Phoenix Rising (14 page)

Rachel was suddenly there, leaning over them both. “I called for an ambulance. How’s he doing?”
Phoenix didn’t lift his eyes. “Watch….”
“Is that…? Did it…?”
The bird didn’t answer. His entire being was focused on the man at his feet. His tears continued to fall, but their special quality was no longer necessary.
Artemis’s blood ceased to flow from his body. The hole in his abdomen expelled a misshapen piece of metal and then closed. A moment later, his eyes opened.
Phoenix crooned and began to sing under his breath.
Artemis inhaled slowly. “It always freaks me out when you smile. Birds shouldn’t smile.”
Phoenix morphed back into Talis and wrapped his arms around Artemis. His naked flesh gleamed smooth as white marble under the fluorescent lights. “According to you, they shouldn’t talk, either.”
Talis was aware that the room had gone deathly silent, and that they all stood there, watching, listening. He sensed they were no longer a threat to him. He had saved the life of their friend and coworker, and their urge toward action had dissipated, aided by Rachel’s exhortations. The phoenix’s scent and singing had affected more than Artemis.
Outside, a siren wailed, getting louder as it approached. Talis glanced up at the uniformed men. “Medical assistance is no longer needed.”
The lieutenant gruffly cleared his throat. “We’ll let them make that call. Jones, show them the way. The rest of you, get back to work. This meeting is over.”
The room cleared, and then Jones was back with two EMTs. Talis was reluctant to leave Artemis for even the time it took them to examine him, but Rachel’s firm hand on his shoulder made that decision for him. He rose and stepped to her side. When she wordlessly handed him the extra clothing he’d brought, he put it on, his eyes never leaving Artemis.
The EMTs studied Artemis’s blood pressure and heartbeat, checked his eyes and reflexes, and opened his shirt to look at his torso. The taller of the two said, “A gunshot was reported. There’s blood here. Is this a joke?”
Artemis said, “The shooting was accidental. The phoenix healed me. I’m fine.”
The EMT sat back on his heels. “What healed you?”
Artemis sat up, drawing the edges of his shirt together. “Never mind. It might be best if you don’t record this call. There really is no logical explanation,and you’ll just get shit about it from everyone.”
They packed up their equipment. “Shootings have to be reported”
“yeah, to the police,” the lieutenant broke in. “I’m police. You’re in a police station. Consider your job finished.”
One of them proffered a clipboard. “Sign this, then, and we’re outta here. Man, this city just gets weirder by the day. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Batman flying around soon.”
They left, and Talis reached down a hand to Artemis, pulling him to his feet.
Rachel stepped between them long enough to give Artemis a kiss on the cheek. “That was some show and tell, Gregory. Say goodbye before you leave, or I’ll kick your ass good the next time I see you.”
Artemis yanked her into a rough hug. “Thanks, Rach. You can handle everything from here?”
“Done deal. I’ll work with the lieutenant, Liz, and Sherlock to get the alerts canceled. I don’t think there will be much of a problem after what went down today.”
“Speaking of Liz… Ms. Blackstone, did you catch all of this?”
“I did indeed, Detective Gregory. We’ll need follow-up, details, corroboration, but for now, the red notice will be suspended.”
“Thanks. Talk to you soon.”
Rachel ended the connection, waggled her eyebrows at Artemis and Talis, and gave the lieutenant a playful shove as she maneuvered him out of the room.
Talis looked at Artemis. “Am I free,then?”
“Not quite, but the dogs have been called off and we’ll work it through.”
“They won’t remember Phoenix in a few hours or a day.”
Artemis pointed to two ceiling corners. “The meeting was videotaped. They won’t see him as such, but they’ll witness enough of the transformation to know they’re dealing with something they’ve never seen before. Also, I was shot, by another cop, no less, and miraculously healed. That’s a lot of weight to throw around.”
Talis searched Artemis’s face. “You are still shaken.”
“Fuck yeah, I am. That’s the first and hopefully last time I’ll take a bullet. It hurt like a son of a bitch.” He walked toward Talis, who opened his arms to him.
Talis breathed in the living warmth of his soul mate. “You’ve made a decision.”
Curling an arm around Talis’s neck, Artemis drew him closer. “Take me home.”
Smiling, Talis said, “Next stop, Fortress of Solitude.”

T
ALIS
took him to Belize. “You seemed to like it best of the places you’ve seen,” he said as they unpacked Artemis’s few belongings.

Artemis used to be a cop. He hadn’t acquired a lot of
stuff
. It had taken him only a few minutes to throw some clothes and toiletries in a bag and grab his laptop. “I like water, I like sun, and I don’t overly mind when sand crawls into my ass crack.”

