The Weight of a Wing (The Stolen Wings Book 1) (3 page)

Cassie started for the elevator, but Rafe shook his head.
“No. They can suffocate you in there before you reach the next floor. We’ll
take the stairs.”

At times like these, Alise really missed her wings. While
they weren’t meant for flying
per se
, they could be of great help,
giving her the strength she lacked now. Seven flights of stairs were no game,
not while in a hurry and being chased by monsters. Blood pumped loudly in her
ears, and sweat dripped down her back as she ran, making her wounds sting.

As they arrived on the fifth floor, the elevator’s door
burst open. They had to slide around the giant mass pouring out of it to avoid
touching it. The monsters were slow but relentless because of their one-track
mind. For the time being, it was better to escape them than to waste time
destroying them. Rafe waited for the girls to pass by him then put the monster
out of its misery. This one didn’t explode but deflated like a balloon, letting
out a low whistle.

The noise brought an old woman to her door from across the
corridor.

Rafe yelled at her, “Stay inside, ma’am! There’s a robbery
going on in the building!”

The woman slammed the door shut.

For the neighbors living on the floor below, the locked
doors had provided no safety. When Alise got there, she found the entrance door
open and sand-like residue spread on the floor, a sign that Vale had already
been there. There was no time to wonder what had happened to the tenants. She
pushed Cassie forward and hoped for the best.

As they reached the third floor, a tentacle rushed around
the corner, straight towards Cassie. With Vale already heading down another
flight of stairs, too far away to be of any help, Alise and Rafe jumped ahead
and placed their hands on the thing. Alise’s palm tingled while the back of
Rafe’s hand flared, and the monster disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving
behind a thick scent of burning sand.

Rafe caught Cassie in his arms before she fell to the
ground. He held her up, waiting for her to regain her balance. “Nice.” He
grinned at Alise over the girl’s shaking shoulders. “Personally, I like to make
them suffer but, I gotta admit, this is neat. You should show me how you do it
sometime.”

“I prefer to send them back to their creator.” Alise’s smile
had nothing sweet in it. Whoever had made the monsters could handle them, but
it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Can you stand?” Rafe turned Cassie around and stared into her
eyes to make her focus on something other than an army of monsters.

Cassie blinked and managed a weak nod.

“Let’s move. We’re almost out.” He gave her an encouraging
smile and squeezed her arm, then pushed her forward.

They found Vale retreating up the stairs from the first
floor. “We can’t go that way,” he said. “The entire lobby is blocked by a solid
mass. It’s different than the ones up here. The magic doesn’t affect it as it
should. Blades do, but it would take us hours to cut a path through it.”

If the monster had grown this much and benefited from extra
protection, killing it would be much harder. Alise had neither the strength nor
the resources to tackle such a job, and they were running out of time. More
monsters, coming from above, could show up at any moment. They were trapped.

The Guardians looked around, but the corridor had no other
exit, only a big glass panel with an ornamental plant in front of it. Rafe
pulled the heavy pot to the side, and Vale used his blade to carve a hole in
the glass as if it was made of paper. They both leaned over the edge to look
out.

“If we hurry, we can make it,” Rafe said. “Vale, you go
first, and I’ll send them down to you.”

Without a word, Vale climbed out and jumped, disappearing
into the darkness.

“Come on. It’s just one floor,” Rafe called out, urging them
to do the same. “Vale will catch you!”      

Cassie needed help to climb out. After she dropped down to
Vale, it was Alise’s turn. She winced when Rafe’s hand touched her back. The
air rushed around her, and her back hit the ground with a thud.
Did he push
me
? She lay dizzily in a petunia flowerbed, staring up at the starry sky.

The air vibrated when Rafe landed soundlessly to her left.
“Hurry,” he whispered.

She got up while he rushed after Vale, who was already
several steps ahead. A quick glance around revealed the presence of several
moving shadows in the distance. As they got closer, they turned into shapeless
creatures, crawling up the street and heading their way. This was the clean-up
crew. They tidied up after the other monsters, destroying the remains. The
pattern was familiar, only she hadn’t expected so much energy to be invested in
trying to capture her, especially not on this side. She swallowed the lump in
her throat. The end felt closer.

“Where’s your car?” Alise asked, her voice breaking. They
had to get away from those creatures, and cars were wonderful things for that.
The only other option was to cross over. The monsters would not be able to
follow them, but the Guardians would be opposed to doing it, not while Gorem
was still free on this side. They had to catch him. She was extra baggage as
far as they were concerned.

