Wings of Stone

by Jenna Wolfhart

  “I have to get out of here,” I breathed, finally opening my eyes to meet his. The way he carefully studied me, as if I were a puzzle he wanted to solve, sent a flash of irritation through my gut.

  But that soothed when he said, “If I were you, I’d want to leave, too.”

  “Any ideas?” I said. “I can’t go out through the front. They’d spot me, and there’s that drawbridge to worry about. And I think we both know that I probably can’t swim across the moat.”

  Something strange flashed across his face. “And, once you leave this castle, where will you go, Rowena Mortensen?”

  With a soft sigh, I shrugged. “Anywhere but here.”

  “I came to Dreadford Castle to warn you that witch hunters want to kill you,” he said. “To warn you of the dangers that lie beyond these walls. It would be incredibly irresponsible of me to send you out there on your own, on foot, with nothing but a paperback book to keep you going. No food. No water. No money.”

  “I am a witch.” I lifted my chin, heart hammering, trying to ignore the realization that he would not help me escape from this place, that he would likely return me to the Queen within moments. “And I would rather walk straight into the hunters’ lair than go back into that gilded cage.”

  Give myself up. Confront the enemy head on. Fight.

  Do something, anything, other than waste more years in that tower.

  He let out a light laugh and cocked an eyebrow. “And after all the years and years of dulling your powers, you’re suddenly in complete command of them? You could defeat the hunters?”

  With tears threatening to break through my steely resolve, I turned away from him, clenching my jaw. “Fine. You know what? I shouldn’t have asked for your help. I shouldn’t have expected you, of all people, to help me escape. You’re one of them, even if you’re from the Blood Coven. I’ll find some other way out of here. On my own. Just, please. Please don’t stop me.”

  “Close your eyes,” he said, his voice suddenly tight.

  “What?” My body tensed. “Why the hell would I close my eyes?”

  “Just close them.” A pause. “And trust me.”

  The heavy flap of wings exploded from behind me, and two strong arms wrapped around my waist. Before I could choke out a cry of alarm, my feet abandoned the stone ground and wind rushed into my face. A calming scent cocooned me as panic clawed at my throat. A familiar scent. One of stone and mist and frost.

  The ground fell further away. Wings beat the air around me, and my body fought to break free.

  “Relax,” Marcus said with an amused tone in his voice. “If you keep thrashing around like that, I might drop you.”

  I stilled completely.

  He let out a chuckle. “Not a fan of heights, are we?”

  I squeezed my eyes tight as the bright green hills blurred by far below us. Nausea rolled in my stomach, and I swallowed hard to keep my unease from spilling down the front of my jacket. We were flying. Somehow, the stranger with the silver-flecked violet eyes and arrogant smile had transformed his back into ebony wings.

  And he was taking me away from the castle.

  Part II

  A CITY OF WINGS

  Chapter Eight

  We landed in a clearing deep within the nearby forest. As soon as Marcus released his strong grip on my waist, I stumbled away from him, whirling just in time to see a dark pair of wings tuck into his back. And then disappear completely.

  “What are you?” I breathed, eyes wide.

  “The same thing that has been following us for the past ten minutes.” He tipped back his head and stared up at the sky. Two winged shapes blotted out the sun. My heart flickered, and I swallowed hard. “I should have known they’d come.”

  There were two more of…of him?

  Two large men landed on either side of me, their feet pounding the ground with a terrible force. They flapped their massive black wings, and a cloud of dirt blasted into my eyes. Heart thundering, I glanced from one to the next and slowly backed away. They were both glorious and terrifying to behold. One dark and one light, both rippling with power and strength. And unlike Marcus, they did nothing to hide their wings.

  I gazed unabashedly at them. I couldn’t help myself. I’d never seen anything like them before. Their wings were a black as dark as midnight, and thick gray veins twisted through them. And the sharp, brutal talons at the apex looked like stone.

  “Jasper. Eli.” Marcus gave the new arrivals a tight smile. “Let me guess. The shadow witches put you up to guarding her all this time.”

