by CJ England
Slowly, Aithne removed her hands from her face. Her eyes widened and she took a step backwards in utter shock. The radiance and heat didn’t come from the truck. She closed unbelieving eyes and then re-opened them.
Where once a man stood, now floated a being of brilliant light and beauty. Wings outstretched and flapping gently shot trails of fire, as they shone with all the colors of the rainbow. The large bird-like body blazed with tendrils of flames, which undulated around him as if they were alive. Sharp, talon claws settled gently onto the ground as he came to rest next to the destroyed truck. He was enveloped in a sphere of white gold light that gave off heat, yet it didn’t burn.
“Milcham…” she whispered.
As if he heard her, his head turned her way. Changed to one of a bird of prey, with a sharply curved beak, he had a crown of scarlet fire. His eyes stared at Aithne, glowing so golden, she thought she could get lost in the liquid warmth.
Her knees gave out on her and she sank to the ground. Suddenly, she understood. It hadn’t been an angel she’d seen in the fire in her tent. And it hadn’t been Milcham either. At least, not in the form she knew him as. He wasn’t the man she thought he was.
The man she’d fallen in love with. The man she’d given her heart, soul and body to wasn’t a man at all. He wasn’t even human. She knew exactly who stood before her on the dark mountainside.
Milcham was none other than…the legendary Phoenix .
One look at her shocked face, and he knew he’d lost her. Aithne valued truth and even if she’d been able to accept him for what he was, he was very much afraid she would never understand why he’d kept it from her. He wanted to go to her and wrap her in his flaming wings to comfort her, but he knew he didn’t have time. Alexander’s life hung in the balance and if he was to save him, he must act immediately.
His eyes glowed at Aithne for one last moment, before he turned and flew over to the top of the destroyed vehicle. Hovering there, he grasped the mangled cab in his talons, and using his strong wings, lifted it off the ground and Alexander’s crushed body. The steel groaned alarmingly, and Milcham was suddenly afraid the whole thing would fall apart and plummet down on Alexander again.
Quickly, he nodded to Jarrod, and the big man rushed over to pull Alexander out from under the floating truck. Once he could see that his friend was safe, Milcham dropped the truck back to the ground. The sound of metal grating on metal, made them all cringe.
He flew over to where Jarrod crouched, his hands touching Alexander worriedly. The wolfman looked up at the Phoenix . “I can’t feel a pulse.”
Milcham touched him carefully, but the flames from his wings set the man’s clothes to smoking, so he quickly backed off. Concentrating, he morphed back into his human form and then knelt down again.
“Can you…can you do anything?” Jarrod muttered. His dark eyes were moist.
“If he’s not too far gone.” Milcham took a deep breath, and concentrated on producing tears. At first his eyes stayed dry then he happened to glance up and see Aithne’s frozen shocked face. The realization she was lost to him, broke his heart anew, making him tear up immediately. Soon tears were streaming down his face. Leaning over, he let them fall on Alexander’s face.
The tears sizzled on the injured man’s skin then were absorbed immediately, disappearing as if they had never been. Alexander’s face took on a glow as if lit from the inside out. Then…all the scratches and bruises healed…right before their astonished eyes.
“You cry and people can get…better?” Jarrod’s face was a study in amazement.
“A Phoenix has healing properties in the tears.” Milcham checked Alexander’s pulse and frowned. “But it is the internal damage I am concerned about.”
He continued his weeping, letting his copious tears drench his fallen friend’s body. Soon it was very apparent that any bodily injuries were healed, yet Alexander still didn’t move or breathe.
“Damn,” Milcham murmured. “There must be more I can do. He wouldn’t heal if he were already dead.”
“Perhaps if he…tasted your tears.”
They were the first words Aithne had spoken since he’d shifted. Their eyes met, and while she didn’t look away, he knew immediately something had changed between them. Again, he wanted to go to her, but as before, he didn’t have time. It about destroyed him, but instead, he concentrated on what she had said.
