by Connor Crowe
“So,” she started. Didn’t meet my gaze at first. “A dragon and a wolf, eh? I bet that’s the first time we’ve ever had another shifter up here. And a non-flying one, at that. Didn’t you say the Sky Ferry wasn’t working on your way up?”
“Uh, no. It wasn’t.” This…was not where I expected the conversation to go. I thought the last thing she’d be interested in was my men. I just assumed she was going to tell me off and rant about what a disappointment I was again.
“But wolves don’t have wings. At least, as far as I know. How’d he get up here without the ferry?”
I blushed, remembering the feel of James’ body against my back. How small he felt in human form. How much I wanted to protect him. I rubbed the back of my neck. “He, um, rode on my back.” I couldn’t look her in the eye.
“Oh,” she said simply. “Oh my.”
A moment of silence followed, and I half expected her to yell at me again.
“So you three really are mates?”
The question again caught me off guard. Since when did she care about my personal life? Or my life at all, for that matter? We’d had to work together out of a mutual need, but all this touchy-feely stuff? It wasn’t like her.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and made eye contact at last. Even the words set off a fire in my heart and soul that made my shifter sing.
Mates.
“Yes,” I said with a proud smile. “We are.”
“Well.” Linetta rubbed her eyes. “I can’t say I understand it. But, after everything I’ve seen today? I think there are a lot of things I still don’t understand.”
The right side of my face quirked upward, only a little, in the barest hint of a smile. It was the nicest thing she’d ever said to me.
She wasn’t finished talking, though. “I started realizing that the moment they took Daniel from me. It was then that I swore revenge.”
I hadn’t expected that, either. Were her and Myrella really on the same page this whole time?
“You’re not the only one that was disillusioned.”
I looked up to find Myrella returning from her wanderings. She must have overheard us and wanted to add something in. I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant, but Myrella beat me to it.
She smudged a handkerchief across her face, wiping away the last of the sweat, grime, and caked-on makeup. She reached up to her eyes and pulled out the colored contacts. The jacket she wore landed on the floor with a clink of the metal buttons. Finally came the wig.
“Do you remember me now?”
When Myrella revealed that she’d been my family’s servant, I was surprised. She’d changed so much since then. But hidden behind the layers of clothing and makeup was the woman I once knew.
Soft, unassuming features. Older, yes, but the quirk of her lips, the color of her eyes were all the same. Even her hair, matted beneath the wigs she wore, was the same color I remembered.
It was her, all right. It was Hazel.
Linetta gasped, her whole body frozen as she stared in shock. Poor woman, she’d had an unexpected reunion with not one but two old family members today.
I couldn’t blame her for not noticing beforehand. The way people dressed up around here, it was more unusual to see one’s actual face. Maybe my mom had just been ignoring the signs, but here they were, right in front of us.
“Hazel?” Linetta’s voice cracked. “Is that you?”
Myrella shrugged. “Times change. Never know who to trust.”
“I thought you were dead.” Linetta took a few steps toward her old servant, outstretching a hand. Almost as if she expected her to be a mirage.
“Not dead.” Myrella shook her head. “Hiding. I left around the same time Tristan did, remember?” The last words clipped off at a rapid pace, unable to conceal the hurt and grief within.
“I just assumed you…” Linetta waved her hand, “I don’t know, got sick or something. We never saw you again, so that was that.”
Myrella took a few steps back, just out of reach. “I still don’t trust you.”
“And how am I supposed to trust you? You went off the grid!” Linetta scowled right back at her.
“The point is,” Myrella groaned, “that we’ve both done things we’re not proud of. I took on a new name. A new identity. I changed my style of speech, my clothes, my hair, my face. All so I could be free from this toxic environment. All so I could fight for something better, away from people like you.”
Linetta frowned, her eyes downcast. “Yes, that…does make sense. I did a lot of bad things, for bad reasons. I recognize that now.”
Her voice rose. “And how am I supposed to believe you’ve changed? How is your son supposed to believe that, when you abandoned him?”
Ouch. Fresh pain wormed its way through me, stabbing right in my chest. Abandoned. She wasn’t wrong. All those years, feeling like there was no way out, like I was nothing more than a slave—it was her and dad’s fault. A mother, a good mother, would never abandon her son like that.
We had worked together because we had to, but as for forgiveness? Peace? I didn’t know if I was strong enough for that. There was too much pain to forget.
“Listen to me carefully,” Linetta whispered. This time, her voice trembled. Even in the pale light of Myrella’s torch, I could see the tears running down her face. “Would I have done this—any of this—if I wanted to turn you over to the Council? Would the woman you knew, the woman who wronged you, have done this? I decided to help you. And my son. I know I can never atone for everything that this city and this people have done. I know I can’t atone for those parts I was personally involved in, either. But if I could make just one change…I wanted it to be this.”
Myrella pursed her lips. I glanced between them and tried to still my racing heart. I wanted to believe her, of course, but could I after all this time?
And could Myrella?
