Page 46 of Phoenix Chosen 3

“Just let me get this straight,” Jackson says. “You, me, and one other poor son of a bitch are for some reason destined to reincarnate a god exiled by his twin brother to a skyscraper in downtown Bakerville and save a dying culture? And we’re going to do this… how exactly?”

“Well, I was getting to that part,” I say. “Uh… maybe we should take a break. You might want to sit down for this.”

“We need to keep moving, Tyler,” Kalistratos says.

“Lay it on me,” Jackson says.

“I don’t know the specifics,” I tell him. “The Great Phoenix—Aethereos—he was pretty vague. He said the three Chosen carry children who will reignite the flame in his lost temple. So, uh, yeah. You’re kind of pregnant, dude.”

Jackson doesn’t react the way I’m expecting. There’s no freakout, no near meltdown. The complete opposite of what happened when I realized that bump in my stomach wasn’t from the chicken nuggets I’d eaten the night before.

“Let me guess,” he says. “One of those is gonna pop out of me.” He points at my egg sling and then nods grimly to himself, looking like a man who has just been told to sacrifice himself to save the world.

“I figured out the pregnant thing a while ago,” he admits. “Didn’t want to believe it, but I knew. My stomach grew fast. I thought I was having some kind of nightmare. Maybe I was part of a government experiment. Hallucinogenic chemicals. A waking dream. But everything in the world was just too real. I surveilled the town and saw other pregnant men, some carrying babies, and then the beast people looking like a damn furry convention. So I thought, ‘aliens’? Did I get abducted and implanted?”

“You’re taking this a lot better than I did,” I tell him. “And I have to say, it’s a fucking miracle you made it this far on your own.”

“I’m a resilient man. I’ve never been one to lay down and just take it in the ass.”

“You’re a fighter, then?” Airos asks with a snort.

“Absolutely. I told myself I was never going to give up. I would stay alive until rescue came or until I could figure out how to get back home.” He turns back to me. “I just gotta know… how is that thing gonna come out of me? Front or rear?”

“Rear,” I say.

“Definitely the better of the two options. Thank God for that. What’d it feel like?”

“Like a giant egg coming out of your asshole. What else do you think it felt like?”

I’m irritated at the apparent nonchalantness to this. It’s not that I want him to be freaking out. I just feel like he isn’t taking this seriously.

I mean, I get it. Even after everything that’s happened, I’m still wrapping my head around this reality. But he doesn’t know what I’ve seen. He’s been here in the woods, contributing to the local black market with his stolen goods. He’s somehow been thriving on his own.

“Christ. At least I have, like, seven months. Is that how it works?”

I shake my head. “Not for me. I gave birth just a few days ago.”

“Are you serious? Wait, seriously? Hey.”

“Yeah. I’m serious. I’m wondering why it didn’t happen yet for you if we were brought here at the same time. I had a two-month delay where I was sent back to Earth, so if anything, I would think you would’ve already dropped that egg. Right, Airos?”

“It is puzzling, indeed,” Airos agrees.

“How’d you get back to Earth?” Jackson asks.

“Umbrios opened some kind of portal,” Airos says. “Perhaps it was the same way he banished Lord Aethereos.”

“So… you’re saying this evil god guy can just send people to other realms willy-nilly? What’s stopping him from doing it again?”

No one says anything. We’ve all wondered the same thing.

Where was Umbrios? How much access to us did he have? He’d once entered my mind and nearly sent me off the side of a building. Could he do it again?

“I think he’s trying to, but he can’t,” I say. “It’s why he sent Praxis and all the rest after us. His reach is limited right now. I don’t know how, but maybe he’s been weakened since he sent us back to Earth.”

“Or, like your babies, his powers have not yet come to full term,” Airos says.

“Please don’t say ‘full term,’ it makes me wanna barf,” Jackson mutters.

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