Heart of the Phoenix

by A. C. Arthur

  Thaddeus took a deep breath. He didn’t really want to go back to that but he knew Tayla would want all the answers. She could never leave well enough alone. “I thought we would turn in for the night.”

  “I’ll help you undress,” Tayla told him as she stood in front of him, reaching for the hem of his shirt. She pulled it over his head, revealing that excellent chest. Unable to resist, she dragged her palms lightly over the muscled structure, stopping only when she felt the faint bruising from where Lorraine had squeezed him. It appeared to be healing. But that was impossible; it had only happened yesterday and her arm still hurt like hell.

  Sensing her dilemma and realizing he wasn’t going to get out of answering at least a few of her questions, Thaddeus sighed and pulled her hand away. “We heal a lot faster than mortals.”

  Gently she pushed him back on the bed and began to unbuckle his pants. “So, I know what you are,” she began as her hands deftly did away with the garments from his waist down. “But what the hell was Lorraine? I’ve got to tell you, never in a million years would I have ever suspected she was something more than human. I mean, she was evil and controlling but I would never have ventured to say she was…was…”

  “Mythical? Unearthly? Are those the words you’re looking for?” Thaddeus folded his arms behind his head. He was naked, the coolness of the room blanketing his body. He shifted until he was propped against the pillows and Tayla had pulled the covers down for him. She covered his body and sat clad only in her nightgown on top of the blankets beside him.

  “Yes, I guess so. I mean, what do we call your class of civilization? I’m an American, but you are…”

  “We are Greeks, ancient Greeks, not like the ones you may know today. We have existed for thousands and thousands of years as you mortals prayed for someone to watch over you. Now it appears you have outgrown that need, since you rarely listen to anything that is told to you.”

  “But you are nothing like Lorraine or what she turned into.”

  “No. That is the way of things. Heroes and monsters both are born of the gods. Good and evil alike are spawned from the same seed. Good is the divine power that expresses itself through high deeds of men and evil is the same energy, only twisted. Lorraine, or Cethia, as I know her, was evil through and through. She’d harbored a grudge, not against you personally, but against women that were like you, for hundreds and hundreds of years.”

  Tayla sat up instantly. “Women like me? What is that exactly?”

  Thaddeus threaded his fingers through her hair, let the softness soothe him. “Beautiful women with whom men could not help but fall in love,” he whispered.

  “Basically she was jealous?” She loved the feel of his fingers at her scalp but tried not to lose herself in that feeling.

  “Jealousy is an evil thing, especially when it festers. Cethia was the daughter of Medusa. Their clan members are known for their jealousy and vindictiveness and have vowed to spend all their years seeking revenge one way or another. That is simply the way things are.”

  “So your entire country is filled with descendents of the gods with great mythical powers. Are there many of you who walk with humans?”

  “Yes. My life’s work has been to help anyone in need of rejuvenation, a new life so to speak. Each of us is given three assignments at birth.” His eyes pierced hers then. “You are my last. My greatest project.”

  Tayla looked away, unable to stand his intense stare. It was there between them, a subject that neither one of them wanted to broach. “Was that all I was to you? A project?”

  Thaddeus sat up slowly, cupping her chin in his hand, turning her to face him. “You were always so much more. Even before I actually met you I felt that you were more.” He kissed her then, slowly and softly, tugging on her tongue as well as her heart.

  Tayla sighed and leaned into the kiss. He’d been so much more to her too, from the moment he’d walked into her office. “There is no way we can be together, is there?” she asked in a shaky voice.

  Thaddeus took a deep breath and told her the one thing he wasn’t sure of. “I am half my father, who is immortal. I am also half my mother, whose destiny it was to take her own life that another of her kind might be reborn of her ashes.” He let his forehead drop to hers, closed his eyes as his hands slipped under the hem of her gown, lifting it slowly up her legs. “I do not know what will happen beyond my immediate fate.”

  But there was hope—a very small glimmer of hope that Tayla vowed to hold on to.

