The Weight of a Wing (The Stolen Wings Book 1) (14 page)

When the sun went down over the mountain peaks, the
temperature dropped considerably. Yet, even if they only wore t-shirts and no
jackets, the pace imposed by the Guardians didn’t allow them to feel the cold.

“Don’t they ever get tired?” Cassie whispered to Alise.

“Not from walking,” she replied grimly.

There had been a time when the walk wouldn’t have bothered
her, either, but the lack of magic had weakened her. She sighed, trying not to
think about it at least for a few minutes. It didn’t work.

“Finally!” Sarah said when they made it back to the cottage.
“We were starting to worry about you. If anything had happened, we wouldn’t
have known it. There’s bad reception in the area, and the house phone is dead.”

Mark, who was setting up the grill, raised his head. “It was
working when we arrived. I checked. I don’t know what happened. I’ll have to
send someone to take a look when we return to the city,” he said. “Everyone all
right? How was the walk?”

“Fine,” Cassie said. “A little disappointing,” she added,
but cheered up quickly. “We brought gifts!” She opened her backpack to show
them the mushrooms.

“Oh, nice…” Sarah peeked inside. “Are you sure they’re
edible?” she asked as someone only familiar with the canned type.

Cassie nodded. “Yeah. I’ve eaten mushrooms like these plenty
of times. Besides, Alise should know. It’s her specialty.”

Alise barely managed to stop her eyes from opening wide.
After the separation, the worlds had not evolved in the same way. There were
huge variations in flora and fauna on both sides, and she was not a botanical
scientist. How could she know for sure? But since Cassie seemed to be
convinced, Alise settled for a nod.

Mark came to take a closer look. “Nice.”

“Okay. Let’s wash them,” Sarah said. “How do we cook them?
On the grill?”

“No. Omelet is better,” Cassie said and followed her inside
with the backpack.

Not too far away on the lawn, the Guardians worked on
lighting a big fire. “What’s a man supposed to do around here to get a drink?”
Rafe asked, his arms full of logs from the side of the house. “We ran out of
water hours ago, and the girls didn’t let us drink from the streams.”

In fact, he had been the one who insisted they not drink
from them in case the water was affected by the Mermaid’s presence.

“Really?” Mark gave him a curious look. “That doesn’t sound
like Cassie. I wouldn’t drink from the river, but the streams should be clean
enough. There’s no industry in the area to pollute them.”

“Well, that doesn’t help me now. I’m still parched.”

“Then you’ll have to find someone to get you one.” Mark
smirked, his eyes moving over to Alise.

“Yes, sir!” Alise mocked a salute.

Rafe grinned wickedly. “Oh, I like when she calls me that.”

Bad mistake. Alise passed by him and handed the drink to
Vale. He thanked her with a small smile and smirked at Rafe. Someone needed to
learn to keep his mouth shut.

Rafe didn’t react, but as she went to refill Mark’s glass,
he ran his hand down her back. The small gesture might have appeared gentle to
outsiders, but it froze Alise. She turned her head to watch him with eyes
slightly wider as magic ran through her. What did he think he was doing?

“Please?” The quiet request would have been innocent if
there hadn’t been that twinkle of mischief that glinted in his eyes. Nothing
was innocent when it came to Rafe.

Coming out with a pile of plates from the kitchen and seeing
them grouped around the stack of wood with no flames in sight, Cassie stopped
to ask, “Is the wood wet? Do you need some gasoline?”

“No, we’re fine,” Rafe said with his typical smile. Just
like regular human males, the Guardians were not good at accepting help. “Vale,
why don’t you go and help Cassie set the table?” Lowering his voice, he said,
“Keep her busy. I’ll finish here.”

Vale bounded to his feet, catching up with the girl before
she reached the table, taking the plates from her.

“Oh, thank you,” she cooed.

Mark followed their interaction with interest, so Cassie
added a smile. Vale’s back stiffened, and he went ahead. Confused, she walked
after him.

“Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise.” Rafe smirked. Bending over the
logs, he held his hands out with his palms open for a couple of seconds. There
was a white sparkle, and a shy flame danced between the logs before enveloping
them whole.

“Most people would have used matches,” Alise said.

“I would have, too, if I hadn’t been in a hurry to get
something to drink,” he replied.

“Drinks are over there.” She gestured towards the table.
“And there’s also the river.” She smirked back.

“Only if you’re coming with me. I wouldn’t want to drown.”

“You forget I don’t like water.”

“And we all know why.” Rafe had to have the last word.

Alise turned around and left him alone to enjoy his own
charming company.

“The steaks are done,” announced Mark. “Oh, and Sarah
insisted on getting fresh milk from the village, so there’s that to drink,
too.”

