The Weight of a Wing (The Stolen Wings Book 1)

by Ioana Visan

  “Guys, is this supposed to turn black?” Sarah held a frying pan on the windowsill.

  “What’s black?” Cassie hurried over to check. “Oh, dear…”

  “What?” Mark asked.

  “The onions are all black,” she said.

  “That’s no good. It means there are some poisonous mushrooms in there. Better throw the whole thing away,” Mark told Sarah. “We have plenty of food here.”

  “I can’t believe she tried to poison us,” Rafe said in a low voice.

  Cassie turned around. “I don’t think she did it on purpose… Did she?”

  Rafe didn’t answer. He shook his head and muttered under his breath. Cassie looked at Vale, who calmly shrugged, but she could tell he was just as concerned as Rafe. Alise didn’t have an answer, either. She had felt no odd vibes coming from the woman, but she couldn’t count on her instincts when it came to that.

  “Anyone care to help with the salad?” Sarah called, and Rafe went to grab the large bowl.

  They settled down and focused on the food for a while. Once again, the steaks were done just right. Praises were given to the two chefs. Sarah tried to tone down her merit since she had only been in charge of the salad, which was hard to screw up, but she enjoyed the compliments.

  While they were debating whether they still had room for dessert, the first slap echoed in the night. “Ouch.” Cassie winced and rubbed the spot on her arm. “I hate mosquitoes. Why don’t they bite you, too?” she whined.

  “Different blood type,” Alise said before either of the Guardians came up with a more detailed explanation and raised even more questions. Another slap. This time, it was Mark.

  “Easy, darling. You’ll give yourself a bruise,” Sarah said, crossing and uncrossing her legs under the table. The long pants she wore didn’t protect her much. The mosquitoes bit through the fabric, particularly attracted to the sunscreen she had put on earlier in the day.

  Alise counted to five before Rafe got up and held out his hand to her. “Let’s help the—” she feared he’d say humans, “—most unfortunate ones.” He winked.

  She didn’t take his hand, but she did follow him to a darker corner of the patio. She kneeled down and ran her fingers through the grass. “You couldn’t help it, could you?” she teased him.

  “It’s in my genes,” he said.

  A ray of pulsing light lit the spot in front of them—Rafe’s blade, partially hidden by his shirt. She could have found the herbs with her eyes closed, but she was grateful for a bit of light. She wasn’t used to the darkness. In their world, there was always a full moon at night; on this side, she had mainly lived in a big city where darkness was hardly ever a problem with so many artificial lights. The down side was that she rarely got to see the stars. Out here, the sky was full of them.

  “While you are gazing at the stars, there are some people who could really use your help,” Rafe said.

  The same stars reflected in his eyes, making them glow brighter. She found she couldn’t stand holding his gaze, so she lowered her eyes. There it was! Her fingers ran into the plant she needed. They also ran into Jerry’s cold nose, who was busy sniffing the grass, too. She plucked a few leaves and rubbed them in her palm. The air surrounding them filled with a fresh scent of rain and ozone.

  Rafe offered her his hand to help her up, which she did with ease. They walked to the burning logs, and she tossed the leaves into the fire. For a second, the smoke turned white, but no one else seemed to notice.

  Quietly, they returned to the table. Instead of going for the chair, Rafe leaned against the porch, pulling Alise into his arms. Her body tensed, rebelling against the entrapment, but he murmured into her ear, “Shhh… You did good.”

  Mark eyed them with a pensive look on his face, so she forced her muscles to relax. They had to preserve appearances and display some sort of intimacy if they wanted anyone to believe they were a couple.

  “What did you do?” Sarah asked and rubbed her hands along her arms. “They seem to have gone away.”

  Cassie looked over her shoulder at her friend and said with pride, “Alise is a plant expert. She can make you anything you want. She fixed my hair. See?” She ran her fingers through her curls and found them free of knots.

  “Can she help me dye my hair without going to the hairdresser every six weeks?”

  “I bet she can!”

