Phoenix Academy: Freed (Phoenix Academy First Years Book 5)

by Lucy Auburn

  Sebastian snorts. "Any fool could've predicted that."

  "It does seem pretty obvious," I tell him. "If they'd watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch they would've known magic has consequences."

  "I have no idea what that is." Gaugin looks at us quite seriously. "Should I?"

  Mateo chuckles, low and dark. "Just tell us the rest of the story, dead guy. This Manslayer has your magic bracelet full of immortal power, after all. He's at least half your responsibility to take down."

  That reminder makes Gaugin look a little ill. He continues with his story. "The Husk came into his powers, as I said. And he derived... pleasure from using them. He enjoyed killing people and controlling their bodies when he brought them back from the dead wrong. He studied what makes life and death tick, and he learned more about himself. By the time I was a master mage in my own right, searching for a way to resurrect my lady love, he was a scourge twice as deadly as the Black Plague. So I imprisoned him, along with the other immortals. I didn't think he'd ever escape except in death."

  "You should've warned me about him," I tell Gaugin accusingly. "You said nothing about there being a soulless immortal Grim in there. If you had, maybe I would've used a little more precaution."

  Sorrow crosses his face. "In truth, I'd forgotten about him until he escaped, and seeing his face jogged my memory. As I believe I said before, living in this half-dead state for so long has taken much of my memories from me. I can barely remember the spells I used to imprison the immortals... though I do remember the rune that was meant to bind the Manslayer's soul to his body. The witch used the wrong symbol, but afterwards, Mage Graves helped me figure out what rune would have worked. We'd planned on using it to kill the Husk, before plans changed and I chose to imprison him instead."

  "The world would've been better off if he were dead." Gaugin nods sharply, clearly feeling guilty for letting the thing out in the first place. "If you want this compass back," I hold the thing up, "and to get the chance to see your dead lover in the spirit realm, you have to help me face him. I need a way to kill him—whatever rune you and your mage teacher were going to use, show me."

  "I don't know." He hesitates. "It's one thing for a witch to use runes, but a phoenix..."

  "I have Grim powers," I point out. "I'm no ordinary phoenix. I'm a Black Phoenix."

  "And we'll be there to help her," Ezra says, sounding fierce, his sword held tightly at his side. "If we can somehow put that asshole's soul back in his body and make him mortal again, I'll cut him in half with my blade."

  "Very well. I'll show you the rune. But you must promise to keep it a secret." Gaugin looks reluctant to reveal important mage power to us. "These things aren't meant for just anyone to know. And keep in mind, in order for the rune to work, it must be forged in fire... not that I think you'll have an issue with that."

  "No," I raise my palm and let phoenix fire pool into it, relieved at the feeling of its dark flickering warmth against my skin, "I don't think I will."

  "This is the rune that you'll need to burn into his body to force the soul to go back beneath his skin." He draws it in the air in front of me, unable to interact with the mortal world. "Draw it in the ground so I know you've got it right."

  I try the rune a few times, and he corrects me, showing me with impatient fingers what it's supposed to look like. I'll give Gaugin this: he's no Auerbach. He doesn't have the patience to teach students anything. Centuries spent as a half-dead spirit haven't tempered him at all.

  Eventually, I've gotten the rune's swooping lines just right, and he nods in satisfaction. "Very well. I suppose that's all I can do for you. You'll just have to face the poltergeist on your own now, since I can't leave this clearing. Unless..." His eyes dart from me, to Petra's prone body, to the mouth of the cave. An expression crosses his face, one of reluctance, but eventually he says, "There is a way that I can bind your spirit energy to you more thoroughly, so your demon quartet and your phoenix fire can't be removed by the poltergeist. But the way to do it involves something rather... irreversible."

  "I'm fine with that," I tell him. "I want to be with my guys forever. If they're bound to me for life, that's exactly what I want."

