SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 79- Shade

"I'm glad you managed to take down Cleo at least, but this has turned into a nightmare." Desire sighs, carefully wrapping Magnus' forehead.

"Tell me about it," he winces, trying not to touch it as she finishes.

"You said Winona was above the temple and Tex was in town blowing stuff up? What about Ember and Sterling?" Eli asks worriedly as he ties the bandage around my arm.

"Let's just call them by their actual names, not the ones they stole." I sigh, looking down at my arm as Eli backs away "Atlas seems to know Tatia is dead, which means Ember must have told him. I'm guessing she's in town fighting too, there was a lot of fire out there and not all of it was purple." I explain, leaning back in my chair.

"What about Lucius?" Jasper asks nervously "Desire said that you found out he's going through some sort of withdrawal?"

"Not to be blunt, but do you think it has something to do with the fact your blood is basically black ink now?" Eli asks, watching part of the bandage become saturated "You said he was attracted to yours specifically, this can't be a matter of coincidence." he explains curiously.

"We had a similar theory, but her blood hadn't changed yet." Desire states, seeming to ponder the idea "Regardless, what the hell are we supposed to do now? If Atlas is out there causing tremors, it might be dangerous to stay down here."

"I agree, but where else can we go? It's turning into a warzone out there." Jasper exclaims worriedly. Suddenly, we're all startled by the loud crash of pottery breaking upstairs. Terrified, Rynn shutters and clutches onto Jasper as Desire and I step up to guard the stairwell to the hatch. We hear feet shuffle and furniture being bumped into as someone makes their way closer, and then they kick at the hatch. After a moment of quiet, the door starts to creak open, and as soon as we see their feet, Desire launches a small blast of fire at the stone stairs.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's okay!" I hear them shout, stepping down slowly. As they come into the light, I'm filled with a great sense of relief.

"Kai!" I shout, launching myself to hug him as he makes it to the bottom of the stairs "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same," he says worriedly "What the hell happened to you?" he asks, studying my new appearance.

"It's complicated and we don't have time," I state "Gael was more conniving than we thought and I embraced my demons. Let's move on."

"Okay... Anyway, it's not safe on this side of town, you all need to get the hell out of here," he explains, looking around at all of us "Where's Pheonix? He wasn't fighting with the others," he asks, and I suddenly realize that he doesn't know the truth. Before I have a chance to speak, Desire slams her fist on the table.

"He's gone." she states, holding back tears through the anger "They killed him when they took you," she explains. Suddenly, Kai's face turns pale.

"They what..." he stutters "No, Tatia said that they would spare him if I left with her, he was still okay," he explains, breathing uneasily.

"His head was smashed in when we found him," I sigh, "It was too late, he was already gone," I explain, and suddenly, Kai's expression turns from sadness to rage.

"Atlas," he growls "Pheonix had burned Tatia pretty roughly during the fight and he must've wanted revenge," he explains angrily.

"Well, revenge does seem to be something that makes him overreact." I state as we feel the ground mildly shake, causing dust to fall from the ceiling "Let's go upstairs."

"Revenge for what?" Kai asks, concerned as we make our way up the steps "I knew Tatia went to get Ember and I took the opportunity to get away, but then I felt the first earthquake and realized something must've gone horribly wrong."