Phoenix Contract: Part Five (Fallen Angel Watchers) by Melissa Thomas Read Free Book Online

right before your eyes, Cassio,” he retorted, succumbing to petty bickering. The two men fell into what sounded like an old and established mode of interaction as though they’d known one another for a long time.
    “Oh, and what would that be?” Cassio demanded.
    “That Shemyaza has been in decline since the moment you became the Phoenix. I should have been Channah’s heir, and would have been, had she not chosen while blinded with grief! She made a disastrous decision when she picked you! The wrong decision, but one I was unable to change, so I was forced to seek another path to immortality.”
    “They’ve known each other for five hundred years?” Mariah exclaimed in a soft voice. The very idea shocked her, but it also explained the pair’s venomous hatred for one another.
    “Five long, long centuries of them bickering like children,” Mariah’s captor agreed with a forlorn whispered sigh in her ear. “As unbelievable as it sounds, they used to be the best of friends.”
    His broken silence served as a startling reminder of his presence. She’d almost forgotten him, quite the feat considering their relative positions. The knife he held over her heart had never wavered.
    “Another path!” Cassio sputtered. “You used the blackest of magic to transform you and your followers into soul sucking demons!”
    “A slight exaggeration,” Guillaume said with an arrogant smirk. “And not exactly accurate, but close enough.”
    “What else would you call it then?” Cassio demanded.
    For the entire world, Mariah would have sworn that the Immortal Watcher knew exactly what answer to expect from this old argument, and yet he asked anyway, as if following a script.
    “Cursed is most accurate, but vampirism suffices,” Guillaume replied. “Besides, the point will soon be moot. I’m confident that the curse will be lifted as soon as I inherit the Phoenix.”
    “Tonight it is you who is exceedingly dense. It is you who have maligned my reputation to other members of our House,” Cassio retorted, prisoner of their argument, perhaps thinking that it could go on and on. “It is you who have turned them against me, and there is not a chance in Hades that I shall—”
    “Do it,” Guillaume commanded, gesturing in Mariah’s direction with a casual wave.
    At his master’s bidding, the henchman plunged his knife straight into Mariah’s heart. The suddenness of the attack left Cassio gaping in shock. Mariah grabbed hold of her killer’s hand which held the hilt of the knife embedded in her chest. She blinked raindrops from her eyes and waited for the pain, but she felt nothing.
    “Now you have no choice in the matter. There is no other candidate Of the Blood within hundreds of miles, and here you’ve already cut out The Heart,” Guillaume said, sounding quite reasonable and not like a man who’d just participated in the murder of an innocent girl. He held up the Heart of Shemyaza. “Now shall we complete this ceremony?”
    “No!” Cassio shouted, recovering his senses. “No! I won’t! I’d rather the Phoenix be lost forever than see you gain such power!”
    The hysterical Phoenix threw himself backward toward the pentagram and flew into the towering pillar of fire. Guillaume shouted in angry denial and leapt forward, but it was too late. Cassio’s body combusted like a Roman candle. Sparks and smoke rained down, and all of the Phoenix’s immense power, which had been contained within his undeserving body, flowed into the sky.
    “Deny me, but hear this!” Guillaume shouted to the sky. “I will have my revenge! I’ll start with Shemyaza and kill or turn the entire bloodline! And when I’m finished with Shemyaza, I’ll destroy all of our people!”
    In her killer’s arms, Mariah rested comfortably as her lifeblood seeped past the blade lodged in her heart. She felt numb and detached and had witnessed Cassio’s destruction with a twinge of amusement. A small smile played on her lips.
    “H-he