Fighting disgust and nausea, Aiden curled back her lips so that they wouldn’t come into contact with flesh. She captured the edge of the Heart between her front teeth and chomped twice, her bites only hard enough to be called nibbling as she experimented with the texture of the muscle tissue. Extremely chewy.
Having determined that the task wasn’t going to be accomplished without effort, Aiden bit harder into the Heart. A strip of meat tore free, and she swallowed it whole, gagging on the piece of hot flesh as it slid down her throat. The sensation was slick and slimy, and she might as well have eaten a slug. Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked them away, fighting the urge to vomit with every ounce of her will.
Committed to the cannibalistic act, Aiden took another angry bite, chewing the next piece of meat hard several times before choking it down. Her dogged gnawing finally ripped through one of the Heart’s four chambers, and blood flowed from the perforation.
The salty fluid filled her mouth, scalding the sides and the back of her throat, and Aiden swallowed a deep draught that caused immediate burning in her gut. The heat spread outward from her abdomen to all parts of her body, drugging her senses with velvet lethargy. The effect was immediate and intoxicating, and Aiden slipped into the thrall of a powerful and potent magic.
Pleasure caressed her every nerve ending, slow and sensual, melting sin, sunlight vibrant, gliding across her skin and senses. It was dark chocolate rich and silken smooth, seductive and consuming. The rapture of ecstasy lifted her up, its music effusing her soul, allowing her to soar above and beyond all constraints.
Inhibitions and reservations vanished from her mind. She sank her teeth deeper and harder into the Heart, ripping free a larger chunk. Like an animal, she fed, tearing, biting, and gulping down her savage, angelic meal. Her face and fingers were slick with blood, and the fountain that once flowed from the organ had slowed to a trickle.
She found freedom and power, and Aiden lived for the first time in her life. She knew what it meant to be truly alive, and yet the knowledge accompanied the certainty of death. Every bite brought her hurling closer to the abyss, the cessation of self, and she rushed toward the final embrace with open arms.
Within the fire, she had found truth.
She was the power and the glory of the Phoenix.
The last bite of angel Heart entered her mouth, and she swallowed one final time. Kneeling on the ground, Aiden slowly and thoroughly licked her fingers and wiped the blood from her face. Outwardly, she was calm, but within her chest a maelstrom raged. The Heart of Shemyaza had taken the place of her own.
Caught in the grips of an orgasmic death, Aiden summoned her remaining strength and began her final journey. The center of the pentagram was only three yards away, but it might as well have been three hundred. She barely had the energy or the will to crawl.
Strong hands seized Aiden’s shoulders and lifted her from the ground. “Walk, don’t crawl,” Magnus hissed into her ear. “Don’t enter immortality on your knees like Cassius.”
He shoved her toward the pentagram and the pyre of branches, and Aiden staggered the final distance under her own power. The branches crunched beneath her feet, and she looked down, staring blankly at the kindling for a long second.
It took the tiniest effort to set the pyre on fire. Aiden simply extended her awareness to the wood and sent her magic flickering amongst the kindling, causing it to burst into flames. The blaze quickly engulfed the pyre, rose to lick at Aiden’s legs, consumed her jeans and then stroked her skin. Aiden closed her eyes and spread her arms wide, basking in the heated caress of her elemental lover.
Oh, she wouldn’t just walk into immortality. She would fly! She would die, and her body would burn to ash, and then she’d be reborn within the fires of resurrection. Forged within fire, and risen from fire.
The pile of branches shifted beneath her feet with the addition of a man’s weight. Startled, Aiden’s eyes flew open, and she found herself staring up into Magnus’ ruined face. The unexpected action jarred Aiden out of her enraptured reverie.
“What are you doing? Are you mad?” Aiden gasped. Already, the eager flames were rising up to lick at the Celt’s legs. “You’ll die!”
“I’ve decided to go with you,” Magnus murmured, grinning like a madman. He wore that Devil-may-care aura exceedingly well, owning it.
Aiden seized his arms with her hands, intending to shove him out of harm’s way, but Magnus had other ideas. He seized hold of her forearms and locked them together.
“I’m tired of being trapped in this body, and I miss the sun,” he said. “I have one last mask to shed, and one last promise to keep.”
“What’s that?” Aiden asked.
“I promised Matthew I’d keep an eye on you.”
“How’s that going to work with us being immortal adversaries?” Aiden demanded.
“We’ll figure it out.”
The fire caught Magnus’ cloak and roared around the Celt in a fiery conflagration. His clothing incinerated, leaving behind pale flesh that quickly blackened and peeled away to expose blood and bone. Then began the final glorious combustion.
“What final mask?” Aiden shouted, but he was already gone. Before her eyes, Magnus dissolved into a rain of burning cinders. His masquerade was over, and his true form rose from the ashes.
Wraith swift and elusive, a creature of darkness swept up out of the flames, rising upon vast wings. Watching the emergence and flight with pure astonishment, Aiden gasped and threw back her head to follow him. To see him revealed caused her to laugh with delight. But the Heart thudded in her breast, powerful and provoked, roaring defiance to the ancient enemy of the Phoenix. A scream tore from her throat.
From above came an answering cry, a fierce bellow that resounded through the concrete cliffs and valleys of the city. It was joyous and defiant, and Aiden imagined that she could distinguish smug satisfaction in Magnus’ victory roar. It called to her conflicted soul, torn between what was old and new.
Then the fire rose high and bright around her, obscuring all else from sight. It was time to die. Aiden gathered the flames around her lovingly, holding them close like a beloved friend and lover. Her body transformed into fire, and the flames of the pyre grew taller and brighter, a flare luminous enough to be seen for miles in any direction. The pillar burned into the sky, rising higher and higher, coalescing in the form of a soaring raptor.
Upon wings of the fire, the Phoenix flew into the night, joining the stars in the sky, and a new constellation was born. Then the burning brightness winked out, and the magic departed the night. All was silent and all was still, and the constellation of the Reborn Phoenix shimmered above.
End.
About the Author
Melissa Thomas breathes life into her dreams, bringing imaginary characters and fantasy worlds into our reality. She loves her characters so much they become her alter-egos, enacting the exciting adventures she envisions for them. She is a resident of San Francisco, California and adores the picturesque city by the bay. Her hobbies include surfing and scuba diving.
Phoenix Contract is her debut novel.
You can learn more about Melissa at http://thephoenixascending.blogspot.com/
Phoenix Contract: Part Five (Fallen Angel Watchers) Page 8
