The Mephisto Mark: The Redemption of Phoenix (3 page)

Chapter 3

~~ Mariah ~~

One second he was standing up there glaring at me; the next, he disappeared into thin air. I was ravenously hungry and completely exhausted. Maybe I imagined it?

But no,
Phoenix Who Despised Me really did disappear, and Kyros really did bring me here via magic, which meant there must be the devil about. Mama used to tell stories about fantastical things, and all of them taught a moral lesson to small children – magic and such is the work of the devil. I later learned that the devil is at work everywhere, and there’s nothing at all magical about it. I’d met the devil, and his name was Emilian. After that, nothing particularly frightened me. People popping in and out was incredible and weird, but not scary.

Still, t
his was an eerie place with bizarre people and I was torn between serious concern for Viorica and the absolute necessity of leaving immediately.

Self-preservation won the day. I walked toward the console where Olga
hid and coaxed her out, swung her up into my arms and turned back to Kyros. “Take me home now.”

He and Sasha exchanged a look before he said evenly, “I’m asking you to stay, Mariah. Jordan will want to see you and it’s much safer for the two of you to visit here than at your apartment, or in the White House.”

I walked to where he stood and made one last plea. “It will upset her to find out about me, and it’s cruel because there’s no way we can maintain any kind of relationship while she’s the president’s daughter. Later, maybe when she’s at university, I’ll see her.”

Again, they looked at each other before Kyros said, “She won’t be going to college. She isn’t
. . .” He stopped talking.

I was more than alarmed. I was afraid. “Why won’t she go to college? Is something wrong with her?” Holy God, I’d never survive if she died. Viorica was everything to me.
She was why I got up every day. The thought of her living a happy life with parents who loved her was what got me through the worst of things. “Is she ill?” He didn’t reply and Sasha shifted her weight, clearly uncomfortable.
“Tell me!”

“No, she’s not sick. Far from it. Jordan will live a long life. Longer than you’d imagine.”

“What does that mean?”

He
slid his hands into the pockets of his leather trench coat. “There’s a lot to tell you about us, and I’m certain Jordan will want to be the one who does. For now, have something to eat, get some rest, and plan to stay a few days with us. She has school and other commitments, but she can be here every night and the two of you can get reacquainted. I’d also like you to get to know my brothers, and Sasha.”

If his other brothers were as awful as Phoenix, I’d take a pass on getting to know them.
“I have to work tomorrow.” I needed the money. I saved most of what I earned, stashing it away for when I enrolled at university. Missing work wasn’t an option.

“Tell Gustav you need some time off.”

He said it as an order, and my back went up. “I’ll do no such thing.”

“Doesn’t he have other help?”

“Yes, but I need the shifts.”

Sasha laid a hand on his arm and said something in English, which I found insulting. “Have the courtesy
to speak so I can understand.”

She apologized and said in Romanian, “I said that you probably need the money and he should respect that.”

Kyros said, “I’ll pay you to stay. Whatever you want.”

Before I could tell him what I thought of his offer, Sasha s
colded him. “Key, you can’t offer her money. It’s offensive.”

He looked genuinely surprised. “Why? We’ve got more money than anyone on the planet. I’m happy to give her
as much as she wants, but at a minimum, she could at least take what she’ll miss earning over the next week. I want her to stay. We
need
her to stay.”

I was bemused. “Are your parents aware of your willingness to hand money over to strangers?”

“My mother is long dead and my father isn’t . . . we live here, just me and my brothers and Sasha and the household staff.”

I was about to ask more questions because the whole setup was dodgy, but he held up a hand and shook his head. “I know you’re tired, Mariah. Please, just eat and rest
, and I promise Jordan will explain everything later.”

Looking from him to Sasha, then glancing around the grand hall, I considered my
options. There weren’t many. I was confident he’d take me home if I insisted, but there was evidently no talking him out of telling Viorica about me, and once that happened, I wanted to see her. This place, strange as it seemed and wherever it was, would be a safe venue. I gave Kyros a quick nod.

