Page 57 of The Wonder of You
The feeling, for a moment, makes him smile. He knows that the second he turns away from his memories to the present, his pain will return. He’ll probably end up screaming, collapsing into bed and wishing death upon himself. But for now, he just wants to close his eyes and enjoy it.
He grits his teeth when his door flings open. Does the intruder know the good thoughts they have just disturbed?
Lukas doesn’t wait to be invited in. His face pale, he finally says it, the words everyone has been waiting for.
“She’s back Phoenix, Renée is back.”
They have been coming to this small city for years and she was never here. Of course they could anticipate her return, especially after seeing her grandfather. Howcould they be sure though? What if Beau followed a different life this time around and never had children? What if Renée had come into existence but they moved away from this place? Just because it was here which she was taken, here that they had seen her grandfather, it didn’t mean it was here in which she would come back. The thought would seize too much panic in Phoenix. What if it was all a hopeless dream that she would be back?
It’s okay, though, Henry would always say,Phoenix and Renée are soulmates, they will always find each other. They couldn’t keep coming back to one spot so many times though, they had to mix it up otherwise someone would notice. They wereThe Golden Valley Circus, not the never-aging circus. They couldn’t let people catch on, ask questions. If that was the case, Gabriel would stop them coming to the mortals at all. Until they had Renée, they couldn’t risk it.
Phoenix sits and stares at Lukas, his expression clearly showing he is afraid that this is some cruel dream. Could his imagination be teasing him? Making him believe this is truly real? That Renée is actually here. Maybe Lukas is lying, but why? Why would he do such a thing?
Lukas doesn’t leave and Phoenix starts to believe thisisreal.
Thisishappening.
It’s been nearly a hundred years, is his love finally home?
Chapter 41
Mortal Land
Bath, England
2023
I startle awake, gasping for air. Where the hell am I?
“Hey, it’s okay, I’m here. I carried you back from Arabella’s.” Phoenix sits beside me and I realise I am in his cabin. The sensation of being in his arms when he brought me in here comes back.
I stare at him.
Oh goodness.
I remember everything.
Suddenly, I am above water. For so long I have either been drowning or barely above the surface. This moment, right here, I am finally reaching the shore. I can breathe without struggle. It’s like a rebirth and all I can do is stare at the man who has rescued me, the man who has waited for me. Little, boring Renée who maybe isn’t so boring after all.
My two lives have somehow linked together. My first life takes centre stage in my mind, as if a piece of paper has been placed on another, but it’s thin enough that the one on the bottom can still be seen.
I feel conflicted about everything and everyone.
But not Phoenix. Never about him.
“Phoenix?” I whisper, trembling. I don’t want to waste another minute. I throw myself into his arms. I canfeel him trembling as he holds me back, his face buried deep in my neck. It’s such a relief to feel him, to touch him now that I’ve made sense of all this. I can only imagine how it must feel for him. A hundred years we’ve been apart. How did I never know what I was missing?
“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispers. I cry harder and he cries with me as he wraps his arms tighter around me. His grip is so firm, as if he’s afraid that if he lets me go, none of this will be real, or maybe the ground will open again, ripping us away from each other once more. I feel so safe with him. The scars of my current life will stay with me, but I think… no,I know, that here, with Phoenix, with my true family, I’ll be able to work through those emotions.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t save you, Renée. I will never let that happen again.” He holds me closer and I don’t want him to let go. I want to stay in this moment forever, even though my heart feels as if it’s being stabbed with every sobbing sound Phoenix makes.
“It wasn’t your fault, none of it was.”
“I am sorry for the life you’ve lived here, though, and all of the things you have been through.” His hand rests on my cheek and I can’t help but admire his face. I wondered before how a man like this could possibly want me, but now it all feels right without any doubt in my mind. I may continue to live with fears from my first and second life, and new fears will surely find me, but I will never doubt Phoenix and I again.
“It wasn’t all bad, my grandparents were wonderful people.” I smile at the memory of them. I was lucky tohave them, although my feelings for my dad and sister are clashing. Is Lydia who she is now or who she was before? I can’t exactly get angry at her for something she hasn’t done in this lifetime. She would think I’d lost my mind if I shouted at her for trying to organise my kidnapping. But then again, she has never really been kind to me. Perhaps my past and present life are more intertwined than I ever knew.
I run my hand through Phoenix’s hair.
