Strength grossly depleted, I channeled every remaining ounce I could to beckon fire to me in a sizzling cocoon of protection.
“Do it!” I mouthed the words through the flames.
No further prompting was required. Lava surged through her veins, seeping to the surface in a potent backdraft that could revile the deepest pits of hell. Her eyes blinked into belching vats of magma. Her scorching explosion gobbled the oxygen in the grotto, making each breath burn through my lungs.
The hound seemed impervious to the anguish of his boiling flesh. His determined hold never faltered, despite his blackened skin festering and cracking into charred brisket. His hair sizzled and melted, crumbling to ash that rode out on the flames. Well-fed beast that he was, simple flames could not wipe him out as they had his newly made pups. Even as his outside shell burned, fresh pink flesh could be seen between the fissures, knitting him back together.
She was the nuclear explosion, and he was the cockroach fated to endure her fury.
“You know you can’t let this happen,” a husky female voice croaked from beside me.
Unable to turn my head, my gaze flicked her way out of the corner of my eye.
The merqueen rose from her watery grave on unsteady legs, the far wall of the cavern visible through the hole in her chest. A stream of water gushed from her pallid lips. Once vibrant eyes drained to a lifeless gray. Head bobbing with a bird-like twitch, she sized me up as her only available warrior. “If he takes control of a Conduit’s essence, he will be unstoppable. You cannot allow such an atrocity to be unleashed on this realm.”
“Little … tied … up,” I managed to rasp as fiery fingers latched onto the queen’s arm and burned up her limb.
Unperturbed by her roasting flesh, the queen rolled her eyes skyward. “The limitations of mortals are always so bothersome.” The tips of her fingers flickering like birthday candles, she rolled them in my direction, freeing me from Rowan’s hold.
Crumbling to my knees, I greedily inhaled the foul air in rapid pants.
“Time is running out.” Inch by inch, flames consumed her, searing her corpse to the bone. “You must join the essence of your flame with hers. The strength will be siphoned, the Conduit of the Phoenix protected. There is no other option.”
Vision blurring from the smoke-filled air, I blinked her way through tearing eyes. “Who are you?”
Legs crumbling beneath her, the reanimated merqueen fell to her knees. Her gnarled hand reached for me, crisp tendons cracking as she caught my wrist. “I’m someone who has seen enough of the future to fear it.”
Amidst the smoke, a vision appeared that caused my heart to lurch in a stutter beat.
Celeste.
My Queen.
My Celtic Warrior.
Her almond-shaped eyes lured me closer. Heart-shaped lips, painted an uncharacteristic red, parted to breathe my name. “Caleb.”
Blinking hard, I attempted to clear my deceitful eyes.
Still she remained. Seductively biting her lower lip, her gaze leisurely traveled the length of me. “Join me, my love. Rule beside me as you were always meant to.”
Clad in a black leather bomber jacket and matching pants, she sat astride a throne of bone. Legs crossed, human skulls rested beside her scuffed biker boots. One red-gloved hand curled against the armrest. Her opposite hand had been replaced by the vicious talon of an eagle drumming a steady beat against her pedestal throne. Expansive black wings arced out wide behind her, shifting with the graceful roll of her shoulders. Around her mid-section curled a feline tail that matched the wings in their midnight black hue. It coiled in her lap as would a serpent waiting to strike.
Tapping the point of her pink, wriggly tongue to the tip of one bone-crushing incisor, she peered down the bridge of her nose at me. “Join me, or bow before me, Caleb. Those are your only options.”
A scream tearing from my lungs, I swiped my free hand at the sinister scene. Disbanding, it wafted away in streamers of smoke.
The queen’s body laid slumped on the ground once more. Be that as it may, the effects of her message lingered, acidic bubbles that popped to sizzle their paranoia through my veins.
Pushing off the floor, I dove into the wall of flames. In the midst of the firestorm, I found Terin’s limbs falling slack—her listless frame held up only by the hound’s clawed hand cradling her in a murderous, lover’s embrace. The more of her soul he consumed, the less the fire affected him. His hair grew back in blue flames licking and sparking from his skull.
