House of Phoenyx: House of Phoenyx book 1

by T. John Greene

  Chapter 11

  Savannah

  When Savannah woke, Don—or someone very Greek God-like—was standing over Mason looking at him with part remorse and part inquiry. At the time she only had one eye open but she was almost positive that’s what she was seeing. Then again she could have been having one of those weird Greek Mythology/werewolf dreams – if so, it wouldn’t be the first time. A couple of years back she’d had her wisdom teeth pulled and the drugs they gave her made her dream like she was on acid. Not that she had ever taken acid or any other drug, but like all teenagers she heard stories. The Greek God/werewolf dream was a result of watching Percy Jackson and following it up with Cursed. But since she hadn’t watched TV for almost twenty-four hours she was willing to bet that wasn’t the case. She opened the other eye. Yep, it was definitely Don and he was standing over Mason.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, wondering what all the sadness was about. Don didn’t know Mason and even if he had, the only thing anybody had any right to feel was happiness. Mason was going to be okay.

  “I was checking on our patient,” Don replied. “It’s remarkable how fast he’s healing.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been up every hour checking on him. Between me and Landon, he hasn’t had a moment to himself,” Savannah said as she sat up in her bed. She yawned, stretched, and put her feet on the ground. “So what’s up, Don?”

  Don took the seat next to Mason’s bed and said, “I was hoping that Mason would be awake. I feel like I owe him an apology.”

  “An apology for what?” Savannah asked.

  “I would never have agreed to you returning to the surface unprotected if I would have known that someone would have attacked you or your friend, and I’m sorry for that.” Don bowed his head, working through an internal regret.

  “No one blames you,” Savannah said. “If anybody has to pay, it’s Mischelle.”

  “Yes, well, I can’t help but feel like I should’ve known,” Don said. He stood up. “When Mason is feeling better I would like for the both of you to learn some basic self-defense moves.” He glided to the door in only the way a really old being does. There was something about the House that made his presence seem more God-like. “In the meantime, we are supervising the trials today and I’m hoping to gain a couple of new bodyguards for you, at least until we can get Mason trained. If you have a moment you may want to come down and check them out. They’re quite the spectacle.”

  Savannah nodded and Don left the room. Percaline had mentioned the trials to her when she’d come in to check on the both of them last night and they did sound interesting. She wandered around the room. It was eight a.m. and Landon was supposed to be here by now. She needed a bathroom break and he needed to check on Mason. Maybe she should have asked Don to stay?

  “Was that Poseidon?” Mason stirred. Savannah rushed to his side and helped him up. He sounded better today and he was also feeling better since he was able to sit up.

  “Yeah,” Savannah said. She handed him a glass of water so he could rinse the cottony taste out of his mouth.

  Mason took a sip. “He has a presence about him, doesn’t he?”

  “You think so?” Savannah asked. She’d believed that she was the only one who had noticed.

  “He felt like you’d imagine a God would feel,” Mason said very matter-of-factly like he had all the experience in the world of feeling other people’s energies.

  “Wait…” Savannah stumbled over her words as her sleep-deprived brain caught up. “You can feel him?”

  “Can’t you?” Mason asked. Maybe this Underworld stuff hadn’t gone to his head. Maybe he was just trying to blend in.

  Savannah shook her head.

  “Well, maybe it’s a werewolf thing,” Mason said, smiling. He was taking the news of being a werewolf very well. Mason had always been good like that. He rolled with the punches and tried to find the silver lining in everything.

  Landon entered the room. “It’s not a werewolf thing.”

  Mason looked at Savannah with accusatory eyes. He had every right to. Landon was dressed in another gray three piece suit, with a pink shirt, and the color worked really well with his skin tone. He looked like he should be on the cover of GQ and Mason looked like he had just been attacked by a werewolf. Savannah probably should have given poor Mason a toothbrush or a mirror. The hospital gown did not do him justice.

  Well, the damage was already done. “Landon, I’m glad you’re here. I really have to pee.” Savannah left the room. Mason would hate her for a minute, but as soon as she brought him a toothbrush and a fresh pair of underwear he would forgive her.

  She could have used the bathroom that was just outside of the infirmary, but she decided instead to use her own bathroom. She needed to brush her teeth and she wanted to change out of her pajamas. Mason was going to be fine. He was sitting upright in bed, the color was back in his face, and he barely had a scratch on him. Now she wanted a couple of minutes to herself.

