The Weight of a Wing (The Stolen Wings Book 1) (15 page)

The rain made walking impracticable, but it also hid the
sound of the engine starting. Rafe headed straight to the car the moment they
walked out of the cabin, and they left without waking anyone.

With the Guardians occupying the front seats, Alise sat
frozen in the back, paralyzed with dread and fear. She felt caught in the
middle of a train wreck about to happen, and she couldn’t get off. She wasn’t
running the show, and she wasn’t allowed to divert from the script. Disaster
was imminent. Silent witness to her internal struggle, Cassie’s face, pale and
distressed under the lightning, watching them from the window as they drove
away, was haunting her.

The GPS had no signal, but the map showed a narrow road that
snaked through the mountains, emerging on the other side. They had to head back
to the village and turn right. Rafe took the twists and turns of the road at
full speed, not worried about incoming traffic—luckily, there was none—or bad
weather. With the tires slipping on the wet pavement, the car nearly flew off
the road a couple times, but Rafe’s firm hand kept it under control.

“We’re going too far west,” Vale said. “The clearing was
right in between the mountains.”

“I know.” Rafe slowed down. “I’m looking for a road to take
us there.”

They couldn’t even find a walking trail.

“There wasn’t any road marked on the map,” Vale said. “And
the ground is too wet for the car to make it through the forest. We’d better
walk.”

By the time Rafe parked the car on the side of the road, the
rain had turned into a soft drizzle. The Guardians were back to wearing their
leather gear, having materialized on them out of thin air before leaving, but
Alise only had a light jacket on. She wrapped it tighter around her, preparing
to face the cool air outside.

“You okay?” Rafe asked when she got out of the car.

“I won’t melt.”

She didn’t have wings to worry about. The humidity made the
clothes cling unpleasantly to her skin, and while she wasn’t a big fan of rain,
a bit of water hadn’t ever hurt anyone. Their destination, along with what was
going to happen once they got there, concerned her more. It was dark, so there
were no stars, and no sense of direction. A thick blanket of gray clouds lay
low, covering the earth and giving her a claustrophobic feeling.

Lightning lit up the sky and struck ahead of them, followed
shortly by a loud clap of thunder that hurt their eardrums. Through gritted
teeth, Rafe showed a feral grin. “Good. We’ll follow the lightning.”

It didn’t lead them on the easiest path, but it did show
them the way. A half-dozen lightning strikes later, they reached their target.
The clearing awaited. It was empty and spooky-looking in the low pulsing,
purple light surrounding it.

The rain had stopped, and the air became hot and heavy,
pushing them farther into the clearing. At least no more water dripped on them
from the trees above.

“Here fishy-fishy,” Rafe sing-songed, but no one showed.

The Guardians exchanged a look. Whoever had called them
there was not going to make their appearance until they had them where they
wanted them. Rafe nodded, and Vale took a tentative step forward. “Strong
magic, but I don’t feel anything meant to bind us here,” he said.

“Cocky bastard… So sure we won’t want to run,” Rafe
muttered. “Okay. Let’s get it over with.” He sighed and signaled for Alise to
stay close.

Vale advanced towards the middle of the clearing, so they
followed him.

“We’re here! Where are you?” Rafe called out.

“Here.”

The whisper came from the opposite end of the clearing,
traveling with difficulty through the thick air. A silhouette emerged from the
shadows. It appeared to be a woman … until it got closer and they noticed the
tail. She had a serpent-like motion that helped her advance smoothly over the
grass, while her head remained at eye level. She had to have at least a
two-meter long tail, but the long, limber limbs and daunting eyes stood out the
most.

“There
was
a Mermaid,” Rafe murmured to himself.

“There was,” the Mermaid spoke, flashing sharp teeth, “until
someone traveled back in time and drained my lake.”

“That’s what happens when you deal with Gorem.” If he felt
any hint of compassion for her, Rafe’s voice didn’t show it. “Though I’ve heard
it can be much worse.”

“Gorem? No, his Wizard did it. But yes, it is much worse.”
She advanced a little more. Inside their orbits, her eyes were deep pools of
darkness.

“Well, as sorry as we might feel for you, those poisonous
mushrooms… Cheap trick!”

She smirked. “I had to catch your attention somehow, didn’t
I?”

“You could have talked to us. That’s what we came here for.
To warn you. But you
had
to make it personal.”

