by Linsey Hall
My dragon shrieked with joy, racing toward me. My heart swelled as the green and red blur streaked for me, but I screeched back at him, demanding he return to Ares. As if he understood, Jeff turned and swooped back toward the vampire.
I left them, nearly to Drakon now. I’d been flying blind, my eyes too riveted to Ares, and I was nearly upon them all. The scene was much the same, with my friends attacking and Drakon rebuffing. He was nearly to Cass and Del.
I pushed myself faster, racing toward him, colliding with his side.
He roared as an electric shock tore through him, and he tumbled end over end. There was a sizzling black hole where my beak had pierced.
Only the beak of the phoenix can defeat Drakon.
That’s what Athena had said.
And that’s how I would defeat him. Not with my sword, but with my new form. Life would defeat the beast who sought to be death.
Drakon righted himself. His black gaze met mine, rage burning in the depths of his eyes. He hissed, angry and … scared?
Then he turned and fled, a coward.
To live and fight another day?
No way.
I shrieked and flew after him, but he was fast. Too fast. I might be strong, but a shadow dragon beat a phoenix any day. At least for speed.
As if they’d heard my call, my friends rallied. The white dragon popped its head up, catching my gaze. Then it hurtled toward Drakon, hovering to the east, blocking his way. From the west, the three fates appeared. Laima, Dekla, and Karta, each riding a winged horse, formed a barrier with their magic. It glowed bright, a swirling mix of their gold, silver, and opal.
As if he knew he couldn’t pass them, Drakon raced for the south, away from me.
But Connor and Claire were waiting, along with Cass and Del, who’d landed on the mountain ridge next to them. Cass was in her human form again. She yelled at Claire, something about a barrier. They raised their hands, fire blasting from their palms, and formed a fiery wall in the sky. Connor hurled a potion bomb at the flame. It exploded, green and bright, providing fuel that made the fire rise hundreds of feet high.
Roarke hovered above, along with Aerdeca and Mordaca, who formed another electric barrier. Jeff and Ares joined them, completing the cage.
Drakon could only go down. Or come for me.
He roared his rage, then whirled on the air, racing for me. He hurtled toward me like a freight train, steam billowing from his nostrils. Rage gleamed in his eyes and vibrated along his body.
The briefest frisson of fear streaked through me. He might not want to fight me, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t win.
I shrieked my battle cry and flew for him. I ducked my head right before we collided, going for his chest. We slammed together, spinning in midair. The force was an explosion. Pain surged through me, but not nearly as bad as when I’d been human. Drakon thrashed with the electric shock of my blow. We both zapped each other, but my magic was stronger now.
My beak had plowed into his chest, leaving a gaping wound, but I hadn’t hit his heart.
Drakon roared and tore away, flying upward. I chased, eyeing his chest and the beating black heart within. He neared the barrier above, Ares, Aidan, Aerdeca, and Mordaca all waiting for him, then turned around and dove for me.
I pushed myself faster. There would be no failure.
As he neared, I dodged, my beak going unerringly for his heart. It beckoned me, so easy to see. His claws tore into my wing, but my beak found its mark. I struck fast and hard, plucking the black organ from his chest.
Electricity surged through me, shaking my bones and making pain dance in front of my eyes. I chomped down on his heart.
It exploded into dust.
Then Drakon exploded into dust.
Victory surged through me. I spat out the dust and shot high into the sky, spinning on the air. All around, I saw my friends. Without them, I wouldn’t have succeeded. We wouldn’t have succeeded. They had tired him out, then trapped him so I could finish the job. Our troops and the dragons had kept the demons from launching an air attack at us.
Together, we’d done it.
I caught their gazes briefly—joy and fear. Afraid I wouldn’t turn back to human?
I couldn’t think of that now. Instead, I plowed back down to the fray. My friends joined. Most of the demons were dead, their earthly bodies nothing but crisped flesh from the dragons or riddled with wounds from our warriors. Their souls would be back in hell by now.
