Chapter 14
Savannah
Don was conveniently nowhere to be found, so Savannah had gone to sleep early because she was emotionally, physically, and mentally drained. She woke up at four and made her way down to the kitchen, hoping to find out how Percaline and Lucas’s date went and wanting a piece of fish for breakfast. She mentally slapped herself for putting “fish” and “breakfast” in the same sentence. Her new-found cravings were disgusting but they were hers nonetheless.
Percaline wasn’t in the kitchen when she arrived. Savannah smiled, hoping that there was a really good reason for Percaline sleeping in and reminding herself to give Lucas a high-five if there was. She pulled out a piece of cod from the refrigerator and threw it in the microwave, and then she moved to the coffee pot.
The kitchens were dark and eerie at night, not creepy but still, like they were waiting for the haunting hour, which in this house they probably were. She didn’t want to wait around to see or get in someone’s way, so she took her fish and her coffee and headed to the library. She would see what Don was up to. She’d taken her inability to find him as a sign that she needed to sleep on it. Now she was well rested and less angry, but still curious and she still had questions for him.
She found Don sitting at his usual table in the library. He looked up from the stack of books and papers in front of him. “Hello. What are you doing up so early?” he asked.
She put her plate and coffee down on the table, pulled out a chair, sat, and got right into it. “Why didn’t you tell me that you knew my mother?”
Don blinked a couple of times before regaining his composure. “I…” He trailed off. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Why don’t you just tell me the whole story starting at the beginning?” she said, taking a bite of her cod. She didn’t want him to know how much the story he was about to tell would affect her.
“Okay, then.” He gathered his thoughts before he started. “During one of his trips to Colorado to visit me, Zeus and I got into one of our little spats about something completely trivial. He left me and walked to the bar that was just down the street from my house. That’s where he met your mother. According to both of them it was love at first sight.” He smiled. “A year later Percaline was born and Zeus left Selena, swearing that he would never again speak to her because she had cheated on him.”
“Because Percaline was a girl?” Savannah asked.
“Exactly, and by divine law Zeus could not have fathered Selena’s child. He was hurt and really angry. I was caught in the middle. Selena and I had gotten to know each other when Zeus was courting her and we’d hit it off. When Zeus left her, she had just made it through a very difficult childbirth. She was weak and she was sick. The doctors didn’t think she was going to make it. Zeus told me to choose a side and I chose your mother’s.
“I stayed with her and Percaline and eventually I realized that I had fallen in love with Selena. When I told her my feelings, she didn’t reciprocate. I think she was always waiting for Zeus to come back, but I knew that he wouldn’t because cheating is a mortal sin and my brother is very by-the-book. She told me that Zeus would never forgive us and she made me leave, making me promise that I would never contact her again. Percaline was two years old.” A tear ran down Don’s face as he finished.
“You loved her?” Savannah asked, handing him a tissue from the box that just materialized.
“I did,” Don answered, taking the tissue.
“Did you ever contact her?” Savannah asked. This question was crucial.
Don stared at her for a long time before answering. “I didn’t. It wasn’t until I felt her ashes in the sea that I knew she had died. Had I known she was sick, I would have been there.” He grabbed one of her hands. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone.”
Savannah was silently crying now. “I didn’t go through it alone. Percaline, Lucas, and Uncle Jon were there.”
Don patted her hand. “I didn’t even know that you existed until after she died.”
“And you felt her ashes when we scattered them with Uncle Jon’s off the coast of Santa Barbara?” Savannah questioned.
“Yes. I also found out that your Uncle Jon had died and that Percaline had custody of you.” He paused again, shaking his head. “Selena knew how to contact me but she never did.”
Savannah thought about it for a second and everything clicked into place. “You’re our benefactor.”
“I am,” Don said. “She didn’t tell me that she was dying so I figured that she didn’t want me around you two girls. I decided to help any way I could. When the prophecy was spoken and I found out the phoenix was in New Haven, I decided to move there. I didn’t know that Percaline was the phoenix.” Don laughed. “That was a surprise to me too, but Percaline being the phoenix has afforded me the opportunity to get to know the both of you and you are both so much like Selena.”