  "That isn't the irreversible part." He jerks his chin towards the cave mouth. "My body is in there. In order to do the spell to bind you so you can fight the poltergeist and kill the Manslayer, I'll need to be back in it, just for long enough to do a single spell. I should be able to manage it now that someone else is bound to the bracelet, though I won't survive long. My body is in too poor of a state to support my soul for longer than a few minutes. I'll just have to give up hope that once I die, I'll be able to find her."

  It takes me a moment to realize what he means, and I look down at the compass in my hands. "You mean that you won't be able to find the woman you love, because you won't have this."

  "Yes. You'll need it to fight the Husk. There's no other way to find his spirit and put it back in his body."

  I meet his eyes, seeing a strange sorrow in them, and a lump forms in my throat despite myself. "I'm sure you'll be able to find her. Maybe once you die, your memories will come back, and you two will be drawn together by the same love that drew you together in life."

  "Perhaps." The shadow of a smile passes over his mouth, though his eyes are still darkened by grief. "Nothing is guaranteed. But it's for the best that I move on. Now may be my final chance for a long time. And if it gives you the strength to face the problem I've created with my own hubris, then so be it. I won't be able to look her in the eyes if I don't do whatever I can to make up for my mistakes."

  I know how he feels. I've made my own mistakes, and the sight of other people suffering for them is far worse than my own pain. It hurts to see Petra injured, to feel my guys be torn away from me, and to think of what might be happening even now on campus. This is a mess that has to be cleaned up, and Gaugin will make the ultimate sacrifice of love to do it.

  Maybe he's less like our father than I feared.

  "Show me where your body is," I tell him, resolute. "I'll help you reunite with your flesh. It'll be good practice for this spell I'm supposed to do anyway. I can prove that I know how the rune works."

  "It's this way." He motions towards the cave, where only hours ago Petra ventured around the corner to fish around in his pocket and find the compass. "I have to warn you, my body isn't in great shape. But that shouldn't matter much for one spell."

  Ezra says, "I'm coming with you," sheathing his sword at his side. "Don't get too close to the entry to the spirit realm. The last thing we want is to go back in there prematurely."

  "I'll stay here," Sebastian says, hands still on Petra, his face losing color as he uses his powers to keep her pain away. "She's going to live. We have to take her to be treated soon, though. Otherwise she could get an infection."

  Mateo and Lynx join Ezra, me, and Gaugin's spirit in the cave. The path to his body is a narrow one—no doubt he wanted to make sure his earthly flesh wasn't stolen or eaten by carrion. I can feel the prick of magic in the air as we approach the secondary cave where he's laid to rest. There's a certain weight to magic, a smell to it too, one that clings to my nostrils.

  The place on my elbow where the bracelet was feels empty. I miss the reassurance of its magical power there, lending me strength. I don't know what I would do with it if I had it back, but I do know that I can't let the Manslayer, or the Husk, or whatever you want to call him, have that much power at his fingertips. It would be too dangerous to allow.

  Getting through the last few feet of the narrow entrance to the little cave requires turning to the side, shimmying, and ducking a little. No doubt tiny Petra was able to get in and out easier than me and the guys, but we make it through, only a little scraped up. Gaugin's body is laid out on a slab in the middle of the chamber, which is lit by a low and mysterious glow, one that whispers magical secrets to me. A circle of runes is carved into the stone around the slab, protecting his body from decay.

  Mostl
y, that is. There's a distinctive scent in here, one that's cloying and sweet but unbearable to inhale, that must be his flesh slowly rotting away. I wrinkle my nose and plug my nostrils, walking as close to the body as I dare, the guys right behind me.

  "That passageway almost took my dick off," Mateo complains, adjusting the hustler of his gun at his hip. "This spell bullshit better work."

  Lynx murmurs, "If it keeps us from ever being separated from Dani again, it'll be worth your dick getting cut off."

  "We can't let the poltergeist take her away from us." Ezra grasps the sheath to his sword, his brows furrowed, green eyes intense. "She'll need us to face this bastard. What nearly happened when he fought her just now... it can't happen again."

  "I'm okay," I soothe him, grimacing as the taste of Gaugin's flesh coats my tongue. I amend, "I'll be okay as soon as we're out of here and far away from this fucking body. This spell better work, Gaugin."