Talis sat on the bed, watching him. “Your presence gives me unbelievable joy.”
Hanging up a shirt, Artemis paused and turned, smiling. His mom had cried when he told her he was leaving, but she’d be okay with William. He’d promised to return for the wedding and assured her his cell number was still active. Rachel had mock-punched him in the arm and then given him a kiss no professional partner should give another. Fortunately, he’d missed the traditional department goingaway party, having given them inadequate time to prepare one, but he had been dragged to Bruno’s on his last night in town for an impromptu drunk fest and roast.
The top two buttons on Talis’s shirt were undone, and tufts of blond hair showed against a tan chest. Above the column of his strong neck, Talis’s beautiful face caused him to sigh. He was physically breathtaking, but there was so much more. Phoenix had lived through one thousand years of history, had watched humans evolve through countless wars, and witnessed the changes that now shaped their world. Forget Scheherazade, Talis was the real thing. He had a million stories to tell, and Artemis wanted to hear them all.
“Any regrets?” Talis leaned back on his hands, thighs parting as he relaxed his legs.
Artemis knew what he was referring to. “Not yet.” Resigning from the force, passing on his caseload, introducing Talis to his mother…. It had only taken a couple of days. He’d been too busy to feel much of anything.
“I know you will miss your old life, but you may find this new one has much to offer you.”
An anxious note underscored his words, and Artemis dropped the underwear he’d pulled from his bag and reached out ahand to Talis. “I choose you.”
Rising, Talis took Artemis into his arms, pulling him close, biting and kissing his neck. “As I choose you, and have from the moment we first touched.”

The contact caused a series of tiny explosions through Artemis’s body, and he tightened his hands on Talis’s lean hips. “Now, then? Finally?”

They were at the beach house, in Talis’s bedroom. Ammon had been invited to go elsewhere after he’d prepared dinner, serving them in the small patio overlooking the sea.

“You will stay at the best one,” Talis said, helping himself to Cajun grouper. “And two days from now, you will return and take up your duties.”

“You will contact me if you need me?” Ammon said. Talis touchedhis PA lightly on the forearm. “Of course.” “We won’t be visited?” Artemis asked Talis in surprise.

Talis scooped jasmine rice into his mouth. “Ammon lowered the flag when he heard we were returning home.”
Now Artemis buried his nose in Talis’s hair and inhaled that man’s singular scent. “You don’t smell like anyone I’ve ever known.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“I like it.” Artemis licked behind Talis’s ear and then nibbled on the lobe while Talis’s hands slipped beneath the waistband of his pants to stroke the sensitive skin there. Artemis’s nerves came alive, and he moved demandingly against Talis.
“You’re not afraid?” the blond man asked, returning the pressure.

“No.” Artemis shoved him back against the bed and then leaned on him so they fell. They laughed, and then the merriment faded. “Are you?”

Talis’s amethyst-colored eyes darkened to a shade of purple sometimes seen in storm clouds.
It was time to see what awaited them.

T
HEY
undressed each other slowly, exploring each area of skin with fingers, mouth, and tongue as it was revealed. It took a long time to get naked, but they weren’t in a hurry, and when they finally lay on the bed together, the sun had long since set and a warm breeze flowed in through the open windows.