“But Percaline looks exactly like Zeus,” Savannah accused. “She doesn’t look like my mom at all.”
“You should look at a picture of your Uncle Jon and compare it to a picture of Percaline at the same age. They look very similar,” Don said. She was definitely going to do that when she got back to her room.
“Did my mom ever tell you who Percaline’s father was?” she asked.
“No. She swore she never cheated on Zeus,” he answered. “But there was no other explanation.” Savannah didn’t believe that. “But how do you know that Percaline wasn’t the child to set a new precedent?” she asked.
“She wasn’t. Other Gods since have had children and all first born are the same sex as the God,” Don replied.
“But how did Zeus know the phoenix was in New Haven unless he’d been keeping track of his daughter and knew it was her?” Savannah questioned. This whole thing didn’t make sense.
Don drew in another long breath and replied. “I don’t know how he knew the phoenix was in New Haven. He probably used a similar method as Josephine did to figure it out. And who is to say that Percaline being the phoenix wasn’t a complete coincidence?”
“But…” she started to ask but Don cut her off. “I have to get back to this,” he said, gesturing to the stack of paperwork in front of him. “I failed Selena once and I will not fail her again. I will make sure you and Percaline are safe. So please excuse me.”
Savannah didn’t push Don for any more answers. She knew that what he had given her was all she was going to get. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t do her own research privately. She walked up to the second floor and asked Mary Anne the librarian for anything she had on any of the previous phoenix and on God genetics. She wanted to see if any of Percaline’s new phoenix abilities were actually inherited from Zeus. If there was one thing she knew about her mother, it was that she didn’t lie. She might have evaded the truth but she never lied about anything.
Josephine
Josephine was reading and walking at the same time, which was a normal occurrence for her since she’d regained her sight. What she hadn’t expected was to nearly collide with Savannah, who was entering the same stack in the library that Josephine was exiting. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t expect anyone to be up here,” Josephine said, assessing the book for damage and coffee stains. It was clean, but Savannah wasn’t so lucky. She was now wearing the coffee she’d been carrying.
“I’ll remember to wear a bell next time,” Savannah said, wiping the bottom of her coffee cup on her soiled sweatshirt. She set the cup down on one of the bookshelves and pulled the sweatshirt up and over her head. “That’s better,” she said. She was still wearing pajamas, so whatever it was that had her in the library at this hour of the day must be important.
“Were you looking for me?” Josephine asked, trying to figure out why Savannah was out of bed and away from Mason’s side. From what she had seen the two of them were inseparable, especially since his attack.
“No,” Savannah said and she smiled. Josephine thought that she was no doubt holding
back some snide comment. They had that kind of relationship. Josephine respected Savannah and she thought Savannah respected her, but they were more acquaintances than friends. Both were there for Percaline, not so much for each other. “I wanted to do some research on Percaline’s power and I thought Mary Anne said that this was the correct place.”
“It is,” Josephine replied. “But I think I’ve got just about every book on phoenix abilities at my table.”
“Oh,” Savannah said, sounding defeated. Maybe she wasn’t as feisty in the morning?
“But you can have them,” Josephine said. “I’m still reading up on possession.”
“Okay. Do you also happen to have a book about Zeus’s abilities at your table?” Savannah asked hopefully.
“No, but I think there should be some right over here.” Josephine rounded the bookcase and perused the books on the other side. “Yeah, here you go.”
Savannah took the book from Josephine’s out-stretched hand. “Thanks.”
“May I ask you what you’re looking up?” she asked Savannah, guiding her back to her table. They passed several bookcases and some type of fossilized dinosaur Josephine had never seen before. The library was quite strange but very accommodating.
Savannah hesitated before answering. “If I tell you, will you keep it to yourself?”
Josephine didn’t like keeping secrets from people and she wouldn’t lie, but she did want to know what Savannah was up to. “Unless someone asks me a direct question about whatever you tell me, yes,” she answered.
Savannah seemed to like that answer and sat down at the table. “Fair enough. I just found out that Zeus and my mom were dating before and up to when Percaline was born and I would like to see if I can find irrefutable proof that Zeus and Percaline are father and daughter.”
