Page 44 of Phoenix Chosen 2

“Yeah, no shit. If they’re even still alive. God, who knows what could’ve happened to them if they were dropped into the world at the same time I was.”

“They’re still alive,” Kalistratos says. “They have to be, or else this Umbrios would not be so determined to get to us.”

“Did you know that the Great Phoenix had a brother?” I ask.

“I knew nothing,” he replies distantly. “I feel like I’ve been told a terrible truth. The fate of my clan is on our shoulders. I’m sorry that you’ve been dragged into this, Tyler.”

I give him my best reassuring smile. “Dragged? Remember what he said—I’ve always been chosen, and you’ve always been my guardian. Maybe my puny mortal brain isn’t processing this right, but doesn’t that mean we’ve gone through this together before?”

“I don’t know. I’m no more capable of understanding the workings of the gods than you are.”

“It’s been nonstop impending doom and destruction since I was pulled into your world. I’ve given up counting the number of times I’ve nearly been killed. But it’s comforting to know I have you with me. That I’ve always had you with me. Maybe I can do this. Maybe I can get us back home.”

He smiles back and takes my hand. “So, you must have an idea?”

“I don’t have aclue, Kalistratos,” I say, and we share a laugh.

“We’ll figure it out,” he says. “Together.”

The storm worsens the following morning. Thunder shakes the building, and the clouds completely block out the sun. The rain hasn’t stopped, and I can only imagine how things are on the ground. The city must be flooding; it can’t keep up with this kind of weather for this long.

Tick, tick, tick.

More sand piling on my shoulders.

“He said to use the elevator if there’s anything we need, right?” I say. “What if we don’t know what we need?”

We stare at the glowing wood grain patterns of the most beautiful elevator doors I’ve ever seen. Kalistratos folds his arms across his chest.

“Then I suppose we need to talk to Lord Aethereos.”

“I hope the guy is decent this time,” I say, and hit the button.

A moment later the doors open, and we step inside the empty elevator with featureless white walls. The doors slide closed, and the car immediately begins to move.

“Tyler, when Lord Aethereos opened the pomegranate, what did you see?” Kalistratos asks me.

The painful vision flashes through my mind again.

“Nothing good,” I tell him.

“What was it?”

“We lose everything. We lose each other.”

His eyes search mine. He can probably see the weight I feel, the fear I’m trying to keep in check. I’m trying to be brave because my mate is a badass phoenix alpha and I don’t want to be the weak one. But I am scared.

The elevator pings, and we turn back to the opening doors. We aren’t prepared for what we see. Instead of the Great Phoenix’s chambers, we’re standing in what appears to be the inside of a dark cave, lit by a single flickering lamp sitting on a boulder.

“What the hell?” I say. “Is this real?”

“It can’t be real,” Kalistratos says, stepping out of the elevator. “I… I think I know this place.”

“Seriously? How?”

He walks around the small chamber and nudges a stone with his foot. I realize there is a small ring of them sitting on the cave’s sandy floor. The elevator doors stand freely like a monolith in the dim light. I see nothing that indicates this is just a skillful recreation of a cave inside a room, like some theme park attraction. Itsmellslike we’re in a cave.

“By the gods, I’d lost this memory until now,” Kalistratos says. “I remember being taken to a cave just like this by my father when I was a fledgling. He sat me in a stone circle like this in complete darkness, and I had to find the light. My light. It’s how I discovered my powers when I came of age.”

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