“The moon’s up,” Artemis said, his flesh burning every place Talis touched him. “Your skin glows in the silver light.”
Talis ran a finger along the satiny flesh of Artemis’s hip. “So does yours. Feel that?”
Energy was traveling back and forth between them at every contact point. “Yeah… it’s almost overwhelming. I don’t think I’ve ever been this hard.”
They kissed at great length, lips soft and yielding at first and then becoming more demanding as hearts beat faster and lungs labored to keep up.
When Talis reached down to stroke him, Artemis cautioned, “I’m already close.”
The phrase “blissed out” suddenly came to mind. It described perfectly what he was feeling. The sexual excitement was intense, but beyond that was a mental state he’d never experienced before, and he was there, enveloped in it, and so was Talis. The
rightness
of the moment was shared; he could see it in Talis’s eyes. But when the blond man reached between Artemis’s legs and started to massage his opening, they knew in an instant they’d gone offtrack. The pleasant hum between them became discordant.
Talis pulled back in surprise, as if he’d received a shock. They stared at each other for a long moment, and then Artemis hesitantly slid a hand over Talis’s hip and between his crack, fingering him gently.
Talis gasped, eyelids fluttering closed. The hum returned, escalating to a new level. “We are on the correct path.”
Artemis didn’t question him. He felt it, too. “Ever bottomed?”
“No.”
“Lube?”
Erection bouncing, Talis got up on his knees long enough to retrieve the tube from the nightstand. He flipped the top and liberally squirted lube into Artemis’s hand. “Will it hurt?”
With Talis once more lying on his side next to him, Artemis teased the puckered hole with his index finger, feeling the muscles clench against him. “First time is sometimes painful, but I’ll be careful.” Talis was watching him with trust in his eyes. “You didn’t expect this, did you? Always, you’ve topped.”
“You and I are a first. No other phoenix ever found his soul mate. I am content to be guided by the force that created me and allowed me to find you.”
Artemis snickered. “That sounds very new age-y.” He pushed a finger inside Talis and felt him draw away and then stop and push back. Smiling, Artemis crooked his finger and massaged Talis’s prostate.
Delicate shudders went through him. “That… feels wonderful.”
Their desperate hunger for each other had abated during the brief discussion, but now it came back stronger than ever. Talis raised his leg over Artemis’s hip so he could add a second finger, and they moved against each other, breath harsh in the otherwise quiet room. Outside, the sound of waves on the beach contributed soothing background noise that did nothing to slow their hearts. Farther away still, a dog barked once and was quiet.
“I don’t want to wait,” Talis whispered. “I’m coming apart inside.” He looked it, too. His pale skin had lost all color, and sweat stood in his hair, darkening its roots.
It felt as if invisible hands were pushing at them, hurrying them along now that they were so close to culmination. A wildness was in Talis’s eyes that Artemis had never seen. It sent a wicked thrill through him. “Condom?”
Shaking his head, Talis grasped Artemis’s forearms. “No. I want
you
.”
“We do this face to face,” Artemis said, removing his fingers and shoving Talis onto his back. He could barely contain himself, he wanted to claim Talis so badly.
“Yes… I want to see your face when you come inside me.” He pulled Artemis down between his legs, raising his head to kiss Artemis’s lips.
Artemis felt an unaccustomed power surge through him. If being a cop had fostered his self-confidence and quiet strength, then Talis, the alter ego of a wondrous creature who could heal the sick and dying, had taken him to heights unimaginable, and all because of a love he was only beginning to understand, because love it was. He saw it in every taut line of Talis’s perfect body as he readied for their union, saw it in the depths of amethyst eyes that met his openly, tasted it deep in a mouth that held all the world.
Raising Talis’s legs to his shoulders, he pointed his eager cock at the blond man’s entrance with a steady hand and slowly shoved. Talis opened to him immediately, lifting to meet him. Artemis entered him with an ease that surprised them both.
“First time, huh?” Artemis teased breathlessly as he was fully enveloped. Liquid heat engulfed him, and he sank into it, into Talis, with a sigh, leaning down to capture his lover’s lips.
“First… time.” Talis relaxed and then thrust up again, attempting to start a rhythm.
Artemis let him set the pace, mind spinning. He was dizzy with desire. Sparks of pleasure darted along nerves that sang with need. He slowly withdrew and then plunged again into Talis’s welcoming body.
Wrapping a hand around Talis’s erection, Artemis stroked firmly, twisted over the engorged head, which was fully free of the foreskin, and descended again. Talis arched his back and softly cried out, begging for more.
And then there was light.
Artemis’s jaw dropped as the light began to emanate from Talis, rose-colored and then blue-green-gold-silver, and finally a pure white that fell into the darkness around them, gathering it in until there was nothing but light all around. They swam in it. It caressed their skin, swooped and receded and returned, and there was music in it. Red-and-gold feathers, shining with iridescence, began to sprout along Talis’s shoulders.
The breath caught in his throat, and he had to swallow twice before he could speak. “You’re transforming!”
Talis’s arms encircled him more tightly. “Don’t stop! Mustn’t stop!”
He couldn’t if he tried. His body was in control while Artemis took a backseat, touching Talis here, licking him there, heightening the blond man’s excitement as he became Phoenix, the arms around him now wings, cradling him even as they urged him on. The bird’s familiar smell inundated his senses, making his head spin.
Buffeted by waves of flashing light and dark emotion that could not be contained, Artemis thrust one more time into a body that had become alien to him, unable to stop, unwilling to pull away. Clawed legs gently held him in place as orgasm swept up and out of him and into Phoenix, whose beak opened to emit a sound Artemis had heard once before: the sound of triumph, and he experienced a brief moment when he wondered if now he would die, as Trey and all the others had, and he was aware that Talis/Phoenix was coming, his entire body tense, suspended, held in thrall by the ultimate pleasure…
