Phoenix

by Danielle James

  “What would you like to know?”

  “Everything, starting with who you really are.”

  “I am Stephan. We met already, remember? You have probably heard of my father, Lucifer.” he answered. Great, the son of the devil. “Our time has come,” he continued without pausing. “You and your family have caused enough trouble for me, but now, you will have front row seats for the show. I have chosen my bride, as you may have already figured out, it is Kelly. I knew she was the one the first time I saw her. Her family did pose a bit of an obstacle, but that has been handled, as you can see. In a few moments we will be wed, and at the ceremony, the last human prisoner will be offered as a sacrifice. Then, there will be no stopping it. The world as you know it will end. I will rule. Any more questions?”

  “Where’s Kelly? Is she alive? Is she harmed?” he asked.

  “Oh yes, she’s alive, no thanks to Heidi. It was difficult to convince her that Kelly was the one.” he said, eying Heidi and shaking his head.

  “I would have killed her myself, but Stephan wouldn’t allow it. I had to settle for a spell to keep her quiet. I don’t see how he could want her after she’d been tainted with the spawn of something like you,” Heidi told Phoenix hatefully. So she was the witch. No wonder she was able to kidnap him before. And what spawn? Tainted? What did that mean?

  “It did concern me at first, but think of what it could mean! Half human, half firebird? The fire demons would be so jealous. But so much power! And on our side!” Stephan was glowing. What the hell was he talking about? Phoenix had seen too much, there had been so much happen already, and his brain just couldn’t function to put it together.

  “But do not fear,” he continued speaking to Phoenix, “he will be royalty. He will have the best of everything! I will care for him as if he were my own. Maybe one day he will have a brother.” He was looking into Phoenix’s eyes. He seemed overly pleased with himself, while Phoenix was still trying to figure out what he was going on about. “Oh my,” he said, cocking his head to one side and smiling, “you didn’t know?”

  “Cut the crap Stephan. What are you bullshitting about?” Phoenix growled at him.

  “Ha ha ha! I feel so privileged to be the one to tell you. Your little girlfriend, my wife in a few short moments, is with child. Yours. Mine now.”

  It made sense now. It all came to him in a flash. The throwing up. The dizziness. The mood swings. Kelly was pregnant. A child was growing inside her.

  His child.

  A new kind of hatred took over Phoenix’s senses. His vision took on a red hue and fire ripped from his wings. The flames engulfed him. He could taste the hatred, the madness, on his tongue. He would not have Kelly. He jerked his shackles free from the wall. “Stop him!” he heard someone shout. But it was too late. Soldiers fired their guns at him and jumped on his back. Phoenix felt the bullets biting through his skin, but paid it no attention. He threw the human soldiers who didn’t burn in the flames off of him and continued without stopping. They would not live to hurt his child or his mate. He would not stand for this for even one more minute. They would all die a painful, fiery death at his hands. Even if he died in the process, Kelly and the child would live free from this madman and his crew from hell.

  Heidi was the first he confronted. Conniving bitch. He saw the terror in her eyes as he reached out and snapped her neck. He didn’t give it a second thought. Her sister swung her sword at him, but it was too late. He already had her in his grip. He gave one jerk and her head swung limp from her torso. Her body stood a moment before falling to the ground.

  “Break free! The spell is broken!” He shouted at his family, not waiting to see if they heard. Fighting erupted all around, snarls and a hail of gunfire, but Phoenix had only one target. Stephan. He would get him in his wings and incinerate the bastard.

  Phoenix felt a sharp, burning hot slash against his back, but he ignored it. He thrust himself forward through the throng of demons and guard dogs without regard for his own safety. He knew he couldn’t be killed, not yet. He knew he was wounded, but the healing fires had already started and the burn was growing in intensity. He barely gave it a second thought. He could see Stephan clearly, he could almost reach him.

