NINE
Taking the stairs two at a time, Phoenyx completely ignored the terrified looks she was receiving from neighbors, as she dashed passed them to the 7th floor. Rounding the corner at top speed, she rushed toward her apartment. The sounds coming from beyond her door were pure and utter chaos. Testing the doorknob, she found it to be locked, and cursed beneath her breath. She searched her pockets for her keys, but realized that in her hurry, she'd left them in her car.
Rolling her eyes at her own sheer stupidity, she clenched and unclenched her fists angrily until she'd come to terms with what she would have to do. A strangled cry that sounded a lot like Cortez brought her back to the present and she sprang into action.
"Stand back!" She shouted as she backed up a space or two, and prepared to rush the door. "I'm coming in."
She spun and sent a deft spin-kick to the door, sending it flying open with a loud bang. Beyond the threshold Cortez had been lifted about two feet off the ground by a massive and hostile looking vampire. The angry black tattoos curving around his huge bicep told her he was one of Spider's vamps.
Judas, her vampire captive, thrashed malevolently on the bed, fangs bared and steam rising up from the tattoo on his chest. He gnashed and snarled at the air, pulling at his restraints, heedless of the pain it would bring. Yanking the silver stake from her boot, Phoenyx approached the aggressive vampire holding Cortez smoothly, her body coiled and prepared to fight. Her stake glinted in the light, the reflection catching in her eyes.
"Put. Him. Down." She snarled.
Cortez’s eyes were pleading for forgiveness as he dangled helplessly by the throat. The vampire laughed maniacally in response. Phoenyx glanced around quickly, looking for Hutton. As if Cortez could read her mind, his eyes traveled weakly to a tattered heap by the bed. It was obvious they’d been taken by surprise. The idea that vampires needed an invitation to enter a dwelling was a ridiculous myth perpetuated by man, and this asshole was proof of it. People feared having no control over something they didn’t understand, so they gave themselves hope by lying that they could keep the big bad out of their homes, simply by keeping their lips tight. Unfortunately, that was never the case.
Phoenyx glanced at Judas, whose eyes were wild and glassy, his teeth clacking incessantly as his nose twitched at the air. How could anyone think they could keep something like that away just by saying, ‘Sorry, but you can’t come in?’
"If it isn't The Phoenyx," the intruding vampire chuckled. "You don't look so tough."
"Looks can be deceiving," she murmured, taking a careful step forward.
A strangled cry choked its way past Cortez's lips as the vampire's hand clamped down tighter on his throat. Phoenyx stood her ground, patiently anticipating what his next move would be as she advanced.
"I have to warn you," she said, smirking, "the last thing you're gonna want to do is kill that one. It'll make me really unhappy."
The vampire chuckled, his voice deep and raspy. "Is that so?"
"Yeah," Phoenyx muttered, her eyes trained over the vampire’s shoulder at Hutton as he stirred by the foot of the bed. "That’s so."
Can you hear me? Hutton asked her telepathically.
Hutton's voice rang as clearly as a bell in her mind. She nodded at him, almost imperceptibly before he continued to relay his thoughts to her with his mind.
He came here to kill Judas. Judas began to act strangely right before the vampire attacked, shortly after you left for Spider's compound. I don't know how he knew you wouldn’t be here, but he did. I think we’re being watched.
Judas was a feral mess, spit flinging from his lips as his fangs gleamed like pearls. His eyes found hers and his lips curled upward. He was panting wildly and Phoenyx found herself funneling his emotions as they poured out of him and into her. Bloodlust was at the forefront, then hatred, which consumed her, before, surprisingly, the lust.
It was as if her body was on fire, combating an itch she just couldn’t scratch. Her entire being was reacting, a shiver of delight pricking her skin, warming her further. Judas licked his lips and she shuddered, imagining how they would feel pressed against hers, his tongue sliding deeply into her mouth as his hands traveled the hills and valleys of her aching body. Then––a familiar vision of golden eyes, flecked with green, sent her past the point of no return.
Her eyes went cold as she stared the massive vampire in her living room into the ground. That familiar crackle and hiss began to permeate the room, turning the air electric. Only this time, instead of weakening her, Phoenyx felt a jolt of energy surge through her body, bringing it to life.
