Phoenyx in Flames

by Daisy St. James

  “Yes,” Phoenyx whispered, feeling her throat beginning to constrict. “How did you––”

  “I have my ways,” Lazarus Morelock said softly, his voice making her skin crawl.

  “What do you want?” She hissed.

  Lazarus chuckled deeply. “Why, to meet my daughter after all these years. What else could I possibly want?”

  Phoenyx swallowed hard, her hand reaching toward Cortez, who rushed forward to grasp her elbow. She found Hutton’s eyes on her, and could tell he knew who was on the phone. The look of complete and utter devastation on his face told her everything she needed to know in that very instant. Lazarus Morelock was no ordinary vampire. He could have very well been more than an Ancient. There was true fear in her uncle’s eyes and that was enough to tell her so.

  “You tried to have me killed,” Phoenyx’s voice trembled.

  “No,” Lazarus said slowly. “I tried to have you kidnapped. I would never try to kill you, Jane. You are my blood.”

  “What. Do. You. Want,” she asked firmly, her eyes taking on a deadly sheen. She could feel the electricity lighting up her brain like a pinball machine.

  “I want to see you,” Lazarus breathed. “I’ve been waiting twenty-four years for this.”

  Hutton was shaking his head vehemently, trying to push his way into her thoughts, but she was holding him at bay. Phoenyx pinned him with eyes that she was sure were sparking like live wires. She relaxed her mind and let the words travel to her uncle. I have to do this.

  “No!” Hutton shouted, stepping forward.

  Phoenyx held up her hand and motioned for him to stay back. Closing her eyes, she drew her brows together and shifted her shoulders. “Where do you want to meet?”

  She watched Hutton throw his hands up in failure, before running his fingers through his salt and pepper hair to twine them behind his neck. His eyes flew heavenward before sliding to hers. Defeat written across the plains of his face. When she’d gotten all the information she needed, Phoenyx closed the phone without saying goodbye and met Hutton’s eyes.

  “Are you mad?” He said in a voice so low it made her skin crawl, his body very still.

  Phoenyx could feel Judas’ bloodlust beating into her back as he thrashed and growled on the bed. Hutton was furious at her, and Cortez––Cortez was sitting on the couch, his eyes travelling back and forth between them like a five-year-old watching his parent’s marriage fall apart right before him.

  “Who was on the phone?” Phoenyx asked Hutton delicately.

  His arms fell like lead to his sides. “It’s John––he’s dead.”

  “Ian,” she hissed.

  “You cannot do what you’re recklessly thinking of doing,” Hutton snapped. “Jane, I forbid it.”

  Her head snapped in his direction, her ponytail swinging, and she could hear that familiar crackling static from somewhere deep inside. “You forbid me?”

  “Yes, I forbid you,” Hutton barked, his face going red and his eyes blazing. “Lazarus Morelock is a foe you are not prepared to contend with. He’s ancient, he’s––”

  “Did you see how Judas reacted when my phone rang, and it was him on the other end of the line?” She said softly. Hutton’s face blanched. She slid a strand of hair that had caught on her lip away and sighed. “There’s a connection there.”

  “You’d risk your life––for a vampire?” Hutton pressed weakly.

  Phoenyx wasn’t sure why, but she was tied to Judas somehow. There was a long, thin string of fate connecting them together, and at times, it even felt like history––and she needed to know why. How after all these years, she could feel need and desire when she once thought she was a dry well of emotion.

  Looking deeply into her uncle’s eyes, she gave him a small shrug and smiled. “I think I have no choice, H.”

  She watched his eyes drift to Judas, who had quieted somewhat. He looked exhausted, and confused, even by his own reaction. Far be it from her to say any vampire was innocent in anything, but there was something about this one that made her believe it could be possible. He was blissfully unaware of his surroundings, or how he even came to exist. How could she not protect someone who so obviously needed protection?

  “Do you think I have a choice?” She asked, her voice stronger now, bringing Hutton’s focus back to her.

  ***

  This is it, Hutton thought, feeling the panic thrumming within his body. This is how I lose her.

