Justine stood in the shadow of the rocks. She greeted them with a nod. “Are you sure you want to do this, Phoenix?”
“He’s got the sword. He’s the only one who can help. So, yes. Otherwise I don’t normally seek social calls with beings who are trying to injure me. Do you have a map? Where do we find him?”
Justine shook her head. “No map. He’ll find you—if he wants to.”
Raya made a skeptical face. “We’re supposed to just wander around underground and hope he shows up? Aren’t you coming?”
“I promised I would not intrude on his retreat. I am breaking the spirit, but not the letter, of that promise. I cannot say it does not trouble me.”
Angels and their scruples. Phoenix swallowed a sarcastic remark. “That reminds me. Cosmo had a message for you, Justine. She said she hadn’t found another bakery yet that she liked as much as yours. She also said if I didn’t pass along the message, she’d break my face.”
Justine chuckled. “Sounds like Cosmo.”
Phoenix turned to Raya. “Shall we?”
Raya looked around. “How do we go in?”
“We go down.” He led her behind the rocks to a dark opening in the ground. “Normally, you’d need ropes.”
She knelt and peered into the blackness. “Normally, I’d need a tranquilizer.”
“Unfortunately, all you have is me.”
Raya gave him a very strange look. “You’ll have to do.”
Justine stepped back to give them space.
Phoenix unfurled his wings. “I’ll carry you down.”
Raya hesitated. “You’ll drop me.”
He tilted his head. “Seriously? You think I’d go to all this trouble just to drop you?”
She rose and approached him.
They stood toe-to-toe.
He wrapped his arms around her and felt the sharp intake of her breath as it quickened under his embrace. He kept his voice as steady as possible. “You’ll have to hold on to me.”
Raya wrapped her arms around his back, below his wings.
He indicated his chest with a nod. “Rest your head here, so there’s no danger of hitting it as we descend.”
She made eye contact briefly, then complied, slowly nestling her head near his shoulder.
“Ready?”
“If you drop me, I’ll—”
“Hush.” He raised one hand and smoothed it over her hair. “I won’t.”
Raya held him tighter. “Ready.”
Phoenix flapped his wings, sending them both upward to hover over the cave entrance, before dropping in a controlled descent through the opening in the ground.
The sunlight disappeared in seconds as they plunged into the tunnel. They landed softly on the sandy floor.
Phoenix released his hold and wished the descent had been just a bit longer.