  Never had Phoenix dreamed that he would someday be a father, nor did he even think it was possible. He had never known anyone he could care for as a mate, until he met Kelly. She brought everything that was good and pure about him screaming to the surface and shown him what it was really like to live. He had never felt so much need for one individual, a thirst he could never fully sate. I had never felt so much need for one individual, a thirst that could never fully be sated. She brought him happiness that he never thought he could feel.

  He also knew that they could do no good for the entire human population if they were all dead. Phoenix had not been willing at one time to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a few, opting for the greater purpose. Now, he was willing to sacrifice so much more for one single being. He would allow his loved ones to sacrifice themselves, the life of the entire planet, for his child growing inside Kelly’s womb.

  Stephan disappeared down the hallway he had entered from. Phoenix followed at lightning speed, breaking necks and tossing would be assailants as he went. He wanted to rip that piece of shit demon to shreds. He wanted him to suffer. He wanted to burn his severed parts and dance around the fire. He had lost all remnants of sanity. He could feel the savage rage emanating from his very core. It was overwhelming. It was fueled by anger and hate.

  He welcomed it.

  He rounded a corner when he smelled it. Honey and almonds. Kelly. Phoenix blazed forward at his target. He shot through an open door and came to an abrupt halt. He froze. Stephan was holding his precious Kelly, that damned sword to her throat. Her hands and feet were tied and there were red marks around her mouth where she had been gagged. But she was otherwise unharmed.

  “Thought this might get your attention,” he smirked. Phoenix reeled back on his heels.

  “Let her go, don’t hurt her,” Phoenix pleaded with him, holding his hands out in front of him, palms forward.

  “I have no intentions of hurting this frail creature. I will love her one day, as she will me. Her child will be mine. I will teach him to rule.”

  “You are really sick, you know that?” Phoenix was so angry that his whole body was flaming. The heat was making Kelly sweat. He tried to calm the fury, but with little luck. He knew he wouldn’t calm down until she was safely away from here. Away from him.

  “What do you suggest? That I kill her?”

  “Have you considered how she feels about this?”

  “It does not matter. She will be queen, what more could a woman want?”

  “I will fight you for her,” Phoenix warned him.

  “To the death, then?” he said it like a question, but Phoenix knew that was the intention all along.

  “To the death,” he agreed. Too bad for Stephan it would be his death.

  He tossed Kelly aside and lunged for Phoenix. He was prepared to feel the sword slicing his skin. He was prepared for the pain associated with fighting. He knew it wouldn’t be easy. He had to get him in his wings before he could swing a fatal blow with that sword. Phoenix was ready. What he wasn’t prepared for was Kelly.

  It happened very fast.

  “No!” she shouted, throwing herself in front of Phoenix despite her restraints. There was no time. The blade of the sword pierced her chest, driving straight into her heart, and out her back. Phoenix was very aware of the silence that followed. Her eyes were wide, her face contorted in pain.

  “Why?” Stephan asked her. “You would give your own life, your child’s life, for this creature?”

  “Not just for Phoenix,” she gasped, “for everyone. Everywhere. I will never be your wife... Go back to hell.” And then, she was silent. Her body dropped limp when he pulled the sword out of her.

  “No!” Phoenix shouted, catching her before she could fall.

  “Th
is is not how it’s supposed to happen,” Stephan was saying, backing away. Phoenix was trying to get Kelly into his wings, into the healing fire. Stephan was just a sideline. “No, there is still time,” he said to some unknown person. “Wait!” Phoenix looked up only long enough to see flames engulfing his body and him falling through the concrete floor as if it weren’t there. He was being dragged back to hell where he belonged. Phoenix hadn’t touched him.

  He tried again to heal Kelly. He burned his wings hotter and hotter. He lifted her chin and blew air into her lungs. He laid her on the concrete floor and started compressions on her chest. It was useless, she was dead. Killed by a demon. Taken away. The madness Phoenix had tried to control only moments earlier came back with a vengeance. He threw his head back and let out a howl of pain, agony, and hatred. Hatred for the demon who killed her, hatred for all those who aided in her capture. He picked up Kelly in his arms, holding her close to his chest, and tore from the room, leaving it in flames.