  The girls launched into a long series of beauty tips, which the men answered with chuckles and funny remarks. Alise sighed and leaned back against Rafe’s chest. It had been a long day. Rafe pulled his arms tighter around her, his hold gentle but firm. Surrounded by his warmth and all that magic, she felt her eyes drooping.

  She was brought awake by a lightning zig-zagging across the sky, heading somewhere over the mountains. The thunder followed shortly after. The dogs huffed. When had the sky gotten covered in clouds? The hairs prickled on the back of her neck.

  “This can’t be good,” Rafe muttered.

  “We better move inside,” Mark said.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The only sounds echoing inside the living room were the rain tapping against the roof and Rafe’s footsteps. His pacing agitated the dogs, who lay near the cold fireplace, careful to keep their paws out of his way. Mark and Sarah had gone to the bedroom in the attic, leaving the “kids” to fend for themselves downstairs where, instead of preparing for bed, they held a strategy meeting.

  It was close to midnight, but none of them were sleeping.

  “We must have missed something,” Rafe grumbled to himself.

  Cassie stirred on the sofa. “What could we have missed?” she asked quietly, as if not wanting to disturb his thoughts.

  He turned to her. “Not you. We have. This is what we do. We should be better at this. We have literally been doing it for ages.” He didn’t smile. He was serious for once. Too serious.

  Leaning against a cabinet, Vale crossed his arms. “This is different. It’s a different territory.”

  “We’ve hunted here before,” Rafe said.

  Vale shook his head. “Not Wizards.” Confronted with Cassie’s puzzled look, he said, “They don’t like to cross over and relinquish too much of their power.”

  “Still, this one has. What’s his name?” Rafe asked Cassie.

  “Fabian.”

  “If we get to him, we can get to Gorem,” Rafe said.

  “Yes, but we can’t get to him, not if he stays in between timelines. And you blasted him out to who knows where,” Vale said. “There’s no guarantee his hideaway is in the same place as Gorem’s. Given the way he acts, he might not allow Fabian to get close to him for security reasons.”

  Rafe stopped to consider it, frowning. “Nate could find him.” Given the look of uncertainty on his face, he didn’t think it was the best solution, but it was the only one they had. “He can find both of them. He’s done it before.”

  “He found me,” Vale said. “On a good day, he can find you, too, provided he’s in a good mood and he doesn’t mind you scolding him too much. But finding people is not what he does, and time jumping is not always reliable. We can’t count on that.”

  “Actually, I saw him there before Vale came in,” Cassie said.

  Rafe pointed at the girl. “See?”

  Vale rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know how he does it. Maybe we should figure that out first…” He frowned and shifted position.

  “We can’t. We’re on a mission,” Rafe said. “We can’t cross back.”

  “Then how do you suggest we get in touch with him?” Vale asked. “It’s not like we have a phone service we can use.”

  “No spells for that?” Cassie’s innocent question made Alise laugh.

  “To deliver a message to the other side? Right under the Council’s nose?” Rafe made a face. “I don’t think so.”

  “Assuming he’s still there…,” Vale said.

  “Where else could he be?” Rafe asked. “If he escaped, he’d come
to us. It’s the best chance to get into some action, and he wouldn’t miss that.” He opened his arms widely. “Do you see him anywhere?”

  No one answered. Rafe was so worked up, it made Cassie look at him warily. And for what? Because they hadn’t been able to find a Mermaid? They weren’t even sure that finding one would help. It was just something to do until the next attack came.

  “If he can find them,” Cassie said hesitantly, “maybe it’s worth a try…”

  Vale spoke, “We’d have to cross over and try to get to him first. If we crossed over, we’d have to take her with us.” He nodded in Alise’s direction. “And if we do that…” His voice trailed off, and he looked at Rafe.

  Alise shuddered on the sofa. Things had changed. She wasn’t an outcast anymore. Something must have happened in her absence to make her such an important piece of the puzzle. She could tell from the way they spoke. Gorem was going down, and that was a good thing, but it wouldn’t stop the pain.

  Alerted by the looks exchanged, Cassie asked, “What will happen to her if she crosses back?”

  “Will you stop that?” Rafe snapped at her. “I know what you’re doing.”