“When isn’t it personal?” It was a rhetorical question.
“Besides, it was already too late. My lake is gone.”

“So find another one.”

“Too late. It’s been gone for two hundred years. I’m just
waiting for the time ripple effect to catch up with me here. Ask your questions
fast. It can happen at any time.”

That last statement hit a nerve. Even in the purple
lighting, Rafe’s face lost some of its color. “Fine. What did Gorem want? Why?
Did he get it?”

“Good questions.” The Mermaid nodded pensively. “One answer
I do not know, one is irrelevant, and you’ll find out the other soon…”

“Not good enough.” Rafe shook his head and signaled for Vale
to make his move.

Vale lunged from behind. Without actually seeing him, the
Mermaid dodged his assault, swaying graciously to the left as if moving through
water. She breathed out, and the air crystallized around her, forming hazy
clouds that spread out. In a matter of seconds, they enveloped the entire
clearing.

Alise could barely see two steps ahead of her. And she was
alone. Lights and shadows flickered through the mist, but it was impossible to
tell who or where they were exactly. “Rafe?” she called out quietly, not sure
it was a good idea to disclose her location.

“Alise?”

“Rafe?”

“Vale?”

“Alise?”

The muffled voices echoed in the distance. Alise wished she
had the power to dissipate the fog that clouded her sight. Once upon a time,
she might have been able to do something about it. The Guardians couldn’t. They
were all for fair fights and such, but the Mermaids often used the fog to hide.
It wasn’t just hard to see in. It was hard to breathe in, too.

Panic crept in when she caught a glimpse of a silhouette
that matched Rafe’s size heading her way. She had completely missed the attack
coming from the ground. Long arms reached out through the mist and grasped at
Alise’s arms, incapacitating her movement. The Mermaid’s face, stripped of all
beauty and looking like a grotesque mask, came closer, swaying like the head of
a snake.

“This isn’t my will,” she hissed, her voice raspy and
hoarse. “I’m sorry. He makes me do this. He already took everything from me.”

The last words resonated somewhere deep inside her. It was a
feeling she knew all too well. The loss of identity and purpose, the bleak
future that lay ahead. Alise tried not to let it get to her. Gorem could make
people do awful things. She was the living proof of that. The Mermaid was the
lucky one here. Her troubles would all end soon. What did she want from her?
She didn’t want to know.

Alise looked over the Mermaid’s head, wishing for Rafe to
get there more quickly. His blades glowed faintly through the haze. “Rafe!” she
yelled for help.

The Mermaid glanced back. He was there, his blade raised,
prepared to strike. Then he hesitated for a split second, and that was long
enough for the Mermaid to sink her teeth in Alise’s side. The blades came down
too late. Hot, maddening pain ran through Alise’s body from her waist all the
way to her toes, to the tips of her wings that she didn’t have anymore.

The Mermaid wailed and let go of her stunned victim. The
blades had slashed her body open. She turned to Rafe. “Your third question?”
she whispered through bloody lips.

“Did he get what he wanted?”

“He got it
now
…”

As her voice faded away, her eyes lost their focus, and her
body went limp, falling to the ground. Rafe made no attempt to catch her. He
was staring at Alise, who stood unusually still in the retreating fog, pressing
her hands to her side. Blood dripped through her fingers.

Vale caught her before she collapsed.

The cottage’s front door burst open, and Cassie ran down the
front steps. “What happened?”

Leaving the engine running, Rafe jumped out of the car and
hurried to the backseat to pull out an unconscious Alise.

“Oh, my God. Is she hurt?” Cassie fretted around them,
trying to get a closer look.

Vale grabbed her by the arm to keep her out of the way.
“Stay back,” he ordered in a low voice, with an intensity she didn’t dare
cross.

Next to him, Rafe looked scary, like someone who had been to
hell and back and had found nothing to return to. He looked right through
Cassie as he passed by her. She paled at the sight of all the blood that
covered her friend. Rafe didn’t seem to care that he was getting it all over
his clothes as he carried her into the house, leaving a red trail behind. Alise
lay limp in his arms, head and arms hanging without support. All that blood…

 “What happened?” Cassie gasped and struggled to keep up
with him.

“The Mermaid bit her,” Vale said as he went ahead to clear
the way.

“I thought she was supposed to be on our side?”

“We were past that point.”