Orange and red fingers of destruction clawed at the stone walls around us, thirsting for sovereignty. Squinting through the smoke, I heaved myself to my feet and stumbled on. Grinding my teeth to the point of pain, I accepted the fire—welcomed it even—and stretched my hand for Terin’s.
One thing I knew with steadfast resolve … if she died, not only would I lose a friend I vowed to protect, but the vision I saw would come to pass. We would be thrust into a world where heroes and saviors could no longer beat back the darkness, because they themselves were the things that went bump in the night.
Feeling I offered little more than a sparkler in the middle of a bonfire, I blasted my own flames to the full extent of my capabilities and linked my fingers with Terin’s smoldering digits.
An unassuming connection, a desperate touch, and our world detonated. A geyser of flame pounded against the slate ceiling, sending fragments of rock raining down. Stone creaked in protest as our gushing fountain bore through solid stone with the ease of softened butter. Water dripped from the compromised structure, warning us all of the crushing sea that eagerly awaited the chance to swallow us whole. Could I switch from flame to water fast enough to save myself? Such trivial details failed to matter. If I never made it out of that grotto, it would mean I died protecting Celeste.
It was a noble sacrifice I would gladly make.
Pain and torture being old friends of mine, my concentrated focus allowed me to feel shockingly little in the thralls of those fiery fronds. Casting my stare skyward, I watched the deteriorating rock with awestruck wonder. A volcano was rumbling deep within the earth’s core, tearing stone layers to ribbons as it scratched for the freedom to spew forth from the captivity of its prison. Terin and I acted as the catalyst for the inferno that reduced rock to ash, allowing veins of blue from the heavy body above to bulge through. The stark contrast of the bold colors acted as an artistic symphony of nature’s most violent and temperamental elements. Those sparking orange appendages dug farther still, prying the slate apart despite its screeching objections. The moment the first hole cracked open, I swore I was staring into the face of heaven. A golden ring of fire encircled a brilliant jewel of the sapphire sea. Sunlight radiated from above, sending glimmering halos beaming down to enchant the scene. This second of peace was the eye of the storm; the hitch of breath before the weight of the world came crashing down. In the stillness of that moment I felt no anger or remorse. No pain or regret. What I thought would be my final thought was one of the simplistic beauty of a life, come full circle to redemption.
In the eternity of a heartbeat, I tipped my face to Terin. The roar of the flames bolstered her fading embers. Acting on animalistic instinct, the hound kept his head bowed to his meal, drinking deep of her soul in noisy slurps. Despite his violent feasting, Terin’s leaden lids fluttered open. Our eyes met. Her flaming fingers laced with mine, squeezing in a scorching vise grip. I wouldn’t be keeping my promise to keep her safe. For that, I was sorry. Still, as thick ropes of water began to stream down from above, I reveled in the victory of the moment. We would beat back the Hellhound’s evil reign with the potent punch of the ocean collapsing down.
Blinking my way, Terin jerked her head in the closest thing she could manage to a nod of acceptance and understanding. Her form—a writhing mass of curling flame—pulsed and lurched upward. Her grip on my hand tightened with enough force to crack bone … had I been human. In that blaze of urgency something passed between us. Its undeniable
surge sizzled through my veins, igniting my every pore.
Heat.
Strength.
The valor of a thousand battles fought nobly.
Terin’s light diminished while mine burned brighter. Her skin began to redden and blister in the heat for the first time in centuries. Even as her flesh boiled, a comforting blanket of peace drifted over her features. The warrior could rest, her weapon forever sheathed.
Howling his displeasure in the sudden staling of his meal, the hound shoved off her. Spinning in search of the prize evading him—the soul of the Phoenix—his murderous glare locked on me.
“No! How did you—” The question was knocked from his lips by the bulk of the sea and hunks of rock fragment roaring in with the strength of a freight train. The beast wearing Rowan’s skin was bowled out of sight, tumbling deeper into the belly of the ocean. Terin vanished on a wave, her hand torn from mine. Rammed into a crevice where the rock wall and floor met, the sea pinned me in my solitude. Gulping in a lungful of salt water, my lungs burned with a torturous intensity flames could never match.
