Drowning with Fire #3 ✔

Chapter 22 - Ember

"Shit," I muttered when I woke up and saw that my feathers had fallen off me and disintegrated into nothing during the night.

Theo's arm was gently looped over my waist, and I pulled the duvet covers up a little higher.

"Morning to you too," Theo's voice sounded in a hoarse grumble, which ended up sounding extremely sexy.

"I'm naked," I told him as I rolled over to face him – our noses touching.

"I love it when you're naked," he admitted sleepily. "You're very sexy."

"Oh, so that's why you stayed the whole night?" I teased.

"You know that's not true." Theo shut me up by pushing his lips against mine and drawing me closer. "But I have been meaning to ask you something..."

Reaching across to my bedside table, I closed my hand around my iron urn necklace and brought it between us. "It's about this, isn't it?"

He nodded. "But we don't have to talk about it if it's too soon–"

"It's okay, you can ask."

"How did you know?" He pleaded. "How did you know that you'd need this?"

"I didn't really know I was about to die. It was just a precaution," I told him honestly. "I hoped it wouldn't need to be used, but I always knew there was the possibility."

"The possibility that I wouldn't be able to protect you?" Blame and guilt drenched his words.

"No, it wasn't like that at all," I insisted, pushing my face closer to his. "What happened wasn't your fault. Killian must've had some sort of witch blocking you from helping me... But I don't blame you at all, Theo. It was just a really shitty, unfortunate accident."

"And what about these emblems on either side of the urn? The ankh and the Aquila symbol?" He pushed.

Sighing heavily, I raised my eyes to his as I told him, "The ankh symbol isn't associated with Killian the way you think it is. Shifting to the full Phoenix form opened my eyes to many things, particularly the Phoenix's past lives. The ankh is a symbol of immortality – the Phoenix's immortality. The emblem being on the iron urn is just a measure to ensure I returned."

Theo nodded slowly along with my words, before asking, "And what about the Aquila symbol?"

"I don't know how to explain this other than to tell you that it feels like the Phoenix has been waiting for a lover like you," I explained, a faint blush pinkening my cheeks. "Whether you like it or not, you and I are forever linked."

"I like it a lot, trust me," Theo reassured, then asked with curiosity evident in his tone, "What else did you learn when you shifted to the Phoenix?"

"I learned that the Phoenix has encountered the dark spirit that is possessing Kaden before," I told him – to which his eyebrows leapt up his face in surprise. "I learned that the Phoenix is grateful to me, as I'm practically the only woman who's tried to harness it."

"So... if your Phoenix has faced Killian's spirit before, does that mean that–?"

I nodded quickly, interrupting him and finishing off his question, "That I might be able to help Kaden. But the problem is that last time, the Phoenix ended up killing the possessed person too."

Theo's face crumpled from opportunistic to disappointment. "It's not going to be easy to save Kaden and destroy this dark spirit, is it?"

Gently, I shook my head and twisted my mouth wistfully. "Nope... But at least we can focus all our attention on him."