In the hallway, the guard still stood, but didn’t appear to see us. I so couldn’t wait until I had magic of my own and could do anything I wanted.
She placed her finger on her lips, as if to say be quiet, and motioned for us to follow her. We tiptoed past the guard, and rounded a corner. We followed the hallway to the elevator that wasn’t quite an elevator, and as soon as the doors closed the mist disappeared.
“You should be able to call on your magics now,” Rita said to Alec.
He wiggled his fingers, and a small shimmering appeared above his hand. His smile reassured me. We could do this.
“Great. I’m taking you to a room that will be empty at this time of night. You should leave immediately.”
“Thank you, Lady Minor.”
When the door opened, we walked into a hallway. I could see the doors just ahead, the doors that would lead to our freedom. We rushed toward it, escape in sight.
“Halt!” a man bellowed from behind us.
But we didn’t stop. Alec pushed me ahead and shouted, “Run!”
I barely noticed that Rita has disappeared. All I could do was try to make my tiny legs move as fast as possible. I was so frustratingly short.
Suddenly, I felt a strong hand grasp my shoulder and push me to the wall, as I felt the air beside my head whoosh. In the door ahead of me I noticed a dagger protruding out.
My heart beat furiously as I realized Alec just saved me from having a knife go through my freakin skull.
“Shit.”
Alec ignored my outburst. “Faster, Lily.”
I tried, I really did. But my legs could only go so fast. The muscles in my thighs and calves heat up, bunching and stretching as I pushed my legs to their limits. I could hear the guy behind us murmuring something. Was he talking to himself? Or was he calling others to his aide, to stop us?
Again I tried to push faster. Harder. My breath was coming out in deep gasps. My arms pumped at my sides.
Alec finally left my side, rushing forward to open the door ahead of us. I breezed past him, and he slammed the door shut just as fast. Whispering something incoherent and waving his hands around in front.
“That won’t hold them off long,” he told me.
He placed the tripudio on the floor, and started to open it. But as soon as he did, I noticed a door on the other side of the room open and spit out several guards like a hissing cobra ready to attack. The guard behind the door we had just come through began banging on it; the thumping matched my frenzied heart.
Alec swore under his breath, but continued to focus on the device.
That’s when I saw the sword. It was huge, as big as the one I carried with me from my father. The guard was charging for Alec. I didn’t know if he could see him, since he was concentrating so hard, so I did the only thing I could think of.
I picked up the closest object and threw it at the guards head. The lamp smashed against his shoulder, knocking him slightly off balance, but didn’t stop him. I looked around for something else to grab, but there wasn’t anything. A couch. A few chairs. A wall of books lined the three sides of the room, but nothing that could do any damage. And the fourth wall was just open, like the other rooms I had been in. I could see the branches and the leaves beyond this prison, but still nothing I could use.
There was another guard who looked to be loading an arrow into a crossbow. A freaking crossbow! Like, what the hell?
The guard furthest away was the scariest of all, though. He wasn’t running for us, or even moving at all. He merely stood still and focused, just as Alec was doing. Behind him, through the opening in the walls, tree limbs started moving in.
They slashed the air, as if they were whips, and flew right for us. When the first one was coming right at me, Alec withdrew his own sword and cut the limb off. With a thump to the ground, it lay lifeless, withering right before my eyes. But the others didn’t stop.
The tree branches were coming for us, like the claws of an eight legged dragon. My eyes sought the trees and leaves I once thought beautiful. They terrified me now.
I wondered if we jumped, if I would survive. At least Alec could fly.
But not me. I would surely die.
Four guards in front that would reach us in less than a minute, a guard behind us ready to stick a knife in my head, and a drop out the window that would surely lead to my death.
There was no escape.
Alec picked the tripudio off the floor, grabbed me around the waist, and whispered in my ear, so close his warm breath snaked across my neck and down my spine. “I’m sorry, but I have no choice.”
Chapter Thirty
Sylph Wings: After a Sylph Fae matures, he will earn his magics and wings. A Sylph’s wings will change as the Fae grows, his achievements and failures being portrayed in the designs of his wings. The wings are nearly see-through and gossamer thin, but are one of the strongest and most durable objects in the Empyrean.
My feet left the floor. Air caressed me from all sides, lifting me up. Alec’s warm chest was pressed firmly against my back, and his arms buckled around me. I felt my hair flying back behind me; it would so be a pain to brush out later. And all I could do was hold onto his hands, hoping and praying he wouldn’t let me go.
He whisked me out of that room, and between limbs and branches. Leaves slapped my face and scratched my arms, but I didn’t make a sound. I don’t think I could’ve even if I tried. Speechless held a new meaning for me after that.
Instead of going down, towards the ground, he took us up. Up and up and up.
When we burst through the canopy of green, I finally saw the sky for the first time in almost three weeks. The moon was bright, casting a pale glow across the tops of the trees, giving us a way to see. Beautiful.
I missed it more than I realized. The moon, the stars twinkling in the background that reminded me of the porta, the wind.
I craved it. All of it!
I heard Alec let out a deep breath, and could only imagine it was the same sigh of relief I felt.
