by Claire Davon
He handed her the cup of wine, and she curled her fingers around it.
An idea erupted into her head before her nursery rhyme cut off contact. He set his cup down and studied her with a quizzical expression, waiting for her to speak, hands and wings folded to show he was being patient.
“Gavrilo Princip,” she said suddenly.
“Bless you,” he said with a smile that faded when he saw her bleak expression.
“Gavrilo Princip,” she said again, her hands shaking. She carefully placed her cup down next to his as if she was afraid she would spill the wine and turned to Phoenix. He plucked desolation and fear from her mind.
“I don’t understand,” he admitted.
“He’s the guy who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and triggered World War I.” After Phoenix turned up his palms, she continued. “My foster father was a huge World War I buff, so I know a lot about that war. When he deigned to talk to me, the most comfortable topic was his obsession with the First World War. It seemed a small thing, but there were so many alliances and treaties that a small assassination of an unimportant duke dragged the entire world into war. Haures doesn’t need to bomb countries or assassinate our president or the British prime minister. She just has to find the right combination of people who have ties to other countries that will bring the world to its knees.”
Phoenix stared at her. “Right. I know who he is, now that you reminded me. That’s interesting,” he said slowly. He was quiet for several moments. “It makes sense. It makes a great deal of sense. It ties into World War II, our last great defeat.”
He got up, brushing the snow off his butt with his wings. The small ledge they were on didn’t leave him much room, but he began pacing anyway, folding his hands in front and his wings at his back. The slits of the shirt opened with his movements and the breeze caught his feathers, making them ripple.
He was almost physically sick at the idea this could easily have slipped past him. It was so sly, so subtle that it could have been far too late by the time Phoenix figured out what was going on. Challenge was supposed to be more overt. Haures had gotten clever since the last time.
He’d underestimated the Demonos and miscalculated Challenge. After the Demonos had defeated the Elementals during World War II, he hadn’t thought it would come this quickly. He hadn’t expected Haures to be so subtle.
If not for a honey blonde, she might have gotten away with it.
With such a tight shield, Rachel couldn’t hear him. Cautiously checking her mind for any sign she was aware of what he was doing, Phoenix was relieved when she seemed worried, but unaware. He sent a quick, tight beam to Griffin with the new information and heard the faint acknowledgment.
“You said the Black Plague was a Challenge. And the Second World War,” she said slowly. “What happened?”
“The Second World War was one of the greatest Challenges we have ever faced. That’s what makes this timing odd. It’s too soon. Challenges come when they come, and there is no rhyme or reason—none that we can fathom, anyway—but there is usually more than a century between the major ones. This is only a few decades. None of us expected a Challenge this quickly.”
She doubted that people born seventy years ago would think of this as “only” a few decades, but she let it pass. “You lost that one? But the Allies beat the Axis. How can you call that a defeat?”
He made a twisting motion with his lips.
“Elementals do not count wins and losses as humans do. Hippocampus lost his individual Challenge, and we lost the final one that we had to fight after his loss. It is estimated that eighty million people died as a result of that war. Yes, the Allies ultimately prevailed, but the human cost was so high. The Demonos destroyed much as a result of our failure. That is what we call a loss. The final outcome is irrelevant for our purposes, although I am glad the Allies were the winners. Think of all the people who would die this time. We cannot lose.”
Rachel was silent for a moment. “You’re right. We have to win. Maybe,” she mused thoughtfully. “Maybe this test and those tests were linked. There is always talk of World War III. Maybe this is a continuation of those.”
He cocked his head. “It’s possible.” Putting a hand out, he gently caressed her cheek with his index finger. Her shudder and the dilation of her eyes thrilled him. Hardening in a rush, Phoenix pulled her against him and folded his wings around her. “Clothes off,” he murmured. She stripped off the parka and then the simple jeans and sweater underneath.
Rachel sighed. He could feel the warmth of her breath on his neck, and she relaxed into him. He sat down and maneuvered her onto his lap, urging her legs open so she straddled his cock, only his jeans and the barrier of her underwear separating them.
“Hmm, Aleric,” she murmured, pressing small kisses along his neck. “All for me?” Her breathing began coming in short gasps as he thrust against her, letting her feel the weight and heaviness of his desire.
His answer was a grunt as he slid his hands around the front of her body. Closing his wings tighter around her to keep out the chill, Phoenix unbuttoned her emerald-green blouse and slid her breasts free. Even through the bra he could see that her nipples had peaked, and the sight made Phoenix’s cock harden further.
Using his wings to brace her, ran his thumbs over the erect nipples. Rachel’s body rippled, and she threw her head back against his wing. He caught her with a band of feathers and held her head still even as he bent to suckle deeply from her ruby-colored nipples. Surrounded by red areolas, they were made for a man’s touch. For a Phoenix’s touch.
He cupped a breast in each hand and hefted them so they stood straight up, directly in front of his mouth. Phoenix pushed them as close together as he could and then ran his tongue from one nipple to the other, circling each in turn until they were wet. Rachel rocked against him, clutching at his head, every movement of her groin against his sweet torture. The dampness of her arousal was apparent even through cloth. He moaned at the sweetness of the passion she showed.
