Chapter Thirty-Two

Entry

I can't write today. I'm sorry, I just can't.

Phoenix.

--

Greyson and Phoenix sat, hands bound, in the center of the room as four guys pointed guns at them. Phoenix glared at The Prince.

"They are not the ones you should be glaring at, meddlesome children," a man with a white scar slicing his cheek spat. It was curved and went from the front of his cheek to the base of his neck, where it disappeared into a shirt. He wore clothes in a style Phoenix had never seen before. His eyes were black and filled with rage. 

"You may have been the one to tie us up, but I have plenty of reasons to glare at them," Phoenix retorted. She had to buy time, keep the intruders talking as she thought of a way out.

Phoenix and Greyson had been brought into this room with the royals by gunpoint, and there were four people keeping them down. Phoenix scanned all the people and swore under her breath. The one man was clearly in charge, and next to him stood Corton. The King, Prince, and Princess were both tied and sitting on the floor. 

Only the Queen remained unbound and standing. A gun rested against her, holding her hostage. Two large oak doors, hard and sturdy, lined the paneled walls in a taunt of freedom. The tunnel Phoenix entered from was blocked by men decorated with scrubs and guns. They were trapped.

Hopefully Cole knew to leave. 

The Queen turned to The Prince. Instead of his usual smirk, The Prince just met her gaze and slowly shook his head in defeat. What were they silently communicating?

"You two children aren't needed for this procedure. You're useless," the man with the scar announced, presumably the one in charge based on how much he talked.

"What do you want?" Phoenix inquired. "I can make a deal."

"All I seek is the head of the lady," the scar man gestured towards the Queen. "Well," he said with a sadistic smirk, "the crown, too."

The scar man looked back at Greyson and Phoenix. "You two are annoying and can be rid of now."

Just as the command to kill them had been given, the Queen reached into her hair and pulled out a small dagger disguised as a hairpin. Quicker than the judgment to shoot, the Queen hit the scar man's extended arm that was holding her hostage and put the knife to his throat, taking him hostage.

Now Phoenix understood why she commanded the army.

The Queen looked to the other gunmen and gestured towards her family's bound wrists. The gunmen glanced around at each other, unsure of what to do- the scar man must be their leader. 

The Queen dug the small blade deeper into the leader's throat, and soon the intruders untied the royal family and returned to their posts, eyes darting to their captive leader. A deep breath filled Phoenix's lungs. It was cut short as she realized Greyson and her were still on the ground and defenseless. 

The King smirked at the man his wife held hostage. "You really think we are damsels? My dear bastard, I built this kingdom. We know a thing or two about getting what we want in unsavory situations. And Corton, it's good to see you again. I know your wife is in that Throne Room, and I can't wait to see her again." 

Did they just… save Phoenix from being shot? She looked at The Prince again, but he averted his eyes to the ground. The situation had changed. There were three armed men, including Corton, but the Queen was holding their leader hostage, and the royal family was untied. 

Then there was a quiet sneeze; gazes shot to the main exit. 

Everyone stared curiously at the door, as though the door had caused the noise. Silent tension gripped the company as everyone wondered what to do next, someone was outside listening. 

Phoenix had to get untied; if that was another thief, they would be outnumbered. 

No one moved to open the door until the man in charge yelled, "Well, who is it?" 

Silence.

"Go open it," someone commanded.

The back of Phoenix's head screamed and the movement around her faded away. Why was she so concerned about who was behind the door? Did she know that sneeze from somewhere?

It hit her. 

Tears rimmed her eyes as she looked at Greyson, needing to find a way to escape. Greyson was just confused. 

Phoenix whipped her head to The Prince. "Talon! Untie me right now!" 

His eyes shot up to her. She had never called him by his name before, and that seemed to catch his attention. The thieves stopped their advance to the door and looked to Phoenix and then to Talon. The Queen dug her knife deeper into the hostage's neck, deep enough to draw blood. 

"Untie them!" the leader said, eager to keep himself alive. 

Talon came over to untie them, but he fumbled with the knots. Phoenix glanced down at his hands to see what was taking so long. That was the mistake that cost her sanity.

As Phoenix looked down, the three thieves moved and opened the door.

Finally untied, Phoenix bolted up. She ran to the closed door so she could protect him. But the door was open now, and Phoenix froze in terror. In a thief's left hand held his gun, the other hand gripping Lucas's pale throat. Why wasn't he with Daisy and Cole? What had happened?

What to do, what to do, what to do?

Her blood rose and she sprang into action. She lunged for Lucas, just as Greyson wrenched her arm back.

"Take one more step and I will shoot," the thief said.

Phoenix reached forward to tear off the thief's disgusting head, but Greyson kept her furry in place.

"I propose a trade," the leader, still hostage, proposed. "The boy for me." 

Did the thieves not know that this boy meant nothing to the royal family?

"I don't care about that boy," the King declared.

"Deal," Talon interrupted his father. "The boy must be unharmed."

But why would he...

A glance was exchanged between a mother and her son, and the Queen looked at the thieves and released their leader. They let go of Lucas's neck, and Phoenix reached out her arms to catch him as he began to run to her. Lucas would be safe-

And then there was a bang. 

And then Lucas fell. 

A pool of blood gathered under a dead boy's head.

"Lucas!" Phoenix screamed. 

She sprinted to make sure that this minor injury of Lucas's was okay, it was just a scratch, just a scratch.

She picked Lucas up from the ground, tears swelling her eyes, and the commotion around her blocked out. Scratches heal; they didn't hurt that badly after a kiss and a bandage. Phoenix kissed Lucas's head, but the blood from his hair drenched her lips. No! It's a scratch, a scratch… Someone grabbed her shoulder and tried to pull her away from Lucas. But Lucas needed to be healed, he needed a small bandage, they had to help him!

"Now, Bird…" A hazy voice commented.

Phoenix glanced up to who was talking and saw Talon. 

His lips were moving. Talking?

"We need to go now!" he shouted quietly into her ears. Phoenix looked at him in a daze, then down at Lucas.

Lucas had been shot in the head. His blood and brains spilled onto the floor; his eyes could not meet hers and he could not reach out and hug her. 

Lucas was dead, dead, dead! 

Phoenix was being dragged away, away from Lucas. Talon pulled her body out of this horrendous room and into a room with tiles. A bathroom?

Phoenix felt sick and threw up on the floor. She coughed violently, and her head became static. Not now, she couldn't check out now. She had to fight, she had to…

"Bird," Talon's voice echoed through her mind.

"Bird!" Phoenix looked up and saw Greyson had entered the small room.

She looked at Greyson and his blurry figure towered over her. "I have to go out and fight!" her voice cracked. "Help me up! I have to…" 

Greyson gazed at her in pity. "He's dead. You can't change that."

"I have to!" Phoenix cried.

Tears were escaping Greyson too, spilling from his cheeks, as he pulled his hands out from behind his back and revealed a large candlestick. 

"I can't let you do that. I can't lose you too," Greyson whimpered as he swung his arms back.

"Greyson, No! You'll kill-" Talon tried to stop Greyson, but like a pendulum in a pit, Greyson's arm swung up and back down. 

Now Phoenix was laying in vomit on the floor, waiting to be hit in the head by the boy she had let call her Bird. Phoenix could still see Lucas and his small body in her mind, his light eyes bleak. Then everything went black.