The weeks passed and I couldn't shake Phoenix from my mind. I thought about all the moments that would never have happened if I had remembered Cove. If I had remembered my previous life. 

But who wants to remember that? It was so awful.

Life at the Dark Palace before, was awful. King Lucius started his unwanted advances pretty much since Cove's and my wedding. Of course, that night, I had chalked it up to a bit too much Brandywine to drink. When the incidents carried on, any time I was secluded in a hallway, alone in the library he would get too close, or touch me a little too fondly.

One day, he appeared it seemed out of no where, his salt-and-peppered hair neatly styled behind his ears, his long black flowing robe hiding his evil intentions. He cornered me in an alcove on the way to my room, a stack of books in my hands. I had been researching the habits of Brownies and ground gnomes in hopes that Cove and I would visit some of their territory on our excursion through the Dark Forest. We were vacationing next month and supposed to travel through the Dark Forest and around Mount Polaris on our way to Twilight Beach, everyone in the Underground's favorite getaway. The iridescent waters glow turquoise against the night sky as aqua colored waves lap against a black sand beach.

We never did go on that trip. I had tried to move around him. I had tried to force him off of me but that only made him fight harder. King Lucius liked my fight. He liked how broken he could make me feel. I had been so upset afterwards, I locked myself in my rooms for two weeks. Cove couldn't understand why I was being so erratic, but I couldn't tell him. 

It went on like this. I couldn't keep coming up with excuses and whenever they sent for Anna, I would deny anything happened. Of course Anna knew. She could see through my lies better than the makeup hiding my bruises. Oftentimes she would encourage me to talk to Cove about whatever "it" was that was going on. I tried. I broke down one day and came clean. I'm pretty sure the horror and embarrassment is what killed their mother.

She had torn off her wings and jumped from one of the towers. It was really quite the scandal. The Queen committed suicide, but they had murder charges drawn up and an investigation. They had some prime 'suspects' in the case, unlucky servants mostly. People who were to serve in her quarters or wait on her, and whatnot. They couldn't find anything, because it was all bogus of course, but the Royal Family had to do something to save face. Most of the subjects don't believe she was murdered, but they don't know why she would kill herself either. Only the Family knows that. The case grew cold and we all carried on. Queen Dahlia's death became a taboo subject, no one spoke of her after the funeral.

Her funeral was the marking point for my escape. After Lucius tried to rape me that day, Cove pulled him off of me. He saw with his own eyes the monster that the king was. I ran from the scene as the two began to throw fists. Without looking where I was going, I ran into Phoenix as I rounded the corner to the corridor that would lead to my hallway and suite of rooms. 

I remember his deep, soft chuckle. "Where are you off to? Is there a fire?" Then looking at me more closely he said, "Hey, are you okay? Did it happen again? Coral you have to tell Cove. Now! Or I will." And he grabbed my elbow and started to pull me in the direction I had just fled from.

I ground down my heels, dragging my feet against the floor. "No, no, no. You don't understand. Cove just pulled Lucius off me. They're fighting. I can't go back there."

"Wait, what?" Phoenix had let go of my arm. He looked down the hallway and listened. His sensitive ears picked up the sounds of a scuffle and he ran in that direction. I didn't have a moment to lose. I ran and met Grace in my sitting room. I told her my plan to leave for the mortal realm and she refused to let me go alone. So, together, holding hands and a few small bags of luggage, we left the Underground and came to live like normal people.

Who wants to remember that? Any of that? It's awful. It was awful.

I enjoyed my time at the Dark Palace so much more the second time. With eyes of a nearly mortal girl, I saw the beauty of everything like it was the first time. But, would I have loved it just as much the first time if it hadn't been for Lucius? For I still couldn't deny my love for Cove. The draw I felt towards him, even now. So much longing lives inside my broken heart. The pull of his eyes and the soothing notes of his deep, velvety voice call out to me like my own siren song, a melody of beauty and strength I could never let go of.

I thought about what Phoenix had said about Lucius being broken out of the prison they had been holding him in. I thought about the safety of returning to Cove's arms.

How safe he would feel. But how could I do that after everything I have put him through?

He knew I was his wife, and he was going to let me marry another man, his own brother no less. He knew I was carrying Phoenix's child and still he supported me, loved me. Cove would change his very being and all that he was just to find me.

