by A. J. Colby
The hundreds of renditions and descriptions of the mighty phoenix that had been passed down over the centuries didn’t come close to describing the majesty before me. Marvin’s previous incarnation had been a wrinkled and sparsely feathered creature little bigger than a Macaw; now he was something born of fire and light that easily stood taller than a bus. Crackles of yellow lightning flickered all around him, charging the air until it was alive with his energy.
“Blessed Cain,” Metembe whispered beside me, distracted from his desire to kill me by the apparition before us.
As if the dark were’s words had reminded him why he was here, Marvin turned his head to pin Metembe in place with a gaze lit by the fires of hell and filled with the condemnation of a thousand tortured souls. The brief glimpse I got of the horrors contained within the phoenix’s black stare echoed through me to the core of my soul, chilling me in a way that the cold winter air never could. Whatever history and myth said of them, in that moment I knew that the true purpose of Marvin’s ilk was to be the harbingers of celestial judgment and, if need be, the deliverer of punishment. I felt myself spiraling away, out of myself and into the bottomless black pit of his gaze, where all of my life’s transgressions could be laid bare and judged. I liked to think of myself as a good person, but that didn’t mean I was free of regret; there were plenty of things in my past I was ashamed of. My conscience had its fair share of blemishes, and I cringed at the thought of Marvin judging them and finding me wanting.
It took far more effort than I ever would have thought to tear my gaze away from the obsidian gleam of his eye, the chill in my soul persisting long after the link was severed. I almost felt sorry for Metembe, who was experiencing the full brunt of that penetrating stare, but then I remembered the atrocities he had committed and hoped that Marvin roasted his soul to ashes.
His judgment complete, Marvin emitted a piercing battle cry that drove me to clap my hands over my ears and squeeze my eyes shut as I cowered. I’d never heard a sound like it, and wouldn’t have been surprised if I felt the warm trickle of blood seeping from my ears. After a second, I cautiously lowered my hands and opened my eyes just in time to see Marvin swooping towards Metembe. Jerking as if awakened from a dream, my attacker came to the realization that he was in mortal danger and lurched into motion.
Even the roughest, toughest badass would be hard pressed to stand still when faced with that petrifying vision of death on wings of fire arrowing towards them, and Metembe was no exception. Even as he turned to run, Marvin closed the distance between them and extended talons of liquid gold to grasp the fleeing were.
A great whoosh! filled my ears at the same instant a wave of heat unlike anything I’d ever known smacked into me, blowing the hair back from my face as it knocked me down onto my ass. The biggest fireball I’d ever seen erupted on the spot where Metembe had been standing, and it took me several moments to realize that the high pitched keening I could just make out over the roar of the flames were his agonized screams. Lycanthrope healing powers or not, I didn’t think he was going to be healing that.
* * *
I’d never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, and even then, I wasn’t sure I hadn’t hallucinated the whole thing. The air was filled with the rich smoky scent of a wood fire and a hint of sizzling meat. Knowing it was Metembe’s charred remains I was smelling, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to eat barbecue again without envisioning his screaming face being consumed by flames.
Damn. I guess I won’t be eating pulled pork any time soon.
Staggering to my feet and brushing dirt off my jeans, I regarded the rough circle of still smoldering grass. The awe inspiring apparition of flame was gone, replaced by the bald-headed vulture-like creature I’d first met at Alyssa’s house. His red and gold feathers looked a tad sleeker than before, less bedraggled and sparse as if the transformation had reinvigorated him, but for the most part, he looked as much like an overgrown parrot with a severe case of mange as ever.
“Er... Marvin?” I ventured, my voice rough and shaky.
Pausing in the action of preening the feathers beneath one cocked wing, he turned a large, obsidian eye towards me, the emotion behind that chilling gaze impossible to guess.
“Umm... thanks.”
