House of Phoenyx: House of Phoenyx book 1

by T. John Greene

  Chapter 9

  Percaline

  “Mason was attacked by Mischelle and her werewolf lackeys,” Percaline said in a monotone voice. The infirmary looked like the room of an old house that had been converted into an hospital ward. The floor was made of small white tiles, the walls slanted in at weird angles, and the bed that Mason was on was small and short. His was the only bed in the infirmary.

  Percaline, Lucas, and Josephine left the others and followed Don out of the infirmary to the library. Percaline needed the warmth of the fire. She was physically, mentally, and emotionally cold. Mason was fighting for his life and it was Percaline’s fault he was there. She was the one who had invited Alejandro to the tavern, which was the only reason Savannah and Mason had been walking down that street to begin with.

  “Start from the beginning,” Don requested as he took a seat at a table which was covered with books, pads of paper, and uncapped pens. He looked weary, not of them, but of the reasons behind Mischelle’s attack.

  Lucas began, “Percaline and I were inside of Not My Dog’s Brewery. Josephine and Landon were outside. Percaline had a date with a guy named Alejandro.” Don looked at Percaline with a questioning face.

  “Percaline and Alejandro kissed.” Lucas paused.

  Percaline interrupted. “And we stopped kissing because he bit me. When I pulled away I saw that his mouth was smoldering.”

  This made Don get up from his chair and start looking for a specific book on the shelf. “His mouth started burning after he bit you?” Don asked.

  “Yes,” Percaline answered. “Then Alejandro said something about me being the phoenix. Lucas pulled him off after that.”

  “He said that I should know him because I was ‘banging his girlfriend.’ He said that I’d met him before, but he didn’t look familiar,” Lucas said.

  Percaline shook her head. “And I stopped Lucas from killing him because that wasn’t Alejandro. Something else was in Alejandro’s body, or controlling his thoughts.” Percaline paused, recalling everything. “Then Lucas punched him out.”

  “Josephine was standing alone in the doorway when we made for the exit,” Lucas finished.

  Landon came into the room. “I ran away from her because I heard a werewolf. I didn’t know who he was attacking. I just jumped in.” He wiped Mason’s blood from his hands, moving his shoulder as little as possible.

  “Thank you, Landon,” Percaline said. “He would be dead if you hadn’t jumped in.” She wrapped her arms around herself.

  Josephine pulled up a chair for Landon to sit in. He grabbed her hand. “Josephine is actually the real hero of the night. She forced the werewolf into a wall and created a door from the alley to the House.”

  “How did you force the werewolf into a wall?” Don asked. He found the book he was looking for.

  “I don’t know how I did it.” Josephine paused. “I heard a Siren say Lucas’s name and two dogs fighting. Savannah yelled that Landon and a werewolf were fighting. She told me the werewolf was going to kill Landon and I didn’t know how to help him, so I got really angry. I started to see things.” Josephine sat down a puzzled look on her face. “Not with my eyes but with my other senses. Like they were drawing a picture of the scene in front of me in my mind, similar to what you had Landon and I do earlier today. When I saw the werewolf stalking towards me I concentrated everything I had on it and threw it into the wall.”

  “Did you touch the werewolf or did you throw him into the wall from a distance?” Don asked. He was leafing through his book.

  “From a distance,” Landon answered for her. “It was remarkable. She picked him up like it was nothing and flung him into the brick wall. His body broke a couple of the bricks.” Landon wiped blood off of his neck.

  “Did the werewolf survive?” Don asked.

  Lucas growled, “Yes. He was limping away when we left. I would have gone after him but Mason was trying to bleed to death and I’m not entirely sure how to kill a werewolf.”

  “And what about Mischelle?” Don asked, unfazed by Lucas’s indirect attempt at asking him a question.

  “Lucas and I fought Mischelle and her friends, but once they saw Josephine fling their buddy into the wall they ran off,” Percaline said.

  “We didn’t follow any of them because Savannah was yelling that Mason was hurt,” Lucas finished. “Josephine drew a door and she was convinced that Mason would be okay here.”