  He didn’t know how to answer her question. He didn’t know how to tell her that her entire existence had been written out for her since her birth. That for centuries, before she’d even taken her first breath, before her cries had split the air around her, her fate had been written. It had been studied by scholars, and questioned by anyone who’d had the guts to question it. No, she didn’t have a choice, and now, everything he’d ever done to keep her from figuring it out was falling apart around him.

  “At least let me come with you,” he implored, a smile quivering his lips.

  She stood cold, unmoving, and shook her head. “If one of us has to live, it should be you.”

  Hutton reached out to her, but let his hand drop between them before he could touch her. “I can’t let you do this alone.”

  “I’ve only ever done it alone,” she whispered. “Watch Judas while I’m gone. See if you can get him to remember anything, and calm Cortez down before he hyperventilates.”

  “You’ll be back,” Hutton said, but the words were falsely confident. He wasn’t asking. He was willing it to be so.

  Phoenyx slipped a cigarette between her lips and lit the tip, the glow from the burning tobacco catching in the vibrant green of her eyes. She smiled around a ring of smoke. “Of course I will.”

  SIXTEEN

  Standing beneath the flickering light at the entrance to The Crystal Haven Museum of Fine Arts, Phoenyx took a moment to finally breath. The cigarette she’d been sucking back like oxygen was burnt out between her fingertips, so she flicked it casually away from her body, and dug her hands into her pockets.

  This was it. She was about to come face to face with Lazarus Morelock––her father. It almost seemed like a dream––or was it a nightmare waiting to happen? She swallowed with difficulty, remembering the look on Hutton’s face as she walked out the door. The man that trusted her more than anything in the world, had looked like she was driving full speed into a brick wall, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  Maybe, he was right.

  Gazing upward, her eyes found the source of the flickering light. The lightbulb was on the verge of dying. You’d think a place like this would keep its premises impeccably fine-tuned, but that didn’t seem to be the case. If anything, it looked as if the entire building had been abandoned and was falling apart. The tricks the dark played. Everything appears abandoned in the dark.

  A scuffle in the bushes had her peering into the darkness, and the skin on the back of her neck stood on end. There was something there. Something inhuman. It chittered its teeth and the bushes rustled slowly, an odd kind of quiet on the wind as it blew past her cheek to move her hair. The air was hot. Her guard went up and every instinct told her to be ready for an attack.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  Phoenyx whirled around, silver stake in her fist, and aimed straight at the throat that uttered the words. Ash stared down at her with those strange, golden eyes and his mouth tilted up in a heart-lurching smirk. His Adam’s apple bobbed slowly against the tip of her stake, the contact sending a small tendril of smoke up into the air between them. He didn’t even flinch.

  “What are you doing here?” She demanded, silently berating herself for the way her thighs melted immediately in his presence.

  Ash’s eyes stared penetratingly out into the darkness before they found their target. Whatever had been stalking her made a noise of terror and flitted away into the night. He turned those incredible eyes on her and smiled deeply, an enticing dimple finding its way into his stubb
led cheek. “Keeping you alive it would seem.”

  Phoenyx scoffed. “Give me a break. One little dark entity is child’s play for me.”

  “Ah,” Ash whispered, his breath tickling her cheek. He was too close. “But that wasn’t any ordinary entity, Jane. That was Eligor. He’s not your run of the mill minion, darling. He’s a discoverer of hidden things. He knows the future of wars and he feeds on it.”

  She was painfully aware of how near Ash was standing to her. Their breath bated one another’s faces and she was close enough to want to touch him, but knew better. Lifting her eyes to his, she fought the urge to dissolve into them. With her heart hammering in her chest, she took a careful step back and tucked her stake carefully back into her belt.

  Lifting her chin, she eyed him wearily. “Where’s Lazarus?”

  The laughter that parted Ash’s lips was like a mini sonic boom, startling her into clarity. He arched a perfectly shaped brow at her. “So, you figured out who’s been hot on your tail. I’m impressed.”

