Chosen by Grace

by Alicia Rades

  Excitement sizzled in my bones. What could he possibly have in store?

  “Ready for another go?” He winked before facing forward and revving the engine.

  Before I knew it, we were back on the road again. I could’ve sworn Marek went even faster this time. Too soon, he slowed as we neared Galen High.

  My knees shook when we stopped and dismounted the bike. I removed the helmet and shook my hair out.

  “Are we going to the valley?” I asked in enthusiasm. “It was so pretty there when Allie took me.”

  Marek’s smile widened, and that weakness returned to my knees. “We sure are. You ready?”

  I nodded and eagerly followed behind him. “What are you going to show me?”

  Marek threw back a knowing smile.

  “You mean it’s a surprise?”

  His smile didn’t fade. “You’re going to love it.”

  “What is it?”

  Marek ignored my question. “There’s a lot to learn about Davina, and unfortunately, you freaked out before we could tell you much.”

  “I’m sorry. I must seem like a total foreigner.”

  Marek shrugged. “Don’t feel bad. You’re not the only Davina to grow up not knowing what they are.”

  I wanted to ask who he was talking about. Before I got a word out, we broke through the trees and into the clearing that opened to the valley.

  The cloud cover had grown thicker since yesterday afternoon, casting a dull gray hue across the landscape. It looked like a storm was rolling in, but it didn’t smell like rain.

  Marek began stripping off his jacket without saying a word. Caught off guard, I remained silent.

  “There are a few things you should know about Davina,” he said as he tossed his jacket aside. “And this is one of them.”

  An involuntary intake of breath passed my lips as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. I knew it was rude to stare, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from his torso. Marek flexed his upper body, accenting his six pack and his tan, toned arms. I was so mesmerized by him that I didn’t take a moment to ask what he was doing. Surely he didn’t mean to show me that all Davina were drop-dead gorgeous.

  A moment later, I realized Marek wasn’t showing me his muscles at all. As he flexed, two white shapes rose behind him. They grew increasingly larger until I could finally make them out.

  I gasped.

  What looked like massive eagle wings had sprouted from his back. They were covered in silky white feathers and stretched wider than his arms. They were so beautiful; I wanted to reach out and touch them.

  Without saying a word, Marek turned from me and took off sprinting toward the steep decline in front of us. His wings pulled into him for a moment. In a single leap, he hurled his body forward and spread his wings wide once again.

  I stared in disbelief. Marek flapped his wings several times and then held them straight out parallel to the ground. He looked like the most majestic bird in the sky.

  As soon as he began losing altitude, his wings pumped again to push himself higher. His body tilted to the left and circled around the empty field below us.

  He began his flight back toward me. My body remained frozen at the top of the hill, completely mesmerized. Marek came so close to me that I thought he might land, but instead, he shifted course at the last second. Wind rushed by my face, and I beamed.

  Marek locked his wings out, and they carried him on a graceful descent. Just when I thought he might touch the ground, he flapped his wings in one powerful, agile motion and shot straight into the air again.

  I cheered and clapped in exhilaration.

  Marek landed beside me. His massive wings flapped to slow his momentum, blowing my hair away from my face.

  “Oh my God!” I managed to say. “No wonder people call you angels. I had no idea. Marek, they’re beautiful.”

  Involuntarily, I reached a hand toward his outstretched wings. I thought better of it at the last second and jerked my fingers away.

  “It’s okay,” he said kindly. “You can touch them.”

  My breath wavered as I inched closer to him. Carefully, I reached my hand out. My fingers connected with the soft, velvety feathers, and my breath hitched. Forget the fact that I’d just seen wings sprout out of Marek’s back; what really got me was how soft and perfect his wings were. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that they were real.

  “But… how?” I asked, barely able to get the words out. “How do you do it?”

  Marek shrugged, and his wings moved with him. “We just do. Think of it like shape shifting.”

  I ran my fingers down the feathers. “Are you saying Davina are like… shape shifting eagles?”

  I caught Marek smile from out of the corner of my eye. It was the first time I managed to pull my gaze off his wings.

  “Why do you think this place is called Eagle Valley?” he asked. Before I had a chance to answer, he spoke again. “No, we’re not eagles. And before you say it again, we’re not angels, either.”

  “I wasn’t going to say that.”

  Marek rolled his eyes and pulled his wings into his back. I retreated a step to give him space. The wings shrunk behind him until they vanished. A wave of disappointment washed over me; I wanted to stare at them longer.

  “I wasn’t thinking,” he said. “I should’ve had you change before we came.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You want to fly, don’t you?”

  I drew in a breath of excitement. “You don’t really think I can do that, do you?”

  Marek furrowed his brow. “Of course I do. You’re a Davina.”

  “Well, I didn’t have much luck when Allie was trying to show me—”

  “That’s because Allie’s never had to teach anyone before. Besides, the wings are easier. Let’s start with that. But you’ll have to change first. Most of the girls wear racerback tank tops. They won’t get in the way of your wings. You have one, right?”

  I nodded.

  Marek turned to grab his t-shirt from the ground. For the first time, I got a look at his back. My gut instantly twisted.

