The Phoenix Curse (Book 3): After Read online

  After

  Part Three

  Book one of

  The Phoenix Curse

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  By D.R. Johnson

  Copyright © 2014 D.R. Johnson

  All rights reserved.

  Edited by Mary Boudreaux

  Cover design and artwork by Debra Johnson

  http://drjpublishing.blogspot.com

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. For information or to obtain permission, contact Deborah Johnson, Grand Prairie, Texas. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  DEDICATION

  For Sierra, my lovely daughter, who helped me find something I lost long ago.

  My inspiration.

  CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Contents

  Author’s Forward

  Chapter 1 – Ali

  Chapter 2 – Joss

  Chapter 3 – Ali

  Chapter 4 – Joss

  Chapter 5 – Ali

  Chapter 6 – Joss

  Chapter 7 – Ali

  Chapter 8 – Joss

  Chapter 9 – Ali

  Chapter 10 – Joss

  Epilogue

  About The Author

  AUTHOR’S FORWARD

  The first step in an amazing journey is finally done! It certainly has been a long time coming. I’m very excited about this release and wanted to thank you for sticking with me. Not only did I learn how to write a book, but I learned about all the processes behind actually getting one published, and some of those processes took longer than I ever expected. This isn’t easy work, but it’s fulfilling work, and I loved (almost) every moment of it!

  Except for the editing. I actually really hated that part…

  Remember when Spring of 2014 came and went? Well, there were a lot of life factors that delayed the release of this book, a lot of things I just didn’t see coming. If someone would have told me last year at this time that my husband and I would sell our house, move into a rental, buy a dream house (it’s all relative), move again, and that my husband would have his hip replaced; I would have thought you were insane. Not to mention my change in jobs that increased my commute and stole a precocious five hours out of the work week that I used for writing… Well, you can image the affect that had on me.

  (I will add that I would love to write full time, so make sure to tell all your friends to buy the book so I can quit the day job!)

  But there was also that one moment, a terrible moment of weakness where I became petrified about what I was creating. Sells were up, both part one and part two were doing awesome on the charts, I was getting some rave reviews, and beloved fans were clamoring for more. This is what every budding author dreams about! Hell, it exceeded my dreams of what I would ever accomplish.

  So what did I do? I freaked the f*ck out. Stalled completely because I was terrified. I looked at my manuscript, the jumble of words that I had managed to put together to create a book, and I thought ‘How can I ever live up to the expectations?’ Then I shelved it for two months and worked on something else. Something lighter. A romance novella that no one would care about.

  During that time I was fooling myself that I could get both books out by my deadline, so I continued to work on the novella. I was wrong. My confidence faltered, and my fans paid the price. Somewhere around March, I realized what I was doing, and refocused. I put the novella on the back burner and made sure all my extra time went into part three like it should. I can’t say after all the crazy life events I’ve experienced this past year that I would have gotten part three out on time, but when I let my fears get to me, it caused a large part of the delay.

  Lesson learned the hard way, and I won’t let that happen again. Please accept my humble apologies.

  Once I finally got underway on part three, I worked diligently on shaping those words into the story that Ali and Joss deserve. I didn’t let the time-pressure force me to cut scenes or rush them, and I am satisfied with the result. I think we’ve got a damn good story here, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

  Just remember, there is more after this. Dreamland is waiting for me, as well as that novella that will be published under a different pen name. Keep your eyes on my blog for all the upcoming news. Until then, happy reading!

  D.R. Johnson

  drjpublishing.blogspot.com

  After – Part Three

  The Phoenix Curse

  CHAPTER 1 – ALI

  "I'm not going back there." Stephanie said. I respected her defiant stance but wavered when she began to ramble. Her voice took on a petulant tone that didn't set well with me. "I'll stay out here. There aren't a lot of red-eyes out here anyway. If you won't let me come with you, I'll be fine on my own."

  I exhaled loudly, my frustration showing, and I struggled to come up with a plan. I hadn't been through a tenth of what this girl had been through, and I knew she wasn't bluffing. No woman in her right mind would set foot in that hotel, especially after a taste of freedom. It didn't matter how long she had been a prisoner there – a day, a week, a year – there was no going back.

  Can we protect her?

  My eyes cut to her. Watching her try to hide her bulging stomach could have been comical in a different place, a different time. Her attempts only made it more apparent, and Joss was no help in the situation. I had already tried looking to him, but he stood blank-faced and waiting. Even though he had washed his features clean of emotion, I knew what was in his heart.

  "How far along are you?" I asked, looking again at her belly.

  She shrugged and answered me in a whisper. "I'm not sure. Maybe six months."

  With my head tilted to the side, I crossed my arms over my chest and continued my scrutiny. Her voice sounded young, but the darkness hid her age. "How old are you?"

  Her reply was barely audible. "Sixteen."

