Tonya
“I’ll cover you, get Phoenix out of here!” Bane yelled. He took his stance at the entrance doors of the conference hall. His body began to shimmer and shift and change. His bottom half had now become that of a satyr. His hooves embedded themselves in the ground, he was positioning himself to not be moved by the impact of the enemy should his defense be needed. I felt instantly at that moment that Bane was pretty cool.
“Let me back you up,” said Mariana. The side of her face began to glow in the most beautiful mark of purple vines illuminating her face. I could feel the power radiating from her. Was this her new evolved state?
“No, the three of you must go together, trust me,” Bane said. He turned to look at Mari straight in the eyes. They must have reached an unspoken tacit understanding because she nodded and headed toward Phoenix and me.
Phoenix was looking a bit pale, with a frown on her face. Rummaging around the small bag I had carried with me to the debriefing. I pulled out one of my timely potions. Using my powers, I heightened my senses enough to scan Phoenix’s person. A smile followed by a warm feeling spread through me. The two golden little orbs inside her stomach seemed to be up to mischief at that moment. They weren’t even fully formed yet, but their presence could be strongly felt.
“Drink this, it is,” I said. Handing the herbal potion to Phoenix. She asked no questions and quickly drank it. I watched intently as the light dimmed from the two little deviants and the color slowly returned to Phoenix's face.
“Thanks, now, let’s get out of here,” she said as I led the way. We had exited from another set of doors in the conference hall. The meeting wasn’t even finished, but what we got from it so far was enough to enact some of our plans when it came to protecting Phoenix. My cloak was back and ready to go. I covered Phoenix in front and Mariana covered her from behind. Phoenix would be out of commission for the next three months and, on top of that, her powers would be unstable.
All of us had to prepare ourselves for some serious sparks of power until she made it through the first transition of her pregnancy. The fact that she was carrying two children instead of one made things even more dangerous and Phoenix an easier target.
The fragmented dark keys of time at the bottom of my cloak lit up and we saw a scorched smoky grey door. I knew where this door led. Right now, going back there to the garden and near the Lilith black moon doors was the safest place.
I didn’t like waiting, but that was what the three of us were tasked to do. We got through the door, to find Mila and Caleb Henry waiting for us. I stiffened for a moment because I had completely forgotten who also had been there with them. Would Tyson reveal himself, now that Phoenix had arrived?
“Oh my goodness, child, you are a splitting image of Cece!” Mila exclaimed out loud as she quickly walked up to Phoenix staring at her in awe. Phoenix arched an eyebrow up at Mrs. Henry, she smiled and nodded as she listened with humble care to the storytelling of the good old days. They walked arm in arm as she talked . The happiness was evident in her tone of speech. We all walked to the camp we had set up previously to look after the doors.
I was surprised to find some adjustments. They clearly had gotten word beforehand of the plan. I was grateful because it would give Tyson time to do what he must. Caleb had a frown creasing on his face, it felt like he had something to tell me, but he guided us into new accommodations. It was then I noticed another tent had been added.
Mariana was quietly surveying our surroundings. It was her natural instinct as a hunter to do this in any unknown territory. Plus, we used a door portal to arrive here. The place at first glance would give anyone the chills, but once we all got settled, the chilliness we once felt had disappeared.
“Can you show me the doors?” Phoenix asked after I sat next to her in the dining area, where we were enjoying a cup of Mila’s famous Matcha tea with honey and lemon. She let out a sigh and looked into the distance in a daze. I could tell she was thinking about something but the feeling of her thoughts looked like she was seeing. Vincent was the only other person I saw do something like this. Had Phoenix developed a new ability without any of us noticing?
I sat there in silence with her. Mariana and I waited patiently, drinking our tea and nibbling on Caleb’s tea moon cakes, which I had to admit were divine. How they were able to pair the two things well was beyond me. I even felt less stressed and more energized too, the more I ate and drank.
“I remember now, this place. I’ve been here before.” She stood up, placing her cup on the table. A strong and powerful wise aura radiated from her.
