“She’s kidding, right?” Elisa asked him, rather than Lily herself. To be honest, she wasn’t sure the girl would answer her truthfully.
“We can only hope,” was Aiden’s reply. He shook his head with a smile, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and bringing her in to plant a kiss on her head. Lily simply smiled, neither confirming nor denying the question. Wolf laughed, walking over to retrieve the kill.
“You’re never dull, Lily. That much I can say about you,” he said with another laugh. “I’ll take these to the camp. I was going to leave anyway,” he said, now turning to Elisa, his expression guarded. “You can see if you can get some more. In the meantime, we’ll start on these.” Elisa nodded her head, not fully trusting her voice. Wolf turned to go, his demeanour back to normal, betraying nothing of what happened between them. That suited Elisa just fine, since nothing could really come of it anyway.
“I’ll go with you,” Lily said. “Aiden you can help Elisa. I’m afraid I won’t be able to help without getting upset for the poor creatures.” She gave Aiden a quick peck on the cheek, and disappeared into the dark woods with Wolf.
Aiden turned to her with an apologetic smile. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”
Elisa smiled back. “Just try to be quieter than you used to be,” she teased, reminding him of how he used to stomp along after her when they first met. He laughed it off, and motioned for her to continue. They walked side by side in companionable silence. She always felt comfortable and at ease with Aiden. It was nice to get him alone for once. “You and Lily are really good together,” she said, sounding almost envious of them, which truthfully she was. She saw him smile out of the corner of his eye.
“Yeah, I guess we are,” he replied. “It’s weird,” he admitted. “Everything has happened so quickly and yet I feel like I’ve known her my whole life. I don’t really know how it happened, we just fell into this routine with each other, and it was all just so – natural.”
“That’s good,” she pointed out.
“I know,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s just that…well eventually I’m going to leave again. I don’t know what will happen at that point.”
“You’ll figure something out,” she said, not knowing if even she believed that.
“We’ll see,” he sighed, looking up at the sky. He was silent a moment before turning to look at her, one eyebrow cocked. “So, what was happening between you and Wolf when I arrived? You could have cut the tension in the air with a knife.”
It was her turn to sigh now. “Honestly, I don’t know what happened. We just can’t seem to be near each other without getting in some sort of argument.”
“He’s a good guy you know, despite how he acts around people. He really does care about you.”
She met his eyes, and saw only sincerity there. “I know,” she said softly. “I can’t help but think it’s too little too late though.” He nodded thoughtfully, but didn’t say anything else. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Did you tell Wolf to bring me that cloak this morning?”
She watched him smile, almost to himself, before looking at her. “Is that what he told you?” She nodded. He shook his head. “No, I didn’t tell him.”
She hadn’t thought so, but now that she knew, she couldn’t help but wonder why he would have lied, so she asked Aiden. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I’ve given up trying to figure out how that boy’s mind works. I think he just doesn’t like putting himself out there, you know, in case he gets hurt. He might rush head first into a battle, but sometimes emotional wounds are a lot harder to heal from than physical ones. I’m not sure he knows how to deal with things like that.”
Elisa let his words sink in, pondering the validity of them. The two dropped the subject and refocused on hunting. Aiden made some comment about him always going into forests and coming out with large animals for people to eat. She smiled at him, admiring how much he had grown since the first time they had met, in more ways than one. Sure enough, he ended up killing a deer, and was praised for the rest of the night – again.
CHAPTER NINE
Someone was calling her name. A gentle pull to lure her from the deep sleep she had fallen restlessly into the night before. When she opened her eyes, it took her moment to figure out if the voice had been nothing but a dream. Sitting up slowly, Rain rubbed at her eyes sleepily, giving herself a moment to become fully awake. A gorgeous purple gown lay at the foot of the bed. It had pearl beading along the cuffs and neckline, and a black lace peeked out from the bottom hem. Had Aziz been in her room before, calling her? Where was he now? Rain looked around in confusion, but saw no one there, nor could she hear anyone outside in the adjoining sitting room.
Shrugging it off as her overactive imagination, she got up and took a long hot bath. As soon as she thought about wanting one, steaming water had appeared in the tub. Letting her head fall back against the high rim, she closed her eyes and relaxed. The night before was like a nightmare in her mind still. Reaching up a hand, she felt the scabs of the two incisions on her neck. A shiver ran down her spine as she remembered the feeling of his lips on her skin. If it weren’t for those marks, she would have thought the whole scene had been nothing but a dream. She knew better though, and tried her best to accept the knowledge of the splendid creature she had met. A creature, she reminded herself, that she would be smart to avoid from this point on. There was no denying the look of jealousy in Aziz’s eyes when he found them. She didn’t want to anger him any further, so she made a mental promise to herself to stay away from the winged man from that point on.
Rain, the voice called again. Her eyes popped open at the sound, but when she looked around there was no one there. The voice was chillingly familiar, and she saw goose bumps on her legs and arms, despite the hot water she was submerged in. Ah, you are awake finally, it came again.
