House of Phoenyx: House of Phoenyx book 1

by T. John Greene

  Chapter 20

  Percaline

  What felt like minutes in the other dimension was actually only seconds in the Underworld. Percaline concentrated on her rebirth. She needed to help Savannah and she knew how to do it. The different pieces of her as birds crashed into one another, starting a fire, and from it she resurrected herself, her phoenix eyes burning. Her emotions were still turned on and with every movement she had to concentrate on breathing. Without Lucas, life didn’t seem to matter anymore, but there was something she needed to do before she could stop the pain and turn off her emotions. She needed to save Savannah and without the pain she wouldn’t be able to do that.

  Landon, Rainata, and Isidora watched as she embodied herself from the fire and walked to Savannah, who was lying in Landon’s arms. She was pale and her breathing was labored. Percaline removed the bandage from Savannah’s wrist. Blood dripped out of her wound. “What are you doing?” Landon asked. He looked scared and unsure if the person who had just walked out of the fire was actually Percaline.

  “Nyx bestowed another gift onto me. It is the gift of healing,” Percaline said. She pressed the cut together and kept her hand there. She let the emotions of the past couple of days flow over her and her eyes began to water. Then she looked to where Lucas had been standing when he killed himself and then back at Savannah, who was barely breathing. Percaline began to cry. As her tears fell, they were transported through the hand she had on Savannah, healing her. Her wrist healed and her coloring came back. The healing continued to run from Percaline’s tears through Savannah’s body until all physical marks were erased.

  The time Percaline had spent in the other dimension was spent trying to convince herself that she needed to return to the Underworld. She had a sister and friends who cared about her and although there would forever be a hole in her heart, she decided that wasn’t reason enough to die. She was the soldier of God and she was humanity’s only chance of survival.

  Percaline didn’t care about humanity but she did care about Savannah, and she cared about Mason, Josephine, and Landon. She remembered back to the barbeque and all of the members of the House of Phoenyx that were counting on her. She thought back to all of the faces in the street she had seen her first night in the Underworld that had looked at her with such hope. She remembered all of the people who tried out at the trials and the bodyguards that had sworn to protect her and her family even at the expense of their own lives. Those were the memories that brought her back to reality.

  Percaline cried her last tear and stood up. Although Savannah hadn’t yet regained consciousness, Percaline knew she was going to be okay. Percaline was prepared for everything. She was prepared for her meeting with Isidora, who had tried to kill Lucas, and for her meeting with Don, the God who had given the order for her to do so. It was explained to her the importance of keeping the portal closed and why Lucas had done what he did and that his decision was made to save Savannah.

  As the thought of Lucas entered her head, she pushed her emotions to the side. It was too hard to think about him. She needed a level head when she spoke to Don, who she held accountable for everything that had happened. She lifted Savannah from the ground and carried her out of the sanatorium. Landon, Rainata, and Isidora followed her. The building was crumbling around them and they emerged from the dust into the Underworld’s dark light.

  They walked down the streets of the Underworld back to the House of Phoenyx. As Percaline walked, the Underworld’s coloring changed back to grays and blues, the colors of sorrow. It began to rain. As they had done the first time they entered the Underworld, people came out to watch as they passed. When they got to the street that led directly to the House, she saw her face fill every screen that hung over the cobblestoned walkway. She still carried Savannah in her arms. The people that lined the streets didn’t look happy or hopeful. They looked sad and scared. They bowed their heads as Percaline passed, a couple of them taking to their knees. They were mourning a fallen soldier.

  This could have been enough to break the wall that Percaline’s held her emotions behind, but it didn’t. She only had a couple more feet to go and these people needed a warrior, not a mourner. She was strong, so she pushed her feelings more deeply into her and took the moment for what it was worth.

  Josephine, Nathaniel, Mason, and Don came out of the House to meet them.

  “Savannah?” Mason said in a weak voice.

  “She’s okay,” Percaline said. She handed her sister to Landon so he could take her inside.

  “Your eyes,” Mason said, watching her inquisitively. Her phoenix fire eyes were still fierce. Percaline forced herself to smile at him. “I’m okay. Go with Savannah.”

  “You don’t look okay,” Mason said. “Where’s Lucas?”

  Percaline looked to Josephine, who shook her head. She hadn’t told Mason what she’d seen or what the bells symbolized.

  “Landon?” Percaline asked.

  “Mason, help me with Savannah,” Landon said, knowing why she asked for his help. Rainata, Isidora, Josephine, and Nathaniel followed them into the House, leaving Don and Percaline outside.

  Don knew what she was going to say before she said it. “Azazel couldn’t be allowed to rise, it would have… ”

  Percaline cut him off. “I want you out of the House. The entrances to and from Truthaven have been closed.” That was all she needed to say. She didn’t need to justify herself to him and she didn’t need his help. They didn’t need his help. He had withheld information from them, used them like they were dispensable pawns in a chess game, and had disappeared when they needed him most.

  She walked over the barrier and nodded to the gate in front of her. It sensed her command and closed. The House wouldn’t let him in unless she told it to.

  Percaline needed to check on Savannah, but before she did she needed a minute to herself. She would have to tell Savannah and Mason what had happened to Lucas and why he had decided to take his own life. She would also have to explain his absence to the House staff if they didn’t already know. Lucas’s death hadn’t left a body, so how was everyone supposed to mourn him?

  Percaline turned the key that was around her neck and entered Lucas’s room. Everything looked the same, like the House was somehow still expecting him to come home.

  Basil greeted Percaline at the door and nudged her leg as if asking her where Lucas was. She picked the little dog up and carried him to the bed. She pulled the sheets to her nose and breathed in Lucas. For an instant it was like he was still there.

  She went into the bathroom and closed the door to his room, leaving everything in it precisely how it had been. That was Lucas’s room and it always would be. She would treat it like she had his other rooms when he was out on a mission. She crossed through the bathroom and into her bedroom. She stopped, staring at her dresser. The sweatshirt that Lucas had given her was folded on his dresser and beside it the purple flower stood dead in its vase.