Code name phoenix the in.., p.1
Code Name: Phoenix (The Infinitum Series Book 5), page 1
Copyright © 2023 by Laura Mowery
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher or author. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or localities is entirely coincidental.
ASIN B0BR1LG6RB
Cover Models: Marcel Pospiech and Jenna Ashley
Cover photography by CJC Photography www.cjc-photography.com
Cover design by Kiwi Cover Design www.kiwicoverdesign.com
A Note from the Author
Dear reader,
Thank you for purchasing Code Name: Phoenix. Book 5 of The Infinitum Series is not designed to be read as a standalone. There are many events and references that will be confusing if you haven't read the previous books, so I encourage you to start from the beginning. If you'd like to reacquaint yourself with the characters, check out the Infinitum Series Book Recaps on my website. The password is: devildogs
This book contains scenes that may be disturbing to some readers. There is a complete list of content warnings on my website: www.lauramowery.com. I take mental health seriously. Please check the list if you find darker elements triggering.
Thank you and enjoy,
Laura Mowery
Contents
Raven
Part 1
1. Skye
2. Jordy
3. Skye
4. Jordy
5. Skye
6. Jordy
7. Skye
8. Jordy
9. Skye
10. Jordy
11. Skye
12. Jordy
13. Skye
14. Jordy
15. Skye
16. Jordy
17. Skye
18. Jordy
19. Skye
20. Jordy
21. Skye
22. Jordy
23. Skye
24. Skye
25. Jordy
26. Skye
27. Jordy
Part 2
28. Jordy
29. Skye
30. Jordy
31. Skye
32. Raven
33. Elijah
34. Raven
35. Elijah
36. Skye
37. Jordy
38. Skye
39. Skye
40. Jordy
41. Skye
42. Skye
43. Jordy
44. Skye
45. Jordy
46. Skye
47. Raven
48. Skye
49. Raven
50. Jordy
51. Skye
52. Jordy
53. Skye
54. Jordy
Epilogue
Also By Laura Mowery
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Raven
September 2021
Life was simpler when I didn’t have the fate of the world resting on my shoulders. One simple decision in my early twenties set me on a collision course with a deadly organization that kills with impunity and tortures without remorse. One choice, one second in time, and everything changed. In the rare quiet moments, I ponder what my life would be like if I’d chosen a different path, but it’s a fool’s dream.
“Focus,” Charlie says, pulling me from my musings. He sits cross-legged in front of Liv. She mirrors his position, her hands resting on her knees, eyes closed.
“What do you see?” he asks.
The monitor shows a small uptick in her heart rate. “I don’t know.”
“Focus on a single minor detail. Something insignificant.”
“There’s a courtyard.”
“What’s the ground made of?”
“There’s a stone path through the grass, surrounded by leafy bushes and tropical flowers.”
“What do you smell?”
“Salt. The ocean.”
“Can you hear the waves?”
“Yes, but they’re distant.”
I lean forward, eager for more. This is a breakthrough. She’s formulating complete images. We’ve been working on this secret project since the first bunker, and her progress has accelerated ever since she took the super serum last month. If we’re successful, Liv will be able to find other super soldiers the moment they’re activated, no matter their location.
Her eyelids flutter and her heart rate increases, her breathing labored.
“Keep going,” I say through Charlie’s communication implant. He frowns in my direction behind the two-way mirror.
Liv’s fiancé, Luke, grows tense next to me.
“Is it night or day?” Charlie asks.
“Night, but the moon is bright.”
“Are you alone?”
She gasps, her body tensing. “Something’s wrong.”
“Step away.”
“There’s fire and…pain. So much pain.”
Tears flit down her cheeks. “Oh God, it hurts.”
“Step away.”
Liv gasps for breath, her face in a grimace.
“Step away, Liv. Now.” Charlie puts his hands over hers.
Liv tilts her head back and lets out a devastating scream. Charlie flies across the room, slamming into the wall. Luke pushes me aside and charges at the door.
With a curse, I slam my fist on the red button on the panel, sending a disruptive electric pulse throughout the controlled space. Liv gasps and collapses. Luke slides to his knees to catch her. Charlie rushes to her side, putting his hand on her forehead.
“You’re pushing her too hard,” Luke growls at me.
Liv’s bleary eyes take him in, then focus on me. “It’s Skye,” she whispers, and my stomach constricts. I run to the computer, typing a shortcut that brings up the security feed on the island where Skye is hiding with her bodyguards, Jordy and Mark.
My knees almost buckle when all I find are flames and smoke. I bolt from the room, barking a command into my implant. “Falcon. Garage. Now.”
Garrett is already there when I stride in and I grip his shoulder. “Take me to the island.”
Specter rushes in and grabs onto Garrett just as he teleports us. We appear on the beach and I stare in utter disbelief at the ruined cottage smoldering in the night air. I race to the courtyard at the front of the house, Garrett and Specter speeding ahead.