“H-hello?” she called out. Goddess, was she going insane now? Was the bite infected? A sense of panic filled her as she looked at the empty room around her. The voice had been so real though.
I’m not there, it said, only you can hear me in your head. She sucked in a breath. She was going insane. She was hearing voices, or a voice, in her head now. Surely that wasn’t normal.
“Who are you?” she asked, cursing herself for how stupid this all seemed. If anyone were to walk in she’d simply look like she was talking to herself. A soft, seductive chuckle filled her head, causing another shiver.
It’s Elex, he said, confirming her worst fears. I have your blood in my veins now, so we will be able to speak to one another easily through our minds. Narrow your thoughts to me, and I will hear them just as clearly as if you have spoken out loud.
Rain was frozen in the bath. Could it be true? She tried to focus a thought outward, as weird as it sounded, and waited. Can you hear me? She asked silently.
Another chuckle. Yes, he replied. A wave of awe washed over her. She’d never conversed with someone through her mind. The feeling was indescribable. Now that she knew it was true, and that it really was Elex, another wave of emotion hit her, this time anger. She started to narrow her thoughts again, her hands fisting on the sides of the tub. How dare you talk to me after what you did! She yelled inwardly, praying he’d hear this too. You drank from me! You lured me in, and tricked me into feeding you! You could have gotten me in trouble with Aziz! Didn’t you once stop to think of what might happen to me? Did you even plan to stop? What if Aziz hadn’t shown up, I could have been dead! Don’t you dare speak to me again! She smiled smugly to herself, feeling much better now that she gotten that out of her system. No one took advantage of Rain and got away with it. As far as she was concerned, Elex could rot in that cage. She wanted nothing to do with him. Her mind was silent after that outburst, which must have meant he got the picture. Good, she thought again. That’s exactly what she wanted, she reminded herself.
She quickly got out of the tub and dried off. The gown Aziz had picked out f
it her perfectly. She stood before the mirror admiring herself quickly, before braiding her long dark hair over one shoulder. When she walked into the magnificent dining room she saw Aziz already sitting in his spot at the head of the table. He smiled at her appreciatively as his eyes raked her from head to toe.
“That colour is very becoming on you,” he complimented. Rain was about to thank him when he added, “Isn’t it, Elex?” Her eyes quickly looked around for the other man, but didn’t see him. It wasn’t until she felt a slight change in the air that she looked up to see him fall gracefully through the opening in the ceiling, his wings spread out in all their glory. It took her breath away. Straightening her spine, she faced Elex with all the composure she could muster, making sure to keep her face as indifferent as possible. His eyes blazed when he looked at her. She tried not to show how much it affected her. After all, she was still mad at him for biting her!
In her head she heard him say, Don’t react, just listen to me, his voice came through urgently. She kept her face the same, as he outwardly seemed to still be regarding her. My father cannot know about us speaking this way. He thinks he is the only one that can communicate with me like this, which is why he did not want anyone else giving me their blood. “She looks very nice father,” he said out loud, the sound of his voice like a punch to her stomach. She smiled stiffly, and moved to take her seat. I am sorry for yesterday, he continued. It was wrong for me to drink from you, especially without asking first.
As if I would have ever let you, she shot back. She thought she saw a muscle jump in his jaw from the corner of her eye, but chose to ignore it. Instead she focused on Aziz, making a lame attempt at normal conversation. He replied as if he suspected nothing was amiss, while Elex simply stood off to the side.
I think you’d be surprised what you might let me do, he said finally, his voice smug. She snorted, unconvinced, sending her feelings right back at him.
“I thought perhaps you’d like to go into town with Elex,” Aziz said, forcing her attention back to the conversation happening outside her head. Her fork froze midway to her mouth. There was no way she wanted to be alone with the winged man ever again.
“That’s alright,” she replied quickly. “I don’t need to go anywhere.” A large part of her would have loved to take him up on the offer. She had no idea where this fortress was located, and was interested to see what ‘towns’ were near, but certainly not with Elex.
“Surely there is something you might need to make your life here more comfortable,” Aziz said lightly. He was watching her carefully she noticed. He knew something was wrong with her, and she worried that he would assume it was fear. She couldn’t have that.
“Well…perhaps there are some things I could acquire,” she offered reluctantly. Actually she wanted to get herself a dagger, and perhaps some smelling salts for her bath. Her mother often got them, and she always fell asleep better with the scent of lavender on her skin. But with Elex? The thought made her shiver.
“I will be there too,” he offered, clearly hoping to ease her obvious discomfort. “There are just a few things I need to take care of here, and Elex already needs to go into town for me. It would be easier for you to go with him, and I will meet you there.” She nodded her head, deciding to focus on eating instead, even though she was suddenly not very hungry. “Do take care of my future Queen, Elex.”
“Of course, father,” he replied seriously. Always. The word floated inside her head. She bit the sides of her cheek, biting back the rude replies that sprang to mind. Always, she scoffed inwardly. He had a funny way of showing it, she thought, the memories of the previous night coming to mind again. I’ve already apologized for that, he said.
Get out of my head!