“I had my doubts about the Council ever since Daniel disappeared.” Linetta continued, her voice stronger now. “I felt powerless to do anything. You know what kind of world we live in. It’s eat or be eaten, and I didn’t want that to happen to me. I felt trapped like an animal. The show must go on, as they say. There was too much at stake to rebel. Or at least, that’s what I told myself. So I stayed miserable. Kept going through the motions. Kept all that hurt at bay. But then…I saw you.”
I didn’t know if she was speaking to me or Myrella, but I supposed she meant both. Two rediscoveries in one day was a lot to take in.
“I know you don’t believe me.” Linetta sniffed. She turned to Myrella. Her voice turned pleading. “But for my husband’s sake, let me help. I want to continue his work. I have all his notes and records stashed away. That much I was able to preserve when the Council came knocking. I can get them for you, we can work together…”
“Me? Work together with you?” Myrella asked. Her posture softened a bit, but I could tell she still wasn’t convinced.
It was my turn to step in. “It sounds like you both have similar goals. You’ve just been going about it in different ways. Perhaps you could help each other.”
Myrella uncrossed her arms. “Go on. What would I get out of this, if I do help you?”
“I’m well regarded among the elite. That’s not an accident. We’ll be able to get access to information and people that we wouldn’t have otherwise. Why else would I have kept up the charade? If you join me, you’ll also get access to my husband’s research on the Keys. We can change things, Myrella. From the inside.” She shook her head. “They’ll never know what hit them.”
This was a side of my mother I’d never seen before. Determined. Resourceful. And most surprising of all? She was actually asking for help instead of brandishing that false bravado.
Her words must have touched something within Myrella, too. The scowl melted off her face. Her posture softened further.
“I want to see them fall, Myrella.” My mother pled with tears in her eyes. “Just as much as you, if not more. Help
me. Please.”
Finally, Myrella sighed. “You were the enemy until today,” she whispered. “It’s going to take a while to understand how you could switch sides like that. I want to believe you, I do, but…” She wrung her hands. “I’ve been burned too many times.”
Linetta’s face crumpled. Her shoulders drooped. Tears fell. “I understand,” she muttered at last. “I’m sorry.” She turned for the door, making to leave.
“Wait.” Myrella called out at the last moment. “I’ll…I’ll have to ask my mate. About your proposition, I mean. That’s all I’m giving you for now.”
She let out a breath. Even in the dim glow, a small, relieved smile spread across her face. Linetta turned back to face Myrella, her steps sure and careful. She stuck out her hand in a gesture of peace. Of understanding.
Myrella nodded and took it. With that handshake, I realized, the Wings of the Wind might have a chance after all.
And my mother a chance at redemption.
“I’ll take it,” Linetta said. “Thank you, for giving me a chance.”
Myrella huffed out a breath, but a smile crept across her face as well. “Don’t push your luck, okay?”
Linetta grinned. “Okay, okay. You got a deal.”
“Good. I know a place we can stash this thing, but I’ll need to contact my mate first. She can help us transport it.”
There was only one question left: where did that leave me?
A uneasy alliance formed between Myrella and my mother. I didn’t think I’d ever see the day, to be honest. But both of them were showing that they could put aside old grudges for the sake of a common goal, which was all we had really wanted in the first place.
I thought back to the mission briefing in the Nox Bay library. Find and secure the final Key. That didn’t necessarily mean bringing it back with us, though we’d had to extract relics from dangerous lands before.
When we started this journey, I all but assumed we’d be trying to make off with the Key and find a safer place for it, outside the influence of conniving Ataraxians.
Well…hadn’t we done that?
I didn’t have a full idea of what Linetta and Myrella were going to do, but the fact that my father had been researching the very thing I came to find before his untimely death…
That had to count for something.
If there was anyone on this floating city that knew about the Key’s powers and how to harness them, it would be my dad. Failing that, his research still existed in my mother’s possession. It was hard to trust her, especially after all that we’d been through, but it was a start.
And sometimes, a start was all we needed.
Hours later, when Zion arrived to meet Linetta and discuss the situation, I felt another jarring in my heart. I hadn’t felt anything like that since we recovered the Key. It shook me all the way down to my core, rousing my shifter from sleep. But this was different. It wasn’t a fear or an effect from the Key. It felt like…well, it felt like when I was around my mates. When I was happy. When I was, for lack of a better word, complete.
They needed me. Just as I needed them.
Myrella tapped me on the shoulder from behind and I just about jumped out of my skin. “What?!” I yelped, quite a bit louder than I intended.
“I didn’t mean to startle you! I just wanted to ask if you had decided what you’re going to do.” She looked over at Zion and Linetta, deep in serious discussion. “You know you’re welcome to stay with us, but I think you have something, or rather, someone to get home to.”
I swallowed, thinking of my men. I wasn’t sure if I was hallucinating from the stress or if they were actually speaking to me, but I could have sworn I heard their voices.
It’s going to be all right.
Come home.
The words stuck in my heart and amplified the feeling. Home. That was a nice word. Not one I’d had a chance to use in so very long.
My stomach still churned at the thought of them falling over the side of the city with those two thieves, but I had faith. If nothing else, I could cling to that.
