The music pumped behind my fear as I took another step.
And then another.
Glass sliced into my feet, and something wet and warm slipped between my toes. Knowing it was blood, I refused to look down and braced myself against the bar’s edge to keep the nausea down.
When the pendant swung right, it cast fleeting light on a pair of legs hanging off a table. One foot was twisted at the ankle, and the other rested on the wooden floor as though he were simply sitting on the edge.
I walked closer, the pendant swaying, shining on a pair of jeans and a leather jacket splayed across green felt. Then I saw the pool of blood and flesh, hair clumped and spread across his rearranged face.
Phoenix’s skull was smashed in, head turned, eyes wide open, pupils dilated, empty, and staring right at me. His arm hung lazily off the edge of the table, almost as though he was reaching out for someone to help. But no one did. He was left like this.
Dizziness consumed me.
I turned and folded myself over the bar, covering my head with my arms. This feeling was heavy and weighed me down until I felt sick.
Glass cut into my heel when I stepped back and faced the floor as I vomited, eyes watering and fire scratching the walls of my throat.
The song looped again.
A tear hung from my trembling lips.
I wiped my mouth and looked back at him.
Tears were desperate to burst out of me, and I pushed my sweaty hair back off my forehead, trying to contain myself.
For over twenty years, Phoenix couldn’t show his face. And the monster who killed him ensured the same was true in death, as well.
I couldn’t leave him like this and found myself stumbling toward him, grabbing his arms and folding his body over my shoulder. My hands were soaked in blood, and they slipped across the jean jacket as I tried to find a grip.
“I have you, brother.”Brother, my chest tightened. Another piece of glass sliced my foot, another hammer against my temple. With his weight on my shoulder, I took many harsh breaths. Another step. “I’ve got you.”
We stepped out of the stale, ghastly room and into winter.
Both cruel winds and tears coated my vision. I squeezed my eyes closed and then squinted, seeing three Heathens come out of the dark woods and halt on the other side of the parking lot.
From there, it all happened in slow motion.
Grief, heartbreak, and curses distorted their faces.
Anguish flooded Beck. Julian collapsed to his knees. Zephyr froze in his mask, absolutely numb, the lime green in his eyes glowing. Then a scream filled with despair pierced the night. It was Julian, and it shredded my head and heart.
My knee buckled, and I leaned forward, laying Phoenix on the concrete just before Zephyr charged at me with a crippling crazed look in his eyes. I raised my palms, and the ground quaked before it jutted, forming a small moving hill. And it raced toward Zephyr, barreling across the parking lot, taking him off his feet, and tossing him into the street.
The other two Heathens sprinted toward me, shouting words I couldn’t understand, but a storm formed between us, stopping them in their tracks. It was sudden and fierce, and I didn’t know who was causing it. Winds thrashed violently, swallowing up their words as the storm rose into the sky above us.
Julian and I locked eyes just as an electric-blue lightning bolt ripped between us and touched the ground. The force snatched them both up, throwing them onto their backs.
I looked down at Phoenix, running out of time.
It had to be now.
I crouched down, ripped open Phoenix’s shirt, and pressed my palms against his deathly cold skin. “Please,” I shouted, desperation clutching my voice. I locked my elbows and pumped into his chest, feeling the vibrations of his ribs breaking under my palms.
I pumped, crushing his sternum, sweat sliding down the sides of my face.
I pumped.“Nos omnes connexae,”I shouted, pleading to feel his heart under my hands.
Then.