“We can see the doors now since you’re ready.” I stood as well, followed by Mari. Neither of us wasn’t letting her out of our sight. We felt something odd was going on with Phoenix, but she said she had been there before. Nothing about this place where doors had stationed themselves to reside was a coincidence.
The atmosphere in the garden had even changed. It felt charged like a tight rubber band reaching about to reach the end of its elasticity. With each step, the three of us took the wind picked up as if responding to something. My senses heightened on their own accord. The two little mischiefs seemed to be up to something again. I had a feeling we would know what once we reached the doors.
“It's open!” Caleb shouted. Stopping us in our footsteps.
“Phoenix, did you sense this?” I asked, remembering that the first thing she wanted to do after resting was look at the doors.
“I’m not sure, all I know is that I felt a strong urge to come here.”
“Something is in the doorway,” said Mariana. She pointed at the pair of doors that were in the middle. All our gazes landed on where she pointed, baffled at seeing the door was slightly cracked open. The door that I had touched not long ago and signified as a male had been unlocked. Did I do this unknowingly? That couldn’t be right, because something small sat on the ground in the crack of the doorway.
“I’ll go,” said Phoenix, about to take a step forward, but I stopped her.
“No, I’ll do it. It’s my duty as Keeper.” I said, walking forward, but also watching my surroundings the closer I got to the door. There was a weird pressure here, but one so familiar that it brought tears to my eyes. “Daddy.” I couldn’t help whispering in my head as I knelt down to look at what was in the doorway.
Two vials of sparkling blood with silver and gold hues flowing through them were left in the doorway. My hand reached out to collect them and the door suddenly opened further. Safely collecting the vials, I placed them inside my bag and stood up. With the door further open, all of us could see inside the room.
“Why is it this place?” Mariana asked out loud, more of a thought than a question to anyone in particular. I knew what she meant. This was the exact place she saw with her new hunter-tracking ability. The ground shook slightly underneath our feet and I knew our mates had come through the gateway door.
“Let me go in with you,” Drake said from behind me. He had moved so quickly, he appeared before me in seconds. His shadow ability had evolved. You wouldn’t be able to spot him now even if you blinked. He took my hand and we walked in, leaving Vincent to keep guard at the entrance of the door. I could have closed it shut after entering, but my instincts were not to do so as we would miss something important. What was left of the pods was dust, but even more shocking was the soul healer who was my dad and the real Ward was missing.
“I think he left it on purpose,” I said to Drake as we glanced around the place hand in hand.
“Left what?”
“His blood.” Drake turned to look at me, a bit surprised at the news.
“Then there is no need to come here to look. Then, isn’t his blood what we need to finish this?” He said, guiding me back out of the open Lilith door. We both noticed Vincent frowning at the entrance of the door. He looked to be staring at something behind it.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, raising my free hand to the lace on his shoulders. His keeper's cloak had appeared too, which I thought was strange. There were no other doors here but Lilith's black moon doors, or was it something I could not see yet? Vincent shook his head when coming out of the daze he was in.
“ It’s nothing, we should head back,” he said, taking my free hand in his, and we walked back to the rest of the group together. The Lilith door glittered, shimmered, then shut closed hard. Astounding us when the male door disappeared.
“I would never understand why it does that,” said Mariana. She was right. I still had a lot to understand when it came to this.
“That’s for those three to figure out babe,” said Alexis as she walked close to Mari and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Mari nodded in agreement but I knew her, she would still want to research if she could.
“ Well, at least the first and second parts of our plan were a success,” said Nathan. The breath I didn’t even know I was holding released me, calming the anxiety in me. My thoughts still went to my dad. Why did he leave? Where did he go?
“Yes, the trap was brilliant and now we have his mate in our hands. Suxhen is dead in this world, but it appears he may be present in Bane and Harper’s.” my mom said. Looking at me, she stepped forward to hold her hand out to me, and I let go of my mate's hands to dig in my bag and hand her the vials. I wanted to ask her about Dad, but she just turned around and left. Most likely back to the lab at the Henry mansion, to find the cure for Celia, Rodney, and Ziege.
