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Davis
Iwait for Miri on the porch, closing my eyes and inhaling the fresh air while I tug on my coat. It’s frigidly cold tonight and the chill stings my lungs as I breathe in deep, but I like the reminder that I’m still capable of feeling something. Miri doesn’t seem to be in any big hurry as she steps out onto the porch, slowly zipping up her leather jacket that’s not nearly warm enough for winter, before shoving her hands in her pockets. I step off the porch and head toward a path laid out in small stone pavers that leads to the cliffs.
“No stocking cap tonight?” Miri asks, as she catches up to my long strides. The question comes from out of nowhere, and I slow my pace while I figure out what she means.
“What?”
“A hat? Every time I’ve seen you, which I realize can be counted on one hand, you’ve been wearing a beanie. I just assumed it was covering something up.”
“Like what?” I grunt, keeping the slower pace as Miri walks beside me, her arm and her shoulder brushing against me every few steps. It’s distracting even with layers of clothing between us.
Miri shrugs, but a smile tugs at her lips. “Big old bald spot? A square head? No, I know. Horns.”
“Birdie’s house rules. No hats at the table,” I offer up and then pull my hat out from my coat pocket and tug it down over my head.
“Ah, there it is. Everything is right in the world once again.”
I grunt again, keeping my thoughts on that statement to myself. There is nothing right with this world.
The path has solar lights that line either side of the pavers, so there’s plenty of light to pick our way across the yard until we reach the edge of the cliff. We both stand still as the wind whips at us, stinging my face and stealing my breath.
“I used to have this recurring dream.” Miri stares straight ahead, her brow furrowed. “I was standing on the edge of a cliff, just like this.” She stops, shivering as she wraps her arms around herself. The leather jacket obviously isn’t helping much with the wind. My conscience gets the better of me, and I know this is a bad fucking idea and will give all the wrong signals, but I can’t help it.
I tug off my coat and drop it on Miri’s shoulders with as little fanfare as humanly possible. Her head jerks to look at me as she sucks in her bottom lip. She nods, and I’m relieved she’s not going to make a big deal out of it.
“What happened in the dream?”
“Nothing really. Not until the night I left.” Miri shifts, stomping her feet softly on the ground like that’ll warm them up. “That night the cliff fell out beneath my feet.” She huffs out a humorless laugh. “I guess it did.”
“Did the dream stay the same after that?”
“I never had that dream after that night. They were always about something else.”
My pulse hammers through my veins as I think about all the dreams I’ve had about Miri since the first time we met. My fingers itch to touch her, to tear off all our clothes even in this cold-ass weather, and cover her body with mine. Instead of asking her what she dreamed about, which sounds like a massive mistake, I go back to staring at the sea.
Miri tips her head back and looks up at the night sky. It’s a clear night with almost no moon, so the view is spectacular, a million twinkling diamonds winking at us from above.
“God, that’s amazing,” Miri groans before she drops her chin and looks out over the ocean. It’s too dark to see anything, but the crash and swell of waves against the rock below offers a soundtrack to the night sky.
“Weren’t you and Dani in the middle of nowhere? I’m sure the stars were pretty brilliant there too.”
Miri keeps her head tipped back. “Yeah, but I don’t think I ever stopped to notice them. Everything has always been about the next step. What was I doing next, where was I headed? I’m not sure I ever just stood still and took things in. After my mom never called, I knew the worst had happened. I felt it. And I… sort of shut down.” Her words are raw, emotion thick in the air. “I’ve been going through the motions for a long time.”
“And you’re not anymore?” I wish I could see her face better, but it’s too dark out here to discern more than the shades and shadows of her.
“I’m where I’m supposed to be,” she states with confidence, even if her words are quiet. I want to scream at her, tell her she’s wrong, that she should run from this place and its secrets. Getting the hell away from the history here and all the awful shit that could happen if she stays. Miri’s mom asked me to never talk about the night I picked up Miri and I haven’t, but that’s not what this is about. Does Miri know anything about her mother’s history? Fuck, I don’t want to be the one to tell her. She’s so sincere, as if this place really means so much to her already, that I can’t call up the words.
“What’s with all the Fae and fairy stuff on the island?” Miri asks, finally breaking the surprisingly comfortable silence between us.
She shifts to look at me, her arm brushing against mine. I should take a step back, but my body rejects that idea, moving in closer instead. Her question tells me that whatever she knows about her magic she doesn’t know what happened here all those years ago.
“It’s just some niche marketing that the island has embraced over the years.”
“Oh, and Birdie’s part of Wild Haven’s marketing team?”
I glare down at her, but she’s staring straight ahead, looking out at the ocean crashing below. It’s hard to see with the darkness of the night, but the sounds of waves hitting the cliff are a lullaby I’d know anywhere. For a second, I consider brushing off her question, but some baser, instinctual part of me believes she deserves to know something about the island. Something about her history, too.
“There’s an old island story about the four courts of fairy, spring, summer, autumn and winter. It’s said the courts were fighting, but no one ever knows over what. During their war they busted a pathway open into earth here on Wild Haven island. The two realms were spilling into one another and causing damage to both worlds. In order to make sure both realms were protected, the queen sent sentinels to earth to protect both sides. Many of the old families like to claim that their family tree shares a branch with one of the Fae sentinels. It’s just a myth that’s been romanticized to make people feel special and over the years it’s become something the locals play up with a wink.”
