Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
The portal site looked exactly the same as it had when Ben and I had first come here — a natural clearing where ancient stones formed a rough circle, their gray surfaces marked with runes I now knew were Ogham letters, even if I couldn’t read what they said.
Or at least, it looked mostly the same. The little fairy bell flowers that resembled glowing lilies of the valley were nowhere to be found, and neither was the carpet of bioluminescent moss that had once covered the ground.
Something had shifted, and I wondered if that was yet another byproduct of the contaminated energy Rosenthal’s artificial portal was spewing in all directions.
The ground here felt different now, charged with a power I could sense even through my exhaustion. This was a place where the barrier between worlds grew thin, where dimensional energy pooled and swirled in patterns that predated human civilization.
Ben and I lowered the stretcher with exaggerated care.
Once it was safely on the ground, I knelt beside the phoenix.
The creature’s breathing was shallow, the same harsh pants I’d seen in animals that had suffered severe trauma.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a case where I could clean a wound and stitch it closed, or administer antibiotics, or order an ultrasound to find out exactly what was wrong.
Everything I knew about veterinary medicine wouldn’t help me here.
We had maybe two hours until the phoenix’s heart failed.
The clearing was about fifty feet across. It felt smaller today, and I wondered if that was simply because my understanding of dimensional magic had grown since the last time I was here.
This place was sacred, though. Not in a religious sense, exactly, but in the way certain locations become thin places where normal rules didn’t quite apply. Where magic came easier and where dimensional barriers weakened.
Where a phoenix could complete its rebirth cycle…if it had a guardian to anchor the process.
Rebecca Morse appeared then, emerging silently from a stand of young fir trees. “I’m going to scout the perimeter,” she said. “I want to make sure we’re actually clear. Give me three minutes.”
Before we could respond, she disappeared into the trees with the kind of stealth that would have made a ninja proud. I watched her go and tried not to think about how exposed we were, how vulnerable I’d be once the merge started.
Ben knelt beside me and found my shoulder with his hand.
His electromagnetic signature wrapped around mine at once, stabilizing, strengthening, making my depleted abilities feel almost manageable.
The burns on my arms throbbed in response to his touch, but the pain was bearable.
Everything was bearable when he was close.
“How do you want to do this?” he asked.
I pressed both hands to the phoenix’s chest and felt the weak pulse of clean fire that remained.
The creature’s heart beat irregularly under my palms, struggling to pump energy through a system that was massively contaminated.
Most animals wouldn’t have even still been alive if they were carrying that much infection.
The fact that it had survived this long only proved how stubborn phoenixes were.
Or how desperate.
Ben was watching me, waiting for a response.
“I need to be touching the phoenix when I start the merge,” I said. “Physical contact helps anchor the connection. You should be close enough that our electromagnetic signatures can resonate, but not so close that you get pulled into the merge with me.”
It was the first time I’d mentioned that might be a possible danger, but he didn’t blink. “How close is too close?”
I could only shrug. “I don’t know. My grandmother’s journals didn’t cover this part.” I made myself meet his eyes and say what needed to be said. “I just know that if you feel yourself starting to get pulled in, you need to back away immediately. The merge might consume you, too.”
Fear flickered through his hazel eyes, but his voice stayed steady. “I’m not leaving you.”
I shook my head. “I’m not asking you to leave. I’m asking you to stay close enough to anchor me but far enough away to stay safe. I need to know you’ll be okay. That’s what’s going to help me hold on to my identity when I dissolve.”
He was quiet for a moment, and I watched him work through the problem — always thinking, always analyzing, always trying to find the optimal solution. One of the things I loved about him was that methodical mind which approached even impossible situations with calm rationality.
At last, he nodded. “Five feet should work. That’s close enough to maintain the connection, but far enough to avoid an accidental merge. I’ll monitor your vitals and watch for DAPI forces. If anything threatens you while you’re vulnerable, I’ll handle it.”
“With what?” I forced myself to be practical. adding, “You’re not a fighter.”
“With whatever it takes.” His tone was one of absolute certainty, and I felt an echo of that emotion through our connection.
