Chapter 23 - Psyche

My first thought when I woke up: it's my birthday and not a single person here is going to know.

Just as I'd thought, Alexa never brought it up, never wished me a happy birthday. Not that I knew when her birthday was or anything. But the void made me ache for my family all the more. This day never would've passed unnoticed back at home.

That evening, I sat on the bed and watched the sun set behind the gardens, casting a glow of brilliant oranges and reds across the landscape. Just as he had done the past two nights, Aris's darkened form flew in through the window.
My breath caught in the back of my throat as I gazed at the obviously powerful creature now standing before me.

He didn't speak right away, then cleared his throat. "Sorry about passing out on you last night. Not exactly how I'd planned things to go."

I shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Seriously. You obviously needed the est. I didn't mind."

"Yeah, well, I felt like I did all the talking last night and I want to know nore about you. I already know my past."

"I thought you already knew everything about me." I couldn't help the playful barb; I probably even threw in an eyelash flutter for good measure.

He chuckled and I heard fabric shifting under his personal cloud. “I don't know nearly enough. So I figured you could tell me everything -- over cake."

I took the package he held out to me. Once I'd untied the string and pulled away the cloth wrapping, I saw an amazing-looking cheesecake.

"Happy birthday to you," he sang in a low voice.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"I figured it was something I ought to remember." He cleared his throat again. "I hope you like cheesecake."

"Who doesn't?" I slid onto the stool at my vanity, pulling the cake close and breaking off a piece to pop into my mouth.

He stopped my hand before I could indulge. "Wait... this game has rules."

I looked at him with narrowed eyes. Since when does eating cheesecake have rules?

"I want one fact for every bite," he said. "Talk first, eat second."

Reluctantly, I backed the cake away from my already-parted lips. If he wanted to make a game out of this information exchange, who was I to complain?

"Fine. That's easy enough,” I said. “What do you want to know?”

"Let's start with something easy. Tell me about your family."

I offered up my family's names and lineages -- the most basic of information really -- and popped a bite of cheesecake into my mouth. I smiled like an imp while I chewed.

"Hmmm..." he rumbled, but his eyes looked amused. "That's not exactly the information I was looking for. Tell me something about them that I don't know."

Swallowing the luscious bite, I pondered for a minute. I wanted to tell him something nice about my family, something that described how we were before the fame kicked in. But I was having a hard time seeing past our last week together.

"My mother and father were really worried about me when I left. The hardest thing I've ever done is watch my father cry when he said goodbye to me." I felt a sudden lump in my throat as I relived that painful memory. "Until he came home from Delphi, Father had always seemed so strong. I never even thought he could cry."

His hand caressed my arm, easing my guilt with the comfort of now as best he could. "They'll be okay, Psyche. You're a good daughter to worry about your parents more than you worry for yourself."

"You give me too much credit. I was worried sick about what was going to happen to me."

"But their pain hurts you," he said. "I can feel that."

"I guess that's just part of being human."

He turned my head and gazed into my eyes. "No. Psyche. That's part of being you. The depth of your heart is what drew me to you. Don't underestimate yourself."

Slowly, he guided my head to his shoulder and I didn't: stop him. As I closed my eyes, the fresh smell of his skin, the gentle caress of his fingers against the back of my neck, played with my mind. Could anything bad smell so inviting? Or feel so tender? But more than anything, I let him hold me like this because it was so nice to feel understood.

For months, I'd kept secrets from my family, pretended to be a diva for my fans, and done my best to impress Aphrodite with my every word. Now, Aris claimed he already knew me: my flaws and imperfections, my true self, and apparently he wanted me anyway. At least for tonight, I'd enjoy this feeling. No worries about tomorrow, or who Aris really was; no worries about anything.

I was just about to let myself consider falling asleep on him when he broke through our comfortable silence. "You want to get out of here?"

"We can do that?" My head snapped up and I was instantly more awake than I'd felt all day.

"You deserve a better present than cake that makes you sad. But," he paused and I bit my lip, waiting for him to continue, "you've got to trust me."

Trust Aris in exchange for temporary escape? A blink takes more time than I took to decide. What could he do to me outside the palace that he couldn't do here? The risk seemed more than worth it.

I smiled -- the winning one Aphrodite taught me -- and I hoped he melted just a little, if for no other reason than vanity made me want to be the green-eyed girl of his dreams. "Done. Now where to?"

"It's a surprise." Stepping in close, he wrapped his thick arms around my waist and I heard his wings unfold. "Hold on."

As I felt my feet lift off the ground, I had no choice but to cling to his neck. We passed easily through the window and over the garden. Peering over my shoulder, the hedges and fountains blurred into the oblivion of darkness and I clamped my eyes shut. At least when Zepherus swept me off the cliff, we were headed down. The continuous upward spiral coupled with the steady beat of his wings made my head spin.

His arms squeezed tighter. "You hanging in there?" The warmth of his breath against my ear sent a delicious shiver down my spine.

"You could say that." I managed a half-laugh to prove I wasn't about to pass out or anything, but I don't think either of us was fooled.

Just then we passed through a cloud; white beams of moonlight reflected off its surface. Behind us, thousands of stars twinkled in the inky black night. For a second, I could almost believe I was floating, like in a dream, and the blackened form holding me in the sky was just my overactive imagination. But he broke the evening spell as quickly as it'd come over me.

