18. Kalistratos

Ilight the lamp with a touch of my finger and Tyler's face emerges from the darkness. Despite the smile he shows me, I know he is worried. I can see it written all over his face. I kiss his forehead and stroke his golden hair.

"Nothing," he says, answering my question. "Just the best orgasm of my life. But I'm guessing that's not what Aethereos meant by finding my powers."

"Don't worry," I tell him. "There must be something more to this. We can figure it out. We've only just begun."

He begins to speak, but stops himself and just nods. I know what he was going to say—what if we can't?

I don't have an answer. I wish I did, but none of this makes any sense. Maybe if I had more knowledge of Phoenikos lore, if I were stronger, if my powers weren't limited… Maybe then I would know how to help him.

This cave is exactly like the one where I first found my powers. Why can't I remember more about it? All I have are vague shadows of that time with my father, whose face is no clearer in my mind than the reflection in a pond struck with pouring rain. What am I looking for?

The elevator takes us back to our quarters. There's been no sign of Lord Aethereos, Feather, or anyone else. It feels as though we're alone here. The view from the window is of a gray, mist-shrouded sky. Heavy raindrops streak the glass. The storm shows no sign of breaking—in fact, it's growing worse.

Tyler paces, holding the little wooden figurine in both hands. He stares at it intently, as though he expects it to wake up and come alive at any moment.

"What is it?" I ask him.

"Do you know what a phantom limb is?" he asks.

I shake my head no.

"There's this thing that can happen to people who lose a body part. They might feel an itch on an arm that no longer exists. Sometimes I feel this heat that I can't pin down. Then it vanishes, but it leaves this impression in my head that it's coming from this figurine." He holds it up. "I can't come up with any kind of explanation for it. It's not like I've lost a limb."

I go to him and guide him to sit with me. "But you have lost something," I tell him gently. "Something incredibly precious."

Tyler looks at me in surprise. "I…didn't think about that."

He stares for a while at the figurine before slipping it back beneath his chiton. Then he wraps his arms around me and rests his head against my chest. I stroke his hair, and we sit there together in silence, thinking about the child that ought to be growing within him.

Tyler spends the next two days in the cave alone. I stay in our quarters and contemplate my place in this story. I'm supposed to be a Guardian. Why does it feel like I've already failed? My powers barely work. I can't help Tyler. I can't get us back to Circeana. And I can't even face Lord Aethereos.

I stare at the elevator doors, willing myself to walk through them and finally ask the question that has burdened me for so long. But I can't. Now that I'm suddenly here in the Great Phoenix's Hall, I've lost my wits.

It's late when Tyler returns, and the moment I see his exhausted face, I remember that even if everything else has been stripped away from me, there is still one thing I can do, and that's love him. I will never give up on him.

I go to him and take him into my arms. I can feel his discouragement. Still no luck.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do," he tells me quietly.

I carry him to the nest and gently lower him into the soft cushions. "Rest," I say.

I turn him onto his chest, then slip the chiton robe off his shoulders. I dab some warm lavender oil from a crystal bottle onto my hands and slowly spread it across his back, using the meat of my palms to work it into his tense, stress-laden shoulder muscles. He sighs happily into the pillows as I press my thumbs against his neck, drawing the oil up to the base of his head, then back down again.

"Didn't know you were so good," he says in a muffled voice.

"For a short time, Alyx and I ran a ridiculous scheme. I would stand on the corner near the zone where the wealthy merchants and council leaders took their drink, oiled up and wearing nothing but a loincloth, and offer a massage for a few drachmae. While I had them face down, Alyx would sneak by and snag their coin purse."

Tyler snorts. "Seems about right for you two. Why'd you stop?"

"When all your customers come back complaining about missing purses, they typically don't believe it when you say a cat did it. Also, I was tired of being mistaken for a prostitute."

"I mean, you were shirtless and oiled up."

"It was Alyx's idea."

Tyler chortles. "Slave boy. Oh, slave boy! Rub a little lower, would you?"

"I prefer being the passenger prince," I mutter as I draw my hands down his back.