“Milk? From a cow?” Rafe grimaced.

“It usually comes from cows,” Cassie said with an amused
smile. She had finished placing the plates around the table. “I forgot the
bread,” she told Vale, and he nodded and went in to get it.

Behind him, Rafe made some gagging noises.

“You don’t like milk?” Cassie asked him.

“Not if it comes from someone’s breast, I don’t.”

Mark looked up. “Anti-breast fetish?” he joked.

“Milk is meant to sustain life for newborns,” Vale
explained, returning with the bread. “It’s supposed to be sacred.” Or it was in
another world where life was considered a gift and births were rare, close to
non-existent.

Alise lowered her head. Yet another thing she had thought
she would never have to consider again. “Well, you can always drown your
sorrows in this.” She handed Rafe a glass containing strong liqueur.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” He smirked, taking it from
her.

“I would if I knew it would work.” Seeing Cassie arch an
eyebrow at the exchange, Alise stepped to the side, looking to busy herself
with something—anything.

“I could use a large plate over here!” Mark called out.

Cassie jumped to help. “One plate, coming up!”

They gathered around the table. It was set right off the
porch and close to the kitchen window so things could be fetched easily. It
benefited from plenty of light and flies, for that matter, as the dogs’
presence didn’t seem to intimidate the winged creatures.

“Guys, is this supposed to turn black?” Sarah held a frying
pan on the windowsill.

“What’s black?” Cassie hurried over to check. “Oh, dear…”

“What?” Mark asked.

“The onions are all black,” she said.

“That’s no good. It means there are some poisonous mushrooms
in there. Better throw the whole thing away,” Mark told Sarah. “We have plenty
of food here.”

“I can’t believe she tried to poison us,” Rafe said in a low
voice.

Cassie turned around. “I don’t think she did it on purpose…
Did she?”

Rafe didn’t answer. He shook his head and muttered under his
breath. Cassie looked at Vale, who calmly shrugged, but she could tell he was
just as concerned as Rafe. Alise didn’t have an answer, either. She had felt no
odd vibes coming from the woman, but she couldn’t count on her instincts when
it came to that.

“Anyone care to help with the salad?” Sarah called, and Rafe
went to grab the large bowl.

They settled down and focused on the food for a while. Once
again, the steaks were done just right. Praises were given to the two chefs.
Sarah tried to tone down her merit since she had only been in charge of the
salad, which was hard to screw up, but she enjoyed the compliments.

While they were debating whether they still had room for
dessert, the first slap echoed in the night. “Ouch.” Cassie winced and rubbed
the spot on her arm. “I hate mosquitoes. Why don’t they bite you, too?” she
whined.

“Different blood type,” Alise said before either of the
Guardians came up with a more detailed explanation and raised even more
questions. Another slap. This time, it was Mark.

“Easy, darling. You’ll give yourself a bruise,” Sarah said,
crossing and uncrossing her legs under the table. The long pants she wore
didn’t protect her much. The mosquitoes bit through the fabric, particularly
attracted to the sunscreen she had put on earlier in the day.

Alise counted to five before Rafe got up and held out his
hand to her. “Let’s help the—” she feared he’d say humans, “—most unfortunate
ones.” He winked.

She didn’t take his hand, but she did follow him to a darker
corner of the patio. She kneeled down and ran her fingers through the grass.
“You couldn’t help it, could you?” she teased him.

“It’s in my genes,” he said.

A ray of pulsing light lit the spot in front of them—Rafe’s
blade, partially hidden by his shirt. She could have found the herbs with her
eyes closed, but she was grateful for a bit of light. She wasn’t used to the
darkness. In their world, there was always a full moon at night; on this side,
she had mainly lived in a big city where darkness was hardly ever a problem
with so many artificial lights. The down side was that she rarely got to see
the stars. Out here, the sky was full of them.

“While you are gazing at the stars, there are some people
who could really use your help,” Rafe said.

The same stars reflected in his eyes, making them glow
brighter. She found she couldn’t stand holding his gaze, so she lowered her
eyes. There it was! Her fingers ran into the plant she needed. They also ran
into Jerry’s cold nose, who was busy sniffing the grass, too. She plucked a few
leaves and rubbed them in her palm. The air surrounding them filled with a
fresh scent of rain and ozone.

Rafe offered her his hand to help her up, which she did with
ease. They walked to the burning logs, and she tossed the leaves into the fire.
For a second, the smoke turned white, but no one else seemed to notice.

Quietly, they returned to the table. Instead of going for
the chair, Rafe leaned against the porch, pulling Alise into his arms. Her body
tensed, rebelling against the entrapment, but he murmured into her ear, “Shhh…
You did good.”

