Branded Wings

by S. I. Hayes

  I looked at the floor. “Thank you again, for saving my ass.”

  “Seems we do that a lot,” Collette chimed in, coming around the corner, fixing her top and skirt. “Yet you’ve been ignoring us lately to hang out with that asshole Keegan and his bitch girlfriend Ryane. Huh, Ryane. I’ve seen her transcripts. You know her name’s so fucking country. It’s actually spelled to sound like Ryan but she tells us all, it’s Rain. Like she’s special or something. Fucking pathetic.”

  Greisen put his fingers to her lips. “You’re doing it again.” She choked as his middle two fingers slid into her mouth, gagging her. “You know I hate it when you go on a tangent.”

  Tears ran down her cheeks and Mary looked away as I stepped forward, Greisen put up his hand at me.

  “You don’t want any of this kitten.” His fingers were slick with something I couldn’t identify, but my nostrils didn’t like the scent and I shook my head.

  He pulled his fingers from Collette’s mouth and she gasped, falling to her knees coughing.

  “Poison, my pet. As a Fey, she’s quite immune, but it still leaves quite a burn.”

  He really was a fuck; I was seeing why Sig wanted me to stay away from them. This, this was his child? Boy, did the apple fall far away from the tree. Frankly, I think the tree was on a hill, at the side of a cliff, on a mountain top.

  chapter 73 Greisen

  “SO HE’S GONE OFF LIKE a rocket and you haven’t a clue where?” I was pleased to know that the Dragon was now acting unpredictably. He needed to be off his game. Off his game, he couldn’t think straight and not thinking straight meant he couldn’t do his job, protecting the Prince of Vampires. Lord Keegan Teague was going to be at his most vulnerable, both in body and in mind. If I had done my job, correctly placing Alewar and Mary as I believed I had, then Sig was on his way to Keegan for a confrontation, possibly even to pull his sword from him. He did, after all, swear to protect me.

  How the tables turned when flesh and blood became a priority. It was funny the loyalty these things felt, because I felt none. No love, no hate, I just had my passions to succeed and move forward, to drive the old man that had, ignored me for far too long headlong into the grave. The Calder name sucked, but it had power, and power was the key to all. The H.O.R.D. would see that I was strong, and that would make them quake and crumble before me.

  Collette was curled up on the floor at my feet, Mary sat with Alewar as her standing shadow. The Phoenix was not nearly as annoying as his brother, in some respects he reminded me of poor Charles. Quiet, reserved and completely in love with his charge, who was too wrapped up in herself to notice. Marigold was a self-centered little girl who only wished to venture out and see the world. She’d do whatever she had to in order to break free of her family and have a semblance of freedom. She’d traded one set of shackles for another, and didn’t even realize it, but the time would come when she would. She’d need help getting out and that was where we would come in. She’d need us, and then she would owe us. It was good to have the plans in place. I always had a plan.

  “He just unfurled and flew.” Mary flipped her fingers in a flying motion. “We came back here to discuss my sister’s would be destiny. According to Alewar, she’s a big deal.”

  “Do tell, Alewar. Do tell.”

  Chapter 74 SIg

  I POUNDED ON THE MANOR doors having landed at the entrance without sounding any alarms. Neither Keegan nor Ryane was taking any of my calls, which was strange, especially for Ryane. Her phone never went straight to voicemail, ever. I was growing concerned when the door swung open and I was confronted by Gage, Dodge and Jarod. Gage looked like he had been worked over.

  “I need to see Keegan,” I demanded as my wings receded.

  “That would be impossible at this juncture, Dragon.” The way Jarod called me Dragon made it sound dirty and pissed me right the fuck off.

  “Unless you want me to actually burn this place down around your fucking head, I suggest you get right the fuck out of my way, Vampire,” I hissed, smoke trailing out from my mouth as I summoned up a small flame, letting it dance across my teeth.

  Dodge grabbed Jarod by the arm, pulling him from the space between the doorway and I. Gage was too exhausted looking to put up a fight. I went to the pup, concerned. “What have they done to you?”

