Midnight Cove
The Portical

Deciding to shift focus onto a new and less conflicted question than the one I was currently thinking, I asked, “Well, my second question has to be how did you know I needed rescuing? How did you save me?”

Answering my questions with yet another question Phoenix then asked, “What did my brother tell you of Dark Faeries? Tell me, what do you know?”

“Not much,” I confessed. “Cove said that Dark Faeries were selfish tricksters that used humans for their own selfish entertainment.”

“Oh, really? That is all he said? He didn’t say anything about our capabilities, or our duties?”

“No,” I said. “Oh wait! He did say that while Fate Faeries dealt the most closely with humans, Dark Faeries only had contact with people after they died. You deal with spirits, which is what the Underworld is, isn’t it?” I was excited to finally learn something about the other realms of the faeries.

“Yes, the Underworld is where spirits go once they pass away from this plane of existence. Good," he nodded in approval, "What else?”

I tried to think back to the first morning Cove woke up in my apartment. “He had said that the Dark Faeries were called Daemons or Siths sometimes, and that they can change shapes. But only to certain animals,” I said recalling our conversation in my kitchen.

“Exactly," he said looking triumphant without adding anything more. For the first time ever he waited patiently, his face expectant as I tried to piece together what he was trying to tell me.

“You said you rescued me, but there wasn’t anyone on the beach. You couldn’t have been there it was impossible. It was too dark. The only way you could have seen me was if you were already down there. And, the only place you could have been if you were down there was in the water. But that's crazy!” I looked at him incredulously. To be in that water would have been insane. “You said I hit you with a rock twice today? I didn’t. The only other thing I hit with a rock was,” I paused in realization. “You were the seal. You were, weren’t you? Remarkable,” I couldn’t help but feel in awe of his powers.

“Very good, Bonnie. You weren’t kidding about being more than a pretty face, you are quite sharp.” Phoenix sat back leaning against the rock wall for support, a satisfied smile plastered on his face.

“Well, now that that’s settled. What are we supposed to do? I mean how are we going to get out of here? And where exactly did you take me?” I felt relief now, knowing who I was with and how I got here, not to mention some very juicy details about Cove that we were definitely going to discuss once I got back home.

“That’s it then, huh? You don’t have any more questions? You don’t want to know why Cove hates being a Dark Faery, or why he ran away from the Underworld?” Phoenix’s eyebrows raised in mock astonishment.

The uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach started to churn. I knew I shouldn’t ask anymore questions, I was going to regret it. As the old saying goes, 'Curiosity killed the cat' well, that was me. I just didn’t know how badly I was going to regret hearing the answer to my next question.

“Okay, Phoenix. You’ve got me. Why didn’t Cove want to be a Dark Faery anymore?” I tried to be casual about it, but I don’t think he was buying it.

Phoenix just smiled. His usual beautiful, impish grin. He was relishing how thoroughly he was about to destroy my naive view of things. He had spun a beautiful web with his words and now I was about to become prey to the way of things. He looked at me gleefully, “His wife, Bonnie. He left the Underworld because of his wife.”

That was when my heart broke. If it could have made a noise it probably would have sounded like a small puppy getting run over by a pickup truck. I just sat there. No noise, no audible sobs, just an unending supply of tears rolling silently down my face. I felt a shadow pass over my heart. My whole world became darkness. I was nothing.

“Bonnie, please don’t think I am smiling at your misfortune. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I am quite abhorred by the whole scandal. In all honesty, I am quite fascinated by you. You are quite right, you are much more than just a distraction. You are intelligent and a total spitfire. I like that about you. Don’t give up on yourself so easily. Yes, I know my brother is a bastard. He used this whole predicament to make himself feel better, but I am sure that wasn’t his sole intention.” Phoenix was trying to comfort me, but the pain in my chest was all too real.

I got up and paced around the room, my sore muscles long forgotten. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me so I just ended up making circles. Around and around I walked, my arms crossed tightly over my torso. I, too, wanted to comfort myself, but I was lost.

I rocked back and forth as I walked and rubbed my hands up and down my arms. Nothing worked. I couldn’t get away from the ache in my chest. I wanted to scream and yet, I couldn’t say a word. One little noise would be the end of me. It would've meant I had accepted the fact that I was not and had never been Cove’s love. I couldn’t face that yet, I wasn’t ready.