Myrella took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I know that look,” she said with a sad smile. “You’re worried about them, aren’t you?”
I nodded. “I just hope they’re okay.”
“And the thieves?” She tilted her head. “They went over too.”
I grimaced. “We’ll deal with them.”
Linetta and Zion joined us after a moment, looking up at me expectantly.
“So, what will it be?” Zion asked. “You comin’ or leavin’?”
Despite all my fears to the contrary, I had met some actual friends up here on this flying rock. Not everyone was as terrible as they once seemed. The city had a lot of work to do. That much was for certain. But with people like Myrella, Zion, and yes—my mother—working every day to put things to rights, maybe there was hope after all.
“You sure you’re all going to be okay up here?” I asked. “You know I’d stay if you needed me.”
Linetta shook her head. For the first time, she stepped forward, wrapped her arms around me, and gave me a hug.
I stood there, stunned for a few moments at first. A mother’s hug. Even in my childhood, I couldn’t remember a single time she’d done that. Her warmth flowed over me, and that simple act meant more than the most lavish of gifts. I wrapped my arms around her in turn, resting my head on her shoulder.
“You’re a good man, Tristan,” she whispered in my ear, so quiet that only I could hear it. “Now go find your mates.”
I pulled away, looked her one last time in the eye, and said the only thing that was on my mind. No words could convey all the feelings and all the things I wanted to say, so I settled for something simple.
“Thank you.”
I looked past her to Myrella and Zion, hoisting the trunk onto a cart laden with bolts of fabric.
“We’ll cover it with the extra scraps,” Zion pointed out. “They’ll never notice.”
“Thank you, Myrella. For everything. And you too, Zion.” I pressed my hands together and gave them a small bow. “I will be forever in your debt.”
Myrella waved me off with a lighthearted chuckle. “Oh, enough of the formalities. Thank you too! I sense things are gonna be changing around here.” This time, when she crossed her arms and looked up at the clouds, her eyes glimmered with hope, not tears.
“Keep in touch, okay?” I was never good at goodbyes. Never knew what to say. We’d gone through so much together, but now my men needed me. Nox Bay needed me.
Home.
“As much as we can,” Myrella promised. She gave me a quick salute ending with a wink. “See ya ‘round, ‘Lukas.’.”
I snorted at that. She still remembered the fake names we’d made up for ourselves.
“See ya, ‘Victoria’.” I repeated, and copied the salute.
Well, that just about did it. I couldn’t think of anything else to say, but the rising tide of energy in my soul called out from below. My mates needed me, and I needed them.
It was time to go home.
21
Hugo
All I remember was falling.
I blinked open my eyes. Looked around. Blue sky. Drifting clouds. Oh, and that large floating land mass shielding us from the setting sun...
The Flying City.
Feeling rushed into my limbs and tingled in my head. We’d just been up there. We’d been up there, and then there was falling, and...
I rolled over and gagged. The smell of burnt metal and singed earth overwhelmed my senses and choked through my lungs. My mouth felt like cotton—who knew how long I’d been laying here.
Debris littered the crash site. Shards of metal and charred wood dug into the soft ground. But where was everyone?
Where was I?
A cough, not too far from me. I craned my neck and ignored the pain of stressed muscles. Something familiar. Something...
“James!” My voice came out as no more than a hoarse whis
per. I clambered to my feet and staggered over to him. He sat upright on the ground next to part of the wreckage, looking a bit dazed. His clothing tore in several spots, showing the pale skin and dried blood underneath.
“Hugo,” James breathed when he saw me. “Thank goodness you’re all right.”
My dragon forgot everything else in that moment. I gingerly took his hand and inspected the wound. There was a long red gash from the attack, but it had already closed up and didn’t look serious. “James, it’s me. Look here. You all right? You remember me?”
James gave me an odd look. “Sure I do. Not hard to forget falling that far.”
I let out a breath and drew him into my arms. The adrenaline, fear, and relief washed over me in waves.
“James.” I said his name like a prayer, nuzzling into the warmth of his neck. “I thought I lost you too.”
Too.
My stomach seized and I gagged again, unable to ignore the truth. Spit and bile splattered on to the earth to mix with the charred remains of the sky ferry. My eyes watered and my shifter vibrated violently, a demon stuck in a cage.
I had to get to him. I had to fly. I had to make things right. As an alpha—no, his alpha...
“We’re one man short.” James’ admission brought me back to the grim reality of the present. I remembered the last few moments all too clearly. The look on his face. The new people we’d met. The thieves, locked with us in a battle to the death as the ferry shattered and we dropped into free-fall...
Speaking of which, where were they?
“What happened to Bruce and Jessica?” I whirled around and scanned the horizon. The sun sat low against the trees, drenching the land in a hazy warm sunset. I was all kinds of disoriented. It was clearly evening by the look of the sun and the weather, but it had been the middle of the night when we fell.
Just how long had we been out?
The scorched earth held no clues. Only more destruction. I searched every scrap for a sign that we were on the right track, but they had vanished like ghosts.
Like they’d never been here in the first place.