  “Grabbed me outside of the Pepper Pot, said they needed my venom for the Bossman and Ryane. Said the Half-breed stuff would be safer than the full Were-dose would have been. They got her upstairs and him in the basement. They ain’t doing so hot. I can hear them both. She’s crying and he was screaming.”

  I put my hand on his holder to steady him and he nuzzled into me slightly. Poor guy really did need more personal contact than I could give him at that moment. I ruffled his hair and gave him my coat as he had none.

  “Go, I’ll be okay,” he assured me as I headed up the stairs. I called out for her, trying to raise my voice loud enough that she could hear me through the thickest of walls. Finally, I heard a muffled outcry.

  “Sig?”

  I heard a metal scrape and then saw along the floor, a hand. It was thin and the nails jagged and broken. “Are you okay?”

  She sucked in air through her teeth. “No, but you shouldn’t be here, you’re gonna get hurt. It’s been two days and I’m already climbing the walls. You smell good to me right now... I’m liable to do something stupid.”

  “I can’t leave you in there, it’s not right, you- I need my buddy, there’s so much shit going on...”

  “Then you have to suck it up.” Her voice was wavering. “This synthetic is really strong; I need to sleep again. Oh, I feel all loopy.” I heard a crash. “Sig!” She fell over, laughing hysterically. I didn’t stay to catch her falling all over herself as she started to strip, I had some respect for the girl, after all.

  “I’ll be back for you.”

  “Don’t, Sig, I need to dry out. It’s imporntant- Imprnt- It’s crucial that I do this. Do you get me? You are to leave me here, no matter what!”

  Her command skewered me, and I felt the compulsion to do as she asked. I didn’t like the feeling of being told what to do. Suddenly, the fact that I had allowed this power to be used for my own gains on more than one occasion occurred to me and I was ashamed.

  As I got up off the floor I was confronted by the King himself. He stood in the hallway, blocking my way with his massive arms crossed as though he had been there all along.

  “Siegfried, nice of you to finally join us. Where is the other young Dragonborn?”

  “She is not with me. Why the sudden interest?” I crackled electricity along my fingertips, I trusted Herlihy about as far as I could toss him, and seeing as he had about three inches and a hundred and fifty pounds on me, it wasn’t far. At least not in this form. My Dragon, on the other hand, could fling him from one end of town to the other without breaking a sweat, but we took the median on trust.

  “Aella is a special girl, comes from a special family.”

  “You know more about what’s going than you are telling us, don’t you?”

  “That is how it is, boy, someone always knows, but I cannot tell you, your fates are yours to choose. If I were to lay it out, you may choose another path, a different path than the one you should and that would be disastrous for us all. I am just here to see that my boy is safe and makes it to his seat in the Senate in one piece. We are pushing him to remember what he can of his captivity from months ago. It’s strenuous, but it will happen. You must let us work.”

  He stepped toward me and I didn’t move. I listened as he spoke, he couldn’t command me, although he did try. It sent a tingle into me, but my anger at him was so deep that the bond was weakened. I wasn’t sure if Keegan could command me at this point, or if I would simply serve him out of respect and loyalty, not out of our bond. Having never been officially branded by Keegan, my fealty was always something of an up in the air question. Something he often asked if he still had. As of now, I felt it toward him, eve
n as angry as I was, even as I blamed him for all of the fucked up things that were going on, but what was this other loyalty I was feeling? This rip in my soul? I was being torn in so many directions at once. Toward Aella, then Martine and Greisen, away from Keegan and Ryane. Back toward Ferdinand, who calls himself Alewar...

  Do I hold myself to my words or to my flesh and blood, even if that blood does not recognize me?

  “You are troubled boy; I can see it in those brilliant eyes. Come, while I may not allow you to see your Master, perhaps I can be of some use to you in another fashion?” Herlihy put out his hand, leading me downstairs toward his parlor. “Perhaps a drink to settle those scales back under the skin?”

