades of red pass over my cheeks. “Sorry to do that without asking you first. Heat of the moment and all.”

  To my relief, Rashnu gets it. “I understand. You had to make the deal to save the universes, a task set upon you by us, the Angels. I cannot begrudge the path you needed to take to accomplish the near impossible.”

  Technically, she could. I am glad she is choosing not to do so. “Thanks,” I say, mustering a smile even though I’m not one hundred percent convinced she’s still not the tiniest bit annoyed with me. “So, is it possible?” I ask.

  Rashnu nods. “It will be difficult, tedious and quite painful, but it can be done.”

  I consider her words. “Painful for the Phoenix, not you guys, right?”

  Rashnu smiles. “I appreciate your concern. No, we will not be the ones feeling the pain. Exhaustion perhaps, but no pain.”

  My eyes widen a little. “You will be directly involved?”

  Nodding, Rashnu explains, “It will take a great deal of power to accomplish what you have promised. More power than my Angels of Death could muster on their own.”

  See, she is the tiniest bit annoyed with me. “Sorry again,” I hurry to say. I do not want Rashnu to stay annoyed with me.

  Rashnu waves off my apology. “Someday, you will repay me. Until then, go and assure all of the Phoenixes that we will do as you said.” After a slight pause, she adds, “We might as well take care of the rest of them while we are at it. We do not want another situation like this one to arise.”

  “Good point,” I nod. With a final wave, and more than mild concern over what repaying her will consist of, I exit Angel time. I am back in the Phoenix realm standing with Eliana, who is looking at me expectantly.

  “Aren’t you going to talk to the Angels?” she asks.

  I grin. “I already did.”

  Eliana shakes her head. “I will never get used to that. What did they say?”

  “They’ll do it.”

  “Good,” she sighs in relief.

  Behind us, in
a temple about a thousand feet away, a brilliant burst of Cosmic Fire explodes into the air before being sucked back down. The blast knocks us backwards. Hard. I’m getting really tired of this happening. So is my butt.

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  Since nothing else blows up, and the fire is sucked back into the temple, we assume that it’s just part of the ritual. Even if it’s not, Eliana and I aren’t going to rush toward the temple to check it out. The Phoenixes are immune to the Fire, we’re not. So, if there is a problem, they can deal with it.

  It’s another twenty minutes before Chol finally returns. Impatient to get the heck out of here and back to Kallen, who is probably having conniptions right along with Josh by now, I speak as soon as she is within hearing distance. “Where are our friends?” I demand.

  Chol waves a hand in the air as if the question is irrelevant. “We sent them home as soon as you left.”

  “What?!” Eliana and I both exclaim at once.

  Chol pulls that ‘you’re an idiot’ face again. “Why would we want to keep them here?”

  “Um, because you said you were going to hold them hostage until we stopped Huma,” I remind her.

  “Yes, but they were such a bother. You were already doing as we asked, so we saw no reason to burden ourselves with them any longer.”

  It’s a good thing Eliana is strong. I didn’t even realize my hand was on its way to Chol’s face until Eliana grabs it. She gives her head a slight shake and I sigh. She’s right. Hitting the Phoenix is probably not the right thing to do at the moment. No matter how much I really, really want to do it.

  Deciding a different line of questioning would be safer, Eliana asks, “There is a new Phoenix in place now?”

  Chol’s smile is broad. “Indeed. She is young and has never lived outside of this realm before. Her excitement was contagious.”

  They have different ages? Considering all of the Phoenixes are female, and identical, I thought they were clones all created at the same time. It briefly crosses my mind to ask how they come into being, by birth or cloning, but then I decide I just don’t care. “Yeah, we could feel the excitement all the way out here,” I snark under my breath instead.