"Aren't you going to beg?" She asked, tilting her head and looking at me as if I were a child.
"No," I growled. I swung my arms out and clapped my hands together in front of me, magic bursting from me in an orb. The impact threw her off balance, but she brought up a shield as I imitated Merlin—throwing out a punch and directing my magic through the action.
She laughed, jubilant. "Is this all you have, oh great phoenix? Brute force attacks?" Jupiter righted herself, maintaining the shield spell. She'd tied off the one binding Romulus, and as much as he growled or thrashed at the magic—it wouldn't release unless she or I broke it.
She threw her hands forward, dark vines of magic erupting from her as they lashed towards me. They burned where they touched my skin and I cried out as I pulled back. But they'd latched on to me, sinking into my skin.
Others trailed past me, seeking out another victim in Romulus. His howls became a mixture of pain and anger and I struggled against Jupiter's magic.
"Your love will be the death of you, Ella," Jupiter said as she poured more magic into the vines. It was as if they reached into my core, devouring more of my magic the longer they were on me. "Just like your father." She sounded so disappointed.
Jupiter spun her hands and the black vines wrapped around me, pinning my arms, and lifting me until I hovered a few inches off the ground. With a wave of her hand, she spun me until I could see Romulus.
"No!" I cried out at the sight of my lover. If it felt like the vines were devouring my magic, it looked as if they were devouring Romulus's flesh. I struggled against the bonds, but it felt like the more I tried to use my power the faster they drained me.
"I should have done this ages ago," Jupiter tapped her lips as if in thought. "Everyone feared the great and powerful phoenix, but look at you—taken down so easily."
"Let him go," I growled and fought against the vines. I watched as the man who'd vowed to stand by me suffered. The man who risked losing everything to time and entered the fairy world, who was willing to turn his back on the world and stay there if that's what I needed, the man I loved. The phoenix's power running coursing through me turned warm and Jupiter's eyes widened as flames dripped from my fingers.
"I'm no fool," Jupiter hissed and commanded a vine to wrap around his neck, choking off his howl. "If I release him, he'll kill me without a second thought. No, best to put a mad dog down."
She made a fist with her hands and I screamed, my head thrown back as my body erupted into flames, the dark vines burning away. My eyes were wide, the starlight stealing my focus as the promise of power drifted into me. :Burn,: they said, :burn so bright that Jupiter's darkness is destroyed forever.:
Starlight burst around me and once again I felt the power I had during my time living among the stars. I rose higher in the air as I raged with celestial power. I turned my eyes towards the earth.
Jupiter had fallen to the ground, staring up at me in horror, one hand covering her mouth. Romulus had slumped to the ground, released from the magical bonds, but he lay limp and unmoving.
:Stars do not care about any particular life,: my brothers and sisters above whispered. :All things are born, burn, and then die. You are burning, sister, and soon you will join us. :
:Not yet,: I whispered back. :Not until this is done. Then I will join you.:
:Take what you need. You have our hearts burning within you.:
I leaned forward, propelling myself towards Jupiter. She scrambled back, before throwing magical lances at me, desperation fueling her attacks. They burned away before they were ever a threat to me.
"Ella, please," she sobbed out, crawling to her knees to beg. "I was wrong. I will relent. I will surrender. Mercy, please."
I tilted my head, my mask burning away after a thought, my hair flowing out around me as I power burst around me as if I was a star on the verge of dying. In a way, I realized I was.
"You do not know what such a thing is," I answered calming, but the trees trembled around us. In a detached way, I knew that the fighting above us had stopped. That Merlin and Brom raced towards us. That they could hear and feel my magic. They could see how I burned in the night. "But I have never sought revenge. Only justice. And that is what I will give you."
I landed lightly on my feet before her, visions of my meeting with Suanach Aoife flying through my mind. Before Jupiter could scramble to her feet, I pressed two fingers between her eyes and poured the phoenix into her.