  They all sat in silence for a minute. Don spoke up. “You were all heroes,” he said.

  “I wasn’t,” Percaline said. “I wasn’t a hero. Mason is hurt because of me.”

  “How do you figure?” Lucas asked her, concern in his voice.

  Percaline sat down, straddling the chair that was closest to the fireplace. “Savannah and Mason were there because of me. If we had just gone back home none of this would have happened.”

  “I don’t think that’s true,” Don said. “It sounds to me like this was a setup. Like Mischelle and her assailants were trying to kidnap either Savannah or Mason or both of them. Alejandro was a distraction, and a really good one at that.” Don shook his head, amazed. “You’re lucky he didn’t kill you.” Don held open the book he had found to a specific page. He placed the book on the table for everyone to see. “The only vampire I know with the ability to possess someone is Azazel, the first vampire and an Immortal.”

  Everyone bent over the book. Don began to summarize. “Azazel is one of three fallen angels. In the beginning when angels started to mate with humans, some of the angels showed the humans certain skills. Azazel taught humans how to fight and make weapons. He also taught them to drink blood. When God sent Michael and Gabriel to escort Azazel to Tartarus, his punishment for the rest of eternity was to eat food and drink blood but to not be able to taste it.” Don closed the book.

  “And you assume he’s a vampire because he bit Percaline?” Landon asked.

  “No, I’m saying that he’s a vampire because he bit Percaline and he drank her blood. That’s why his mouth started to smolder. Percaline’s blood has the same effects as holy water because she is a phoenix sent directly from God,” Don responded.

  “So when he drank my blood it made him start to burn from the inside out?” Percaline asked.

  “Yes, exactly,” Don replied. “And the only beings I know who are powerful enough to possess a human and a Gargoyle…” Don nodded to Lucas, “are the fallen.”

  “Possess me?” Lucas asked.

  Don smiled at him. “Yes, it turns out that maybe Mischelle’s Siren abilities weren’t the only spell you were under.” Don took his seat again. “When you recall your memories with Mischelle, do you have gaps in time or the feelings of being disconnected?”

  “Yes. Some are fuzzy but I can remember them. It’s like I was there but just really stoned on lust. Others I can remember a beginning and an end to but I can’t remember the middle. It’s like I’m watching a movie of my life from up above,” Lucas replied.

  “Those were times you were being possessed by Azazel,” Don said.

  Lucas digested this. He seemed to be taking the news of his possession pretty well. He took this better than finding out that Mischelle had used her Siren powers on him. He actually smiled. “Then I didn’t sleep with Mischelle at the lighthouse?” he asked. He looked at Percaline. “That wasn’t me. I knew I would never do that, no matter how in lust I was.”

  Percaline didn’t say anything. She needed time to think. Lucas had been possessed by the first vampire, an angel who was currently locked away in Tartarus.

  Josephine spoke up. “That makes sense. ‘The shadow of an eternal enemy.’ The prophecy is about Azazel. He’s the shadow.” She turned and looked at Percaline. “You have to stop Azazel from rising.”

  “No, we have to stop Azazel from rising,” Don said. “We’re a team and Percaline will need your help, daughter of Enoch.” He stood again and walked towards Josephine. “As I said before, of all of us here, you are perhaps the most powerful.”


  Josephine shrunk under his gaze. “No. I’m not powerful at all. I can’t even see aboveground.”

  “But that’s not true,” Landon said.

  Don continued Landon’s thought. “You can see aboveground, just not with your eyes. You can use Landon’s eyes.”

  “Landon’s eyes?” Josephine asked, shocked.

  Landon smiled. “You said that the image of the werewolf was like he was stalking you. You were seeing him from my perspective.”

  “And the reason you were able to do that was because you believed in yourself. Savannah told you what was in front of you and you trusted her and your other senses enough to believe that the scene you were watching was accurate. You used your family’s powers,” Don replied. “That’s powerful magic.”

  “But I’m sure all witches who have familiars can tap into that magic,” Josephine said.

  “Most can after several years of practice, yes,” Don replied.

  “See, I’m not that special.” Josephine got up from her chair and turned her back on everyone.