Josephine wasn’t surprised. She had learned to expect this type of thing from Savannah because she had been correct so far about all of her hunches. “And Don doesn’t agree with your theory, which is why you’re being secretive?”
“Yes. He says it’s impossible because Percaline is a girl.” Savannah started to browse through a pile of books. “Have you told Percaline your theory?” Josephine asked.
“No, I don’t want to tell her in case I’m incorrect.” Savannah paused. “Which also means that I can’t ask her if Mom told her anything about her father without her getting suspicious.”
“You guys have never talked about your fathers?” Josephine asked. She knew that Savannah and Percaline had different fathers but this was still foreign to her. She came from a huge family where all of her siblings not only had the same father but they were all raised by him and knew him well.
“No, but I’m sure that my mom didn’t tell Percaline that her father was a Greek God. I think she would have shared that with us,” Savannah replied.
“But you didn’t tell her about your father?” Josephine pointed out.
Savannah stopped to ponder the question. “No. If Percaline knew anything about my father it would only make her feel helpless and with everything that’s going on, it’s not the time.”
Josephine didn’t understand the part about helpless but she didn’t push because it wasn’t her business. “Okay, then I will let you get to your research. Let me know if you need any help or a sounding board to bounce ideas off of.”
Savannah took the phoenix books from Josephine and moved to the table next to her, freeing up space. Josephine and Landon were scheduled to fight against Nathaniel and Isidora later this morning but she still had a couple of hours until then and tons of research to do. She had finished the Book of the Dead and had been about to move onto the unofficial records of Exorcism as kept by the Catholic Church when she’d run into Savannah. Nathaniel had pointed her in that direction earlier before he’d left to retire to bed. Josephine had gone to bed too, but only long enough to rest her mind and her eyes. Now she was ready for answers.
Nathaniel arrived somewhere between Linda Blair and Emily Rose (Josephine thought Savannah would appreciate the movie trivia), with coffee for himself, Josephine, and Savannah.
“Thanks!” Josephine said, taking her cup. “I kept meaning to get up but I didn’t.”
“I assumed as much,” Nathaniel replied. “Looks like the both of you are working hard. Can I help with something?”
Josephine thought she was irritable when studying, but realized she had nothing on Savannah, who took the coffee but shooed Nathaniel off while remaining fully involved in making her lists.
Josephine had noticed Savannah’s lists earlier; she had one for phoenix abilities and one for Zeus’s abilities. Both now looked full of information. Josephine wished her research was going as well.
“I could use a break,” Josephine told Nathaniel. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”
“You want to know about me?” Nathaniel asked with surprise.
“You know all about me and my family and I know next to nothing about you. Fair is fair,” she said and Savannah chimed in without looking up from her book. “She’s got a point, Nathaniel.”
“Okay then, what would you like to know?” Nathaniel asked and sat down in what was becoming his designated seat at Josephine’s table.
“Why don’t you start with what kind of creature you are?” Josephine paused. “We know that Blake is a shape-shifter and that Isidora is a vampire, but we don’t know what you and Rainata are.”
“Rainata belongs to the League of Saints. Normally I would only share with you what I am and leave Rainata’s secret for her to tell, but she is so darn modest that I doubt she will be able to do herself justice.” Savannah was now paying attention to his story and moved her chair closer to hear.
“You know Alice in Resident Evil?” Nathaniel didn’t wait for a response. “Her character was loosely based on Rainata. She’s a zombie huntsman.”
“Shut up!” Savannah said, then realized what that could mean. “She won’t try to kill Reaves, will she?”
“No, not unless Reaves goes aboveground,” Nathaniel elaborated. “Zombies in the Underworld are just dead people that still have bodies but aboveground they become mindless starving monsters. A while back Rainata had to take care of a problem with zombies aboveground.”
“Wow,” Savannah said. “That’s so cool.”
“Yeah, she’s kind of a badass,” Nathaniel replied and smiled. He was proud of her.
“And are you two married?” Josephine asked, curious about his marital status although she had no desire to date him. She had noticed the look of pride on his face whenever he talked about Rainata, which was often.
