The Phoenix Prophecy: Nova

Mack, Luther, and Tanner have been arguing for almost an hour. Luther is fuming. Literally. Smoke is coming from him. Like he’s going to combust at any moment.

Finally, I’ve had enough. “Stop!” I stand up and wave my arms. “Stop it, all of you.” In unison, they look at me. Then they look behind me.

“She’s right.” It’s Kole’s voice. Deep and grumbling. Like distant thunder. “We shouldn’t be fighting.” He strides to the center of the room and puts a firm hand on Luther’s shoulder. “We’re brothers. We don’t fight.”

“Kole,” Luther says stiffly, “I spent the last four days watching you try to straighten yourself out after what happened, and you think this is a risk you should be taking?”

“No,” Kole replies.

My heart beats faster. He promised. He said he’d do it.

“But I think it’s our only option.” He fixes Luther with a dark stare. “Did you find Nova’s ex? Figure out who’s working with him?”

Luther shakes his head.

Kole turns to Mack. “Did you get the video taken down?”

Mack closes his eyes.

“Then we’re running out of time. Because we’re not the only ones who know about the prophecy, and when the League sees that video, they’ll put the pieces together just like we did when Nova showed up in town. They’ll come for her. We have to be prepared.”

“We don’t need her memories for that.” Luther takes Kole’s elbow and grips it firmly. “We assume she’s the Phoenix. We protect her.” He looks around the room. “We don’t need her memories.”

“Except maybe we do.” Mack speaks slowly. Luther seems surprised that his sheriff is disagreeing with him.

“What?”

“Someone sealed them. Which means there’s something there we’re not supposed to see. Something Nova’s not supposed to see.”

Kole nods in agreement. Before he can say anything, Tanner stands from the table and walks over to join the others.

“Luther, I don’t like it either,” he says tentatively. “But if Kole and Nova are willing to do it, we should stop arguing and help them make it as safe as we can.”

Luther grits his teeth. When he looks at me, the heat in his eyes makes me shudder. “Fine.” He looks toward a door in the corner of the room. “Then let’s do it.”

“Where are we going?” I whisper to Tanner as Luther pulls open the door.

Tanner puts his arm around my waist. “The cellar. We have equipment down there.”

“Equipment?”

He glances at me and guides me toward the now open door. “Restraints,” he replies softly.

“I thought there was a spell…”

In front of us, Luther turns and says, “Better to be safe than sorry.”

From the kitchen, we step down into a dark stairwell. It leads down in a spiral, down and down, becoming cooler and darker.

Luther clicks his fingers and lights a flame. I copy him. Tanner nods, more impressed than Mack by my newfound trick.

At the bottom of the spiral staircase, we reach a long stone corridor that must stretch almost the length of the entire mansion. A large wooden door greets us at the end. Mack has the key. A rather old-fashioned method of opening a lock compared to what I’ve witnessed since I arrived in town.

Inside, Luther sends sparks flying around the room and lamps flicker to life. An orange glow settles on us. There’s nothing here. I look around, confused. I’d been expecting some kind of spells lab. Big bubbling potions, pots, or at least something to sit on. But the room is completely empty.

Until Mack clicks his fingers.

Something makes a shunting noise, followed by the sound of rock grinding on rock. I turn and realize the wall is changing. The stones move, rotate, and then suddenly there are chains. Fixed into the wall with thick metal cuffs on the ends of them.

I inhale sharply. They’re going to put Kole in those?Owned by NôvelDrama.Org.

Next to me, Tanner’s expression has changed. He swallows hard and something tells me there’s a memory there. A bad one. I move closer to him, his warmth soothing the molten fear that’s now surging through my limbs.

Without saying a word, Kole walks to the shackles and kneels down. Mack is the one who locks him in. Wrists, ankles, and neck.

The sound of the metal closing around his throat makes me wince.

The Viking is strong, but not strong enough to break those chains. Surely?

Exchanging a glance, Mack and Luther begin to chant. It’s the same tongue Rev used. A language I don’t understand but feel like I should.

When they’re done, Kole looks the same, but there’s a red shimmer around him that moves with his breath.

Kole nods at Tanner. Stepping behind me, Tanner guides me until I’m a few feet in front of Kole. Then, in a movement so sudden it makes my heart hammer in my chest, Kole lunges for me. The restrains pull taut. His muscles strain as he pulls against them. I step back, raise my palms, fire already forming on my skin.

