by Hati Bell
Hmm. “I can’t acknowledge something if I don’t know what it entails. I don’t want to be tied to you forever. I’m far too young to get married. Besides, I’m already seeing someone.”
He laughed right in her face. “My dear promesi, what gave you the ridiculous notion that our bond is a form of marriage?” He shivered. Actually shivered.
This wasn’t awkward at all. She felt her cheeks burn. “Well, um, the way you act and talk about it.”
Matteo lifted his index finger. “First, the bond between promesis is so much more than a marriage. Marital vows are a human invention and can be easily broken. Second, our bond does not prevent you from having a lover as well as a promesi. Monogamy is a human invention as well. Phoenixes are rarely monogamous since ‘always and forever’ literally means an eternity with us. The idea of being stuck with the same person forever is laughable. Inferi hardly even manage a lifetime staying with the same person.”
Though this did take the pressure off the whole promesi thing, she still wasn’t convinced. “Then why do you care whether I acknowledge the promesi bond?”
“It is the first step towards loyalty. For without loyalty a phoenix has nothing.” He looked from his phone to her. “Do we have a deal?”
“You’re inside my head?” This was amazing.
“One of the perks of our bond.”
“Are there any other perks?”
“Well, there is the fact that I can sense it when you are about to die.”
Nifty. “Can I speak to you this way as well?”
He nodded. “Do we have a deal?” he repeated, holding out his hand.
“Deal,” she said, taking his hand.
This time she didn’t get dizzy when he traced her away. Apparently it was just like learning how to ride a bike. She got used to it. They were standing in front of a big brick building on what appeared to be a misty hill. It smelled like spring. “Where are we?” she asked, shivering. The sun was blocked by clouds and it was a bit nippy.
Matteo took off his dress jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Lhasa, Tibet.” He greeted a man standing at the door. “Timur, this is my promesi, Amber. She is new to our clan.”
The Asian phoenix bowed and greeted her. Then his tone became all business. “The package is inside. Please follow me.”
Amber looked around, curious about her surroundings. This was so surreal. She was actually on the other side of the world. In the distance, built against the mountain, she saw a big red and white building with yellow rooftops. “What’s that building?”
“Potala Palace, the winter palace of the Dalai Lama.”
“I can’t believe I’m in Tibet,” she said as she followed Matteo inside. “I had never traveled outside Europe before.”
The building in which Timur had led them was some sort of warehouse. It was filled with crates, boxes and dozens of statues.
Matteo looked absolutely pleased with himself. “I can trace you anywhere around the world. It is one of the many advantages of having a promesi.”
Perhaps being a phoenix wasn’t so bad after all. “And when will I be able to trace myself?”
“Never,” he casually crushed her dreams. “Half-bloods don’t have that ability.”
Typical. Not only was she the only dryad who didn’t have super-speed, but now she was a phoenix who couldn’t trace. “Will I be at least able to maybe throw a fire ball or something?”
“It can take up to a century before you have mastered that ability, so the answer is basically no.”
And the disappointments kept on piling up. Ever since she had lost her visions she felt somewhat lost. Apparently it was true what they said: you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. “Then what’s so special about being a half-blood phoenix?”
“You are immortal. One of the few half-bloods left. What more could you possibly want?”
“I want my old life back,” she said honestly. “Wait a minute. What did you mean by ‘one of the few’?”
Matteo came to a halt next to Timur and was staring at the portrait of a man. Amber didn’t know much about paintings, but this one looked old. Like the Mona Lisa old.
“Finally I have found you,” Matteo whispered. “Portrait of a Young Man.”
She tried to remember snippets from art class while the men continued discussing their arrangement. Timur walked outside, talking into his phone. She had a bad feeling about this. “This painting isn’t a reproduction, is it?”
“Of course not.” Matteo sounded insulted. “I would never taint my collection with fake art.” He took a magnifier from his inside pocket and held it over the painting.