He continued to stare at me for a moment longer, just long enough for me to wonder if I was going to end up as a pile of ash like Metembe. Inclining his head in the smallest of nods he took to the sky with a couple of beats from his powerful wings.
I watched Marvin fly away until he was nothing more than a shimmering red speck against the black velvet of the sky, appearing as a glowing ember, and then I collapsed to the frozen ground in a heap of aching and exhausted limbs.
“Well, that was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”
CHAPTER FORTY
I’M NOT SURE how long I sat there staring at the scorched earth, watching the wind whip away the trails of smoke. I was chilled all the way through, no longer even feeling the cold, when I roused myself and decided I needed to do something besides sit on my ass and freeze to death. Climbing to my feet with a series of groans and muttered curses, I gave Metembe’s ashes a final look and turned to make the trek back to the trailhead.
It was slow going moving through the trees, the exhaustion weighing me down making me clumsy. I was almost relieved that there was no one around to see me stumble and trip more than once, adding to my already considerable number of bumps and bruises. When I did finally emerge at the trailhead, picking twigs and leaves out of my hair, I stumbled to the SUV and fell into the front seat. Cranking up the heat, I pondered what to do next.
I knew I should call someone, but who?
My first instinct was to call Holbrook, but he wasn’t likely to answer, and even if he did, there was little he could do. Next was Hank, and I could only imagine how that conversation would go: “Hey, Hank, it’s Riley. I just had your second-in-command incinerated by a mythological creature because it turns out he’s a mass-murdering douchebag.” Besides, after Metembe’s little revelation, I wasn’t so sure that the handsome pack master was entirely blameless. Was it really possible that his lieutenant had been killing vamps without his knowledge?
That left Alyssa or Juliet.
Fishing my phone out of my pocket, my heart constricted in my chest when I gazed at the spider web of cracks marring the screen.
“Fuck me!”
Holbrook’s gonna kill me if he has to replace another one. Apparently they don’t design these damn things with raving lunatics and mortal danger in mind.
Miraculously, my tousle with Metembe hadn’t destroyed the infuriating piece of delicate tech, and after much cursing and grumbling I sat listening to it ring as I waited for Alyssa to pick up. I didn’t toss the phone into the backseat when her voicemail clicked on, but it was a close call, and I had to take several deep breaths while counting to ten before I pulled up the number for my last hope.
“Come on, come on, come on,” I chanted under my breath.
I was seconds away from hanging up when a sweet and airy voice floated into my ear. “Hey, Riley. What’s up?”
“Hi, Juliet. Can you meet me somewhere?”
* * *
Wrangling the SUV into a parking spot beside Juliet’s little red Miata, I paused to make sure that there were no more pieces of debris stuck in my hair. Staring at my reflection in the tiny mirror in the visor, I winced at my battered appearance. Blood had dried into a dark crust around the split in my lip and a large bruise was blooming in an array of vivid colors on my cheek and neck. I looked like I’d gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson and lost. Given how much it hurt to get down out of the car and shuffle my way to the door of the diner, I was betting the rest of me looked little better.
Juliet’s nostrils flared when I opened the door. A smile curved her lips as her head came up, but froze into something closer to a rictus grimace at the sight of me. I’d seen my reflection and was under no delusions as to just how bad
I looked. She was already half way out of her seat to lend me a supportive hand before the door had swung shut behind me.
Waving off her offer, I eased myself down into the chair opposite her, all too aware of the burning ache in my ribs.
“What happened?” she asked, her ice blue eyes wide beneath the furrow of her pale blonde brows.
“Umm...” I faltered with no idea where to start.
Even though I’m not known for my tact or subtlety, opening with Metembe’s betrayal and resultant death didn’t seem like the way to go. To my surprise, Juliet was the one to broach the subject.
Her voice, for once, sounded as soft and delicate as she looked, making her appear all the more like a fragile doll I wanted to protect. “Is he dead?”
“Who?”