Nathaniel laughed at her. “Rainata? No. She’s my best girl friend and if you spend any time around us you’ll see that we’re more like brother and sister. She picks on me and I pick on her.”
“Did you two grow up together?” Savannah asked.
Nathaniel seemed to be waiting for Josephine to accept his declaration but she said nothing. “I met Rainata a couple years ago when she was dating my twin brother Logan. They split up but we remained friends.”
“Is he an identical twin?” Savannah asked.
Nathaniel smiled again. This was obviously fun for him. “He is, but he’s now married with two kids, and he’s kind of a dick. Although we’re identical we couldn’t be more different. We’re from different ends of the spectrum.”
“So what are you?” Josephine asked as Savannah hurriedly wrote something down on her sheet of paper.
“I’m a dragon,” Nathaniel answered.
“Don did say he was going to get us a dragon,” Josephine said, baffled. “I just expected a dragon to be large and scaly, not small and human.”
Nathaniel shrugged. “I can breathe fire and I have wings.” He seemed sad, like she had punctured his ego.
Savannah covered for her. “That’s pretty badass too,” she said.
“It is,” Josephine said, catching on that she had hurt his feelings. “It would have been difficult to house the kind
of dragon I’m thinking of anyway.” She went on, feeling bad. “And you’re much better looking than the kind I’m thinking of.” Nathaniel blushed a little at that. Josephine wondered why men were so bad at taking compliments and so good at finding criticism even when there wasn’t any. “I’m glad you’re my bodyguard,” she said.
Savannah started back with her collection of books and Josephine tasked Nathaniel with helping her read through real life possessions.
Percaline
Jon guided Percaline down the streets of the Underworld. As they walked, she held his hand and told him about the things that had happened over the last couple of days. He was still young in her dreams but he still had the depth of the older wiser man he had been. She had started with Truthaven, becoming a phoenix, the Underworld, and now she was up to the part about her and Lucas. “I said yes and we had our first date last night. It was incredible.” Everything in her world always came back to Lucas and it felt right.
“And you love him?” Jon said in his child voice. He stopped in front of a store window. Percaline observed the interesting fashion designs of the Underworld.
“I do,” she said with pep in her voice. She was head-over-heels.
“Well, it’s about time,” Jon said, not moving away from the window.
“You think so?” she asked.
“You two are soul mates. That’s apparent from the fact that you’re a phoenix and he’s your Gargoyle,” Jon said.
“Yeah, I guess so.” She wondered how he had made the leap from the story she had told him to phoenix and Gargoyles being soul mates.
Jon interrupted her thought process. “Here they come.” Percaline started to turn around. “No, don’t turn around. Just look at the window.”
“Is this what we’re doing here? Spying on someone?” she asked.
“Yes, and that is a convenient verb. You have a spy among you.” Jon pointed to the window. Percaline peered at it, seeing the reflection of a large run-down building surrounded by a chain-link fence. A sign in front of it had a couple of words covered in dust but she was able to make out one of them, sanatorium. A couple of people were meeting in front of it. One of them was Isidora the vampire.
Percaline woke up with a start. Lucas rolled over and hugged him to her. “Jon?” he asked in a sleepy voice. He was used to this type of thing. She had dreams of Jon on a regular basis and each time she woke up sudden and breathless.
“Yeah,” she said. She didn’t think seeing Jon was ever going to be easy for her. She loved the fact that he visited her in her dreams, but although she had forgiven him for killing himself she would never get over not being able to see him in real life every day. “I’m going to walk around the House,” she said as she kissed Lucas on the forehead and made to get up.
“I’ll go with you,” Lucas said as he let go of her.
She patted his arm lightly, lovingly. “No, you stay in bed. I need alone time to think about everything.” Percaline rolled over and got out of bed.
Lucas shot up as her words sunk in. “You need to think about everything?” he asked accusingly.
It took her a minute to catch on, then she kneeled on the bed, cupped his face in both hands and kissed him. “Not about us. We’re perfect. I want to think about all this Underworld stuff.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. The tension in his back lessened.
“That you’re perfect? Yes!” She smiled.
He wrapped her in his arms again and fell back on to the bed, pulling her on top of him. “Good, because I’m all in. I want to be with you.”