As I gazed up at the light shimmering down from above, the last bubbles of air glugged from my lips. Picturing Celeste’s loving smile, I closed my eyes.
Chapter Six
Lounging against a canvas beach chair, I enveloped Celeste in the cradle of my arms. All my worries washed away, my body was a warm pool of relaxation. “Celeste, lovey, sit up. I need ya tah look at me.”
“Can’t sit up,” she mumbled, nuzzling against my chest, “my bones have melted into the sand. I am one with the beach now.”
A delicate breeze lifted her mahogany strands, tossing them back to tickle my neck.
Over my shoulder, a bright light beckoned. I had somewhere to be and time was growing short. Where it was, I couldn’t recall. Even so, I knew it couldn’t be put off or delayed.
“Won’t take but a moment, pet.” With gentle hands, I eased her up, loathing the chill left in her absence. “But I have tah say it now or I fear I won’t get another chance.”
Begrudgingly sitting up, she glanced back over her shoulder. The strap of her black tank top slipped over her shoulder bone, exposing a bit more tempting skin. “Are you finally going to admit to cracking the screen of my phone? Because I watched you set your guitar down on it, and I know it was you.”
Catching a loose strand of her dancing hair, I brushed it behind her ear then let the tips of my fingers trail down her jawline to the point of her chin. “It’s something more than that, lovey. Although I will admit that yar infernal little device did prove tah be shockingly delicate.”
The narrowing of her eyes couldn’t hide the humor behind them as she jabbed an accusing finger at my chest. “I knew it.”
Catching that outstretched finger, I brought it to my lips to brush a tender kiss to her knuckle. “I need ya tah know that there is nothing I want more than tah spend the rest of my life lovin’ ya. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always grant us our heart’s desire.” Weaving my hand around her neck, I pulled her closer. My forehead found hers while her molasses eyes searched my face in confusion. “If I can’t have ya forever, ya should know that ya’ve been the one beacon of light in the stormy sea of my life. You are my safe haven. My bliss.”
Her hand closed over mine, confusion puckering her brow. “Getting pretty deep there, Cal. Everything okay?”
“It will be now,” I assured her, dotting a kiss to the tip of her nose.
That demanding white light swelled behind me, pulsating its incessant reminder time was up.
There was so much I had left to say, yet only one sentiment seemed worthy. Cradling her face between my palms, I breathed the words into her. “I have loved you ‘til my dying breath, and beyond.”
The white light swelling to consume me, my lips met hers one final time.
“He’s coming to. Turn the hose off.”
My eyes fluttered open to a blinding light glaring in my eyes. Glancing around, I found myself in a room comprised of stark white walls, stainless steel medical equipment, and the stench of antiseptic. Four bodies buzzed around me draped in heavy furs, which was odd considering the stifling temperature of the space.
A face swam above me, porcelain pale features contrasted by glowing avian eyes. “Caleb? Do you know where you are? Or what happened?”
Swallowing awoke a burning sensation in my throat that throbbed straight into my lungs. It brought with it the memories of all that occurred. “I … died,” I rasped, wincing at the harsh squeak of metal wheels rolling closer. “Is this hell? Purgatory?”
Across the room, someone clucked their tongue against the roof of their mouth. “See,” a familiar voice stated, “I told you that you shouldn’t be the first one he sees. Your face is all judgement and loathing. You’re not a people person, Cassia.”
The woman leaning over me, now identified as Cassia, crinkled her narrow beak of a nose in disdain. “And here I was simply trying to spare him the jarring sight of seeing you. How silly of me.” Breath haloing her face like the smoke of a dragon, she turned on her heel and marched off.
Feet padded across the floor in my direction. Lifting my head off the pillow, I craned my neck to see. “So, I am dead then,” I snorted in bitter understanding, letting my head drop back to the stainless-steel table. “I didn’t expect the hereafter tah be so … sterile.”
