The Weight of a Wing (The Stolen Wings Book 1) (16 page)

Her first sensation was that of cold. Alise curled up under
the covers and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to wake. For once, she
didn’t want to face a new day. Regardless of her struggle to push the memories
away, they tickled the edge of her conscious mind. She remembered the fog, the
Mermaid, and the burning pain of the bite.

With a gasp, she kicked the covers off and pulled up the
shirt to reveal her waist. The wound was closed, a dark patch festering inside.
Gray vines looking like messy stained glass artwork grew from it, heading for
her chest, back, and hip, pinned in place by the poison and unable to move or
fade away.

“In this rate, I’ll soon be running out of shirts,” Rafe
said from the chair at the foot of the bed where he played with his blade. The
metal glinted in the sunlight coming from the window. “You might want to chip
in.”

Alise stared at him with horrified eyes. “What did you do?”

“I kept you alive.” The answer came in a clipped voice.

“You closed it!”

He shrugged. “It was either that or let you bleed to death.”

“The poison got trapped inside! Do you know what it does to
a person?”

“Of course I know what it does,” he muttered, avoiding her
eyes.

“It brings hallucinations … madness … and death.” Alise
listed them all, pausing after each symptom. “I’ve survived losing my wings, I
escaped Gorem, but now I’m going to die because of a Mermaid bite? Just great!”
She tossed her hands up in the air and let her head fall back onto the pillow.

Rafe didn’t speak right away, but when he did, his voice was
low and determined. “We can find a cure.”

“Not here.”

“We’ll look for one on the other side. There’s
always
a cure.”

Alise shook her head, her eyes boring into him.

“Hey, if you want to die, be my guest.” Rafe tossed the
blade on the bed next to her leg.

Alise pulled her knee away as if the shiny blade could burn
her through the sheets.

“Or I could call Vale. He’s already offered to do it.”

“Why didn’t you let him?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Because—” Rafe propped his elbows on his knees and leaned
forward, looking pointedly at her, “—in spite of everything that has happened,
it seems you’re still pretty keen on living. And wouldn’t you like to see Gorem
pay for his crimes?”

Alise didn’t answer.

“Okay then.” Rafe got up and retrieved his blade. “Since
we’re here, get out of bed and try to come up with an explanation for why we’ve
been gone all day.”

* * *

It was past noon when they walked out of the storage room.
Vale waited by the door while Cassie stood on the porch to make sure the others
didn’t walk in. Given the smell of burned fat that had invaded the cabin, Mark
had to be working on the grill again. They heard faint voices, so Sarah was
with him.

“Hey. How are you feeling?” Cassie rushed into the cabin.

“I feel fine, considering…,” Alise said. Except for the dull
ache in her side—and even that was receding as the poison spread evenly
thorough her body—she felt fine. If it kept her functional, she couldn’t ask
for more.

“She owes me another shirt,” Rafe said. “And sheets. And
possibly a mattress, too. Bloodstains are hard to remove. Oh, and my healing
stone got a bit of indigestion from that poison, so it demands compensation.”

“Fine,” Alise said, just to make him be quiet. “I’ll pay you
back on the other side.”

“In nature?” A leer passed over Rafe’s face, but it was only
on the surface. Concern filled his eyes.

Alise mocked a grin that she let vanish as soon as it
appeared. She had more important things on her mind. “Listen up, boys.” Vale
rolled his eyes at being called “boy”. Rafe frowned, put on guard by her tone.
“Since it’s obvious your plans don’t work,” Alise said, “I’m going to tell you
about
my
plan.”

Cassie’s eyes flickered nervously between the two of them as
if fearing an outburst.

“I’m all ears.” Rafe lowered his head and raised his eyes to
stare at Alise.

“Cassie and I are going home,” Alise said with a
determination that had been absent for a long time. “We’ll leave right after
lunch, so we have time to clean up the apartment. We’ll take the car. We can
give you a ride back into town, you can stay here and fraternize with Mark over
more beer … or you can walk.” She shrugged her shoulders letting them know she
didn’t care either way.

Oddly enough, Cassie stepped forward first. Her hands were
held tight at her side. “Will you be safe?”

“Safer than in
their
company.” Alise nodded towards
the Guardians. “At least there are no Mermaids in town.”

