Phoenix Rising Read Online Free PDF

could shrug it off if he failed. A thousand years of history and knowledge and experience would go up in flames. What a waste that would be.
    Artemis. A lovely and uncommon name. Adopted son of Janelle and Thomas Gregory. There were pictures: Janelle had brown hair and an open Midwestern face with smiling eyes. Thomas looked serious, even stern, and had salt-andpepper hair and brown eyes. His arm was around her shoulder, and he appeared to be touching her almost gingerly, as if the photographer had said, “Get closer to your wife!” and he’d resented it. A later entry noted Thomas Gregory had died of a heart attack four years ago.
    Artemis as a boy: reserved, with bold eyes and a sweet mouth. Even then, there’d been something intense about him. A picture of him around the age of ten showed him staring straight into the camera, his expression challenging. Talis looked at that photo for a long time, seeing the man superimposed over the boy.
    Talis had never gone to school and wondered what it was like to sit in a classroom all day, having knowledge pounded into you. He wondered if Artemis had had many friends. Had he been in the popular group, or had he been one of the shadow students who skulked along the edges, head down, attending classes, remaining mostly silent, never volunteering information?
    This boy would never be ordinary, he thought fiercely. He is not ordinary. He is my soul mate, the one I’ve been searching for. Now I’ve found him, and I will not let him go. Together, we begin anew.
    Hand shaking slightly, he turned the page. Artemis had been raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, relocated to New York City with his parents at age fourteen, graduated high school with honors, attended college in NYC, become a cop. This would indicate a highly developed sense of ethics and morality. It wouldn’t be easy to win his affection. He would have to utilize all the warmth and charm at his disposal, and he had plenty.
    Talis knew where Artemis lived, where his mother lived. There was very little privacy left, thanks to the internet. Credit scores, criminal history, phone numbers… everything was available if you wanted it badly enough.
    Placing the papers on the coffee table, he sat back, resting his hands on his thighs. He was expected at the loft in one hour. Final rehearsal would absorb most of the day. Tomorrow would be spent in Central Park as they readied for the evening concert.
Within the week, they would be traveling to California.
    “It can’t be done,” he said aloud mournfully. “Not enough time.”
Ammon appeared in the doorway. “Satisfactory?”
Talis let his head fall against the back of the couch. “More. I want more. His real parents? Find out who they were.”
“That will take time. Such records are locked.”
“Everything I have is at your disposal. Use it.”
“As you wish.”
“I need to see him, Ammon. Suggestions?”
“Their tickets and backstage passes have not yet been messengered over.”
“I’ll deliver them.”
“To the police precinct?” Ammon’s tone alerted Talis.
“Perhaps not.” He thought about it. “I will take them to his apartment. Tonight.”
A moment later, Talis felt strong, familiar hands on his shoulders, kneading the muscles there. He sighed with pleasure. “You are so good at this, Ammon.”
“It is my pleasure to serve you, Talis.”
He leaned back into probing fingers. “Does it ever bother you? What I am? What I do to remain human? Because it does bother me. Sacrificing lives is antithetical to my main purpose.”
“You are the only one of your kind. You are to be treasured, protected, and so you must have a guardian. You honor me by accepting me in that role. My father served you, and his father before him, back in an unbroken line for five hundred years. I am here out of love, not obligation. One may as well question the ocean tides or the orbit of the Earth around the sun.” He spoke with a sureness that did not invite questions. “As