  Reaves silently brought in coffee. “Except that this,” Don said as he poured himself a cup, “combined with the fact that you threw a fully transformed werewolf into a wall using just power from within you is, as Landon said, ‘remarkable’ and not on the normal witch’s resume.”

  “Josephine, I’ve only seen someone do what you did today once before in my life, and that was on the day I met Geraldine Laveau and it was also in the Underworld, which heightens your powers. You did it aboveground where magic is basically non-existent.” Landon got up and limped to Josephine. He put his hand on her shoulder. “You saved my life.”

  “So you think it was a setup?” Josephine asked, trying to change the subject.

  “I think Azazel wanted to meet the new phoenix that the prophecy is about, and I think that he set it up so that he would be keeping you four busy while his girlfriend Mischelle and her bodyguards tried to kidnap Savannah,” Don replied. “I think Azazel wants out of Tartarus. I think he’s hungry.”

  “And you think it was Savannah they were after?” Lucas asked.

  “I don’t know why they would want to kidnap Mason. Savannah is much closer to this whole thing. I guess we will have to ask her and Mason about it when he wakes up,” Don answered.

  Percaline looked at everyone around her. All of these people were here because of her and they were all brave, strong, and independent. They were her friends and they were all pulling their weight. Even Mason, an ordinary human, had pulled his weight and then some. Everyone was playing their part except for her. She stood up. It was time to start acting like the phoenix.

  “I’m gonna go check on Mason and when I know that he is going to make it, I’m going to call his parents and let them know that he’ll be staying with me for a couple of days. When I come back I want to start devising a plan to kill Mischelle,” Percaline announced.

  “Why not Azazel?” Josephine asked.

  “Because Azazel is locked up in Tartarus and Azazel can’t be killed. The safest place for Azazel is Tartarus and that’s where he needs to stay. We need to stop Mischelle from freeing him,” Percaline answered. She paced back and forth across the carpet. She needed to act.

  “Why doesn’t everyone take a break? Go get cleaned up and we’ll meet back here in thirty minutes,” Don said.

  Percaline looked at the faces around her. Everyone in the room did look exhausted. “Yeah. Okay.”

  Savannah

  Mason was just lying there broken, bloody, covered in ointment and bandages, but he was also breathing and that was the only thing that mattered right now. As time had passed, he had started to look better. He had more color in his face, which was a good sign, but Savannah wouldn’t trust anything until he opened his eyes. If he opened his eyes and spoke, she knew that he would be okay.

  Savannah held his hand as she wiped tears from her eyes. She wouldn’t let go and she wouldn’t let him give up. She wanted to remind him of all the good times they had and she wanted to tell him about all the good times they still had left to have. “Remember when you came out of the closet to me? Percaline and I had known since the first time we met you that you were gay, but for whatever reason you needed for us to think you were the average straight guy. Thing about it is that you’ve never been average, you’ve always been exceptional.” Savannah sniffled. “You’ve always been my friend.” Her voice broke but she forced a smile.

  “So I was in my room eating a sandwich, because you know I love sandwiches, and you barged in and said that you had something to tell me. The look on your face was priceless. It was a little fear, a little excitement, and a little constipation.” Savannah laughed and squeezed Mason’s hand harder. “I thought you were going to tell me you had the E.P.’s, but instead you said in a very small voice, ‘I’m gay.’ And do you remember what I said to you? I said, ‘I know. It’s about time you figured that out’ and I handed you a sandwich. We sat there and ate sandwiches and discussed Dustin, the guy who forced you out of the closet.”

  Savannah held his one hand with both of hers. “And Dustin was a jerk. He was a chubby momma’s boy with a receding hairline at age fifteen. You deserved so much better than him. You do deserve so much better.” Her voice broke again. “And if you wake up you’ll get to meet Landon, who I think you will really like. He saved your life.” Savannah smiled and rubbed his hand with her thumb. “And you can’t leave me. Not when you just got here. We need to explore this House together. We need to party in the streets of the Underworld. You need to stand up at my wedding as my best man and agree to be my baby’s godfather when I have one. You will be Uncle Mason.” Savannah was crying again. “I need you. You’re my soul mate and you’re the glue that keeps me together.”

