Midnight Cove

When Phoenix finally tired of playing he got up from the piano bench and closed the cover over the keys. He walked to the door holding it open for me, waiting. I rose from my spot on the bench and walked back into the room of books. I was a little sad to leave but I could tell that the piano room was Phoenix’s private space and my time visiting there was now over.

As we crossed the expansive room toward the archway that would lead us back into the sitting room I asked, “What room is this?”

“This is my private study,” Phoenix said.

“Wow,” I said swiveling my head around to take another look at the many books that lined the walls. “I thought it was like the castle library or something.” I was thoroughly impressed. This many books meant that Phoenix was obviously well read and very smart. It was definitely a turn on. I hated dumb jock type of guys. Intelligent men were so sexy.

Phoenix just smiled answering, “No, the Dark Palace does have a library, but this isn’t it. It would dwarf mine easily. I don’t really go there anyhow, unless I’m researching something highly elusive or uncommon.” He then chuckled a deep sexy laugh and I had to smile at the sound.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“I was just thinking about how many human scholars would give their right arm to just look at some of the books resting on those shelves. You know, we even have some of the scrolls from the fall of Alexandria. We tried to save as many as possible. I’m sure there are some hidden in other places as well.”

Phoenix looked a little sad as he recalled the burning of that ancient pagan library. I couldn’t guess at how old he was, I didn’t even want to know. The fact that he could remember that far was honestly, a little frightening.

“The Dark Palace?” I wanted to change the topic back to the present and avoid anymore reminiscing of a millennia long since forgotten.

“Yes,” he said, “that is what we call this place. I find it most befitting, don’t you?” He looked over at me raising his eyebrows, curious to see if I approved.

“Yes,” I agreed. “It does have a ring to it.” I smiled up into his charming boyish face. He smiled back, his dimples cutting deep into his bronze skin.

I slipped my hand into his then interlacing our fingers. Phoenix stopped walking. We were again in sitting room, on our left stood the large glass french doors leading to the balcony.

“I’m sorry.” I said embarrassed by my boldness.

I probably looked like some sort of harlot to him; kissing him in the cave and flirting on the balcony earlier, and now just grabbing his hand without warning. All of this in one day after finding out that his brother, whom I had professed my undying love to, was cheating on me. I was starting to feel fickle, when nothing could be farther from the truth. I had always guarded my heart as though it was my most precious possession.

“No, don’t revert, Bonnie,” Phoenix’s voice was soft and pleading. He held tight to my fingers and wouldn’t let them escape. “This feels good. You know it does.”

Though his tone was still delicate it took on an urgency that could only be desire. He wanted me, I could see it then, but I wasn’t ready for that. I wanted to take it slowly, I wasn’t just going to let my heart get trampled again by these gorgeous fairytale men.

“You’re right,” I said, “it does.” I gave his hand a squeeze and he relaxed. Then I quickly pulled my hand out his. “But I’m not going to make it that easy. I’ll be honest Phoenix, I am in danger of having feelings for you. I don’t want to, I keep trying to fight it, but you’re making it hard for me to resist. I promise you though, I am going to try. After what you told me about Cove, after everything you’ve shown me, proving the web of lies he spun, I am not ready for feelings. I am not ready for any of this.” I lightly shook my head, still disbelieving the crazy situations I kept putting myself in.

Phoenix opened his mouth to argue, but then thought better of it. He hung his head in dejection. Resigned to my decision, he didn’t look at me, his perfect posture slightly slumped. Then, his head slowly rose and he took my hand placing it between both of his. He looked at me, his eyes serious with deep emotion.

“I will keep trying, Bonnie. I am not my brother and somewhere inside, you know that’s true. We don’t need to be told the truth about things, if something is true then eventually, we will find it.” He raised the back of my hand to his lips and placed a chaste kiss there. “But, if you need more time, that is fine. It is perfectly understandable.” He smiled at me, “I have as much time as you need.” I smiled at that thought. That was true. He could wait forever if I asked him to; if only I could last that long.

“Would you like to go for a walk? We could explore the palace some more,” his adventurous nature matched my own.

“Really? Oh, Phoenix, I’d love to!” I couldn’t keep the excitement from my voice. Phoenix’s face lit up, he was as eager to show me the Dark Palace as I was to see it.

“Come with me,” he said offering up his arm. I thought about what it meant for about half a millisecond before smiling and laying my hand on the nook of his elbow, allowing him to escort me out of our suite.