“You are buying stolen art,” she accused him. There was no way a painting that looked like it belonged in the British Museum would be sold from top of a mountain in Tibet. Not legit anyway.
Matteo gave her a surprised look. “Stolen? While I commissioned to have the painting made myself?”
Of course. “Sometimes I forget what a fossil you are.”
He put the magnifier back into his pocket. “This was painted by a good friend of mine. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino. You might know him as Raphael in this century.”
Where had she heard of this name before? Maybe it was time for a History Channel marathon. “Oh, Raphael.” She hoped she’d sounded blase enough.
“Amore!”
They spun around simultaneously. She didn’t need to smell or see smoke to recognize the man for a phoenix. He had shoulder-length brown hair and ink stains on his white blouse and jeans. He also somewhat resembled the man in the portrait.
“Raff,” Matteo greeted him back.
Her eyes darted between the man and the painting. “Raff as in Raphael?”
A heated discussion broke out between the men. They were both making wide gestures with their hands to make a point. Unfortunately they spoke in—she assumed—Italian, so she didn’t understand a single word. Raff eventually gave her a wink and traced away.
“My apologies. That was rude,” Matteo said. “Unfortunately Raff loathes any other language than his mother language so he only speaks in medieval Italian. He wanted to know why I hid his masterpiece—which he considers all his pieces to be—in a cold shed on top of a mountain. That will teach me to contact him again about his missing art. I was explaining to him that I had bought it back from the thieves who have stolen it from a private collector. It took me some time to find the painting after the Nazis stole it. Even with modern-day technology, inferi are useless at protecting priceless art.”
“You paid thieves for your own painting?” She knew she sounded incredulous but Matteo seemed more like a stealing-from-a-thief-isn’t-theft type of guy.
“Of course. The trade in stolen art is based on mutual respect and trust. The thief trusts to get paid for his services and to have a vendor in the future, while the buyer trusts to have an ongoing supplier. Any art collection lacking good security asks to be robbed.” His eyes once again fixated on the painting. “Lucia will want this back after she is released. Which will be soon. The portrait was Raff’s gift to her for their one-year anniversary.
“Lucia?”
“My sister. Benedict’s Lola,” he clarified.
So, Lola wasn’t a hamster? “Aha.” Understanding dawned on her. Finally. “Is this the reason why Benedict sometimes seems a bit… off? Because his promesi is in love with another man?” Poor Benedict.
A shadow crossed over Matteo’s face. “No, that is not the reason.” He straightened his cufflinks. “Benedict is going slightly insane because Lola, his promesi, has been rotting away in the Catacombs for almost five hundred years.”
SIXTEEN
That night, her life turned into a nightmare again. It was a typical case of be-careful-what-you-wish-for. Her nightmare started with reliving her inflaming. Then it continued with another scene. Oddly, she was seeing snippets of the past.
Drake was being chased by goblins in the woods. Then the scene changed to the old factory near Turnp
ike. He was on his knees next to a row of bodies that were ripped apart. His claws dripped with blood and his clothes were torn, his eyes frantic.
“You have to let it go,” Logan said, looking just as battered.
“I can’t wake her,” Drake rasped. “It’s not enough. Nothing is enough.”
The image changed in a heartbeat, as if she was watching the next scene in a horror movie. Logan had disappeared. Drake stood in a dimmed room that looked like an office. He was throwing darts at a board hanging above a garbage can. There was a bed in the corner. According to the clock it was almost midnight.
He tightened when someone put a hand on his arm, rubbing it. “Don’t, Jade. I’m not in the mood for this.”
“Lighten up, dear. You’ve been in such a terrible mood lately. Here, have a beer.” She put the pint next to him and put her hand on his chest.
He shook her hand off. “I didn’t order any.”
“My treat. What kind of girl would I be if I let you stay dry all night?” She winked with a pointed look towards the bed.