“Feed him my tears?”
“You said it was the internal stuff you were worried about,” reminded Jarrod. “She means give him something internally.”
Milcham shrugged. He’d never done it before, but he’d try anything to make sure Alexander opened his eyes and smiled at them again. Cupping his hands, he thought again of losing Aithne and his eyes flooded with moisture. The tears flowed into the shallow bowl of his hands.
Jarrod gently opened Alexander’s slack mouth and they watched as Milcham poured the liquid in. They waited breathlessly, each praying it wasn’t too late.
Minutes ticked by and they all sat frozen, their eyes fixed on Alexander’s still face. After a while, Milcham’s shoulders slumped. He looked over at Jarrod and tears again wet his face. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing more I can do.”
Chapter Thirteen
Jarrod shot to his feet. “No!” he shouted. “He can’t be dead.”
Aithne put her face into her hands and started to cry.
Milcham felt so helpless. His best friend was dead, he’d lost his only love trying to help him and he could do nothing about either of them. In all his long life, he’d never known such grief.
Reaching down, Jarrod grabbed Alexander’s limp body and shook it. “No!” He pressed his friend’s face to his wide chest and dropped to his knees. Then lifting his face to the moon, he howled.
The hair on the back of Milcham’s neck stood up. The cry of a male werewolf in grief, passion or killing rage was one not easily forgotten. He wanted to join him and scream out his frustration to the sky.
“Can’t…breathe…here!”
They all froze. Aithne’s head popped out of her hands, Milcham stood abruptly, and Jarrod jerked Alexander’s head away from him.
“What the hell…?” the werewolf snarled. He stared in shock into the weary smiling eyes of his now conscious friend.
“It’s almost worth going through all that to see the look on your face,” Alexander chuckled weakly. “But next time I’m lying at death’s door, do you think it could be Aithne’s arms I’m lying in. At least I’d be able to die, pillowed against her beautiful breasts and not your hard, hairy chest!”
“Alexander!” Aithne crawled over to him and threw herself into his arms, almost knocking him flat in the process. “We thought you were dead!”
His arms wrapped shakily around her. “I was. I was in the light on the way to the other side when you pulled me back.”
Relief poured through Milcham in a sweet flood. He hadn’t been too late after all. His throat clogged with emotion as he watched Alexander hug Aithne. He wished his dealings with her would turn out as well.
Jarrod clapped his shaky friend on the back. “Damn it! You scared the hell out of me!”
Alexander winced. “Easy there, buddy, or you’ll send me to the other side again.” He looked at Milcham over the top of Aithne’s head, noting the new gray in his boss’s hair. “How can I thank you? I was dead and you brought me back.” He glanced down at the weeping woman in his arms. “I won’t forget what it cost you to do this.”
Milcham’s eyes dropped to Aithne’s ebony head. His gut clenched in fear and need, but he ignored it. “I…I didn’t want to lose you, either. It wasn’t a difficult choice to make.”
“I’m sorry, Boss,” Jarrod grunted, realizing for the first time, what his request had done. “I didn’t know what else to do. You were all I could think of.”
Milcham nodded. “I don’t blame you.” He shrugged. “If anyone, I blame myself.”
Alexander pulled gently out of Aithne’s arms and wi
ped her tears. “I’m okay, now. Let me get up and see just how healed I am.”
Jarrod pulled Aithne to her feet, while Milcham did the same with Alexander. He stretched and took a few test steps. “Damn…I guess coming back to life makes you a little stiff.”
“Wimp!”
Alexander grinned at his friend. “At least I’m here to whine.” He walked carefully over to his truck. “Now…do we know what the hell happened?”
The wolfman shook his head. “All I know is it was the biggest fucking bird I’ve ever seen.”
“A bird?” Milcham stared at the men.
Alexander shrugged. “It flew. That’s all I can tell you. But I could have sworn I heard a laugh when it pushed us over the side.”
Jarrod’s eyes widened. “Shit! Now that you mention it, I did too.”