  I looked at myself, I was flustered alright, my sails were in full form and my scales were all along my arms and throat. Even my face felt thick with them. I nodded, following him silently.

  IT TOOK FOUR DOUBLE vodkas to calm my body down and settle my scales back beneath my skin. My weapon still itched to be pulled but I could ignore that. It always itched to be pulled, just as my Dragon always itched to come forth. It was another reason I liked to stay bound. I was missing my tape at this moment, my body craved its confinement like air. I hugged myself in its absence. “What do you know of the Dragon mythos?” I asked Herlihy as he sat watching me carefully, studying me almost like a specimen in a jar.

  “Very little, I’m afraid. Your kind tends to keep everything very close to the chest. I know the laws and the regulations in place that need to be lifted, but that is about it.”

  I nodded, “Yes, well, I’m not here to argue the politics of my oppression. At least not today. Have you ever heard of a Phoenix?”

  “Sure, a rare firebird said to be immortal, that when destroyed rises from its own ashes time and again. Pure myth from what I understand, no one has ever actually seen one.”

  I took another shot with a short chuckle. “There is an origin story to it that is steeped in the Dragon Mythos, it’s sorta like our version of the afterlife, if we had one. They say that for some Dragons, those who die before their times, who have lost loves and whose souls are connected to this earth, are still full of life and never truly die. That they can be resurrected, brought back, reconnected to those life lines that once sustained them. That they rise again and again in an attempt to find their soul mate once more. They change from Mighty Dragon to the all-consuming Firebird because their passions burn hotter than the Dragon’s greed and envious natures. This is how the Phoenix is born.”

  “It’s an interesting tale.” He nodded, swishing his drink. “Why is it pertinent?”

  “I had a brother, many years ago, who was bonded to a Pureblood. Long story short, she died, and he soon followed. Well, I saw him tonight, with wings of flames.”

  Herlihy sucked in air through his teeth. “That is something, and you believe this really was your brother?”

  “I know it was, it is. I know my flesh and blood.”

  “Are you so sure about that?” He raised an eye at me.

  I stuttered, thinking about Greisen. “There are some things you may never truly know, but when you share as much as Ferdinand and I did, believe me when I tell you I know him.”

  Herlihy stood up. “What will you be doing about it and about your boy.”

  “My- My Lord, you invade private space.”

  “I do what must be done in my home to protect what’s mine.”

  “Then let me say that I will do what I must to do the same.”

  I thought you might say that.” He reached into his pocket. “If you go to Boston, to the Hunter’s Association, ask to speak with Hans Broadchurch. He can give you some insight. Perhaps more than I am willing to, on some things, he was a friend to Samuel as well as the Archibald Family.”

  “Archibald? Wasn’t that Ryane’s mother’s maiden name?”

  “Yes, indeed it was.”

  chapter 75 Aella

  I LAY IN MY DORM STARING at the ceiling, unable to sleep. I hadn’t heard from Sig since he took off from the Groove Brew parking lot a little over a week ago. Mary and Alewar had been hospitable to me, telling me about my lance, which only further distressed me. Apparently I’m to be a great warrior for whichever Master I choose, leading armies to great victories of blood and power. Greisen seemed quite interested in how that worked. I had refused to pull my weapon at that point and his mood changed to bored and detached again. He and Collette left shortly thereafter. I was glad for it; I was really starting to not trust them. Well him, Collette, I felt immensely sorry for, he abused her and she thought it some strange sort of affection.

  Things were getting tense on campus. The things Mary had to say were too true. The Deviant Class was becoming unstable without a Leader to turn to. The Human class was becoming increasingly more hostile toward us. I could hear girls snicker and talk shit about me in the corridors as I passed. I mean, I can ignore it. Mostly they were jealous little bitches, I’m fucking hot. Five foot ten, a rocking body with some curves to run your hands along, and thanks to the Dragon, awesome hair! But I was also gaining a reputation for fighting. That wasn’t a good thing, not at the college level. Hell, not at the Human level. For the Fey it would have been good, but I wasn’t with the Fey any longer. The dissent was only going to grow, I could feel it, the Deviant Class would only put up with the whispering for so long before they blew up.

