Aflora is going to be furious, I thought, eyeing the flaming trees.
Look closely,Az sighed into my mind.What damage has been done?
I blinked at the glittering leaves on the branches, my lips curling down. The tree wasn’t really burning…?How…?
Just put out the fire, Cami.
If you say that to me one more time…I wasn’t sure how to finish that threat.
The Phoenix seemed unfazed by the heat, which made sense. Because this was Phoenixfire, after all.
And I had no fucking clue how to combat it.
I had tried everything. Water spells. Warmth spells, like I had done with the fires in the Everglades and the Marsh Lands.
Ice, dirt, sandstorms—everything.
Not everything,Az corrected. Apparently, I was now failing lesson one—safeguarding my thoughts.
If you’re talking about Lucifer’s source, no. I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole,I said.That’s a lesson I’ve already learned.
Az hummed in my mind.I wasn’t talking about that, no. If anything, that would make the fire hotter, not squelch it.
Great. So then what the fuck are we supposed to do?Even Ajax had tried a few tricks, but none of them had worked.
“How does this help us learn anything about fighting Lucifer?” I demanded as I brushed sweat from my brow. Maybe there was a lesson to be learned here, but I wasn’t comprehending it.
The Phoenix simply watched us with those intense black eyes of his. I knew Az was back there somewhere, too, even if I couldn’t see a glimmer of the purple irises of his spirit.
If I tell you, then it’ll ruin the point of today’s training,Az said, infuriating me more.Did you learn nothing from the last one?
The last lesson had been that Lucifer was untouchable. I wasn’t sure what that had to do with this.
Unless…
Maybe I’m not supposed to fight it?I thought, causing Ajax to glance at me. Because yeah, he’d probably overheard that, too. Just like Az undoubtedly had. I’d fix thesafeguardingproblem later.
“Maybe we need to work together,” Ajax suggested.
The Phoenix went still at his comment, which suggested that Ajax was onto something.
I nodded. “Okay. Take my hand.”
Ajax did as I requested, slipping his fingers through mine while the fires roared all around us.
I couldn’t see the moon anymore. The smoke blotted out the sky, and even the ground beneath my boots felt hot and unsteady. The warmth bled through the soles and scorched my feet. I did my best to ignore it, but I wanted nothing more than to escape this growing inferno.
But Phoenixfire didn’t burn like real fire did. It didn’t spread in the same pattern. It seemed to jump to new locations, flaring up without warning before delving into the earth again.
Each time it sparked to life, my heart leaped and intense heat swept through my system.
The Phoenix walked straight through the flames, seeming at home in them as they turned blue around his fingers. His clothes burned off his body, making me swallow when I took in his naked form.
Pay attention, little warrior,Az said with a pleased lilt to his voice.
My jaw clenched, and I yanked my attention back to Ajax’s blue-black eyes. “Follow my lead,” I said.
Ajax nodded.
