Phoenix13: Redemption (Phoenix13 Book 2)

Part #8: Una Anima: Chapter One

Chapter One

Darkness was all there was. An eternity of it, stretching across the universe like a death-shroud. Sound and color had been swallowed whole by the void, senses lost to lightlessness. The only thing that was was nothing, and for a moment Kalligan was thankful for the relief it brought.

"Wake up." Rosetta's voice sliced through the endless night. A dull glow spilled from between her hands, illuminating her sharp, arching features. It took Kalligan's fuzzy brain a moment to realize that she'd lit a match.

"Deyanira." Kalligan managed, the name rasping in his throat. His wrists stung horribly, bruised and bleeding where cruel metal cuffs had bit through the skin. He was forced to stand upright to keep pressure off his injuries; Rosetta had chained him with his back to the wall.

"Don't call me that," Rosetta hissed, flicking the match toward the cell's single torch. The flame caught, exploding upward in a rush of light. "Never call me that. If you do again, you'll live just long enough to regret it."

Kalligan bit his lip, tears pricking his eyes. The closer to full consciousness he came, the more his body ached. He felt as if he'd been pulled behind a chariot down a cobblestone road by his wrists. His head throbbed dully, knees weak from standing in place. But despite his condition, he mustered the little strength he had and molded it into defiance. "I'll call you whatever I want." He spit each word like a curse. "You lied to me, Deyanira. It wasn't my fault. You killed our people, not me! I was trying to stop it, but you betrayed me. You betrayed all of us! Blame me all you want; it won't change a damn thing. You're the monster here, Rosetta. It was always you."

"So be it." Rosetta's eyes flashed angrily. The torch flickered and nearly went out. "Maybe I caused it. Maybe I was to blame. But the difference between you and me, Zephyr, is that their immortal blood never touched my hands. I didn't tear them apart and listen to their screams with a cruel smile on my face. I was never touched by the insanity that took you when Amaranth fell. It was never the intention of my heart to watch them burn."

Kalligan glared at her, feeling suddenly bold. She can't do anything else to me, he thought, feeling adrenaline spiking in his bloodstream. Except kill me. And she can't. Not yet.

As if she'd read his thoughts, Rosetta smiled coldly. "You think you're safe from my wrath, Zephyr. You're correct to think so. For now, I can't kill you without crippling the Phoenix's powers. A piece of the Phoenix's heart cannot be so far from its body. But once this is all over, I will have no use for either of you. When that time comes, I'll rip you—and him—to pieces and burn your bones."

"Let me get something straight." Kalligan tried to ignore the prickling fear that ran down his spine at the goddess's words. "The curse you put in Phoenix13, the one I've got in me right now. That's what made me destroy Amaranth, right? It made me go crazy and kill everything in my path. Like Phoenix13 was supposed to do on earth."

Rosetta tossed her fiery mane, curls bouncing against her exposed collarbone. She laughed a short, harsh sound. Humorless and half-crazed. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that. You weren't supposed to survive long enough to take the Heart in the first place. You were never supposed to end up on earth."

"But I did. And I've been here for more than thirty thousand years, even though my sentence was only ten thousand. So what happened? Why am I still here?"

"Because you chose mankind over your own species." Accusation dripped from every word. "When the time came to destroy the Thirteenth Phoenix—when it had completed its mission on earth and was no longer needed by the Amaranth—you wouldn't allow it. When the First Lord and your father attempted to lock you away, you accused them of conspiring to destroy humanity and gave in to the darkness of the Phoenix's heart within your chest. By the time I became aware of what had happened, of what you had done, there was nothing anyone could do to stop it."