“We didn’t bring one,” Rafe said.

 She rolled her eyes.
Guardians! So cocky.

“Well, we’ll be surrounded soon. We need one,” Alise said.
She could drive if she had to. She had tried it with Cassie’s car, and it
wasn’t such a big deal. “The parking is that way.” She pointed back.

“No time. There are too many,” Vale said, passing by and
heading the other way where the alley opened into a big, well-lit boulevard.

The moment the monsters got there, the cars, the people,
even the air stood still. Nothing moved, except for the monsters. The magic
surrounding the Guardians protected them, but the skin still prickled along her
arms. This required too much magic to be Gorem’s doing. It had Wizard written
all over it. The Guardians couldn’t make this happen, and fighting against it
and
winning was debatable. She wouldn’t know where to start. They needed a
place to hide, but where? Everything was closed at this hour, and entering
another building wouldn’t solve their problem anyway.

They passed a grocery store, a clothing boutique, and a
small travel agency before Rafe stopped in front of the door to a drugstore.
“Here!” He waved at everyone to come over while Vale drew a complicated symbol
on the glass with his fingertips. No marks remained, but when he pressed the
handle, the door opened with a click.

Narrow aisles and neatly stacked medicine boxes flashed in
front of their eyes as they stumbled inside. When Vale slammed the door shut,
the monsters snapped vicious fangs at his heels.

When the light flickered, their surroundings drastically
changed. One moment, they were inside a regular drugstore, and the next, it had
turned into a fancy living room containing antique furniture and golden
fixtures on the light blue walls. The girls stared with their mouths agape.

“Come, don’t just stand there,” Rafe said, signaling for
them to walk towards the middle of the room.

“Wow. I’ve heard about such places,” Alise said, impressed,
“but I’ve never been into one.”

“And you shouldn’t
be
here, either, so don’t get too
comfortable,” Vale said.

Rafe smirked. “He doesn’t like you.” His words were
addressed to Alise, but when he turned to Cassie, who looked ready to pass out,
his eyes softened. “Sit.” He ordered and gently motioned the girl to take a
seat on the large, dark blue sofa.

Cassie complied. She looked around in a daze, managing to
whisper, “What’s this? Where are we?”

“She asks a lot of questions, doesn’t she?” Vale frowned at
Alise as if it was her fault.

He had no idea. Alise didn’t bother to answer. She waited to
see what the other Guardian had to say.

“This is our safe house,” Rafe said. “When there’s danger
and no way out, we retreat in here. Every Guardian has one.”

“Guardian?” repeated Cassie.

He opened his mouth to say something, but both Alise and
Vale snapped, “Don’t!”

“What?” Rafe put on an innocent look.

“Stop feeding her information.” Alise frowned at him. “She
doesn’t need to know all that. It’s not safe for any of us.”

“I assumed you’d cast a spell to wipe her memory.”

“You forget I can’t do that. I can barely keep her grounded
without you putting all those thoughts in her head,” Alise grumbled. She
couldn’t risk using the little magic she had left because she dreaded what
would come after that.

“Oh, well…” Rafe shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll have to knock
her out and hope to give her a strong enough concussion to make her forget
everything.”

He doesn’t mean that. He wouldn’t, would he
?
Guardians could be big brutes, but they weren’t like that. “He’s kidding,”
Alise told Cassie, who had curled up and was trembling in a corner of the sofa.
She looked at Rafe, waiting for him to confirm her statement.

He held her gaze for a moment before a smile lit his face.
“Of course I am. We’ll figure a way out.” He moved to the mini kitchen in the
distant part of the room.

“While you do that, I’m going to take a shower and attempt
to clean this up,” Vale said, gesturing with a disgusted look at his clothes.
He disappeared through a door that had to lead to the bathroom.

Left alone, Alise sat down next to her friend and murmured
encouragement, trying to soothe her. A panic attack was the last thing they
needed right now. Still, she jumped when Rafe returned, carrying a steaming
mug. She hadn’t heard him approach. She had forgotten how quietly they moved,
even when they weren’t on the job.

“Make her drink this,” he said in a low voice.

Alise sniffed at the contents and handed the mug over to Cassie.
“Drink this. It will make you feel better.” Since Guardians didn’t put much
value on poison, drinking it should be safe.