“I did as well,” Aithne said quietly. She still wouldn’t look at Milcham. “But everything happened so fast.”
“Do you think it was deliberate?”
Alexander patted what was left of his truck. “It came at us at least three different times, so…hell yes, I think it was deliberate.”
“It wanted to push us off that mountain,” Jarrod agreed.
“But why?” Aithne bit her lip. “Why would anyone want to hurt us?”
“That’s what I’m going to find out. But I want to get us out of here first,” Milcham said grimly. He walked over to stand near Alexander. “What about your ride?”
The dark man shook his head. “Insurance company is going to have a field day with this one.”
Milcham grinned. “I can always just incinerate it for you. Save you the trouble.”
Alexander laughed and then coughed, as the motion hurt his abused chest. “Ouch! Guess I’m not a hundred percent yet.” He stared at the heap of metal. “Can you lift it to the top of the mountain? I’ll get a truck to tow it into the next town and then I’ll decide what to do.”
Milcham glanced at Aithne and sighed. Her face was as closed up as a rose bud. He wasn’t even sure she’d let him explain anything, so one more demonstration of his power wouldn’t make any difference. He nodded. “Sure. Move back so I don’t burn you again.”
Alexander frowned. “Your fire burns me?” At the other man’s nod, he shook his head and his voice dropped. “But…then why didn’t it burn Aithne when you pulled her from the tent? She was enveloped in it when you came out.”
Freezing in his tracks, Milcham gaped at his friend. He was right. His fire hadn’t affected Aithne, yet it had singed Alexander immediately. So…what the hell did that mean?
“I…I don’t know,” he managed. “But unless she gives me a chance to explain everything, I may never find out.”
Alexander sighed. “I’m sorry. If I had been more careful—”
“Don’t!” Milcham shook his head. “This wasn’t your fault. I don’t know exactly what did it, but I don’t think it had anything to do with you.”
“You know what that flying thing was?”
Milcham felt dread well up in him. “Let’s just say, I hope I’m wrong.”
—
It was much later when Milcham got back to his trailer. He’d sent Jarrod and Aithne back to the fairground to finish packing up and drive the trailers into the next town, while he and Alexander lifted the truck to the top of the highway and waited for a tow truck to come along to take it away. The two men had spoken little, Alexander seeming to realize Milcham’s thoughts were elsewhere…with Aithne.
They’d arrived in the town of Fayetteville long after everyone else had gone to bed. After a brief, heartfelt embrace, the two men had separated. Milcham watched as Alexander wearily trudged to his own home and climbed inside. He knew Jarrod would make sure his friend had a hot meal waiting for him.
Now as he stood outside his own home, he was scared to enter. If it was empty, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. Aithne had become so much a part of his life, the thought of being without her made him physically sick. If she left him, it would be like having a piece of himself go missing.
He paused, his hand on the door handle. A piece of himself? He groaned inwardly as anguish flooded his body. What a fool…what an idiot he was. Why had he taken so long to accept it? To admit it to himself? He’d fought the idea from the beginning, but he knew now as sure as there was a sun in the sky.
Aithne was his soulmate.
He rubbed at his tired grainy eyes. He may be immortal, but he was an idiot. His twin-flame had been standing right in front of him, and he’d refused to acknowledge her. And now…now that he knew? It might be too late.
Steeling himself, he opened the door and stepped inside. His heart fell to his feet when he saw the small trailer was empty and dark. There was no meal on the stove and no welcoming smile from the woman who meant more to him than his own life. His shoulders sagged and his eyes smarted.
Aithne was gone.
—
Aithne sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the limp curtains on the motel’s window. She felt totally numb. The pain of Milcham’s betrayal hadn’t even penetrated yet. She had just done what he’d ordered her to do and gone with Jarrod to finish packing up the carnival. But when they’d finished setting up the trailers, she couldn’t even make herself step inside the one she shared with him. Instead she asked Jarrod to take her to a motel.