  Everyone had told her that they felt responsible for what happened to Mason. Lucas’s affirmation was the most unreasonable since he was more angry than anything. He knew that he couldn’t multiply himself and protect everyone at once, but that didn’t stop him from being angry that he couldn’t. Lucas was a good big brother. But if anyone was to blame, it was her. She knew what happened to them couldn’t have been prevented, but she also felt like she had willed it into existence. She wanted Mason to be part of her world, the Underworld, and she had received her wish. She couldn’t help but feel responsible.

  Savannah was lost in her head when she got to her room, so she didn’t notice that there was a new door next to hers, and it wasn’t until she was in her private bathroom that she noticed another new door in that room as well. She was positive that hadn’t been there yesterday. This House did weird things, but adding entire doors that led to nowhere was silly. Her bedroom was at the end of the corridor, so this new door seemed to be another entry to her once-private bathroom. Damn, she was going to have to share.

  She opened the door and peered through. There was a bedroom on the other side. It was Mason’s bedroom. If she had believed before that it was the servants who memorized everyone’s taste and copied them to the House, that idea was long gone. The House was alive and it was she who made sure that everyone got what they wanted. Mason’s room was exactly as he would want it, New York City Loft-style. Savannah wanted Mason to be the first to see everything in his new room, but she also wanted to get him that fresh pair of underwear. The House had known what she needed and Savannah found an outfit for Mason set out on his bed.

  She took a quick shower. There was also a basic jeans outfit laid out on her bed. It was exactly what she felt like wearing.

  Savannah changed her clothes and grabbed a toothbrush out of the bathroom for Mason. She heard a knock on her bedroom door. “Hello, Ms. Savannah?” a woman’s voice called.

  “Yes?” Savannah said. She opened the door to an ethereally beautiful woman with long dark hair, big opal eyes, and feminine grace. “Ms. Savannah, I am Griselda, your new maid. If you or Mason need anything, just say my name and I’ll be here, no matter the time,” Griselda told her.

  “How does that work?” Savannah asked. “I mean, how do you hear me?”

  “I don’t hear you but the House does,” Griselda answered. Of course that would be how it worked. Savannah should have known.

  When Savannah returned to the infirmary, Mason and Landon were discussing the implications of being a werewolf. Savannah was happy to see that they seemed to be hitting it off. “So Doc, is he going to make it?” she interrupted.

  Landon smiled. “He is. I’m actually a little amazed, I’ve never seen any werewolf heal this quickly and I don’t know of any that have the ability to feel power like Mason does.”

  “So what, he’s like an X-Men of the Underworld?” she asked.

  Landon laughed out loud. “Perhaps.” He looked at his watch, which was just as expensive looking as the r
est of him, and announced that he had to get to training. “Josephine and I will be learning how to use our powers. Mason, you have my mobile number so if you need anything just call or send Reaves.”

  Reaves had just slipped in the room to sneak a raw steak for Mason to eat. He seconded that. “Yes, Mr. Mason, if you need anything just ask.”

  Within minutes Mason was cleaned, dressed, full of steak, and begging Savannah for the full tour. She wasn’t sure if he was ready for that much activity but he wouldn’t take no for an answer, so they compromised and she asked Reaves for a wheelchair.

  “So what do you think about Landon?” Savannah probed. “Was I right or was I right?”

  “You know that not all gay guys are attracted to one another, right?” Mason teased.

  Savannah laughed, “That’s exactly what I told Percaline you’d say.”

  She stopped wheeling him as they approached the library. She came around the wheelchair and squatted in front of him, holding his hand. “I’m so happy you’re okay,” she cried. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  Mason’s eyes welled up too, but he wasn’t going to cry. He wiped a tear from her eye. “God, you are such an ugly crier,” he said. Savannah laughed. “And that’s exactly why I need you. You always tell me the truth.”

  “Good. We’re going to discuss truth,” Mason said as Savannah returned to pushing him. “The truth is that you left me with Landon looking like a complete train wreck. That might be my worst fear come to life.” Mason was always an exaggerator.

  “Yes, but you got his number so it must have worked,” Savannah said. “Seriously, is he not perfect? You two would make the cutest couple.”

