Unearth (The Bound Ones Book 3) Read online

  “Geez, Skylar, you make me sound like a glorified prostitute,” Phoenyx half-heartedly complained.

  Skylar shrugged and gave her a witty smile. “To be fair, haven’t you actually been a prostitute in several lives?”

  Phoenyx blushed, and she heard Sebastian suck in air between his teeth as his hand landed on her shoulder. “He’s got a point, love.”

  Ayanna and Lily snickered, and Phoenyx’s frown deepened. She waved her hands up in surrender and muttered, “My fault for bringing it up, I guess.”

  Ayanna cleared her throat and adopted a serious expression as she turned to Skylar. “Can you locate him telepathically to give us an idea of where he is inside? Just because they don’t know our faces now doesn’t mean we can spend unnecessary time looking for him. We need to appear members going about our business, and wandering around will raise suspicion.”

  Skylar nodded and said, “I’ll scan the premises.” He closed his eyes, squinting slightly, concentrating. After a moment, his blond brows pinched in a frown. “I can’t find him. He’s not here. He must have already left.”

  “Then we don’t have time to waste,” Lily insisted. “We have to go inside now and find out where he went.”

  Without any further prodding, Ayanna turned around and headed inside. The four of them scrambled after her.

  Phoenyx swallowed back her hesitation as they stepped beyond that heavy wooden door, squeezing Sebastian’s hand in hers without noticing. Ayanna sauntered across the large common room in a very business-woman pace, her heels clicking on the marble floor with each confident step. Ayanna seemed to know exactly where to go, and as they followed her, Phoenyx couldn’t help but wonder what Ayanna had up her sleeve.

  Ayanna weaved through the hallways and stopped in front of a closed door, knocking on it twice. Shortly, the door opened and an older woman stood before them questioningly.

  “Yes?” the woman asked.

  “Sorry to bother you,” Ayanna said sweetly. “We were supposed to meet Mr. Mallick this morning, but he seems to have disappeared. Do you have any idea where we might find him?”

  The woman eyed them curiously, adjusting her spectacles. “What business did you say you have with him?” she asked, an English accent highlighting her words.

  “We are transfers from the American Lodge,” Ayanna replied. “He promised to give us a personal tour upon our arrival.”

  “Ah, I see,” the woman said, satisfied. “Well, he was called away on urgent business a few hours ago. I’m sure when he returns, he’ll be happy to greet you. I’ll let him know you are here when he gets back—”

  Phoenyx shot her hand out to grab the woman’s arm as the woman began to close the door. “That won’t be necessary.”

  The woman’s face appeared piously offended at the invasion of her personal space until Phoenyx’s influence overcame her.

  “Tell us where he went,” Phoenyx compelled in a calming tone.

  “He went to Louisiana,” the woman replied with a warm smile on her face as she looked at Phoenyx. She leaned against the door frame and removed her glasses as if doing so would let her see more of Phoenyx’s figure.

  Phoenyx blushed, feeling slightly awkward to have such a gaze on her from a woman of that age—this woman could be her grandmother! Phoenyx shrugged it off and continued with the interrogation. “Why did he go to Louisiana? Tell me everything you know.”

  “Yes, of course,” the woman said, nodding eagerly. “Well, few members know this, but it has always been the aim of our fraternity to bring back a very powerful necromancer known as the Shade King. It would take a very powerful spell, and we lost most of our access to magic before he was buried—our witches have very little magical blood anymore. But a few weeks ago, we found a witch with incredible power. He is quite possibly the most powerful witch born in two thousand years! Vincent went to offer him a proposition to help us free the Shade King.”

  “What is the name of this witch?” Phoenyx asked the older woman.

  “Samuel Chase,” the woman answered.

  “Do you know his address in Louisiana?” Phoenyx asked.

  “Yes, of course, let me write it down for you,” the woman replied, scurrying to her desk and scribbling words on a memo slip. She ripped the slip off the pad and handed it to Phoenyx. “Is there anything else you need? Are you hungry? Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?” She extended the invitation to Phoenyx as if Phoenyx were the only person standing outside her door, completely oblivious to the other four people.

