Flight of the Phoenix Page 14
The smell of the burning corpse of Malenfant was God awful. Quinn covered his nose and drew Bryn against his body. Tears gushed from her eyes as she sobbed gut wrenching cries that tore at his heart. “She died for me,” Bryn wailed. “My beloved sister…gone, gone, gone.”
“It was meant to be,” Lazarus said. “She knew she was the sacrifice.”
“What sacrifice? What are you babbling about?”
“I lied. Khufu is not going to appear. Once the stone was set, there had to be a blood sacrifice. A very special sacrifice. Her blood was the only thing that could save you. When the precious life blood of one who was half of this world and half of my world ran onto the capstone you were healed of your wound and freed from your curse. Fenix knew it had to be her. She did all that was required with a willing heart.”
“Glory be, would you look at that?” Fingle said, awe plain to read in his voice.
Fenix had morphed into the huge golden phoenix. The bird stretched its wings one time, screeched and burst into flames. The flames burned purple and blue and gold. When they died, Fenix was gone.
Bryn turned and buried her face in Quinn’s shirt. “I can’t live without her.”
Her sobs tore at Quinn’s heart. He didn’t know how to ease her pain. Helplessly, he held her as tight as he could and offered her the comfort of his silence. When the sobs finally ceased, she lifted her face and stared into his eyes. “Is my arm healed?”
He took her hand, turned it and stared at the perfect flesh of her arm. “Yes, my darling, you are healed.”
“Where is the dagger?”
Fingle’s drooping eyes rolled. “He done taked it with him.”
“Who?”
“That Lazarus fellow. He’s gone. Miss Fenix is gone.” Fingle bent down and scooped something into his hand. It was a tiny baby bird, a baby phoenix. “They left this.”
The baby cheeped and Bryn covered her eyes with her hands. “The curse has ended. I’m cured.”
* * * *
Fenix woke slowly. She felt curiously light, as though her body had no weight. When she opened her eyes, she saw the beloved face of Lazarus hovering above her. He lifted her into his arms and they kissed. It was like no other kiss Fenix had ever had. They melted into each other and she saw herself through his eyes. She glowed with golden light. She instantly knew his thoughts. “We’re dead,” she breathed.
“Yes, my heart’s delight. And we are together forever.”
“What about Bryn?”
“She’s free of her curse. I foresee her marrying Quinn and raising a huge family. She’ll name her first child after you.”
“What about Tomlinson?”
“He will invent more great flying machines and become famous all over the world.”
“And Fingle?”
“He must find Samantha. They are tied together in a way that only they can understand.”
Fenix nodded. “And what happened to Draak Priest?”
“His big golden dragon flew in out of nowhere, scooped him up and took him away.”
“Think he’ll be happy with her?”
Lazarus grinned. “I don’t think he will have much of a choice.”
“That is true. So where do we go, what do we do? Being dead is new to me.”
“We go to my home in ancient Jerusalem and we lie together for as many nights as we please.”
“And after that?” She said with a smile.
“Why we check in on Bryn and let her know we will watch over her and her children forever. One day she will join us and we will all be together again.”
She took his hand. “I think I will enjoy being dead.”
“My darling, as long as you are with me, I will thank our Holy Father for every second. I love you. I worship you. You are my heart.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melanie Thompson
I grew up the oldest of a large family. After years of torturing my younger brothers and sister, I left home to make it on my own. Now I’m a mom with three kids working nights as a bartender. I love the nightlife baby.
I read a lot and I love people. As a bartender, I use my photographic memory to remember people and their names. I never forget a drink.
For fun, I like to hike, read and shoot automatic weapons. I’m deadly accurate with a bow.
I wanted to get into writing so I partnered with my mother, a published author, and together we came up with Erotic Flights of Fantasy I and II and the Saga of the Steampunk Witches. All are available from www.amazon.com and www.torridbooks.com
For your reading pleasure, we invite you to visit our web bookstore
TORRID BOOKS
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