  They continued to walk, or wheel as it were, talking about Landon, the Underworld, and Percaline and Lucas’s future date. They finished in Mason’s room, which he loved, and he decided to rest until the trials began.

  Josephine

  Josephine and Landon had been sparring in the courtyard for almost two hours while Percaline, Lucas, and Don used the training room. She and Landon threw spells with their new instructor Griselda. Griselda described herself as a ghost or poltergeist, but from where Josephine stood she looked like so much more alive.

  Griselda was also amazingly good at using House magic. While Josephine and Landon concentrated on feeling each other’s powers, Griselda would fly above them casting spells which they in turn would have to dodge. Her latest spell was a super-charged fire ball aimed at Josephine’s head. She and Landon were on opposite sides of the courtyard, Landon in dog form, trying to feel where the other was and what they were doing without seeing each other.

  The training exercise was designed to threaten harm to one or both of them so that they could use their connection to communicate the threat from a distance. So far it wasn’t working well, as Josephine barley dodged her fifth fireball. It hit some shrubbery behind her, which immediately caught on fire.

  The courtyard would have been better described as an extra-foliaged garden. It formed a square on one side of the House, and from the library looking down one would only be able to see the tops of trees and other shrubbery that currently filled the square. If they were aboveground at this time of day, the sun would have been shining and the birds would have been out, but in the Underworld at the House of Phoenyx, the elements on training day were anything but favorable. Instead of nice weather, Josephine and Landon were practicing under a cold, star-covered sky. The whole courtyard was curtained in darkness. Josephine could only see the paths through the shrubbery and trees around her because of the occasional fireball and lightning strike.

  Griselda laughed as she glided above Josephine. Griselda looked and moved like a spirit, which in Josephine’s mind was different from a ghost or an astro-projection even though they all looked eerily similar. Spirits seemed to move more freely than ghosts did. There was something about Griselda, an aura of power or maybe humanity. She seemed more sensual than everybody else, which in turn made her more life-like. Then again it could have been the fireballs she was manifesting and throwing at Josephine that made her seem more life-like.

  Josephine ducked as another fireball whirled past her head. Once the fireball cleared she turned, catching one of her boot heels on a vine, and went down with a thud. Okay, so maybe high-heeled boots were also not the best choice in wardrobe.

  Griselda laughed again. “Josephine, concentrate!” she yelled as she soared overhead, this time releasing three fireballs in quick succession.

  Josephine ducked the first one, darted behind a plant to avoid the second, and caught the third one right in the back. It knocked her down and she skinned her knee, which just pissed her off.

  She turned to face Griselda straight-on and summoned power, drawing from the elements produced by the House. As if she was peering through a pair of bifocals, Landon’s dog perspective came into view. She could feel him close by. She could also feel Griselda, and she had no doubt about it now; Griselda was powerful.

  Landon was stalking Griselda from behind by blending into the shrubbery. Josephine was in front, deflecting the wave of fireballs Griselda was throwing her way. She stopped one of the fireballs without touching it, reversed its previous course and sent it flying back towards Griselda. When Griselda moved to avoid getting hit, Landon jumped up, pulling off the flag that hung from her neck and signaling the end of the exercise.

  The stars set, the sun rose, and puffy clouds moved into the sky. “Very well done, you two,” Griselda said as they met in the center of the courtyard. She was more difficult to see in the sun, so Josephine silently thanked the House for casting the courtyard in darkness during their battle. Landon sauntered over to Josephine’s side and nosed her bloody knee. “I think tomorrow we’ll try seeing if you can cast your own spells,” Griselda told her before disappearing.

  Landon left Josephine’s side and walked around the particularly high bush. He returned a second later in human form, wearing the perfectly spotless three piece suit. “One day you will have to tell me how you do that,” Josephine insisted.

  “And risk losing my mystique? I don’t think so,” Landon said as he escorted her back through one of the courtyard entrances.

  Josephine smiled. “Saving it for Mason, are you?” she said.

  Landon blushed. “I think you need a Band-Aid and a new pair of pants,” he said, avoiding her question. “I can’t have you looking like this for the trials.”

  Josephine accepted his meager attempt at deflection. “What’s the big deal about the trials? Everyone keeps talking about them.”