Mark eyed them with a pensive look on his face, so she
forced her muscles to relax. They had to preserve appearances and display some
sort of intimacy if they wanted anyone to believe they were a couple.

“What did you do?” Sarah asked and rubbed her hands along
her arms. “They seem to have gone away.”

Cassie looked over her shoulder at her friend and said with
pride, “Alise is a plant expert. She can make you anything you want. She fixed
my hair. See?” She ran her fingers through her curls and found them free of
knots.

“Can she help me dye my hair without going to the
hairdresser every six weeks?”

“I bet she can!”

The girls launched into a long series of beauty tips, which
the men answered with chuckles and funny remarks. Alise sighed and leaned back
against Rafe’s chest. It had been a long day. Rafe pulled his arms tighter
around her, his hold gentle but firm. Surrounded by his warmth and all that
magic, she felt her eyes drooping.

She was brought awake by a lightning zig-zagging across the
sky, heading somewhere over the mountains. The thunder followed shortly after.
The dogs huffed. When had the sky gotten covered in clouds? The hairs prickled
on the back of her neck.

“This can’t be good,” Rafe muttered.

“We better move inside,” Mark said.

The only sounds echoing inside the living room were the rain
tapping against the roof and Rafe’s footsteps. His pacing agitated the dogs,
who lay near the cold fireplace, careful to keep their paws out of his way.
Mark and Sarah had gone to the bedroom in the attic, leaving the “kids” to fend
for themselves downstairs where, instead of preparing for bed, they held a
strategy meeting.

It was close to midnight, but none of them were sleeping.

“We must have missed something,” Rafe grumbled to himself.

Cassie stirred on the sofa. “What could we have missed?” she
asked quietly, as if not wanting to disturb his thoughts.

He turned to her. “Not you.
We
have. This is what we
do. We should be better at this. We have literally been doing it for ages.” He
didn’t smile. He was serious for once. Too serious.

Leaning against a cabinet, Vale crossed his arms. “This is
different. It’s a different territory.”

“We’ve hunted here before,” Rafe said.

Vale shook his head. “Not Wizards.” Confronted with Cassie’s
puzzled look, he said, “They don’t like to cross over and relinquish too much
of their power.”

“Still, this one has. What’s his name?” Rafe asked Cassie.

“Fabian.”

“If we get to him, we can get to Gorem,” Rafe said.

“Yes, but we
can’t
get to him, not if he stays in
between timelines. And you blasted him out to who knows where,” Vale said.
“There’s no guarantee his hideaway is in the same place as Gorem’s. Given the
way he acts, he might not allow Fabian to get close to him for security
reasons.”

Rafe stopped to consider it, frowning. “Nate could find
him.” Given the look of uncertainty on his face, he didn’t think it was the
best solution, but it was the only one they had. “He can find both of them.
He’s done it before.”

“He found
me
,” Vale said. “On a good day, he can find
you, too, provided he’s in a good mood and he doesn’t mind you scolding him too
much. But finding people is not what he does, and time jumping is not always
reliable. We can’t count on that.”

“Actually, I saw him there before Vale came in,” Cassie
said.

Rafe pointed at the girl. “See?”

Vale rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t
know how he does it. Maybe we should figure that out first…” He frowned and
shifted position.

“We can’t. We’re on a mission,” Rafe said. “We can’t cross
back.”

“Then how do you suggest we get in touch with him?” Vale
asked. “It’s not like we have a phone service we can use.”

“No spells for that?” Cassie’s innocent question made Alise
laugh.

“To deliver a message to the other side? Right under the
Council’s nose?” Rafe made a face. “I don’t think so.”

“Assuming he’s still there…,” Vale said.

 “Where else could he be?” Rafe asked. “If he escaped, he’d
come to us. It’s the best chance to get into some action, and he wouldn’t miss
that.” He opened his arms widely. “Do you see him anywhere?”

No one answered. Rafe was so worked up, it made Cassie look
at him warily. And for what? Because they hadn’t been able to find a Mermaid?
They weren’t even sure that finding one would help. It was just something to do
until the next attack came.

“If he can find them,” Cassie said hesitantly, “maybe it’s
worth a try…”

Vale spoke, “We’d have to cross over and try to get to him
first. If we crossed over, we’d have to take her with us.” He nodded in Alise’s
direction. “And if we do that…” His voice trailed off, and he looked at Rafe.

Alise shuddered on the sofa. Things had changed. She wasn’t
an outcast anymore. Something must have happened in her absence to make her
such an important piece of the puzzle. She could tell from the way they spoke.
Gorem was going down, and that was a good thing, but it wouldn’t stop the pain.

Alerted by the looks exchanged, Cassie asked, “What will
happen to her if she crosses back?”