“Come on, Riley,” she replied, raising an eyebrow at me. “Metembe has been part of my family’s pack since I was a little kid. I know his scent as well as my brother’s. His blood is all over you.”
It was true, several splotches of Metembe’s blood, along with my own, had soaked into my shirt to leave dark stains on the fabric. I was a CSI’s walking wet dream. Sighing and rubbing at my face, wincing when my fingers touched the bruise on my cheek, I launched into my recitation of the evening’s events.
I hadn’t ever thought there would be much that could reduce the free-spirited young were to stunned silence, but even she couldn’t pretend nonchalance when faced with the knowledge that all that remained of Metembe was a patch of blackened earth and a pile of ash. She was so shell-shocked that she didn’t even make a fuss when the waitress brought her regular coffee and creamer instead of some awful soy, decaf concoction.
“So he was—”
“A murderous psycho?” I interrupted before taking a long sip of my water. As much as I craved the warmth a cup of coffee would provide, I was sure the influx of caffeine wouldn’t help soothe the jitters brought on by my mounting exhaustion. “Looks like.”
For a second her lips compressed into a thin line. “That wasn’t what I was going to ask.”
“And yet it still fits,” I said with a shrug.
“Did he say why he did it?” she asked after a long pause, the soft vulnerability in her voice hinting at her fear of the answer. Considering he’d been her brother’s second-in-command, I couldn’t blame her, and felt a wave of pity sweep through me as I reached out a hand to cover hers.
“He ranted about blood purity and vamps being a scourge on the earth. The usual nutty babble you’d expect,” I said as I squeezed her hand. “There was one thing though...”
“Oh?” she asked in a querulous voice, the comfort of my touch fleeing in the face of the fear that rose once again to smother everything else. Wide eyes regarded me, asking for the truth while at the same time begging me to shield her from something that would destroy what little remained of her family.
Hesitating, I chewed my lip as I pondered just how to voice my suspicions. I liked the petite blonde; she was kind-hearted, but also possessed a steely edge and sharp wit that made me think she could handle herself. Still, I didn’t think that she was prepared to hear that her brother might have been involved in the murders. And what was to say she wasn’t in on it too?
A spark of fear flared to life in the pit of my stomach, and I wished I could delay the conversation indefinitely.
“What is it?” Juliet asked, the tenderness and sadness in her voice quelling my fear and reaffirming my decision to reveal only what was immediately pertinent.
Sucking in a deep breath I blurted out the words before I could chicken out. “He said he was doing it for Hank.”
I’ve witnessed some heartbreaking things in my life, the deaths of my grandparents ranking high on the list, so I was surprised when watching Juliet’s reaction to my words almost brought me to tears.
It’s probably just because the adrenaline is wearing off, I reasoned with myself as I watched her appear to deflate, her narrow shoulders slumping as if I had just set the weight of the world on them. I supposed in a way I had.
“You don’t...” she started to say in a tiny voice, and then faltered, tears welling in her eyes. “You don’t think Hank knew, do you?”
“No,” I replied, ignoring the dark whisper of doubt in the back of my mind.
* * *
Alyssa’s clinic was fast becoming a second home, and I felt a subtle easing of the tension in my shoulders when I breathed in a mixture of antiseptic and the sugary scent of the succubus doctor. I was relieved to see the hospital bed in the corner of the room empty. I wasn’t sure I could handle seeing any more pain and suffering. My relief turned to surprise when I stepped through the doorway and saw Marvin perched on the back of the chair usually reserved for visitors.
“Hello, Marvin!” he squawked, somehow conveying a sense of smugness in the two simple words.
“Is someone there?” Alyssa’s disembodied voice asked from the small office. A moment later, she came into the room tucking a pen into the hair behind her ear.
“Oh, hey, Riley. I figured you’d be stopping by at some point,” she said, casting a meaningful glance at her feathered companion who gave a wordless trill, and then turned his attention to cleaning the feathers under his wing. “Did everything turn out okay?”
