Chapter 12

Jake, Daphne, Geoffrey, Sibilius, Frank and Tanya materialized in the middle of the woods near the Phoenix Preserve.

"There's a hunt today," Daphne told the others, "so there should be a few Phoenix girls out here somewhere."

"Wouldn't it be better to go to some of the temple seats and ask some of your sisters for help?" Tanya wanted to know.

"I think they don't want too many people finding out there might be trouble in paradise," Frank mused. "The idea that there's something the ruling class can't handle could be cause for upset and dissention. Most of the Phoenix girls keep to themselves and they don't care too much about local politics, plus they have all kinds of unusual powers, so they fall into the category of 'clean-up crew' for the ruling class."

"Nice to know where I stand with you," Tanya joked. "But you're the one who usually cleans me up, so don't go trying to pull some kind of role reversal on me, now."

"Children, behave," Sibilius chastised them. Before he could continue, a short, dark-haired girl staggered out of the brush. She was completely naked, and the entire lower half of her body was covered in blood. As she stumbled toward the little group, a shot rang out. The bullet kicked up dirt right next to Tanya's foot.

Startled, Tanya whipped her gaze up toward where the rifle report had come from and automatically raised her hand in retaliation. A thin yellow spurt of Phoenix fire arced out and ended in a frightening but mostly harmless fireball right in front of Joey as he raised his rifle to take another shot at Emma.

'That's enough of that, ' Tanya thought into Joey's head as he stumbled and fell in his frantic efforts to avoid running right into the ball of fire that suddenly appeared in front of him.

"What the fu-u-uck?" he yelped as he cringed away from the fading blast. Then he realized there were others standing in the pathway ahead. He sat up and scowled at the intruders. "This-is-a-sanctuary-yer-ain't-suppose'ta-be-here," he rattled off, still trying to identify the newcomers.

"Thanks, mates," Emma gasped as she sank to her knees with both hands held against a deep, bleeding gash of a hole just above her hip. "Fucker almost ... had me!" she laughed, still gasping and short of breath. "Not allowed ... t' teleport, ya know..."

"We're looking for Phoenixes," Jake announced. "And you're ... a Phoenix?" He raised his eyebrows at the small, seemingly insignificant and badly wounded female kneeling in the weeds.

Emma nodded, too winded to bother with a reply to this stupid male.

"Yeah, she's a Phoenix," Joey called out, on his feet now and trotting toward those interlopers who'd interrupted his hunt. "And she's mine. I shot 'er, and I'm taking the prize."

"What's the prize?" Tanya asked, grinning like she already knew. She also knew Emma, and who Emma had chosen as her life partner – or rather – partners! "This little bit?"

"Yeah, that little bit, as you call her," Joey replied, feeling as though his prize was being contested. "She's mine, and I'm takin' her wi' me."

"Sorry, old boy," Sibilius said, adding himself to the conversation. "If this young woman is a Phoenix, she'll be coming with us. We need her help."

Even Emma raised her eyebrows at that, but as she began to recognize some of the people in the group that she'd nearly run into, she began to understand. "Is there some kind of emergency?"

'Jessika, I need you ... Some people need our help!'

'So?' Came the reply from a tired but regenerated Jessika.

'It's Frank and Tanya, ' Emma thought back, broadcasting an image of the group along with her psychic message. 'And the King!'

A few miles away, Jessika turned to Ric and put one hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, gotta go. Duty calls." A quick peck on his cheek and the voluptuous, nude redhead vanished, leaving Ric with a sad but bemused look on his face.

Ric slung his empty rifle over his shoulder and turned to continue down the path toward the group of cabins in the center of the preserve. As he tramped through the woods, he looked forward to spending some time with Vicky, snuggling with her while he told her about bagging Jessika. Even though Victoria wouldn't allow anyone to hunt her because of her pregnancy, she loved to hear Ric's stories about his girl hunts and what he did with whoever he caught.

Joey was about to argue with Sibilius when Jessika appeared right in front of him. Noticing his open mouth and the belligerent attitude he was broadcasting, Jessika crossed her arms beneath her bare breasts, immediately drawing the male's attention as she tightened her arms around her magnificent, bare boobies.

"You're not gonna smart mouth The King, are you?" she asked, giving the male her best 'diva' attitude.

"Uh," Joey stammered, nearly salivating as he stared at the lethal, man-numbing weapons that were Jessika's breasts. "Nuh, the king?" The rifle fell from nerveless fingers (it was empty anyway, but he didn't remember that) and it took Jessika reaching out and pressing a finger against the bottom of his chin before he realized he was standing there with his mouth hanging open. He shut it with an audible snap, then winced, having bit his tongue.

Jessika shook her head, then turned away with a barely audible snort of derision. "Emma! There you are, love," she called out, happy to see that Joey hadn't gotten to her, then upset as she observed that Emma hadn't been able to regenerate yet.

'No, wait!" Emma yelped as Jessika reached down to touch her shoulder. As the naked Phoenixes vanished, Tanya heard Emma's mental cry; 'Sorry – back in a minute... '

"Where the fuck did they go?" Joey growled, angry at having almost had both Emma and Jessika (at least in his own mind), then losing them both. He turned away, ignoring the group that had ruined his hunt and began stomping through the woods, not paying attention to the direction he was traveling. Most of his upset was with Jessika and that shitty attitude she often used on him. He'd really wanted to stick it to Jessika's lesbian lover as the 'perfect' revenge, but that idea had been thwarted as well. 'All that planning gone for nau ... Hey!'

"What the fuck?" Joey yelped as two naked bodies scrambled out of the way so he wouldn't trample over them. "You spyin' on us?"

Joey stared at the two naked teenagers, realizing that they were probably locals, caught en flagrante in the middle of the woods. Still, it wouldn't do to have too many people finding out about how the goddesses and phoenix girls were really treated in the preserve.

He pointed his empty rifle at the girl, who instantly scooted backwards in terror, unintentionally giving him a beautiful view of her entire, bare body, especially right up between her legs. Pointing the barrel at the spot he was staring at between the terrified girl's legs, he snarled, "You human or Phoenix? I can find out in a second, if I need to..."