The wind…the wind was amazing.
I turned my head to look up at him. His hair whipped around his head, just as mine did, and his emerald eyes were watching everything. He didn’t look at me, but at everything else all around us.
So I did too.
Everywhere that I looked it was green. It was like a plush carpet of green below me. As far as the eye could see, in every direction. I could see different types of trees, some wide, like a huge awning covering many smaller trees below it. And others were sharp, almost pointed, like the tops of Christmas trees that were 100 miles high.
We just kept flying. I didn’t know how he could hold onto me. I didn’t know how he could fly, even with me pulling him down.
When Rita had asked him about flying, he immediately told her no, no hesitation whatsoever. He told her I wasn’t mature yet, so obviously he couldn’t fly with me. But yet, he could. He was.
And I couldn’t help but question why he had apologized to me? Why would he ever apologize for giving me a gift as grand as this? It was the most amazing experience I could ever have, something I never even hoped to wish for. Something I always craved, when I didn’t even know I was craving it.
I always loved the wind. The feel of it across my skin, just as it was then. The feel across my entire body, blowing on my face, and blowing my hair back behind me, it was an all-encompassing gratification.
It was everything! Everything I ever wanted.
The only problem that I could see was that there didn’t appear to be any place to land? I could see no deviation. Everywhere that I looked, it was just trees. Would we fly back through the miles of branches, scratching the exposed parts of our bodies again? Would he have some way to get us out of here?
Was he going to just fly over the entire Ardennes until we reached an area that was no longer wooded? I didn’t know. I don’t think I could have formed coherent sentences if I tried, so I couldn’t even ask him.
Instead, I just h
eld his hands, those strong, capable hands that were holding onto me. And I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment. Because in that exact moment, nobody was chasing us. There were no flying daggers, no crossbows, and no crazy tree limbs reaching for us. No crazy lords trying kill us, and no evil dux wanting to fight Alec. No giant wolf invading my brain, or pulsing briars hunting for blood. Nothing.
It was just me, the wind, and my strong protector behind me carrying me to safety.
Flying was indescribable, and I wanted the feeling to last forever. I tried to imprint on my brain every single sensation, so that I could hold onto it forever.
When I opened my eyes again, I didn’t know how long we had been flying, but I could only imagine that Alec would be getting tired. He wasn’t only flying himself, but he was carrying me too.
The sun was just beginning to appear over the horizon, bruising the sky with shades of deep purple, dark crimson, and shadowed orange. He cast his magnificent glory all across the tops of the trees. Glorious.
I turned my head again, to look up at Alec and said, “What are we going to do? You’ve been flying for hours already.”
That’s when he finally looked down at me. His wings continued to beat furiously behind him, lifting us and pushing us through the currents in the air. His face was silhouetted with the light shining behind him. His eyes were so dark, the deepest, darkest green I had ever seen. Darker than any of the trees in the shadows of Ardennes or any of the trees below me. And he smiled at me, a genuine smile that reached up to his eyes and released his hidden dimples.
“We’re going to Muircadia, of course.” And then he looked away from me again, watching where to go.
Well, I guess that’s all the answer I was going to get. Obviously that’s where we were headed…but I wanted to know how we were going to get there.
Not like I could do anything about it though. He was carrying me, who knew how many miles off the ground above enemy territory.
When the sun finally emerged shining his full brilliance across the sky and land, I was more than ecstatic. I was finally able to see it for the first time in almost three weeks. It’s warmth spread across my face, down my head, over my body, and all the way down to my fingertips and tippy toes. I relished it, wanted more of it.
I cherished it.
I just closed my eyes, savoring the feelings, and I let him fly me away.
I must’ve fallen asleep, probably due to the easy swaying and the overall sense of serenity that came with flying. It was semi-understandable considering the fact that we hadn’t slept the night before while waiting for Rita.
When I was suddenly jolted awake by a feeling of falling, I startled, shaken and afraid by the feeling, before I realized he was still holding me and we were just descending.
Don’t worry, were just starting to land, he told me telepathically.
I still loved it when he did that, because it meant that he felt a strong enough connection to me to be able to. And I loved the idea of him having any kind of strong feelings for me. Especially considering how light headed and giddy I felt, flying through the air. I welcomed all my butterflies back into my belly, and my skin was tingling all over, and all I could think about was that kiss, that mind blowing kiss.
The sun was directly above us, beating its warmth into me with each shining ray. When I looked down, there were still trees everywhere, the tips glittering in the sunlight, but I noticed the leaves below weren’t as dense, they were more sporadic, with spaces between the trees.
As we dived down, I noticed he was aiming for a specific spot. It was a little area, almost a diamond shaped field without any trees. It was strange though, because from up here, it looked like the grass was a dark pink color.
And I mean…yeah, that may sound weird. But I was in The Empyrean, and I had already seen an abada, and fairies with wings, and a crazy huge giant red wolf that talked to my brain, and tree limbs that moved to try and capture me. Pink grass wouldn’t be so bad.
Except, what if it wasn’t just blush colored grass. The only time I had seen grass like that was when I had cut myself after falling, and my blood tainted it.
Blood.