  “They are only the biggest thing to hit the Underworld in several years,” Landon said, then corrected himself. “Other than the prophecy and the news of a phoenix.” He went on as they walked towards their rooms. “Don said it best: the trials are like the Olympics of the Underworld, except at the end of the day those that are chosen will become the bodyguards of those protected by the House of Phoenyx. It is a very high honor and people will come from all around to participate.”

  They stopped at Landon’s room first because from this side of the House it was closest. He opened the door. “If you haven’t noticed by now, the House of Phoenyx is the closest thing the Underworld has to royalty.”

  She hadn’t picked up on that. “What about Hades?” Josephine asked as Landon disappeared into his bathroom.

  “Hades is more like the Prime Minister,” he said, returning with a towel, some alcohol, and a bandage. Josephine sat down on his bed and braced herself for the burn she was sure to feel in a couple of seconds. Landon wet the towel with alcohol and put in on her skinned knee. There was the burn.

  “So is that why you’re dressed up? Because we should act and look like royalty?” Josephine asked as she freed the Band-Aid from its wrapper.

  “I’m dressed up because this is how I dress when I’m not a dog,” Landon said and smiled. He took the bandage from Josephine and stuck it to her knee. “But to answer your real question, yes,
it would be better for you to dress up rather than down today.” He saw the look on her face. “You don’t have to wear a dress but you do have to change out of these bloody pants.”

  Josephine wasn’t sure if he meant they were literally bloody or if he was just using Australian slang, but either way the pants were going. She didn’t like anyone seeing her unkempt. “Where do they hold the trials? Will they be here in the House?” she asked.

  “No, to have them in the house would be too risky. They’ll have them outside with the last challenge being to enter the House,” Landon said.

  “Because the house will kick anybody out who is an enemy to the phoenix?” Josephine asked.

  “Exactly,” Landon replied as he helped her off of his bed and to their adjoining door. “Now go get ready and I’ll pick you up in a half hour.”

  Percaline

  As she opened the door to the training room, Percaline thought how difficult it would be to work out with Lucas while knowing that they had a date later. Lucas was the only thing she had been thinking about since this morning. She was excited about their date, happy that he felt the same way about her as she did about him, and relieved that when they kissed he didn’t pull away with a mouth on fire. She was in love.

  This was her first time to the training room and it was not what she expected. In her mind she had built a room with a couple of mats and some workout equipment, but what she got was a room that looked more like a barn. The room was covered from ceiling to floor in hay: pieces of hay, barrels of hay, and hay stacks. Hay was scattered around the floor for use as padding and stacks of hay were being used both for target practice and walls to a maze. What the barrels were supposed to be used for remained unknown. Percaline took it in, bewildered and amazed. Despite the hay and the fact that it looked like a barn, the sight was inspiring. Like nearly every other room everything else in the House, the training room was grand.

  Lucas appeared from behind a haystack. He looked good in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt over a T-shirt. He seemed to match the country-themed room. When he saw Percaline give him the once-over he stopped and looked down at his clothing. “Yeah, there was a cowboy hat too. The House dressed me,” he said and shrugged.

  “I think the House is definitely a girl,” she said as the butterflies returned to her stomach. She had finally gotten them under control but now, seeing Lucas, the anticipation of their first date was too much so they came fluttering back.

  “Hi,” she said and smiled. She didn’t know what else to do. Should she hug him, should she kiss him, should she run out of the room screaming because she was so nervous? Probably not the last option, but she didn’t have to decide between the other two because Don showed up just in time.

  He laughed at Lucas too. “Let me guess—the House dressed you.”

  Lucas took off the flannel shirt, revealing his sculpted arm muscles and washboard abs through his well fitted T-shirt. Percaline let out a shriek, then tried to cover it up with a series of coughs. Perfect, this is exactly how she thought training would go. She wondered how much training Don expected to get out of a walking hormone.

  She mentally slapped herself. This training was important and the proof of it was in the infirmary. She needed to learn how to protect herself and the ones she loved, as well as the skills necessary to reign as a phoenix, the world’s best hope for stopping the apocalypse. She needed to focus.

  They started with some basic defensive tactics. She would block Lucas as he tried to attack her and he would block her as she tried to attack him. Percaline was surprised at how naturally gifted she was. She had always been athletic, but this was a whole new level. She was as strong if not stronger than Lucas and she didn’t tire. Maybe he was going easy on her?

