From the Ashes

by Dale Mayer

  A look of concern crossed her face. “I hope not,” she said. “I didn’t even consider that.” She glanced around, and he watched as she shivered gently. She rubbed her arms, warming up.

  He placed the coffee in front of her. “Get some of this down,” he said. “It’s not that you’re cold because of the temperature outside. It’s all the events that happened which make you chilly.”

  She nodded and reached out to hug the cup of coffee. She glanced over at Grayse, who was doing the same thing. Her gaze went from Grayse to Rowan. With a look of suspicion, she asked, “How come you haven’t crashed like we have?”

  “I will soon,” he promised. “But, right now, it’s important that one of us at least be cognizant enough to keep going.”

  “Can’t argue with that,” she said. “It’s definitely weird.”

  “I don’t think so,” he said. “It is what it is. And, by the time we get into the air, I’ll be more than happy to be the one who crashes.”

  “When do we land?”

  “Midmorning tomorrow.”

  “That means nothing, with the time change, to me.”

  He laughed. “Exactly. So don’t worry about it.”

  They ate slowly. The other two struggled to put the food in their mouths, but Rowan kept pushing to make sure they got a good meal. When they were done, he took them to their gate, and both nodded off again while he sat and watched. He was on his phone, checking in at home, and then doing more research on the crowd at the hotel. No mention of a mob was in the news anywhere. He sent the lawyer a message, telling him what had happened. But when he didn’t get an answer, he wondered if the lawyer had been part of it.

  Phoenix’s bank account was now set up for her. The property taxes would be paid for the next few years, and then she’d have to figure out what she wanted to do with the cult site. As far as he was concerned, it should be left as a memorial, razed to the ground or sold off to somebody who wanted to do something for the good of all with it. Because otherwise the cult property would just be a piece of her past she didn’t want to keep.

  Almost as an afterthought he sent an email to the two cops he’d met at the property. The three of them would have to give updated statements to those cops, but, when Grayse woke, he could explain their mad flight from the area. Those cops were his friends, after all.

  She had that box and the messages in it. That it came from his hometown was yet another one of those spooky moments that he didn’t want to think about. But he had time right now, so he brought out his laptop and started researching the family a little more intently. He knew about her father, but he hadn’t looked at her grandfather or great-grandfather. As he kept working through the research, he checked through his own database back home and realized he would have to go to storage to look at some of the older files.

  But there were stats that would give him historical data back a good one or two hundred years, and he should find her grandparents and several older generations listed there, but that didn’t mean he would find anything about what kind of lifestyle they lived. What he needed to do was find a way to stop his town from its suicide season and to stop Phoenix from wanting to throw her letter into the Burning Fires. He didn’t mind her getting rid of the letter, but he didn’t want anything to hurt her. He’d hoped she’d change her mind but doubted she’d be so willing to turn away from her lifelong obsession so easily.

  Maybe, as Grayse had said, the box of papers would be better off in a private museum or some secret holding place where they would be secure. Something about that energy around the box really bothered Rowan. That her father’s energy was still hanging around her was one thing. If Rowan could get that energy into that little box, he’d prefer to seal it up with his energy and not have anybody ever open it again.

  He could feel almost ghostlike tentacles crossing his neck at the thought. He straightened and glared around, seeing an icy-blue energy beside him. Too many people were nearby for him to say anything out loud, so he reached through his mind and, with a finger, flicked it away. And it did disappear, but it seemed to latch onto the side of her that was farthest away from him.

  She shuffled in her seat just then, turned sideways and dropped her head on his shoulder.

  He watched as her physical contact with him threw the icy-blue energy into the ethers. He smiled and shifted so she would be more comfortable. She really was a sweetheart, and she’d been to hell and back. How could he get her to stay with him? Because he wanted to see where this relationship would go. He hadn’t met very many people like her and none as interesting and attractive or who affected him as much as she had.

  He’d had plenty of girlfriends, but no one had ever intrigued him enough to take the next step.

  Now he couldn’t imagine his future without her.

  Finally it was boarding time. He helped his traveling companions get up and maneuvered them to their seats. They had three across, and he took the middle seat. As soon as they were settled on the plane and in the air, he closed his eyes, and that was it. He was out.

  *

  They’d be back soon. The Supplier could feel it. He closed his eyes and drew on his visions. He could see them traveling back home again.

  Just in time. He couldn’t wait much longer.

  He frowned, sensing something had changed. Danger had amplified. Even the Elders were agitated. Did they know her? Did they realize she was supposed to come to them?

  In his head he could hear one of them. She’s special. But she’s dangerous.

  The Supplier knew that. Her energy had shifted. She was both freer, and yet burdened. She was too far away to see clearly, but his soul shivered with the recognition of her new energized aura and the ones she carried with her.

  Was it possible?

  Did she carry the very energy of the Elders he served?