  “Wait, you three know each other?” And the better question: “What the hell are you?”

  “We’re shifters,” Marcus said slowly, though his eyes remained locked on the two winged men on either side of me. “Gargoyle shifters. I’ve been stationed at the Blood Coven’s castle, and these two will have been stationed here.”

  “Wait. What?” My mind reeled. Gargoyle shifters? I’d never heard of such a thing in my entire life. What did that even mean?

  “Let me guess. Two stone statues have been a permanent fixture in your life recently, yes? I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve even been camping out in your room.”

  “Marcus.” The man’s voice on my right was sharp, though softer than Marcus’s in a way. He was the smaller of the three, though not by much.

  “What? There’s no sense in keeping it from her anymore, Eli. She’s seen us.”

  “Thanks to you. You’ve kind of gone and ruined the whole secret now, haven’t you?” This came from the largest of the three, who I assumed was Jasper. His bulky frame was…intimidating to say the least.

  “I need to know what’s going on here,” I said, dragging my gaze away from Jasper’s massive wings. “Are you honestly telling me you’re gargoyles?”

  “Gargoyle shifters.” Marcus flashed a wicked smile. “We can shift into pure stone statues, and we can shift into…well, this.” He spread his hands at himself, at the two men beside me.

  I needed to sit down.

  “And you’re telling me that these two?” I swallowed hard when I glanced from Jasper to Eli, realization charging through me. “They’re actually the two statues who have been in my room the past few years?”

  The ones I’d chattered to night after night when I was bored. The ones I’d changed clothes in front of.

  They’d heard every word.

  They’d seen everything.

  The world tipped sideways. I stumbled over to the nearest tree and pressed a shaking hand to the rough bark. Up was down and down was up. Nothing made sense anymore. Not only was I a witch being hunted by murderous humans, but there were three gargoyle shifters staring at me like I was a weakly thing teetering on the edge of a cliff.

  Hell, maybe I was.

  “And this is exactly why we should have kept ourselves a secret, Marcus,” Jasper said in a low growl. “We can’t watch over her if she’s scared to death of us.”

  His words narrowed my overwhelming emotions into a sharp point, and I glanced up to where the three of them stood staring at me. “I am not scared to death of you.”

  Marcus let out a chuckle. “I think you’ll find she’s quite the firecracker.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Eli cut in, his tone urgent. “We need to get her back to the castle. Now.”

  “No.” My heart lurched, and there was a wobble in my voice. “I’m not going back there. Not now. Not ever.”

  Jasper gave me a look, one that said he clearly wasn’t swayed one bit. “It’s not safe for you out here. There are people hunting you. And they will kill you if they find you.”

  “Well, maybe if you hadn’t been feeding me poison my whole life, then I’d be strong enough to fight for myself,” I sniped back.

  Marcus’s smile widened, clearly enjoying this exchange far more than the rest of us.

  Jasper scowled. “That wasn’t our idea.”

  “No, I’m sure it wasn’t. I bet it was the Queen’s idea.” I began pacing fr
om one end of the clearing to the next, mimicking the stride I’d always used on that well-worn path in my room. “There’s something about my powers that she wanted for herself. And I have to be there in the castle for her to use it, apparently. So, what better way to keep me quiet and compliant than by giving me fake medicine every night?”

  Eli cocked his head. Frowned. “Where did you hear that?”

  “When I overheard her talking to Tess.” I shot him a glare. “Or don’t you remember me rambling on about it to you when you were spying on me as a stone gargoyle statue?”

  “I think you misunderstood what you heard.” Eli glanced at Jasper. “I think we should tell her.”

  “Tell me what?” I demanded.

  Jasper let out an impatient sigh. “Fine. Rowena, the reason this has all happened is because the fae are assholes. The coven made the idiotic mistake of making a deal with the Unseelie Court. In exchange for the illusion around the castle that would hide it from the world, the witches only had to do one thing.”