At the edge of the valley, I caught sight of Roarke, Jennn, and Alison. They’d just finished creating a second portal in this valley.
Perfect.
I swooped low, starting at the opposite side of the valley, and herded the demons to the portal. My friends joined me, Jeff flying along joyfully and shooting flame at their butts. Ares, on Jeff’s back, couldn’t stop looking at me, awe on his face.
Once the demons caught sight of the portal and figured out what we were doing, they actually helped, racing for the exit. Though they probably didn’t want to go back to hell, it was pretty clear by now that we were going to win. So they might as well save themselves the misery of death here on Earth.
Once the final demon had been rushed into the portal, a cry of victory rose up, echoing through the mountains. The fighters in the other valley joined in. I flew high into the sky, peering over the mountaintops. That valley was safe too. All the demons dead or gone.
I swept the field with my keen gaze. Though there were wounded, there didn’t appear to be a lot of ours dead. Our plan had worked. The dragons had sent the demons into a tailspin, making it easier and safer for our fighters. I flew low over my own valley, searching out my friends.
They stood in the middle of the trampled snow. Blood splattered the white stuff, but the demon bodies were already disappearing.
I landed with a thud next to Cass and Del, still not used to this new form.
“Nix?” Tears poured down Cass’s face.
Del ran for me, throwing herself against my feathered chest. Her head reached to my neck. I realized with a shock that I was a lot smaller than I’d realized. Much smaller than Drakon had been.
Good thing I hadn’t known that at the time.
I wanted to hug my deirfiúr. My parents. Ares. All my friends.
Could I?
Not with wings, at least.
I envisioned my human form, praying that I could change back. I’d died.
Definitely.
So could I come back?
Magic thrummed through me, the familiar feeling of life rushing through my veins. The same magic that had made the grass grow in Elesius also ran through me. Silver light sparkled in the air around me, and I shrank.
I had arms!
“Nix!” Cass threw her arms around Del and me.
I hugged them back, tears pouring down my cheeks. I hadn’t died! And I wasn’t stuck as a phoenix. Better yet, I’d transformed back to human while still wearing my clothes.
Not that it hadn’t been ridiculously cool to be a phoenix, but I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life screeching at people and hoping they understood. Also, I liked having thumbs.
I pulled back from my deirfiúr, my gaze racing around to take everyone in. All of my friends were alive. Many sported injuries, were bleeding and limping, but everyone was standing.
“What happened?” Cass demanded.
“Seems pretty obvious,” Del said wryly. “Only one way you turn into a phoenix.”
Cass nodded, understanding glinting in her eyes. “We felt it, you know. A terrible pain. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was scared.”
“It didn’t last, though,” Del said. “Calm came over me. Then you appeared. As a freaking bird.”
“Phoenix,” I insisted. “Much cooler.”
Cass and Del laughed.
Ares slipped through the crowd toward me, wrapped his arms around me, and hugged me close. I leaned into him, absorbing his warmth and so glad to be with him.
“So Aeth
elred was right,” Ares murmured. “I did lose what I loved most. I felt it too, when you died. My world stopped.”
The aching pain in his voice made me hug him tight. “Did you feel when I came back?”
“I did.” He kissed the top of my head. “Then I saw you.”
“Cool, huh?” I pulled back to look at his face.
He just smiled and nodded, then kissed my forehead. There’d be time to talk later.
“Nix!” my mother’s voice called from behind.
I pulled away from Ares. She and my father galloped their horses toward us. My mother leapt off her stallion and raced toward me to drag me in for a big hug.
“You did it!” she cried against my hair.
“We all did it.” I looked at her. Tears streamed down her face. My father stood next to her. He reached out and gripped my shoulder. I smiled at him. “We all did it. Without Elesius, I wouldn’t have had the magic to give the dragons.”
“You did everything right,” my mother said. “I’m so proud.”
“We’re so proud,” my father said.