Get ready, this is the fun part. We tilted back toward Earth and careened forward. Wind gusted past us, tangling my hair and pushing against his wings with a force I thought might shred his feathers. An
involuntary scream escaped before I could silence it and I gripped him even tighter. I swear he chuckled.

With a snap of wings, he slowed our dissent. When we touched down, my toes brushed against smooth, warm rocks and I stumbled as I got my balance on the slick stones. Without the wind clogging my ears, a new sound took over. The crashing of waves hit me at the same time the warm, salty air curled through my lungs.

He'd brought me to the ocean. Did he know that as close as it was, I hadn't seen it since I was a child? That I'd always dreamed of watching the white caps roll into the beach under a blinding moon?

His arms fell away and I made my way to the waves. The first lick of the water was almost icy and I shrieked -- a girlish, carefree laugh. I backed
away from the next wave, but steeled myself by the third. As the water swirled around my ankles, the penetrating cold lessened and I walked out another step.

Looking back over my shoulder, I saw a void of darkness resting on the beach. "You coming?" I asked.

"I think I'll sit this one out. You go ahead.”

Pulling up my dress around my knees, I trod deeper into the water. When the chill gripped the back of my knees, I turned and fled, running up the beach in a sprint. "Never mind," I panted, collapsing next to him. "That's way too cold."

"I'd warm it for you if I could." His eyes turned to mine and the space between us seemed impossibly narrow. Had I really sat down so close to him?

He might not have control of the waters, but the heat rolling off his body was strong enough to cross the space between us. As I met his eyes, his head dipped forward. My heart stuttered in my chest and my throat seemed to close tight. Was this fear or desire? His nose brushed mine as he leaned dangerously close and I felt his breath tease and tickle my lips.

When his hand slipped around my waist, pulling me a fraction of an inch closer, the spell was broken. It didn't matter that he'd carried me all the way out here, his touch chilled me. "Thank you for bringing me here," I said, turning my head and staring back out at the gently crashing waves. His hand slipped away and he sighed, long and low, as he leaned away.

"I'm just glad you trusted me enough to make the trip."

I tucked my legs into my chest and wrapped up in my own arms. Looking back over my shoulder at him, I could tell he was focused on the waves too. Anywhere but on me.

"Listen," I said, trying for a peace offering, "I still owe you some facts, right?"

His gaze snapped my direction. "A few."

"Name your topic," I offered.

Silence. His cloud stretched out and it was evident he was laying back gainst the pebbles, staring at the moon-bleached clouds. "Me," he finally aid.

"Excuse me?"

He cleared his throat. "I want to know what you think about me."

How do I answer that? "I'm not really sure what to think," I admitted.

"Why?"

"Do you really have to ask?" I ticked off the reasons on my fingers. "First, there's the prophecy. Second, there's the fact that you won't show yourself. Third, you create stuff out of thin air, which is just odd. And fourth--" I stalled, having run out of reasons to push him away.

"Yeah?"

"You fly way too fast."

His laugh bounced down the beach. "Would you be happier if I slowed down? With you anyway?"

I nodded. "That'd be a start."

He sat up and I heard him brush the pebbles off his palms. "Okay, done. What else? What else can I do?"

"Tell me why I can't see you. Really. Are you a nymph or something lik Alexa and it'd be bad luck?"

"I told you, I'm not a nymph. But, bad luck? Yeah, you could put it that way."

"I don't want to put it any way," I protested. "I want you to tell me."

He leaned in close to my ear and whispered. "Don't ever repeat this out loud. It'd put us both in danger. You understand?" He pulled back to study me, making sure I understood how serious he was. Swallowing hard, nodded.

His hushed story continued. "I made that prophecy up."

"You what?" I blurted.

"Shush. You want to get us both killed?"

"Sorry, sorry. Go on."

"When you made Aphrodite mad, she cursed you to fall for a creature too hideous for words. But I knew I could spare you from all that if I stepped in and worded the prophecy right. The only kicker was that you'd have to spend your days, or nights rather, with me. I figured it was better than the alternative."

I sucked in a startled breath. "You saved me? Why?"

"I thought you didn't want me to say I loved you any more." Coy. He was playing with me. And I wasn't actually minding so much.

Turning, I raised up on to my knees so I could whisper back to him more easily. "So why the darkness? The whispering? If you saved me, why are we hiding?"

"What do you think would happen if Aphrodite found out her curse didn't come out quite the way she'd planned?"

That question made me sit back. Nothing good, was the only answer I could come up with.

"Yeah," he answered to my silence. "It wouldn't be pretty."

"Gotcha." I nibbled my lip, wondering if I dared to keep going. "So are you really the son of a harpy then?"

His shadow shifted as his head tossed side to side. "Yes and no. How bout we leave it at that for now?"

How could I say no? What more did he need to tell me now that I knew I'd fallen for a false prophecy? And he'd spared me from Aphrodite's wrath?

"Will it always be like this? Between us, I mean."

Softly, he placed a kiss on my shoulder. "If you let me stay, we can be everything you've ever wanted. And more."
Resting my head against his shoulder, I let my body relax into him. His arm wrapped around my waist again, but this time, I didn't pull away. As the waves danced across the beach stones, and his hand played slowly and endlessly through my hair, I let go of the day that had been my oddest birthday ever and surrendered to sleep.

Chapter end