Page 25 of Bound By Destiny

Grudging admiration forms in my chest for this woman who even as a young girl, had a keener mind than most adults.

“Did you confront her?”

“I did worse. I told them both.”

Despite the remorse etched all over her face, my esteem of her only grows. “That must’ve been tough.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Destiny says shakily. “What was the point? Destroying my parents’ marriage?”

“Don’t you think your father deserved to know?”

“He didn’twantto know,” she spits out bitterly. “The whole thing turned against me. My mom managed to convince my dad that I was lying, and I became a pariah in my own home. She was so persuasive, evenIstarted to think I may have let my imagination run too far.”

I squeeze her fingers within mine, wishing I could offer her some kind of comfort that wouldn’t end with us half-naked and full of regrets. I can see how someone both as analytical and as anxious as Destiny may come to that conclusion, especially during those troubled teenage years . But her mother definitely doesn’t get any points in my books for exploiting those insecurities to avoid owning up to her own mistakes.

“It was a few hundreds of years ago,” I croak, “but I know what it’s like to be an outcast in your house. It’s awful, because you have no safe place to go.”

Destiny peers at me curiously, and I can’t say I’m any less surprised that I volunteered information about my past like that.

“That’s right,” she says quietly. “I wasn’t at home even in my own head, because whenever I was alone all I did was break everything down again and try to figure out whether I was in the wrong, only to end up with a whole new version each time.”

“By the way your mother reacted, it sounds like you were spot on.”

“Now I know I was right,” she breathes wearily. “And looking back, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the only time. But my dad was a lot less strong-willed than my mom, and I guess he just needed to lean on her, even if it meant blinding himself to the truth.”

Seeing her torn like this, I allow myself to stray from the clear route I chose. Just one finger on her cheek, trailing down ever so lightly. Destiny’s eyes follow me all along, twinkling with a thousand stars. Then I drop my hand and tuck it safely away.

“You needed to escape.”

It seems she lost her voice, as she takes a second too long to respond. “I found a way to make my mind go quiet,” she mutters. “To leave all my worries behind and just enjoy the moment.”

The setting sun bathes her in soft light, contouring her dark features until she’s positively glowing. Breathtaking.

“Mmh?”

“Most of the folks who came from out of town were into mountain sports,” she notes. “And that summer I turned fifteen, I was hit with this urge. It was like it came out of nowhere, but it was just so strong.”

I sense a turn in her story. The defining moment when the pieces come together and start to form the bizarre, confusing tableau we’re in today.

“Let me guess. You were suddenly overwhelmed with the fierce, uncontrollable need to fly?”

“How did you…?” A dry smile slowly spreads across her lips. “You think I was already turning into a phoenix, all the way back then?”

“Fifteen is the age most phoenixes are revealed, but there are cases when the process is delayed.”Like when you’re being fed poison every day for four years,I remember humorlessly. “I know Aleixo has been studying the impact of stress and shock on phoenixes who took longer to shift.”

Destiny nods pensively. “I’d really like to talk to this Aleixo. He sounds very informed.”

I notice my fingers are tapping a frantic rhythm. I force myself to stop. “Crooked teeth” I bark a little too gruffly, as I picture the doctor’s perfect smile and smooth ways. “Terribly rude, too.” Before she can object, I quickly change subjects. “So what did you do to satisfy your need? It must’ve been weird, for a country girl who knew nothing about the supernatural.”

“My parents already thought I was part crazy,” she says with a small, distant grin, “and that just confirmed it for me. But as I said, most visitors came for the outdoors, and some of them…” Her smile grows wider, and I can tell this is something she still revisits with fondness. “Well they enjoyed paragliding.”

“Humans really come up with weird contraptions to mimic us,” I snort as pictures of nylon wings fill my mind.

Destiny gives me a dirty look. “I don’t see what’s so funny. It’s a real sport, you know. Has its own tournament in the World Games.”

“All I know about that competition is that it’s not the Olympics.”

There’s no way I can’t chuckle at the indignation on her face. “You’re a bit of a snob aren’t you?” She snaps at me, much to my amusement. “Most people don’t magically sprout a pair of wings, so those of us who love the wind have to find their own ways.” She sends me a side glance. “Are you surprised I partook in an extreme sport?”

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