I sink to my knees once I reach the edge of the still-burning bushes. Smoldering ash fills the circular courtyard. The center is the only empty space, but it’s coated in blood.
“Jordy!” Garrett calls from nearby, dodging out of the way of a burning beam that snaps and crackles before it falls to the ground.
There’s no answer. I stare into the ash, an appropriate metaphor for my failure. The smoke irritates my lungs and I cough. It was my job to keep her safe from all of this. How could I have failed so spectacularly? I was so fucking careful.
“Raven!” Specter yells and I sprint to his side.
Mark lies on his back, unconscious. Blood oozes from bullet wounds in his gut and chest. Specter checks for a pulse and presses his lips together. He shakes his head and Garrett stares at his dead friend.
I send my power into Mark, letting it flow through every vein and artery. It slows as it reaches the damage, then it stops and waits. A second passes, then two. And then–thump bump. A pulse. It’s the last weak beat of his heart, but I have to try. My power surges into the damage, binding and repairing, pulling together, but it falters. I slam my palms over both wounds, putting everything I have into this. I grunt as Mark’s life energy takes over, draining my power like a man stranded in the desert.
Specter shouts for me. Garrett curses. I’m on my back, gasping for breath, streams of sweat creating rivers in the ash coating my face.
Garrett helps me sit up, and I find Mark leaning against Specter. They both stare at me.
Specter’s gaze narrows. “Son of a bitch.”
Chapter 1
Skye
Nine years earlier... summer 2012
Raindrops slide down the window of the limo. They say it never rains in Los Angeles, but that’s a lie. A rare summer storm has blown through, bringing lightning, flooding, and panicked drivers all across the County.
My dad would always laugh at the crazies that didn’t know how to act when aggressive water fell from the sky, but he won’t be laughing today.
“Are you sure you don’t want to say anything?” my brother Luke asks from next to me. He’s wearing his Marine Corps dress blues, just like the other three active-duty Marines seated nearby. My black lace dress seems out of place, like nobody sent me the memo that I was supposed to wear dark blue. Jackson and Brando, my brother’s best friends, watch with concern. His former Sergeant, Mark, dressed in a black suit on the other end of the limo, offers an encouraging smile.
Brody, my brother’s best friend from high school—who might as well be my blood brother—sits on my other side. Luke was halfway around the world when the cops showed up at my door a few weeks ago to tell me my dad was killed in a horrific car crash on the coast. Brody was the first person I called.
Jordy sits with his hands clasped, minding his own business. We met briefly last year before they left for deployment. With one look, he obliterated my fragile teenage heart. When the pieces pulled back together, his name was emblazoned across it in blinking neon letters. My massive crush aside, he’s the only one who doesn’t fuss over me, so I like him the most today.
“I’m sure. Please stop asking me.”
Luke sighs, and the limo falls silent again. I continue my observation of the rain patterns. Jordy moves in my periphery, and I meet his gorgeous gray-blue eyes. They’re subdued today. I suppose that’s appropriate. He’s still the most beautiful man I’ve ever met. Jordy is quiet, thoughtful. He says so much without a single word passing his lips. Right now, he offers me support, and I accept it with a small smile.
We arrive at the auditorium for Dad’s public memorial service. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to face the fact that I’m an orphan at age fifteen. Luke took a shot of whiskey with the guys before we climbed into the limo, and I’m bitter that I’m not allowed that comfort. Luke has his brothers. I have no one.
Rationally, I know that’s not true. But, Dad was my best friend. He’s the one who told me to stay in high school all four years instead of graduating early. I inherited his genius IQ, so even though school is boring for me sometimes, he convinced me I only had a few years to be a kid and make dumb choices before I have to face the real world.
He’s the one who told me to keep drawing; to cultivate my artistic side even though I’m a whiz at computers, just like him. He taught me the importance of balance and to not take life too seriously.
And now he’s gone forever.
I'll never get to see the pride on his face as I become co-CEO of Reilly Tech alongside my cousin, Emilia. He’ll never walk me down the aisle on my wedding day. When I need advice about my finances or raising kids, he won’t be there. I’ll never get one of his comforting hugs ever again.
The limo arrives at the curb near the back entrance and we step out. The guys don their fancy white hats and Jordy holds an umbrella out for me, protecting me from the aggressive rain at his own expense as Brody wraps his arm around my shoulders and we make our way inside.
A few officers from Maddox Security, including the owner himself, Jim Maddox, greet us with hugs. He was my dad's personal bodyguard for almost two decades before Dad helped him start his own company in New York a few years ago. Dad never replaced him, just hired officers on the fly whenever he thought it was necessary.
I squeeze him tight, fighting back my endless tears. We make our way inside and sit up front. A large picture of Dad, smiling in a ball cap and t-shirt at the beach last year, sits on an easel next to a pedestal with his urn.