They finished breakfast in silence, Elex standing still as a statue for the entire time. He didn’t try to speak to her again, which she was thankful for. She already had enough going on in her life on the outside, the last thing she needed was more happening inside. Aziz finally pushed back from the table, standing up stiffly. She noticed his hands shook, and now that she looked at him closer, she saw how tired he looked again. It confused her, as she thought back to all the screams she had heard the night before. Had they not been enough? How many people did he need to kill to temporarily heal him? The magic seemed to be wearing off quicker. Standing as well, she smoothed the flowing skirts of her dress, looking over at Aziz expectantly. She would avoid Elex for as long as she could.
“Should I go get ready then?” she asked.
He waved her question off. “That won’t be necessary, Elex will just take you from here.” It took a moment for her to understand his meaning, but it became perfectly clear as she saw Elex step closer to her from the corner of her eye. Surely he didn’t mean...
Aziz walked over, and gently grabbed her hands. “Do not be frightened,” he said gently. “Elex is the best at flying. You will be perfectly safe. I will meet you shortly.” She tried to smile, but failed miserably. The best she could achieve was a slight twitch of her lips. He turned to Elex with a pointed look. Both stood still, and Rain had a sneaking suspicion that they were communicating mentally. She acted normal, so Aziz didn’t realize that she knew what Elex could do. After another moment, he turned back to face her. “I’ll see you soon.”
He walked out of the room, leaving Rain alone with Elex. She watched Aziz leave, too nervous to face Elex again. When she couldn’t wait any longer, she turned to see he had moved closer, standing so close she could feel the heat rolling off his body. He was looking down at her, his face unreadable. She couldn’t recall meeting anyone who came off as cold as he did. Everything about him, from his posture to his expressions to the monotony of his voice, led her to believe he probably didn’t feel anything for anyone. It scared her, she admitted. She held her chin up higher, trying not to betray how uncomfortable it made her to have him so close again. Part of her, a part she demanded to remain quiet, rose in excitement. She wanted to kick that part. Betrayer, she thought, careful to keep any personal thoughts to herself. Willing her pulse to calm down, she waited patiently to see what he would do next.
“Shall we go?” he finally asked, with that same hint of smugness.
With a seemingly casual shrug, she replied with a short, “sure.” He moved to stand in front of her, and reached to place his arms around her waist. Instinctively she stiffened.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said, sounding almost annoyed at her reaction.
“Forgive me for not believing you,” she replied dryly. “Sometimes actions speak louder than words.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to prove myself to you through actions,” he replied, his voice suggestive. She didn’t like it, she reminded herself, despite the bumps along her arms. “Hold on to me and try not to look down.” Her basic survival instincts kicked in, and she pushed away any lingering fears she might have of him. Did she want to place her neck so close to him again? No. At this point, did she have a choice? Again, no. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she moved closer, readying herself to hold on for dear life. His arms crushed her against him so hard it momentarily knocked the breath out of her. She could feel every rigid muscle in his body against hers. Before she could even absorb the feelings inside her, he bent his legs slightly and took off.
They rose higher towards the open ceiling, the floor retreating beneath them. She looked down in horror as the table became smaller, and suddenly they exited the opening in the rocks. A wave of nausea hit her.
“I told you not to look down,” he reprimanded her. She turned her face towards him, and buried her face in his neck – reluctantly, of course. She was strictly taking care of herself, nothing more. She felt him give her a quick, tight squeeze, before angling their bodies horizontally. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach at the sensation. Her legs felt feeble, and useless. Afraid they were going to drop, and pull the rest of her body with them, she twined them around his, assuming he didn’t need his legs to be mobile while in the air. The
n they began to fly.
Wind whipped past her ears. The air was much colder where they were, and she could feel her body begin to shiver against it. They must still be in the north somewhere, she realized. She didn’t know much about this part of Eden, but she had heard her father saying that some of the mountains from the north continued into the eastern side. They weren’t nearly has big and expansive as the northern ones, but were still quite large and bore snow along the tops year round, despite the heat of the eastern sands. It would make sense, she knew, if Aziz had stayed close to his home lands, but she couldn’t look to be sure. Her eyes were clamped tightly shut against the wind, her forehead leaning against Elex’s hot skin. Her body shivered from the cold, and yet he seemed completely unaffected.
“You should have worn a cloak,” he said into her ear, so she would hear him over the rushing winds.
“I’m fine,” she replied stubbornly, her chattering teeth betraying her. She could practically sense him rolling his eyes, but he didn’t argue with her further. The sun was out, she didn’t need to open her eyes to know that. The rays warmed her slightly as they broke through the clouds, although it wasn’t enough. What felt like an eternity later, Elex slowed the beat of his wings, and she could feel them straighten up again. They began to descend, another sinking feeling filling her stomach. Then ground, glorious ground, was beneath her feet again, and it was over. They still held onto each other as Rain tried to regain her balance. Elex removed his arms from around her waist, and began rubbing his hands up and down her arms. She was still shivering uncontrollably. Oh yes, she definitely wanted salts for her bath, for she was going to have the longest, hottest bath of her life when they returned.
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