“I’m a Phoenix,” she whispered. “We don’t die from our fire, we burn out and are reborn.” She reached out to grasp his hand, her fingers clasping around just one of his enormous talons. “Thank you for coming.”
He cringed, realising her tiny form was cradled within the arms of a beast. He looked away, attempting to ensure she couldn’t gaze upon him any longer.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t hide something so spectacular.” Her voice was weak and he could tell it was taking everything she had not to sink into unconsciousness.
“I’m sorry you had to see me like this,” he apologised. He hadn’t registered the praise she had spoken, because the hateful, mocking words from the past overpowered her whisper. He flinched as her arm curled around his neck, pulling herself up until their noses almost touched. He searched her eyes, expecting to see revulsion and disgust, but instead he saw something which caused his heart to flutter. Despite his bestial appearance, she looked at him now with the same desire she’d had all those times they had almost kissed. As if reading his thoughts, her lips pressed to his muzzle with weak hunger.
He closed his eyes, no longer fearing the stirring of heat she caused in his core. The elation of her acceptance enveloped him and his blood burned for her. This one kiss did everything he feared it would. The fire of his essence consumed them both, but hers simply answered in kind, creating harmony. She pulled away, sucking her bottom lip as if to taste him for a moment longer. With a smile on her lips, her eyes flickered shut as she once more grew heavy in his arms.
Through the hole above them, the damp mist from the rescue services’ hoses began to cascade down upon them. “Let’s get you out of here,” he whispered, his form shedding around him as the fiery essence that created it was reabsorbed back into himself, along with an overwhelming sense of fatigue. His clothes had fused to his skin, causing him to cry out as he peeled his jacket from his blistered flesh in order to wrap it around her naked body. The ifrit part of him was something which grew from within, a living shell, and as such, anything in his possession was normally shielded, but her fire had been too much, even for him.
Pain radiated from his core as his arms grew heavy. He stood, scooping her into his protective grasp, staggering slightly as a feeling of weakness began to consume him. With a growl, he gripped her tightly and an overwhelming feeling of protectiveness encompassed his very being as he forced himself beyond the pain, beyond the exhaustion. He pushed them away to a place in his mind he could return to later. For now, the only thing that mattered was Ashley. He gritted his teeth. He was getting her out of here, getting her to safety. Nothing, no one would harm her again. Not so long as he drew breath.
Tess watched with emptiness as the remaining frame of the building started to collapse in on itself. The firefighters were doing their best, but the flames were aggressive. She had listened with numbness as Alex spoke to his team and they recounted the quick and easy execution of all involved parties, many being trapped by the collapsing ceiling and unforgiving fire. A name kept circling in her mind as she listened. They spoke of numbers, of the clans they identified. But it seemed to Tess that people were missing. They had shielded and diverted their chip location data so it appeared they were in other places. A nearly impossible feat, but Tess had the skills to isolate who had been present, and if their numbers were correct, at least two people were unaccounted for. One was a figure known as Thaddeus. The other, however, she was certain was the person responsible for everything that had happened.
“Vincent Masters,” she whispered finally. Alex crouched down beside her, giving her his full attention. “The Taphouse and this mansion both belonged to his clan. Please tell me he was amongst the dead. Tell me you got the bastard who killed my friends!” Tears streamed down her face as she watched the building with a growing sense of emptiness.
“The wronged have been avenged.” Detective Mendel’s voice startled her. She hadn’t even noticed his arrival on site but, from the ash and debris clinging to him, he must have been here for sometime. “We apprehended him trying to flee. Justice was swift.”
“Detective Mendel,” Alex acknowledged gravely.
“Did my son go in there?” he questioned, already seeming to know the answer.
“He did.”
“So your sister was a Phoenix. I guess I was worried over nothing.” He placed his hand on Alex’s shoulder.
“Worried over nothing?” Tess sniffled, wondering how he could possibly think that, given both his son and her best friend were dead.
“About his feelings. We thought she was ice-aligned like the rest of the Ciele family,” he explained to her. She saw confusion cross his face as he looked upon her. Almost as if the pain she was feeling, that she wore upon her stained cheeks, somehow didn’t make sense.
“Why would that mean anything? What good does that do now?” she demanded, casting a brief glance towards Jack who was seated in one of the P.T.F. vehicles. Bindu had said they would take everyone to their base. She knew they were waiting for her, but she couldn’t bring herself to move.
“She turned his eyes gold. We thought he’d destroy her, but it turns out…”
“She destroyed him instead,” Alex finished.
“Now, why’d you go and say something like that?” Reuben Mendel demanded, as Tess heard the horrific sounds of her sobs. “Didn’t you hear