“It’s okay.” Tanner cups his hands around mine and curls my fingers closed. “He’s just making sure.”

I breathe out slowly. The air down here is damp and icy, but my skin is on fire. Alert. The way it felt the very first night I arrived in Phoenix Falls.

In the corner of the room, Luther is still chanting under his breath. But Mack isn’t Mack anymore.

“Snow,” I breathe, leaving Tanner and walking to the giant white bear.

Blinking at me with amber eyes, Snow dips his head and nuzzles my chest. I stroke his face, allow my fingers to nestle in his fur.

A hand on my shoulder makes me turn around. Tanner meets my eyes. “Kole’s ready. Are you?”

“What do I have to do?”

Tanner takes my hand and tells me to kneel in the exact spot I stood a moment ago. The floor is cold and hard on my knees, even through my jeans.

“I want you to look into my eyes. That’s it.” Kole flexes his fingers.

“You remember how to do this?” Tanner asks, his hand on my shoulder.

Kole cocks his head. “I remember.”

Tanner bends and kisses my neck, the spot below my ear. “We’re all here,” he says. Then he leaves me. Takes the corner opposite Luther.

I’m in the center of a mage quadrangle, and the energy vibrating in the room is so powerful I can almost see it.

Without speaking, Kole nods at me. He blinks, and when his eyes open again, they’re black. Pure ebony. Pools of darkness that draw me in. The sensations I felt with Rev and Tanner return. Stronger. Faster. The lamp light intensifies. The flickering grows. The orange becomes brighter and brighter. A voice. Something is coming. Then a roar.

Kole yells and screws his eyes shut. He clenches his head in his hands. The brightness fades. When he looks up, he finds my gaze and tries again.

A second time.

A third.

After the fourth, his nose begins to bleed and Tanner steps in. “Kole, stop. Whatever’s sealing her memories, it’s too strong.”

I sink back onto the cold floor. My head is spinning. Snow paces over and nudges me with his nose. I lean into his leg. It’s soft and sturdy. I’m so tired I could sleep right here.

“Maybe if you and Rev join forces?” Tanner asks.

Kole shakes his head. “It’s bigger than that.”

As he lets out a frustrated growl and wipes the blood from his face with the back of his hand, I sit up.

Blood.

“Kole?” I search his face. I remember the way he looked when he chased me through The Cross. But I also remember the way I felt when I very first saw him. “I have an idea.”

“An idea?” He takes a bottle of water from Tanner and takes a long swig, his chains rattling, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he gulps down the water.

“The League used F.H.B. to give you enough power to access the prophecy.”

Kole blinks at me. “Is that a question?”

I glance at my wrists. As I raise my eyes, Tanner begins to shake his head. “No. Absolutely not.”

Behind me, Snow lets out a deep snarl.

“We’ve all seen what my blood does to you. Could it be enough? Enough to break whatever’s locking my memories away?”

Kole opens his mouth and breathes a long heavy breath, as if the very idea of tasting me like that has kicked his senses to another level.

“No.” Tanner steps between us.

“Yes.” Kole’s answer is gruff and firm.

I turn and look at Snow. He’s shaking his head, moving it gently from side to side, baring his teeth. In the far corner, Luther’s chant takes on an icy edge, but he doesn’t stop.

I stand and take Tanner’s hands in mine. “You’re all here. He won’t hurt me.”

Tanner closes his eyes. He can feel my determination. I know he can.

“What about you?” I turn to Kole. “Will it hurt you? Will it make you…” I search for the word. “Relapse?”

Kole’s eyes graze my face. He moves his tongue over his lower lip. “Yes.”

“Exactly.” Tanner kneels down and looks into Kole’s eyes. “Kole. There has to be another way.”

There’s a long pause. Kole and Tanner are staring at one another as if they’re exchanging thoughts that no one else can hear.

A shiver creeps from my neck to the base of my spine. I crouch next to Tanner and grip his upper arm. “You believe we need to know what happened? What started the fire? How I lived when my family didn’t?”

Reluctantly, he nods.

“You believe this needs to happen soon? That we can’t wait until we find another solution?”

Again, he nods.

Kole’s voice interrupts me. “Then we have no choice. This is the only way.”