Mouth twining into an impish grin, Terin edged up beside me. Burnished orange curls poked out from beneath a fox-hair hood drawn tight at her chin. “Considering the dire circumstances in which we last met, that did seem to be where our story was heading. I can see how you could draw such an assumption. That said, no, we are both very much alive. Well, you’re alive. I died and got promoted to a position on the Council, but those are all technicalities.”
Flicking two fingers, she gestured for me to lift my head. The moment I forced myself up, Terin stuffed a freshly fluffed pillow under my head. The fabric sizzled and crunched the moment I eased my head down on it. “You’ve been unconscious for four days. We’ve been looking over you, keeping you safe during your transition. Even so, I’m sure you have some questions. My new tenure grants me the authority to arm you with any information you may need. So, any questions perplexing you, feel free to ask.”
Wetting my parched lips, I ticked through my mental laundry list of ponderings before opting for the most obvious issue vexing me. “Uh … why am I naked?”
Lacing her fingers in front of her, Terin deadpanned, “That makes it easier for us to probe you.”
I paused to consider that, hitching one brow in mild interest. “Will ya still respect me in the mornin’?”
“Respect and adore.” Terin’s features softened to a smile laced with a maternal warmth. “The actual answer can best be explained by demonstration.”
Crossing the room, she opened a small mini-fridge to collect a frosty pitcher of ice water. With a determined gait she strode back to my side and dumped the contents of the pitcher on my torso without the benefit of a pause for me to brace myself. I cringed out of instinct, expecting icy needles … and shrinkage. The sizzle and steam of the water making contact with my skin widened my eyes to disbelieving saucers. It boiled and hissed, the bubbles popping and evaporating into fingers of steam as quickly as they formed.
“Well, that introduces a plethora of new questions,” I marveled, tipping my head as the last vaporous wisp vanished into nothingness.
“Your clothes keep burning off of you,” she explained, setting the empty pitcher on the table beside me. “We have this room set at a nippy thirty-two degrees. Yet, I would wager you would describe it as—”
“Downright balmy,” I filled in, taking stock of the medical staff tending to me. Each exhale from my caregivers visibly puffed from their lips. With hands tinged icy blue at the knuckles, they checked my vitals and monitored my stats. In between tasks, they blew on their fingers and ran their hands up and down their frozen arms.
“That’s right.” Terin bobbed
her head in exuberant agreement. “And I would wager it will remain that way until you learn to control your new attributes.”
My head thumped back against the stainless-steel exam table, the pillow beneath me exploding into the air in a mushroom cloud of ash. “Attributes?” I coughed, inhaling a mouthful of the floating mess.
Edging closer, Terin stared down with sympathetic understanding. Lifting one hand, she moved as if to stroke my hair, only to quickly retract the wandering appendage. She was fire. Was it possible my heat caused her to hesitate?
Lips parting with a pop, her avian eyes fixed on her reflection in the table edge. The words that tumbled from her lips made me wonder if mindreading was a hidden talent of hers. “The Phoenix is a wild beast. Like any such untamed animal, it has two lines of thought when attacked: fight or flight. Today, he was cornered with only one viable means of escape.” Forcing her gaze to meet mine, tears welled in her eyes; the tip of her nose stained pink. “This time, it moved from one willing receptacle … to another.”
Mouth hanging open, I stammered to form words my mind couldn’t fathom. “Wh-what are you sayin’?” I managed.
I couldn’t have wrapped my mind around the concept any quicker if she made finger puppets and acted out each of our parts.
Dragging her tongue over her purple tinted lips, Terin rolled her shoulders, straightening her spine with a regal air. “I’m saying, my dear friend, that you are now one of the elite, chosen few. You are the Conduit of the Phoenix.”
All the languages I spoke fell clear out of my head.
“I … uh … wha … huh?” I eloquently countered.
“Look on the bright side!” She shrugged, fox fur tickling across her jawline. “You and Celeste are even more perfect for each other now! Who can understand the struggles and demands of being a chosen one better than your own kind? Granted, all you know of it thus far is that you woke up naked and surrounded by strangers. That said, there is plenty more to it than that and you get the pleasure of exploring all facets of your new calling with the woman you love. It’s divine perfection at its finest.”
Inferno (The Gryphon Series Book 6) Page 6