  Phoenyx took the slip and, after clearing her throat awkwardly, said, “No thank you, we really must be going. Thank you for the information.” Phoenyx nodded to her curtly and began walking away with the others quickly behind her.

  When they were around the corner and out of earshot, they huddled together to look at the address on the slip.

  SAMUEL CHASE

  555 W JEFFERSEON AVE

  NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70115

  “So that’s their backup plan,” said Sebastian. “A witch.”

  “Not just any witch,” Ayanna corrected, “the most powerful witch born in thousands of years.”

  “I don’t know that I’ve run into any witches since the early days in the village,” Skylar said. “Could he really be all that powerful?”

  “Absolutely,” Ayanna said. “Don’t underestimate magic. Remember that it was only through the magic of witches that the four of you obtained your powers.”

  “Good point,” Sebastian said.

  “The woman said they located him weeks ago,” Phoenyx mused. “Why didn’t they just go to him then? Why waste their time trying to snatch us again?”

  “I’m sure that raising the Shade King wasn’t their only reason for wanting our powers,” Lily said.

  “Yes, they have always wanted the control your elemental powers could give them,” Ayanna said. “Capturing you would have been an ultimate triumph. And if they had succeeded in obtaining the four of you and transferring the elements to another vessel, they wouldn’t have needed the help of this witch.”

  “And maybe they didn’t think this witch would be so willing to help them,” Skylar suggested. “The Shade King doesn’t have the best rap sheet. It would take quite a lot of convincing, I’d think.”

  “Well, let’s hope that’s true,” Sebastian said. “Hopefully this guy takes his time in deciding, at least enough time for us to get to him and make our case.”

  Lily looked at her wristwatch. “Vincent isn’t too far ahead of us if he left this morning. We’d better get to the airport as fast as we can, and hope that there is another flight to New Orleans soon. We can’t afford to miss him.”

  ***

  The flight over the Atlantic was a mercifully long one. Phoenyx used most of the time to get some much needed sleep—they all did—and to fill her belly with the airline food. The in-flight meal was right in the middle of her sleep stretch, and she gladly woke just long enough to gobble it down before going back to a deep, dreamless sleep.

  She stayed awake for the last two hours of the flight, using the time to think and prepare herself for this next ordeal.

  She had never been to New Orleans, but it was a place she had always wanted to visit. It was such a terrible shame that they were traveling all over the world this past week, getting to see places few people ever see, only for the sake of preventing terrible tragedies. All this running around was really wearing on her. But it was a good thing that Ayanna had such a fortune, otherwise they wouldn’t have the option to fly as much as they had and they would all be dead right now.

  Phoenyx looked at her friends, most of whom were sleeping. Skylar to her right was out, his arms crossed over his chest and a hand towel over his eyes under his glasses to keep out the fluorescent light from overhead. Sebastian on her left near the window was snoring softly on her shoulder. She planted a kiss on his forehead, wishing that this was all over and they were back in their dorm room at UCLA. She then looked at Lily, on the
other side of Skylar, curled up like a sweet little doll as she slept. Phoenyx almost wished that Lily hadn’t overheard anything at the Four Corners, that they didn’t know anything about the Shade King. Phoenyx just wanted to be done, to begin her life, a full and free life, with the man she had loved for thousands of years.

  Lastly, Phoenyx’s eyes fell on Ayanna on Lily’s right side, who was awake and scrolling on her phone. Phoenyx wondered what Ayanna was thinking. Ayanna had just learned that she had deeply loved someone and buried him in the ground, then was so heartbroken over it that she made herself forget him. Phoenyx couldn’t help but wonder how her sister felt about that. Was she upset? Was she curious? And what is she looking up on her phone?

  Phoenyx gently slid her shoulder out from under Sebastian’s head and tiptoed over her sleeping friends to sit in the empty seat next to Ayanna. Ayanna brushed back a mass of gorgeous caramel curls and looked up from her phone to smile at Phoenyx.

  “Why aren’t you sleeping?” Ayanna asked.

  “Why aren’t you?” Phoenyx retorted.

