Jo froze instantly like the dinosaurs of history books, his eyes falling on the door only a few feet away.
He had nowhere to hide.
He was completely exposed.
“I’ll be back in a few,” the deep male voice spoke as he walked out. Jo stood silently for a few seconds, the very tall male kept his back to Jo who was within grabbing distance of the man. He started to take off his clothes and tossed them to the small tub that was beside the now closed door. Jo was confused as to why this male was stripping on the roof. However, he was grateful that he could only see his back view.
A small shriek crawled out from the man’s throat as he opened his arms to the sky, tilting his head back as he gazed up. Jo didn’t breathe as he watched the man turn into a bright orange and amber colored bird. The beast stood well over eight foot, and as the bird spread his wings, Jo would have estimated that they easily were ten feet across.
“Fuck me! You’re a Phoenix!” Jo accused with shock running rampant across his face.
The bird turned and crouched instinctively, his eyes were the size of saucers as he looked up to the massive dragon which stood only a few feet away. “Dragon!” it hissed through the orange and black flecked beak that protruded from its face.
Jo saw enough to know this wasn’t what they thought it was. He gave a beat of his wings and launched into the air, leaving behind a shocked phoenix disappearing into the door from which he had just come.
There were Phoenix in town? Jo muttered to himself.
C.O.D.E. has Phoenix? He continued his thoughts as he flew high and fast.
C.O.D.E. is Phoenix, he exclaimed as the lightbulb dawned on him. They had been concerned over a company looking for oil, when really, they have a blaze of phoenix looking for them.
“Fuck!” Jo roared with a mixture of anger and fear. He needed to tell Volos immediately. Jo looked for the alley where his clothes were and vanished into the darkness.
Twenty minutes later his footsteps were heard running, he had clicked his band to locate Volos’ position and was headed directly for him. Jo knew Volos was going to be pissed, but he hoped what he had to say would outweigh his insubordination.
“When can I talk to her?” Volos asked the woman in the white coat, she was small but seemed efficient, the name on her badge said Dr. Karen Campbell—Head of Emergency.
“She isn’t even conscious, sir… and you aren’t family… so I’m guessing never and never.” Shaking her head at him, she scurried off in the direction of a machine beeping about an emergency.
Volos stood at the door, staring at the body of a woman he barely knew lying on the bed just a few feet inside a room he couldn’t enter. Volos had turned up at Payton’s house a couple hours after they left the C.O.D.E building and had gotten caught up discussing business with Wyvern on his cell. It was only the setting of the sun that alerted Volos to the passing of time and he had ended the call and made his way over to her house.
When he arrived it was in complete darkness, not a single light was on, and the door had been kicked in. Volos went inside with a sense of urgency, his head turning left and right with the speed of a striking snake. There had been a struggle, one that was violent in nature. Chairs were broken, the table was cracked, broken mugs that had seeped the contained coffee all over the carpet. Most disturbing to Volos though was the intentional desecration of the cabinet holding her dragon figurines. They weren’t simply broken, they were smashed and ground into dust on the floor. Unusual that a simple break and enter would take the time to do that level of damage to something that was obviously just toy collectibles.
It was then that Volos had heard a gurgled cry from outside, he’d taken off with a jolt to find lying in the middle of the grass section of Payton’s yard was a female’s body, crumpled and broken but breathing. The breathing was wet and labored, but something was better than nothing. Volos had phoned the human emergency number and sourced help immediately.
Walking closer, he could see that the damage done was extensive and moving the body inside would cause greater pain and damage. He had bent down and provided words of comfort for Kylee, he couldn’t see her face with the angle of her neck, but he knew it was her. A small groan in reply told Volos that she understood he was there, and help was on its way.
The sirens arrived quickly, and she was whisked away with great speed. He had overheard the paramedics mention that the injuries looked like she had jumped out of a very high tree, or perhaps jumped from a high building. Suspected impact injuries like hers took great height to achieve and they spent some time looking around to see where she might have jumped or fallen from.