Their cries echoed off the mountain. The sounds lingered in the air as if ghosts surrounded them, mimicking their passion.
Bearing her down to the snow, his wings protecting her from the cold, Phoenix shoved his jeans to his knees and rubbed his underwear-clad cock against her body. Kneeling, he moved a hand to the waistband of her panties and slid under it. She was damp and slick, her body open to him. He moved a finger inside her and caressed her both within and without. To his surprise, not only his body but his wings were shaking from the force of his arousal.
“Oh, Aleric, please, now, Aleric. Now.”
Without removing either of their underwear, Phoenix pushed hers aside, then slid his cock out and into her. She was welcoming, her arousal easing the way for his big penis. A fire circle erupted around them in the snow, close enough to feel the heat but far enough not to burn her. The snow under the circle began to melt. She pushed with her fire sense, and the wall of flames grew higher, dancing around them. Their combined power would have thrilled him if he weren’t already beyond the point of no return.
Then there was no thinking as their bodies moved together.
Rachel moaned, meeting his thrusts. She clutched at his shoulders, drawing his upper body down to her and wrapping her arms around him. He shuddered, rapidly losing control of his body gloved in her soft warmth. He kissed her deeply, his tongue thrusting into her mouth.
Phoenix freed one hand and inserted it under her underwear. Finding her clit, he circled it with his index finger, and Rachel jerked.
“Come for me,” he ordered, circling faster until Rachel screamed and moisture flooded his penis. Phoenix let slip the frayed remains of his control then and surged into her. Crying out, throwing his head back, he tensed almost to the breaking point and spilled into her, his voice harsh and birdlike as it echoed in the cool mountain air.
A long time
later, after their breathing settled back to normal, Phoenix gently rearranged Rachel’s clothes and put his pants back on. Then he gathered her in his arms and let his wings furl behind him. The fire circle cooled and the flames winked out. A circle of melted snow surrounded them, revealing hard dirt and small rocks.
Her gaze flicked to the fire circle, and Phoenix grinned sheepishly. “I wanted to show off a little. You made it spectacular.”
Rachel smiled. “I liked it.”
“We should get back. We have a lot to do.”
* * * * *
JT was meowing insistently when they got back to the house. Leaving Phoenix in the living room, Rachel picked up the small feline and took him into the kitchen. Feeding JT his favorite ham treat and giving him lots of attention helped soothe Rachel’s mind as she turned over the new idea. Finally, JT grew tired of being petted and sauntered off. He trotted regally to the corner where Phoenix had set up a cat bed for him, kneading it for a minute before settling into it and promptly falling asleep.
They needed a whiteboard, she thought absently, turning to the kitchen sink to wash her hands. Something like what police used when they were trying to solve a crime. They could hang it on the wall or put it in the living room. Then, as threads came together, they could arrange and rearrange them easily.
Suddenly, her mind filled with dark, bloody visions. Visions of stabbing, of arteries being severed and blood flying. Visions of death in violent ways: beheading, garroting, quartering.
Rachel staggered, and the water that was still spraying out from the faucet hit the sink and splashed onto her face. The visions were stark and brutal, with dirt and horses, and blood everywhere. She recognized the visions as those Phoenix had shown her from his time before becoming the Elemental, when he was just Aleric. A quick probe showed that he was thinking of nothing more than smug male satisfaction in pleasing a woman. But if not him, where had they come from?
She had bent to turn off the water when a different set of visions hit her. Fires burning, bodies stacked everywhere and being put to the flame. Rats. People with boils on their faces and covering their bodies. People shutting their doors to strangers for fear that the disease—the Black Death as it would later be known—would spread to them. The stench of fear was everywhere, overlaid by the thick, acrid smoke of burning bodies.
“This is what your lover did,” a voice said. “This is what the Phoenix is.”
Rachel knew that female voice, although she had only heard it once before. In mental communication it had same flat tone she spoke with. There was only one person it could be.
“I know, Haures. Phoenix has already shown me this.”
“Of course. We have much to discuss.”
Rachel mentally shrugged and tried for an indifferent emotion. She might be new to her powers, but she would be damned if she showed that to the Demonos.
Could she summon anger? Rachel tried for it, found it and brought it out. Using the black emotion to coat her mind, she turned her attention back to Haures.
“I know what you are, and I know what Phoenix is. Get out of my head and leave me alone.”
A tinkling laugh surprised her. It was followed by an image of Kali. Rachel didn’t think that was Haures’s form, but it was a compelling one nonetheless. Kali, the Hindu goddess. Kali, sometimes associated with change and destruction.
“Do you? Do you know what your lover is, really? Do you know who is good and who is evil, Ifrit? Do you? There are many more tests they failed besides the Black Death and World War II. Has he told you about them? The other failed Challenges? Stay out of this, Ifrit. You do not know the truth. You will survive the scouring. This is of no concern to you.”
More images, dark, black and vile. Blood, so much blood. Phoenix killing, one on one, by hand, strangling people, knifing them under the ribs, shooting them. Phoenix looking almost unrecognizable as he dispatched people with his powerful body alone. Images flipped quickly, like an old-time projector movie, each more terrible than the next.