  Chapter 25

  Phoenix woke up in the middle of the flight, noticing the plane was still flying level. When the stewardess came around the next time, she asked how much longer until they arrived. The woman smiled and said, “We’re almost there. We’ll start our descent in about ten minutes.”

  Surprised, and yet delighted because the long flight was almost over, Phoenix settled to stare out the window. Rowan still slept soundly. He almost looked like he was unconscious, he was in such a deep sleep.

  But then she’d probably been no better earlier. Whatever the hell had happened back in the States had taken the stuffing out of her. Now Rowan had reaped the effects of having pushed past his normal reserves too. Grayse, on the other hand, was on his phone sending messages.

  She leaned forward and asked, “Are you okay now?”

  He beamed her a smile. “I’m fine. Really got sent for a loop back there though.”

  “Me too,” she said. “I hope Rowan wakes up soon, or it’ll be almost impossible to move him off the plane.”

  Grayse chuckled. “That’s very true. He’s too big for us to carry.”

  Just then Rowan muttered, “I’m here. I’m not very cognizant or mobile yet, but I’m here.”

  Content, she sat back, sliding her fingers under his and holding his hand gently. He was such a protector. He’d been there to help look after Grayse and her when the two of them crashed; he’d been there for her every step of the way.

  Hell. He’d been there for her right from the first time they’d met. She liked that in a guy. Still, it was hard to not keep looking around the plane and seeing if anybody involved in her cult history was with them on this plane. She wondered how long she’d be looking over her shoulder.

  She was grateful when the plane safely landed, and they disembarked and walked out of the airport.

  The three of them stood side by side, Rowan now standing tall, taking deep breaths of fresh air.

  She studied his face and said, “It feels good to come home, doesn’t it?”

  He gave her a brilliant smile. “Yes. For you too?”

  Their sense of togetherness was hard to beat.


  Rowan glanced at Grayse. “Do you need your own wheels here?”

  “No,” Grayse said. “I’ll catch a ride with you though, if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure,” Rowan said. “Let’s go.” He was parked in the short-term parking, as they’d only been gone for a couple days. As soon as they were in his vehicle, with the engine started, he patted the dash and said, “Now this is more like it.” He pulled out of the parking lot, paid the bill and drove to the highway. Within minutes they were heading to his place.

  Phoenix sighed, settled back and said, “Wouldn’t it be nice to relax and not have any other weird stuff happen?”

  Grayse chuckled. “Now that you are part of this world, that’s not going to happen.”

  “Sure. But I don’t have to hunt down crazy cult leaders and other dead bodies and energy all the time, do I?”

  “No,” he said. “But, between the two of you, you could keep that town clear of negative energy too so suicide season doesn’t happen.”

  She twisted in her seat. “How much effort would that take?”

  “Not much,” he said. “Energy attracts like energy. Once you get the suicide energy cleaned out, and since you can both see energy, you’ll recognize when something’s going on in town, and you can just walk by and mentally clear it away.”

  “Mentally?” she asked. “Is it that easy?”

  “You’d be surprised,” he said. “If nobody in town is deliberately or maliciously causing problems, then there’s nothing to it. You can go ten to twenty years before something happens.”

  “That sounds perfect,” she said. “I’m not at all sure how or what I would do in town if I were to stay.”

  “Maybe you could invite your foster parents for a visit?” Grayse said.

  “That would be an interesting visit,” Rowan said. “You haven’t seen them in how many years? And look at how different you are now.”

  “Am I though?” She twisted once again to look at Grayse and then at Rowan. “I haven’t even been here all that long.”

  “You’ve been here long enough to cause all kinds of chaos,” Rowan said, half chuckling.

  She snorted. “We’ll blame you for that. All I did was hear a woman crying in the woods. It all went to hell from there.”

  “You came with a whole lot of energy of your own,” he said. “Don’t forget that.”

  “Right. So do you have to go back to work tomorrow?” she asked him.

  “I should,” he said. “I might even stop in this afternoon.”

  “Okay. Am I going to your house or am I going to the hotel?” she challenged.

  He looked at her. “Well, you have the money to stay at a hotel, if that’s what you want. But you are welcome to be a guest at my house, and you too, Grayse. I’ve got the room.”

  “I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” Grayse replied calmly. “I do want to check out Phoenix’s background here. See just how much of her ancestral energy is here. Maybe we can clean up the village once and for all.”

  “That’s possible,” she said. “I don’t know too much about my family line here, but obviously it is here. If we can find out where they lived, maybe that would give us an idea of what ancient energy is around. I do have the box with me, but I’m not sure what I want to do with it yet.”

  “No decisions have to be made right away,” Rowan said. He looked through the rearview mirror at Grayse. “Right, Grayse?”

  “No. As long as the box is left in a neutral spot, where the energy contained within can’t do any damage.”

  Phoenix tossed that idea around, realizing just how new, and yet how old this energy was.

  “So … a safe place where nobody else can touch it and where it can’t be opened and where it can’t cause any distress by the wrong person who might know it’s there?”