“He proved quite... helpful,” I said, trying to decide how much of the evening’s events I was up to rehashing again. Spilling out the gory details to Juliet had been an exercise in endurance, and I’d exerted the last of my energy bundling her into her car and sending her home.
Alyssa saved me having to divulge any other information as she tilted her chin towards my battered face and torn clothing and frowned. “Well, it looks like he showed up just in time.”
“Yeah, his timing was impeccable.”
“You’d better let me take a look.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, hoping she’d take my word for it and not insist on subjecting me to an examination. It was a futile hope, but I stuck with it anyway. “I’ve already started to heal most of it.”
Looking down at my hands I saw that the cuts and scrapes across my knuckles had indeed shifted from oozing wounds to raised red lines. Within a couple hours they’d be nothing more than faint pink scars. The rest of my injuries were another matter entirely, but Alyssa didn’t need to know that. I could grunt and groan over my injuries all I wanted once I got home, I just needed to keep up the tough act for a little while longer.
A frown appeared between Alyssa’s fiery brows as a petite foot tapped out a sharp tattoo on the floor.
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”
A shiver that was half fear and half arousal, rippled down my spine at the threat behind her words and the sight of her slender hands flexing at her sides.
Rolling my eyes, I held up my hands in surrender and sighed. “Alright, alright. No need to pull out the succubus voodoo.”
Stripping down to my bra and panties I hopped up onto the exam table, or I would have if every inch of my body hadn’t felt as though it had been run through a meat grinder. After lots of groaning and cursing, I sat gazing down at the top of Alyssa’s head as she inspected a black and purple bruise that curved around my left side.
“Mother fucker!” I swore when a well-placed finger made me see stars.
After the first few minutes, I began to suspect that Alyssa was prolonging my suffering in an attempt to teach me some kind of lesson. Hissing when she prodded a particularly painful bump on my back, I wished she would just tell me whatever it was she wanted to learn and leave me to lick my wounds in peace.
“Well, I don’t see anything too serious,” she announced, and came back around to face me. “You’ve got a lot of bruising and cuts, but it’s all mostly superficial and should heal without a problem in the next couple hours. You’ve got at least one fractured rib,” she said, pointing to the dark band of skin stretching across my left side. “But you know all too well there’s not much to do about that except wait it out.”
Peeling off her exam gloves and throwing them into a nearby trash can, she sat down on the wheeled stool hard enough to make it squeak.
“You’re not invincible, you know.”
“Really? Damn, they didn’t mention that in the handbook,” I replied with a sarcastic twitch of my lips.
The narrowing of her violet eyes told me she wanted to respond with a barb of her own, but she remained silent as I slid down off the exam table to get dressed.
“What do I owe you?” I asked, pulling my shirt over my head and wrinkling my nose at the scent of roasted were. I didn’t have enough clothes to be able to keep throwing them away when they got torn to shreds or covered in vamp goo, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever want to wear this one again, either.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I know you’re my friend and everything, but at some point you have to let me pay you.”
“Fine. I’ll send you a bill,” she replied, breaking out into a reluctant smile.
Uh huh. I’m sure it’ll show up next week, along with my acceptance letter to Hogwarts, I thought, knowing she was full of crap.
Sealing our unspoken deal of mutual denial with a tight hug I bid Alyssa farewell and limped my way down the stairs. I still had a few things to do before I could go home and collapse into bed. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so tired, but instead of calling for a cab or asking Alyssa to give me a ride, I clambered back into the SUV and made the short drive across town.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
MY FEET MOVED with renewed heaviness as I approached Asylum, the neon sign above the door somehow seeming dimmer than before, the street outside grimier. The last time I’d visited the club, I had been relieved to see another vamp manning the door instead of Chuckles, but now I found myself missing his pale face and teasing smile. I couldn’t recall him without also having the memories of his dark blood seeping across the floor.