Before These Wings (Wings Book 1)

by Wendy Knight

  Enika and Cole fell silent, undoubtedly out of words, as well. The only sound was the Garce’s frustrated screams below them.

  I’ll just… just for a minute…

  “Phoenyx, don’t you dare leave me. Do you hear me? Wake up. Keep your eyes open.” Cole snarled, jerking her toward him. His lips found her forehead, her cheeks, her eyelids, and then her mouth. “Wake up, dammit.”

  Sluggishly, her eyes opened. She hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep, but she was still so tired. They’d been awake for hours already, and it was cold. Very cold.

  “Look,” Enika whispered, trying to get Phoenyx’s attention. “They’re gone. By talking, we were keeping them near. They thought we were gone when we stopped making noise. Good job falling asleep!”

  Cole glared.

  Phoenyx forced herself to look around them and it was true. In the distance, the red light from the Garce’s eyes reflected off the snow, but they were moving away. Searching for an easier meal.

  “If we run fast enough, we can make it back to the neighborhood,” Cole said. “Can you do it?”

  Honestly, she wasn’t sure. Her body ached and everything was so stiff. She wasn’t even sure she could get out of the tree alive, actually. But Enika was already prying her own fingers from the branch she’d clung to, and Cole moved awkwardly down the tree trunk. If they could do it, she had to, too. She couldn’t make them leave her.

  It felt like her bones shattered as she uncurled her hand from its branch and straightened her legs, trying to get blood moving through her again. It only half-worked. She ended up toppling out of the tree from about eight feet up, and landed on the hard, frozen earth because the Garce had scratched away and trampled all the snow. The air whooshed from her lungs and she whimpered, her heart seeming to stutter in her chest.

  The Garce paused and slowly, their red eyes turned toward them at the other end of the field.

  “Get up, Phoenyx, get up!” Enika was tugging on her hand but she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t move. Cole hauled her up, threw her over his shoulder, and ran like the hounds of hell were on his heels.

  Because they were.

  Fifty steps later, Phoenyx struggled free. “I can run, I can run,” she kept repeating, and as soon as she was on her feet she whirled and took off. Her lungs hurt, whether from the fall or the cold, but adrenaline pushed the pain away as she and Cole sprinted after Enika. She checked over her shoulder.

  The Garce were closing in.

  “Faster!” Cole bellowed. “I know you can move faster than that, Phoenyx!”

  She wondered how he had the breath to yell at her like that, but she’d never heard him so angry and her strides lengthened. There was a house not far, maybe a hundred yards in front of them. She tucked the pain away for later and ran.

  She could hear the Garce now, snarling and snapping. She spun in one fluid motion, jerked the gun from Cole’s hand and fired twice. She whirled again without waiting to see if she hit them. Only one round left.

  They yelped, which was a good sign, and she picked up the pace. Cole sprinted ahead, hurdling the railing of the house and ramming his shoulder into the door.

  It held.

  Enika squealed and Cole hit it again. Phoenyx spun on her heel and shot blindly, praying she hit something, and then she was racing up the stairs, flinging herself at the door. Beneath the three of them, it sprang open, the door jamb splintering and cracking.

  The Garce leaped.

  Cole pushed them both inside and slammed the door shut behind him. “Up the stairs,” he yelled.

  Phoenyx took the stairs three at a time. She’d seen from outside that the master bedroom had a wrap-around balcony, and that was where she headed.

  Bodies, still in their beds, throats torn and flesh rotted as she raced through. Only half-eaten, something must have scared the Garce off before they finished. Behind her, Enika gagged but there was no time for hesitation. Phoenyx pulled the sliding glass door open and scrambled out, shutting it behind Cole. They climbed on the railing, slipping and sliding against the frozen metal. Enika slid backward, leg slamming painfully against the rail as she fell. Phoenyx’s hand shot out, caught her friend, and pulled her steady.

  But she’d heard the crack.

  Enika didn’t cry, but she could barely stand, let alone balance enough to climb up onto the roof. Below them, the Garce had given up trying to claw their way through the door and were jumping and snarling, trying to reach two stories up.

