Phoenix Academy: Forged (Phoenix Academy First Years Book 3)

by Lucy Auburn

  The pain of coming back is almost worse than the pain of dying. Licking my dry lips, I tell Sebastian, "Take the pain away."

  He does. "No pain, no pain," his voice murmurs, lips pressed against my hair. There's warmth around me, brushing against my skin; the flames are coming for me.

  I have to complete the first part of the spell—then do this three more times.

  Groaning, I try to sit up and find my body is weak even without the pain. Killing a homicidal maniac waits for no one, though. I have no choice to push through and keep going, even though I'd rather lay down and not get back up again for a very long time.

  Warm, supportive hands help me to my feet. Lynx and Ezra are on either side of me, while Mateo stands protectively in front, firing rounds into Lainey as she tries to throw her fire right at me. Her eyes are aglow with power, something frightful about the way she looks.

  "Blasphemer! I'll have your heart," she screams. "Yours and the newborn too, and all the rest of them. Not a single wretched one of you deserves the extra lives you waste."

  I frown, pushing off from the guys' support, thankful that they're showing a little independence—maybe my pull over their obedience lessened while I was dead. Hopefully I won't have to tighten the reins to keep them from killing themselves for me.

  "I'm good now." I pull away from Sebastian's hand, trying to ignore the new flood of pain as his touch leaves me. "Time for the next part of the spell."

  Ezra shoots me a frustrated look, his eyes cutting, so I add, "Don't do anything I don't tell you to. Except fight off Lainey. Now..."

  The energy of my death pools around me, visible to my Grim eyes. Sucking in a breath, I reach for the well of power that waits inside me. Fire and death, phoenix and Grim, life and demonic energy; it's all twined together as one within.

  Grabbing onto the death energy I just created, I siphon it into myself like I saw Meyer do. It's shockingly instinctual, like using the death energy powder but even easier. There's a metallic taste in my mouth as I pull it into me, and my black-orange phoenix fire turns an impossible jet black, cold and sluggish as the Grim side of me takes over.

  Looking at Lainey, I speak the words of the incantation aloud. "Open the lock, throw wide the door. I've given a life, and I'll give three more."

  She screeches. The flames around us flicker as something happens to her power, snuffing it out like a strong gust of wind flowing through a candle flame. But just as quickly her power comes back, fire swirling around her, eyes hateful.

  Though she might very will be at the end of the lifespan of the heart she stole, it has plenty of Ifrit-born Red Phoenix firepower to spare. She pulls a hand back, ignoring the healing bullet wounds Mateo put in her, and creates a fireball so large I'm certain it'll incinerate us all.

  Before it can Headmaster Towers steps into the fray, her eyes alight with power and reflecting Lainey's stolen flames. She throws up a palm, every line of her stance powerful and strong.

  "You won't be using that—not on my watch. Especially not if you got that heart where I think you did. Extinguish."

  At her words, the fire in Lainey's hands moves in a very un-fire-like way. It jumps off her palm and runs towards the headmaster like an errant dog returning to its owner. Smirking triumphantly, Headmaster Towers crooks her fingers and lets the fire twine around her forearm, practically purring.

  Lainey bares her teeth in anger.

  Pausing for a moment to reload, Mateo lets up on shooting her, a grimace on his face. "She's going to get revenge for that." He looks back at me. "I'd do something to stop her from attacking the headmaster, but I'm not supposed to put myself at risk, am I?"

  I raise my chin, defiant. "You'll get your free will back once I'm done with this spell. Now—protect me while I die again."

  Ezra's green eyes flash. "I don't like this."

  "I absolutely hate it," Sebastian snaps bitterly. "I don't want to watch you die again, Dani. I can feel your pain."

  Softly, I tell him, "Then take it away." Stepping forward, I get up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the lips—only for it to land on his cheek as he turns his head away from me, jaw clenched. "Well. I guess that's that. Just remember: I'm only doing this because I don't want to lose you. Now, get into formation and protect me while I sacrifice another life."