Flowers line the stage and the pile grows as more and more people approach to pay their respects. Strangers fill the auditorium and their murmurs quiet as we enter. Dad’s will stated he wanted a public memorial, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. It makes sense, considering how many people’s lives he touched with his generosity and kindness. Some people openly sob, clutching at their chests. Sympathetic gazes meet mine and I stare at my hands in my lap, unable to process my feelings in this massive room full of strangers.
Edgar Hamilton, my dad’s right-hand man at Reilly Tech, takes the stage first, but I tune out his words, watching the slideshow in the corner flip through pictures of my childhood.
Emilia goes next, then Luke stands, leaving me alone. Jordy presses his knee against mine and I take a deep breath. I stare at Dad’s picture as Luke speaks. How he’s able to get the words out, I’ll never know, but he ignores the tears streaking down his face and makes it through.
Jackson waits to the side until Luke invites him forward. He carries an acoustic guitar and steps in front of a microphone. Someone joins him with a banjo and he strums the guitar as his beautiful, soothing voice croons Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah with a slight southern drawl.
Mom and Dad would hum the song to us as babies. My mom even belted out the words on occasion. Luke returns to his seat and holds my hand. I close my eyes, letting the memories wash over me. The ghost of Mom’s voice joins with Jackson’s, and I know my dad watches on with pure joy. My face floods with tears.
When the song ends, Jordy hands me a handkerchief, and I blot my face. Someone says something and people stand from their seats. It must be over.
Without a word, Jordy takes my elbow with a gentle touch and guides me back the way we came. Mark follows us and we climb into the limo. Neither of them speaks and I appreciate the silence. The rain has stopped and the sun fights to break through the clouds.
I’m not sure how much time passes, but eventually Luke and the guys join us. We pull onto the street in silence. Luke fiddles with his hat and Jackson lays his head on his shoulder. Luke sets his head on top of Jackson’s and they sit like that until we arrive at the cemetery. It would be absurd if it wasn’t so sweet.
Only close friends and family members are allowed at the burial, but a horde of media and fans line the gate to the cemetery.
The gates open for us and our small caravan takes the gravel path towards where they’ll lay Dad to rest. We make our way to the hole in the ground prepared for him. Mom’s name is scrawled in elegant script across the left half of the headstone. She was killed in a robbery gone bad when I was five. I remember fleeting things about her, like her smile that made me feel warm and loved, and her obsession with birds. I should be happy that they’re together again, but there’s no room for happiness today.
The Reilly Tech motto, Partum Novus Via, sits near the top. It means ‘forge a new path.' Dad was a big proponent of breaking free from the status quo. He was always searching for new ways of doing things and finding new paths to success. Yet in the end, he took the same path we all will someday.
The small crowd gathers, and I squeeze Luke’s hand as they lower Dad’s urn into the ground. I still can’t believe this is happening. I’m still waiting to wake up from the nightmare.
Luke squeezes my hand back, and we’re invited to toss a handful of dirt or a flower into the grave. Luke lets go of my hand and the world closes in on me. I struggle for breath, trying to not fall apart in front of everyone. Jordy’s warm hand slides into mine and I hold on, my body trembling as I suck in a deep breath. When it’s my turn, everyone waits for me to move, to do something, but I can’t tear my eyes away from the grave.
Luke rubs my shoulder, but still I stare. Jordy squeezes my hand and I move, grabbing the dirt and letting it sift through my fingers. It hits with a soft thud and I wince at the sound. I return to my spot and take Jordy’s hand again. The damp earth slides between our palms, but he doesn’t seem to care.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” the preacher says, and everyone bows their heads as he continues the prayer. I look up at Jordy and he meets my gaze. Gratitude fills me. The feeling is so different and new from the pain I’ve felt the past few weeks. I grab onto it and twine our fingers together.
“Thank you,” I mouth and he nods, rubbing my thumb.
Brando grips his shoulder and Jordy squeezes my hand before we part. He follows Brando and Jackson to the waiting limos. I ache to follow him, but Emilia gets my attention and I’m forced to accept condolences from my dad's friends, hating every second.
Chapter 2
Jordy
The ride to Luke’s house from the cemetery is quiet. The hurt our brother tries to hide weighs heavily on the usually chatty, boisterous group. But he can’t hide it from us. Luke has been there for me when I’ve needed someone to confide in. He’s talked me through some of the darkest times of my life, proving that he’s more than just my sergeant. He even saved my life near the beginning of this last deployment. I owe him everything, and I’ll do whatever it takes to ease his pain.
His sister, Skye, doesn’t hide hers. Sadness permeates the air around her like a thick cloud. It's a painful reminder of my past.
I was her age when my dad died six years ago. He was the only person who ever understood me. I could talk to him about anything. When he passed, I never felt so lost and alone, even though I was surrounded by my family.
