Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Cernunnos left after a large slice of cake, a cup of dark roast coffee, and a few more cryptic warnings thrown my way. A normal weekday for me by now.
I waited for half an hour to ensure I was completely alone before I went into the master bedroom, pulled all the shades down, and encouraged my plants to spread their foliage out, blocking all the windows and hidey holes where prying eyes might hide.
I sensed nothing, the house still and quiet, other than the soft susurrations of growing plant life, but being paranoid had kept me alive all these years.
Once all the walls and ceiling were covered in glorious, thick growth, I brought the silence wards up and cast a glamour around the room.
Any hidden cameras would see one thing while I worked on another.
I flipped up the large, colorful rug from the middle of the room and lay my hand against the warm, living floor.
A sigil put in by Hazel glowed in greeting, and I settled my palm against the sigil, my fingers inside each of the small glowing circles on the edges.
Five soft pricks and five drops of blood later, the sigil brightened, and the click of a large lock sounded.
A whir of a mechanical wheel and the floor slid open, revealing a gray stone staircase. The flutter of wings sounded, along with the deep sound of a raven caw. I waited until Poe flew up and settled on my shoulder.
I stroked his silky feathers. “Haven’t seen you in a while, friend. Would you like to fly?”
Poe dipped his head. “Fly. Stretch. Breathe.”
“Mind walking down with me first?”
“Walk down. See Fee.”
“Is it safe for her to fly yet?”
A violet shimmer of magic, Poe’s strange power sweeping through my land. “Stay inside my wards. Fly.”
“She’ll like that.” With the raven on my shoulder, I took the steps into the true beating heart of my home.
I usually came down here a few times a week to check on my treasures and ensure all my shade plants were doing well. Lately, I’ve been down here every night. Guilt flooded me at Poe being trapped down here, but the raven insisted. He took the duty of protecting Fee seriously.
It had taken a while for the egg to hatch, and when it had, magic had rocketed through the shop, bouncing around the warded store until it had flooded into each and every one of us and back into Fee, our brand-new baby phoenix.
This was the item I suspected Neit warned me about.
My mother possessed three legendary birds, animals capable of extraordinary healing feats, their song capable of resurrecting the dead.
But one of them had somehow managed to get one of their eggs out of Cliona’s clutches and into the hands of a strange man who sold me duck eggs at the local farmer’s market.
I knew the egg was magical the moment I laid eyes on it. But what I hadn’t expected was what currently sat in front of me, nibbling its glowing feathers.
None of Cliona’s birds could be considered extraordinary when gauging by appearance only. She had a goldfinch, a Eurasian chaffinch, and a starling. All normal, average birds one might see when they walked outside in certain countries.
This baby was none of those.
“Hi, Fee.” The baby hopped onto the edge of its basket and flapped its way over to me, landing on my outstretched arm.
Fee nuzzled my bicep, rubbing her brightly colored feathers against my arm.
Her tail swept a full twelve inches down my body and was covered in the softest bright blue and purple downy feathers, pulsating with a deep, ancient magic.
Her head and the rest of her body were covered in bright orange and yellow feathers, and her eyes were a deep, burnished gold.
She was the most beautiful animal I’d ever seen.
I held power over fauna, though I rarely used the magic.
Animals were deeply intelligent, feeling creatures, different from plants, though they held a strong sentience, too.
A different sentience. I was careful with my plants and never pushed them in any direction they were resistant to going.
But animals…I’d only used my power to heal them, never compel them, though they were drawn to me.
I’d never compel Fee to do anything other than be herself, but she required almost more protection than I could offer. I was not equipped to deal with a freaking phoenix, but here I was. About to sneak my legendary bird out for a flight I prayed to the gods no one would notice.
But how could no one notice such a majestic animal? And how could I keep her safe?
And the million-dollar question, how the hell did a common songbird lay a phoenix egg?
“Fly?” Poe croaked.
Fee jerked her head up. She didn’t speak, and I never expected her to. Poe was an anomaly in a family of anomalies. But even though the phoenix never spoke, she understood when we spoke to her.
