Blood of the Phoenix: Book 17 of The Witch Fairy Series

by Bonnie Lamer

  My sarcasm completely lost on her, Chol asks, “Really? How fascinating.”

  Still gripping my slapping hand, Eliana replies, “Yes, it is. If our friends have returned home and the new Phoenix is in place, are we free to leave?”

  “Oh, yes. The sooner the better. We do not like outsiders in our realm.”

  Considering we just saved the universes, that was pretty damn rude. “We got that,” I mutter. Then, I can’t help but ask, “Are you bothered by the fact that everyone now knows the secret of the Phoenix?” Might as well push her buttons like she is mine.

  “Don’t be silly,” Chol scoffs. “We sent each being back to their own realm with their memories altered. Except the Angel, of course. Her mind is off limits.”

  I eye her. “Which means my mind is off limits, as well.”

  Chol sighs in disappointment. “Yes. Yours, however,” she says to Eliana, “is not.”

  Before either of us know what’s happening, Chol zaps Eliana’s forehead with a burst of Cosmic Fire. Then, she unceremoniously shoves us out of the Phoenix realm. We find ourselves once again in the hot desert sand. On our backs. Being blinded by the sun.

  “What an ungrateful…”

  “Eliana!” Josh shouts before I can finish my sentence. He and Kallen are heading toward us.

  Probably for the best I didn’t finish since we are right in front of the Phoenix’s temple. Who knows if the new one is inside and listening or not. To my great relief, Kallen is carrying Taz and Felix in his arms. I have never been so happy to see the Tasmanian devils in my life. Some of their hair is singed, and they are obviously a little weak if Kallen has to carry them, but I can sense that essentially they are fine. A little rest and a whole lot of bacon will perk them both right up.

  A groggy Eliana pushes herself to a sitting position. “What happened?” she asks.

  Oh, no. Her mind has been erased like the others. Panicked, I ask, “What do you remember?”

  She opens her mouth to speak, but closes it again when her eyes begin to glow red. After a few seconds, she turns to me with a wicked smile. “Everything.”

  I grin back. “I guess Ra and Isis weren’t about to let you forget, huh?”

  Eliana shakes her head. “Nope.”

  Kallen and Josh have reached us now, and I ask them both, “Do you remember why we’re here?”

  Kallen’s movements become a little more cautious. “Yes,” he says slowly. “Do you not remember?”

  “Maybe her brain got singed like your hair,” Taz says to Felix.

  “Bite me,” Felix replies.

  I laugh. “I’ll explain at home,” I tell all three of them. I stand up and don’t even bother to brush the sand from my clothes. I also don’t care about satellite images at the moment. I just want to be home. I reach out, tear open a passageway and gesture the others through. I follow them and close the passage behind us. We did it. The danger has passed and the universes are safe. For now, anyway. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

  I expected a warm welcome. Or at least a ‘Thank you for saving the universes.’ I did not expect Tabitha standing on the terrace with her hands on her hips growling, “It is about damn time. Where have you been?”

  Nonplussed, I respond, “Um, saving the universe.” Did the Phoenix’s wipe everyone’s memories? Do they have that much power?

  Apparently not, because Tabitha grouses, “Isla returned over an hour ago. Why did you not return with her? And what the hell is wrong with her? She is acting like she has no idea what has been happening over the last several days.”

  Ah. I now understand her frustration. “That’s because she doesn’t,” I say as I walk toward the house.

  Noticing for the first time that Kallen is carrying Taz and Felix, Tabitha gasps and rushes toward us. The warm welcome that I was expecting is lavished on the little beasts. Tabitha takes them into her own arms and glares at all of us. “What did you do to the babies?”

  “Babies?” I mouth to Kallen who shrugs.

  Tabitha shakes her head. “You can tell me later. I am going to get them inside and something to eat. They look like they are about ready to perish.”