  Cole jumped from the rail to the roof. It was frozen and slippery, but he managed to get a grip and pulled himself up. “Give me your hands.” He knelt and reached for Enika. Phoenyx lifted, Enika helped as best she could, silent tears of pain soaking her cheeks, freezing to her skin. They got her up onto the roof by sheer force of will, and then Phoenyx jumped up as well, letting Cole pull her away from the edge.

  It was just as cold here as in the tree, but Cole scrambled around the edge of the eaves, using them as a wind block. Phoenyx helped Enika get there behind him, and he pulled them both close. They huddled together, sharing warmth and trying not to die.

  The Garce couldn’t see them, and soon lost interest. Phoenyx waited until the red of their eyes was long gone before she climbed down. Enika came next, careful not to put any weight on her foot, Cole lowering her carefully. He followed, and between the two of them, they helped Enika into the house and down the stairs.

  “You should have just left me,” Enika whispered. “I can’t fight the Garce. Not like this. I’m going to get you both killed.”

  Phoenyx’s grip tightened on Enika’s waist. “Stop it. We’ll go to the house, we’ll barricade the doors, and we’ll live on our storage. It will be fine.”

  Enika swiped angrily at her tears. “We won’t even make it that far.”

  “Yes,” Phoenyx said firmly. “We will.”

  The sun was up now, and people were peering out their windows but no one came to help. A broken bone when the Garce attacked was like a death sentence. No one wanted to be caught up in that. Phoenyx realized then that all the good people had sacrificed themselves to save others.

  Only the selfish survived.

  Except for Cole. And Enika. But Phoenyx’s selfish desire to confront the Pys had nearly gotten them all killed. She’d forced them out of safety, made them follow her because she knew damn well they weren’t going to let her go alone, and they’d barely made it back.

  Because she was selfish.

  They made their progress slowly, Phoenyx’s hand on Cole’s gun with her single round ready, but the Garce were gone, off to find an easier target probably. She cursed the fact that they’d chosen a house on the outskirts, but of course the outskirts on the opposite side of the neighborhood, so it took them forever. Cole carried Enika on his back for most of it, then Phoenyx took a turn. The last several hundred yards, they looped her arms around their necks and carried her between them. When the house finally came into view, it was all Phoenyx could do not to cry with relief.

  Safe.

  Chapter 9

  THEY SWEPT THE HOUSE, LOADING UP on ammo as they went. Cole carried Enika because they didn’t dare leave her alone in the living room, even if she would have touched a gun. She couldn’t run if a Garce burst from the shadows.

  The house was clear.

  Food storage was still in tact, no Garce hid anywhere within. Enika unloaded what she’d managed to save from their visit to Keven’s neighborhood, and they wrapped it all and buried it outside in the snow with the rest of their food storage. At least that would prolong the life a little.

  And then they slept. Or at least, they attempted, but Cole rolled over once to an empty bed and saw Phoenyx at the window, staring into the empty streets below them. He didn’t know if she’d even rested at all, but by the tense set of her shoulders, it wasn’t coming any time soon. She didn’t want company. If he’d learned anything during these months, it was that she waited until they slept so she could mourn alone, and th
at was the way she wanted it. So he watched her as she watched the streets.

  She was beautiful, and the haunting image burned into his brain — long black hair tumbling down her back, eyelashes so thick he could see them silhouetted against the light outside. His life, his future, his everything.

  He woke up much later, when the sun was low in the sky. Phoenyx still sat at the window, but Enika sat next to her, resting her forehead against Phoenyx’s side. “They’re going to abandon Keven’s neighborhood now, just like they did ours,” Phoenyx said quietly. “And it will be my fault. Maybe if I went with them, they would come back here.”

  “Until when? Until I’m the only one left? Because I’m not going, and they’ll leave us. Or if we both went, they’d have no reason to stay. They obviously don’t care about the men here. We can give up everything, and they’ll still abandon us. We have to go back to surviving the way we did before the Pys showed up. They made us soft, but we’re not meant to be soft. We survived the first invasion, and the second. Let’s not forget that.”