I wished more than anything I could think of a way to fight the information that Phoenix had told me. There was no way of fighting it though, the truth was, there was another woman and not just any woman. He had a wife, a woman who he loved more than me. They had built a life together and he ran away from it. He had abandoned her to go gallivanting with humans.

I shook my head trying to shake away all the hatred and contempt that was building up inside. I couldn’t escape it any longer. I stopped in my tracks and a sob unlike any I had ever had before broke through my lips. It was the sound of total and complete loss. There in front of me stood Phoenix in all his beauty. His face was as one looking upon a broken child, pity flowing freely from him. He held out his arms and I collapsed into his embrace.

It was wrong for me to replace solace with Phoenix, but he had saved me and I could feel nothing for him but pure and utter gratitude. He saved me from the raging ocean, and he had saved me from the betrayal of his brother. His agenda had been to keep my heartache minimal, but I don’t think he realized how in love with Cove I truly was, and how completely broken I had now become.

I cried in his arms for awhile. I allowed Phoenix to be my strength, releasing some of my pain as he cradled me against his chest. I didn’t know what I was going to do next, but I knew that there was no hiding from the truth, Cove was a cheater, a liar and a married man. There was no point in continuing to cry over him. I looked up grateful as ever into the beautiful dark eyes of my savior and before I knew what I was doing I found my lips pressed against his.

I pulled away ashamed of myself for acting so hastily. “I’m sorry," I stammered out an apology, "I, I don’t know what I was thinking."

Phoenix smiled gently. “That’s perfectly alright, Bonnie.” His voice was soft, a sweet murmur.

I stepped back and turned away. Normally, I would have blushed but I was such a blend of emotions at that exact moment I didn’t know how to react, neither did my body. All I knew for certain was that I wanted to get out of that dank, dark cave. I wished I, too had wings. I would have flown away from everyone and everything.

“Take me home, Phoenix, I don’t want to be here anymore.” I was overwrought with emotion and I only wanted to leave.

“Okay, Bonnie, sure thing.” Phoenix came close to me then and encircled my waist with his strong arms, pulling me just a little too tightly. I didn’t care though, the slight amount of physical discomfort seemed befitting to the emotional pain I was suffering. I bowed my head against his chest in resignation. I was beginning to feel tired, too tired to lift my head, too tired to care anymore.

I could feel the slight shimmer fall around me, I knew what that meant. Phoenix was using his faery magick to transport us. Well, I didn’t suppose that there would be an easier way to get out of that cave. When I lifted my head to look around, I realized that I was no where I had ever been before.

I was standing on a wooden walkway bordering a canal under a starlit sky. The soft glow of lanterns illuminated the night creating an ambiance as romantic as candlelight. The lights reflected off the eerie blue waters of the canal revealing the pastel colored lotus blossoms floating atop the river like a blanket. Out of the waters rose giant ancient trees, they looked older than time itself. The wooden walkway on which we were standing was secured to the tops of the gnarly tree roots jutting out from the underneath the calm waterways.

Everywhere I looked there were shops and staircases leading up and into the trees. Over head and all around, beautiful people with black angel wings were walking, the soft murmur of musical voices echoed around me. Faery folk of miniature sizes whizzed by at lightning speed, while others sat in gondolas as they were poled down the gleaming night waters.

Everything looked out of place and out of time. I spun around absorbing as much beauty as I possibly could. If I could have stepped into a Renaissance painting it would have felt very similar. The beautiful environment was all so overwhelming that for a moment I forgot to question where I was. I was too enamored by my enchanting surroundings.

“Do you like it?” Phoenix spoke softly in my ear, reminding me he was there.

“Where are we?” I was awestruck. My voice was filled with a wonderment that could have dwarfed that of any child. I couldn’t stop turning in circles, staring at the comings and goings of all the Faery folk.

Opening his arms wide in grand gesture, “This, Bonnie, is the Portical. We call it that because it is both the harbor for the boats that ferry the human souls to the next world and the marketplace for all of our kind. It is basically the hub for all business and the last port of call for mortals.” He paused for a moment his eyes sweeping over the scene. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” The admiration in his voice was clearly evident.

“Yes,” I had to agree. I had never imagined such a wondrous place. “So, this is…” I trailed off distracted again by the majestic beauty of the Portical.

“The Underworld? Yes,” Phoenix smiled. He obviously loved his faery realm. “You said to take you home, but you didn’t specify who’s home. So, I figured I would take you to mine. Welcome, Bonnie Woods, to my kingdom.”