I grinned, but the sound of whooshing air distracted me. I looked up. My jaw dropped.
The three enormous dragons hovered overhead, blocking out the aurora. They gleamed in the firelight that Cass and Claire had set up around us, their scales shining.
Then they landed all around us, towering like houses. A shiver raced over me. Fear and awe combined. Cass and Del sidled closer to me until our shoulders touched.
The dragons leaned their large heads down until they were eye to eye with the three of us. Their eyes gleamed, green, blue, and purple. Steam wafted from their noses.
They could barbecue us in a second, but they wouldn’t. Still, I couldn’t help but think it. I’d have to be a moron not to think it.
The dragons touched their noses almost to ours. For one blissful moment, I thought that I understood them. That they said thank you.
“Thank you,” I echoed it back to them. We may have saved them, but they’d saved us in return.
The dragons snuffled warm air that billowed over our faces and smelled of fire, then took off into the night sky. They swept off through the aurora, their bodies gleaming in the light.
“Where are they going?” my mother asked.
“I have no idea.” But at least they weren’t in the mountain anymore. And they were safe.
Magic was safe.
Chapter Fourteen
For the first time in months, I sat at the desk in Ancient Magic. I’d spent the entire day here, dusting the place while waiting for people to figure out we were once again open.
After the excitement of the last few months, it was almost eerily quiet to be back in my normal life, tending the desk and protecting the wares.
But it was a good kind of quiet. The kind I’d chosen for myself. And soon enough, demons or other bandits would try to break in and steal the magic from our shelves. Little did they know that I could now turn into a phoenix and chomp their heads off.
But I didn’t look forward to it. I really wouldn’t mind if there wasn’t any drama for a while. I had a life to catch up on. And if I wanted some excitement, I could join Cass and Del on an artifact-hunting mission.
“Is this a real Ming vase?” asked the man who stood in the corner. He’d entered the shop about twenty minutes ago and had been browsing since then.
“No. Just a replica. But the magic inside is legit. Once housed in a real Ming vase, if that helps any.”
He shrugged, then put down the vase.
Fine by me. If this dude wanted real artifacts, we couldn’t help him with that. It was illegal, and we didn’t deal in that shit. He continued to browse, finally settling on a small locket containing a concealment charm. I rang him up, then he was out the door right before Cass and Del came in.
They were windblown and red-cheeked, still looking out of breath. My eyes riveted on the box in their hands.
“You get it?” I came out from behind the desk.
“In the nick of time,” Del said. “The magic feels really unstable in this one.”
It’d been two days since the battle with Drakon. We’d gotten back to normal life quickly, with Del and Cass going out to hunt an artifact for the shop today. All was right with the world.
Cass pushed her red hair back from her face and looked at the clock over the desk. “Almost five. Time for drinks with Connor and Claire. They invited us over. You want to wait to transfer the magic?”
I shook my head. “Nah. I’d like to do it now. A little piece of real life. Then you can take the original back to the site tomorrow.”
“And with Drakon dead, no one will come after it and destroy the site.” Cass grinned. “Thank God the bastard is dead.”
“No kidding.” I took the box from her and carried it to the desk. “I just can’t believe it’s all over.”
Cass and Del followed me, stopping at the front of the desk while I walked behind.
“It’s been a long year,” Del said. “The three of us, with our three tasks. But I think the Triumvirate can have a break now.”
“After what we just went through—after what Nix just went through, jumping into that pit—I think we all deserve a break,” Cass said.
“And this was the first day of the rest of our lives. Our normal lives.” I opened the box and revealed the wide silver bracelet. Magic radiated from it. It was silver with a blue glint, a bit like one of the dragons. I smiled at the memory of the beasts. “I can’t believe dragons are flying through the world now.”
“At least there’s been no news stories about humans freaking out,” Cass said.
“Seriously. There are enough about the supernaturals going nuts.” It’d been all over the news.