  Phoenyx smiled down at Enika. “You’re my favorite.”

  Enika beamed. “I know.”

  “What about me?” Cole’s words were still sleep-slurred. “I’m helpful too.”

  Enika rolled her eyes and hid a smirk. “Yes, yes. You’re okay, too.” Phoenyx smiled fondly at him.

  Phoenyx left the window and came to Cole, curling around him and laying her head against his chest. “You will always be my favorite boy.”

  “She’s not better than me,” he grumbled.

  Enika hit him with a pillow and he laughed despite himself, and miracles of miracles, Phoenyx did too. Enika half-hopped over, surveying the remaining pillow in her hand. “Hm. Maybe this will be my weapon.”

  Phoenyx raised an eyebrow. “While you certainly are lethal with that thing, I don’t think it will phase the Garce much.”

  Sighing, Enika hugged the pillow to her chest. “Fine.” With a wicked grin, she let it loose, whacking Cole over the head.

  “Hey!” he roared, attempting to sit up, but Phoenyx was still wrapped around him, holding him down. It had been a conspiracy. They’d ambushed him together.

  Enika giggled and hopped away.

  His soul healed, just a little.

  “We should eat before the sun goes down.” Phoenyx kissed him quickly before she pushed herself up and away, shoving her long black hair into a messy bun. “Just in case.”

  Cole wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but she was already helping Enika down the stairs so he got up too. He wasn’t going to turn down the chance to eat. Who knew how long this would last — certainly not until spring. They should eat while they could.

  They’d wrapped Enika’s foot the night before, but it had been so swollen and painful that he had little doubt it was broken, and she couldn’t put any weight on it at all. Which meant they were stuck here for a while, being that there were only three of them and no one could go anywhere alone.

  “It’s fine,” Enika said, as if reading his mind. “We’ve got lots of canned peaches and pears. Thanks to my mama.” She briefly looked up to the sky, fighting tears. Their mom had always made sure they both knew how to take care of themselves — she’d taught them young to cook, clean, and shoot. She was probably rolling over in her grave now that Enika wouldn’t even use a gun.

  Not that he blamed her. Not that anyone blamed her. Not after the accident.

  There had been a man, hiding in the shadows. Enika had thought it was Garce, and she’d shot. She’d always been an amazing aim, and she hadn’t missed him. While Phoenyx had been certain anyone hiding in the shadows like that had dark purposes, Enika hadn’t been able to get over it. No one blamed her for keeping her distance now.

  “There’s a chance some of the fruit and maybe the vegetables are still out there,” Phoenyx waved her fork in the general direction of where their garden had been. “The freeze came so suddenly, maybe it didn’t have a chance to rot. We’ll go digging today.”

  “Just go before dark,” Enika said. “I don’t think it’s safe to go out after dark anymore.”

  Phoenyx stared out the window, as if searching for the nightmares waiting for them. “My dad and sister were killed during the day. Maybe it’s the sun we should be afraid of.”

  “We were attacked during the night less than twelve hours ago, so we should just be afraid of everything now and never leave the house. We can eat the furniture. It’s made of wood, right?”

  “We’re not deer,” Cole felt inclined to point out.

  Enika rolled her eyes. “We’re related to them. Distantly. Monkeys eat trees and we’re practically cousins. Especially Cole.”

  Phoenyx scrunched her nose. “I… don’t think they do. But we’re mammals and so are deer, so I’m sure we can eat the furniture.” She winked at Cole and Enika heaved a long-suffering sigh.

  They cleaned up breakfast and left Enika sitting in the doorway while they went digging. Under the first foot of snow, they found the peaches that had fallen from the trees. Not rotted, but frozen. Probably not edible, but these were desperate times.

  Getting to the garden was harder. They shoveled the snow until they were both covered in a sheen of sweat, and then getting into the ground was nearly impossible, frozen solid as it was. It took them hours, and by then, the sun had set and Enika patrolled the porch with a flashlight, watching for Garce.