  “W–what? I’m not doing anything,” Cassie stammered.

  “Of course you are.” This time, he accompanied the accusation with a smile, and it wasn’t a nice one. “Your name is deceiving, Cassandra. You don’t give people answers. You find your own. Whenever you ask a question, you get your answer. I’ve seen you doing it. You’ve done it to me and to him.” He glanced at Vale, who nodded.

  “I didn’t do that,” Cassie whispered.

  “You did it to that shepherd and that woman today, too. People can’t withhold information from you. They’re forced to tell the truth. You make them do that.”

  Cassie shook her head and whimpered, “Alise…?”

  Alise closed her eyes for a second and let out a sigh. “It’s true, Cassie. You do have that gift.”

  “But … how? Why?”

  “It’s simple. Someone put a spell on you.” Rafe narrowed his eyes at Alise. “I wonder who.”

  “Who?” Cassie repeated.

  Alise hesitated. Should she tell her? Since she had now become aware of the gift, it didn’t hurt if the girl knew the truth. “Years ago, a little girl in a pink dress with flowers in her hair was dancing in a field. She was so cute that a Fairy passing by wanted to give her something to help her in life, and this ability was the best thing she could come up with.”

  “You…,” Cassie whispered in awe. “But I thought that was a dream. You look nothing like her.”

  “In order to fit in better, we prefer to change our appearance when we cross over.” Glancing at Rafe, she said, “Sometimes we don’t.” She didn’t feel the extra layers of concealing magic on him like the ones surrounding Vale.

  “I…” Cassie’s mouth opened and closed, not knowing what to say. “Thank you … I guess.”

  Alise nodded and settled back against the sofa. This wasn’t over. The girl was in shock, but there would be more questions later. She was sure of that.

  “I’m glad we cleared this up,” Rafe said. “Now, can we get back to the main issue here? What did we miss?” Vale’s eyelids lowered over his green-gray eyes, his calm gaze refusing to let Rafe’s agitation get to him. “There’s a strong magical undercurrent here, but it’s trapped deep beneath the ground. It shouldn’t be so strong if it’s been there for a long period of time like the thickness of the above layers suggest. But what if it hasn’t?” He stopped to think about it. “The poisonous mushrooms, the mosquito’s assault, the storm… They all seem counterfeit. A decoy?”

  “A decoy for what?” Rafe asked.

  “Something must be happening…”

  “At night…,” Cassie said. “The woman said it’s dangerous to spend the night out, but this isn’t known to be a dangerous area. She warned us…”

  “Because something else is happening…” Rafe nodded. “Something out of her control. Which means…” He stared at Vale.

  “She’s not who she appears to be,” Vale said.

  “And if she knows something…” Rafe paused.

  “We need to talk to her again. We need to go back,” Vale said.

  “Bingo!”

  “It’s a trap,” Alise said. “She, or whoever is behind this, wants you to go back there.”

  “It’s definitely a trap,” Rafe said, “but because Cassie was the one doing all the talking, she was forced to tell the truth. There really is danger at night.”

  “And, of course, now that you know there is, you’ll run into it head first.” Alise grimaced. Their plan was doomed to fail. After all that had happened, they still didn’t know with whom they were dealing.

  “Now that we know, we’ll be prepared. We have the upper hand.”

  “Like you did at the university?” Alise said sarcastically.

  “We have to go,” Vale said, cutting short the conversation when Rafe opened his mouth to argue. “We can’t let the evil come to us and have innocent people get hurt.” He glanced towards the ceiling where Mark and Sarah were hopefully already asleep. “We must go to them.”

  “And we will.” Rafe grinned, as if he enjoyed the idea of a fight.

  Vale pulled away from the cabinet and checked his blades.

  Cassie moved to get off the sofa, mumbling, “Okay. Let’s go…”

  “No.” Rafe grabbed her arm and made her sit back down. “You’re not going. You stay here.”

  “But … you need me there! You need me to get the truth… Alise, tell him.” Cassie turned her pleading eyes to her friend.

  In one fluid motion, Alise left the sofa. “Will she be safe here?”