The scene changed once again. This time Faey appeared to be in the lead. She lay on the deck of a large yacht, dressed in a green, sequined dress with a neckline that plunged almost to her navel. Next to her lay a man with an old-fashioned hairdo, in a tuxedo. He poured wine between her breasts and started licking a path from her collarbone, making his way lower and lower. Faey’s laugh clattered over the water as she pulled him closer for a kiss. Her eyes shone in the moonlight.
“Soon we probably will not be able to do this anymore,” the man said and pulled back with a deep sigh.
Faey started to unbutton his shirt. “Don’t tell me you’re taking this little spat with the Council too seriously as well? Matteo won’t shut up about it either.”
He pushed her hand away and sat up, leaning back on his arms. “You should listen more to your brother. According to rumors the Council will issue out the extinguish penalty to you. The Council will…”
“The Council will what? I’m a Lancaster. Crassus needs my father in the upcoming Demillennium which will occur in a few decades. He has never gone to battle without the Lancasters before.”
“You weren’t there the last Demillennium, Faey, but I was. Your father needs Crassus just as much as the other way around. He will not endanger his alliance for his daughter. You should have begged for clemency.”
Faey shot up angrily and pulled up her dress. “Faey Lancaster does not beg, Franco. In retrospect what I did may not have been so… smart, but I wasn’t thinking straight. As my promesi I expected you to support me.”
“Your needless moment of jealousy will have great consequences,” he said while his eyes roamed the water. “We shouldn’t be out in the open like this. If rumors are right the Romanovs will find you.”
He’d barely finished his last sentence when another phoenix appeared on the deck. All clad up in black leathers, he aimed his bow and arrow at Faey.
“Vasily,” Franco hissed.
“The Millennium Council has passed judgment in the case of Faey Rose Laine Lancaster,” the archer said with a faint Russian accent. “On this day, July 17th 1977, you are officially being extinguished. It is time.”
Faey’s eyes widened in fear and she pressed herself against Franco.
“I had warned you this would happen,” Franco said. For a minute there Faey looked lost, but when he took her in his arms she relaxed. “Not only did you bring shame on your clan, but you have weakened mine as well because of our bond,” Franco continued.
She put her arms around his neck. “But you still love me,” she said, one eye fixed on Vasily.
“Yes, I do,” Franco admitted and pushed her behind him, before he faced Vasily.
“You know the rules, Franco,” Vasily said.
Franco straightened his jacket and nodded. “Attacking an enforcer while he extinguishes a convict equals a century in the Catacombs. Unless…”
The boat disappeared. A new image formed inside her head, as if the movie was fast forwarded. This time Faey was running on a snowy plain that stretched away as far as the eye could see. Her boots left a deep mark in the snow. Though her fiery red ponytail already made her easy to trace in the white landscape. She was being followed by two phoenixes. This time Vasily was accompanied by someone carrying a sword.
The archer took aim and the arrow landed in Faey’s thigh, putting an effective end to her run. They were on her in a heartbeat. The one with the sword pulled his weapon.
“Dimitri.” Faey sounded terrified as she fell onto her knees.
Then an image of Ian flashed by.
Amber sat up in bed, gasping for air, as a wave of panic washed over her. She smelled fire and a second later the smoke detector went off.
Not again. This was the third time she’d woken up in scorched bed sheets. She pulled the smoldering sheets from the bed, and put out the fire. There was no time to change them again. Then she silenced the smoke detector. The death of Faey’s promesi wasn’t the worst thing she’d seen tonight. Neither was the disturbing image of Drake with Jade. She put on some clothes and sneakers and rushed outside.
She paid the cabby as soon as he stopped in front of the White Shark and dashed out of the car. She tried to rein in her nerves, but the vision was still screaming inside her head.
The pub was packed with people, mostly having a pint. A few were playing pool in a corner. Nothing out of the ordinary. What she was looking for was behind the curtain though, and anything but this pedestrian. She almost ran into a large body when she pushed behind the black curtain. Apparently the entrance to the secret room in the back wasn’t unguarded after all.