  I feel tired just thinking about it, but I'm determined not to let that show on my face. My guys need to believe that I can do this, or they might actually try breaking out from under my control long enough to sacrifice their lives for me—and I can't let them do that.

  I put my hands against my chest in a triangle again. Say the spell again. Feel the overwhelming agony again, even as the demons move to protect me, to drive Lainey back, along with the shifters and teachers. There's a commotion right as I come to the edge of oblivion; when I come back, only Sebastian is at my side, taking the pain away.

  "What... happened?"

  "One of her stooges came back and attacked. It was dealt with. A few of the teachers have fallen back to protect the Great Hall." He looks at something over my shoulder. "But Lainey has moved—she's breached the watchtower now. I guess she decided to give up that summoning spell in favor of tracking down a fresh heart. That's not my biggest worry, though. How are you?"

  "Not dead," I point out dryly. He helps me sit up, just as the other three demons reappear beside me, moving impossibly fast—or maybe it's just my eyes that are slow. "How far up into the watchtower has she gotten?"

  "Halfway up the stairs, maybe. The shifters are holding her back." Ezra's tone is gravelly, defeated even. "Once she's at the top, she won't just know where the next phoenix is—she'll be able to open a portal. She's got enough of that phoenix heart she used to get into the prison complex to do it. Apparently she's been holding back on us."

  Lynx observed, "Her strategy so far doesn't make much sense. At first it seemed like she wanted to break out all the Grims, then steal the strongest phoenix hearts... now she's just basically trying to survive long enough to get to the next newborn heart."

  "She didn't expect us." Getting to my feet, I do my best not to sway back and forth, knowing how ragged I must look. Headmaster Towers approaches me, and I preemptively tell her, "I'm ready for the next portion to the spell, if you can get me close enough. But I think someone should step up the protection around the phoenix students here. Lainey gets more and more desperate each time I get closer to defeating her. If she realizes she won't be able to make it to your niece's heart, or mine, she might just settle for another, weaker heart long enough to make it out of here."

  She nods sharply. "I've got a duty to the school. Just, Dani..."

  "I won't let her get your niece. I swear." My eyes flick to Yohan. "If she makes it to the top of that watchtower, blow it up."

  "Dani—"

  "Mateo, stay here," I tell him, ignoring the tight-lipped expressions around me. "Get all your explosives ready. Put them at the base of the watchtower. If she gets that heart, she'll be unstoppable for decades, and we can't risk that."

  "Yes, Dani," he gets out through gritted teeth; I'm just glad he doesn't call me Master, which makes my skin crawl to hear.

  While he and Yohan prepare to take the whole place down if needed, the other demons and I approach the base of the watchtower.

  Chapter 36

  When I get to the bottom of the stairs, Sam and Liam are there, their hackles up and their teeth bared. Both look worse for the wear; they've taken several burns and minor injuries in the fight against Lainey, injuries their shifter healing can't keep up with. But they're still facing off with her, hedging her in on this side while Petra, above her on the stairs, snarls and snaps to drive her down.

  They've trapped her just in time for me to take the death energy I harnessed after my second death and unlock the second gate that keeps her heart protected.

  Breathing deep, I pull the energy in, just like last time. I ignore the sound of her voice as she spots me and croons wickedly, "There you are, my little abomi
nation. Have I told you yet how good it will feel to take your heart from your chest and use it to power up this delightful newborn heart I'm about to steal? Just as soon as I've slaughtered your little friends and turned them into coats."

  She raises a hand to throw a fireball at Sam's tiger form, but Sebastian whips out a knife and sends it into her arm before she can fight. She screeches; Sam swipes at her legs, opening up deep scratches that don't heal as fast as they did before. So the spell is working—it's weakening her. Another round and she'll have even less power.

  "Open the lock, throw wide the door. I've given two lives, and I'll give two more."

  Lainey pulls the knife from her arm, black webs of poison fanning out on her pale skin, just in time for the spell to hit her. She stumbles back, turns to leap up the stairs, and gets a bite to the calf courtesy of Petra. Flinging the wolf shifter into the wall, she disappears around a curve in the staircase, headed up, up, towards her final destination.

