Page 75 of The Wonder of You

Phoenix and I walk slowly over to the man in the white suit. I can’t help but admire how fancy he looks. He shakes hands with Henry and then a young woman who I don’t think I’ve met before, but who does look familiar. Gabriel makes an extra fuss over Maudie who smiles as he fluffs her hair. As we arrive, Lukas gently leads Maudie away from the group.

“Renée, Phoenix, pleasure to see you both.” Gabriel nods as he stretches out his hand. Phoenix bows his head as they shake hands.

“Nice to see you.” I smile as Gabriel kisses my hand rather than shakes it. I turn to the woman who looks about my age. She is tall with wildly long black hair andis covered in tattoos. I wish I could look at each one which is displayed like art on her body.

“And you,” I say as I stretch out my hand towards her.

She instantly smirks as Henry laughs beside me.

“I see your memory hasn’t fully returned yet,” she says in a husky voice, leaning forward and pinching my cheek as if I am a child. Phoenix rests his hand on my back as I stare at the woman in front of me longer. One minute, I am lost to whatever is going on. Next, it hits me square in the face, like a firework going off in my mind.

“Arabella!” I gasp.

She twirls on the spot, her hair whirling around her like a lion’s mane. She is beautiful, and so much younger than I could ever picture her.

“You’re only older in the mortal world because of the magic!” I remember. It makes so much sense. “And…wow! You’re stunning, absolutely stunning.”

She blows me a kiss which makes me giggle.

“You can say that again.” Henry winks at her which makes the whole group laugh, including Gabriel.

“I am sorry,” I tell him, feeling as if I am an employee being inappropriate in front of their strict manager. “I didn’t mean to interrupt this.”

“Oh, don’t you fret, I am here to check everything is okay.” Gabriel looks me over. Arabella starts explaining everything that has happened in the last one hundred years. Gabriel nods along, makingmmmnoises at the right moments. Every now and then, Henry chips in with his own information.

“That explains little Maudie.” Gabriel takes a deep breath and I feel Phoenix’s hand tighten around my waist as they speak about my death. Phoenix kisses the top of my head as I sink into his side.

Arabella flicks her hair behind her as she continues to tell Gabriel what led us to this very moment. She looks so confident and sure of herself.

“Sounds like an awful lot has happened, but you’ve fixed it up nicely. Thank you, Arabella. I am aware of some of the things that took place in the mortal world.” Gabriel glances at Henry. No fear or regret shows on his face as he undoubtedly remembers the mortal man he murdered. I try not to let my memories take me back there. I can feel the memories and the faces of that life fading already. I want it to stay that way.

“I am not here to discipline anyone, considering it is all sorted. The thing is though, there has been a lot of mess in the mortal world in recent years and despite how big that world may be, with all the different countries and people, both messes have ended up in the same small city.” He rubs his hand over his forehead, as if still recovering from the last incident he had to deal with. “So, my request now you’ve got everything under control and how you want it to be, is that you no longer go to the mortal world. At least not for a very long time.”

Everyone nods and doesn’t seem bothered by his request. Perhaps now that I am back here, no one is concerned about going to the mortal world any more. I must say, I am intrigued. The little city that Gabriel referred to was my hometown when I lived in the mortalworld. What else happened there? How did I miss it? Whatever happened couldn’t have caused that big of an issue. I am too tired for questions though, and a part of me doesn’t feel the desire to know. That life isn’t mine anymore.

“Is that understood, Arabella?”

Despite Gabriel’s stern words, his facial expression is soft. Arabella nods, which reminds me she is the only one of us in the group with access to the mortal world. She transferred us there for weeks at a time. No wonder why the magic put a strain on her. Gabriel leans closer to Arabella, but I hear his every word.

“You won’t tell you know who that you’ve had access to the mortal world all this time, will you?”

“Oh gosh, no, I don’t want that trouble as much as you don’t want it.” Arabella looks serious all of a sudden, as if she’s offended by the question. I have no idea what they are speaking about, but I know there are many things about this world that I don’t know and probably never will. Many of us are in the dark about certain aspects of the world, it sounds like it’s better that way in some cases though. I don’t believe it’s much different to the politics of the mortals. But I sigh with relief. Everyone is all smiles again and Gabriel moves onto the next topic in his mind.

“I don’t think there is much I can do about Maudie; I have always been strict about using any form of my powers on a child.” Gabriel looks curious as he watches Maudie playing tag with Lukas over the other side of the field.

“They don’t mind the situation,” Henry states. “I don’t believe Lukas would want to risk anything and Maudie is perfectly content as she is.”

“Can you confirm Renée is back to her true self?” Phoenix rushes, as if it’s something that has been on the tip of his tongue since Gabriel got here and he was unsure when his opportunity to ask would be. I didn’t realise he was concerned about this. I thought Arabella settled him, but perhaps he wants what he feels is real confirmation.

Gabriel looks at me a little too seriously for my liking. He raises a hand in front my face and I wonder what’s going to happen. The days have been filled with so much joy, but also so much conflict. There is always something to think about. Always some kind of storm after the calm. I just want the calm now. Gabriel drops his hand though.

“You are you, Renée. As you should be.”

Phoenix’s hand slides down my back as his shoulders loosen up. I feel relieved even though I didn’t consider the thought anyway.

Gabriel nods to us all and says his goodbyes before striding back into the woods.

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