  Phoenix stormed through the hall, a blazing inferno, setting everything on fire as he went. When he saw a demon, or anyone for that matter with a crest on their forehead, he flung his fire at them with his free arm. Everything he had trained himself about human life flew out the window along with any concern he may have had for anything else. He was very single minded at that moment, and his attention was centered on revenge. He continued his rampage into the hanger where what was left of his family was fighting for their lives. Phoenix stood in the middle of the room and shouted as loud as he could, “Get out of here! Now!”

  Jules made eye contact. She saw her daughter limp in his arms. “NOW!” he shouted again. Her face drew into a worried mess, but she grabbed Andrew and ran for the exit. Phoenix did not see if anyone else made it. Anyone who approached him was seared alive before they could touch him. The fire grew hotter still, and flames began to spread out from his body. They licked across the floor and up the walls. They danced across the ceiling and down the hallways. Everything they touched was engulfed and burned. Cries of agony, the sound of creatures being burned alive, filled the hanger. Phoenix could not tell who they were, nor did he care. All he cared about was gone.

  When the fire was chewing up everything that was combustible, and the air was heavy with smoke, Phoenix spread his wings and shot through the ceiling still holding his precious cargo. There was a cloud of thick black smoke billowing up from the military base behind him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  Phoenix stopped about half a mile away from the inferno and landed on the desert sand. He looked at Kelly’s lifeless face. She was so still. He wrapped his wings around her and started the healing fire again. Nothing. He tried again, twice, a third time, but the outcome remained the same. Nothing.

  He dropped to his knees in the sand and sobbed. He was rocking back and forth, kissing her still face. He kissed her time and time again, begging, pleading.

  “Please wake up, please don’t be dead.” Please, please! Come back to me!

  The others were running to meet them. Jules got there first. “Kelly!” she shouted.

  Phoenix couldn’t even look up.

  “Is she all right?” Jules asked him.

  Phoenix only shook his head. He was supposed to protect her. He promised Jules that he would never let anyone hurt her. He had failed, miserably. He could only continue to rock and cry. Sobs wrenched from his chest so strong that his whole body shook. The flames on his wings were low, his face was covered in soot, tears and snot.

  “Kelly?” she asked again. Phoenix finally looked at her and he didn’t need to say anything. Jules dropped to her knees in front of him and reached for her daughter. Phoenix leaned back, but didn’t let go. They sat together and cried over the dead girl in his arms.

  Phoenix was aware when everyone else arrived, but still he said nothing. There was nothing to say. He couldn’t speak even if he wanted to. The weight on his chest was crushing and it weighed a ton. He felt many hands on his back and on his shoulders. He couldn’t even acknowledge his family’s condolences. It hurt too much to even move.

  But he couldn’t sit there for the rest of eternity. I did finally get up and move enough to look at their faces. Nick was probably responsible for that. Without a little help, Phoenix would have sat there forever. His family all wore a mask of grief. They had defeated the Dark Alliance, again, but at what cost? They had all lost something that day. Not just Kelly, but Michael and Jolice were lost as well. They lost a friend, a brother, and a sister. They lost a daughter and a lover.

  “Phoenix,” Andrew said.

  Phoenix looked at him with an expression that said WHAT?

  “I am so sorry, we all loved her,” he said.

  “Let’s take her home,” Victor said. Yes, that would be what she wanted. To go home. It was going to be a long flight. Phoenix would carry her. He would bury her.

  They got to their feet and began to walk to the cars. Jules stopped short.

  “What is it?” Nick asked.

  She didn’t need to answer. They all saw it then. A ball of bright white light was approaching us quickly. It got closer and closer, brighter and brighter. When it stopped, a white mist appeared and started circling. Phoenix was in no mood for some ghost to tell them what a good job they did. He huffed and turned away to take flight. He was already opening his wings and preparing to take off.