Jupiter's mouth opened in a scream as a white light burst from her eyes and poured from her mouth. Her scream was lost in the explosion of power between us as I gave myself to the universe. I felt nothing other than the cool detachment of justice as she fell away from me and collapsed onto the ground.
Brom and Merlin burst through the treeline, staggering to a stop as they saw me, their eyes wide with a mixture of fear, awe, and relief. But I couldn't stop burning this time. I had embraced and become the phoenix and I knew my life as a phoenix was drawing to its end. If I stayed, I would burn the world, destroying everything I loved.
:It is now, sister,: the stars whispered. Their voices were full of love, of promised comfort and peace. :Take your place among the stars again.:
I turned my face upwards as their peace washed over me. I could feel the smile gracing my lips before I looked at my lovers for one last moment, wishing to remember them.
And then the phoenix burned and I saw only darkness.
Chapter 23
Merlin
Rain slapped against the window in cold sheets, the chill of the draft wafting around me. Still, I stood there, staring out the fucking window, staring at the fucking gray sky feeling fucking useless.
My heart ached and my eyes were raw from tears. I didn't give a damn about crying in front of everyone as I held Ella in my arms. Hell, Brom and Romulus—even as injured as he was— were as afraid as I was. She'd felt light, a fraction of herself, and no matter how much I begged, she didn't open her eyes.
Jupiter had come too pretty easily, if one didn't care that she wasn't truly aware of what was going on. She'd spoken gibberish, literally, and it'd taken two vampires to drag her off with Beatrice following silently behind.
It wasn't fucking fair.
I clenched my fist, wanting to punch something. But my knuckles were already bruised from doing that exact thing. If there was anything I could do, I'd have done it. I hated feeling as gray as the sky outside. As cold as the window in front of me.
"Master Merlin."
A familiar voice interrupted my well-deserved brooding and, even if it was immature, I hardly looked over my shoulder at the only one who would dare interrupt my solitude. Brom and Romulus had let me charge away, needing to be alone. To rage, to scream, to grieve.
"Oracle."
They took that as permission to stand beside me and observe the same scene I did. A city as cold and gray and dark and uncaring as I wished I could be. Then I wouldn't have to wrestle the fear and pain that wrapped around my heart like barbed wire.
"Do you recall what we spoke of when we first met, Master Merlin?" They asked, their hands clasped before them. Their voice was gentle, but it held no pity. Which I was fucking thankful for. Respect for the position or not, if I'd heard pity in their voice I'd have strangled them.
I thought back to years ago, to the parlor in my father's house. My mother had decided it was time for my visit with the Oracle, and requested their presence.
"My mother hoped that whatever you told me would make me fall in line with dear old dad's wishes," I ground out.
"I can see that it didn't work," they said, wry amusement in their tone.
"No." I sighed and tore my gaze away from the dreary cityscape and looked at them finally. "It didn't. If anything you made me worse."
Their lips tilted upwards in a hint of a smile. "I will claim no credit for your success in life, Master Merlin. Pray, remind me of my words."
I huffed out a humorless laugh. "Really?" I arched an eyebrow, but otherwis
e crossed my arms over my chest. They were the only person to ever truly put me on edge. Oracles were strange, neither of this world or out of it. When they looked at you, it was like they didn't see your body—they looked instead at your soul. I wondered what my soul looked like in that moment.
"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change. The sun might shine, or the clouds might lour: but nothing could appear to me as it had done the day before." I spoke, staring once more out into the world.
Their words, so many years ago, had instilled a feverish terror—that one day, my world would change so wholly and suddenly that I would lose myself. And so I strove to experience the world. I angered my family and they disowned me as I pushed myself to the limits. I learned what life was across the world and still it was never enough. I always feared the day that I would no longer see the world as it had been.
And yet, that day had still come and I didn't think I would be able to stand it.
I shook my head and tried for some humor. "Can you imagine how many times I read Frankenstein?"