“Buy-in is twenty quid,” the man growled. His gold front teeth shone in the light.
“I’m not here to play.”
“Behind the curtain means you pay.”
She quickly pulled out her wallet and silently thanked Matteo for discreetly leaving some money on her nightstand. After she gave the bouncer the money, he let her pass.
It didn’t take her long to spot Ian at one of the tables. Seth Croft sat beside him and nudged him when he saw her. After acknowledging her presence with a chin jerk, Ian ignored her. His eyes seemed to be glued to the cards in his hands.
She grabbed a chair from another table and sat behind him. “Ian, I need to speak with you.”
“Later.”
The game continued on and on. She didn’t know the first thing about poker and hoped Ian was as good at it as at Grand Theft Auto. An hour in and, unlike his stack of money, Ian’s poker fever didn’t seem to decline.
“Maybe you should stop,” she tried once again.
“One more game,” Ian said, his tone sharp and brisk.
That’s what he’d said two games ago. She was seriously debating dragging him away, when her eyes fell on the growing pile. “You lost Dad’s watch?”
The tips of his ears turned red. “It’s just a watch.”
She had to stop herself from snatching the watch off the table. Someone cleared his throat and she looked up. The dragon standing behind Seth was an intimidating piece who wore army fatigues and a black tee. He hadn’t been there a second before. Her heart leaped in her throat, when Amber recognized the man from her nightmare.
“Ravi.” Ian sounded embarrassed.
“Maybe you could lend him a hand?” Ravi said in an icy tone, his eyes on her.
“I’ll pay you back,” Ian said hastily.
He sounded remorseful and all rage left her body. She gave him a fifty. “That’s all I have left,” she said, hoping this would finally make him leave with her.
***
Drake tried to rein in his rage as he followed Benn behind the curtain of the White Shark. What was she bloody thinking, going into the shittiest hole in the Fire Mountain?
Amber stood behind her brother, a hand on his shoulder. “We should really go, Ian.”
Her voice was strained, which was the only reason he wasn’t going to yell at her. I
t was obvious that she didn’t want to be here. Maybe Ian had brought her. He wouldn’t put it past him.
“What’s it going to be, O’Neill? You listening to her or going for one more round? All or nothing?”
“I’m all out,” Ian said in a forced tone, leaning back.
“Now that’s not entirely true,” Ravi said. “You still have one thing of value you can put in the pot.” His eyes slid to Amber and Drake knew this show was meant for him.
Ravi. A skeleton in his closet he could no longer ignore. Their eyes met and he could read the challenge in his former best friend’s eyes.
“What? No!” Ian jumped up, his eyes blazing with rage.
Someone put a hand on Drake’s arm. “Take it easy, mate. Draw your claws back,” he heard Benn say.
“It looks like we have some unexpected company,” Ravi said. “What’s it going to be tonight, Kincaid? Friends or foes?”
Drake’s options were limited. He could pretend Amber was as important to him as a doorknob or stake his claim. Something that would destroy his already-shaky relationship with Ravi. Because dragons didn’t forget or forgive. Spiteful didn’t begin to cover it. However, this wasn’t the time to confront Ravi. He stepped forward. “We’re leaving.”
Ravi smirked. “You’d better take your little girlfriend with you before I decide to keep her as collateral.”
Drake could finally breathe again when Amber got up and took his extended hand. The trust in her eyes cut through what was left of his soul. If she knew of the things he’d done while she was in the hospital… About the darkness coursing through his veins…
No. She didn’t need to know.
Ever.
Ian grabbed his coat from the chair.
“We’re not done yet, O’Neill,” Ravi said. “But it looks like you have another week to live.”
Ian’s hands curled into fists and he nodded. Seth put a hand on his shoulder in support.
“How much do you owe him?” Amber asked.