  “Phoenix,” a very familiar voice said. Phoenix stopped in his tracks and turned around slowly to see Michael standing in front of him. He was perfect. He had glimmering white wings and a huge grin on his face.

  “I have something to tell you,” he said.

  “I am glad to see you are all right,” Phoenix said, uninterested. So he was given his wings back. Good for him.

  “She stopped it, Phoenix. Kelly saved the entire world. She stopped the Apocalypse.”

  “At what price?” Phoenix turned and snarled at him, “She’s dead. Did you know that she was pregnant?” How could he stand there, smiling, while everything that was good about the world lay dead in his arms?

  “Yes, I do now. They told me. She was the one human with enough love for the whole world. She saved us all, everyone, every creature. There is no greater sacrifice.”

  “Am I supposed to do a happy dance? She’s dead. I can’t fix her, I can’t bring her back. The world is pointless without her!” Phoenix shot back.

  “Give her to me,” he said, holding his arms out. Fat chance.

  “I think I’ll just hold on to her a bit longer,” Phoenix whispered, cradling her closer to his chest.

  “Trust me. It’s time for her to fulfill her destiny.” Phoenix didn’t want to give her up. He wanted to fly away. But he saw the look in Jules’s eyes. She wanted him to give her daughter to Michael. An angel. Phoenix knew he should trust his friend and do what he asked. He kissed Kelly’s lips one more time and gently laid her in Michael’s waiting arms.

  He rose from the ground, higher and higher. He was emanating blinding white light all over his body. He stopped about fifty feet in the air and wrapped his wings around her. The light grew brighter until Phoenix could no longer look at it. They were a brilliant light in the sky. He was waiting for them to disappear. For the angel to take his love to heaven, where she belonged. Maybe she would be rewarded, like Michael had been. Maybe, she would get to be an angel. She would make a good angel.

  Phoenix was surprised to see the light fading and floating back to the earth. When he landed, he looked tired, but happy. “I was given one miracle, as a reward, to use as I see fit,” he explained. “I chose to use it now.” He opened his wings and held Kelly out at arm’s length. Phoenix closed the distance between them in one stride.

  He gazed at her face for a moment, then noticed a small movement in her chest. She was breathing! He ripped her blood stained shirt open and saw where she had been stabbed. It was clean, no wound at all. Not even a scar. He leaned his head down and kissed her chest over her heart where her wound had been, scooping her up from
Michael’s arms into his own.

  “She’s alive!” Oh Baby, you’re ok, he crooned in his mind. Immediately the entire family surrounded him. There were sounds of joy, there were tears of happiness. Kelly was alive and that was all that mattered. Phoenix was overjoyed simply with the steady beat of her heart in her chest.

  “What about Jolice?” Jared asked.

  “She is well now, in heaven. I will never have to be without her again,” Michael said.

  Kelly stirred in Phoenix’s arms and opened her eyes. “What happened?” she asked.

  “It’s over, it’s all over now, you’re safe,” he told her.

  “What about the baby?” Phoenix hadn’t considered that yet. His heart ached when he thought of it.

  Michael was grinning hugely now. He nodded his head once and shot into the sky, disappearing from their sight. Kelly and Phoenix looked at each other for just a moment, then he kissed her with a passion that could have set the desert on fire. They wouldn’t have noticed.

  CHAPTERTWENTY FOUR

  April

  Kelly was beside herself with the change in her mother’s attitude with hers and Phoenix’s relationship. She had done a complete one eighty on that front. She went from not wanting them together what so ever to helping Kelly plan her wedding.

  The mansion was being rebuilt, and the gazebo out back as well. That was where it would take place, the same as Jules and Nick. Kelly got to pick out the design, as well as the flowers Rachel planted around it. Her new grandmother, who by the way didn’t look a day over twenty five, had the greenest thumb this side of the globe. She was an artist with plants and she loved to decorate with them. In fact, the yard was beautiful and blooming long before the house was standing again.