"There are worse books to read," they countered and I couldn't refute that.
We fell into silence once more, the only sound was the rain against the windows.
"I wondered if you were telling me that I would resign myself to death after my father died," I admitted. "But now I don't think that was what you meant."
A hard rap against the door was followed by its opening. Both the Oracle and I turned to see who was interrupting us and my heart leaped into my throat as Romulus looked at me, his eyes bright with tears. He jerked his head for me to follow him and I nearly tripped over my boots in my rush out of the door.
"Is she awake?" I demanded as I ran to catch up with lycan.
"Not yet," he said and my heart sank. "Close though. It'll be soon. Figured you'd want to be there."
"Fuck yeah," I breathed out, my heart racing like I'd be struck by lightening. We slowed as we approached Ella's bedroom. The woman, Doctor Foster I thought her name was, nodded to us politely and held the door open for us after she left.
"I'll return in a short time to see how she's doing," she spoke softly.
"Thank you," Romulus said, but I didn't care about being rude and slipped into Ella's bedroom.
Brom sat in a chair pulled to the side of her bed, looking as rumpled as I'd ever seen him. He'd changed from his bloodied and torn clothing from the fight, but I don't think he'd done more than splashed water on his face over the last three days. Hell, he had three days worth of stubble on his face and a part of me wanted to tease him about it.
I rubbed my own chin, my short beard having filled out just the same as the vampires. Only Romulus's facial hair looked unchanged, but that's because the man was a fucking bearded beast anyways.
Brom propped held his head up by his hand, his eyes opening briefly to see that it was me before he closed them again. He looked fucking wrecked, honestly. I realized I don't remember him feeding since the fight, and with how much of his power he'd used—he must be exhausted.
But like Romulus and me, he refused to leave Ella alone.
"She's coming around?" I asked in a whisper as I came to his side. I looked down at Eleanora and my eyes burned once more. She didn't look like death warmed over any more, but her eyes were still sunken even in sleep and her skin was sallow. Her golden hair had lost its sheen, but I wouldn't have cared if she'd been shaved bald.
Ella made a soft noise, answering my question for him and it was like we'd all been hit with a cattle prod.
I sank to my knees beside the bed, taking her hand in both of mine and rubbed my thumb over her knuckles. Romulus sat carefully on the end of the bed by her feet, and Brom leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
It felt like an eternity before her eyebrows pinched and, at last, her eyes fluttered open, and she blinked rapidly.
"Wha—" she tried to sit up and we all made to stop her.
"Take it easy," I said, guiding her back down. "You've been out for a while."
"Gave us a real fright, lass," Romulus said, grinning madly and unashamed of the tear rolling down his cheek and into his beard. He had a hand on her ankle over the blanket and I empathized with him. All I wanted to do was to gather her into my arms and make sure she's finally okay, that she's no longer teetering between life and death.
She groaned and closed her eyes, her hand rubbed at her temple. Brom disappeared, but returned a moment later, a short glass of water in his hand with a straw.
"Here, little bird." The raw emotion in the vampire's voice made my heart lurch. In such a short amount of time, the woman before us had become an integral part of our lives. We had always been friends, and she wasn't the glue that held us together. She was the reason for our being together—our destiny if you will. I couldn't imagine being with Ella by myself, without her giving and receiving the love of Brom and Romulus. Every path we had taken in our lives had led to this moment.
Romulus and I relented and helped Ella sit up, her strength clearly still lacking with how little she could help. But it didn't matter, we were strong enough for her to rely on until she recovered. Even if that took the rest of our lives, we'd let Ella lean on our strength.
Brom sat on the edge of the bed by her hip and held the straw to her lips as she drank greedily.
"Careful now," he said as he pulled the straw away. "You've been out for three days. You'll need to go slowly or you'll throw it all back up."