“I wouldn’t say the same thing about monsters,” Rafe said.

“Gorem can’t create monsters,” she replied. “He can’t do
much by himself. That’s why he needs others to do his dirty work. He used
Fabian to track me down here, and you to get me to the Mermaid. But now Fabian
is gone, and it will take him at least a few more days to pull himself together
if he survived. And without his protection, if you two hadn’t wasted your time
chasing dead Mermaids, you would have found Gorem by now.”

“Is she telling us how to do our job?” Rafe turned to Vale.

Vale shook his head. “No, she’s got a point.”

“Thank you,” Alise said.

“Our chances to catch him have exponentially increased.”
Vale tapped his foot on the floor. “If we don’t have to worry about keeping her
safe—”

“Good. I’m glad we all agree.” Alise placed her hands on her
hips. “I’ll be at the apartment if you need me.”

Rafe’s eyebrows rose. “If?”

“Well, I was thinking maybe he’d put up a good fight, and
you’d be forced to kill him.” A cold smile twisted her lips. “Wouldn’t that be
nice?”

“Don’t you want to see him punished?”

Alise pondered over the question. “Let’s just say the
thought of him dying doesn’t keep me awake at night. Him being alive, in any
world,
does
. And now, if you excuse me, I’m starving.” She headed for
the door.

“Is she always like this?” Vale asked Cassie. “Or is it the
poison talking?”

“I have no idea.” After pursing her lips, Cassie chuckled.
“But she’s so much fun!”

The quiet sound of Rafe’s footsteps stalked Alise into the
yard. She hadn’t made it to the table before he grabbed her arm, pulling her
towards him. “You
will
stay at the apartment,” he told her in a low
voice, not bothering to disguise the fact that it was an order.

“Yes.” Alise returned his gaze without flinching. “Unless
Cassie kicks me out, that’s what I intend to do.”

He peered into her eyes as if searching for a lie. “You
better. If you try to run again, I will find you no matter where you go. You
know I will.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Alise murmured. “If I’m going to
die, I’ll do it on my terms. Until then, I plan to live.” She pulled away from
him and went to the table to fetch herself a cold drink. The poison and the
heat made her blood boil.

“It’s not so bad,” Cassie said when they entered the
apartment. The monster goo had dried and turned into dirty white dust gathered
in small piles on the floor, migrating towards the corners of the room as if it
was trying to escape, the same way it had in Mark’s kitchen.

Alise was glad the girl couldn’t see the residue left on the
walls and any other object touched by the monster blood. No wonder the
Guardians hated the place. It reeked of burned magic. She wiped her forehead
with the back of her hand and looked at her surroundings. She should have felt
some repulsion at the gruesome sight, but she couldn’t be bothered. Maybe her
mind was already affected by the poison. Otherwise, why would she have decided
to clean up the mess instead of simply moving on and finding a more convenient
place to live?

She plunged the sponge into the lukewarm, soapy water and
returned to scrubbing the wall. She might not want to admit it, refusing to
think about it, but moving out was too much hassle and, subconsciously or not,
she was preparing Cassie for what was about to come. Her time was limited.

At the opposite side of the bedroom, Cassie was cleaning the
window. “Alise…?”

“Mmm?” Alise muttered, prepared for a new round of
questions. From the corner of her eye, she saw the girl turn to look at her.
Here
we go
.

“Why did you put that spell on me? I mean, you don’t have to
answer if you don’t want to,” she added quickly, “but I would really like to
know.”

“Don’t worry. It doesn’t work on me.”

Cassie smiled slightly. “Okay … So?”

Alise smiled sadly at the empty wall in front of her. Such
fond and distant memories. “You were the first human child I had met, and you
were so beautiful and full of life…” She winced and stretched her back then
squeezed in the narrow space between the bed and the dresser. “Actually, you
were the first child I had ever seen,” she muttered and returned to scrubbing.

“There are no kids where you come from?” Cassie sounded more
than a little surprised.

“Not anymore. There hasn’t been a birth in over two thousand
years.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah… Nature has a way of balancing things, I guess.”

“You mean because you don’t die?”

“Something like that.” She didn’t tell her about the slowly decreasing
population. Cassie had a big heart, and there were plenty other issues for her
to worry about. She didn’t need to care about a whole other world, too.