The wolfman had protested, trying to excuse Milcham’s secrets, but she hadn’t listened. He’d found her a small motel on the outskirts of town that had small individual cabins and she’d rented one gladly. She wanted…no needed to be away from his mesmerizing presence so she could think things through. Tears crept slowly down her cheeks as the frozen feeling wore off and miserable, painful reality set in.
Milcham was the Phoenix . An immortal being, thought of as the most beloved animal created by God. That fact all by itself was enough to make her lose her breath. Her shock had been so great she couldn’t have said a word if her life had depended on it. Watching him use his powers had been awe inspiring.
She thought about the legend of the Phoenix . She’d grown up with it. Her mother loved stories and fables and told them to Aithne and Aidan every night as they went to sleep. The story of the just and loyal Phoenix was one of them.
She knew of course the Phoenix had been the one animal to stand firm in the garden and refuse to disobey the Lord. She also knew God had rewarded him with immortality because of it.
But what she didn’t know…what no story ever shared, was the Phoenix was also a man, walking amongst humans, searching for his other half.
And it was this truth that hurt so badly. It was obvious she wasn’t it. Oh…she might be good enough to play with for awhile. Maybe he even loved her…in his own fashion. But if he really thought she was his soulmate, he would have told her his true identity long ago. What really wounded her was both Alexander and Jarrod knew. Jarrod had explained they’d seen him come out of the fire when he’d rescued her from her burning tent, but it didn’t matter to her. She felt betrayed by all of them.
She scrubbed at her eyes. She was tired and angry and hurt and wanted just for a little while to forget about the whole mess. She knew that she and Milcham would have to talk sometime, but for now, she just wanted some time to herself.
The knock at the door surprised her. Thinking it was the motel owner, she walked over and peeked out the curtains. When she saw who it was, she stiffened. Was she ready for this? The knock came again…louder and she shuddered. Her emotions were drawn so tight, she felt she’d snap in two.
“Aithne,” came his beloved voice. “Please, Assai…I must talk to you.”
Tears threatened again, but she bit her lip and forced them back. She knew he was stubborn enough to stand out there all night long. It looked like she would be talking to him, whether she was ready or not.
Pulling the door open, she took a deep breath. “What do you want?”
He showed her a bag of fast food and two cups that smelled deliciously of coffee. “I was worried about
you.”
She refused to answer him, staring past his broad shoulder. If he wasn’t going to be honest with her, she was finished with him.
He sighed. “I would ask you to give me time to explain. And I worried you may be hungry.”
She fought with herself for several long moments. Part of her wanted to slam the door in his handsome face, while the other part wanted to leap into his arms and sob out her pain and fear. Terrified the second part would win, she stepped back quickly and motioned him in. “How did you find me?”
Milcham breathed a sigh of relief. Being allowed in was more than he’d expected. “When you weren’t in our trailer, I woke Jarrod up and made him tell me.” He walked over and put the food on the table, then turned to her. “Eat or talk…your choice.”
Aithne wrapped her arms around herself and walked over to the window. “You want to talk…talk.”
His jaw tightened, but he nodded. He had everything planned out as to what he was going to say, but now…staring at her angry face, all he could say is one thing.
“I love you, Assai.”
She squeezed her eyes tightly closed as a sob wrenched from her throat. “Don’t! Please don’t lie to me any more!”
“I’m not lying!” He took an involuntary step towards her and then stopped. She was holding herself so tightly, he was afraid she’d shatter if he touched her. “Please, Aithne. I have never lied to you about how I feel.”
“Just about who you were.”
He ran a frustrated hand through his messy hair. “I didn’t lie to you. But I know I didn’t tell you everything. I do have a reason. Will you give me a chance and let me tell you what it is?”
“Will you leave if I say no?”
His lip twitched into a sad grin. “No.”
“Then I don’t have any choice…do I?”
Milcham swore out loud. She wasn’t going to make this easy. “Then let me tell you this first. I’ve never told anyone about myself. Ever.”