  "Jesus." I spat. Even Joss groaned at her response. Shaking my head, I blocked out all the horrifying tortures that immediately sprang to my mind. I couldn't deny the sudden surge of protective instinct that swelled in me for the girl. I didn't know what our best course should be, but I decided we had to get a safe distance away from the hotel before a hunt started. Then maybe I'd have time to figure something out.

  "We have to get moving." I said aloud, turning to Joss. "Ryan said he stored some stuff for us?"

  "Lots. We can't take it all with us if we can't get the Murano back." He answered.

  I half laughed, half coughed at the thought. "We aren't getting the Murano back."

  "I moved what I thought we'd need over there, just in case someone else came." He pointed to the other house. I nodded, and Joss started forward. I motioned Stephanie to follow him as I fell in behind her, forming a protective line as we trudged through the weeds.

  Josh led us to the five backpacks he had stashed along the side of the building. Gasping as I recognized my main pack, I snatched it up quickly, eager to get to the contents. Everything was there; my belt-pack, my knives, my gun.

  "So good to see you again." I muttered to my weapons as I pulled out the holster and began to strap it on. "Can't believe they'd go through the trouble."

  "Maybe they felt they owed us.
" Joss responded. His voice was flat, and I looked at him curiously as he slung two backpacks over his shoulders, one for each arm. He picked up a third.

  "I can take one." Stephanie said, reaching out to him. I watched Joss hesitate before handing it over.

  "Here." He said. "This one's light."

  My eyes narrowed thoughtfully as I watched Joss help square the backpack on Stephanie's shoulders. The care and tenderness I saw in the exchange hinted at how close the two had grown over the past week. I filed the scene away in my mind and began to load up, slinging two packs over my shoulders. By the time he had her fully situated, I was ready to move.

  "Stephanie, you stay behind me. Got it?" I whispered.

  "Yes," Came the faint sound of her consent.

  Shaking my head, I led them around the house and started the search for a safe place to rest for the night. Slipping through the darkness from street to street, I saw no sign of humans or freaks.

  Stephanie was keeping up without complaint, but that didn't stop the worry from gnawing at me. She wouldn't be able to keep this pace forever, and she couldn't go where I wanted to take us. Once we were traveling out in the open, we would have to move much slower to make sure she stayed safe, and it had been a long time since I'd traveled on foot with someone I had to protect. It would be a struggle, and that wasn't even taking her condition into consideration.

  A shudder ran through me. The thought of losing anyone to a freak was nauseating, but the fact that Stephanie was pregnant made the thought doubly worse. It was enough to make me cringe.

  This is a bad idea.

  We laid some distance between us and the shed, but it was slow moving. I pressed Stephanie as far as I dared and decided we could afford a short break. Antsy about being so close to the hotel – we could have put a hundred miles between us and the hotel, and I still would have been nervous – I gave in to my need to sort things out. Halting us in front of a small, one-story house, I told Joss to stand watch with the girl while I made my way inside.

  On my first trip through the house, I opened every door, every closet, and every cabinet. If a space was big enough for a person to fit inside, I explored it. I didn't dare chance giving our position away by using a flashlight, so I ran into more than a few cobwebs as I swept through all the dark corners.

  Then I did it a second time.

  Finally, I was satisfied it was freak-free and called Joss and Stephanie inside.

  "Drop the packs here," I indicated the hallway, then pointed toward the bedroom, "You two in there. No light. No noise."

  I saw the motion of both heads nodding, but their expressions were swallowed by shadow. I pulled the packs into the windowless bathroom and shut the door before I pulled out my flashlight and flicked it on.

  The small light could have been the noonday sun as it seared across my vision, causing my eyes to squeeze tightly shut for a few seconds. As they adjusted, I grabbed my belt-pack and dumped the contents on the floor. I found my locket, books, and MP3 player, but the main thing I was looking for wasn't there.

  I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach and blinked away tears. It was all I had left of him and was probably lying in the blankets back at the hotel. Ryan had gone in for my pack, but he wouldn't have looked there. The kitten Seth had given me was gone.

  Ignoring the emotions, I forced myself back to my knees to finish my inventory. I handled the items roughly as anger built up inside me, the inanimate objects bearing the brunt of my frustration. I paused long enough to brush the loose strands of hair out of my face and winced when I hit a tender spot. My scalp was raw from the last time Reed had ripped out several of the long strands.

  Grinding my teeth, I stood. Using the flashlight to hunt through the vanity drawers and cabinets, I found what I was searching for. A small pair of scissors pushed to the back of a drawer, almost hidden underneath the many tubes of lipstick and eyeshadow cases. Propping the flashlight at an angle so I could see my reflection, I stared determinedly at myself.

  Without a pause to think about what I was doing, I went to work. Long red strands of hair fell in clumps as the tears began to fall.

  I finished quickly, the task done faster that I would have thought possible. I ran my fingers through the close-cropped curls that were left of my hair, now shorter than Joss's, and sobbed. Crumpling to the floor, I drew my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs, tilting my head down to hide my eyes as I cried softly. Giant sobs wracked my body, but I swallowed the sound so Joss or Stephanie wouldn't hear.