  The spirit of my mostly-dead half brother is hovering near the slab, leaning over his body and staring at it with a forlorn expression. I wonder how much of the time he's spent stuck here alone has been in this cave, staring at his own body, wishing he could flit back into it and live out his life with the woman he loved like he planned.

  We're all fools for love, in the end. I wound up freeing the Manslayer because I wanted nothing more than to free my guys from their demonic contracts with Hell. Gaugin put him away instead of killing him because he was convinced the power of his immortal life would bring the dead back. Neither one of us is going to get what we want, it seems, but that never stops the lovesick from trying. The greatest tragedies began with the deepest loves.

  "I wonder if I'll remember her once I'm back in my body," Gaugin muses, looking from me to his own physical self on the slab. "Maybe I'll get one glimpse of her face before I die. That could be enough to lead me through the spirit realm to find her."

  "If I get the chance, I'll give you back your compass."

  "Thank you, but I doubt you'll be able to." He straightens up and faces me from the other side of the slab, looking determined. "Once this is all over, after all, you'll have no reason to walk between the worlds of the living and the dead. No, I'll be on my own in the afterlife. It's the least I deserve for trying to cheat death—my own, and another's."

  I can't really argue with that. No one cheats death—or demonic contracts, apparently—without a few catches. I've felt the sting of reaching what I can't quite grasp.

  If there's a way to free my guys... but no, it's impossible. The demon Malavic is the only one who's managed it before, and he said that the way to do it was for a demon to die and come back to life with their memories intact, in the same body.

  From what I know that's impossible—Ezra told me not long after we met that demons come back in different bodies, without their memories, after dying. I won't risk something that terrible to get them freedom that's out of their grasp.

  Even though it's the one thing I want most in this world.

  And I'd die a dozen times over to give them the gift of being freed.

  "Let's do this," I tell Gaugin, shaking off my melancholy thoughts. "So do I just... burn the rune into your flesh?"

  "Yes."

  "That'll stink," I mutter, and beside me, Mateo pulls his shirt up over his nose and mouth. I roll my eyes, taking a resolute step towards the slab despite the stench of mostly dead flesh. "The rune is all it takes? No magic words or spells or incantations? No catch?"

  "The inside part of the rune is an ancient word that translates to the word anchor literally, and magically defines the anchor between body and soul. With the outside border of the rune to hold the meaning in place, and your fire to forge it in my flesh, the spell will be complete. There's no spell—this is pure mage work, not a drop of witch magic in sight."

  He sounds proud at the last part. From what I've gathered since I met Ari and Auerbach, this whole witch/mage thing is a big rivalry. They both perform magic in different ways, but apparently each looks down at the other.

  Seems like a lot of trouble if you ask me, but then again I'm a Black Phoenix on the phoenix side of the war between our kind and Grims, with my own Grim powers to boot. I understand a little bit of what it's like to have a rivalry.

  Taking a deep breath—and immediately regretting the smell that coats my nose completely—I put my palm above Gaugin's bare arm and imagine the shape of the rune in my head. Then I let my strength and power flow into my hand, phoenix fire waking up at my call, making my fingers glow.

  "That's it," he coaxes me. "With a single glowing fingertip, draw the shape of the rune, just like you cauterized your friend's wounds. It's the same principle. Just ignore the stench. Once I'm back in my body, I'll try to do the spell right away—before the inevitable happens."

  The inevitable being his body dying completely because the spells meant to keep him suspended between life and death went all wonky. Licking my lips, I glance back at my guys for support, and find them watching me closely. Ezra gives me a confident nod, and Lynx smiles at me softly, while Mateo just pulls his shirt tighter over his face. They believe in me and support me—even though I've failed so far to figure out how to free them like I promised.

  They're everything to me. If Gaugin can keep us from ever being torn apart, then I'll finally feel whole. Complete. And capable of kicking some soulless immortal ass.