  I narrow my eyes at my Familiars. Taz, who was starting to perk up a minute ago, does suddenly look like he’s on death’s door. Felix, from whom I would expect better, also seems to have taken a turn for the worse. “Yeah, they’re barely holding on,” I snark. Then, I remember how they solved the Phoenix problem and heroically risked their lives so we could follow through with their plans. Guilt washes through me and my voice is much more sympathetic when I say, “Could you make them some extra bacon? They’ve earned it.” I’m not even sure Tabitha heard me. She’s too busy cooing to them in a soothing voice as she walks into the house.

  “For a Fairy who would not let me have a pet as a child, she has certainly grown attached to those beasts,” Kallen grouses.

  I smile and wrap my arms around him. “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll feed you, too. After she feeds them.”

  Kallen snorts. “I will probably get their leftovers.”

  There is a squeal from the porch and Sam and Jenna come rushing out of the house. They practically tackle Eliana and Josh. “You did it!” Jenna shouts. “I mean, you’re back, so you must have done it!”

  Eliana laughs. “Yes, we did it,” she confirms.

  Jenna lets go of her and engulfs both Kallen and me in a hug. “You guys are awesome!” she declares.

  “Thanks, we try,” I laugh. Now her excitement is contagious.

  From inside, we can hear Dagda. His voice is growing louder and more frustrated by the second. “How can you have no recollection of what has transpired over the last three days?” I suspect this is not the first time he has asked this question.

  “We had better get inside,” I tell the others and hurry up the terrace stairs.

  In the large living room, we find Dagda pacing back and forth in front of an increasingly irate Isla. Garren is sitting on one of the couches shaking his head in dismay. “How many times do I need to explain this? My memories are gone,” Isla growls. “If I knew how or why, I would be able to retrieve them.”

  Eliana steps around me and holds her hand out to Isla. “Maybe I can help with that,” she says.

  Isla stares at her curiously, then to everyone’s surprise, she steps toward Eliana. Usually, she would ask a million questions and be certain she understands exactly what is about to happen. Isla never likes the uncertain. This memory loss thing must be really tearing her apart inside to jump in with both feet and little knowledge of what is to come.

  Slipping her hand into Eliana’s, Isla’s expression changes almost instantly. Her eyes become slightly glazed and her mouth is slack. I can feel Eliana’s power reaching out to her. I remember the backpacker in Colorado and how Eliana was able to temporarily erase her memory. I suspect she is doing the same thing in reverse. She is giving Isla back her memories. Retrieving them from wherever they have been locked away. Hopefully, it will not be temporary as her power of influence is.

  As soon as Eliana breaks contact with Isla, the latter snaps back to herself. Her eyes grow wide and she stares at my friend. “That was amazing,” she whispers almost more to herself than Eliana.

  “Do you remember now?” Dagda asks impatiently.

  Isla nods, still staring at Eliana. “I remember things I didn’t even realize I had forgotten with time. My entire memory has been restored.”

  “What?” Josh asks. He stares at Eliana in awe and then grins. “I guess a new power is manifesting.”

  Eliana’s cheeks flush slightly. “I guess so.”

  “Will it be permanent?” I ask. “I mean the memories, not the new power.”

  Eliana nods. “I believe so, but I can’t be certain.”

  Even though I can tell Dagda is interested in Eliana’s new ability, he is more interested in the state of the universe. “Now will someone please tell me what happened?”

  “If the rest of you want food,
you better get your butts in the kitchen,” Tabitha calls out.

  “She has been stress cooking all day,” Jenna explains. “There is a ton of food in there.”

  She doesn’t need to tell us twice. I don’t move quite as quickly as I did when going after the Phoenix earlier, but it’s pretty darn close. I am famished. So is my husband if his long strides and speed mean anything. A frustrated Dagda trails behind us, knowing he’s not going to get any information until we get food.