Phoenix led me down a colonnade that bridged the gap between one part of the palace to another. Slowly, we ambled under the black stone arches. Phoenix had let his arm drop to his side but still, I held onto him. I could see the snowy peaks of the mountains looming in the background. They were the only things higher and taller than the Dark Palace. They looked just as beautiful and just as fierce.

“Everything here is so beautiful even though it’s dark. I wonder what it looks like in the morning.” The soft lanterns from the shops and homes far below looked like twinkling stars from where we were.

“Well, you’re going to have to keep wondering. The sun does not rise here.” He didn’t sound sad, he sounded matter-of-factly about it.

I was shocked. “What? Why not?”

“Because, this is the Underground Realm. It’s not upsetting Bonnie, it’s just the way it is.” He shrugged indifferent to the whole thing. “We’re Faeries, we can leave this realm to visit the sunshine if we wanted to. Most don’t, but everyone can. Most of my subjects prefer to stay here. It is beautiful, as you said, and we don’t get sick and die so it isn’t like we’re going to get vitamin D deficiencies.” He smiled his playful, cocky grin at me. He was definitely smart, at the very least a 'smart ass.' I smiled back encouraged by his lighthearted response.

He was right. In fact, most of the faeries looked like they hung out on the beach. Their skin was variety of colors, some as fair and beige as mine others more tanned, and some even shaded to a rich dark umber. But none of the other faeries I had seen looked anything like Cove. His beautiful ivory skin would have stood out here more than it did in my realm.

“Phoenix, can I ask you something?” I didn’t really wait for him to answer. He just looked at me and I decided that was a good enough to go ahead. “How come you are so tan and you live underground and your brother is so light and he lives in my realm with sunshine?” This didn’t make sense to me really. It should have been the other way around.

“Fate Faeries tend to be lighter because of what they have to do. It isn’t about sunbathing. We carry our light around with us. It is similar to enlightenment. The glow comes from within. That does not always mean that the darker you are the happier you are, but it usually works that way. We do have the threat of our light going out completely. Still, most Fate Faeries are sightly darker than my brother. It takes it’s toll on you. It is a ghastly business to take away another’s life. Destroying a human’s heart isn’t my idea of fun, although the bloodletting is a perk. Humans taste good, but not that good.” Phoenix shook his head. I could see that he disapproved of his brother’s choice to become part of the Fates.

“Well, I remember Cove telling me that what he did wasn’t as bad as what Dark Faeries do. Why would he choose to kill people, just because of his wife? What do you do that he thinks is so terrible? And what about that blood letting? What does that mean? Is he eating people?”

Phoenix laughed, "No. He isn't eating people. I already told you, we aren't vampires or zombies. Although, we are most likely where those fables originate from." He shook his head in disbelief at my childish questioning. "It's just a perk. There are many ways to destroy a human. It's easy. That's why they are called 'Mortals' because they die. A car crash, a heart attack, one wrong step off the sidewalk and that's the end." He shrugged, it was more than matter-of-fact in the way he spoke, it was the way of things, like the sun rises and the Earth turns. Humans die and the Faeries help keep life in order. Each person finding their own destiny.

I thought of my crash on my bike. I thought about how close I was to my own destiny. I remembered how I ended up in the nurse's office that morning so dazed. I had fuzzy memories of suddenly appearing outside the nurse's door. Had Cove taken me? Had he been watching?

All this talking and thinking about Cove had me feeling like my stomach was doing somersaults. My chest tightened, I knew that there was something there, a reason, a secret maybe. It seemed like Phoenix was taking forever to answer my other questions, but I knew I was just being impatient.

“Yes, my brother has chosen the lot of being a Fate because of his wife. And, he isn’t in good shape. He’s not taking care of himself like he’s supposed to. He needs to make periodic trips back to the Faery Realms, but he hasn’t. It was obvious the first time I saw you. He’s as pale as a ghost. His immortality is in jeopardy.” His concern over his brother was well established in his voice. No matter how much they may disagree with one another, they were brothers and that love was deep.

The thought of Cove being in jeopardy incited a few rogue tears to roll down my cheeks. “Why would he be in danger? Because he’s pale? Is he sick? Is his light going out?” I was becoming worried. I had hated him a few minutes ago, but that didn’t mean I wanted him hurt. My heart ached at the realization that I still loved him.