It wasn’t bravado or false confidence, just determination backed by a love so fierce that it stole my breath.
“Sidney, you’re about to sacrifice everything to save the phoenix and the portal network.
The least I can do is make sure no one shoots you while you’re doing it. ”
I wanted to argue, to tell him that his life mattered more than mine.
If DAPI forces showed up, staying to protect my unconscious body would be suicide.
But I knew Ben well enough to understand that arguing would be pointless.
He’d made his decision, just as I’d made mine when I pushed that electromagnetic pulse to free him from Rosenthal’s facility.
We were both too stubborn to leave the other behind.
Rebecca Morse emerged from the trees, her expression grim, and uneasiness churned in my stomach. Something in the set of her jaw told me the news wasn’t good before she even opened her mouth.
“It’s worse than we thought,” she said. She sounded brisk, relaying information but not allowing herself to get caught up in all its ramifications.
“More tactical positions than Eric’s intel suggested.
I counted at least thirty agents, not twenty-five.
And they’re not just positioned to the north and east. They’ve got coverage on all sides. ”
So Rosenthal had a complete perimeter. She’d surrounded the portal site.
Ben scowled. “She knew we’d come here. She knew we needed the portal to complete the ritual. So she set up an ambush and waited.”
“The diversion won’t be enough.” My voice sounded much steadier than I felt.
Even if Eric Hargrove’s containment failure pulled thirty percent of those forces away, we’d still be outnumbered.
“When he triggers the failure at the artificial portal, some agents will respond, but Rosenthal will keep enough here to capture us.”
Rebecca’s frown matched Ben’s in intensity, although she seemed calm enough as she said, “I’ll need my phone back. I have to tell Eric to abort.”
“No,” I said at once, my tone sharp. I looked down at the phoenix, at the corruption that had spread to cover everything except that small patch around its heart.
“We don’t have time for a new plan. The phoenix has maybe an hour left if we’re lucky.
If we abort now, if we delay, it dies. The portal network will collapse, and my family will stay trapped forever. ”
“Sidney — ” Rebecca began.
I shook my head. “I’m starting the merge.
” I turned toward them both and made myself say what needed to be said, even though every word felt like another nail in my coffin.
“When the DAPI forces close in, you both need to run. Don’t try to protect me.
Once I’m merged with the phoenix, I’ll be beyond their reach anyway.
They can’t capture what doesn’t have a physical form. ”
“That’s not happening,” Ben said. His voice was flat, final.
I’d been afraid he would say that. “Ben, be reasonable,” I told him. “You can’t fight thirty trained agents. You’ll die.”
“Then I’ll die.” He said the words simply, as if his own death was just another variable in a much bigger equation.
“Sidney, do you really think I’m going to stand by while Rosenthal captures your body when your consciousness is trapped in phoenix fire?
Let her experiment on you when you can’t defend yourself? ”
Why did he have to be so stubborn? “I’m not worth dying for.”
His eyes narrowed. “Yes, you are. And more importantly, this isn’t just about you.
It’s about the phoenix, the portal network, your family, every supernatural site on Earth that depends on the natural energy flow.
So we’re not aborting, and we’re not running.
We’re going to complete this ritual and destroy Rosenthal’s weapon, no matter what. ”
“And how are we supposed to manage that?” I asked. “How do we hold off thirty agents for hours while I’m unconscious?”
Still with those narrowed eyes and taut jaw, Ben said, “How long does the ritual actually take? Do you have any clear idea?”
I didn’t. What I was about to attempt had never been done before, so there was nothing to compare it to. “I don’t know for sure. With this level of corruption, with the full merge instead of just anchoring? Hours. Maybe three or four.”
“Then we’ll hold for three or four hours.
” Ben made that statement as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
As if holding off thirty DAPI agents while I was unconscious and vulnerable was just another logistics problem to solve.
“Rebecca, you have tactical training. Can we create a defensive position?”
She scanned the clearing for a moment. “The stone circle provides some protection. Limited approach angles. If I position myself at the north entrance and you take the south, we can create overlapping fields of fire. It won’t stop a coordinated assault, but it’ll slow them down.”