“Will you
stop
that?” Rafe snapped at her. “I know
what you’re doing.”

“W–what? I’m not doing anything,” Cassie stammered.

“Of course you are.” This time, he accompanied the
accusation with a smile, and it wasn’t a nice one. “Your name is deceiving,
Cassandra. You don’t give people answers. You find your own. Whenever you ask a
question, you get your answer. I’ve seen you doing it. You’ve done it to me and
to him.” He glanced at Vale, who nodded.

“I didn’t do that,” Cassie whispered.

“You did it to that shepherd and that woman today, too.
People can’t withhold information from you. They’re forced to tell the truth.
You
make
them do that.”

Cassie shook her head and whimpered, “Alise…?”

Alise closed her eyes for a second and let out a sigh. “It’s
true, Cassie. You do have that gift.”

“But … how? Why?”

“It’s simple. Someone put a spell on you.” Rafe narrowed his
eyes at Alise. “I wonder who.”

“Who?” Cassie repeated.

Alise hesitated. Should she tell her? Since she had now
become aware of the gift, it didn’t hurt if the girl knew the truth. “Years
ago, a little girl in a pink dress with flowers in her hair was dancing in a
field. She was so cute that a Fairy passing by wanted to give her something to
help her in life, and this ability was the best thing she could come up with.”

“You…,” Cassie whispered in awe. “But I thought that was a
dream. You look nothing like her.”

“In order to fit in better, we prefer to change our
appearance when we cross over.” Glancing at Rafe, she said, “Sometimes we
don’t.” She didn’t feel the extra layers of concealing magic on him like the
ones surrounding Vale.

“I…” Cassie’s mouth opened and closed, not knowing what to
say. “Thank you … I guess.”

Alise nodded and settled back against the sofa. This wasn’t
over. The girl was in shock, but there would be more questions later. She was
sure of that.

“I’m glad we cleared this up,” Rafe said. “Now, can we get
back to the main issue here? What did we miss?” Vale’s eyelids lowered over his
green-gray eyes, his calm gaze refusing to let Rafe’s agitation get to him.
“There’s a strong magical undercurrent here, but it’s trapped deep beneath the
ground. It shouldn’t be so strong if it’s been there for a long period of time
like the thickness of the above layers suggest. But what if it hasn’t?” He
stopped to think about it. “The poisonous mushrooms, the mosquito’s assault,
the storm… They all seem counterfeit. A decoy?”

“A decoy for what?” Rafe asked.

“Something must be happening…”

“At night…,” Cassie said. “The woman said it’s dangerous to
spend the night out, but this isn’t known to be a dangerous area. She warned
us…”

“Because something
else
is happening…” Rafe nodded.
“Something out of her control. Which means…” He stared at Vale.

“She’s not who she appears to be,” Vale said.

 “And if she knows something…” Rafe paused.

“We need to talk to her again. We need to go back,” Vale
said.

“Bingo!”

“It’s a trap,” Alise said. “She, or whoever is behind this,
wants
you to go back there.”

“It’s definitely a trap,” Rafe said, “but because Cassie was
the one doing all the talking, she was forced to tell the truth. There really
is
danger at night.”

“And, of course, now that you know there is, you’ll run into
it head first.” Alise grimaced. Their plan was doomed to fail. After all that
had happened, they
still
didn’t know with whom they were dealing.

“Now that we know, we’ll be prepared. We have the upper
hand.”

“Like you did at the university?” Alise said sarcastically.

“We have to go,” Vale said, cutting short the conversation
when Rafe opened his mouth to argue. “We can’t let the evil come to us and have
innocent people get hurt.” He glanced towards the ceiling where Mark and Sarah
were hopefully already asleep. “We must go to them.”

“And we will.” Rafe grinned, as if he enjoyed the idea of a
fight.

Vale pulled away from the cabinet and checked his blades.

Cassie moved to get off the sofa, mumbling, “Okay. Let’s
go…”

“No.” Rafe grabbed her arm and made her sit back down.
“You’re not going. You stay here.”

“But … you need me there! You need me to get the truth…
Alise, tell him.” Cassie turned her pleading eyes to her friend.

In one fluid motion, Alise left the sofa. “Will she be safe
here?”

“We’ll put a seal on the building,” Rafe said. “It should
hold until we return.”

“And if we don’t?”

“Then they won’t need that kind of protection anymore. The
matter would be settled.”

It sounded final, but it didn’t stop Alise from following
the Guardians to the door. Maybe she hadn’t caused this, but she was part of
it. One way or the other, it had to end.

Stay,
she ordered the dogs.
Protect her.

“Why is
she
going then?” Cassie whined. They turned
to look at her, but no one said a word. “Because she’s bait,” she murmured to
herself.

The door closed in her face.