  The Humans were pushing on to celebrate one of their many stolen festivals, filling the quad with booths and fake foliage. Some were trying to encourage the Deviant Class to participate, perhaps we should have. It would have shown more effort on our part, but as I said, there has been a severe lack of leadership lately. Mary joked that I should take over, that they would follow me. I just laughed and changed the subject.

  As I tossed myself over for the umpteenth time, listening to the racket of them all partying outside, I heard a faint knocking. I looked at the clock, it was well past two in the morning. I stumbled out of bed and headed for the door. Hearing the faint thump again, I realized it wasn’t coming from the door, but the living room window.

  I stopped staring at the window, something was swinging in front of it. With the curtain pulled I wasn’t sure what it was, and frankly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Whatever it was, it was still kicking and wanted down. I jumped back as the window shattered and the curtain was tangled up in blood and glass.

  “Fuck!” I screeched as I heard laughing from below. I side stepped over the large writhing thing to find it had been a large snake that had been partly gutted before being hung from the roof over my window.

  “Oops, did the mighty Dragon lose a cousin?” I heard snickering. “Go home, Dragon!”

  I put the snake out of its misery, and only caught the briefest glimpse of heads as they piled into a burgundy car as the tires squealed.

  These people were sick. I turned to the body of the snake. Why did they have to go and mutilate such a beautiful and defenseless creature? I lifted its body and put it in the sink, rinsing it down and then using my acid to dispose of it completely, hoping the porcelain sink could withstand the burns.

  I leaned against the front of the sink and cried. Not for the creature, or myself. I think I cried for mankind. Fear. It was a great motivator, the Human fears what it does not understand. What it does not understand, it wants to destroy. It will claim that to understand a thing it must dissect it, cut it up, learn from the inside out. It’s not true, to learn from a thing is to experience it in its living glory. In its natural untouched, unsullied, uninfluenced world. To come in with anything but one’s self is a disruption and a change to another things world. None of us are as we once were. I had no idea what it was to be a Dragonborn, I was raised by Faeries! They’ve mocked and teased us, but they had no idea that most of us are just as fragile as they are, just as insecure, as frightened of this world. Society has been a cruel mistress, and she has the added bastard son, social media to broadcast all our faults across the world in a breath. We Otherkind have kept to the
shadows, even after the integrations. Sure, a few of us have taken to the limelight, but so many more are still hiding out of fear. I sniffled as my mind raced on these thoughts. Mary was right. The Deviant Class needed someone to protect them. Needed someone who was going to hear them, who could represent them to the rest of the student body, that wasn’t going to just disappear. Someone who wasn’t attached to a house that kept them down.

  I stood up, the smell of the snake cooking down was making me sorta hungry. I tried to ignore that as I was filled with a resolve at three in the morning. I would start with boarding up the window and then I would pull it together and go see the Dean about becoming a Class Representative in the absence of those who should be.

  WHAT HAD I DONE? I didn’t plan on inciting a riot. I just wanted to be left alone. I didn’t want people leaving me gutted snakes outside my window, was that too much to ask? I’d gone to the Dean’s office and been sent away, told that it was just a prank, a little freshman hazing, that my window would be fixed, but if I couldn’t pinpoint the culprits there was nothing more they could do. I was furious, so when I saw Mary I ran my mouth. I didn’t know it was going to start her on a tangent. Or that her tangent would become a soapbox performance in the Quad calling for justice! The Deviant Class got so riled up that they trashed the Rugby field just hours before the championship game and the school had to forfeit.

  I didn’t want that. I was furious, Human and Otherkind alike suffered from that kind of devastation. The whole school lost out from that fuck up. Dean Baker was going to expel us all, but Mary came to the rescue, she and someone named Leonas Calder. Apparently he was the man who raised Greisen. Seeing him in action, I now understood where the apple landed, right in a tub of slime.