by Unknown
“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”
“She’s got a very secure place here.”
“Phoenix…” I warned, glaring at him. “She’d thrown a fit over the idea of Damien leaving before. She wasn’t just upset she might lose a friend. It was as if she’d been afraid to lose a possession. And don’t forget I saw what she said to you when she sent you to Nekayla.” I’d have liked to seen her reaction over the damage she’d done when Phoenix told her what had happened. I hadn’t asked nor had I seen. In truth, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“Don’t misunderstand, we often come and go as we please. In fact, when Damien had been with you in Vermont the only ones who’d been here was Jezabell and Lara. Hendrick and I weren’t even in the state when Damien called here for help while you were changing. Lara called us back.” This sounded like another copout.
“I’m not putting you off, Lianna, or I don’t mean to be. I understand what you mean. And to be honest, I’m not sure what causes her intense reaction, be it fear or if it’s something more. I stay, or keep coming back simply because it’s nice having a place where I don’t always have to be on guard.”
“And there are some sort of wards that allows this place to be so secure?”
“Ah, the wards. Yes, she pays dearly to a group of powerful Descendants to keep the property invisible to those who don’t know it’s here.” I looked down, wondering why feeding would intervene with such a thing. He sighed. “It’s a very delicate shield that keeps humans and supes alike from seeing it or crossing it, which is why Nekayla’s people haven’t crossed the border.”
“And then I broke them, and then Paul came, and Ryce… Why didn’t she have them put back up?”
“Can’t be done just any time. That type of shield is specifically crafted. It’s complicated.”
I didn’t want any further explanation. “Then why haven’t her people crossed it? I know Hendrick’s been vigilant in watching for signs of them.”
“I imagine they either don’t know it’s broken or think it’s a trap. It’s almost too convenient to believe it wasn’t done on purpose.”
We walked on in silence through the broken land for a long time. My thoughts twisted and pitched, thinking about how I would handle tonight. It felt like I kept hitting a brick wall. They’d said be ready, but I didn’t know exactly what to be ready for. “Tell me more about tonight.”
“What would you like to know?” his tone had taken a bitter quality.
“Everything.” I shrugged with a sigh. “The way you and Damien talk, we barely have a chance because I don’t know what to expect.”
“A fight. A fight where they will come at us from every side, and hit us full force as one. I wish I’d been able to teach you more, but Damien and I will keep close to you. You’ll be fine.”
Stopping, I looked up at him, our gaze locked on one another intensely. “And if something goes wrong, if we’re separated? If there’s too many?” My hand took a hold of his wrist. “Teach me. You said I wasn’t ready. So make me ready. I know you can.”
Phoenix knew what I asked for though he evaded the subject. “It’s not easy to give a crash course on fighting these creatures. Their abilities. What they’ll do. What they may do. The best ways to fight them and still be able to defend yourself from them.”
I could feel his hesitation physically. “I’m not ready to die yet.” He flinched at my casual tone. “Haven’t I proven that two different times now? If you’re willing, I am.” Staring at me in silence for an immeasurable length of time, his hand took mine, pulling my fingers from his wrist.
“You know that I am.” His lips pulled into just the slightest smile. Yes, I knew. I could feel it. “But are you really?” It would complete the bond. His brow lift as he leaned closer, almost daring me to answer.
Unable to respond at all I stood there staring at him. His hand came up, fingers brushing the strands of hair that fell from behind my ear and tucked them back.
His wrist so close to my face I could see the veins and smell the sweet crimson liquid concealed beneath his cool flesh. Letting his thumb stroke my cheek, he held his hand there. All I had to do was turn my head. Swallowing on my suddenly dry throat, our eyes were locked. Phoenix’s radiant blue eyes were an inch from my own. That smug smirk still tugged at his lips. “No, I didn’t think so,” he said after a moment of pause.
My hand caught his arm as he straightened to pull away. His hand had just started to lower. Phoenix’s brow lifted with surprise as I held his arm and turned my head into his wrist. Instantly he stood closer, almost protectively surrounding me in his embrace as my mouth hovered over his skin.
Eyes closing, my lips parted slowly, fangs grazing his cold white flesh. As I pierced his skin it sounded as if a thin sheet of rock had broken against my fangs. With age, came strength. In every way.
Groaning deeply, his other hand came around to lie against the back of my neck, kneading firmly. I could feel his cool breath against my cheek.
What came next I never could have prepared myself for. An onslaught of memories, thoughts, experiences and knowledge. More information than I should have been able to process, but I managed in perfect succession.
His blood wasn’t just fulfilling, it was powerful. Invigorating. Enriching. Strength in physical ways and then so much more. And in some ways this was every bit as intimate as I had ever been with Damien.
His head leaned down resting on my shoulder as if he couldn’t hold it up of his own accord. What only lasted a mere minute, felt as if it lasted for hours. Every fight he’d ever taken on, the knowledge passed into me.
Again he moaned as my fangs slowly pulled from his wrist. My tongue and mouth suckling against the open flesh as it rapidly closed. There wasn’t even a red stain left when I pulled my lips from his skin.
