by Alicia Rades
I stormed past her into the hall. Eager for a door to slam, I turned to the first one and slammed it behind me as hard as I could.
17
I pounded down the steps into the basement. Next to the washer stood two full laundry baskets. Mom definitely wasn’t going to let me go to Galen if she saw my laundry still wasn’t finished.
Gritting my teeth, I dumped the entire contents of the first basket in the washer, not caring about mixing the whites with the colors. I tossed in some soap without measuring it and slammed the lid shut.
My skin grew hot in anger. I barely knew what I was doing when I swung my foot angrily at the shelf in the corner. A gallon of paint teetered on the edge. I just barely caught it before it smashed into the concrete floor. My foot throbbed, and my heart raced.
I sank to the dusty floor and set the paint can beside me. I wanted nothing more than to cry—to scream—but even as I buried my face in my hands, nothing came.
I curled myself into a ball on the floor.
Why was Mom so selfish? She always got to do what she wanted to do but never seemed to care about my feelings. Forget the fact that I was destined to save the world and Galen High could actually help me do it. She had too much pride to allow me the chance.
Maybe I’d sneak off and go there anyway.
A banging in the corner of the room pulled my attention from my self-pity. I glanced up to find the washer violently shaking, indicating an uneven load. I reluctantly rose from the floor and walked over to it. I threw open the lid and rearranged the clothes inside.
Turning back to the shelf behind me, I sighed heavily. It didn’t matter how long I sat there in the cold, damp basement. Sooner or later, I had to face her again.
I picked up the can of paint I’d knocked over and went to place it back on the shelf, but something caught my eye. I lowered myself to peek past the shelf to the wall behind it. I had to tilt my head to each side several times to make out what I’d found.
What looked like a carving of an eagle had been etched into the stone of the house's old foundation.
Another thing to add to the list of traits that give this house character, I thought.
Only after a moment of staring at it did I realize something was off. The figure had the wings of an eagle but the body of a woman. For a moment, I could almost imagine it was me.
The thought settled in my mind.
Forget Mom. Forget Galen High. I was a freaking Davina. I could fly. I didn’t have to take this crap.
I shoved the paint can back in its place and pounded up the steps, not stopping until I made it to my bedroom. I stripped off my shirt and tossed it in the corner then flung my dresser drawer open to find a sports bra and a racerback tank.
I can do this, I told myself. My breaths grew shallow, and my hands shook as I tensed my muscles.
Come on, Ryn.
I squeezed my eyes closed and concentrated on my back as if wings would sprout from it simply by wishing for it. After about a minute, I opened them, more frustrated than before.
I gripped onto the back of the chair in front of my desk so hard that my knuckles turned white. I didn’t quite like what I saw in the mirror. Despite my quickened heart rate, my face looked drained of color, and my eyes drooped.
“What are you doing, Ryn?” I asked my reflection. I’m not cut out for this.
The longer I stared at my reflection, the more I got the feeling that something was missing. I could picture myself with the wings Marek had shown me earlier. A strong desire to fly—like I’d felt when Allie and I rolled down the hill—overcame me.
My mom could move me all across the states. She could refuse to send me to Galen High. But she couldn’t control this.
This one was all me.
Something in the mirror caught my eye. The studs in my ears were all wrong for this.
I quickly slipped them out of my ears and threw open my drawer to find my pair of angel wing studs. A sense of comfort washed over me when I put them on. They reminded me of the carving in the basement.
I’ve got this.
I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath. My mind focused on the angel wing earrings like I actually thought they might hold some power that could bring me the strength to overcome this.
I flexed my shoulders again. This time, my hands didn’t quiver. Tension built within my muscles, and a tingling sensation radiated across my back.
Slowly, I opened my eyes. What I saw in the mirror took my breath away.
Two glorious white wings rose behind me. Each one was as tall as I was. Fluffy white feathers lined the top of the wings and grew steadily larger until they reached the size of my hand at the bottom.
I twisted to get a better look and noticed immediately how the white feathers seemed to shimmer purple in the light. I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
A knock came at my bedroom door.
Shit.
18
I whirled around so fast that my right wing caught the chair and knocked it to the floor.
“Don’t come in, Mom!”
How do I make these things disappear?
“It’s me,” a different voice called back. “Allie.”
I relaxed.
“Your mom let me in,” she said. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. You can come in.”
Allie pushed the door open. Her eyes instantly grew to twice their size. “Oh my gosh! You did it!”
I couldn’t help but beam.
“This is great!” she exclaimed. “You’re making progress.”
I shot back a shy smile. “Thanks, but how do I… you know… make them go away?”
The corners of Allie’s lips twitched like she was trying not to laugh.
“Not that I want to,” I said quickly. “I just thought you were my mom, and I realized I didn’t know how to.”
“You just relax,” she said simply.
“Great,” I mumbled, stealing another glance in the mirror. “These things will never go away.”