  Two raised scars ran along the length of his shoulder blades. It was as if his wings had sliced right through his skin… Except, the raised, discolored lines looked like they’d been trying to heal for years, not mere seconds.

  He didn’t notice me staring. “We’ll go get it and then come back—”

  “Marek.” I spoke softly, but the shock in my tone got him to look at me. “Are you hurt?” I stepped forward and ran my fingers across his back.

  Marek shrugged me off and slipped his shirt on quickly. “No, it doesn’t hurt.”

  “Does everyone get those scars?” My back heated as I imagined wings tearing through my flesh.

  Marek bent again to scoop up his jacket. He stepped toward me and spoke quietly, like his words were meant only for me. “Everyone has scars, Ryn.”

  He was so close that his breath danced across my face.

  “Am I going to get scars like that once I… you know?” My voice dropped to a whisper.

  Marek started for the trees. For a moment, I thought maybe he didn’t hear me.

  “Not like this,” he finally said.

  I followed behind him. “Well, if everyone has them—”

  “Not everyone has the same type of scars, Ryn. These are mine.”

  For every step he took, I had to take two. “What are they from, then?”

  Marek whirled around so fast that I nearly rammed into him.

  “Do you want me to show you how to fly or not?” he snapped.

  I blinked in surprise. “I—I just wanted to prepare myself in case…”

  “In case of what?” he asked sharply. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.” He sounded more irritated than reassuring.

  I crossed my arms. “How can I be sure of that if I don’t know what gave you those scars? I don’t know anything about this Davina stuff. What if I mess up?”

  I thought I caught a hint
of an eye-roll in Marek’s expression.

  “You’re not going to mess up. Again, do you want to learn how to fly or not? Because we’re just wasting time.”

  I stood my ground. “I’m not in a rush.”

  Marek sighed in annoyance and turned from me. Instead of heading down the path, he veered off into the trees in a straight shot toward his bike. “Whatever. If you’re going to push it, maybe I don’t want to teach you.”

  He muttered something else about respecting privacy, but I didn’t hear the rest of it because this time I didn’t follow him.

  Watching him walk away caused a guilty sensation to settle in my gut. As soon as he disappeared through the thick brush, I felt like I might hurl.

  “Marek, wait!” I called after him.

  At that point, I wasn’t sure he could hear me.

  I hurried into the trees, intent on apologizing, but I had no way of knowing where exactly he went. I followed my best guess and continued toward where his motorcycle was parked. I still didn’t catch a glance of him.

  I increased my pace to try to catch up. Almost immediately, my foot caught a root, and my body lurched forward. On the descent, I caught a flash of a black object flying by my head.

  It took a moment for me to realize what had happened. I snapped my head in the direction the essence came from.

  My heart jumped at the sight of a cloaked figure stalking my way.

  10

  “Marek!” I cried as I scrambled to my feet. I told myself I should run, but I stood grounded by fear.

  The demon let out the kind of laugh that sent a shiver down my spine.

  “You’re all alone now, Little Angel,” he said.

  I recognized his voice from the party on Friday night. Dorian.

  My hands shook. “I thought your kind didn’t come into Eagle Valley.”

  His face was shadowed under his hood, but I could sense the smirk in his voice. “Not usually, but I’ve made an exception for you.”

  A dark fireball formed in his hand. This time, I was prepared. As he hurled it my way, I dodged his attack and fell to the earth. I raised my dirt-covered palms and tried to conjure a fireball myself, but my hands remained empty.

  The demon lunged for me. His body crashed into mine and knocked me on my back. Almost immediately, he was on top of me, straddling me.

  I managed to get my knees under him and forced him off of me. I rushed to my feet, but I was back on the ground a moment later. His cold fingers gripped my ankle. My foot connected with his face, but he only tightened his hold on me.

  Before I knew it, he was on top of me again. He squeezed my wrists together tightly and held them above my head with one hand.

  “Marek!” I tried to scream, but Dorian slapped his free hand over my mouth.

  I lifted my hips to shove him off me, but it was no use. He was bigger and stronger, and I didn’t know how to use my essence yet to defend myself. My legs thrashed against the ground, sending dry leaves flying.

  “You’re a fighter.” Dorian sounded amused. “Should we get started now, then?” His ice cold hand slithered up my abdomen.

  Nausea slammed into my gut.

  “Marek!” I shrieked. Tears rose to my eyes, and my vision blurred.

  Dorian’s hand reached my breast, and he squeezed. I writhed beneath him, but there was nothing I could do to free myself.

  “Please stop!” I sobbed.

  He lowered his face to mine. I squeezed my eyes shut and twisted my face away from him.

  His cool breath rushed across my ear. “You don’t have to fight this. With you on my side, we could do anything.” His fingers moved to my waistline.

  Oh, hells to the no.

  “Screw you!” I did the only thing I could think of. I spit in his face.

  Dorian recoiled like he couldn’t believe what I’d done. His hand left my skin, and he reached beneath his hood to wipe the spit away.

  “Bitch!” he roared.

  His palm cracked across the side of my face, and I cried out in pain. The moment I expected another blow to come, Dorian’s weight vanished.

