The Imitation Phantom

Chapter 8

Movement 2 - Opera

The Curtain Rises, A Man Falls

Erik watched the slow rise and fall of the sheets as Lunette slept peacefully beside him. It was probably somewhere near the afternoon but he couldn't be sure. He'd forgotten when the clock last chimed. While they were sure the children were at least a little worried, they hadn't quite worked up the motivation to leave yet. Most of the day had been spent here, talking, napping, planning how they would work out the tension between them.

Erik discovered, from one of their long talks during the night, that Alouette had given Lunette some trouble as well.

Considering that Lunette had run away from a murderer and into the arms of another, Alouette had called her a fool. Lunette had apparently taken it in stride. When Erik asked why she had decided to trust him in the first place, she confessed that he hadn't frightened her.

"I looked at Andre," she explained, "and saw a man who killed for the pleasure of it. But when I met you, I saw you were dangerous. I knew there was something wrong about you and when I realized who you were, I knew you were a man who has done many terrible things. But I didn't see a monster in you."

"What then?" He had shuffled closer under the sheets and stroked a hand down her side, stopping where her arm rested across her hip. His fingers drifted until they found hers and he intertwined them, curiously waiting for her answer.

"I saw a caged animal, to be honest." She shrugged. "You lashed out and you frightened people and you hated the world. I saw what the world had done to you and in light of that, what you did to it seemed almost reasonable."

"You didn't know then that I had been a mercenary like Andre." He remarked dryly. She shook her head. He knew it bothered her and that his quiet, almost natural ability to kill unsettled her to this day. "She forced me into it." He began slowly.

"Who?" Her brows drew together.

"Princess Alinejad." He looked up at her, deciding from the curiosity in her frown that it was safe to tell her yet another small facet of himself. He suspected he would never finish telling her. "A sultana in Persia. The Shah-in-Shah ordered Vahid to find me for her amusement and his work. I sang for her, I played. I built him a palace of tricks and secrets. My word was law and I was as good as king. But then I knew too much and Vahid was ordered to kill me. He let me go because I had been a friend to him." Sighing, he rolled onto his back. Lunette moved closer and laid halfway over him, her chin on his chest and her wide eyes watching him.

"So to Paris I came." His eyes fell closed as he sighed. "I liked Persia. And now that she's dead, I can return."

"Dead?"

He nodded. "Killed by a lover. Recently. Vahid can return as well. I wonder if he knows."

Lunette sighed and laid her cheek against his chest. She disliked talking about his past but she was always curious. Still, he had let the matter drop to give her some peace. But that was last night and he had made sure not to finish it on such a sour note. Exhausted and still ringing with pleasure from head to toe, he smiled to himself. He waited for her to wake up, realizing his life had truly never been better. He'd had his good times in Persia, before Alinejad. He'd loved building the Garnier and even his first few years living under it. But this happiness, this bone-deep contentment... He'd never had this. And he was throwing it all away, taking it for granted.

"Morning, handsome."

Erik raised a brow and looked over at Lunette. Her face was lined with marks from the pillows and her hair was a mess. She smiled into the pillow before shuffling closer, laying over him lazily.