Allie laughed. She took a deep inhale and spoke softly on the exhale. “Just… relax.”
I mimicked her patterned breathing. Slowly, the wings began to shrink behind my back. I turned my back to the mirror to inspect my skin. Wrapping my arm around my body, I felt the area where the wings had grown out of. It was completely smooth.
I turned back to Allie. “I don’t get it.”
She sat on the bed and tossed her dark hair over her shoulder. “What don’t you get?”
“It didn’t hurt or anything.” I took a seat beside her on my white comforter.
She furrowed her brow. “No. Why would it?”
“Well, I—” I paused. “I saw Marek’s scars.”
“Oh, yeah,” Allie said like it was no big deal. “Those are totally different.”
“How’d he get them?” I burned to know.
She bit her lip. “Sorry, but it’s not my place to tell. I don’t really know the full story.”
I got the sense that no matter how much I begged her for information, Allie wasn’t going to spill.
Allie eyed me curiously after a brief silence. “Are you okay?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Yeah. Mom and I just had a huge fight. She doesn’t want me to go to Galen.”
Allie let out a breath in disbelief. I half expected her to call my mom out for being a bitch.
“Did you tell her about the demon?” Allie asked.
“No. I haven’t told her any of it. She would never believe me.”
“Why not?”
I sighed and resituated myself on the bed. “When I was little, I told my mom I could see the demons. I didn’t call them that, though. I didn’t know what they were then.”
Allie nodded along in understanding.
“She told me I was imagining things,” I continued. “She sent me to three different therapists before I lied and told her I’d stopped seeing them.”
Some of the tension I constantly held in my body eased.
It felt good to open up to her.
Allie’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry, Ryn. Your mom might be more willing to let you go to Galen if she knew the truth. I could help back you up.”
I shook my head. Allie’s gesture was nice, but I wasn’t ready to talk to my mom about any of this.
“If she knew a demon attacked you and that you were in danger—” Allie started, but I cut her off.
“I don’t want to talk about that.” My voice came off harsher than I intended.
Allie looked at me in confusion, and then realization dawned. “Ryn, what did he do to you?”
“He attacked me,” I said simply. “Like Marek told you.”
“Marek was pretty vague about it,” Allie said.
I twisted my hands in my lap. “It could’ve been worse.”
“That doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel something,” Allie said gently. “Someone will always have it worse than you. That doesn’t invalidate your feelings.”
I sat silent, letting her words sink in. If I was going to tell anyone, Allie would be my first choice.
“His hands were all over me,” I admitted. “If Marek hadn’t come to my rescue…”
Allie drew in an audible breath and leaned over to pull me in to an embrace.
I inhaled the comforting scent of her cherry blossom perfume. It was like hugging the sister I never had.
“The demons are evil,” Allie said as she pulled away. “They killed my mom.”
My heart broke. I knew her mom wasn’t around, but I never knew why.
“Kyle’s dad, too,” Allie said. “I guess that’s why we work well together. We both lost something to the demons.”
“Allie, I’m so sorry.” I pulled her back into a hug.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It happened a long time ago.”
“Is that why you want to be a Protector?” I asked.
Allie nodded shyly. “The demons hurt enough people as it is.”
Her words hung uncomfortably in the air.
Finally, I broke the silence. “What’d you come over for?”
A smile twitched at the corner of her lips. “Well, it looks like you already figured out your wings. Do you want to try flying?”
My heart flipped at the thought of flying for the first time.
“Yes!” I answered eagerly.
If Mom lets me out of the house.
Allie rose from the bed. “Let’s go. We’ll meet the guys at the valley.”
I paused momentarily. “The valley?”
“Yeah, that’s where we fly.”
Which meant I had to walk through those woods again.
“Isn’t there another place in town we can go?” I asked.
Allie shook her head. “Not anywhere we won’t be spotted.”
I bit my lower lip.
“Hey,” Allie said gently. “You’re going to be all right. We’ll be there with you.”
Her words were incredibly reassuring.
I gave her a timid smile. “Thanks, Allie.”
She stood from the bed. “Ready for your first flight lesson?”
19
Given everything that happened recently, I should’ve been screaming while someone dragged me away to a mental institution. Instead, I was excited about my first flying lesson. Flying was sure to make everything better.
By some miracle, Mom agreed to let me go—and even said I could stay the night at Allie’s house. Something I’d said to her earlier must’ve stuck.
Allie and I took her car and parked across from Galen High.
My fingers quivered against the door handle. I stared past the edge of the school to the trailhead that led to the valley. My mouth went dry when I thought about what had happened the last time I was here.
A knock came at my window, startling me.
“You ready?” Marek asked. I hadn’t noticed his arrival.
I forced my heart rate to slow and opened the door. “Yeah.”
Allie glanced at her phone. “Kyle’s already waiting for us.”
“You okay?” Marek asked when we began walking.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I told him, but I could feel my face had drained of color.