  Percaline walked in. “How’s he doing?” she asked.

  Savannah nodded and wiped more tears from her eyes. “He’s okay. I think he looks better, although it might be my imagination.”

  Percaline studied Mason. “No, you’re right. He does look better. He has more color in his face.” She stroked Savannah’s hair. “That stuff that Landon gave him is amazing!”

  “Yeah. I like Landon. He saved my best friend.” Savannah sobbed. “And I want him to meet Mason, fall in love with him, and have babies that call me Aunt Savannah.”

  Percaline smiled. “I think they would be a perfect match,” she said.

  “And you know what Mason would say? He would say, ‘Just because we’re both gay doesn’t make us a perfect match. You’re not attracted to all straight guys, are you?’” Savannah did a perfect impression of Mason and they both laughed.

  “Did you call his parents?” Savannah asked Percaline.

  “No, I wanted to wait a little bit,” she replied.

  “What are you going to tell them?” Savannah liked to cover her bases.

  Percaline thought about it for a minute. “I think we’ll tell them that I’m taking you and Mason camping for the weekend.”

  “They’ll never believe that. Mason doesn’t camp.” Savannah shook her head as she said it.

  “That’s the genius of it. It’s so farfetched I don’t think they will question it because no one would make that up. And he won’t have to go home to pack, because Mason doesn’t have camping stuff,” Percaline answered.

  Savannah laughed. “Yeah, that might work.” It didn’t make sense which was why it made sense. She just hoped Mason was awake by then. She didn’t want to explain to his parents how he died.

  Percaline sat down on the other side of Mason and held his other hand. “Remember when he told my boss Nate that he was a lesbian because he drove a Subaru?”

  “Yeah,” Savannah laughed. “Nate was so mad, but he got over it. Everybody does eventually. Mason is like that. He doesn’t have a filter and he doesn’t apologize for it.”

  “Both of you are like that,” Percaline laughed. “But on you it’s bitchy. On Mason it’s charming.”

  Savannah smiled. “Yeah.�
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  “I’m really sorry, Savannah,” Percaline started. “I feel like this is entirely my fault. If I hadn’t wanted to get back at Lucas for something it turns out he didn’t actually do, then we wouldn’t have been at the bar and you and Mason wouldn’t have been meeting us there.”

  Savannah didn’t believe any of that for a second. “It’s not your fault, Percaline. They were in that alley waiting for us. They didn’t just happen upon us. It was planned. They tried to take me. Mason was running for help when he got attacked. I don’t know about all that other stuff you said, but I do know that this was not your fault. This was all Mischelle.” If anyone had a bigger bone to pick with Mischelle than Lucas or Percaline did, it was Savannah. The bitch had attacked her not once but twice and she had tried to kill her best friend.

  “Don thinks Lucas was possessed when he slept with Mischelle at the lighthouse,” Percaline commented.

  “He was,” Savannah said. “You and I both know that he would never have done that to you. It’s time to forgive him, Percaline.”

  Sitting there looking at Mason made Savannah remember how short life was. If she and Mason had been fighting before he was attacked and he died, she never would have forgiven herself. Lucas wasn’t the bad guy he had been made out to be the last couple of days. He was a good guy and he was Percaline’s best friend and soul mate. It was time she forgave him.

  “It’s not that simple,” Percaline said.

  “It is that simple, Percaline. He’s your best friend and you’re in love with him. Forgive him already and allow yourself to be happy. He’s your lobster.” Savannah and Percaline had always loved that episode of Friends where Rachael figured out that Ross was her lobster.

  “How do I do that?” Percaline asked.

  “I don’t know. That’s between you and Lucas. Only you know how to make things right,” Savannah answered as she looked back at Mason.

  His hand moved and his face twitched. He was waking up. “Mason?” Savannah asked, standing up and leaning over him. “You’re okay. Don’t move.” Percaline ran to get Landon.

  “Where am I?” Mason choked out. It was clearly very painful for him to move.