“I don’t think humans can see them,” Del said. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“And thank fates for that. Dragons would really blow our cover.” If they could see the dragons, it’d be impossible for humans not to realize that magic was real.
“So all is well with the world.” Cass grinned. “Thanks to us.”
“No time for modesty, I see,” Del said.
“Ha.” Cass laughed. “As if I have time for modesty after what we’ve been through.”
“Though I do wonder what the Order will say,” Del said. “Or the Alpha Council. They had no idea that such bad shit was going down. Not until they showed up for the final battle.”
I shivered. They still didn’t know what we were. But some of their mercenaries had to have seen me transform from a phoenix. That alone was weird magic, and the Order didn’t like weird, unfamiliar magic.
“I can’t imagine we’d be in trouble,” Cass said. “Not after all we’ve done.”
“I hope you’re right.” The Order had never been very logical though. But I couldn’t focus on that now. I wanted to live in the present—in the amazing life we’d saved for ourselves.
And the present meant transferring the magic from this bracelet to a replica. Because Cass was right. The magic in the bracelet was old and really unstable. Felt like it was going to blow any minute.
First, I conjured a replica—an identical silver bracelet made of one wide piece of metal. Then I hovered my hand over the original. Blue light glowed as I drew the magic out, then transferred it over to the bracelet. It felt good to be back to normal life.
When the magic had flowed into the replica, I removed my hand and smiled, satisfied. “That’s a cool one. I think it will repel any spell if the wearer holds it up.”
“Like Wonder Woman’s arm bands,” Del said.
“Kinda. But silver. And for spells.” Actually, I really liked the thing. I ran my fingertips over the bracelet. Maybe I’d keep it.
“Ready?” Cass asked. “It’s already after five. Time for drinks!”
I shook my head, the spell broken. “Yeah. Ares is supposed to meet us there.”
“You’re in loooove.” Del grinned as I put the two bracelets on the shelf behind the
desk.
I shot her a wry look. “So are you, dummy. And this isn’t fifth grade.”
“No.” She smiled wider and shook her head. “But I’m just happy, is all. Happy that everything is fine. We’ve feared for our lives for months. Death lurked around every corner. And now it’s over.”
I looped my arm with hers and followed her outside, stopping to turn around and ignite the charm that protected the shop. When I was done, Cass looped her arm around mine.
The three of us walked arm in arm down the sidewalk. It was already dark because it was the dead of winter, but the streetlights cast a warm glow over Factory Row.
Our home was safe, and I couldn’t help but admire every inch of it. Everything was back to normal. True, I did have to pay back Artemis by helping her find something, but other than that, all my obligations were complete.
The familiar glow of P & P spilled out onto the sidewalk, welcoming us forward. As we neared the glass windows, I realized it wasn’t nearly as empty as I’d expected. I’d been anticipating just a few friends … but it was everyone.
We walked through the door as everyone shouted, “Surprise!”
“It’s not my birthday,” I said.
“Kinda is.” Claire stepped forward. “You were born as a phoenix a couple days ago.”
It was so wonderful to see all of my friends smiling and laughing and just plain old not dead that I shrugged and grinned. “Okay!”
Claire handed me a glass of Four Roses, while Connor passed a PBR to Cass and a mug of red wine to Del.
Before I could speak, everyone raised their glasses. “To the Triumvirate!”
Jeff, who hovered in the air as a small dragon once again, blew a blast of flame in celebration.
My eyes teared up. “Thanks, guys.”
Cass and Del mirrored the sentiment. We met each other’s gazes, then we all drank.
From the corner, Magisteria and Doyen raised their glasses to me. Dr. Garriso, too. All the FireSouls. Aerdeca and Mordaca, who were once again dressed in their signature black and white.
Ares came over to hug me. I leaned against him and sipped my bourbon, enjoying being around my friends. The night passed in song and gaiety. Around ten o’clock, Cass, Del, and I were standing near the open door for a breath of fresh air when an unfamiliar man walked in.