Her skin felt foreign, tingling in the most incredible way. Even her hair felt electric. Something was happening to her, she felt it as the waves of energy rolled through her body, some sexual, some invigorating. An unfamiliar urge began to seep into the pit of her belly just then, and she found herself lowering her stake involuntary. A heat was radiating from her core, warming her body to an impossible temperature before her mind went inexplicably blank.
***
Hutton was panicked. Phoenyx was no longer picking up his telepathic cues and he began to fear the worst. It was as if her mind had gone perfectly blank for a moment, before suddenly, he was able to see past her third eye once more. The person he found there was the last person he expected to meet. He thought he’d have had more time to prepare for this.
Cursing, he managed to hoist himself partway up until his back was pressed against the footboard of the bed.
Her entire demeanor had changed, with Phoenyx having left the building momentarily, replaced by something more sensual and more languid than he’d been initially ready to deal with. Her eyes blazed with an eerie, neon glow, which seemed to hypnotize the vampire before her. Though he was far bigger, the vampire no longer stood a chance in hell. She was Predator, personified.
“Big boy,” Phoenyx purred, rolling her hips as she inched her way closer. Her voice was thick and husky. She licked her lips like a feline eyeing its next meal. “Put the pretty caramel colored man down, won’t you? Let’s you and I have a little chat.”
The vampire, as if hypnotized, slowly lowered Cortez until his feet were flush with the ground. His massive body turned toward Phoenyx as though it had a mind of its own and stared, vacant eyed, at the strawberry blonde beauty who seemed to be stalking him. Hunting him. Judas keened from the bed, panting and straining toward her.
“Just look at those big, tense muscles,” she cooed, trailing her fingertips delicately over the spiny black tattoos there.
Hutton could see the static electricity as it sizzled and popped on the vampire’s skin.
She purred, “Muscles like these leave me hot.”
The vampire stood, transfixed, the spell he was under, too powerful for his small mind to contend with. When Phoenyx was finally an inch’s width from his chest, she reached up and drew a line down with her finger from his lower lip, to the thick muscles bulging from the neckline of his black tank top.
She pursed her lips and let out a low whistle. “What a strong, fine specimen.”
Hutton was horrified as he watched the interaction, feeling nearly sick to his stomach. He couldn’t allow it to progress any further, and did the only thing he could think of to stop it. Clambering to his feet, he released the silver chains from around Judas' wrists, unleashing the mad vampire upon the room.
As Hutton had suspected, instead of zeroing in on Phoenyx, Judas pounced on the vampire, who seemed shaken free of his stupor. Judas, in what appeared to be a fit of jealous rage, tore the vampires head clean from his body, and a swirling black vortex opened to consume him, as if he had never existed at all.
The exertion was too much to bear, and Judas collapsed in a worshipful heap at Phoenyx's feet, while she turned her eyes to the next warmest body in the room. Cortez eyed her warily as she strutted toward him like a panther stalking its prey. A wind that wasn’t there, blowing the hair away from her face so that it whipped around her shoulders.
“Your eyes…” Cortez mumbled. It was the only thing Cortez could manage to say as Phoenyx’s eyes glowed with a supernatural predatory glimmer. He watched, hypnotized, as she rolled her hips toward him like a panther.
She was staring a hole through him, almost like he wasn’t even there. Placing one foot in front of the other, she strolled toward Cortez like she was making her way across a stage in a strip club. One spaghetti strap slipped carelessly off her shoulder, the front clinging to her full breasts like a drowning man clinging to a buoy. Her lips curved up, her white teeth gleaming in the candlelight, and she licked her lips slowly, sensuously.
“My eyes?” Phoenyx inquired in that lulling, hypnotic voice. “What’s the matter, Cortez?” She whispered, her voice breathy and otherworldly. “I thought you liked me.”
“Avert your eyes,” Hutton commanded the Sand Demon. “Don’t look into them.”
“Okay,” Cortez faltered. Nervously dropping his eyes to the ground, a shudder ran through him.
Something about the way her voice settled into the crook of his ear, or the way those glowing green eyes held him captive, had Cortez in a cold sweat. Finally, she stood before him and casually hooked her forefinger into the thick loop of his black belt. She tugged him forward until their hips were flush.