“And so it is forevermore,” I whispered in a breath. I could feel the bond complete itself. Just as it was with Damien and me. What a triangular mess I had just created. It was a strange feeling knowing that I should regret this. But I couldn’t.
Phoenix’s hand wove up through my hair, pulling out my ponytail. Lifting his head up from the crook of my neck he kissed against my forehead, holding his lips there for a long moment. Swallowing, he looked down at me in amazement. “You’re just full of surprises it seems.”
Stretching the black band he slid it over my wrist. My brow arched, questioning what he had meant about my being full of surprises. He certainly wasn’t going to answer of course.
We stood against one another still, leaning into each other. My hands at his side held onto him for support. His went back into my hair, tangling through the locks. The other was clutched against my side with my shirt twisted in his fist.
After a moment, Phoenix motioned that we should continue walking with his head. But I couldn’t yet. I just stood there, sort of paralyzed. Smirking, he held back a low laugh that shook his shoulders. “Take your time,” he encouraged.
“Well that was different,” I commented in a near whisper. It felt like fire and electricity were coursing through my veins even still, as if my body were a battery that had just gotten the charge of its life.
“Nice fever pitch huh?” He grinned now. All I could do was shrug helplessly and nod. Chuckling again he, too, shook himself. Apparently the experience had affected him just as much. I wasn’t certain in what way and I wasn’t thinking I should ask either. He looked away from me- Grateful I didn’t, I could tell.
Phoenix’s arms wrapped me tightly as my head lay against his bare chest. My knees were shaking. “Thank you, Phoenix. For everything.” Maybe it seemed silly. He didn’t say anything as we held onto one another. I felt as if I could out run the Concord if I so wished at the moment. Actually, I probably could. Some time soon after we turned and began walking, though kept nearly as close as we did.
“So, what’s with the tattoos?” I asked as we walked, looking over at his bare back again. He hadn’t bothered to put a shirt on before we
left. Stepping behind him, I rose a finger to trace some of the patterns.
“Battle tattoos. They were said to be infused with magic to aid one in war.” I had seen some of his battles first hand now through the blood exchange. Well, they certainly did something. He was the most deadly thing I had ever imagined.
“Hah, I’m not all that. But what about yours?” he asked with a raised brow. Stepping up beside him again I looked to him, confused as to how he knew. Though I figured it was a part of the mind reading.
“The day at the falls, Anna,” he said with a smirk, shaking his head.
A shy smile tugged at me. “The dreams. I suppose in their own way they symbolize magic for me as well.” I shrugged. My hand brushing my side where the black rose still looked more lifelike than I could have ever imagined. I wondered what his looked like before he turned.
“Hm, I wonder if you could still manage to use any of the Shaman’s magic,” he speculated aloud idly.
“What do you mean?” I looked up to him as I bent down under a low branch. As I ducked his hand grabbed the branch, holding it up higher until I was clear. Once we passed, his arm fell loosely over my shoulders again.
“Well, as a Shaman you possessed a great deal of magic as I said. Quite obviously some of it has carried over into this life from that spell. I just wonder if you’re still capable of using any of it,” he sounded curious however nonchalant. That was something better explored another day.
“So now that you’ve had my blood, I want you to do something for me. Remember the things I said about shielding your mind from others?” I hoped this wasn’t leading back to Damien. Sighing, I gave a nod.
He ignored the disgruntled sigh of course. “This isn’t just about Damien, Lianna. It’s not just mind reading it can protect you from. Remember what Jezabell did to you after the falls?” My shudder was his answer.
“You have the potential to block almost every form of mental attack if you learn to focus. I want you to concentrate on what I taught you as we walk. You need to try to block me out. You never know what you may run into tonight, it can only help. And as Damien said, it’s you they want the most.”
The way he had advised me to work on shielding myself was very simple. Imagine a physical wall around my mind. A solid titanium dome shielding myself from anything and everything that wanted through.
He was right of course. This was important. I couldn’t deny that. “Yeah, we can work on that. It’s a good idea seeing as I pretty much suck at it. But I thought you said no one could block you out?”
“Well, no actually, I never said that.” His brow furrowed. I wasn’t supposed to know that. Oops.
“I’ll keep it to myself then.” I chewed my lip wondering if it bothered him now how much I actually knew about what he was capable of now.
“I would appreciate that. Anyway, it’s true. I can get past any shield. However that’s an extremely rare trait. I highly doubt you’ll meet anyone else that can. At least not tonight.” Phoenix didn’t seem arrogant in the slightest. These were simple facts to him. “I can still tell when someone’s trying to shield me. So I should be able to tell how well you do with it.”
Instantly my shield went up as we walked, I was good at visualizing it. That part was simple but actually getting it to stay up, and to work seemed much harder. You have to use a dormant part of your mind that isn’t used frequently for general activity to reinforce the hold. If you let it slip, your shield will fall apart. He’d taught me the easiest way to keep it up, though I still struggled with it on occasion. “Imagine it like breathing. Your body needs to just turn it into an automatic function.” Needless to say I had the head room. For lack of a better term, mine was just too thin to do any good. “You’re complicating this. Don’t worry about how strong it is. Not yet, not until you never have to think about keeping it up.”