Volos knew then she hadn’t jumped or fallen, she had been dropped. The million-dollar question was if the phoenix took them both, and Kylee was dropped from a great height in an attempted murder, then where was Payton? His stomach gurgled maliciously with the terror that someone could be holding Payton against her will. He couldn’t even smile at the irony of his fear for Payton right now when he, not even a week ago, had done exactly the same thing—held her against her will. The only thing holding him together was how feisty she was with him. Her survival skills were good, hopefully, good enough to last until he could get to her.
Volos knew trying to talk to Kylee right now was pointless, he needed to get out and breathe. As soon as morning hit, he was going to see Paxern. He was in this hospital according to Wyvern, and Volos had an instinct that he had some clue as to where Payton might be.
Jo stood outside the hospital, a confused look as he checked the locator beacon in the band. This can’t be right, why would Volos be here? The thought only had a second to pass by his head as he saw Volos walk out of the front door, and take a deep breath of the cool night air. As if on cue, Volos looked up and directly into Jo’s eyes, a crease of confusion crossed his brow as he strode over.
“Did Wyvern send you?” Volos asked abruptly. He was obviously agitated, he didn’t have time for hellos or how are you’s.
“Um…” Jo looked nervous. “No. I was just…” Jo didn’t know how to word it, so he thought he would side step instead. “What are you doing at the hospital?”
“Kylee was hurt and I think they’ve grabbed Payton.” Volos was a single beat of a bird’s wing from losing his shit. “I’m waiting to talk to Kylee, she will tell me what she saw.” Volos suddenly stopped and looked at Jo. “Didn’t Wyvern tell you? I overheard a discussion that was surrounding a feather.” Volos was looking more muddled at the look of confusion on Jo’s face. “He said he was telling the clan to be wary, that I had seen a phoenix feather and an attack was imminent.” The penny dropped with Volos that Jo knew nothing. “Where the fuck have you been, Jo?” His voice was low and loaded with enough explosive energy to blow up a small country.
“I saw the phoenix.” Jo went for the direct shock approach, it might reduce a little of the shrapnel.
Volos swallowing past a growing ball of fury. “How?” he said through gritted teeth. “You were… are… supposed to be at the Oasis providing protection to the clan.”
“Attor was being a fuckhead, so I left.” Jo’s chin rose defiantly. “That’s right, I left the Oasis. But it’s not unprotected, the brothers are there. It’s not like any of you really want me there anyway.”
“Cry me a fucking river, Jo, I don’t have fucking time to kiss your boo boos.” Volos wanted to rip Jo’s head clean off his shoulders. “You abandoned our clan.”
“So, me seeing a phoenix means nothing to you?” Jo sneered. “Not even if I said I saw it come out of the C.O.D.E. building. I saw a man walk out, strip, and burst into a bird, he even made a reference about his boss.” Jo spoke quickly as he watched Volos breathe heavily. “The whole fucking building are phoenix. They’re after us, Volos,” Jo said.
Volos stepped up to his brother, any closer to Jo and he would have been on top on him. The energy was like an arid crackling forest with a lightning storm brewing, one wrong strike and it would engulf in an out of cont
rol inferno. Volos looked down at his brother who didn’t step back from his physical threat. “And yet, here you are, showing me you’re a fucking big man, a leader, a powerful cock amongst the hens,” Volos spat. “When really you have run from your clan like a little pussy girl, leaving them defenseless, free to be slaughtered by our enemies.” Volos was hitting his danger zone. “Get your fucking ass back to the Oasis, and hope like hell that no one dies because of your selfish nature tonight, Jo. If there’s one single life lost because of your childish ‘woe is me’ bullshit, I will personally descale you myself.” Volos turned away and started to walk.
“Brother…” Jo only got one word out.
Volos spun and with the pure venom of a striking cobra he said, “You are not my brother.” His chest was rising and falling as he barely held himself back. “Brothers don’t abandon each other… or their clan.”
Those words hung like a strangler vine, every syllable tightening around Jo’s neck, making the oxygen harder and harder to take in. Jo watched the back of his brother disappear back inside the hospital.