“Don’t worry,” Marek said in a low whisper so Allie couldn’t hear. “I’m not going to let you out of my sight this time, okay?”
As if to prove I could trust him, Marek grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I stared into his blue eyes.
Marek lifted one side of his mouth into a twisted smile. “Let’s go have some fun.”
“Are you two coming?” Allie called from several paces away.
I snapped my attention back to her. Marek dropped my hand, and it suddenly felt cold. I didn’t realize I’d slowed at the entrance to the trail until Marek placed a hand on my back.
“It’s okay,” he whispered in my ear.
I needed to believe him, so I pushed forward.
I couldn’t stand the silence. “Hey, Marek?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m curious. What all can Davina do? We have wings, and this sort of… magic.”
“Well,” Marek said, “it’s not as cool as it sounds, I’ll tell you that. Mostly, it’s a weapon. We can stun demons with it, just like they can do the same to us.”
“How else are they similar to us?” I asked curiously. My eyes remained on the path.
Marek shrugged. “They have wings.”
My brows shot up. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I’d never seen them. “Really?”
“Well, yeah. Theirs are black, ours our white.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.
“What about the cloaks?” I asked. “Why do they wear them?”
“It’s about tradition,” he explained. “Originally, it was to set themselves apart. We used to wear white robes for the same reason. We eventually dropped the robe practice, but at least we had other clothes to wear. The demon’s cloaks come from material brought from their realm long ago, when the portals were still open. They don’t have any other choice.”
“Kyle!” Allie shouted in excitement ahead of us.
I didn’t have a chance to ask more questions as Marek and I broke through the trees into the clearing.
I noticed movement at the far end of the valley. What looked like the largest bird I’d ever seen soared near the tree line. It was unlike any other bird in the sky, though, with the body of a man and the wings of an eagle.
Kyle spread his wings wide and glided toward us gracefully. Air rushed by his wings when he landed, and the grass rustled beneath us. Kyle brushed his dark hair out of his eyes. His wings were bigger than Marek’s, but he wasn’t quite as toned.
“Anyone want to race?” Kyle asked.
“You’re on!” Allie quickly stripped off her cardigan.
I watched in awe as white feathers sprouted from her back and grew into beautiful wings. Though my wings shimmered a slight purple, Allie’s had a bluish tint to them. It matched the subtle blue shine in her black hair.
She lit up with a smile. She truly looked like an angel.
Without another word, Allie and Kyle raced to the edge of the hill and took off in unison. Their wings nearly touched as they spread out beyond their arm span.
I kept my eyes on Allie in wonder. She pumped her wings and shot forward above the landscape. She flew so effortlessly that it was as if magic kept her afloat. Even with the sun hidden behind an overcast sky, I could still make out the blue shimmer in her wings from a distance.
My heart felt as if it was soaring alongside her. The more I watched, the more excitement filled my chest.
Allie’s wings were smaller than Kyle’s, but that seemed to work to her advantage. She was much quicker than him. She was also several inches shorter and fifty pounds lighter, so she didn’t have to work as hard to keep herself airborne.
As soon as they reached the other end of the valley, they both turned around and headed back toward Marek and me. Allie sped up until her ankle was in line with
Kyle’s head.
“Should we move?” I glanced at Marek to find him smiling at the couple.
“No, they’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? They’re coming right for us.”
Marek laughed. “They know what they’re doing.”
I contemplated diving out of the way as Allie made her landing, but Marek placed an arm around me, forcing me to stay. My first instinct was to be annoyed with him, but then his arm relaxed against my shoulder. I relaxed, too.
Allie hit the ground and immediately tumbled into a summer-sault to slow her momentum. She landed on her feet and shot her fists into the air in victory. Her wings had vanished.
“You suck!” she gloated when Kyle landed.
He laughed. “You know I let you win.”
Allie rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“You ready for a go?” Kyle asked. It took me a second to realize he was talking to me.
My eyebrows rose. “Me? I’m not racing.”
Kyle smiled. “Why not? I need to beat a girl one of these days.”
Marek jumped to my defense. “Give her a break, Kyle. She’s never flown before.”
“That’s why I’ll finally be able to beat someone.” He stood so confidently that I wasn’t convinced he was as bad as he was suggesting.
“Relax,” Allie told him. “You beat Casey all the time.”
“Yeah, well, Casey’s not as good as she thinks she is,” Kyle said.
Even I could’ve guessed that based on my first impression of her, and I hadn’t even seen her fly yet.
“I’m not going to race, but I’d like to try flying.” I spoke to no one in particular. “How do we do this?”
A smile twitched at the corner of Marek’s lips. “You know how birds learn to fly by being pushed out of the nest?”
“Yeah…”
Marek raised his brows.
“What? You’re not going to push me off a cliff, are you?”
Everyone laughed beside me.
“No,” Marek assured me. “But it really doesn’t get much simpler than that. Allie says you’ve figured out your wings?”
I nodded.