“Good.” He smiled and it transformed his face. “Very good.” He flicked his wrist and a tall
dark-skinned man appeared from the shadows beneath the staircase. Dressed in balloon pants and a turban, he looked like a character out of
Arabian Nights
. “This is Deacon, our butler and self-appointed morality police. Deacon, this is Jordan’s sister, Mariah. See that her cat is fed and watered, then taken to the bedroom next to Jordan’s.”

The man wouldn’t look me in the eye, but asked my shoulder, “Her name?”

“Olga.” I handed her over. “She will vomit if you give her fish.”

“Then I shall not give her fish.” He gently stroked Olga’s head while he looked at Kyros. “Dinner is waiting. Am I to ask Mathilda to serve?”

“No. Give Olga to Dani with instructions, then we’ll have dinner.”

Deacon disappeared
and I scarcely blinked. “Odd clothing choice for a butler.”

“
He’s a Moor. It’s how he was dressed when he died,” Kyros said.

I hoped he hadn’t just said that Deacon was dead.
“I don’t understand.”

“You will.”

I turned my gaze to Sasha. “So he’s a zombie.” I was joking, sort of, and expected her to smile.

Instead, she said soberly, “He’s a ghost – a spirit who deserves Heaven but can’t make it because he’s mad at God. His family was slaughtered during the Crusades and he’s still holding a grudge against God for letting it happen. Most spirits like that are sent to Purgatory to wait it out, but some are sent here to serve the Mephisto in hopes servitude and interaction with the Luminas will help them get over it so they can ascend. All of the household staff are Purgatories.”

I remembered Key had told Phoenix he thought I should become a Lumina. It couldn’t be any weirder than a Purgatory. Could it? “What’s a Lumina?”

Sasha said, “They’re
extraordinary people who become immortal and live here on Mephisto Mountain and help the Mephisto.”

“Who are the Mephisto?”

“Key and his brothers.” She smiled then. “And me. And soon—”

“Let’s eat,” Kyros said, “and let Jordan tell her the rest.”

Kyros thought I should become immortal and stick around to help out? Help with what? Counting his money? I began to wonder if I’d finally slipped off the edge. I always worried I’d lose it one day, but imagined it’d be a dramatic moment where I’d stand on a rooftop and shout and throw rocks at God and they’d take me off to jail where I’d rot. Instead, I was in a house in some alternate universe with people who wanted me to live forever.

That would be the worst thing possible.
Living forever meant never losing the past, and while I wasn’t quite ready to die just yet, I didn’t exactly dread it either, even though I knew death meant Hell. I was certain of that because of . . .

I wouldn’t look in that box again. I would take all of this at face value, and see my sister and she’d explain what went on here, and then I’d go back to
my own life.

Suddenly aware of a delicious smell, my stomach growled.

“Come along and meet my brothers.”

I walked between him and Sasha toward the rear of the grand hall where there was a double door entry into a cavernous dining room to the right and a wide hallway with a lot of doors to the left.
It occurred to me that the house was lit entirely by candlelight. Looking up, I saw electric fixtures, but none of them were on. Of all the weird things about this night, this struck me as one of the oddest.

Just as we cleared the entrance to the dining room, f
our guys with the same coloring, similar features, and who were as tall and broad as Kyros and Phoenix stood from their chairs and stared at me with looks ranging from incredulous to suspicious. Tonight just got more fun. I longed for my apartment and my bed, to be curled up with Olga, drifting off to sleep.

Instead, I was facing the Inquisition.

Kyros walked ahead of me and stopped at the end of the very long table. “This is Mariah, Jordan’s sister. She’s going to stay a few days.” He looked at me before he began to point. “The tallest one there is Titus. We call him Ty. He’s an animal lover. Ty, you’ll have to meet Mariah’s cat, Olga.”