  Before she could open her mouth to say something, Ash closed the distance, their chests touching, and gripped her shoulders in his strong hands. She could have sworn she felt warmth there as he pulled her closer to him, until their noses almost touched. The intoxicating scent was back, wafting up to her nose. Vampires let out pheromones when they were hunting, to lure their prey to them, but this was nothing like that pungent musky scent. This was delicious. Embarrassingly, her mouth began to salivate. His eyes were golden lava as they melted into her, serious and strained.

  “Go home, Jane. You don’t want anything to do with him.”

  “You’re right,” she whispered, her breath labored as whatever was passing between them settled slowly, comfortably low into her belly. “I don’t want anything to do with him. I’m here to kill him.”

  Ash grimaced, squeezing her arms a little tighter, before finally letting her go. His lips pressed into a thin line. Standing back, he eyed her as if she were a demon herself. He shook his head disbelieving her words. “You’re not strong enough for that yet.”

  “Look, who’s side are you on anyway?” She snapped, hands immediately finding her hips in frustration. “You’re the bad guy, remember?”

  A look she couldn’t quite place softened his features as he watched her standing her ground. He gave a soft chuckled, his hair falling carelessly over his forehead. Pursing his full lips, he nodded slowly and began to back away. “I’d go back home if I were you. It won’t be safe here soon, and I won’t be able to do anything to help you.”

  Her brows furrowed. “Why would you want to help me?”

  Ash shrugged playfully. “It would be a shame to see something bad happen to a soul as pure as yours.”

  And just like that…he was gone.

  Like a ghost, he had disappeared from her view and she was left standing in the flickering light of the entranceway, heart pounding and mouth as dry as cotton. She swallowed with difficulty and bit her lip. She wouldn’t let some vampire, no matter how devastatingly sexy he was, frighten her out of doing what she came here to do. This was her chance to take the problem out of the equation. This was her chance to destroy the evil before it had a chance to attack the good.

  Phoenyx took a quick step forward and the light above her head exploded, sending sharp shards of glass in every direction. She stumbled backward and quickly had a vision of Hutton. His eyes drawn and worried as she exchanged words with the father who had sent vampires to hunt her down like a dog.

  A shiver crawled up her spine and she whirled around to find herself face to face with a vision of her mother––silver and otherworldly in the darkness. She frowned, concern lashing her features as she urged her forward, silently begging her to follow. Phoenyx stepped quickly onto the grass and the vision dissolved into a hazy mist. She appeared again a few feet away, once more, beckoning her forward. Phoenyx knew she was leading her away from Lazarus. Pausing, she could hear Ash’s voice in her head. ‘I’d go back home if I were you.’ Everything in her gut was telling her do exactly that. Even the ghost of her dead mother was warning her against it. Maybe she wasn’t ready. Hutton could do more research before she jumped so recklessly into this. Judas wasn’t going anywhere. Right?

  She hated herself for doubting her strength and ability, but what if Ash was right? What if H had been right? What if her mother knew something she didn’t? Was she really ready to die without getting any of the answers she sought? Without knowing who she truly was? Was she ready for the unknown?

  ***

  “She was here,” Lazarus growled, sniffing the air like a caged animal, his eyes glowing with unchecked rage.

  Ash watched him wearily, standing back among the men Spider had instructed to go with Lazarus for the evening, and wanted nothing more than to jump forward and rip out his throat. A soft tinkling of laughter cut the air as Lilith, Lazarus’ demon offspring strutted forward, her obscene red heels clicking against the pavement like talons trying to go through rock. Her crimson lips curved upward into an evil smile as her eyes flashed. At her side––Ian Rutherford.

  Ash fought the urge to spit in distaste.

  “Father,” Lilith cooed, pulling the gloves from her hands one finger at a time, revealing long, red nails beneath. She gathered the gloves into one hand and sighed, eyebrows shooting upward with pity. “Did you really think she would have the courage to face you?”

