Page 47 of Fallout
Parker motions for him to keep walking and the two of us explain to the dragon prince how I’ve come back to life on two separate occasions.
“Huh, kind of like the human stories of phoenixes,” Evander comments.
Phoenixes?
I had never thought about that before, but he’s right. I do have similarities.
“Are phoenixes real?” I ask.
Parker and Evander both say, “No.”
Evander continues speaking. “According to supernatural history, phoenixes have never existed. If they did, it would’ve had to be over a millennia ago.”
When we get back to the estate, Evander opens a back door and walks inside. Parker and I follow him, with Parker holding my hand. My heart is starting to race as we head back to the library to meet up with Parker’s dad and the dragon king.
Do they have information about me? Am I going to know who I am? What I am?
Once we get into the room, Evander starts to leave, but King Basilicus motions for him to stop.
“Evander, sit. I want you here for this,” King Basilicus says.
“Uh, okay.” Evander furrows his brows in confusion, but he sits around the large conference table.
Parker pulls out a seat for me and I sit down. He takes the space between me and his dad. Prince Stellan and Princess Wisteria are also at the table. It isn’t until I see the grim expression on Mr. Thorne’s face that my stomach sinks.
Whatever this is, it can’t be good news. If it were, he wouldn’t look so stricken.
King Basilicus clears his throat. “Dragon shifters keep very old records. Our species has been good at preserving history. Every few hundred years, we have older history books translated so that, as language changes, future generations will be able to understand.”
My heart thumps faster, which causes all the shifters to turn to me.
My cheeks grow warm at the attention. “Please continue, King Basilicus.”
King Basilicus looks at me for a moment longer before continuing. “The book that we have is over fifteen hundred years old. It’s been translated many times, so I’m not sure how accurate the information is. But from what we can understand, your species went extinct nearly two thousand years ago.”
Two thousand?
Well, he’s wrong about that. Because if we did go extinct, I wouldn’t exist.
“We were wrong and the proof sits in front of us.” King Basilicus turns his eyes on me and they seem to glow.
I sit up straighter. “You know what I am?”
He nods. “You are what I would’ve thought of as a legend before I looked at that book. Even seeing you, I can hardly believe it. But you, Henley Stone, are a phoenix.”
My ears ring a bit as I take in his words. Everybody around me shouts their astonishment, but I sit there and quietly take it all in.
Evander joked that I sounded like a phoenix, but he said phoenixes didn’t exist. But I do.
I lick my lips. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
My question silences the table.
King Basilicus hesitates before responding. “The only thing I know about phoenixes is what’s been passed down. Considering this book was written five hundred years after the last phoenix was believed to die, we can’t give too much credit to the words written in this book. What the book says is that phoenixes were greatly feared because of their ability to escape death. The supernatural community banded together to find a way to rid the world of phoenixes, but the knowledge of how to kill a phoenix was lost to history. That is all we know.”
I shift my weight. “Phoenixes were feared, so that means they were evil, right?”
“No,” Princess Wisteria answers, leaning forward to look at me. “I am half elf and elves were believed to be extinct until a few months ago. My species was nearly wiped out because of fear, as was dragon shifters not so long ago. The supernatural community fears power. And you, Henley Stone, are very powerful.”