Cortez swallowed hard. “I got nothing against you, fresa,” he stuttered as Phoenyx leaned in and inhaled him? “You okay?” He asked nervously.
Phoenyx chuckled softly, the sound making the hair on his body stand on end. “Never been better. Why won’t you look at me?” Phoenyx pressed, her body swaying like a serpent, the glow in her eyes becoming brighter. “Don’t I have pretty eyes?”
Cortez nodded, but kept his gaze glued to the floor. “Sure, but they don’t usually g-glow like that.”
“Is that what they’re doing?” She murmured, leaning forward as Cortez stumbled backward. She smiled, her teeth gleaming a shade whiter than usual. “Come a little closer. I don’t bite––much.”
“Jane!” Hutton shouted.
Phoenyx’s head snapped around at an odd angle, and a deep, inhuman growl rumbled from her chest. Hutton stared her down, unflinchingly, as he eased her back slowly, moving between her and Cortez.
“Cortez is your friend, remember?” Hutton said softly, holding his hands up, palms out.
Phoenyx licked her lips, her eyes shining eerily. “He looks like caramel. I love caramel.”
“Look at me,” Hutton barked, clapping his hands at her, trying to bring her focus back to him. “Phoenyx, you need to come back to us.”
She cocked her head to the side. “But he smells divine…give me the pretty caramel man,” her voice echoed, taking on an otherworldly quality. “I only want a little taste.”
As Cortez cowered behind him, Hutton could see Judas was beginning to stir on the floor between them. Phoenyx’s strange eyes found him, watching him struggle with a quizzical expression on her face. Then, like a candle being smothered, Hutton watched as whatever seemed to have taken ahold of Phoenyx lifted, and her eyes returned to normal. Phoenyx stared between the three of them, only a little confused, but mostly embarrassed.
Hutton knew he would have to face the inevitable with her, and that he couldn’t keep the secret he had been holding inside forever, but now wasn’t the time to tell her the truth. The truth would come when it needed to, and he knew it wouldn’t be long now. All she needed, in the meantime, was understanding and a little guidance.
***
“I-I’m sorry,” Phoenyx gasped, pressing her hands to her flaming cheeks. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog from her brain. “I don’t know what came over me.”
Hutton breathed a sigh of relief, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Judas was displaying an inordinate amount of bloodlust amidst the situation, Phoenyx. As it did the last time, the emotion probably consumed you, and well––it’s okay. Everything is okay now.”
But it wasn’t okay. That was more than bloodlust. Phoenyx wasn’t even sure how to describe it. It was lust, sensuality, and rage in their purest forms. The urge to consume so strong, she felt enslaved. She’d wanted to hurt that vampire, yes, but the moment she touched him, it was like she’d plugged into an outlet and began to draw his energy. She had wanted to do more than hurt him.
What if I had turned on Hutton? I’d almost come close with Cortez. Shame crept up her spine at the realization.
Phoenyx shook her head, more violently this time. “It’s not okay, H. I put you all in danger. If Judas hadn’t somehow broken free from his restraints, and killed that vamp, we would have all been erased.”
“That didn’t happen,” he pressed, but Phoenyx wasn’t going to be appeased. The entire situation could have ended in a very different way, and she would have been to blame because she couldn’t get a grasp on her own emotions around Judas.
“You could have died,” she whispered, her hand covering Hutton’s. He’d been the only father she’d ever known for the vast majority of her life. Her own father had been terrified of her, and with good reason. What would he think of me now, the monster he’d always claimed I was?
“Stop that,” Hutton snapped, his eyes earnest as he stared hard at her. “You are not a monster; do you hear me? You defeat the monsters, and even on your worst day, whatever it is that is living inside of you is never as ugly as what is out there in the dark.” He sent his message home with a wide sweep of his arm toward the night that lingered outside her window.
Phoenyx could feel the familiar hardening of her heart. She wanted to believe him, this wonderful man who took her from a loveless home, and the arms of her dead mother, to a place where she could be considered a hero. She wanted to believe she wasn’t a monster to be feared, but something told her she was going to prove him wrong, she was going to prove them all wrong, whether she wanted to or not.