  After all, no one takes down the Big Bad without a little help. Even Buffy had her Scooby Squad. And mine is hotter than that.

  I concentrate on the shape of the rune, push my powers down into my fingertip until it glows, and begin to trace the rune on Gaugin's flesh, starting with the word he said means "anchor" in the middle, then moving outward. There's a terrible smell in the air, like rotting bacon burning, mixed with a bit of old feet and fish stew. I persevere despite it, and soon I'm making the last little swoop to finish off the rune and connect the fire lines.

  "Oh." Gaugin makes a strange, half-gurgle type of noise. His eyes look up and meet mine, and he grimaces. "So that's what that feels like."

  Moments later his spirit disappears.

  And the body on the slab moves, sitting up so fast he nearly knocks me out. I stumble away from the slab, alarmed despite the fact that this was the goal from the start. There's something alarming about a magically preserved corpse with age spots and bits of loose flesh suddenly bending at the waist and staring at you.

  "Dani." Gaugin's physical voice is definitely off-putting. He sounds like he's got two wrinkly testicles in his throat rubbing together where there should be vocal cords. "Take off your blazer. There isn't much time."

  Mateo steps forward. "Like Hell she will—"

  "The spell must be anchored to her wings," he says, clearing his throat a little, looking annoyed. "Trust me, demon, I have no interest in bedding my half-sister. I just need her shoulders to be bare."

  I pull the blazer off and throw it on the ground, then push up my sleeves and yank my shirt up towards my neck. Gaugin motions for me to turn around, coughing weakly, sounding closer to death already.

  "Just a little bit of marking... Burn this piece of cedar please." He pulls a wood chip out of his pocket and hands it to me. Cupping my palms together, I make short work of it with my phoenix fire, then pour the ashes into his cupped hand. "There we are. I put those in there for the smell, but they work well for fire and ash-based spells as well. Now, this will sting a bit..."

  I wince as his fingernails dig into my back, followed by the burn of what must be the cedar ash, and the low sound of his voice chanting in an unfamiliar language follows. Meeting my guys' eyes, I gain strength from them, along with the hope that this spell will bind us together tighter than ever before, our bond forged by death, rebirth, and now something new on top of it.

  I never want to lose them. Not in this life, or the next.

  "Almost done." Gaugin presses his thumb deep into my spine, and I take in a deep breath through my mouth, trying to ignore the stench in the cavern. "T
here we go. Allohm-habranah."

  Flames burst from my back, and despite myself, I scream.

  Chapter 3

  It's a scream of surprise more than anything. I wasn't expecting fire to ignite wherever Gaugin pressed the ash into my back, his fingers lightly scoring my skin with magic. The flames burn out as fast as they ignited, leaving the smell of singed wood and skin in the air, this time fresh rather than rotten.

  "What did you do to her?" Ezra paces forward and draws his sword, green eyes narrowed menacingly at Gaugin. "Explain yourself, or get cut in half."

  The mage sighs. "I only forged your bond more thoroughly. The magic that binds you was born in her phoenix spirit, and now it lives in her flesh as well. Now, no matter what harms her in the metaphysical world, your bond will remain—until death. Yours, hers, or both." He coughs, and this time it sounds like he hacks up something more than phlegm. "You're welcome, by the way."

  "He didn't hurt me," I tell Ezra, pulling the shirt back down over my back, surprised at how true the words are. "It just surprised me, that's all. You don't have to worry."

  He points out, "I'll always worry about you. Especially when you scream." But he sheathes his sword, and both Mateo and Lynx relax a bit, their stances no longer quite so menacing.

  Lynx asks, "How will we know the spell works?"

  "Yeah," Mateo agrees, "for all we know this is bullshit you used to get your soul back in your body."

  He has a point, but Gaugin just rolls his eyes dramatically, then coughs again. Between wet-sounding hacks he points out, "I am now dying, whereas before I could've remained forever in my spirit form. Why would I sacrifice myself for a trick? A foolish one at that. As far as testing the spell goes—Dani can do that. Simply try dismissing your demons back to the Purgatory from whence they came."