“I’m all in too,” she said. “But seriously, you should go back to bed. I don’t want you blaming me for sleep deprivation when I kick your ass at practice later.”
Lucas smiled, already half asleep. “Why do I like you again?” he asked sarcastically as he released her.
“Because I’m so good-looking,” she teased him. “I’ll come back before training.”
She left Lucas in the bed, threw on a pair of his boxers and a shirt, and left the room. It was still early but not as early as she was used to. She wanted to think and she decided to kill two birds at once; she could pace the hallways while she explored the House. Although now that she was a phoenix, she should probably stop using the words “kill” and “bird” in the same sentence.
She made her way down to the kitchen. She wanted something warm to hold in her hands as she walked around. Percaline recalled the dream as she let her feet guide her. When she got to the kitchen she was startled to see Isidora there.
Isidora was wearing pajamas and she yawned when Percaline walked through the door. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Percaline replied, keeping everything normal. She grabbed a cup and a teabag, then filled up the cup with hot water. “Are you just getting to bed?” she asked.
Isidora looked down at her pajamas. “No, I’m just getting up. I have to train with Josephine and Landon soon and Rainata drank me under the table last night.” She yawned again. She did look a little hung over.
Percaline finished filling up her cup and bid Isidora goodbye. Isidora didn’t look like a deadly killer, but then again not all of the spies in the movies did either. And vampires were deadly. She would keep an eye on her and she would tell Josephine and Landon to do the same. The House was never wrong but Jon had never been wrong before either.
She didn’t know where to start exploring, so she started with the level she was on. She had seen the kitchens, the brewery, and the dining room, but she hadn’t yet looked at what was on the other side of the staircase.
The room underneath the stairs was the first new room she found. The door itself looked out of place. It was a short and green with a large gold handle. Using two hands, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. She bent down to enter the room and felt around for a light switch. When the light came on she was glad she hadn’t just walked into the room in darkness because if she had she would have broken her ankle or skinned her knee. The floor was two stairs down from the doorway.
A bell hung from the ceiling in the center of the room and below it was a large gold dome. Beside them a painting of a naked woman in billowing blue sheets hung on the wall. Birds flew in the background about the woman’s head. She was beautiful and there was no doubt in Percaline’s mind that it was the same woman from the rest of the House. She reached out to touch the painting, whose caption read, “La Nuit by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.”
“This is your House, isn’t it?” she asked the painting, paying her respects.
“It is your House,” a voice said from behind her.
The voice was familiar although Percaline couldn’t place it. She didn’t hurry to turn around. There was no cause for alarm. The voice was both soothing and comforting like a friend from her past or someone from her dreams.
When she finally turned, the woman in front of her was the same woman from the painting. Energy radiated from her ethereal body and her hair blew around her face. She wore clothes that were too baggy for her frame, like she didn’t like the feel of cloth against her skin. Anyone as powerful and as sensual as her would be comfortable walking around in the buff. She didn’t need to wear clothes on Percaline’s account. It was her House, after all, and they were all just guests.
“You’re Nyx?” Percaline asked. The spelling of “Phoenyx” on the gate outside had circled around in her mind until she had finally put the pieces together, remembering the name Nyx from a book she had read once.
“I am. But people here also call me Griselda,” she said. “And you are our phoenix Percaline and this is your House as much as it is mine.”
There was something odd about this room. It made Percaline feel like she could share her innermost thoughts and feelings here. It was different from Truthaven, though. It wanted you to bare not just your truth but your soul. “I wish I could see myself through your eyes,” Percaline said. “Everyone here has so much faith in me and I don’t want to disappoint you or the rest of humanity.”
Nyx smiled lovingly. “You will not disappoint me or anyone else. You are stronger than you think you are. There is a reason you became the phoenix.” Nyx pointed to her.
Percaline had a thought. “We’re connected, aren’t we? You and I, I mean. That’s why ‘Phoenyx’ is spelled the way it is and the reason this painting has several phoenix circling you?”
“We are. Your powers are derived from me and from this House,” Nyx answered, motioning around the room.
“But I thought the phoenix was the human soldier of God?” Percaline said.