  Ayanna snorted a laugh. “I’ve had thousands of years to sleep,” she whispered sarcastically. “I wanted to do some research on our witch.”

  At the sensitive nature of Ayanna’s words, Phoenyx looked around at the other passengers to make sure they weren’t being eavesdropped upon. All those around them were either asleep or listening to the in-flight movies with headphones on.

  Satisfied, Phoenyx turned her attention back to Ayanna’s phone.

  “What did you learn?” Phoenyx asked.

  “Sam Chase is twenty years old,” Ayanna informed in a hushed voice. “He was an orphan and spent his life moving from foster home to foster home until he turned eighteen, at which point he moved to a small studio, which is where he lives now. He has a criminal record—nothing major, just a few petty theft charges. He now works as a grounds keeper for the Lafayette Cemetery.”

  “Kind of ironic,” Phoenyx commented.

  “My thoughts exactly,” Ayanna said.

  “Do you think he works the graveyard shift?” Phoenyx joked.

  “Is there any other kind?” Ayanna answered, and they both giggled.

  Sebastian let out a loud snore and Skylar shifted in his chair, so Phoenyx and Ayanna stifled their humor.

  Phoenyx’s lips turned from a smile to a wobbly line as she looked at Ayanna, preparing herself for a serious topic. “How are you feeling about all this?”

  “You mean the fact that I trapped my ex-husband in the ground and then brainwashed myself so I wouldn’t try to bring him back?” Ayanna asked. “Honestly, I don’t know how to feel. All my long life, I have kept myself from getting too close to anyone because I knew that I would have to lose them one day. I will live forever, and anyone I let myself love will die when their time comes. I never wanted to suffer that loss. But maybe that wasn’t the reason after all. Maybe my subconscious didn’t want me to fall in love because I had already loved and lost before. As lonely as I have been, I have never even been close to falling in love. I always thought that was just my own restraint. But what if I’m still in love with this guy and I don’t even know it?”

  Phoenyx put herself in Ayanna’s shoes, and all she could feel was anger. Anger that someone had held Ayanna’s heart once and broke it. Ayanna could have had someone all this time if the guy hadn’t screwed it all up. Ayanna wouldn’t have been alone for so long. She could have been happy. But the guy want crazy and had to be put down. Why did Ayanna have to fall for such a psycho? It wasn’t fair. Nothing about Ayanna’s life was fair. Eternal life in exchange for eternal loneliness. Well, not anymore. She will always have me now. She will never have to be alone again.

  Before Phoenyx could ask Ayanna anymore on the subject, the captain’s voice rang on the intercom. “Attention passengers, we are now entering the United States and we will be landing at the New Orleans International Airport in one hour.”

  All the passengers in the cabin stirred and stretched awake, and Phoenyx’s sisterly moment was over. A stewardess came by with a food trolley and the five of them gobbled as much food as they could before the flight was over. Phoenyx wasn’t quite refreshed, but she was ready to get this over with. All they had to do was make their case to this witch, and if all else failed, she would compel him to cooperate or Ayanna would make him forget. Easy as pie. Mmm, I could really go for some pie right now!

  Phoenyx was head-over-heels in love with this city! It was nine in the morning as they walked down the sidewalk in front of Jackson Square. The air was warm and thick, and the delicious aromas of beignets and coffee and Cajun spices made love to her nostrils. Flowers were in bloom everywhere, spilling over balconies and dancing back and forth through wrought iron fences in the gentle breeze. Jazz music came from every corner, putting a kick in the step of everyone around—even the homeless people seemed to skip as they passed. Phoenyx didn’t even mind the unpleasant smell of the ponies as they pulled modern day carriages up and down the avenue.

  The city itself seemed to breathe with a life of its own, and being here filled her with such a euphoric, light-hearted zeal. She wanted to dance like a character in a musical, to jump into Sebastian’s arms and have him spin her in the air as they twirled to the music that never seemed to stop playing.

  The joy she felt was mimicked on the faces of her friends. Lily was blossoming at the sight of the flowers, reaching out to caress a bush of lush roses that hung out over the sidewalk. Even Skylar had loosened up, his intellectual stride turning into a relaxed stroll, and his eyes were wide as if trying to absorb the sights.