I’d formed a strong bond with her and would protect her with my life, but I had to find a way to protect her in a way that allowed her to live. Not live in a magical basement, only allowed to fly when I deemed it safe.
Fee bobbed her head and let out an adorable little cry.
“Come on, you two.” Fee hopped on my left shoulder; Poe settled on the right. They waited patiently while I checked on my plants, giving them a healthy drink of water and a boost of nutrients. A double check to make sure all the protections were in place, and we were off to the kitchen.
“Want to eat first, Poe?”
The raven shook his head. “Fly! Fly!”
“Alright. Keep an eye on Fee. But don’t take off until I double check the wards and put up the canopy, okay?”
“Make high.”
“As high as I can,” I promised, guilt flooding me. Poe could fly as long and as high as he wanted to, but he wouldn’t. Not as long as Fee needed him.
Every time I let them out, I raised the canopy a little higher, but it was almost at its max. Any higher and people would begin to notice.
Both birds’ bodies quivered with anticipation when I stepped onto the porch. “Be patient,” I urged. “It will only take a few minutes.”
Poe made a quarking noise and ruffled his feathers, his impatience evident in his motion.
I moved some leaves out of the way and sank onto the ground, digging the tips of my fingers into the soil. Closing my eyes, I sank into stillness and connected with the earth.
My land was well-sated and relaxed, no longer in a true growing season. Autumn was the time to slow down and begin preparing for winter. Joy Springs was colder than the Gulf Coast, but we rarely saw a hard freeze for long, if at all. But things stopped growing and slumbered.
I coaxed the ground to alertness and sent them a mental image of what I wanted and why.
The land perked up when I showed them Poe and Fee, its attention snagging on the phoenix’s incredible plumage.
Slowly but surely, vines rose from the ground, hugging and curling around trees and structures, climbing toward the sky before they reached for each other to tangle in a camera proof canopy.
It took a little longer than I expected. Autumn moved slower than spring and summer, but soon enough my land fell into darkness. I sent several globes of light into the sky, interspersing them in a pattern Poe and Fee could use as an obstacle course if they wanted.
“Ready?”
Fee’s cry was exultant, shattering the quiet evening.
Tears sprang to my eyes, and I wondered if I could ask for help to protect her. The Keep might be a good place. Caelan had a lot more land, but what would he do with such a treasure? Would he use it for his own gain?
“Go,” I whispered. “Fly free.”
Both birds shot from my shoulders in a sharp arc upward, their happy cries echoing through the land.
“Thank you,” I whispered to the land.
A soft, warm pulse was its answer.
Once the birds were fed, they landed on the loveseat and curled around each other. I never kept them behind the locked doors when I was home, but I couldn’t risk allowing them outside with cover. All the shades were drawn and double-checked for any other presence before I let them roam free.
After a quick dinner of tacos, I curled on the couch with my e-reader. Poe flew over and settled onto my lap.
“Fly tomorrow?” Poe croaked.
“Maybe.” I stroked his feathers absentmindedly. “What do you think about me asking Caelan to care for Fee?”
Poe ruffled his feathers and cocked his head up. Intelligence gleamed in his dark eyes. “Like.” He bobbed his neck like that settled everything.
“You think she will stay safe there?”
“Caelan predator.” He snapped his beak a few times. “Eat prey. Fee safe.”
Poe always had good judgment about people. “Poe visit.”
“Are you sure he won’t use her for his own gain?”
A shake of his feathery head. “Lord honor. Love Evie. Won’t steal.”
I stilled. “Oh Poe. He doesn’t love me. He wants to use me.”
He made a quarking noise. “Love Evie. Love Fee. Love Poe. Safe.”
“Fee?” I called.
The phoenix popped her head up and burbled.
“Do you want the chance to fly free? High in the sky?”
She flew over and settled by Poe, nudging him with her tail to move over. Poe croaked at her but shifted. I grinned at their antics.
Fee bobbed her head.
It was still early. “Are you truly sure about this, Poe? We can’t take it back.”
“Lord safe. Fee fly.”
I pulled my cell out and texted Caelan.