  He was moving too slowly so she took her own gown off. She slipped beneath the covers with him and straddled him. “Let me love you tonight, Thaddeus.”

  Thaddeus smiled, lifted one of her hands to his lips and kissed her fingers. “I would be honored, my love.”

  Then she moved over him, until he was planted deep inside her. She closed her eyes and reveled in the connection that could only be described as mystical and magical and full of sensations that mirrored nothing she’d ever experienced before.

  And as she began to move over him, she promised to never let him go. She would always be his and he hers, until the end of all time.

  Chapter 13

  Dawn had barely broken when Tayla awoke with a start. She sat straight up in the bed, her room still dark. With a hand to her chest, she tried to still her rapidly beating heart.

  She hadn’t had a nightmare. No, to the contrary, she’d slept soundly wrapped in Thaddeus’ arms after they’d made love. She sighed with the memory, and then stretched her legs across the bed, only to feel nothing there. She slid her arms over the sheets toward the spot where Thaddeus had lain.

  It was empty.

  She tossed back the covers and reached for the lamp. Bright light burned her eyes, but she quickly focused and saw that, indeed, her bed was empty. She started toward the door, then stopped herself. He wasn’t out there either. She sensed it.

  He was gone. He’d left her, because it was his destiny.

  Going back to her bed, she sat on the edge willing the tears not to come. She had known the time was near, had seen it in his eyes, felt it in his touch last night. He’d told her there was no stopping it. Yet the pain was indescribable, the loss so severe she threatened to succumb to its intensity.

  Then she heard footsteps outside her door and a tiny knock. “Ms. Hampton?”

  Tayla hurried to wipe her eyes. Who would be in her cottage knocking on her door at this time of morning? Gathering her composure she answered the door. “Good morning.” She tried to sound as normal as possible.

  “We came over early for breakfast but Mr. D told us not to wake you.”

  Tayla had grabbed her robe from the back of her door and was now slipping it on. “Mr. D? You saw him this morning?”

  Alisa, who was playing with her hair and peeking into Tayla’s room, nodded. “Mm hmm. He said he had to go. He needed to rest. But Monty said he can’t rest in the forest.”

  “Rest?” Tayla whispered. He told her he would return home to…Why was he going into the forest?

  “Anyway, I’m hungry,” Alisa wailed.

  “Where is Monty?”

  “He said he was going with Mr. D, because that’s what men did.”

  Alarm skittered through Tayla. “He went with Thaddeus? Why would he take that child with him?”

  Alisa rolled her eyes skyward, clearly not interested in discussing this topic any longer. “Mr. D doesn’t know Monty is coming. Monty left after Mr. D. He said he was going to follow him.”

  “What? I’m going to strangle Monty.” Tayla rushed back into her room, pulled some pants and a shirt from her drawer and stripped off her robe.

  “Ms. Hampton, I’m still hungry.”

  Tayla paused just as she was about to undress, remembering again that she was not alone. “Right, Alisa. Sweetie, there’s some cereal in the kitchen. I’m going to call Ms. Dudley and let her know that you’re here. I have to go and find Monty.” And Thaddeus.

  * * *

  Thaddeus trekked
through the bushes before sitting on a rock by the creek to rest. There were memories here. Memories of the morning when he’d come looking for Tayla. The moment he’d realized his feelings for her were more than he could control. He looked up to the sky, saw the first of the sun’s rays peeking through the clouds and thought of how her hair had sparkled that morning. Everything about her had been beautiful, surreal.

  He dragged his hands down his face. He knew he wouldn’t make it back to Delos in time. Flying was not even an option, as he could barely walk a mile or two without collapsing. Luckily he was already perched on the side of a mountain. He only needed to get a little higher up, build his nest and be done with it.

  At this point that was how he felt about the whole thing. Nothing really mattered now. He couldn’t be with Tayla—they had no future—no matter how much he wanted it. She’d felt so right in his arms. And he had felt right in that bed beside her.

  Since Tayla.