“All right, let’s try it.”
He nodded approvingly. “It must become complete second nature. Breathing. You know, that thing you sometimes forget to do when you get amped up?” Phoenix snickered as I jabbed his ribcage with my elbow. “You shouldn’t have to think about it much and once you get good, not at all.”
“And once I have the shield in place?” I questioned again.
“Let me try a new way of explaining. Just believe in the fact that no one can read you. That your mind is yours alone. You believed it when you were mortal, didn’t you?”
“Sure. Until I met Damien.” I smirked as Phoenix shoved my shoulder with his hand playfully before pulling me back to him.
“Smartass. Just be certain of it. Your natural ability should take over from there.” He smiled lightly, though I couldn’t be sure as to why. I was a rather poor student thus far. “You’re a superb student.” I sighed. I wasn’t bothered by his mind reading. I was used to that by now. Just that it still wasn’t working the way I wanted.
Stopping, he knelt down, digging through the earth until he’d come up with a handful of small rocks. “You just don’t believe you can do it yet.” His free hand came up to take my wrist holding my hand out, palm up and dropped the rocks into my open palm. “Now break them.” His hand remained on my wrist holding my arm close to him.
Easily my fingers wrapped around the rocks, with just the slightest pressure they crumbled to dust. “See, you didn’t doubt that you could accomplish that for even a second, did you?”
I thought back, remembering when Damien had done this for Neesa. He made it look so easy. I had been in utter disbelief. And now here I was, capable also. Phoenix smiled at my memory of awe.
His brow furrowed in thought. “How strange.” He mumbled shaking his head.
“What? Did I do it wrong?” I frowned staring at the dust in my hand wondering what had gone wrong now.
“No no. Your memories aren’t like most. They’re very vivid.”
“You can see them too? I thought you mostly just heard things?”
“Usually I only hear thoughts. Our bond seems to be amplifying it though for right now after the recent exchange. I’m sure in time it will fade away.” Not sure what to say about him seeing me human. I cringed, realizing that meant he saw me just before the attack when I died. Bloody and broken though in truth, that wasn’t as bad as the night I died.
Now that was just ugly. Blood thrown from one end of the room to the other. I should have died much sooner than I did. I never thought about it much before. I had totally forgotten Phoenix was listening- and watching very attentively.
“Damn,” he whispered letting go of my arm after a minute. “No wonder you’ve driven the poor man nuts.”
“Excuse me?” I looked up, confused.
“Nothing.” He shook his head.
“Don’t even think about it. What was that? I make who insane and why?”
Sighing he turned back to me with a shrug. “Damien. Who else?” I looked at him with complete disbelief.
“Next time you get the chance, synch up with him like you did before with the visions and take a look for yourself.” He watched me closely a moment seeming utterly surprised at how dense I was. “Oh come on, Lianna, think about it. Think about the humans at the falls. Think about being around Paul.” He gave me a moment to recall. “Compare that feeling to being around a human every single day. Now imagine being Damien and tolerating being around you day in and day out as hurt as you had been. All that blood, and only taking a small taste.”
I thought back, remembering him say that my blood was the perfect torture. He had been meaning that far more literally than I realized. “Why the hell am I crushing rocks?” I asked sourly turning to walk on again while dusting my hand off on my pants.
“You’re angry,” I couldn’t tell if it were a question or comment. But I wasn’t angry so I shook my head. “No need in lying. What did I do?”
I had to laugh. “I’m not angry. Or at least not with you.” I threw the shield up to my max potential hoping feebly that it would work now that I’d had his blood. To help matters. I sang t
o myself trying to push my own thoughts away. Like that stopped him of course.
“You’re still upset.” He could have found out anyway of course. He was just being polite.
“Let it go,” I grumbled. In my head I sung The Monster word for word in my head.
He sighed, annoyed that I was hiding things. Men really hated that I was discovering. Well Phoenix had given me a lot. It really wasn’t fair of me when I owed him so much.
Kicking my feet at the dirt, I stood still only watching the ground. “I feel changed, Phoenix. As if something inside of me is turning. Every day it grows stronger. Every day it changes me more.”
“That frightens you.”
“Not at all… It doesn’t. I feel like it should though.”
“Hm. Tell me what you mean exactly. Perhaps I could help.” He couldn’t, but perhaps I should tell him anyway. Warn him.
“I don’t know what it is. I don’t feel darkness exactly. Just different. Stronger, so much stronger. Colder… It’s as if a part of me is pulling away. Detaching somehow. I’ve never been good at emotions but it feels like they’re nearly unreachable sometimes. Then other times they blow up in my face.” I walked on without looking to him. Phoenix was about to speak when I cut him off. “Paul was right you know.”
“How so?” I shook my head. I couldn’t say it out loud. I couldn’t let myself think it even. He’d figure it out or he wouldn’t. It didn’t matter.
“It’s a natural instinct for us to shut down, Lianna. It’s your own personal demon trying to protect itself. Trying to protect you,” he sounded bitter. My brow arched. Huh? “You’ve been through a lot in a very short time. That would affect anyone. It’s how you use these changes that matters most.”