76. In Which the Spreading of Fire and Ash Occurs
Chapter 76
In Which the Spreading of Fire and Ash Occurs
T ucking a few more flowers around her side, Callassa wiped her face as tears clouded her vision. The daemon nursemaids were washing off the last of the dirt from Ellie’s arms. Smoothing a hand over her wild curls, she picked one up, letting it snake as it glided through her slender fingers—laying it back down to join the fiery crown.
“Evander is right,” she said to no one in particular. “Ellie is hot, like a fever. She is burning up.”
Patting her hand, Persephone let a weak smile curl her lips. “She was very powerful, like you.”
Placing a few more flowers around her feet, she moved towards Ellie’s side and crossed her hands over her chest and smoothed the chiton across her shoulders; they had chosen purple—a symbol of royalty—with gold embroidery along the hem. Laying coins along her arms, Persephone turned to speak something in the language of the daemons. Callassa sniffed and gulped at the lump of tears lodged in her throat. Taking something from the daemons, Persephone laid a golden crown on her head. Laurel leaves twisted around flowers and, in the center, sapphires in the shape of the sun. She touched her necklace and pulled the pendant straight to lay even on her clavicle. Callassa stroked her hair once more, setting her curls right. Ellie’s soft copper eyelashes lay against rosy cheeks. Patting her arm, Callassa let out a strangled sob.
“I’m so sorry, Ellie.” Her whisper fell to the table. “You didn’t deserve this. Your tender, kind heart was your greatest strength.” Wiping tears from her cheeks, a few escaped through her fingers and fell onto Ellie’s cheeks.
Looking up, Persephone sniffed, her own eyes rimmed in red.
“I wanted more time. She was my sister, and I didn’t have enough time.”
Reaching across, Persephone patted her arm.
“She was everything good, all the parts I wished I possessed.”
“I know you do.” Lovingly, she looked down at Ellie. “I wish I had more time as well. I had just met her, yet there was something so easy about becoming her friend.”
Nodding, Callassa wiped tears with the back of her hand. “She made it easy. Listening to me. She made me feel so accepted. So loved, even when I didn’t want her to.”
Smiling, Persephone straightened something on her chiton. A half-laugh escaped Callassa.
“Her and that damn knitting.”
Turning her head, Persephone gave her a queer look. “You mean crochet?”
A laugh bubbled up as Callassa wiped her nose.
“Yes. She was always correcting me. She would just sit weaving, but I never saw her finish a damn thing. It was like she ripped it up at night and started over every morning.”
They both smiled at each other.
“And her sense of humor.” Callassa rolled her eyes dramatically. “She was forever saying the quiet things out loud.”
Both chuckled and shook their heads, tucking more flowers around her. Callassa turned the ring on her finger several times. Ellie had only ever wanted love and acceptance. She never asked for anything other than understanding. Where Callassa was bold and unafraid, cunning and snarky, Ellie was wise and strong, soft and warm. They complemented each other like two sides of the same coin.
“She loves this little window seat in Maximus’ home. I’d find her there every time I needed her. It was like she waited for me, lost in her thoughts or books. It was comforting.” A half-sob ripped through her. “And now, the window seat will be empty.”
Persephone pulled her in for a hug, letting Callassa cry. She reached down and patted Ellie’s arm. Then she frowned.
“She is boiling to the touch.”
A crease formed between Callassa’s eyebrows. “Could she still be trying to exchange her magic?”
“It’s been hours. I don’t believe it would take this long, but maybe.”
Putting a thoughtful finger to her lips, Callassa asked. “Could it be the mixture of herbs we used?”
Liam burst into the room, crashing into one of the daemon maids and sending her toppling.
“Evander’s gone.” He reached down and helped the daemon to her feet.
“Gone?” Callassa asked.
“He went to the coun—” But Liam never finished his thought.
His eyes lit up and grew wide as he took a step back. A warm glow began at the bottom of Callassa’s vision, making her look down. Starting at Ellie’s feet, everything on the table slowly caught fire. The flames licked up her body, turning everything in its path into ash. The flowers burned and sparked, and the sheet she lay on burst into flames, throwing swirling ash into the air. Gold and orange, copper and red danced, coiling together, a flaming inferno that washed over Ellie’s body.
Callassa gasped and tried to put the flames out, but they moved so fast she could do nothing but stand with her hand over her mouth as she watched her sister turn to coals and embers. The fire stopped as quickly as it started, blowing out. In its place, a perfect outline of Ellie made of ash. That’s when Callassa heard herself scream. Persephone said something to her, pulling her backward as she tried to reach for the charred remains. Pulling her away, away from Ellie.
“Ellie!” she shouted repeatedly, fighting against the hold.
Liam touched her, and she wrapped herself in his arms. Holding her, he whispered things in Gaelic that she didn’t understand. He rubbed her back as Ellie’s outline lay a few feet away. The ashes blazed, burning at the bottom as if someone stoked dying embers to life. A soft glow of remembrance lit its way up the ashed figure. The glow burned brighter, light emanating through the dark, bursting in ribbons of copper and gold that shot into the room. Then the inferno returned to life, renewed, gathered at her head and crept toward her feet, consuming everything once again.