  “Exactly,” Grayse said. “In other words. A safe. Just like where the lawyer had it.”

  “Yes. That would make sense,” she said. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  They pulled up in front of the police station, and she laughed. “I didn’t even realize we were so close.”

  “We are,” Rowan said. “I’ll go in and check things out for a few minutes. I’ll be right back.” He hopped out, shut the door and walked into the police station.

  She turned to look at Grayse. An odd look came on his face. “What’s the matter?”

  Grayse smiled. “Nothing. Rowan just has an interesting trick of shielding his energy as he walks into the station.”

  “I think his job is probably a lot of bad news,” she said, “but nowhere near as bad as if he were a police officer in a major city.”

  “Quite true. And all police stations have a certain amount of negative energy. This is what he was born to do though. I couldn’t imagine, from his energy alone, any job that would be better for him.”

  “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do now,” she said quietly. “I used to teach, but I’m not sure that’s what I want to do now.”

  “I’m not sure either,” he said, studying her face.

  She glanced at him. “Can you see anything I should be doing from my energy?”

  “Healing,” he said. “You heal. What you could do quite easily is heal others.”

  “I don’t think there’s much chance of a job like that here,” she said with a smile. “I already caused chaos here. Besides I don’t know much about healing. I’d have a lot to learn.”

  “You don’t need a job per se,” he said. “You could do it anonymously, if you think about it. You could heal mentally, with your thoughts. You could walk through the hospital and help anybody who’s struggling, even if you just focused on children. You could collect your energy and give them the healing energy yourself. And sure, you could learn a lot more specialized healing, but some great healers are out there you could contact and maybe learn from.”

  “Is that even possible? Who would do something like that?”

  “Maybe Dr. Maddy would,” Grayse said. “She works with Stefan and was part of the team who searched for you. They knew you were in acute distress and helped as much as they could. But they couldn’t find you—something they would normally do. Now, realizing your father was psychic and keeping you all behind a curtain, that makes sense.”

  She stared at him in surprise. “I remember them. I thought they were like fictional characters, like a child’s invisible friends, reaching out to help me. I didn’t have names for them, but I could feel them. Then, in the hospital, after I got shot here, they came again. This time I got their names, and it was, indeed, Stefan and Maddy. I forgot about them,” she cried out softly. “How could I have? They were my saving grace.”

  “They could feel you crying out,” Grayse admitted. “And I know Maddy would love to connect with you on a physical level after all these years. As to whether she’d help with your training, I can’t say for sure, but, given the power of your own healing that she saw firsthand back then, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear she’d love to teach you some things.”

  “I’d really like that,” Phoenix whispered, smiling. She sent out a message to Dr. Maddy as she had when she was sick and hurting, asking if such a thing would be possible. To Grayse, she said, “To help others with energy, … that would be almost a dream job.”

  “There are definite downsides to it,” he warned. “It’s not always light and sunshine. Some cases you can’t help. You’ll feel sadness and grief, frustration and anger. But …”

  “There will be joy and love and a sense of accomplishment—a sense of rightness. To help to heal, after my father caused so much pain, to spend the rest of my life taking pain away …” She sank against the seat when a whisper slipped into her mind.

  I’d be pleased to help. You’re already incredibly talented. With a little direction, you could do so much more. We’ll talk later. Over a phone perhaps?

  And the laughing voice faded from her mind … but left a smile on her face. “I think I just asked and got a yes re
sponse from Dr. Maddy.”

  Grayse sat up and twisted to study her face. Then he nodded and said, “That’s normal.”

  “Normal?” She stared at him. Then she snorted. “Listen to us. That was like dream-talking or a telepathic communication. Whatever it was, no one else will believe this is possible. Any more than they will believe I can heal. The hospital wouldn’t likely let me in to see the sick or the injured, would they?” she asked. “That’ll be weird for everybody to consider.”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But it’s also a really cool thing because you already know you can do it. You know how effective you are. You know that, once you learn a few tricks, you don’t have to be right beside the patient, right?”

  She twisted around in the front seat and nodded slowly. “Fascinating,” she said. “I’d really like to learn more, do more …”

  He chuckled. “It would be a real job in terms of energy workers. You’re in an unusual position, or, maybe I should say, a lucky position of having money from the trust. You don’t need to work. Although others might look at you and wonder how you support yourself. Yet the work you would be doing, with energy, would be incredible. You could heal everybody—well, maybe not everybody—but you could certainly help a lot of people. You could raise the energy of the town, and that will spread outward. Instead of having this be a suicide season, you could end up with people coming here because they feel so good. Because the energy is so strong, and it is feel-good energy.”

  “Ha,” she said. “That would take forever!”

  “What else have you got to do?” he said. “Really, it wouldn’t take that long. Okay. It would take a little bit of time, yes, because the energy here has to shift and you’re not used to doing it on a larger scale, but it’s not as if it would be hard to do.”

  She studied him for a long moment. “Maybe,” she said. But doubt still remained in her voice, and she knew it.