  “You’re in the infirmary at the House of Phoenyx,” Savannah answered.

  Mason’s eyes got big as he took in his surroundings. “I can’t be here. I’m human.”

  Landon walked into the room. “You were human,” he said. “You were attacked by a werewolf tonight. Come the next full moon you’ll turn into a werewolf.” He checked Mason’s vitals. “But you’ll live.”

  “Mason, this is Landon. He saved you.”

  “Thanks.” Mason coughed and tried to smile, but then moaned in pain.

  “I’m going to give you some morphine for the pain, but it might make you sleep,” Landon told Mason. Mason agreed to the morphine and within seconds he was sleeping again.

  “Will he be okay?” Savannah asked.

  “He will. He just needs rest. I’ll watch over him for a little while. Why don’t you get cleaned up and get some rest?” Landon said. “It’ll give me time to bandage Percaline’s swollen hand.”

  Savannah watched as Percaline looked down at her swollen hand as if seeing it for the first time. Apparently it wasn’t her first priority. “How is it that it didn’t hurt until you said something about it and now all I feel is the throbbing radiating from it?” she asked with a wince.

  Landon took it, turning it over to examine it, then gently placed it back in her other hand. “It’ll feel better once you’ve iced it.”

  Savannah took Mason’s hand and put it in Landon’s hand. “I’ll get cleaned up, but I’m sleeping in here until Mason is better.” She paused at the door, noticing that the House had added another bed to the room.

  “Landon, thank you for saving my best friend.” Savannah left the infirmary.

  Lucas

  When they returned to the library everyone looked ready for business. Mason was going to be okay and Savannah was stubbornly going to stay by his side. The news seemed to rejuvenate everybody.

  Don spoke first. “In light of what happened today I would like to hire some bodyguards for your protection.”

  Lucas could have taken this news as a personal shot to his ego but he wasn’t that kind of guy. There was only one of him and five people that needed protection. He couldn’t protect all of them at the same time. Percaline and Josephine could probably take care of themselves, but with the Underworld being new to everybody but Landon, they needed training wheels before they took off on the big boy bike. “I think that’s a very good idea. How do we go about doing that?”

  “I would like to set up trials for tomorrow here in the Underworld,” Don replied.

  “And what are trials?” Percaline asked.

  Don sat in his usual seat. Percaline was standing by the fire, Josephine and Landon were sitting on a couch, and Lucas was straddling a chair at the table. “The trials are a supernatural Olympics of sorts. They measure the skill, strength, and agility of the competitors. From the winners, we’ll choose four of them to protect you.”

  “But there are six of us, Don,” Josephine counted.

  “Yes, but Lucas is Percaline’s bodyguard,” Don countered. “And though he doesn’t need protection, he does need to learn how to protect, so from here on out Lucas and Percaline will both be training. Percaline needs to learn the extent of her capabilities.” Don paused and looked at Josephine. “As do you, Josephine. You need to learn how to use your connection to Landon.”

  “I think I’m better at research,” Josephine said.

  “I don’t,” Don argued. “But I know that I won’t be able to keep you away from figuring out a way to stop Mischelle, so I will ask that you spend more time training than you do on research.”

  “Okay then, set up the trials for tomorrow,” Lucas said. “What we need to know before we start training is what we will be potentially fighting. We need to know the strengths and the weaknesses of a vampire, of a Siren, and of a werewolf to start with.”

  Don cleared his throat and got right into it. “Typically vampires can be killed with a stake through the heart, although to be fair, anything that isn’t immortal can be killed by a stake through the heart. They can also be killed by cutting off their heads, setting them on fire, or putting them in direct sunlight. They have very little tolerance for holy water and holy objects.” Reaves had quietly snuck in a pot of tea and Don poured himself a cup. “And as we proved earlier, a phoenix’s blood is most likely also fatal to them.”

  Percaline moved to get herself some tea. “Fatal? Did Alejandro die?”

