by Lucy Swing
Falling onto my back, I got my feet up and rolled, launching my attacker all the way across the clearing and against a tree, breaking off a huge limb. Giggles erupted from the unknown adversary and also from behind me, where Nate was clapping as he approached. The figure stood up, and I saw that it was Claire.
“What the hell, you guys!” I yelled. I looked around, but there was no sign of Avan. “Where’s Avan?”
“Went to the stream . . . wanted to see if he could catch a fish for dinner,” Claire said between laughs. “Very hombre of him.”
I shook my head and lunged as if I meant to shove her into another tree.
Claire and I decided to make a quick flight around the perimeter, just to be sure no one was hiking close to us. Nate had offered to go with Claire, but I was faster than either of them in the air and could get the job done faster. The second I took off, I heard the eagles’ piercing screams behind me. It brought me comfort to know they were there. Claire wasn’t so warm to the idea of my newfound escorts soaring right next to her, as if they might attack us at any moment. They were bigger than any raptor I had ever seen, and their sharp, curved beaks looked as if they could tear flesh with ease.
We had flown about ten minutes and were almost at the cabin when I felt my whole body start to shake. I felt anxious, as if I had better prepare to fight. My wings were failing, losing loft, and then receded completely. The eagles started crying out frantically and rocketed downward after me.
“Claire!” I yelped as I spiraled earthward.
She dove after me, her arms stretched forward, but she was too late. I was already slamming through the treetops, and I could feel branches ripping into my flesh. My screams echoed along with the cries of the eagles, who clamped on to my arms with their sharp talons, trying to ease my fall. I hit a gnarled old tree, which spun me around and made me hit the ground face-first. I heard a crack and felt pain shoot up my arm. I turned onto my back and again shrieked in pain. My arm was probably broken, and I was covered in blood.
I felt Claire’s shaky hands on my arm. “Don’t worry,” she said. It’ll heal itself in no time.” And so it did. I looked at the gashes and deep lacerations on my battered body, and as I watched they started to close, leaving behind only the dry blood as proof.
I got up, feeling light-headed, and staggered about until Claire grabbed hold of me. My wings shot out, and I crouched on the fallen leaves and pine needles.
“What is happening?” I asked, my eyes begging her for an explanation.
“I don’t know!” she said, still holding on to me. “What . . . what are you feeling?”
“Anxious, I guess. I feel like there’s a threat, like I’m in trouble, yet I don’t really feel it.” I heard the rustle of dead leaves—someone was approaching. I faced the sound and felt Claire’s hand tighten on me.
“Relax, it’s just Nate.” She shot me a wary look, trying to decide whether I could stand upright on my own again.
“I’m okay,” I lied as Nate came into view and my wings went back into the warmth of my body.
The second Nate saw my torn clothes and the blood on them, he dashed to my side. “What happened? Who did this to you?” He examined Claire to make sure she hadn’t been hurt. Still facing Claire, he asked again, “What happened?”
I started walking back toward the cabin. “I don’t really know,” I said. “I felt anxious, like I had to fight something that wasn’t there. My body started to shake, and then the wings receded. And I still feel the threat, even though no one’s around.” I saw them exchange a quick glance and wondered what they weren’t telling me. Then I realized that Nate was alone. “Where’s Avan?” I said, looking into the forest in the direction he had come from.
He sighed and bit his lip—coming from Nate, not a good sign.
We were already at the edge of the clearing when he said, “He never came back from the stream. I was hoping you guys had spotted him.”
I stopped. It was impossible. How could he just be gone like that? “Do you think someone . . . took him?” I said. “Lilith?” I shook my head. The idea of Avan being in her hands made me feel suddenly weak. How could this have happened? “What just happened to me—was it related to that?”
Claire nodded solemnly. “You share a bond, formed of your love. When one of you is in trouble, the other feels it as if it were happening to them. You have to go to him—now.”
“But . . . how am I supposed to know where he is? Not even Nate could follow him.” My voice resonated in the silent woods.
“You’ll find him. Your soul will find him. If I were in trouble, Nate could find me in a heartbeat. That’s the bond that connects you both. Just focus and let your heart take you to him.”
We were already inside the house, and as I walked past I saw the sword lying on the wooden table, gleaming as brightly as it had in my dream. I looked back at Claire. She was staring openmouthed at the table. Nate stood frozen beside her.
“Where . . . Jade, where did you get that!” She stared at her long-dead mate’s sword.
Oh, shit. There was no getting out of this one—no making up some lame story to mollify them. I had to tell them the truth. “Um, I had a dream last night. Well, it wasn’t a dream dream—more like a piece of history. Just like that dream with you and Lilith. I was holding it before I woke up, and I guess . . . I don’t know. It just made the trip back with me somehow.”
I started walking around the room. I wanted to hug Claire. She looked as broken as she had in the dream. But I couldn’t. I was itching in my core. Here was this threat I couldn’t shake off, and I couldn’t stop pacing.
“I’m sorry, Claire,” I said in a voice much softer than anything I was feeling in that moment.
“That sword is sacred. No one is supposed to have it. The gods should have it locked up. Why . . . why is it here?” Her fingertips stroked the engraving on the blade.
عندما يكون الحب هو المعني, ملاك سنبذل كل ما عندما يكون الحب هو المعني, ملاك سنبذل كل ما
I looked down at the elegant, flowing, indecipherable script.
“What does it mean?” I asked her, trying to still my whirring, manic mind.
“Where love is concerned, an angel will do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
A flash of anger shone in her darkening eyes. I knew I had opened a can of worms, and it was about to spill everywhere. She looked up at me.
“You have to go, Jade. He is in trouble.”
I walked outside, closed my eyes, and rose up from the porch steps. Seconds later, I was soaring high above the treetops, flanked by the two eagles. It seemed that after my last episode, they weren’t taking any chances.
“Let’s find him,” I said to them, and we went forth. Claire was right: I could feel the bond between us, guiding me to him.
23. THE ATTACK