  I can't let her make it there.

  "After her," I tell Sebastian. "Cut all her fingers off if you have to."

  He doesn't have to be told twice—and this, I suspect, is an order he doesn't mind obeying. The shifters rush up the stairs on his heels, Petra barely lagging despite just hitting a stone wall. That leaves me with Lynx and Ezra to protect me during my next death, which will have to happen on the staircase landing.

  "Don't tell me not to," I warn them, aware that I'm probably overusing my command over them, and will have hell to pay for it later. "I won't be able to do this if you try to get me not to."

  Jaw clenched, green eyes flashing, "Then don't do it."

  I look up at Ezra in shock. "You disobeyed me."

  "And it's costing me everything to do it." He kneels beside me on the landing, reaching out to brush my growing dark hair behind my ear. "This soul bond goes both ways, you know. You're not the only one here willing to sacrifice something. I'd give my life for you."

  "But I won't let you."

  Softly, Lynx points out, "There's no time for this. Let her do the next part of the spell, Ezra—she has her mind made up, and she's just as stubborn as you."

  "Fine. But I won't pretend to like it." Straightening, he stands watch at the top of the landing with his sword held at the ready, while Lynx takes up the position at the bottom. I shoot the book-loving rope-wielding demon a look of gratitude for shutting down Ezra's stubbornness, but he barely looks at me, sorrow in his eyes.

  Okay, so this is going to be harder each time I do it, and not just because of the physical pain.

  But some things are worth fighting for—and dying for, sometimes even more than once. That includes keeping the quartet I love by my side, memories intact along with their souls.

  Even if putting my hands against my chest and saying the spell a third time is the hardest thing I've ever done.

  Even though I'm not sure I'll be able to do it again.

  A flash. The night on the cliffs, the encounter with the White Phoenix at Sara's house, my first death tonight, then the second that followed on its heels. They blur together in a white hot flash of agony. I find myself wanting Sebastian more than anything. I sent him away because he can fight Lainey better than anyone except Mateo, but now I have to face the pain alone.

  So much pain.

  I grit my teeth and wait for it to end.

  Sweet, sweet oblivion.

  But this time there's something in the space between stars. I'm not alone anymore in my death. A figure waits for me, fuzzy at the edges and glowing with a bright, white light.

  I'm about to ask who it is when—between one moment and the next—I return to my body. Incredible agony washes over me as I'm jerked back to the physical world. Gasping for breath, I sit up, Lynx's strong callused hands pulling me to a kneeling position even as he keeps an eye on the bottom of the steps.

  "You know, it's strange," he comments, "the way all those Grims just... disappeared."

  Without turning, Ezra points out, "We killed a bunch of them."

  "Lainey sent them away, I'm guessing." I let Lynx pull me up to my feet. "She doesn't trust anyone to be close to her when she narrows in on her heart. And no doubt they don't want to risk her wrath—it's not like they can kill her any easier than us." Groaning, I tell them, "Get me up the stairs and close enough to perform the next part of the spell."

  I can sense their reluctance, but my Grim powers are strong enough to make them take me where I need to go. We find Lainey on the last landing of the stairs, snarling and throwing weak fireballs at the shifters, who snap at her ankles and hands. As Sam grabs her wrist in his mouth, Sebastian darts in and slices at her hand, making her scream in rage.

  "I'll get you for this, demon," she vows. And she reaches out a hand that's swathed in black energy, grabbing for our soul bond. "You should obey me, not her."

  "Nice try." I stare up at her, gathering the energy of my latest, and most painful, death. "You're not going to steal him from me. Open the lock, throw wide the door. I've given three lives, and I'll give one more."

  I can feel the spell push at her chest, turning magical wards like a key turns chambers in a lock. She doubles over in pain, her Grim energy swarming around her, an unnatural keening sound leaving her lips. For a moment her voice sounds like the wail of a wronged ghost seeking vengeance in the afterlife, and it makes every hair on my arms stand on end.