… and abruptly, Artemis smelled fire and screamed and heard that scream echoed by Phoenix. The wings that had been folded tightly around him, covering him, holding him steady, were flung wide. Phoenix pulled away, pushing frantically at Artemis with his clawed legs to shove him off the bed, so that he hit the floor with a painful thump. Eyes glued to the bird, Artemis backed into a corner, shaking, suddenly chilled despite the warmth in the room, feeling blood drip down his calves from where Phoenix had scratched him.
Phoenix now hovered above the bed, wings spread and beating, legs drawn up, head thrown back, beak open, fire bursting from his chest. The bird screamed again, in terror and exultation, as the flames overwhelmed him.
Artemis began to cry, sobs that shook him deeply, unable to tear his eyes away from the spectacle. No stage show, this time, but the real thing. White light had become red fire, and it was consuming the bird. The room stank of singed feathers and burning flesh. Acrid smoke filled his eyes and throat, making it hard to breathe. Above him, the ceiling went black before bursting into flame and falling away.
Artemis wanted to run but couldn’t leave, not while Phoenix was still alight and writhing in agony, and in that moment of indecision, Talis reappeared, tearing himself free of the dying bird before collapsing on the bed.
Artemis did not hesitate. Scrambling to Talis’s side, he grabbed Talis’s forearms and dragged him off the mattress and back into the corner. Cradling him in his arms, Artemis kissed his cool forehead. “Are you alive? Are youokay?”
After a long moment, Talis jerked and sucked in a mouthful of air. Artemis stroked his pale face, still crying, but this time in joy. “Talk to me, open your eyes and say something.”
The thick eyelashes parted, and amethyst gleamed in reflected light. “What happened?”
He helped Talis sit up, turning and supporting him so he could see. The phoenix was all but gone, his ashes piling up on the bed beneath the little of him that remained. The crackle and pop of the conflagration was dying, and through a hole in the ceiling, stars and a partial moon showed.
Talis clutched at him. “I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t understand.”
“It seems… you split in two. Jesus.”
A wind swept around the room, ruffling their hair and drying the sweat on their bodies, and the ashes began to rise and dance in the air. Tiny bright sparks of light glittered in Phoenix’s remains as the ashes slowly began to coalesce. Artemis leaned his head against Talis’s, and they watched, huddled in their dark corner, arms around each other.
A form began to take shape. Bones appeared and were almost immediately connected by muscle. Organs solidified, blood began to pump, and pebbled ivory flesh covered it all. Feathers sprouted, red and black, and in an amazingly short time, a new phoenix floated near the hole in the roof. Its beak and feet were yellow, and its eyes were blood red. Its voice, when it spoke, was deep and melodic and neither male nor female.
“I am the last phoenix. I will live until the end of the age of Man and thereafter, return to the heavens and earth from whence we came.” It fixed its red eyes on Talis. “You have done well. I would not have been born if you had not found your soul mate.
“You will remain in your human form. It is my first gift to you. I will take up your duties and much, much more. This world is in great pain and requires healing.”
Artemis wondered how it stayed in the air without moving. The outstretched wings were motionless, but the eyes,
they
moved, and he guessed they missed nothing.
“I have your memories, Talis. Nothing will be forgotten. The money you amassed as Phoenix is yours, and you may choose three of your many homes to keep. The rest become mine. This is my second gift to you. Is this satisfactory?”
Talis nodded. “What if I hadn’t found him?” His hand tightened on Artemis’s bare thigh.
“The world would have ended in darkness, and sooner than anyone expected.” The phoenix sank to the wreckage of the bed, resting on it with folded wings and feet tucked beneath it. “I am to be a light to all who need one. Dangerous times lay ahead.”
Artemis knew that was right. Humans had all but ruined the planet and were breeding out of control. Finite resources were quickly running out. Not enough food, not enough water, and finally, not enough land. It couldn’t help but end in disaster.
“I have made you both immortal. That is my third and last gift. You alone of all humans know who I am and from where I sprang, and there may come a time when I need your assistance.” The phoenix’s gazed shifted to Artemis. “Are you prepared to work on behalf of your race if I should request it?”
“I… yes, of course.”
What the hell, I’m immortal? What does that mean exactly?
“You have powers I never had!” Talis exclaimed excitedly, eyes bright.
“I will need them all in the years to come.” The phoenix ruffled its glossy feathers, and shards of light shot out into the dark room.
Artemis cleared his throat. “I have a question. Actually, I have many, but I’ll ask you only one. For now.”
The phoenix blinked, waiting.
“Talis needed souls to remain human. Will you, too?”
The phoenix did that funny thing with the muscles near its mouth that somehow produced the effect that it was smiling. “You, Artemis, have completed the circle by virtue of the Egyptian blood running through your veins.” In an instant, the bird transformed into a perfect and very beautiful woman with long, shining black hair and red eyes. “Perhaps you would prefer a male?” And she became he, and their breath caught at how glorious he was. “
I am man. I am woman. I am nothing. I am all.
” Becoming the bird once more, it bowed its head to them both. “The souls that were so generously given to you, Talis, will be restored. The young men will be returned to their homes. I shall see to it. Farewell, until we meet again.” A shower of light brightened the room, and when they could see clearly again, the phoenix was gone.