What if we were flying right into a fight?
Chapter Thirty One
Intemperance: The lack of moderation or restraint and/or excessive indulgence. Gives a Fae the urge to do whatever it is he wants to do, without concern for consequences. Often caused by magic, by drinking Perennum, or by being in close proximity to the Bellis Perennis flower, which resembles a pink daisy.
As we continued to dip lower, before I could voice my concerns, I smelled the most amazing aroma, and I realized it wasn’t pink grass, and thankfully it wasn’t blood either. It was flowers.
Flowers everywhere.
Roses!
Their scent was the first to drift to my nose. I smelled gardenias, lilies and lilacs. But by far the most prominent were the sweet peas.
I hadn’t realized how fast we were flying until we slowed down. Right as we were about to land, Alec hovered over the ground for a minute, before setting us both on our feet.
All of a sudden I felt like time itself was slowing, and I was only inching by, like I was in a glob of jelly and had to wade through it. Especially when we landed. I tried to stand up straight, but it felt like everything was off kilter, like I couldn’t balance myself. Everything was so heavy, my legs, my arms, even my hair, as if the entire world was grabbing me and pulling me down.
Alec grabbed my arm, just before I fell to my knees, and said, “It’ll take a minute to adjust to being on land again.” Then he grabbed my other arm and helped me to sit. “Sitting down should help.”
The flowers were so tall they almost covered my head. Or maybe I was just that short. But really, they were gorgeous. They weren’t all pink, just from up high I guess all the colors had blended together. There were red, yellow, and white roses. Lilies in all colors. The lilacs and lavender gave the prairie some purple, and the sweet peas and pink daisies offered the blushed cherry color.
Being within them, the aroma was intoxicating. I felt almost drunk, or what I would imagine drunk felt like, since I’d never really experienced being inebriated. The closest I ever got was when I stole one of my mom’s wine coolers from the fridge, and that just made me want to sleep.
Still, no matter how incredible the flower field was, it still didn’t compare to the most exhilarating ride of my life!
“That was amazing,” I told him honestly, a huge smile on my face. He tilted his head to the side, and scrunched his brows together, as if trying to figure out why and how I could ever say something like that. “I don’t understand why you apologized. And why did you tell Rita that you couldn’t fly with me, since I’m not seventeen yet?”
“I never said I couldn’t fly with you. I said that you aren’t yet mature. It’s almost…” He paused and looked away, as if trying to collect his thoughts. “It’s rude and almost inappropriate to fly another Sylph around. The implication that a Sylph cannot fly on his or her own is crude and vile, despite the fact that you actually can’t fly on your own yet.
“I stole from you your first time. Your first time flying should be when you first get your wings, on your seventeenth birthday. It should be a very special and intimate occasion, something that solidifies you into a Sylph.”
He took a deep breath, and continued to gaze into my eyes, praying for apology. He looked so sorry for what he had done; truly believing he had stolen something from me, not realizing that he had actually given me a gift.
I reached for him, my arms still felt heavy and moved too slow, and placed my hand on his arm.
“Alec, you have nothing to apologize for. I thank you! Not only did you save my life, and gave us an escape, you gave me something that I had always wanted. The feel of the wind on my face like that…” I couldn’t even put into words the way it made me feel. “You took me soaring above the trees. You gave me something I desired since I was a child.”
I sta
red into his eyes, hoping he would see the truth in my words. Hoping he would understand how much it meant to me. His green eyes were calling to me, as if I was in a trance, spelled by his beauty. And then I kissed him.
It was easier than I would have imagined. I didn’t feel heavy anymore, so I moved faster than I meant to, anticipating resistance that was no longer present.
None of it mattered when I felt his warm lips touch mine. They were so soft, they melted together with mine, combining into one. We moved in unison, united. I touched his cheek, his stubble softly grated against the softness of my hand.
And then our kiss changed. He started to press into me, against me. And I let him, welcomed his advances. His body, smooth and strong, fit perfectly with mine, mirror images of each other. One of his large hands slid across my belly, and around my back, as the other held onto my head, holding me firmly in place. I savored it.
His lips. His smell. His taste! I savored it all.
As he pushed harder against me, I started lying down. His hand held my head, supporting it, and gently laid me down against the plush green grass, crushing the flowers behind me.
He was both heavy and not heavy at all, at the same time. I could feel him against me, chest on my chest, his leg between my legs…between my legs.
His hand drifted up my stomach, gently caressing it, and then tugging me softly, pulling me closer to him. He was holding himself up, off of me, supporting his weight.
I breathed him in, wanting more. I pulled him closer with both of my hands, wanting him, all of him. It felt like my blood was boiling. My heart beat so fast, pumping, pumping my blood, spinning, spinning my head.
I was sweating. I was shivering. I craved him. And I wanted him to continue, to keep kissing me, to keep touching me, to do more.
And when his thumb slipped under the edge of my shirt, right above my pants, I shivered from the intense, electrical surges that coursed throughout every part of me. Heat shimmied its way down. My stomach warmed. I was on a high I had never experienced before. Getting higher and higher and reaching a height I never thought I would reach.
Enchanted Revenge Page 18