  Then she snarls, straightens up, and summons what's left of her stolen phoenix fire. Her connection to the heart is weakened—I can feel it—so she takes all of its magic at once for a last stand.

  "Get back!" I yell, my powers instinctively reaching out to pull my allies into their own bubbles of time. I throw myself against the wall a moment before hot red fire arcs up and down the stairs like a train off its tracks.

  A strong arm is thrown across my chest. Lynx pulls me back, the fire burning close enough to singe the ends of my hair and scorch my skin.

  Then the fire is gone, and Lainey with it. Panicked, I rush towards the stairs landing, where the shifters are collapsed on the ground. Sam and Liam have both shifted back to their human forms, which are smaller targets; Liam is groaning in pain, while Sam is facedown. I check him quickly, heart doing a flip-flop when I feel his breathing, then turn to Petra's wolf.

  Before I can even brush a hand against her fur she's up and on her feet, eyes glowing, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she does her best to cool her body down. Her fur has looked better, but she's alive and strong, and so is Sebastian; we all managed to get out of the fire's way well enough not to be burned to death by its destructive force.

  "It felt like time slowed," Liam says, his voice raspy with disuse. "I didn't think I was going to get out of the way, but then suddenly the fire slowed down and I did... Dani, was that you?"

  "It was," I admit, throwing my arms around his neck and ignoring his sound of protest. "I'm glad you're alive. You and Sam get to safety while the rest of us go up to take care of Lainey. If we don't succeed—"

  "You will," Sam says fiercely, rubbing at his half-burned eyebrow.

  "If we don't," I continue insistently, "give the signal to Yohan and Mateo to blow this place up. I don't want her getting out of here."

  Standing, I take stock of my guys. Lynx looks like the arm he threw across me was burned, and Ezra's hair is scorching, while Sebastian seems exhausted, but we're all alive. We can do this—I can do this.

  I have to keep going. The first three deaths will be meaningless if I don't go through with the fourth and final death. I've got to have the strength to die again, because there's no other option.

  I just hope I don't lose my soul somewhere in the process.

  Chapter 37

  There's a body at the top of the watchtower steps. I don't recognize the student; he looks like an upperclassman. But Petra makes a whining noise at the sight of him, pressing her dark grey nose against his body and licking his lips.

  "C'mon," I urge her softly, "we have to end this now."

>   The top of the watchtower is a large, circular room with a domed roof and big windows. One of the windows is thrown open and has a perch nearby for a hawk to swoop in and out with ease. I send up a silent prayer that Olivia is alright, my eyes darting around the room for signs of Lainey.

  There's a big table in the middle of the room, most of its surface taken up by a gently glowing screen that displays a map. There's a computer console against the far wall, and a pane of glass that looks out into the night. To my left, a small door leads to the bathroom that lets students spend watch here without leaving the premises, and a full-sized mirror in a frame stands next to it, its surface bizarrely reflecting nothing.

  But there's no sign of Lainey.

  At first I think she's somehow escaped before we got up here, using the remains of Reena's heart or the energy from the death of the student she killed. But then I feel a little prickle of sensation between my shoulder blades, and I don't manage to move in time to dodge her attack as she flies out from behind the open door to the room. A knife she got out of nowhere sinks into my shoulder and drags through my body like it's melted butter and not solid flesh.

  Pain, immeasurable pain.

  I stumble back. Fall to my knees.

  Lainey grins.

  "Dani!" Ezra grabs me and pulls me into his arms. Breathing is suddenly hard. My right lung feels like it's drowning. I cough, and stare at his neck as blood flies out of my mouth to paint his skin red. "It's gonna be okay. You'll be okay."

  Sebastian snarls and flies at Lainey, who's laughing maniacally. He slashes at her uselessly with his knife, while Lynx grabs her and punches her in the face one, two, three, four times, his knuckles making a horrifying sound as they hit her flesh and bones, blood flying from her mouth, her eyes wide with amusement. It's like she doesn't feel anything at all.

  Her wounds heal.

  I slip forward into Ezra's arms as he drags me away from the fight. "I'm dying," I manage to say, feeling foolish and young. "I should use my death."