  Whatever the case, he’d rested long enough. He was just about to stand and begin his uphill trek again when out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of something. Rising slowly, he moved in that direction; his senses were slower, so he relied heavily on his vision alone. Had the little feet been just a tad faster he would have missed him. But they weren’t, and so he didn’t.

  Stretching one long arm, he grabbed hold of the collared shirt and pulled its little owner along with it.

  Caught, and ashamed of that fact, Monty held his head down, refusing to look up at Thaddeus even as he was being turned to face him.

  “What are you doing out here alone?”

  Thaddeus released him, sure he wasn’t going to try and run away. He carried a backpack and had something folded tightly in his hand.

  “I’m not alone.” Monty shuffled. “You’re out here, too.”

  Thaddeus tried to hide a smile. He really liked Monty. “So I am.” He slid his hands into his pockets and decided that instead of questioning Monty and receiving lukewarm answers at best, he would simply talk to him and wait until the child was ready to tell him the truth. “I came out here to be alone, to think, I guess,” he began. He walked back to that rock and took a seat again. “Sometimes a man just needs to be alone.”

  He didn’t have to look around to see if Monty had followed him; he heard the slow, steady steps behind him. Now the boy perched right next to him on the rock.

  “But sometimes a boy just needs somebody to talk to,” Monty said in a low voice.

  Thaddeus looked down at the small head of tight brown curls, the golden color of the child’s skin, and wondered if a son of his would have looked like this. “I haven’t been a boy in a long time. What do you suppose boys like to talk about?”

  Monty hunched his shoulders. “Sometimes they just have questions.”

  “Questions, huh? I’m no boy, but I still have questions.” He had questions now that would sadly go unanswered. “Tell me about these questions; maybe I can answer them for you.”

  “Really?” Monty’s brown eyes grew in question.

  The innocent expression clutched at Thaddeus’ heart and, for the billionth time this morning, he wondered what he would be missing after his death. “Yes, Monty. I will answer your questions if I can.” As long as they weren’t about women and love. He hadn’t done so well in that area of his own life. But Monty was too young to understand those issues.

  “How do you become a hero?”

  Of all the questions he could have asked, this was one Thaddeus would have never thought of. “I guess that depends on what you think a hero is.”

  “That’s easy. A hero is a strong man that protects and saves all women.”

  “Well, if that is true, all you have to do is make yourself strong and rescue a few women.” Thaddeus squeezed Monty’s tiny biceps. “You have a little work to do.”

  Monty giggled. “I know. I asked my mom for weights this Christmas. But what I really need to know is, how do you save a girl who’s not afraid of anything?”

  Thaddeus frowned. He’d asked himself the same question about Tayla. He was supposed to protect her from her husband but she’d never been really afraid of him in the first place. And while her mother-in-law’s transformation had made him a little nervous, Tayla had stood up to her as well. “You know, little man, that’s a really good question.”

  “Alisa’s not even scared of Igor.” Monty slammed a fist on his thigh.

  Thaddeus smiled. Alisa was a tough little girl. “They don’t always have to be afraid of something for you to save them or protect them. Sometimes people just need to be saved from themselves.”

  “I don’t understand,” Monty retorted.

  “I don’t think Mr. Delos understands that either.”

  Both males looked up to see Tayla standing near the creek.

  Where had she come from? Thaddeus stood quickly as she approached.

  “Isn’t it funny how the both of you seem to be running from the same thing,” she commented.

  “I am not running.” Thaddeus eyed her carefully.

  “I was following,” Monty said nervously. “Not running.”

  When she was close enough, Tayla rubbed Monty’s head, then his smooth cheek. “And because you were so smart I was able to find you.” She reached for his right hand, uncurled his fingers and displayed the chunks of bread he’d been breaking off and dropping to the ground.

  Monty looked to Thaddeus guiltily. “I didn’t want to get lost going back home.”

  Thaddeus smiled. “That was a very good idea. You know heroes need to be smart, too.”

  Tayla bent so that she was eye level with Monty. “They also need to eat breakfast and get an education. Now Ms. Dudley is just through the clearing waiting to take you back, so tell Mr. Delos goodbye and get going.”