I carefully slip from under the covers, pausing to make sure that Tyler is still asleep, and then silently make my way to the elevator. I stare through the darkness at the doors, my heart pounding steadily in my chest. They open, bathing the room with warm light. I look back—Tyler is still sleeping soundly with the covers pulled up tightly to his chin. I enter, the doors close, and the tiny room shudders. I close my eyes.

I need to speak with him. For Tyler's sake.

The room jolts around me again. I look up as the doors open to the dim glow of the artifact room. There is no one to greet me, and for a moment I feel as though I should not be here. Hesitantly, I leave the elevator and cross the room to the huge temple doors. As I approach, they crack on their own, slowly swinging open with a groan. The quiet calm of the Great Phoenix's chamber washes over me. The white curtains draped around the space are now all pulled aside and tied into place with indigo cords. I don't get the sense that anyone else is here—not Feather or the others like him. I make my way forward, towards the stairs going up to the nest platform.

Gods,I think. I hope I'm not disturbing his sleep. Does a god even need to sleep?

"You're not disturbing anything, Kalistratos." His voice drifts down from the nest, and he appears at the lip of the stairs and quietly descends to me.

"I-I apologize," I say, losing my words. "Lord Aethereos."

He shakes his head slightly. "I was waiting for you."

I gather myself as he approaches. I feel small and awestruck in his presence, like a child meeting a great hero.

"Lord Aethereos," I say. "I need to help Tyler. There must be something I can do for him. That cave. I feel like I should know why it's there, but I can't summon anything to mind."

"It's there because he needed it to be there. I'm afraid that there is no answer I can give that will suddenly provide what he's trying to find. In fact, it would only hurt him."

"But why? If he knew what he was looking for and how to look for it…"

"Some things will lose all their power if they're handed directly to you. They need to be discovered."

"And if he can't figure it out? Then…it's really the end?"

"The end for a phoenix is just the beginning," he says. "But don't mistake me for being indifferent. There is simply a limit to what I can do. I'm powerful, but not omnipotent."

"Right," I mutter. "Otherwise, what need would you have for us?"

"Do you resent your part in this?" he asks.

I take a long breath and calm my frustration. "No. Of course not. I just don't understand how I'm supposed to find these other omegas."

"Your journey to find my temple brought you to Tyler, didn't it? Trust yourself. There's a reason you're a Guardian. Remember, nothing is marked in stone."

I've never been certain about fate and the idea that we aren't responsible for the course of our destinies. I've spent my life battling against what has been laid out for me. I've always tried to find my own path forward.

Maybe I'm beginning to see the pieces now… There's a balance to be found between what I write for myself and what the gods write for me. If I can read that balance and see the invisible current beneath everything, then I can know how and when it can be redirected.

Suddenly, I feel as though a great shroud has been lifted from a part of my mind. Things I thought I knew are now visible from a completely different vantage point. This mission to find the Great Phoenix's temple had started from a vision—an intense feeling of warmth and love emanating out to me from some distant realm. I'd believed it was my parents, that they could be waiting for me somewhere, and finding out was what pushed me forward. That vision had placed me on the path to find Tyler.

But my parents are gone.

Deep down, I already knew this. This was never about finding them.

Lord Aethereos walks with me to the elevator doors.

"If there is anything else you need to ask me, ask now," he says. "Time grows thin."

The doors open.

"No," I tell him. "The only thing I need is my mate."

Tyler murmurs as I join him in the nest. He rolls over and hugs me as I press my lips to his temple. He looks at me through heavy-lidded eyes and he reaches up to stroke my cheek. His sleepy smile is adorable.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"Everything is fine," I tell him. "I want you to know that I believe in you."

His forehead knits up, and he sits himself up on his arm. "Alright, something's wrong. What is it? What happened?"

I shake my head. "I spoke to Lord Aethereos."

"You did? What did he say to you?"

"Nothing. And everything."

Tyler chuckles. "That sounds about right…"

"I've been seeking answers about my family for so long," I say. "But I've realized that everything I wanted to know is right in front of me."

He gives me a puzzled look. I take his hands in mine.