  “Okay, break it up,” Don yelled as she and Lucas again found themselves in a tangle of body parts because neither one of them would admit defeat. As they untangled and stood, Don went on, “I think you should try sword work.”

  “Okay, but only if you think Percaline will be able to keep up,” Lucas taunted.

  Percaline smiled a wicked smile. “Don’t hold back,” she said, waiting for Lucas to agree to her terms. Lucas nodded in agreement. Fencing was something that Percaline was really good at and she was guessing that sword fighting wouldn’t be too different, maybe a little more difficult on her arms because of the weight of the sword.

  “These swords were forged by the House for each of you specifically. When you are not in the House you are expected to carry them with you,” Don said. He drew the swords one at a time from the barrel and handled each to its new owner.

  Percaline’s sword was gold, with a red stone etched with the symbol of a phoenix on the handle. She caught a glimpse of Lucas’s sword, which was silver with a purple stone in the center, depicting the eye of the Gargoyle. “Where am I supposed to put this when I’m aboveground?” she asked.

  “When you are in the Underworld you will carry them in a sheath on your back that will not interfere with your wings. When you are aboveground, the sheath and the sword will become a part of you, camouflaging itself as a tattoo like your wings,” Don said, handing them each a sheath.

  She pulled it from the sheath a couple of times, testing its weight, length, and accessibility. Lucas was doing the same. She wondered for a second how much sword training Lucas had had in the military and guessed very little to none.

  Don directed them to either side of the hay bale maze. Their objective was to find and disarm their opponent.

  Percaline started. From a distance the maze hadn’t looked as intimidating as it was up close. It towered over her, made up not so much of hay bales as hay walls. She had her sword up, waiting for an ambush.

  Don stood on a platform in the center of the maze. Percaline kept moving towards him, trying not to get frustrated at each dead end. She started to panic, which caused her to move more quickly. After this challenge they were finished with training for the day and not only did she want to watch the trials, she also wanted to take her time getting ready for tonight’s date. She might even try to work in some library time.

  She held on to these thoughts because they were the only thing keeping her from complete panic. She hated being closed in. She gave the wall beside her a push. It didn’t budge.

  Great, she thought, she was going to be snuck in here for the rest of her life and she was probably going to die in here. She started to breathe heavily and her eyes began to dart back and forth rapidly. She started to sheathe her sword, trying to steady herself. As she did she looked at the jewel in the handle of the sword. She guessed that the phoenix etched in the jewel wouldn’t panic for no reason. She closed her eyes to center herself. She was a phoenix and she could do this. She had people who depended on her. She breathed in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She could round one more corner and then another after that as long as she took them one at a time.

  She didn’t have to round more than one corner, though, because at that moment Lucas dropped in on her from above, knocking her down. She held onto her sword and quickly jumped back up. He looked feral with wings, purple eyes, and an ominous expression on his face.

  “You cheated,” Percaline told him as their swords clashed. She braced herself as Lucas bent her backwards under his sword. “Don said we could use any method we deemed necessary to win,” he told her. “I used wings.” Percaline took a step back into one of the legs of Don’s platform, tripped and fell backwards. In true Poseidon style, he was being lifted up by water and the “leg” she had fallen over, although sturdy, was comprised of water.

  Lucas was bearing down on her but she still had her sword in her hand. She covered her face with her sword hand, pretending to be afraid as she inserted her other hand into the leg of water.

  “Ha ha. I got you,” Lucas said with his sword pointed at her head. “Don, I think we’re finished here.” He bellowed in triumph, looking up at Don, which was just what Percaline needed to pull off her stunt. She uncovered her ey
es and straightened her sword, pointing it at Lucas. “You have to disarm me to win,” Percaline said as a wall of water formed behind her. Lucas started to back up, watching the wall of water become taller and taller, then he glanced at her. “Percaline, your eyes.”

  She could feel her eyes glowing with that weird phoenix fire thing. She could also feel her wings at her back. She rose from the ground with both hands out-stretched, controlling the water. She forced her arms forward and released the wall of water at Lucas while forming a water-free tunnel around herself. Lucas was swamped before he could fly away. As Don’s platform disintegrated, he remained in the air standing on nothing before lowering himself to the ground behind her.

  Picking up his sword, Percaline handed it to a soggy and disgruntled Lucas. “I win,” she said as she walked away with a smile on her face. Hopefully there would be no hard feelings.