  I sat like that for a long while. Time was slipping away from me while I wallowed. Squeezing my eyes shut, I focused my mind on the immediate needs in front of me and ran through the list in my head. Joss, Stephanie, her baby, and getting us all the hell away from that demented hotel.

  I envisioned the past as something tangible, and I pushed it into a dark corner in my mind and slammed the door on it. It would creep back in later, I knew that, but at least for now I was able to focus.

  I looked back to our supplies, already knowing Joss had done a decent job with them. It would be enough to see us through for a few days, maybe even a week if we stretched it. We should have plenty of time to restock.

  Standing up, I took one more look at my reflection in the mirror and switched off the flashlight. The darkness would hide my distress, so I only hesitated a moment before joining the others in the bedroom. Stephanie was on the bed, but she shrank back into the furthest corner, barely more than an undefined shadow. Joss was sitting against the wall beside the window.

  "Anything?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

  "No. It's quiet." He responded in kind. After a short pause, he asked, "Did you see a fire?"

  I frowned at that. "No. Why?"

  I could see his eyes glittering in the dim light as he looked up at me. They widened in surprise as he stared at my hair, but he remained silent. He swallowed, and his eyes found mine as he stumbled over his words. "Miguel said they'd light a fire on the roof if it was safe to come back. If they were sure Reed was dead."

  Stephanie shifted but remained silent. I glanced at her shadow before sitting down next to Joss. "Ryan didn't have time to tell me much."

  "I guess they'd had this planned for a while." He said. "They wanted to get the women and children away from Reed and his men."

  I leaned my head against the wall and was surprised as I felt exhaustion grip me. My vision clouded for a moment and it took a few seconds to blink it away. Sitting up straight, I said. "They were fighting when I ran. I think Reed may have been wounded in the gunfire."

  Joss's head snapped toward me, excitement pushing his words out in a rush. "Are you sure? Maybe he's dead."

  "No." I shook my head. "He didn't look dead."

  Joss went silent, deflating from the momentary surge. Finally, he turned back to me, his voice soft but pleading. "Can we at least check for the fire?"

  Stephanie shifted again, and my eyes flicked to her. I thought I could make out her concerned features, but that was impossible in the darkness. My vision blurred again, and I let my head droop. Despite the harrowing situation, my body was demanding rest. Stephanie's soft voice sounded far away. "I can't go back there until we're sure."

  Clearing my throat, I reassured her. "We won't. We can give it a couple hours maybe, but no more. If there's no fire by then, we have to move."

  Joss nodded in the darkness, and I ignored the chill that ran through me. If I saw no signal, that was proof Reed was out there, but I was already certain he was. One shot wasn't enough to bring a monster like him down. He was only wounded. The fear made me want to gather our things and run right then, but how long could I keep swallowing my yawns? Plus, I couldn't do that to Stephanie. The girl needed sleep more than I did.

  "Thank you." She said softly, and her words came with a heavy impact. I looked at her hard, wishing the shadows weren't so thick. Her eyes were a deeper darkness in the shadows, and I thought she might have been crying. Turning my gaze a
way, I focused on the night outside the window, searching for movement.

  "If they fail..." I began but trailed off. No reason to go down that path. Looking at Joss, I changed what I had been about to say. "What did you leave in the shed?"

  "Mostly books." He said. "Some food and water. We'd never be able to carry it all."

  Nodding, I stretched out on the floor, giving into the fact my body needed to recharge. "A short rest, okay?"

  "Yeah," Joss answered, "I'll keep watch."

  I would have nodded again, but the effort of the movement was too much. Stephanie followed my lead, lying awkwardly on the bed, the swell of her belly preventing her from finding a comfortable position. I only watched her for a moment before closing my eyes, one thought floating in my head.

  A bad idea.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Once I slipped into a deep sleep, I could feel Seth with me. Dreaming, I opened my eyes and found us standing on a familiar porch, the snowflakes drifting lightly through the air to land gently on the ground. He smiled as he reached to finger a short lock of my hair.

  "I like it." He said, and I blushed, turning away from him. He stepped close to wrap his arms around me, and I could hear the concern in his voice when he spoke again. ""Are you safe?"

  "No." I whispered. "Will we ever be safe?"

  He was slow to reply, shifting before he finally answered. "Maybe."

  We stood together for a long while, content to watch the snow build on the ground around us. Safe in my dream world, the horrors of the past week seemed far away.

  "Can I stay here with you?" I asked him, pleading.

  He chuckled, but his words were tinged with bitterness. "Only for a while."

  "Why not forever?" I begged, turning to look at him. The beautiful, sapphire blue of his eyes met mine, and I found my answer there, full of pain and sadness. He stared down at me, and I watched in growing horror as his eyes deepened in color, the shade growing darker until they finally flashed the same green as my own. In a blink, they were blue again.