Page 66 of Red Dragon’s Flame

Tristan said slowly, “Well, these guys are evil sorcerers who enslave other creatures and steal their powers. I say we take a team and stop them.” He looked around the room. “Isn’t that what we do?”

Chapter 30

When Tyr and Thorne Greystone arrived, along with Zane and Blaze, they had news. Lots of it. Everyone gathered around the conference table in Emon’s office to hear.

“We got lucky,” Tyr said. “I was able to get in touch with some of my contacts in the Dragonlands—a clan with a bigger historical archive than I have, and some worldwalkers who will neither confirm nor deny that they might have been making trips to earth for centuries, in defiance of the former ‘no visitation except to protect the world from sleeping Draken gods’ pact with the Shifter Council.”

He paced back and forth at the front of the room as he spoke.

“Apparently, we were right about the Allohim using the phoenixes to mutate their species and enhance their powers, and also about the fact that the powers have to be renewed when the phoenixes renew. Also, it seems they need a female to host the phoenix prior to this ritual.”

“Yechh,” Zakerek said.

“I second that. Anyway, about twenty-five years ago, one of the Allohim guards fell in love with the woman who was to be given the next female phoenix when it rose from the ashes, so it could… um. Take her fertility.” Everyone carefully didn’t look at Devon.

“No one knows exactly what happened at the ceremony, but apparently they escaped together. They disappeared, and it’s believed they took the phoenix queen with them. For roughly twenty years, no one knew what happened to her.”

“She’s in Devon, is what happened to her,” Zak said. “Pretending to be a fucking tattoo. Good disguise.”

Blaze said, “It worked for the Dragonfly Seal from the tomb of Vyrkos the evil dragon god. I used to have that right here.” She pointed to her hip.

“Whoa,” Devon said. “Where is it now?”

“In the tomb, keeping it closed so Vyrkos doesn’t come back and destroy the Pacific Northwest. You’re welcome.”

Thorne frowned at her. “May we continue?”

She and Zane grinned at each other. “Sure.”

Tyr said, “The Allohim fused with the male phoenix hatchlings—except for the one that was kept in captivity to eventually mate with the new queen. Their powers restored, they began the hunt through the worlds for their traitor and the woman he loved.”

“My parents,” Devon breathed. “They came here to earth to hide.”

“It seems that way.” Thorne took up the story. “And they managed it, at least for a while. Your father reverted to his natural Banarak form, and they lived like normal humans. And they had you.”

“So I’m half Allohim?” Devon said, feeling a little sick. “Not liking that aspect of this saga. Those things give me the willies. And I didn’t get the wings, which would have been the good part.”

“I’m thinking being able to throw lightning at people who piss you off would have been the good part,” Michelangela said. She looked around the room. “Or that could just be me.”

“I don’t know,” Maddie said to Devon. “Sounds like your dad was one of the good guys. Or else, love changed him.”

She smiled at Zakerek and leaned her head against his side. He dropped a hand onto her hair and his hard, cynical face softened.

Love did change people, Devon thought. Or at least, it brought out the best that was hidden inside them.

She wasn’t sure she wanted her best to be brought out, though. Because doing the right thing was really, really hard some days. And she had the feeling this was going to be one of them.

“So, here’s the thing I don’t understand,” Zakerek said. “The queen phoenix was supposed to go into a grown woman, and basically absorb her fertility? And then when she was past childbearing age—or when the phoenix had basically vacuumed up all her eggs or whatever, then it would be ready to mate, and the Allohim would take it to the male and they’d do their thing.”

And burn up their hosts, probably, Devon thought. She shivered, and Mikah put his arm around her.

“As far as we know, yeah,” said Tyr.

Zakerek said, “Okay, so, it’s only been inside of Devon for fifteen years. And it may or may not have sucked up—” He glanced at Devon and cleared his throat. “Anyway, the process is wrong, but the overall timeline is the same—the phoenix is around twenty-five. So, is anybody sure it doesn’t mature and get fertile at twenty-five or so regardless of whether it has a human host? Because why would it need one? If your research is accurate, they didn’t originate in a world where humans live.”

“Unless they later evolved to be symbiotic with humans,” Emon said.

“Yes. Well. We don’t know everything,” Tyr said. “And it’s possible that the Allohim don’t either. The true story may be lost. But what we do know is that Devon’s situation isn’t the typical phoenix/Banarak procedure.”