  “No, but he’s in critical condition at the hospital and he wasn’t actually a vampire. He was only possessed by one. That makes me think that any real vampire who bit you would be dead,” Don answered. “They are inhumanly fast, strong, and agile, both mentally and physically. Azazel possesses many of these qualities, although his powers will be amplified and his weaknesses will be depressed.”

  “Have you given any thought to checking to see if Azazel is still locked up in Tartarus? What if he’s already escaped?” Josephine asked.

  “There are only a couple of species that can go into Tartarus and come back out freely.” Don paused. “I’m not one of them, but I have sent word to Zeus asking him to astro-project there to check on things.”

  “You can’t astro-project?” Savannah asked.

  “No, Zeus is the only one of us to possess that particular ability,” Don answered.

  Reaves snuck in behind Josephine and Landon with plates of little finger sandwiches and cookies. Lucas’s stomach growled.

  Don went on. “Sirens come in three forms: mermaids, who have a fish tail and are water-based; harpies, who have wings and are sky-based; and Sirens, who walk on two legs and are land-based. All three entice with their looks and seal the deal with their voices. They live a little longer than the average human, but have all of the same weaknesses humans do. They need to eat fish often and
once you know that they’re a Siren their powers are ineffective.” Don grabbed a sandwich. “Landon can tell you about werewolves.”

  Landon stood up. “Werewolves are also faster, stronger, and more agile than humans. They can change at will, except for their first transformation, which takes place on the full moon. If they bite you and the bite doesn’t kill you, you will become a werewolf, but more often than not when they attack they attack to kill.” Landon poured himself some tea. “Most things can kill them if you strike their weaker parts, the head and the heart. If you damage any other part of their body it will heal itself.”

  Percaline raised her hand. Don told her to go ahead. “What would happen if a vampire bit a werewolf or a werewolf bit a vampire?” she asked.

  “Once a vampire is a vampire and once a werewolf is a werewolf there is no other creature that they could become. There are no vampire/werewolf hybrids,” Don replied. “Now if a werewolf bit a Siren, then that Siren would become a werewolf at the next full moon. I don’t know exactly how it works but I think it has to do with your level of humanity.”

  “And werewolf bites aren’t poisonous to vampires and vampire bites aren’t poisonous to werewolves,” Landon finished.

  “And what about phoenix and Gargoyles? If we get bitten by either will we become that creature?” Lucas asked.

  “No,” Don replied. “You are and will forever be a Gargoyle, just as Percaline will always be a phoenix.”

  “What about Saints?” Josephine asked.

  Don answered, “You should think of Saints as gifted monsters. Most have a weapons trade. The vampire slayers are well-trained in wooden stakes and the zombie hunters are best with a sword. Most are as strong as or stronger than their opposers and just as fast. They also tend to heal quickly, but the majority of them if bitten by either a werewolf or a vampire will become that creature, if they aren’t already that creature.”

  The lessons went on like that for a couple more hours until Don kicked everybody out of the library, telling them that they needed to get a good night’s sleep for the busy day they would have tomorrow. Although everyone was motivated, they were also emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted, so they followed his orders.

  Lucas stopped by the infirmary to check on Savannah and Mason before he went to bed. Savannah had moved her bed closer to Mason’s and was holding his hand while they both slept.

  Lucas thought about Percaline for a minute. She had actually looked at him tonight without contempt for the first time in a couple of days. That was a start. She was on her way to forgiving him even though now she knew that he really didn’t have anything he needed to be forgiven for. He still needed to make things right, though. Percaline had finally admitted that she loved him and he hadn’t said anything in return. He needed to make up for being such a dick and he would once she was talking to him again. Tomorrow would be a new day full of new possibilities.

  He found his room, took a shower, and got into bed. He was almost asleep when he heard the door of the bathroom that adjoined his room with Percaline’s open. It was Percaline. She closed the door silently and tiptoed to his bed. As she climbed in, Lucas lay still. There was no reason for him to be still because they had done this a thousand times before, but it was usually Lucas that was sleeping in Percaline’s bed. This was the first time that Percaline had come to Lucas’s bed. This was also the first time that Percaline had snuck into Lucas’s bed after admitting to him that she was in love with him. Things were different now.