  “Aren’t you and Mr. D coming, too?”

  Two pairs of eyes pinned Thaddeus. “Ah, actually little man, I have to go and teach somewhere else. I won’t be returning to Grayson Moore.”

  “But who’s gonna protect Ms. Hampton if you leave?”

  “Montepelier!” Ms. Dudley’s voice echoed through the trees.

  Tayla stood and tried to keep her eyes off Thaddeus. He was watching her, she could feel his glare prickling against her skin. A slight breeze began to blow, and the smell of the sea tickled her nostrils. “It’s okay, Monty. You’ll just have to be my protector. Now run along before Ms. Dudley gets angry.”

  Monty sucked his teeth. “She’s always angry.”

  Monty took a few slow steps until he stopped in front of Thaddeus. “I’ll do a good job, protecting her, I mean.” He shuffled from one foot to the other.

  He shouldn’t touch him. He shouldn’t have touched any of them. It was a simple assignment, his last assignment. Becoming attached to them hadn’t been part of the deal.

  He felt weak all over. Even his athame was heavy against his waist. Still, he bent down, picked the little boy up and held him close. Little arms clasped his neck tightly.

  “I promise I’ll do a good job,” Monty whispered.

  Thaddeus closed his eyes, inhaled the fresh scent of youth and sighed. “I know you will, little man. I know you will. And be patient with Alisa; she’ll need you one day.”

  Monty ran off the moment Thaddeus lowered him to the ground. Tayla watched, fighting back tears.

  Thaddeus straightened, ran his hands over his face and through his hair. “You should go with him.”

  “And you should take your own advice.” She took a tentative step toward him. “I’m thinking that you’re the one who needs protecting now.” Standing on tiptoe, she rubbed her palm against his cheek. “You look so tired. Why don’t we sit down?”

  “I don’t want to sit down, Tayla. I want you to return to the school.”

  Tayla folded her arms over her chest. “Why? Because you’re the big strong man and you can handle everything by yourself? Or maybe you think you’re still protecting me.”

  She was going to make this difficult, jus
t as he’d suspected. That was why he’d left while she slept. She wasn’t going to let go without a fight. He couldn’t tell if he admired that fact or hated her for the pain it would ultimately cause. “No. It’s because that is the way it has to be. I told you all of this ahead of time so it really shouldn’t surprise you. It is time for me to go.”

  He was trying to be mean, trying to push her away, but she saw the pain etching his eyes, the slump in his wide shoulders, and knew he was feeling the same thing she was. “You can’t get home, can you?” She moved toward him again but he moved backward, out of her reach.

  “I will be fine.”

  “If you can’t get home, what will happen?” A lump caught in her throat. “Will you…um, I mean, will it simply happen…here?”

  Thaddeus turned away from her. He was vulnerable at this moment, the most vulnerable he’d ever been in his life. And she was beautiful, her face free of makeup, her hair flowing wildly in the breeze, her scent seeping into his pores until each breath he took was solely of her. She made him want to tempt the fates, made him want to believe that his father’s blood would prevail and that he could not die, that he could be with her again one day. But the growing fatigue inside him sent a different message. “Tayla, why do you do this? Why don’t you just go now? It will be easier for us both.”

  She went to him then, rubbing her palms over his broad back and sighing. “It won’t be easier, Thaddeus. I love you. There is no easy way to let you go. But if I can be there, if I can be with you until the last possible moment, it might be enough. Don’t you understand that?”

  “No!” he roared. “I don’t understand it!” He pulled away from her and moved closer to the trees. “I am not like you. I will never be like you. I can’t give you what you need.”

  Her bottom lip quivered as her anger grew. “And just what is it you think I need, Mr. High and Mighty Greek God? What do you think is better for me than being with you?”

  “You need to give your love to someone who can return it, someone who can be with you completely and make you happy. I cannot do those things.” It pained him to even look at her, to see that at any moment she would cry and to know that those tears would be because of him.