“Fuck you, V,” he mumbled. “I am a brother and I’ll prove it.”
He took off for the beach and headed directly for the Oasis.
Payton opened her eyes slowly, her head pounding like a family of woodpeckers had taken up residence right behind her eyes. It took a couple seconds for her brain to register that the wind slapping against her face was not from an open window. Payton looked down to see a nighttime forest canopy beneath her. Instinctively, her hands reached up to grab onto whatever was keeping her from falling. The full moon cast a strong light across the tops of the trees, and the very early stages of a lightning storm had started on the pre-dawn sky. Looking up at the scaled feet she had wrapped her fingers around she jumped with a shock. Digging into her shoulders were talons, large, amber colored feet with pitch black talons. The sharp points were pooled by blood from where it had pierced her skin, grabbing tightly around her shoulders.
The hysteria Payton felt traveling up her throat was threatening to dispose of her daily food intake in one quick heave. Her body instinctively started to jolt and buck against the one that held her tight. “Let me go. Let me go,” she screamed and kicked out as hard as she could.
The large bird looked down at her, and for the first-time Payton could see the human eyes that laid on a face with a protruding orange beak. “Ssstop kicking, bitch,” it hissed. “Unlesss you want me to drop you… like your friend?” An eyebrow raised on the beast as it posed the question. “Ssshe isss now dead. Ssso ssstay ssstill.”
Kylee is dead?
Her heart fractured irreparably as the words penetrated her soul, the thought of standing at another grave of someone she loved was too much for her to process. Payton looked down, she was so high she couldn’t even see the forest floor through the thickness of the canopy. Her grip tightened on the large bird’s legs as she stopped kicking, a silent survival hush fell upon her mind.
“You’re not asss dumb asss I thought,” the bird hissed with a chuckle. He began to slow slightly and slapped Payton directly into the top of a massive Douglas fir tree, leaving her with no option but to grab hold of the top of this spiky branch. She wrapped tightly around the trunk and looked down, as the tip began to wave and roll with her added weight. Instantly the vertigo slapped her in the face like a cold wet tuna at seeing how far she had to fall.
“You ssshould have jussst done your job, ssstupid bitch,” the bird hissed as it flew elegantly around the top of the tree. “You were told to ssstamp it, sssign it, and sssend it off.” He looked again. “Why are you humansss ssso dumb?” He beat his wings to remain hovering in front of her. Payton could see that this massive bird-like man creature was something from the storybooks she’d read as a child. The feathers were the most amazing blends of oranges, reds and golden hues, it was like looking at a bird that personified the sunset colors of the sky. If it wasn’t for the fact it had killed her best friend, and was now going to kill her, she would have said he was stunningly beautiful. But knowing he wanted her dead dulled his attraction.
Payton’s eyes were trying to work out which was worse, the fact that she was presently hanging on for dear life at the top of a tree, or there was a freaking large birdman looping around her as he hissed about her human stupidity. “Who…” she swallowed, “… w-who are you?” she stammered. “What are y-you?”
“Quade, isss my name. I’m the leader of the phoenix in thisss area. I’m a majessstic beassst of fire, you ssshould bow to my sssuperior ssspeciesss. However, intelligence hasss never been a ssstrong point with humansss, they still can’t even fly unassssssisssted.” His dark humor caused him to chuckle at himself.
“Phoenix,” Payton repeated. “Of course…” she chuckled hysterically, “… first dragons, now phoenix. What next? Vampires?” Her body started to shake as shock began to takeover.
“Dragonsss!” Quade hissed violently. “You can thank the dragonsss for your death.” The corner of his beak turned up as he looked so happy with himself. “Jussst remember it isss not that fall that will kill you.” He looked down, shrieked with pleasure as he shot up and out of her line of sight faster than she could follow.
Payton looked down and with a few calming breaths she began to recognize where she was. “Elk Falls,” she said to herself. She helped support the non-logging of old growth forests right across Canada, and Elk Falls was always on the list of protect at all costs. The distance to the ground would have been easily two hundred foot, give or take, with a zero chance she would make it to the bottom without falling to her death.
