Page 8 of A Phoenix Reborn at Christmas

And unfortunately, the ashes from a phoenix’s permanent death were incredibly useful in magic spells. Apparently, a single grain of phoenix ash contained a wealth of power. The type of power that many sorcerers would kill for.

And had killed for.

That was why Percival’s parents, his sister, and his brother had been killed. One night, ice sorcerers had broken into their home and attacked them. Now his family were nothing but ash. Percival swallowed. Because that ash would without a doubt have been defiled, their remains used in sorcery by those who’d murdered them.

Truthfully, Percival should be dead too. He had been beyond lucky to survive.

Five sorcerers had attacked his family. One sorcerer per family member. The sorcerers had used circles with runes and symbols to trap phoenixes. Then they had cast a freezing spell to kill and freeze the phoenixes’ ashes so the phoenixes could not be reborn.

But the sorcerer who’d focused on Percival had been younger and less competent than the others. His hold on the binding circle had faltered for a few seconds. And in those crucial seconds, Percival had fled the binding circle and thrown himself from the four-storey window.

He’d died from the fall. But his ashes had not been frozen. So he’d been reborn.

His parents and siblings had not been.

And that was why he had to be strong now. His uncle was right about that. Because if Percival wasn’t tough, he would meet the same fate as his parents, siblings, and so many of his kind. There was no space anymore for phoenixes to be weak or frail.

Otherwise, he and all his kind would be wiped from the planet. They would disappear into ash.

Chapter

Four

Leo stood at the counter, watching the arrogant phoenix stride from the bakery.

He frowned. Something had felt…off with Lord Percival Everflame right at the end there.

Still, Leo was glad to see the back of him. If the phoenix had a problem, it sure as fuck wasn’t Leo’s concern or responsibility.

He glanced around the bakery. None of the customers seemed to have need of Leo, so he headed into the back.

His eldest sister, Ordelia, kneaded dough. His brother, Lachlan, along with his partner and cat-shifter familiar, Kit, sliced dried plum cakes.

A recipe book stood open beside Jasper, Leo’s twin brother. His finger moved over the page. “I need lemon juice for the drizzle.”

“No problem.” Trent, their youngest brother, went to grab lemons.

Jasper mixed dry ingredients, which Trent had already collected and measured out, in a large bowl. His expression pinched as he cracked eggs into the mix.

“How’s the cakes coming along?” Leo asked as he came up beside Jasper.

“Fine.” Jasper stirred the ingredients. “No issues.”

“That’s good,” Leo said.

Jasper didn’t respond.

After a moment, Leo walked to the apple slices he had been preparing before he’d gone to serve. “Did you see that Lord Percival Everflame came in again?”

“Did he?” Jasper asked, although he didn’t sound particularly interested. He didn’t even look up from his work.

“And he was just as arrogant as he was yesterday.” Leo laughed. “He’s such a conceited prick. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so full of themself!”

Jasper’s lips tugged up at the corners. But that was it.

Leo swallowed. There’d been a time when his brother would have asked questions and wanted to know all about Lord Everflame. Then the two of them would have laughed together, mocking the jerk.

There’d been a time when he and Jasper’s constant laughter, joking, and bickering would fill the bakery when they worked.