“You are the human soldier of God but also of life, and when God created you she looked to me, Spirit, to shape you. She wanted the phoenix to have more humanity than the typical human and for that to occur you needed more soul.” Nyx hovered beside the large brass bell. “In Greek Mythology I’m the personification of night but in other religions I sit beside the Father and the Son as the Holy Spirit.”
It wasn’t lost on Percaline that Nyx called God She and Don always referred to God as He.
“You are one half Spirit,” Nyx finished.
Percaline let that roll around in her mind for a minute. “If that were true, wouldn’t I feel more than I do? Sometimes I don’t feel anything at all, like I’m numb.” Percaline touched her heart.
“You do feel things more intensely than anyone else. This is why you have so much anxiety and why you are able to turn your emotions off. The things you feel would kill any normal person. The ability to turn it off is a survival technique.” Nyx put her hand over Percaline’s on her heart. It was ice cold but still soothing, like menthol. “I’m sorry to say that you are the only phoenix to ever discover this ability on your own. I believe that to be a direct result of the trauma you’ve endured in your lifetime and I’m truly sorry for that.” Tears ran down Nyx’s face as she spoke.
Percaline felt an overwhelming love wash over her, like the tears of Nyx were healing any scars left on her heart. Any anxiety she felt, however slight, disappeared. She was quiet for a couple of minutes, basking in the lightness of her heart. “If I have more humanity than the normal human, then why are my instincts to kill Mischelle or to charge into battle?”
“Because you are still a soldier and those are a soldier’s instincts. War is not for the faint of heart but it is still a necessary part of life,” Nyx answered.
“Then why am I so scared of war?” Percaline asked.
“If the war begins, it will be a symbol of your losing. The first prophecy will have come true,” Nyx said.
“The first prophecy?” Percaline had never heard of there being more than one prophecy.
Nyx smiled her loving smile again and said, “Yes, prophecies come in threes.”
“Even if I stop the first one from coming true?” Percaline asked.
“Everything seems to have a loophole, but history suggests that prophecies always come in threes.” Nyx answered her like a politician, which made Percaline laugh.
She had one more question. “What is the bell for?” She had yet to hear it ring at the house.
Nyx explained to her that the bell was rung to symbolize the death of the phoenix or one of her allies. Percaline hoped that she never had to hear the bell chime.
She said goodbye to Nyx and left the room under the stairs. Unlike the rest of the House, time in the room went faster, so she headed back upstairs to wake Lucas and get ready for training, her heart still feeling light.
Lucas
Lucas awoke as soon as he felt Percaline approach the door. They had always had a connection but after last night it was much stronger. He could feel what she was feeling now, which is why he’d nearly had a heart attack this morning when she said she needed to think about everything. That statement had taken him by surprise. He had to try to be less insecure and more trusting of this new connection.
He watched her as she closed the door silently and tiptoed in, trying not to wake him. She was amazing. Last night was probably the best of his life. She was the woman he was going to marry, the woman he was going to have children and a family with. She was his family along with Savannah, Mason, Josephine, and Landon. “God, you are beautiful,” he said.
She smiled. “You’re not so bad yourself, handsome,” she said.
He couldn’t stand being away from her even for the seconds that it would take her to reach his bed, so he jumped up and met her halfway. He needed to touch her, needed to hold her, needed to feel her in his arms. “Do you feel what I’m feeling? It’s like my emotions have been amplified. Everything is so dramatic,” he said.
“I know what you mean. I’m so blissfully happy.” She wrapped her arms around him. “But I’m also afraid of what would happen to me if I lost you. I don’t think I would survive.”
Lucas hugged her to him. He was having the same feelings about her. She was his breath, his soul, his lifeline. “You won’t ever lose me. It’s not an option.”
She reached up to kiss his lips. “I love you.”
He kissed her back. He loved her too and he was going to show her how much. He was going to show her every minute of every day of his life. “Do you think Don would kill us if we were late for practice?” he asked.
“Yes, but we could always conserve time and water by taking a shower together,” she said with a coy smile on her face.
Lucas was definitely in love with her.
House of Phoenyx: House of Phoenyx book 1 Page 15