  In the kitchen, we find Jenna was correct. I think Tabitha made every dish she knows how to cook in the time we were gone. We all grab plates and dig in. Isla and Garren join us. After a few minutes, Mom and Dad and Zac rush in, having figured out we are home. Kegan, Alita and Keelan follow close behind. While we eat, we tell them all the tale of the Phoenix. I don’t really care at this point if the Phoenixes want their realm to be a secret. I figure that if Eliana and I have to keep one of them from destroying the universes, we have earned the right to share their secret with the ones we love. Besides, we know the people in this room won’t tell anyone else.

  “You’ll restore Jadyn’s memory when you get back home, right?” I ask Eliana.

  She nods then grins. “I’m sure it’s driving Liza insane that Jadyn can’t remember anything.” Considering she is as easily frustrated as Dagda, I believe it.

  “That’s probably putting it mildly,” Josh says with his own grin.

  Adriel and Raziel eventually make their way into the kitchen, as well. I suspect they were hiding upstairs until after all the explanations were made. Adriel would not have wanted to clue anyone in to the fact that she still had her memory while Isla did not. It only would have aggravated them all more.

  We convince Josh, Eliana, Jenna and Sam to stay one more night. The last two are easy. Josh and Eliana take a little more convincing as they feel guilty leaving their boss hanging. At least until Kallen explains how time moves faster here than in the Cowan realm.

  After a good night’s sleep, we spend the first part of the day showing them around the Fairy village. Eliana and Josh enjoy it much more than their trip to the Giant village a couple of days ago. At least here everyone is their size. After a swim in the ocean and an early dinner, it’s time to bring them back to the Cowan realm.

  “You promise you will come back the next time you get a vacation, right?” I ask as I give Eliana a hug good bye in her living room.

  “I think your father would come here looking for us if we didn’t,” she laughs. Dagda spent our entire last dinner together trying to convince her to move to the Fairy realm to no avail.

  “Don’t worry, he can only get here if I let him through,” I assure her with a smile.

  “Good to know.”

  We say our good byes to Josh, Sam and Jenna, who also promise to visit us again in the Fairy realm. Kallen and I are about to return through the passageway I made when Eliana’s phone rings. She looks at the display and frowns. Answering, she says, “Hi, I’m going to put you on speaker.”

  She presses a button and a man’s voice comes through the phone. “We have had seismic activity but no earthquake, sunglasses appearing out of nowhere which can’t be removed until they disappear on their own, claims that a solar flare hit the obelisk in Heliopolis, and a temple has been unearthed in the desert north of the city. Care to explain any of these things?”

  “Agent Amman,” Josh says. “Nice to hear from you. Sorry to hear about all that, but we have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Uh huh,” the Egyptian agent says. “Are you home and safe?” he asks.

  “We are,” Eliana assures him.

  “That’s all I really needed to know.” Agent Amman ends the call. I suspect his life is going to be busy for a while, but he will never share all he knows with his government.

  I smile at Eliana. “It’s good to know that you have people who watch your back.”

  She glances over my shoulder at the crowd who came down to the beach with us to see them off. “Right back at you,” she says with a grin.

  With a last wave good bye, Kallen and I step back through the passageway to our own realm and I close it. Wrapping his arms around me and leaning down, my gorgeous husband whispers in my ear, “I know the perfect way to thank you for saving the universe.”

  I know that gleam in his eye and images pop into my head of all the ways he could thank me. I look from him to our family standing in front of us. I know exactly who I want to celebrate with. “Good night,” I tell the group, and I teleport Kallen and myself straight to our bedroom. If I have my way, we won’t be leaving this room for days. After all, we did save more than one universe. I wouldn’t mind a thank you for each and every one of them.

  Somewhere, back in the farthest reaches of my mind, a tiny little calendar begins to form. One that usually has one day a month circled in red. My mental eye takes note of the fact that it’s been a while since I added a new circle. In fact, it’s been way too long since I added a new circle.

  Oh. My. God.