LAYDEN
Phoenix looksdown at her phone and makes a girlish noise of delight. “I texted, and Professor Rossi has time for us!”
“Shouldn’t he always have time if Vlad bought him for you?” I growl under my breath as my eyes flick all around at the other students flooding out of the lecture hall. I don’t know how she can be so excited about this guy shedding light on what we’ve fought so hard to keep secret.
We always knew the conspiracy theorists would have a field day with the footage of the Devourers that covered the media outlets and internet sites for about six hours straight last month before my brother Remus blasted them out of existence. Governments denied it all as a hoax, but much as I wish they were, people aren’t stupid.
Most of the conspiracy nuts are going on and on about secret government weapons and the like. Frankly, I’m shocked that Phoenix is encouraging anything that—while it might not be the absolute truth—is near enough.
Phoenix stops walking. She spins on me, and I can see the hurt flash across her face before the anger replaces it. “Don’t ever say that to me.” Her voice is tight. “I don’t let Vladbuyanyone for me. That’s disgusting.”
I hold up a hand immediately. “Phoenix, I didn’t mean?—”
“I only allowed Vlad to offer Rossi an incentive package to teach here, but I never expected that to equal special treatment or consideration.” She’s talking fast now, defensive in a way that makes me realize I’ve touched a nerve. “I’m just like any other student. I get by on my intellectual merits alone.”
Dammit, I really stepped in that one, didn’t I? “Look, Phoenix, I’m sorry. I know you don’t?—”
She bats my hand away, but I can see her shoulders soften slightly. She rolls her eyes. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have expected you to understand how important this is to me.”
The words sting worse than if she’d just yelled at me.
She strides away from me down the hallway. I easily keep up with my longer legs. “No, Phoenix, I do understand. I do. I know getting your degree was always important to you.”
I reach for her arm, then think better of it and pull back. At least she stops walking. I can control my hunger to touch her. I have to.
We’re in a mostly shadowed alcove now where there aren’t as many students around. The architecture here is old stone, creating little pockets of privacy between the main corridors. A window nearby lets in slanted afternoon light that catches the dust motes in the air.
“I just don’t understand why you’re so concerned with what this guy thinks.” I lean in closer, keeping my voice low. “I mean, sure, he’s got his theories, but youknowwhat happened. You were there.”
“Do I?” She turns to face me fully, and there’s something vulnerable in her expression now instead of just anger.
I frown, confused by the question.
“Yes, I know what happened last month. I called a power I couldn’t even begin to understand from another realm into this one.” She shifts her weight, and I realize she’s closer to me now in this alcove than she’s been since we woke up this morning. “But beyond that, what the hell do Iactuallyknow?”
She leans in further, and I’m briefly overwhelmed by the her scent. My brain stutters for a second before I force myself to focus on her words.
“You know, one of the last things Sabra’s mother foresaw before she died was a fissure in this plane that would allow other spirits in. Professor Rossi found prophecies of a similar fissure in ancient texts. That spoke about a time when the gods would return.”
She’s animated now, her hands moving as she talks. Her blue eyes are bright with intellectual passion. “Think about it, Layden. I know we haven’t really ever talked about this, but you’ve been around far longer than me. Was there a time when gods roamed the earth, then went away?”
I watch her hands gesture, and the way her whole body is engaged in her explanation. She’s beautiful when she’s passionate like this. I never want to put out her fire, so I try to focus on her words.
“Sure, spirits from other realms may have always occasionally breached this plane, but I think they used to do it a lot more often.” She steps closer without seeming to realize it. “But then something happened, and they stopped. Maybe there was even a mass exodus. Or an expulsion of some kind.”
I blink as I think about a story my father always told me. “Well… I’ve felt old my whole life, but you know, I’m still relatively young if you consider the earth’s age. Only two or three thousand years old.” I lean back against the stone wall of thebuilding, trying to focus on her words instead of how close she is. “My father, though... he’s much older.”
Phoenix nods, encouraging me to continue. There’s no impatience in her expression now, just genuine interest.
“Many angels from the Great Hall used to walk this plane until one day they left. But my father didn’t want to leave, so he stole the Spark of Life and came back to forge his sons and dominate this world.” I look back at Phoenix as it clicks into place. “Because he was the only one left.”
Her eyes light up as she realizes the same thing I am. “Maybe because he saw that all his competitors had left. Not just the angels, but everything else. Other spirits that the humans used to call gods.”
“What could have happened to send them all running back to the realms they came from?”
“I don’t know but it sounds like therewasa great exile. And your father just managed to escape it, or at least sneak back after it happened.” Phoenix’s voice is filled with wonder now.
We both stare at each other, momentarily stumped by the implications.