Keeping this in mind, Alise pushed the nightstand out of the
way and dragged the water basin over. The bed sheets and cover lay in the
middle of the floor, infused with monster dust and beyond saving, along with
several other small items in the same condition. At least this was her room,
not Cassie’s, so only her things had to be thrown away. The room was a mess,
but the damage to the corridor was minimum. The repair costs were not going to
affect Cassie’s bank account much, and they shouldn’t. She hadn’t brought this
on herself. Her only fault had been that she had a Fairy for a roommate.

“What were you doing here … if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I … umm…” Alise smiled again, although it was more
nostalgic and less relaxed this time. “I was here with someone. We weren’t
supposed to be together, so we crossed over to enjoy our time alone for a
little while.” She shrugged. “It seemed important at the time.”

“What happened?”

“He died.” Alise pressed her lips together. “It happens.”

“Did you love him?”

“I thought I did. I don’t know. It’s been a long time.”

The rag Cassie had been using to wipe the window missed
Alise’s back by a millimeter, hitting the wall instead.

“Hey. What was that for?” Alise turned, startled.

Cassie stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at her. “I
might not be able to make you tell the truth, but you could at least have the courtesy
not to lie to me.” The girl scowled at her. “You came into my life, pretended
to be my friend, and caused all this mess.” She gestured around her. “You owe
me the truth.”

“What do you want me to say?” Alise threw her hands up in
the air. “That I loved him? I did! And he was killed, and it hurt a hell of a
lot … almost as much as having your wings ripped off.” Of course, Cassie would
have no idea how that felt. “But life goes on, even for us magic people. Pain
fades, becoming bearable, and you get used to it. It’s the only way you manage
to survive.” She took in a deep breath. It hurt, which was unusual.

“Is that what you’ve been doing for the past four years? It
looks more like hiding to me,” Cassie said.

Alise threw the sponge into the basin, making the water
splash over the plastic edges. She leaned against the frame of the bed. “Losing
my wings was not only traumatizing emotionally but physically, too. A long
recovery was necessary, but once it became clear I was going to survive, I knew
I couldn’t live there anymore. The wings make us what we are. We’re nothing
without them … so I went to the Council and asked for permission to cross over.
Not everyone can do it, and even less people are allowed to come here. Mingling
with humans is not encouraged, unless there’s a good reason for it.”

“But they let you come…”

“Yeah. They probably thought that without my powers, it
would be easier to fit in,” Alise said, but it didn’t sound right to her own
ears. Her self-imposed exile had been too convenient, like a problem they
couldn’t solve; therefore, they had passed it on to someone else.

“They sent you to a slow but imminent death,” Cassie said,
her small fists clenching tightly. “You said you’d die without magic, right?”

“Die … like in sixty years or so.” It was a small
exaggeration as there was no way of telling how long it would take. “I would
become human, get old, and eventually die like everyone else does.”

“So you chose the only way death was available to you,”
Cassie said.

Alise stared at her then blinked. Was that what she had
done? “I chose peace and quiet, and the absence of pain. Over there, I hurt
continuously. When I’m here, I’m numb. What would you have chosen?”

Cassie lowered her eyes. A moment later, they shot back up.
“Why did you come to me?”

“I had nothing better to do, and it seemed like a good idea
to check on you. It turned out you needed someone to help you with the rent
so…” Alise sighed, shrugging. She was trying to be patient and answer Cassie’s
questions, but she was getting tired of it. Cassie would never understand. How
could she? They were too different, more than she could ever imagine.

But, somehow, the girl did. She stopped glaring and relaxed
her stance. “Okay. One more thing before we finish here,” she said, smiling
less vengefully. “You’re helping me with this because…?”

“Monster residue is bad for you … and for me.”

“You’re planning on staying then?”

Alise nodded. “For as long as I can, but you must
understand, Cassie. They will come back for me. If they capture Gorem alive, they’ll
need me to testify against him.”

“Well, I hope they kill him.”

This was not the kind of statement Alise would have expected
to hear coming from her friend. “Cassie, I might be a Fairy, but this is not a
fairytale. When people die, they stay dead. They don’t come back to life.”

Cassie briefly considered it. “Well, that’s too bad. For
what he did to you, he deserves to die … twice.”