Cassie did and, in a matter of seconds, her eyelids became
heavy. She curled up, holding a cushion against her chest, and she soon fell
asleep. Alise pulled a cover off an armchair and draped it over the girl.

“What did you give her?” she asked.

“Something to help her sleep,” Rafe said. “She’ll only get
in the way if she stays awake.”

As much as it bothered her to admit it, she had to agree
with him. Cassie had been through enough for one evening. She could use a
break. It didn’t explain why the Guardians were in no hurry to leave, though.
“Why are you still here? Why aren’t you going after Gorem?”

“I told you. He fled. We were busy dealing with his
acolytes.” Rafe rolled a shoulder and grimaced in pain. “Then we rushed to get
to you first.”

Because without a witness, there would be no trial
.

“Do you have any idea where he went?” she asked, wondering
if she would have to lend her back to his blade for a second time. She wouldn’t
be able to cast the spell again so soon, and she didn’t know if doing it inside
their hideout would work anyway.

“We think he crossed over to The Mists.”

Even better. At least people on that side knew about the
Guardians’ existence, and magic didn’t startle them. It only annoyed them
because they couldn’t hold onto it. She imagined the desolate landscape and
shuddered. She would certainly die there, but the Guardians didn’t have that
problem. They could pack more magic than most and were full of resources.
“Well, go after him…”

“We can’t.” Another grimace. “We’ve been forbidden to cross
to that side … apparently for our own good.” It sounded like he wanted to go
and resented the fact that he couldn’t. Rafe rolled his eyes. “We upset the
Queen the last time we were there, so she wants us dead.”

“Since when has that stopped you?” Alise asked. The
Guardians were supposed to be braver than that. Great, they had sent a broken
pair to do the job. It made her question the Council’s determination to catch
Gorem and for good reason. It had taken them years to act upon her case.

Rafe gave her a long look. “If this had been any other
mission, we would have been gone by now. But we can’t. We made a deal. We need
to behave.”

“Behave?” Alise let out a choked laugh. When the Guardians
received a mission, they did everything in their power to achieve their goal.
Nothing could get in their way.

He winced, clearly unhappy with the situation, and shrugged
off his jacket. A big red stain spread from the left side of his chest, where
he had come in contact with one of the monsters, and down his sleeve.

Alise’s protective instinct won over. “You should take care
of that…”

“Yes, I should.” Rafe nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

The room only had three doors, and he walked through one.
Alise went to the front door. She hesitated and, in the end, decided against
touching it. Assuming she could get out by herself, she didn’t want to leave
Cassie alone. She turned around and, for the next few minutes, explored the
place, careful not to disturb the neatly placed things. There were no secrets
in sight, just a beautiful room with a girl sleeping on the sofa. She smiled as
she turned to Cassie, who frowned in her sleep while holding tightly onto her
cushion. Hopefully, this adventure wasn’t going to affect her too much, and
that was all she could do—hope.

They were taking too long … Vale with his shower, and Rafe
with the healing. Didn’t they have another bathroom? She would have liked to
clean her back, too. Feeling brave, she started after Rafe, the one who didn’t
hate her so much … or, if he did, he hid it better. The door opened into a
small, dark hallway with two other doors. The one on the left was closed, but
the one on the right was open. Rafe stood by a large, metal frame bed, his
shirt off and the healing stone pressed to his upper arm. The wound had closed,
leaving a big ugly scar that refused to disappear in its place. It looked odd
on his clean skin, as Guardians’ bodies usually bore no visible scars.

Alise stopped in the doorway. “That looks bad.”

“It doesn’t feel that bad,” Rafe said, frowning at the scar.
“There must have been something else inside that expansion monster. They don’t
normally do this.”

“Meet Gorem.” Alise took a step inside. “May I?”

Raising an eyebrow, Rafe slowly turned to face her. He stood
still, arms hanging by his sides, healing stone in hand, watching her
expectantly. Alise couldn’t help but glance at the two blades resting on the
bed. If he wanted to end her, he didn’t need them, but she came in peace. So
she brazenly looked into those quicksilver eyes and walked up to him. She
stepped to the side of Rafe, planting her feet firmly on the floor. Up close,
the scar looked even worse, almost as if it was boiling inside, just like his
eyes.