Releasing his hand, suddenly cooler, she knelt silently and helped Judas rise to his feet before guiding him back over to the bed. Easing him down onto the bed, she reached automatically for the silver chains. As she bowed to shackle one of his hands to the headboard, she found those steely, blue eyes staring wearily at her face. A hundred histories he couldn’t remember danced within their depths.
“I understand,” he croaked, his lips chapped and cracking.
Guilt washed over her as his free hand extended to softly brush his knuckles against her cheek. She caught it quickly, pressing it down onto the bed before the crackle and hum of electricity that passed between them could consume her. Their fingers were connected by a thin wave of blue electricity as she quickly, but efficiently made easy work of the next chain at his wrist.
With her heart hammering in her chest, her eyes caught his briefly, and she felt a jump in her stomach, like it had done a somersault when they touched. He was a magnet, pulling her deeper and deeper into his eyes. Tearing her eyes away, a frown marred her skin before she stood and walked back the way she came. She couldn’t dare look back at him. Instead, she focused on what was before her and set her jaw firmly.
“Cortez,” she snapped. “Call Kassandra. Get him something to eat.”
Cortez fumbled for his cell phone and began to punch a series of letters onto the smartphone screen. Phoenyx turned to Hutton, her eyes cool stones. “Where does Ian Rutherford live?”
A look of complete bemusement crossed Hutton’s features. “You don’t think––”
“Wouldn’t it make all the sense in the world though?” She asked, taking the elastic from around her wrist and scooping up her hair to tie it up into a ponytail.
Hutton held up a hand. “Now, listen here––we need to be smart about this.”
“This has that snide fucker’s fingerprints all over it, H,” she snapped, eyes blazing and crackling. She blinked hard. “He has to be the informant. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Spider doesn’t have the smarts to pull something like this off on his own. I had my suspicions that it may have been an inside job, and Ian Rutherford is the only plausible suspect.”
“I’ll contact John immediately,” Hutton said, reaching for his phone.
Phoenyx stopped him. “No,” she shook her head slowly, eyes drawn to Judas, who lay watching them, exhausted. “Don’t tell John anything just yet. He’s a good man, and an integral part of The Order, but he’s not ready for that kind of betrayal.”
Cortez stuffed his phone in his back pocket and moved forward slowly. “Kassandra will be by in a little bit with some of her blood bags. How can I help?”
“I want a meeting with Morty,” she murmured, cutting through the meat and getting straight to the bones of it.
With cognac colored eyes as wide as saucers, Cortez shook his head. “I told you, no, fresa. Morty won’t talk to you, babe.”
“Then I’ll make him talk,” Phoenyx ground out, eyes unintentionally sparking.
He flinched, reaching into his back pocket for his phone once more. It vexed her something awful to see him so jumpy around her, but this was now where they stood. Cortez groaned. “You owe me big for this, Phoenyx. Real big.”
If it was the last thing she did, she was going to get to the bottom of this over-exaggerated, bizarre-o soap opera bullshit. She’d had about enough of the drama, and was ready for some clear answers.
Once Cortez gave Morty the heads up, they left Hutton with Judas, and high-tailed it out of there. Cortez stopped short as they approached her car and gave a low, slow whistle.
“Fresa, is this beast yours?” He asked in a gravelly voice, not bothering to hide the admiration there.
Phoenyx slid into the car, like she was sliding on a glove, and beamed. “The Hellcat? Yeah, she’s mine.”
“Nice wheels, G.” Cortez’s approval was clear, as he made his way over to the passenger side. Once he was in, he danced a little in his seat and gave a short laugh. “We going to be rolling up in style, baby.”
Phoenyx revved the engine to life, pleased that she could bring a look of excitement to Cortez’s face, rather than one of fear. “What did Morty say when you told him we were coming?”
White teeth gleamed in contrast to his tan skin as Cortez smiled. “You mean, when I told him I was coming?” He asked sarcastically. “He figured it was business as usual.”
“Good.” Phoenyx smiled coolly, pulling out onto the street in one fluid motion. Shifting gears, she pressed her foot down hard on the gas pedal, feeling the car rumble beneath her ass and smiled. “Then he can’t hide.”