“Stay away from her.” The voice was gravelly, harsh and wholly masculine.
Rachel blinked in surprise. It was not a voice she recognized, but it was somehow familiar. The images halted, stuttering to a stop. Then they receded, as if being sucked back into a vortex. The blackness of Haures as Kali lost some of its edge, wavering.
That had not been Phoenix’s mental voice, or any of the Elementals she’d met yet.
“Stay away from my granddaughter.”
It was the same voice. But…granddaughter?
The Kali image brightened again before it wavered and disappeared. “I’ll be back,” Haures promised. Then she vanished, winking out like the Cheshire cat. The only thing left behind was the tinkling laugh, incongruous against the fierceness of the goddess’s image.
The unfamiliar mind touched hers, a questing tendril. It probed her, finding and sampling her fire power. The mind felt familiar, something she had known a long time ago but had forgotten in the weight of life’s memories.
An image of the same being she had seen the day of her parents’ death came to her. He was tall, with a dusky tint to his skin and leathery wings, smaller than Phoenix’s but no less impressive.
“I’ll be there soon. Be careful.”
* * * * *
When Rachel re-entered the living room, Phoenix had the TV and the computer on. Pages of notes were strewn across the desk haphazardly. Several browser windows were cascaded, and he was flicking between websites.
“The police left you a message,” he said, nodding to a piece of paper on the coffee table. “They want you to call them again to discuss the fire.” His focus went back to the computer, and it took him a moment to realize she hadn’t said anything. “Char and burn. Rachel?” he asked when she didn’t answer.
Finally her eyes focused on him and beyond, to the papers on the desk. “I’ll call them. Did you…” She stopped. Heaving a sigh, she started again. “Did you find anything good?”
“Lots of information. Many possibilities,” Phoenix said. “Too much to make any sense of yet. We need to get a whiteboard, or some of that whiteboard paint, so we can make notes and find the patterns.”
“Good.”
Her mind was closed to him. Closed, locked and barred. It was locked in a way he hadn’t known she could do. As impressed as he was with her ability to shield, the complete lack of feedback alarmed him. He probed a little bit but couldn’t find a quick entry. She would tell him. She couldn’t keep secrets for long.
“I’m separating the ideas into a few piles.” He frowned at the screen and jotted down a note from a political conspiracy website. “International figures and domestic. I’m going to focus mostly on domestic leaders, politicians and businesspeople, because of what you said. I don’t want to give up on the international mortals completely, though, because we never know where the link may be.”
Rachel picked up the piece of paper with the police message and put it back down again. She wandered to the window, looked out, turned away and walked back to the center of the room.
“Rachel, is everything all right?” He didn’t think she regretted the sex. He prided himself on the fact that he had left her satisfied. It wasn’t that, but she was so locked down he had no idea what to think.
Finally she focused on him and shrugged unconvincingly. “It’s fine,” she said, with a slight tremor in her voice. She rubbed her forehead. “I’m just feeling all of it. My life has been turned so upside down. It’s weird to think I’m a fire power, with the arson, and that your Challenge could be World War III. It’s just…wow…”
She was lying. Her voice rose slightly, giving away the falsehood. “Come look at what I have so far,” he said, holding out a hand to her. She walked to him but didn’t accept the intimacy, stepping around the hand to his desk.
That could not be tolerated. With a deft touch he sen
t a questing probe into her mind and saw the Great Wall of China. Without betraying his presence, there was no easy way in. Where had she learned to shield that well, that quickly? There was something different about her, some shield that hadn’t been there before, adding to what she was already discovering.
He had written down all the current world leaders, from the obvious like the US president and the Russian leader to the heads of small countries in Africa and South America. Each was on a separate piece of paper, which Phoenix and Rachel would transfer to the whiteboard.
“Do you want to call the police?”
Her current frame of mind made it hard for him to tell how she was feeling about the loss of her possessions and the message that the arson had sent.
“I will in a few minutes. They don’t care. I don’t have renter’s insurance so there’s really nothing to do. There wasn’t much in there, not much to lose.”
He wanted to reach out and shake her to get some emotion back in her voice. “You’re right.” His tone was rough, but he was unable to stop himself. “But they will be suspicious if they don’t hear from you. You have to deal with it.”
“Is that what you do? Is that what you call what you do? Is that what you call the aftermath of the tests when you lose? Dealing with it?”
The verbal attack, so unexpected, made him blink. Phoenix reached out and there it was, anger tinged with something dark, something not of her mind. It was gone before he could grip it, but he understood what had happened. “What did Haures say? How did she get to you?”
Rachel shuddered. She moved away again, putting distance between their bodies. He hated the space as much as he hated the closed mind that she presented to him. He detested that she mistrusted him so easily, and that anger made him primal. He shouldn’t blame her, but the savage warrior part of him wanted to rend something.
“I don’t want to talk about it right now. Later. What about that person we felt at Fisherman’s Wharf? Do you think he could be the one who burned my apartment down? You said they had a—what did you call it, a blocker?”