"Three days?" She croaked out, looking between us. She gave us a weak smile, her blue eyes bright. "That would explain why I feel so grimy."
"Merlin isn't the best with sponge baths," Romulus ribbed me and I rolled my eyes.
"Says the dog that bathes by licking," I retort, with more humor than it was warranted. I felt on the edge of hysteria, my heart racing and filled with just so much fucking relief and love and hope and just everything.
"Boys," she chided us, but she was smiling. Fuck we all were, like a bunch of jackasses. She reached out, even with how slow she moved, her hand shook, until she could pat my thigh. "You'll just have to make it up to me with a proper bath."
I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her hair, "I will make it up to you as much as you want, Ella."
A polite knock had me wanting to grumble. Could we not have ten fucking minutes?
"The Oracle," Ella whispered and I frowned at her. How could she know?
Romulus went to open the door, and she was right. They were waiting politely to be invited in. Brom offered them his vacated seat and they waved it away.
"I will not be long, Master Tepes," they answered before turning their amber eyes to Ella. "Madam Bediver. Welcome back."
"Oracle," she tilted her head. "I think I understand you better, now."
"Really?" They seemed amused, while I shared a confused look with Brom. She noticed and patted my thigh.
"I'll explain later," she assured me before continuing. "Jupiter?"
"Being taken to Alhambra as we speak," they answered. "After some... encouragement, Titania decided it would be best if she were to assist her mother in adjusting to her new life. After all, it will take some time for Jupiter to accept being blind and without magic.
"Without magic?" Brom frowned and looked at Ella. "Is that what the light was?"
She nodded, swallowing hard. "I burned her out, like I almost was in Tír na nÓg. I... couldn't bring myself to kill her. It wouldn't have given me any peace to have her blood on my hands."
The pain in her words, as if she feared our reaction, had me cupping her face and I kissed her softly. "You were right. As much as she deserved death, you don't deserve to have that on your shoulders. She's marked too much of your life already."
She raised her hands to mine, her eyes watering in gratitude. Carefully, I wiped away her tears, and pressed my lips to her forehead.
"And Alhambra?" Romulus crossed his arms, and cocked his head. "It's vaguely familiar, but I can't pin down the memory."
"I'm not surprised," the Oracle answered with a shrug. "It is a fortress in the desert created by an ancient predecessor of mine. The wards and enchantments there will be a suiting imprisonment for Madam Jupiter. And when she dies, the fortress itself will decide if Titania is reformed enough to leave."
Huh. I tried to process that, struggling to think of how many complex enchantments it would take to create such a room—let alone an entire fortress.
“Beatrice?” She asked and I could answer that one.
“Decided to travel. She has family on the West Coast, out on the islands—her father’s side. Jupiter didn’t approve of them, so she figured she would likely fit right in.”
"There is only one more matter of business before I can take my leave," the Orcal interjected politely. "The Syndicates are yours now, Ella. It must be—"
"No," Ella interrupted, her voice stronger than before. "They're not mine."
This time it was the Oracle's turn to look puzzled. It was only a moment before they schooled their expression into one of polite interest.
"No?"
"The prophecy was that I would destroy them, right?" She challenged us all. We nodded slowly. She swallowed hard and took a moment before continuing. "Then they're destroyed. If they are mine, my first and last action is to disband them and create a unified people, governed by a council of peers. I thought I’d want a throne, but”—she shook her head—“while I was asleep I found a better solution.”
"Combining the factions," the Oracle blinked, "would certainly qualify as fulfillment of the prophecy."
"It has too," she said, her tone grim. "Since I no longer possess the powers of the phoenix."
I startled at that, cursing myself for not having bothered to check her magical aura. But, with a practice unfocusing of my eyes, I could see exactly what she meant. Before her aura was bright, too bright to look at for long, and powerful. But now, certainly she was powerful, but Eleanora's power looked no different than any other warlocks.
Beautiful Secrets: The Complete Trilogy Page 40