  Phoenyx almost forgot why they were here. But when she saw the street sign that read JACKSON AVENUE, she remembered and sighed. As if on cue, a cloud passed in front of the sun and cast a shadow on them.

  The group picked up their pace as they turned the corner and began looking for the number 555. They came to a long string of red townhouses, and the one they were looking for was right in the middle. The paint on the outside was chipped in places. The blinds inside the only window hung at an angle, like the ribs of a science classroom’s dangling skeleton. The yard was small and devoid of grass, but a lone flower stood in a pot outside the front door—perhaps an attempt to brighten up this dreary place.

  The five of them walked up the steps, and Ayanna knocked on the door.

  There were clunky noises from inside, and a moment later the door opened and a young man peered out. He briskly combed his fingers through his mahogany bangs, brushing it out of his face, and looked at them questioningly. “Can I help you?”

  He wore an open button-up shirt that was twisted messily over a black concert tee, and he was sweating, as if he had been very active inside. Phoenyx looked past him and saw an open suitcase on the bed behind him with clothes piled into it.

  “Are you Sam Chase?” Ayanna asked.

  “Yes,” he answered curiously. “Are you from the Four Corners?”

  “Not exactly,” Ayanna said. “But our business with you is on the same subject. Can we please come inside?”

  Sam narrowed his dark brown eyes at them, mulling it over for a moment. Something dashed out from behind Sam’s feet, startling the lot of them.

  “Kero, get back here!” Sam said, rushing out the door after it, and Phoenyx’s eyes followed him to see an orange cat rubbing against Lily’s leg.

  Lily knelt down and affectionately petted the cat down from head to tail, the creature melting at her touch. Sam stopped in front of her and looked at them with a surprised expression on his cute boyish face.

  “That’s weird,” Sam said. “He never likes anyone. I thought he was coming out here to attack you.”

  Lily laughed and picked the cat up into her arms, petting him all the while. “He’s a sweetie.”

  “Sweet as a rabid jaguar,” Sam said with a frown. “But, I gotta love him. Anyway, yea, come on in.” He headed inside, nodding for them to follow.

  He pushed the suitcase upward on the bed and sat
down. The place was no bigger than her dorm room in L.A., with the addition of a small kitchen and a bathroom. There wasn’t much sitting room, just a loveseat that had seen better days sitting across the shag carpeting from the bed, so the five of them just stood around the room.

  “What is this about?” Sam asked.

  “A man named Vincent Mallick came to see you?” Ayanna began with a question.

  “Yea, a few hours ago,” he said with a shrug.

  Ayanna nodded her chin toward the suitcase behind him. “Are you going somewhere with him?”

  Sam clenched his jaw and scooted in front of the suitcase, blocking her view of it. “Look, I don’t know who you people are or what you want, but—”

  “You can’t go with him,” Lily interrupted, still holding the purring fur ball against her chest. “You can’t help him do what he asked you to do.”

  “And what do you know about that?” Sam quipped. “What do you know about any of this?”

  “We know you’re a witch,” Ayanna said. “We know that Vincent Mallick, head of the Four Corners, came to you with a proposition. He wants you to perform a spell that will set loose something terrible.”

  “Something terrible?” Sam asked almost mockingly. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Would you all just please leave, I have packing to do.”

  Phoenyx grabbed his wrist and pushed her will into him. “You won’t help Mallick,” she said in a smooth voice. “You won’t help anyone from the Four Corners.”

  Sam’s brows rose playfully and he laughed. “I don’t know what that was, but I liked it. Can you do it again?”

  “What?” Phoenyx asked, taken aback.

  “It didn’t work on him,” Skylar said. “He felt your seductive influence but the compulsion had no effect.”

  “Compulsion?” Sam asked, still wearing an intrigued smile. “What are you people?”

  “We are powerful people, like yourself, that have been hunted by the Four Corners for a very long time,” Sebastian said.

  “Are you witches?” Sam asked, looking hopeful.