  “We’ll put a seal on the building,” Rafe said. “It should hold until we return.”

  “And if we don’t?”

  “Then they won’t need that kind of protection anymore. The matter would be settled.”

  It sounded final, but it didn’t stop Alise from following the Guardians to the door. Maybe she hadn’t caused this, but she was part of it. One way or the other, it had to end.

  Stay, she ordered the dogs. Protect her.

  “Why is she going then?” Cassie whined. They turned to look at her, but no one said a word. “Because she’s bait,” she murmured to herself.

  The door closed in her face.

  Chapter Thirty

  The rain made walking impracticable, but it also hid the sound of the engine starting. Rafe headed straight to the car the moment they walked out of the cabin, and they left without waking anyone.

  With the Guardians occupying the front seats, Alise sat frozen in the back, paralyzed with dread and fear. She felt caught in the middle of a train wreck about to happen, and she couldn’t get off. She wasn’t running the show, and she wasn’t allowed to divert from the script. Disaster was imminent. Silent witness to her internal struggle, Cassie’s face, pale and distressed under the lightning, watching them from the window as they drove away, was haunting her.

  The GPS had no signal, but the map showed a narrow road that snaked through the mountains, emerging on the other side. They had to head back to the village and turn right. Rafe took the twists and turns of the road at full speed, not worried about incoming traffic—luckily, there was none—or bad weather. With the tires slipping on the wet pavement, the car nearly flew off the road a couple times, but Rafe’s firm hand kept it under control.

  “We’re going too far west,” Vale said. “The clearing was right in between the mountains.”

  “I know.” Rafe slowed down. “I’m looking for a road to take us there.”

  They couldn’t even find a walking trail.

  “There wasn’t any road marked on the map,” Vale said. “And the ground is too wet for the car to make it through the forest. We’d better walk.”

  By the time Rafe parked the car on the side of the road, the rain had turned into a soft drizzle. The Guardians were back to wearing their leather gear, having mater
ialized on them out of thin air before leaving, but Alise only had a light jacket on. She wrapped it tighter around her, preparing to face the cool air outside.

  “You okay?” Rafe asked when she got out of the car.

  “I won’t melt.”

  She didn’t have wings to worry about. The humidity made the clothes cling unpleasantly to her skin, and while she wasn’t a big fan of rain, a bit of water hadn’t ever hurt anyone. Their destination, along with what was going to happen once they got there, concerned her more. It was dark, so there were no stars, and no sense of direction. A thick blanket of gray clouds lay low, covering the earth and giving her a claustrophobic feeling.

  Lightning lit up the sky and struck ahead of them, followed shortly by a loud clap of thunder that hurt their eardrums. Through gritted teeth, Rafe showed a feral grin. “Good. We’ll follow the lightning.”

  It didn’t lead them on the easiest path, but it did show them the way. A half-dozen lightning strikes later, they reached their target. The clearing awaited. It was empty and spooky-looking in the low pulsing, purple light surrounding it.

  The rain had stopped, and the air became hot and heavy, pushing them farther into the clearing. At least no more water dripped on them from the trees above.

  “Here fishy-fishy,” Rafe sing-songed, but no one showed.

  The Guardians exchanged a look. Whoever had called them there was not going to make their appearance until they had them where they wanted them. Rafe nodded, and Vale took a tentative step forward. “Strong magic, but I don’t feel anything meant to bind us here,” he said.

  “Cocky bastard… So sure we won’t want to run,” Rafe muttered. “Okay. Let’s get it over with.” He sighed and signaled for Alise to stay close.

  Vale advanced towards the middle of the clearing, so they followed him.

  “We’re here! Where are you?” Rafe called out.

  “Here.”

  The whisper came from the opposite end of the clearing, traveling with difficulty through the thick air. A silhouette emerged from the shadows. It appeared to be a woman … until it got closer and they noticed the tail. She had a serpent-like motion that helped her advance smoothly over the grass, while her head remained at eye level. She had to have at least a two-meter long tail, but the long, limber limbs and daunting eyes stood out the most.