Whispering Tempest

Chapter Fifteen - Phoenix Blessed

“What better time is there,” I ask dejectedly. “What the hell is a Phoenix and why is everyone calling me that?”

She ignores me and instructs Tammy to take Marco home. Xander stays by my side but leans on the doorway to the dining area. He stares around the Regal Haven as I had done my first day here. It’s still just as beautiful and awe-inspiring as it was the first time I saw it. I’m guessing the Pulemp is taking full effect on him since normally he would be focused completely on the situation that concerns him. His new ignorance only ramps up my nerves.

“Trevor, please fetch some ice for this boy’s eye.”

“What are you not telling me?!”

The room goes silent after my loud shout. Even the natural ambiance of the house seems to have quieted. Tammy and Marco sneak out the front door while the Emerald looks at me with a pleading look I replicate right back. It’s almost as if she’s fearful of me but if anything I should be terrified of her. Emotions swell inside me as Fiona turns her back. She stands staring out of the dining room’s window, lost in thought.

Trevor returns and hands Xan the ice pack grudgingly. It’ll be a tough thing for him to explain to Katie about his eye. And what about me missing my sister’s cheer-up plans? Disappointment and anger swirl in my chest. I wish I could flip back time and redo everything that has happened today.

“Gail?” Xan shuffles over awkwardly and wraps one arm around me in a side hug. The other is left to keep the ice on his face. “We should get going.”

In an automatic response, I nod and let him lead me away. Trevor halfheartedly waves goodbye and the Emerald hardly acknowledges my going. She is too busy thinking up plans for me and how to handle whatever it is I’m supposed to do. The curiosity of it tickles my mind and even the amber eagle Trevor returned to me isn’t suppressing the desperate urge to find out. I shake Xan’s grip from my shoulder and storm back to face Fiona. I’ve made up my mind and I need to know.

“I almost died because I’m not sure what’s happening,” I scream to the room taking everyone by surprise. The Emerald bows her head. “Maybe next time they take me they’ll use me for whatever it is I am. Or for what I’m not. Doesn’t matter to me because I don’t even know what the fuck is going on.”

“You didn’t die because she knew,” the Emerald retorts with a little severity in her words. She finally turns from the window to face Trevor. “I thought they took her for that reason. Gather the coven to—”

“What reason? Tell me!”

“I can’t!”

Another pause of silence. Never has the Emerald raised her voice to any of us. Trevor stands by her side with a defeated shyness in his posture while she recedes to the apothecary. I follow her out and stand behind her. There isn’t a better time to tell me what it is and she knows this. The best thing I can do is wait until my stubbornness outlasts hers.

“It’s for your own protection,” she whispers to me. Her pleading makes my heart physically hurt. An audible sigh escapes her lips and the feelings happen instantly. Her pain is becoming mine. Guilt, fear, anger and defeat; it all mixes in with my confusion. I can only guess this is another power we witches possess. My bottom lip quivers while my feet stagger backward. Xan is there to steady me, adding his own thoughts to our silent debate.

“How can she be protected if she doesn’t know what to save herself from?”

All at once, Fiona’s emotions leave me and we’re left with a long moment of uncertainty. I regain my composure while she debates the fair question. Kudos to Xan; maybe his ‘new’ self is smarter.