  When I opened my eyes, Marek was scrambling on the ground beside me. He rose to his knees above the demon and brought his fist down onto his face. I heard a crunch as the two connected.

  Dorian’s hood fell. His face was so pale and thin that he could easily be mistaken for a skeleton, and his black irises hinted at a darkness beyond human capacity.

  I shuddered.

  The blood streaming from Dorian’s nose contained hints of red, but it was darker than I expected. It looked like someone had mixed black paint with the crimson liquid.

  Marek shifted to wrap his arm around the demon’s neck. Dorian flailed, struggling to breathe. His face darkened the more Marek squeezed.

  “Stop it, Marek.” My hands shook against the ground as I pushed myself to my feet. The left side of my face still stung.

  Marek only squeezed Dorian harder.

  “You’re going to kill him!” I shouted.

  “He was going to kill you!” Marek roared without loosening his grip.

  “I don’t care,” I cried. “It’s not right!”

  “This is what we do, Ryn. This is a war. Don’t you realize that?”

  It didn’t matter. I couldn’t watch him do this.

  “You can’t fight evil with evil,” I protested. “There has to be another way.”

  Marek hesitated for only a second, but it was enough for Dorian to gain the upper hand and slip out of his grasp.

  Dorian balled his hand into a fist and smashed it into the side of Marek’s face. Marek stumbled to the side. I let out a screech in surprise. Before either of us could fight back, Dorian raced away into the forest.

  I rushed to Marek’s side and dropped to my knees beside him. “Are you okay?”

  Marek glared at me and wiped the blood from his lip. “You’re going to regret that, Ryn. He’s going to come after you again.”

  Tears welled in my eyes, but I remained silent.

  Marek stood and reached out a hand to me. “Let’s get out of here.”

  11

  My heart hammered, and it didn’t stop all the way home.

  As soon as Marek parked in front of my house, I pulled the helmet off and shoved it his way. I couldn’t bring myself to go inside. Instead, I paced back and forth on the sidewalk next to him. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. The silence was agonizing.

  “What?” I snapped.

  Marek recoiled.

  “Clearly you have something to say,” I accused.

  “I…” He trailed off.

  “Are you hiding something from me? Just say it.”

  Marek sighed. “I’m not trying to hide anything from you. We just didn’t think he’d attack, not when…”

  My brows shot up. “Not when, what? What aren’t you telling me?”

  Marek wouldn’t look at me. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. Not even for a second.”

  “I’m alone all the time,” I pointed out.

  “Not recently.” Marek finally lifted his gaze to meet mine. “I was going to say… we didn’t think he’d attack when one of us was nearby… protecting you.”

  I froze. “What are you saying? You’ve been stalking me?”

  Marek’s eyebrow twitched. “Well, that just makes it sound creepy. We’ve been keeping an eye on you.”

  “Who’s we?” I demanded.

  “Me, Allie, Fletcher. Kyle took a shift last night watching your house.”

  I gritted my teeth. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  Marek climbed off his bike. “We did. Clearly you can’t defend yourself.”

  He had me there.

  “What did you expect to happen?” he asked rhetorically. “I said he’d be back, or don’t you remember?”

  “I—” I went silent.

  I remembered his words from Friday night. For some reason, I hadn’t processed them at the time.

  “I don’t
know what I thought,” I admitted. “Frankly, I was sure I was going crazy.”

  Marek stepped toward me slowly, as if testing to make sure I wasn’t going to run away from him. “We were going to tell you everything, but then even the basics overwhelmed you. We thought it was best to show you a little at a time rather than dumping everything on you all at once. Honestly, I thought you might run away and get yourself killed.”

  “I have no plans of getting myself killed.”

  Marek raised an eyebrow and took another cautious step forward. “And running away?”

  I sighed and threw my hands in the air. “Well, sure, it might be something worth considering. I don’t know if I can actually trust you people. I don’t know if any of this is even real. I don’t know if—”

  Marek grabbed my wrists, but I jerked away immediately.

  “Don’t touch me,” I bit harshly.

  “Calm down, Ryn,” he said in a soothing voice.

  Marek reached out for me again. I wedged my arms between our chests and pushed away. I had no desire to be touched right now, not after what happened.

  “Stop trying to comfort me,” I said with an edge to my tone. “I barely even know you.”

  “But you trust me, don’t you?” he asked softly.

  It took me several moments to ponder the question. He had saved me from the demons twice now. That had to count for something. And I had no reason to believe he was lying about anything he’d told me so far.

  I searched his eyes for signs of dishonesty. I couldn’t find any.

  “I don’t know,” I finally said in a whisper. “I don’t think I have a choice.”

  “Please let me help you,” he said softly.

  This time, I came to him. I allowed him to wrap me in his arms. Marek was nothing like Dorian. His embrace was warm and comforting, a sanctuary in stark contrast to Dorian’s icy cold touch. I let myself melt into Marek’s chest, and I inhaled the scent of his leather jacket.

  “You can trust me,” he whispered.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Am I going to be safe, Marek?”

  He paused for a beat. “Demons won’t come this far into town. And during the school year, there are a lot more Davina coming and going from the valley. That place is usually pretty safe, too.”