It extinguished once it reached her feet, all at once, like someone blowing out candles on a birthday cake. They all three gasped and backed up. Ellie lay perfectly formed, her hands crossed over her chest, her chiton white with purple embroidery, and a crown on her head.
Her chest heaved, and she gasped in a breath, her eyes flying open as her lungs filled with oxygen, raising her chest slightly off the table. Blinking several times, she took another slower, richer breath and turned her head to find three shocked faces staring at her. Silence stretched between them as the entire room froze in shock.
“Where’s Evander?”
Callassa blinked, words failing her. She looked at Liam, who looked like he would faint.
“You were dead,” he breathed. Shooting a glance to Persephone and then to Callassa. “Right?”
Nodding furiously, Callassa held the same shocked tone. “Yes. Yes, you were dead.”
Trying to sit up, Ellie grunted as something heavy pulled her back to the table. Struggling, she pushed herself up on her elbows.
“Holy fucking Zeus,” Callassa said in a shocked whisper.
Ellie peered up at them as she pushed herself upright. Glancing between the three and then to the daemons who had stood in suspended animation since she caught fire, she looked confused.
“What?”
“Holy shit,” Callassa swore again and stepped toward Ellie, helping her swing her legs over the side.
“What?”
Liam pointed. “You have wings.” His eyes were so big that Callassa could see most of the whites.
“What?”
Ellie wiggled her shoulders and then twisted her head from side to side. Reaching behind her, she threaded her fingers through feathers. Callassa rounded the table, coming to her back. Her wings were large, not as massive as the warriors’ or herself, but enough. Reds, coppers, auburn, flaming oranges, and some pure gold colored the plumage as ash dripped from the ends. She didn’t have horns like the warriors; Ellie’s sloped, similar to Liam and herself. Moving her shoulders, the wings rustled. Ellie arched her back, and Persephone reached for her so she wouldn’t topple off the table. As she did, her wings opened, and Callassa gasped for what she felt was a ridiculous number of times. Each wing had copper scrolling, twisting, and turning, crawling up to the top and flowing to the bottom.
“Ellie, open your wings,” Callassa commanded.
“Um . . . what?”
“Open your wings, love. Stretch, like you’re stretching your back,” Liam said, standing beside Callassa in awe and wonder.
She did, curling her body forward, and her wings stretched out. The scrolling disappeared under her chiton, spiraling to the ends of her wings and coiling into filagree. Every feather had a mark across it, shining like someone had drawn on her with copper ink.
“What happened?”
They all erupted, talking at once.
“Athena killed you.”
“Evander tried to get to you, but you had him in the shield.”
“We all tried.”
“I have never seen wings that made ash.”
“You were brought here.”
“Camulos was stabbed.”
“Weren’t breathing.”
“He fell apart.”
“Nothing worked.”
“Evander went to the council.”
“You were dead.”
“I’ve never seen copper scrolling on wings.”
“Dead.”
“But Evander went anyway.”
“I tried to stop him.”
“You burst into flames.”
“Council.”
“Pheonix are myths.”
“He’s going to Athena.”
“You’re a phoenix!” they said in unison.
Ellie covered her face with her hands and rubbed her temples. “I should have said one at a time.”
Uncovering her face, she looked at them as they stared back. Taking in a breath, her wings rising and falling with the movement, Ellie shook her head at them as they continued to stare. She wiggled off the table and almost fell over onto the floor. Persephone caught her and set her upright.
“How do you walk with these things?”
Shrugging, Callassa frowned. “I was born with mine.”
“You get used to them,” Liam said, still wide-eyed.
Clutching Persephone’s arm, trying her best to steady herself on her feet, she asked. “How did this happen?”
Liam shook his head. “Never mind how this happened.” Grabbing Ellie by the arms, he forced her to look at him. “Right now, Evander is going before the council.”
Ellie made a face. “Who?”
“The council. He is going to go to his summons and accept his penance.”
“Penance?” she asked, still not understanding what he was saying.
Callassa leaned over and looked at Ellie. “He’s going to confess to breaking his vow, Ellie. He’s going to the Shadow Realm.”
Still, the look of confusion permeated Ellie’s face. Callassa knew all this information was too much at once, and Ellie wasn’t processing any of it.
“Evander thinks you’re dead, Ellie. He is going to join the Chthonian Legion. He is grief-stricken.”
Understanding finally flew across Ellie’s features. “No! No, he can’t. I’m not dead.”
“Yes, we know, love. But he doesn’t.”
“But I love him!” she burst out, her face paling.
“We know, love.”
Grabbing her arms, Callassa gave her a light shake. “We need to go to the council before it’s too late.” She lowered her chin and stared at her. “We have to be the ones to save him.”
Ellie nodded, fully understanding, as she stood the best she could.
“How?”