Enflame (Insight #6)(32)

“Why are you making it sound like it’s going to be hard?” I asked, coming to his side.

“It took Clarissa less than a few hours. Now she just has to make the choice.”

“Dane?”

“It’s going to take him longer. Half of his energy or soul is lost, locked away. Without it, he cannot rise. If he doesn’t rise, Clarissa refuses to.”

“How do we find it?”

“I don’t know... and I don’t know that it’s a good idea.”

“Why?”

“I’m vague on the spells, but it seems like if we brought that part of him back, what that part did would be undone.”

“How is the undoing of the evil his energy created a bad thing?”

He glanced to his side at me. “We are already twisted unnaturally into place. Undoing the past can only make it worse.”

It was clear that his mind was made up. He wasn’t going to help them. We were going to stay out of it.

“You can walk away from them, but I’m not. I’ll find whatever I need of his.”

Before I could blink, he was kneeling in front of me. “Listen to me.” He said as he cupped my face. “We can’t make this any worse on ourselves.”

“I’m not losing them.” My voice trembled with grief.

His thumb traced my cheekbone. “It’s their fight. We can’t fight it for them. I would if I could. But Dane has to deal with this and Clarissa is going to do what Clarissa wants. This spell, this one that I know we have to face now. Dane was there. For all I know undoing it will help them in a round about way. What I do know is that staying on our path is the only way to ensure that we do not bring further harm.”

He leaned closer into me. “The only safe way is stay on our path. This curse is littered with traps, traps that could hurt people we care about…that could rip us from each others arms.”

A whisk of warm air blew through the room and I felt the accusing stare of Phoenix. He’d appeared by the closed door that led to the rest of the home.

“Don’t mind me. I’ve waited long enough to see the pair of you coming to your senses.” His fiery gaze melted over me. “I see you have mended your leak.”

A glance from me pinned him to the wall, as I stood to face him, but he broke free with little effort and pushed me back. Before I could retaliate, Landen had crossed the room and was holding him against the wall.

“Touch her again and I will find and scatter your ashes across the universe.”

After a tense second, Phoenix belted into laughter. Landen relaxed his body, freeing Phoenix from the hold he had on him.

Phoenix stepped forward and bowed slightly in my direction. “I apologize for testing your strength. My intent was to do so in a controlled environment.”

I knew then why Landen had given up so easily on his fight with him. I hated that I couldn't feel him that I couldn’t judge how pure his intent really was.

Phoenix circled Landen slowly. “Has my brother Guardian returned?”

Landen’s heated gaze followed him, turning with him.

“Let’s see if the damage has been undone, shall we?” Phoenix said as he beckoned his fingertips in Landen’s direction, calling the essence of his energy to him. The glow of Landen’s energy quickly formed into a sphere in Phoenix’s hands. From my close proximity, I could still see the dark veins of Drake’s energy within Landen’s. It wasn’t as defined as before. The illusion of fire was still burning through his energy.

“Not quite. And we have no time to wait. Another dose,” Phoenix said with a nod.

In that second, fire snaked across Landen’s skin, instantly consuming him. I screamed out in rage and fear as the taste of blood flooded my mouth. I pushed to move forward, but Phoenix’s energy was holding me firmly in place. I was powerless to call forth an element of weather to stop this torture.





Chapter Eight


The flames burned through every part of Landen. At first, he roared with rage, but soon he stopped and stood tall as he held Phoenix’s intense gaze. The flames seeped slowly into his skin, eventually fading out of sight.

“Once a Phoenix, always a Phoenix, brother,” were the simple words that Phoenix offered when the flames vanished.

In that instant, I was pulled to Landen’s side by his energy. I could tell he was trying to calm me down, but I was fighting my own war on the inside, adjusting my eyes to ensure that my aura had not shifted, that the taste that wanted to surface was at bay and I was under control.

“One more look,” Phoenix offered as he called Landen’s energy to him once more. Now the most dominant part of his essence was flames.

“That’ll do. He should be out of your system within a few breaths.” Phoenix glanced at me obviously to see if I understood how jacked up Landen’s energy had been. I knew it wasn’t my fault. The Realm did this. Donalt did this. “Now tell me, mate. Where are his ashes?”

“Whose?” Landen asked as I pulled away. His skin was on fire, too hot to touch.

“Donalt’s.”

“Not sure.”

“Not sure? How can you not be sure?”

“I didn’t collect them. Others did.”

“Are they secure?” Phoenix raged.