  Marcus let out a delighted clap. “Ooh, I’ve always wanted to know the answer to this puzzle. What deal did the Queen make with the fae?

  Jasper shot Marcus a scowl. “Can’t you just shut the hell up for two minutes?”

  Marcus fell silent, but his smile didn’t falter.

  “All the Queen had to do,” Jasper continued, “was take a newborn baby in as their own and keep her safe inside the castle. They were warned that if she ever stepped foot outside the grounds then the illusion would fall. The castle would no longer be hidden.”

  “Wait.” My heart skipped a beat. “Are you telling me the fae gave me to Queen Selene? I wasn’t found drowning in the moat?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Eli said softly.

  I curled my hands into tight little fists. This was too much. All too much.

  Marcus let out a low whistle, and I glanced up to see that his ever-present smug expression had vanished. And it had been replaced with hints of fear.

  “Ah, shit,” he said quietly as he turned toward Eli with a wince.

  At the look on Marcus’s face, Jasper’s words suddenly sunk in. The origin of my life with the witches wasn’t the bombshell that the shifter had just dropped onto my head. That wasn’t the point of his words.

  It was the aftermath of my decision to leave. What had happened to the castle in my absence. The wind felt entirely sucked away from my sails.

  Slowly, I twisted to meet Marcus’s violet eyes. His lips twisted into a frown. And then I moved my gaze to Jasper’s solemn expression and onto the soft sadness of Eli.

  “If I don’t go back, then the shadow witches will be exposed. To the witch hunters, to the humans, to the other three covens who hate them so passionately that they might try to start a war.”

  “I’m afraid so,” Eli said quietly.

  “But they’ve lied to me my entire life.” I fumbled for my argument, weak compared to the safety of all those witches in that castle. “They kept me stuck in a room and gave me a potion to dull my powers.” Tears sprung into my eyes. “It’s wrong how they’ve treated me. Why should I do anything to help them now?”

  Jasper crossed his arms over his chest and glanced away as if my tears made him uncomfortable. Even Marcus was silent for once. It was Eli who walked across the clearing and took my arms in his hands, his wings spreading around us like a protective cocoon.

  “If you truly don’t want to go back, then we’re not going to make you,” he said.

  Jasper let out a harsh cough, but Eli soldiered on, ignoring him. “I mean it. We have sworn an oath to protect you and no one else. If you choose to walk away from this, then we will find somewhere else to go. Somewhere even safer than Dreadford Castle.”

  “Really?” My heart thundered in my ears as my mind felt split in two. Half yearning to break free, to run when I had the chance. And the other half, terrified of what might happened to Tess. To Rebecca. Hell, to even Queen Selene.

  “If you do want to go back,” Jasper cut in. “We’ll have a good chat with the Queen. Determine a better arrangement for you. More freedom inside the castle. More fresh air and exercise.”

  I loosed a breath and gave a nod, hating myself for what I was about to say. “Okay. I’ll go back. But the second they do anything to piss me off, I’m out.”

  “Works for me,” Jasper said.

  It was Eli, again, who paused and searched my eyes. “Are you one-hundred percent certain this is what you want to do?”

  “No,” I said honestly. “But I can’t bear the thought of the witch hunters finding the castle. If there’s enough of them…” I shuddered, not daring to even think it. “I can’t leave them behind to die.”

  Eli gave me a solemn nod. And then he wrapped his arms around me before shooting off into the sky. I let out a cry of alarm, the panic once again clawing my throat. But we’d only gone a couple of yards before he lowered us back onto the ground.

  Marcus and Jasper landed beside us, frowning out across the rolling hills.

  “The castle is gone,” Jasper finally said. “It should be right there, and it’s just…Dreadford Castle is gone.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Eli?” Marcus’s voice was sharp. “You’re the brains around here. Any idea what the hell is going on?”

  Eli shook his head, his grip around my waist relaxing. “No. This is unprecedented, to say the least. There’s nothing in the books to explain why this would happen.”