“Death by fall? Or starvation?” Payton said out loud, deciding she would try for neither and worked herself down two branches. This was where she settled her body in more safely against the fork of two branches and was going to wait it out.
A quick glance down and Payton saw the ground swing and swerve below her as her vertigo made the world warp around her. Sitting quickly back up, she wrapped her arms tightly around the tree top that was gently waving in the very early morning light.
“This isn’t going to end favorably, Payton,” she told herself as a silent tear rolled aimlessly down her cheek.
Attor clicked the cell off as he looked up, Wyvern was coming back into the living area with an urgent pace to his steps.
“He’s not in his chamber.” Wyvern had gone to see where Jo was, with the calls they had gotten from Volos so far, they really needed all dragons on board and accounted for.
“Fucking little prick,” Attor growled in a dangerous tone.
“Sorry?” Wyvern said as he stopped, wondering what he’d done in the last five minutes to get that reaction from his brother.
“Not you… Jo.e went to the surface.” Attor was visibly angry. “Volos just called to let me know he was there. He then told him to return to the Oasis, but that would be entirely up to him.” Attor picked up the mug that was sitting on the bench top, extended his hand above his head, and he swung his entire body weight behind it propelling the mug into the wall with his entire force. A small look of satisfaction crossed his brow as the mug was obliterated in a gazillion pieces. “I’m fucking sick of that little bastard thinking the world owes him, thinking he’s better, thinking he can just do whatever he damn well wants without any thought of repercussions for his clan or even his brothers.” Attor’s words flew from his mouth with the speed he wished his fists were flying at Jo’s face. “When I get a hold of him, I’m going to personally knock the fucking chip off his shoulder myself.”
“Where is he now?” Ladon asked from where he was leaning against the wall.
“Who the fuck knows,” Attor snapped. “Our main concern is protecting the clan, not worrying about his pussy little ass with a cry baby attitude.”
“So, we’re sure it’s Phoenix?” the king spoke as he walked in, it was most unusual to see the king venture into the Warriors’ living area, but this was hardly an unusual scenario.
Attor looked up an
d swallowed, fighting to gain his composure, last thing the king needed was another son who couldn’t focus. “Yes, it has been confirmed that we have a phoenix problem. An actual up close sighting was reported this evening.”
“Did Volos see one?” Wyvern’s eyebrows shot up high, the excitement of an impending battle was rippling off him.
“No.” Attor looked to Wyvern. “Volos saw the feather, it was…” Attor felt the acid on his tongue as the words came out, “… it was Jo who saw a man turn into a phoenix right in front of him, confirming that the C.O.D.E. office is a cover for the entire blaze of phoenix.”
“Brilliant,” the king exclaimed. “Jo may have just saved the entire clan.”
“Hmmm…” Attor didn’t trust his ability to keep his opinion of his brother civil. “We need to ready the clan, Father. They need to be prepared to wing up and fly at a moment’s notice, without hesitation or fear of leaving their goods or homes behind.” Attor spoke like that of a leader. “The lives of the clan are far more important than that of mere possessions.”
“Of course, I’ll make an announcement to the clan.” The king spoke firmly, the concern of the unknown creeping into his voice. He had been through many a battle with the phoenix before, and they had never come away unscathed. Lives being lost was inevitable—regrettable but inevitable.
“I also want to bring up a few of our clan to stand with us. I’ve seen a couple of the dragons training in the art of mortal combat, and I think they possess skills we could really benefit from right now. Especially with Volos and Jo above ground,” Attor said to his father.
The king nodded. “Do what you need, just don’t let the Oasis fall.” His father’s words stung his ears like that of a wasp. Attor watched his father turn and vanish back into the office to issue a warning, leaving him now with the weight of the clan’s survival clearly balanced on his shoulders.
“Ladon,” Attor said. “Go grab, Arach, Kloth and Ryu… those boys will be an asset while two of our brothers are missing.”
Immersion (Apalala Clan Book 1) Page 17