"The Great Phoenix blessed me with a vision of family," I say. "That's what I was chasing. A feeling that there was a family out there, waiting for me. But it wasn't my parents. It was you. You, and the child we will have together."

He smiles at me. "I know you've always felt alone, Kalistratos, but you're not. You've got me. And you've got two good buddies waiting for you back home."

"Hm. Alyx, yes. Airos… I don't know about that fake priest." I smirk.

"Oh, come on, Kalistratos, he's our friend."

"I know, I know."

"Of course, we've gotta find a way to get back to them… Aethereos didn't happen to say anything about me, did he?"

"Only that you already have everything you need."

He sighs. "Not helpful."

"Perhaps you could use some assistance," I say, and drop my hand down to caress his bulge.

Tyler gasps softly and pushes himself against me. I feel his cock coming to life in my palm.

"We already tried that," he says in a low voice. "It didn't do anything."

"Worth trying again."

"Yeah, okay. Not gonna argue with that. Ah…"

I slip my hand beneath the chiton and drag two fingers across his bare thigh. When I reach the base of his cock, I part my fingers and run them along both sides of his smooth, ridgeless shaft until I hit the base of his head. I know how sensitive he is there. I squeeze and rub the firm crest between my fingers, teasing him with little flickers of phoenix heat. He groans and twists against me, then reaches behind my neck and pulls my forehead against his. His eyes are locked intently to mine, and he kisses me deeply. He wants me to see the pleasure on his face as I touch him.

I clasp my hand over his cockhead and move my palm around him in slowly increasing circles. His body shudders and jerks under my motions and soon my hand is coated with his excitement. I drag my fingers up and down his full length, stopping only to swirl my palm around his tip to gather more of his delicious slick. Soon, his entire swollen cock is wet with his juices, and it glides easily through my fist. I stroke him quickly, relishing the way his expression changes with how I pleasure him.

"Oh my God," he groans. "How are you so good at that?"

With an appreciative grin, I descend and flick my tongue across his tip, lapping up the dewdrop gathering there. So delicious. Better than the finest Athenosian honey. As I continue rubbing his length, I push my lips to the soft wrinkles of his pouch, gently kissing and sucking my way down until I reach his entrance. His rim twitches in reaction to my teasing, and I draw the full flat of my tongue across him and lick up his balls and the underside of his shaft. A shudder of pleasure goes through his body as I wrap my lips around his head and push a finger into his hole and curl it against the sensitive spot inside of him. His cock twitches in my mouth and more of his sweet, delicious juices spread across my tongue. He clenches around me as I massage him, and my aching need to thrust my cock inside of him grows ever more unbearable.

Tyler reaches out and grabs one of the bottles from the silver tray beside the nest. I sit up onto my knees and lift the front of my chiton, freeing my cock. It falls heavily against his, and he turns his hips back and forth to nuzzle his shaft against mine. Then he dabs a spot of oil onto his fingers and spreads it across his entrance and my tip. Without hesitation, I grab his thighs and push his legs back. Tyler follows through, pulling his knees back to his shoulders and exposing himself fully to me. His eyes beg me to fuck him, and they flutter back into his head as I slowly sink my cock into him.

His warmth welcomes me, surrounds me, and squeezes me tightly. There is nothing better in this world, or any other. A snarl of pleasure escapes my lips as I pump into him. Tyler whimpers for me to fuck him harder, and I rock my hips to thrust in as deep as I can go. The pounding thud of our bodies is like that of two wrestlers locked in combat. His legs hook around my hips and my lower back, pulling and holding me in with astounding strength.

Thunder booms outside, and a white flash washes across the room, perfectly capturing the beautiful expression on Tyler's face at that moment. He calls for more, and I give him everything I have. I'm at my peak, and my cock tightens as I fight to hold back my climax for as long as I can manage. It comes like a landslide. I explode into him, emptying my seed deep inside with every thrust. Then I push in to the hilt and hold myself there. I feel his cock throbbing against my stomach, his warm finish flowing down his shaft.

I bring my lips to his, and we trade slow, satisfied breaths as the waves of our climax make their final retreat.

He is my home, my purpose, my comfort. He is all I need.