The guilt started to eat away at me. Here and there, a scale would flake off and flutter to the ocean floor. I thought about how selfish Phoenix was. How he had allowed his own desires to serve him even at the expense of others, even his loved ones. As I thought of this, I accepted the fact that I still loved him. Every time I thought of his face, his dimpled smile, his perfect, straight pearly teeth, his full, soft kissable lips and chiseled jawline, my chest burned and squeezed and I would cough so hard I would have to surface.

I knew these thoughts were causing me to feel things I didn't want to feel, but they were there all the same. These thoughts were going to turn me human again. I could feel it. I had no desire to feed, my strength was waning. I couldn't go to the depths anymore, the pressure was too much for my bones. I stayed near the atolls spending most of my days lounging on sandbars and munching on a few starfish I would pick off the reef.

I had found some clothes forgotten by the tourists, some love drunk honeymooners enjoying their happy vacation. I took them to a cave on the eastern side of the island and hid them there. I wasn't sure at the time, but I was preparing to come home. I borrowed a skiff tied off at the docks in the harbor and anchored it at the entrance to my cave. I delayed for a few days not sure if I'd run into the owners of the clothes and even less sure if I was making the right choice. Finally, bunching up my courage, I transitioned to my human form and donned the clothes stashed high on a rock, out of the reach of the spray and foam of the sea.

I sailed the skiff back to the harbor and tied it off. Being late at night, no one seemed to notice. I stood strong and firm on the shore, with a foreign possession of myself. I walked the beach that night as if every grain of sand was mine. I owned every step I took, each moment was a new awakening. I didn't know if I felt alive, but I knew then that I could belong.

I stuck my hands in my pockets and felt a wallet. Ducking round a palm tree I stood in the shadows and stealthily retrieved the wallet from the left hand pocket of the blazer I wore. I opened the folded brown leather wallet, obviously a man's and stared at the contents. A Tennessee driver's license that read:

Joshua Hammond

Age 26

Weight 174

Eyes Blue

Height 5'10

It had his address and said he was an organ donor. There were a couple credit cards and a bank card and a picture of a pretty brunette with rosy cheeks and blue eyes. I opened the back of the wallet and found cash. Quickly, I counted over $1,000. I felt bad, but I was so relieved.

I walked towards the road and took the first cab I saw to the nearest hotel and checked in, walking still felt uneasy for me. I definitely had sea legs. I asked the receptionist at the front desk if I could use her phone and she happily obliged. I called my lawyer Jonathan, but there was only a voicemail. I went to my room and went to bed for the first time in over a year. The white linens were heavily starched and I feel into a deep dreamless sleep against their soft feathery pillows.

In the morning, I called Jonathan's office again. The secretary quickly patched me in to Jonathan. It took a while to get things sorted out, but he eventually said the consulate would send my passport over to the embassy in the morning and it would be a day or two before it got dropped off at the hotel. After which, I could take the first flight back to America. I thanked him and hung up the phone.

I walked out the lobby doors and got in a waiting car. I had the cabby take me into town where I bought a new dress and shoes. I had never liked shoes before, but these new slip-ons were so comfy and matched the baby yellow dress embroidered with pink flowers that I had just bought. I was enjoying the sensation of the canvas material around my toes and of course, the feeling of having toes again.

My smile flooded back into my face and I decided to do a bit of exploring before going back to the hotel. This had been my first time to a tropical island, walking around as a person. I wanted to enjoy myself. I stopped in an open dive bar with a thatched hut roof and Jimmy Buffet playing in the background. I ordered piña coladas and key lime pie as I watched the street vendors sell their bobbles and trinkets to the passing tourists. 

When the sun set, the street vendors didn't shut down. Street lanterns flickered on and live music flowed out of the bars, me filling the streets with their rhythmic melody. I walked down the main street enjoying the sights and sounds around me. I was happy for the first time in so long, I couldn't remember. 

I didn't think I had anything to worry about. I didn't think anyone would know where I was. I had no reason to to be on the lookout for danger so, when two men dressed in black pulled me off the sidewalk and dragged me through an alley I was more than caught off guard. I was in shock.

Roughly, they snatched me and threw a bag over my head as I felt myself picked up and slung over someone's shoulder. I heard them running and the sound of car doors opening. My body was chucked into the hard metal floor in the back of a van. I tried to get up, to take off the bag, but I was arrested with a quick punch to the gut. 

Toppled over, all of my breath left me. The choking feeling overcame me as I coughed and gasped for air. I lied there after that, too afraid to move, hardly breathing.

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Author's Note:

Hi everyone! Hope this week's chapter was a little exciting for you. Coral's back!! Can't wait to see what happens next week. Much love and blessings to everybody ❣️

XOXO 💋 Elizabeth Door