  “I think there are potatoes here,” Phoenyx said, her head bent low over the ground. “Do you see that—”

  The laughter cut her off. Cole froze, jerking his gun into the air. The Pys moved too quickly, though, shooting through the air like falling stars, leaving a trail of metallic blue light behind them. Phoenyx jerked to her feet and spun in a circle, trying to follow them.

  The metallic blue, flaming balls erupted from their palms, straight into the house, one after another. Enika screamed and dove from the porch. Phoenyx swung her arm up, pulling off three shots, but the Pys were too fast. Cole swung the shotgun ahead of them, the roar echoing through the silent streets. Its echo almost drowned out the scream.

  He’d hit one.

  She didn’t plummet to the earth though. He saw blood fall, metallic and sparking, but she kept flying. Her odd blue eyes went blood red and another flaming blood ball shot from her hand. He dove out of the way, but Phoenyx didn’t. Her hand steady, she fired again and again as the ground around her erupted into flames.

  Every bullet lodged deep in the Py’s chest and knocked her backward, end over end as her wings fought to keep her upright.

  Akit screamed, and Cole’s eardrums throbbed and ached until he had no choice but to drop the gun to clamp his hands over his ears. She grabbed Aylin, and they shot away through the night.

  Phoenyx dove out of the fire, still clinging to her gun and breathing hard. “She didn’t die. How did she survive that?”

  Cole didn’t answer. There was too much heat at his back, and he spun toward it, loath to take his eyes from the Pys, but he had no choice.

  The house was on fire.

  And Enika had just disappeared through the door.

  Phoenyx turned too, the flames lighting the horror on her face. “Enika!” she screamed. Weapon forgotten, Pys forgotten, she sprinted toward the house. In the time that they’d been fighting the Pys, their blood balls had started an inferno that engulfed the entire upstairs. But Enika had somehow managed to hobble inside and back out with a load of supplies.

  And had apparently gone back in for more.

  Cole leapt up the stairs, landed hard on the porch, and ducked through the smoke. “Enika!” he yelled.

  She was in the kitchen. “Help me!” she screeched, but she didn’t want help out. She was unloading cupboards as quickly as she could while fire licked the ceiling above her.

  Phoenyx darted through the smoke, scooping everything she could into her arms before she sprinted back out. “You can’t argue with her!” she yelled by way of explanation.

  It was t
rue. Instead, he joined her, trying to grab everything they’d stockpiled over the last several months before the fire and smoke killed them. They didn’t get very far, though, when the ceiling started to cave, falling like fiery comets from the vaulted ceilings.

  “Enika, we have to leave it. Come on!”

  “No! Not yet—”

  He had no choice. He dropped what he was carrying and scooped up his sister, dodging through the falling debris, trying to make it out the door and praying Phoenyx had made it to safety.

  The cold air soothed his scalded lungs as he fought to breathe, stumbling off the porch and depositing Enika unceremoniously into the snow where she was safe. Phoenyx flew out after them, moving so fast it was like she had wings. Like she was one of them. She toppled over next to them, still carrying everything Cole had dropped, coughing and sputtering.

  Still struggling to breathe, they watched their house go up in flames while their garden burned next to them.

  * * *

  “WHAT DO WE DO now?” Enika asked numbly. She sat with her head against Cole’s shoulders, watching the flames die. It had been hours. There’d been nothing they could do, no fire department to come to the rescue, no neighbors to help form a brigade. They’d only been able to watch helplessly.

  “We pack up and find a new house as soon as the sun comes up, so the Pys don’t know where we’re going,” Phoenyx said. She was utterly exhausted. Beaten. She’d fought so long, and by that very fight, she’d doomed them all. The Pys had targeted them because of her. It was her fault they were homeless and without most of their supplies now.

  Cole rubbed Enika’s shoulders. “It will be fine. We’ve been in worse circumstances before.”

  “Not facing winter, we haven’t,” Enika murmured. A tear soaked its way through the ash and dust on her cheek.

  “We’ll be fine,” Phoenyx echoed, but she felt like she was on autopilot and Enika could see right through her. They wouldn’t be fine. The Pys would come back, she knew it. They didn’t seem to want to kill her, but they obviously wanted her to suffer.