It failed to intimidate her. Her fingertips ran over the
scar, barely touching it, investigating its nature. Except for the tracking
spell and that one monster, she hadn’t used any magic in so long. Was this
going to work? She felt Rafe’s eyes on her, his muscles tense under his skin,
and she hid a smile when faint yellow vines started from her fingertips,
spreading towards her wrist and farther up her forearm. Old magic paths, carved
by long-term use, would not disappear that easily. Despite the sickly look, as
they lacked the natural golden glow, they still did the trick. The ugly scar
slowly faded away, leaving healthy, smooth skin in its place.

Rafe checked his arm and shoulder then settled his eyes on
her, a little smile dancing on his lips. “Thanks.”

“That’s payback for the shelter. We’re even,” she told him
and stepped back, prepared to leave.

“Not so fast.” Rafe grabbed her by the back of her shirt,
and Alise froze. “What’s wrong with your back?”

“Ask your blade,” she said through gritted teeth and threw
him a glare over her shoulder. Her wounds were bleeding again.

He frowned. “Why didn’t you heal yourself?”

“I can’t do that. No wings, remember?” She hated to admit
it. For a Fairy whose main purpose had been healing, it really hurt.

“But you healed
me
.” Rafe sounded puzzled.

Alise let out a sigh. “That wasn’t healing. That was like
applying make-up.” She tried to move, but he held her still.

“Take your shirt off.”

“The hell I will!” She gasped, hearing the fabric being
torn. Cold metal ran down her back. Part of her brain registered the presence
of one blade on the bed. The other had to be in Rafe’s hand.

Rafe pulled both parts of the shirt to the sides to uncover
her back. His fingers brushed against the nape of her neck when he pushed a few
locks of hair out of the way. When he had first seen them, he hadn’t commented.
This time, he took his time checking the wounds. “Nice. What did he use? An
axe?”

“Yeah,” she muttered. The memories and pain threatened to
flood her consciousness, and she fought to keep them at bay.

“Did he do it himself?”

“How did you guess?”

“If I were a psycho who progressed from ripping wings off of
flies to chopping wings off of Fairies, this is how I would do it, too,” Rafe
said.

That made Alise chuckle. “That’s good to know.” Although she
couldn’t see his face, she knew he was smiling.

Something cold touched her back, the healing stone, but it
quickly warmed up. Slowly, Rafe moved it up and down, following the
lighting-shaped wounds. The healing stone hungrily ate up the blood, even the
dried parts, and radiated a low energy field that sped up the cells’
regenerative cycle. Soon, her skin pulled tightly as the wounds sealed closed.

Rafe took a step back to admire his work. The pain had
vanished, leaving only numbness, so the scars must have turned into thin,
barely visible white lines.

“Not bad,” he said. “
Now
we’re even.”

“Thanks,” Alise murmured and moved away to put more distance
between them.

When she turned around, holding the shirt against her chest as
if she feared she might lose it, he was watching her with his head tilted.

“Umm, we don’t have any female clothes in here, but I can
lend you one of my shirts.” He sounded like he expected her to refuse it.

“Okay.”

Warily, she watched him while he went to retrieve a white
shirt from the wardrobe. He might act nice now, but he was still a Guardian,
and he would take her back with or without her consent. Resistance was not an
option. Fleeing might be if she ran and hid far away. The shelter was a temporary
solution. It didn’t diminish the problem of being trapped with two Guardians.

Without a word, she accepted the shirt and put it on, then
removed the ruined one from underneath it. It was too big, but at least it was
clean, and it covered her enough to make her look decent.

“You can sleep in here,” Rafe said. “I’ll go bring Cassie
in.”

“I wouldn’t move her. Cassie is a light sleeper. She might
freak out if she wakes up.”

“She won’t be such a light sleeper after what I gave her,
but okay … whatever…” He shrugged. “You can still have the bed if you want.
Unless you prefer Vale’s room?” He smirked.

“I’ll stay with Cassie so she won’t be alone when she wakes
up.” The couch next to Cassie’s looked comfortable enough, with plenty of space
to lie on.

Rafe grinned. “As long as you don’t bleed on the furniture,
I guess there’s no harm in it.”

With a roll of her eyes, Alise left the bedroom.

“Rafe, can I borrow your healing stone? Mine’s broken!”
Vale’s desperate request came from the bathroom.

“I don’t suppose you want to play nurse for him?” Rafe
whispered as he strode up behind her. “No? Okay. Try to get some rest. We only
have until morning.”