  “Maybe we just can’t see it,” I said with a hopeful half-shrug. “Maybe the illusion still holds, and I don’t need to go back.”

  “No.” Jasper shook his head. “We do a midnight flyover patrol every day after you…well, after that damn elixir knocks you out. We’re always able to see the castle when we leave, and we’re always able to go back.”

  Knocks you out. His words repeated in my head. So, not only did that elixir dull my powers, but it had put me into a deep sleep every night.

  “Could they have used their Travel spell to move the castle?” Marcus asked. “If the Queen realized that Rowena was gone…”

  “No.” Eli shook his head. “They can transport their bodies from one location to another, but they aren’t able to move buildings. Only the sun mages can do that.”

  “So, it’s just gone. Poof.” Marcus flicked out his fingers in an explosion motion. “Along with all the witches inside.”

  A deep sense of dread settled into my bones. This wasn’t good. Whatever this was.

  “Right,” Marcus said with a clap. “You two take Rowena to the city. I’ll find out what’s going on with the castle.”

  “The city?” Jasper frowned. “But it’s practically dead.”

  “It’s not a bad idea, Jasper,” Eli said. “There might be no one there, but that also makes it the safest place I can think of right now. And the only way anyone can get there is by wings.”

  “Great.” Jasper’s lips morphed into a straight line, but he nodded. “It’s seriously the last place on earth I want to go right now, but you’re right. It’s safe.” He turned to Marcus. “Is Silas still there moping around all by himself?”

  “He has Kipling, don’t forget.” Marcus stretched his lips into a wicked smile. “But yes, last I heard, he’s still moping around writing that godforsaken poetry of his.”

  Jasper snorted. “The look on his face when he realizes he has company will be worth it.” He turned to Eli and snapped a finger. “I’ll carry her. It’s a long way.”

  “I’m doing just fine, thanks,” Eli said with a soft frown.

  Jasper rolled his eyes. “Look, Eli, man. I’m stronger than you. When’s the last time you carried a girl hundreds of miles? Hell, when was the last time you even worked out?”

  “Excuse me.” I stepped into the center of the three shifters, curling my hands into tight little fists. “Who’s to say I even want to go with you to this city? You’re all discussing the situation like I don’t have a choice.”

  Jasper snarled. “T
hat’s because you don’t have one.”

  “Why should I go with you? Why should I trust you? You helped keep me prisoner.”

  “Not prisoner. Safe,” Jasper said.

  “It’s the same damn thing.”

  He eyed me for a long and silent moment, like I was some exotic animal he wasn’t quite sure he should poke.

  “Rowena,” Marcus edged in, his voice almost a purr. “If you remember, I was the one who whisked you away from that dreadful castle. I’ve done nothing but try to help you since I met you. And I hope you’ll trust me when I say, as much as I hate to do so, that you should go with my friends.”

  “Fine,” I finally said. “But isn’t there some other way for us to go other than flyyyyy—”

  I screamed when Jasper slung my body into his arms and shoved off from the earth. The wind was a tornado around us, much faster and much more violent than either Marcus or Eli had caused. The ground whizzed by hundreds of feet below us, and I felt a dizziness slam into my skull. As much as I hated myself for it, I spun to cling onto Jasper’s strong shoulders. He curled a protective arm around my waist, and continued to soar on.

  I thought that I should be cold—from the wind, from the air, from the height of our flight. But a soothing warmth settled over my body, a cocoon the wind couldn’t break through. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew deep down this man, this gargoyle, this whatever he was, meant me no harm. And there was something about him that almost seemed familiar. The curve of his shoulders where they met his wings were an exact match of the gargoyle statue by my wardrobe.

  He truly was my stone guardian, as strange as it was. And if there was anyone I could trust right now, it had to be him.

  We rushed across the sea, and in the distance, I spotted something like a small island, though not the kind I’d seen in any books. It was a tiny fortified town that rose out of the water, all cliffs and jagged edges on every side. In the very center stood a castle, a single tower protruding high into the darkening sky.