SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 67- Courage

 Desire and I dash into Phoenix's room, leaving Nixi behind to guard Marissa in case she wakes up. At this point, the commotion has woken up some of the others, as my parents rush out of their room.

"What the hell is going on?" my father shouts from down the hall.

"Brother!" Desire shouts as she pushes the door open, and I run after her. The room is in complete disarray, the furniture and all of his belongings thrown around needlessly, scorch marks covering the walls.

"Pheonix?" I call out, looking around, when I suddenly see an arm on the ground from behind one of the two beds, blood smearing across a familiar tattoo. Desire seems to notice it too as she runs around the bed and falls to her knees.

"Where's Kai?" My mother asks in terror as she looks around the room. He had been staying in here since he moved into the temple.

"The Ancient Ones broke in," I state as I rush to Desire "Daddy, go help Nixi, she's in my room." Suddenly, I see the horror laid out before me. Phoenix's veins appear burned in a lightning pattern, and he's lying in a puddle of blood seeping from his forehead, which seems to have been smashed in by something.

"Pheonix...." Desire pleads "Nathan, I'm begging you, please wake up,"

"Mama," I say, nervously looking back at her. Quickly, she rushes to his side, placing her fingers on his neck. Slowly, she backs up, watching his blood drip from her finger. Both of us look at her desperately, but she solemnly shakes her head. Desire immediately falls forward onto his body and starts to cry, her world beginning to shatter before her.

"Mother!" she screams, her cries piercing into the hall. Within seconds, Aurora, Nadia, and Roxie appear in the doorway, seeing the terrifying scene before them. Without questioning what happened, Roxie rushes in, and my mother and I back away to give her space. Hesitantly, Roxie kneels down, rolling him onto his back and resting his head in her lap, wiping the blood from his eyes. She looks back at Desire, understanding the pain she is feeling, and wanting nothing more than to ease it for her. But she knows that grief is never that easy.

"Mahina," Roxie says calmly "Take my son home,"

As Aurora approached his body, my mother and I joined my grandmother by the door, bowing our heads respectfully, honoring the life of my friend, practically a brother to me. I know how scared he must have been, we had just discussed it today. Despite that, he clearly defended my brother until his final breath. I will never forget that.

"Generations ago, I assured us that one way or another, we would always find our way back to each other. Today, we will not mourn what we lost, but celebrate what we had." Aurora begins "Pheonix, you fought bravely, and just as your name implies, you will be reborn again. Regardless, we will make sure that you didn't die in vain. Until fate once again returns you to us, we wish you safe travels on your journey to the next world." she says calmly, looking at Roxie.

"Safe travels, kiddo," Roxie says, leaning down to kiss his forehead, clearly holding back tears.

"Until next time, brother." Desire cries.

"Safe travels," the three of us in the doorway say in unison. That night felt like the longest of my life, and the one place on the island I had deemed safe had somehow been broken. There could be no more waiting, people are already getting hurt. Phoenix is gone, Kai has been taken, and now we know Lucius desperately wants me back. I refuse to wait for the next incident, I belong on the front lines.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask as Desire and I walk down into the dungeons. It's been three days since the attack, and she has been unstable, to say the least. I fear that she's too desperate for revenge, and I don't want to see that become her downfall.

"Considering what we went through with Ember, I think having another person going in with you wouldn't hurt," she explains optimistically "I know my mother and I are at a disadvantage considering she can manipulate water, but we'll manage."

"That isn't what I meant." I sigh.

"Relax, I know we need her alive," she states bluntly.

"Dez," I grab her arm, stopping her from going further "Revenge is a sickness, I don't want to see it consume you."

"Look, I don't know what you think I'm going to do, but remember, she's not the one who killed him." she states angrily as she pulls her arm free "that electric bitch did. I came down here with my mom yesterday, and there's... something different about her." As we make our way into Sanctum, Roxie and Aurora are already waiting for us. Marissa is chained to the wall, her hands tied above her head. It's easy to see that she looks miserable.

"Good morning," Aurora says as she glances at us.

"Not if you didn't get any sleep." Desire sighs, walking over to her mother's workbench.

"You're welcome to stay with me for the time being if you want, you know," Roxie says sympathetically.

"I appreciate it, but I'm afraid that if I do, I might never go back to my room." Desire sighs.

"Makes sense, my mom offered the same thing," I state, looking at Marissa, seeing her fingers twitching "Your hands have gone numb, haven't they?" I ask curiously. She chuckles for a second and glances up.

"Considering I've been like this for hours, yea." she states, trying to move her wrists.

"You wanna at least lower her down a little?" I ask, looking back at Roxie.

"Seriously?" Roxie asks offendedly "You know this woman tried to kidnap you, right?" she asks, utterly confused by my request.

"Yep," I state, moving to the chain crank, starting to turn it to lower her to the floor "Look, after my time being locked up, I at least understand how to treat someone like a human being." As she touches the floor and her arms lower to her sides, she shakes them out, rolling her shoulders and adjusting herself.

"Wow, a girl with a conscience." Marissa states as she gets comfortable "Thank you."

"I like to think of it as a moral code," I say mockingly, remembering Lucius' words. She immediately catches on and chuckles.

"No wonder he liked you." she laughs "Anyway, you all clearly have an agenda, so you might as well just tell me what it is. If you're expecting a fight, you aren't going to get one."

"Excuse my skepticism, but are we just supposed to believe that after what you did a few nights ago?" Aurora asks, looking at her curiously.

"Believe it or not, that plan wasn't mine; I was acting on someone else's authority," she explains.

"Lucius." I state, crossing my arms and leaning on the table "I know he's been feeding off of people in town, and I know he wants me back. Why did he send you instead of just coming for me himself?"

"Let's just say he's in no condition right now." she sighs "Tatia and Atlas were already coming for Malakai, so Gaia suggested I come with to help Lucius out. Despite drinking her blood, it's not even enough to curb whatever the fuck you did to him."

"See, that's what I want to know," Roxie begins "What makes Tessa's blood so special to him?"

"My guess is it's connected to her aura and he just has an affinity for it," Aurora states, trying to make sense of it.

"Maybe, but he seemed way too fascinated with my personality too. It was disturbing." I sigh, trying not to think about it too hard.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Marissa sighs "Ever since he got started to indulge in that field, I haven't been able to figure out what drives him."

"Alright, enough about the vampiric weirdo," Desire cuts in "There's something we want to do, and whether or not you let us is going to dictate how today is going to go."

"Oh?" Marissa says curiously. Aurora glances around at the rest of us before approaching, kneeling to her eye level.

"We want to go inside your head."