“You should have protected her! You said you would!”

“We tried, but…”

* * *

Rafe wasn’t aware of anything happening around him. He just
knew he had to get Alise inside. He crossed the spacious living room with his
precious cargo, heading for the closest door—the storage room underneath the
staircase. Vale opened it for him, pressing his palm against it and drawing a
quick symbol. The walls of the blue room appeared on the other side of the
threshold.

“Do you need me in there?” Vale asked.

“No. Stay on guard out here,” Rafe said and stepped into the
room. The door closed behind him and as it did, the walls vibrated. The room
shortened and brought him closer to another threshold. The blue room wasn’t the
one he wanted. He needed his own room.

Without much ceremony, he dumped the body on the bed and
used his blade to slice open her clothes. Alise whimpered and stirred under his
touch. Rafe’s lips formed a straight line. Her entire right side was a bloody
mess. The poison had contaminated her system, spreading through her veins and
corrupting the magic paths on the way. The once golden vines looked like dark
smudges on her ashen skin.

Healing stone in one hand and blade in the other, Rafe
prepared himself for the tedious task of fixing her. He started to carve away.

* * *

“Well?” Cassie stared at Vale in front of the closed door.
“What happened out there? Why couldn’t you protect her? You look unharmed.”

Giving her a long look, Vale passed by her and went to fetch
the scotch and a glass from a shelf. With slow moves, he poured himself a drink
before answering. “We got separated by the fog. Then I was too far, and Rafe…”
He shook his head and drank from the glass. “He hesitated.”

“What do you mean he hesitated? Your job is to protect. And
I’ve seen him fight. Nothing can stand in his way!” Cassie vociferated.

“True … but it’s not that simple.”

“Explain.”

He toyed with the glass, fighting the impulse to speak, but
he couldn’t resist for long. “This is not all we are. It’s only a layer of our
… human selves.” He thought about the description, but he couldn’t come up with
a better one. “The thing is… With us being made to be so faithful, Guardians
mate for life … or until one of the partners’ life ends. It’s quite an
inconvenience because there’s few of us left, even fewer women Guardians, and
we’re all work driven…”

“You mean all Guardians are gay?” Cassie asked seriously.

“No.” He chuckled. “It means we have a tendency to fall in
love outside of our ranks. When it happens,” his voice turned bitter, “it’s
both a bliss and a curse.”

“What does this have to do with Rafe?”

“His last partner was a Mermaid.”

“Oh…”

“Her lake drained in a natural catastrophe, and she died in
his arms. It wasn’t easy for him.” Which meant it hadn’t been easy for Vale,
who had to witness Rafe’s grief while being unable to help. It wasn’t easy to
be a Guardian.

“That’s why he couldn’t kill this one…,” Cassie muttered.

“He
did
kill her. He sliced her in half. But he
hesitated, and it was too late. She had bitten Alise by then.”

“Then why did he still kill her?’

Vale took a sip from the glass and avoided her questioning
stare. “Like I said, we mate for life…”

* * *

Rafe was covered in blood. Everything around him was red.
The bed had turned into a sticky, strong iron-scented pool. His fingers danced
between organs, while his blade carved into Alise’s waist. The blood looked
normal at first, but if he waited long enough, it darkened again, signaling the
presence of the poison.

So he cut her and healed her again and again, hoping to get
as much of the poison out, although it soon became clear the healing stone was
no good with that. He still tried until there appeared to be no more blood left
to bleed.

He took one long look at Alise, murmuring, “I’m sorry.” He
pressed the healing stone against the wound one last time.

* * *

Cassie jumped to her feet when Rafe emerged from the blue
room and closed the door behind him with great care. “Is she all right?”

Rafe slowly walked to the table next to where Vale was
standing. He hadn’t bothered to change, and the sleeves of his shirt were
drenched in blood. He picked up the bottle and drank straight from it. “No.”

Vale looked up. “Is she dead?”

“No.”

It should have been good news, but instead of making Vale
happy, his face darkened. “Do you want me to put her down?” he offered after a
moment of thought.

“No.”

There was a long pause.

“You’re not doing her any favors.” Vale couldn’t let it go.
“The poison
will
kill her, and it will be a painful and miserable
death.”

“I know.” Rafe sighed and let himself fall on the couch. He
laid his head back and closed his eyes. “But we have a job to do…”