Ty
managed a small smile, but I could tell he wasn’t happy about my presence.

Kyros pointed to the one with a buzz cut, a diamond stud in one ear and a tat of a question mark on his neck. “That’s Xenos, who we call Zee. He’s our musician.”

Zee was conflicted, unsure if I was interesting or annoying. “Where did you come from?” he asked.

“Bucharest,” I replied. “Your Romanian is perfect.”

“All our languages are perfect.”

“All?”

“We know every language spoken on Earth.”

“Why? How?”

“It’s a job requirement, and we were born this way.” He looked to Kyros. “Why is she here?”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Kyros said firmly. He pointed to the guy across the table from Ty and Zee. “That’s Ajax. When we’re not mad at him, we call him Jax.”

This one walked toward us and slipped an arm around Sasha while he smiled at me. Now I knew who Sasha was: attached to Ajax.

“Hello, Mariah. I’m glad to meet you.” He looked at Kyros. “I hope you know what you’re doing, brother.”

Sasha said, “Isn’t it amazing how much she resembles Jordan? She has that same . . . skin tone, doesn’t she? Practically glows.”

Jax’s smile faded by degrees while he stared at me like I was a germ under a microscope. He murmured,
“It must run in their family.”

“Phoenix met Mariah just after Key brought her here, but unfortunately he won’t make it to dinner. He had to go see Jane.”

Who was Jane? I felt bad for her having to suffer a visit from Phoenix.

I’d swear
Sasha and Jax carried on an entire conversation without saying a word, then Jax shot a questioning look at Kyros, who nodded. Jax smiled at me again, wider this time. “I’m glad you’re staying for a while, Mariah.”

“Thank you.” I turned my attention to the last guy, arguably the best looking of all of them
, and that was saying a lot.

“Denys is the youngest,
” Kyros said. “He drinks too much and chases women.”

“Kyros!” Sasha was clearly shocked. She
gave me an apologetic smile. “Denys likes to laugh and have a good time. That’s all.”

I met Denys’s gaze and saw right past his grin.
There was agony in his eyes and I wanted to tell Kyros he was an oblivious ass, but I didn’t because Denys’s demons weren’t my business. He made some light quip about girls being more fun to chase than guys and I smiled like I thought it was funny, but he kind of made me want to cry.

“Well, then,”
Kyros said, “now you know the Mephisto. Enjoy your dinner, and Sasha will see to it that you’re comfortable in a guest room.”

“Aren’t you
eating?”

“I have some things to do. I’ll be back later, with Jordan.” And just like Phoenix and Deacon, he disappeared
.

So this was really going to happen. After so many years and so much dreaming of this moment, I was going to see Vi
orica. I wasn’t ready and was convinced she would be more upset than glad, but if it was inevitable, I would accept it and focus on my joy. My heart beat a little faster and I was both anxious and delighted.

When I turned
back to the table, the other brothers were still and quiet, staring at me with that same focused attention I’d received from Phoenix, but without the hostility. Something about me was fascinating, which was an entirely new experience. I just wished I knew what it was.

Jax went to the chair at the opposite end of the table and pulled it out. “Sit in Key’s chair
, Mariah. That’ll make it easier for us to stare at you.”

I was fairly certain he was joking, a tease to clue his brothers in that they were being rude. Didn’t work. They still stared.

Sasha moved close and whispered, “We don’t have visitors here, especially girls.”

Ah, so their
attention was because I was female. I debated telling her I wasn’t remotely interested in guys, but then I noticed the sparkle in her eyes, her obvious pleasure at having some female companionship, and I didn’t have the heart to be negative. I certainly had no issues with women. Not that I had many friends, but I considered Gustav’s fiancé my friend. She’d just become a teacher, having graduated from university the previous summer. It was Sophia who’d urged me to begin saving for school so I could become something other than a barmaid. Looking at Sasha’s hopeful gaze, I smiled before I went around the table to accept Jax’s invitation to Kyros’s chair.