  “Yes,” Lazarus hissed, sliding his eyes to his daughter slowly, a dangerous look settling into their vivid green depths. “Yes, I did. She’s a warrior, Lilith. Warriors don’t just agree to meet their supposed foes and then run away. They face them with their lives at their feet. Something changed her mind.”

  There was plenty of fact in this. Ash had been lucky that she listened to his warning, otherwise she would have still been there, and then who knows what would have become of her.

  Ash watched as Lilith ran a sharp nail down Ian’s pale, drawn cheek and purred against the collar of his shirt. He looked used, drained and dull. She’d obviously fed. Smiling, she winked at Ash and licked her glossy lips before turning to her father and shrugging. “Maybe she’s more afraid of you than you thought.”

  Lazarus’ roar split the atoms in the air, causing the night to go silent and every dead thing in it to quiver, but Lilith simply laughed. She was putting on a show for Spider’s men––and for him.

  “Come, Daddy. She was raised by Grimshaw. What did you think would happen? There’s no way she had the balls to actually come here and face you. She’s a coward, just like her benefactor.”

  Oh, Jane had the balls, Ash thought with inner satisfaction. This crazy Succubus bitch is talking out of her arse. I’ve never seen more courage in one female before, and I’ve been around for a very long time. Jane Grimshaw is anything but a coward. What worried him most was that, although he’d managed to persuade her to get as far away from her father as she could, he’d sent her straight home to contend with the greater issue at hand. Her true nature. One he wasn’t sure she was ready to face.

  “At least we still have Judas,” Lazarus murmured, eyes darting around the constellations in the sky, as though seeking something profound in them. The moon lay nestled secretly behind a thick passing cloud.

  There was a glimmer of fury in Lilith’s hard eyes as she watched her father, still as stone. “Judas?” She spat. “Judas is about as good to us as a neutered steer. What could he possibly do to help any of us now?”

  Laughter trickled from Lazarus’ lips as his eyes roved that ever-expanding sky with the keenness of a hawk. The temperature outside dropped as he squared off with his daughter, fangs retracted and eyes aglow. Around them, shadows moved behind the black of night, tittering and sneering, just out of their reach.

  “You underestimate him, daughter. You underestimate me. There was once a time when you hung on my every word with the eagerness of a child. Where did that blind trust go? How have you come to doubt me thusly?”

  Lilith’s eyes falter
ed, glancing sideways at Ian who for the moment didn’t know if he was here nor there. Ash was certain that the discord between father and daughter would bring an end to their ridiculous plan to taint Jane with their evil. She could very well take their side anyway, with or without her father nudging her.

  Ash watched as Lilith swallowed delicately and smiled at her father, a wrathful light pooling in her stark, blue eyes. “I don’t doubt you, Father. I would follow you into an all-out war with only a stone and gall if you said that’s how it should be. What I doubt––is her. She’s not one of us. She will never be one of us. You are hanging on to this notion that she will somehow cross over to the dark side like a character from a movie, and be this prodigy you long for, but you’ve forgotten me. What about me, Father?”

  “If you truly trusted me,” Lazarus whispered, the sound of his voice hissing over the air like a serpents warning, “you would not question me, insolent child!”

  Adequately silenced by her father’s outrage, Ash watched as Lilith hung her head and sulked back into the shadows, a look of chagrin touching her features, as her lips quivered in fury. The darkness swallowed her, with Ian at her side, until she had all but disappeared.

  Once she was gone, Lazarus turned to Ash, closing his eyes thoughtfully as he crossed his arms and touched an index finger to his lips. When his eyes opened, he was considerably calmer. A smile played across his lips.

  “Gather your men,” he whispered. “I want them all present for a meeting at my penthouse. Please make sure your boss is present. The last thing I want him to do is get overzealous and kill my second born, just because he got an itch he couldn’t help but scratch.”

  Nodding, Ash made a quick motion with his hand to round up the other vampires and pointed toward their bikes, parked at the far end of the museum. With a quick jerk of his head, they all moved in that direction like a good herd.

  He turned to Lazarus. “When?” He asked, not wanting to pique this madman’s curiosity.