Magnificent, the way he lifted off the ground and took flight. The majesty of the bird filled me with awe. He was the most beautiful non-Shadow creature I’d ever laid eyes on. But as I was so tired and it was still so early, I passed back out.
The mattress dipped, the sudden weight forcing me to open my eyes. Daylight streamed through the two windows in the cabin. Shadow sat on the bed, his hand resting on my hip, and I had the feeling he’d been shaking me.
Two other men stood just inside the open door, my suitcase by the foot of one man, my oversized attaché for all my notes and research next to the other man.
“We have to go,” Shadow announced.
Um… what? “Pardon?”
“We have to go. It is not safe this far down the mountain any longer.”
“This far… down the mountain?” I asked what I thought to be another poignant question.
The man next to my suitcase spoke up. “Sorry, Meena. We really have to get going. Shad got you all packed up.” He called me ‘Meena’ in a very familiar way for someone I’d never met before. I assumed Shad was Shadow? That was a totally cute nickname but as he’d introduced himself to me as Shadow, I further assumed that meant he wanted me to call him Shadow.
“Who… um… who are you?” I asked before I agreed to go anywhere.
“Bracken, m’lady.”
Bracken. M’lady?
“Am I being punked? Some sort of practical joke going on?” I rubbed at my temples, feeling a headache coming on, even as I tried to wake fully.
“Practical joke?” the other man asked, less friendly, more annoyed, terse, than his friend. “You finding something funny?”
“Race,” Shadow admonished, using a tone that made me cringe and it hadn’t even been directed at me.
The man called Race hardened his face and glared at me but spoke no more.
“Please, Meena,” Shadow said again. “We really need to get going.”
As he said please, I threw off the blankets and pushed off the bed. “Where exactly are we going?”
Race snickered and then he bizarrely said, presumably to Shadow, “Are you sure?” I said presumably to Shadow because even though he didn’t answer the man, Shadow took an aggressive step toward him and glared. Hard.
I needed to shut this down and lightly grabbed Shadow’s forearm to keep him from hurting his friend. He broke eye contact with Race and turned to me. “Cloud City,” he said, not just as a matter of fact, but proudly.
Cloud City? Cloud City. I realized he was answering my last question and plopped back down onto the bed. Shadow had my boots unlaced, tongues out, awaiting my feet. The man looked sincere about our hasty exit which meant I slipped my feet inside the boots with no more hesitation, laced them up, then stood and walked over to the table to grab up my phone. I brought up a search engine, pressed the microphone button and spoke clearly. “Cloud City.”
Everything, every listing referred to The Empire Strikes Back.
Seriously?
“You won’t find it on your internet maps,” Shadow told me. Taking my hand, he led me outside. Bracken and Race followed, each holding a case. It appeared they’d taken the time to pack me up—work and clothing—while I’d still been asleep.
Then, no kidding, all three men stripped naked in front of me.
“What are you doing?” My voice rose in panic. Three against one, they could overpower me. Violate me.
They each folded, and then one by one, stuffed their clothing inside my backpack. Shadow stepped over to me and held it out to help me slide the backpack on. Woodenly, I held my arms out as he slipped it up, straps over my shoulders, to rest it against my back.
Shadow stepped back, crouched slightly, then leapt into the air as his body ripped away in front of my eyes.
“What the fuck?” I screamed, stumbling back several steps.
His body. Ripped away. It ripped away, revealing my copper eagle.
“I’m going insane. Are you seeing this?” I asked the other two. But unfortunately, they weren’t there. I rubbed vigorously at my eyes. Vigorously enough to cause pain, though the outcome never wavered. Two brown eagles flapped their wings, hovering above the ground where two very naked men once stood. One bird grabbed the handle of my suitcase with his talons, the other bird, my attaché.
But the largest bird, my copper, used his sharp talons to lift me up off the ground. A firm grip, though it didn’t hurt. He flapped his majestic wings, lifting us higher and higher into the sky, where it got extremely cold.
Several times I thought I might pass out, but the wind whipping my hair in my face kept me lucid.
And as we broke through the clouds, a city—no, a metropolis—loomed before us. Built not like the Pueblos of Arizona and New Mexico, not built into the mountains, no, the city was built of sticks and stones, sky scrapers, streets. Homes. People. Built above the mountain. Like the way a bird built a nest at the top of a tree.
It… It was the most beautiful city I’d ever seen. That was when I realized I must have died. The wolves. The wolves had mauled me and I’d died. This had to be my brain transitioning to death. I got it. I did.
Copper and his eagle friends glided in to the city square, where it appeared they were prepared for a giant bonfire, and he set me down gently before transitioning back into the man. Into Shadow.
Chapter Three:
A City Above the Clouds
Bird transformed back to man right before my marveling eyes. It made sense. His soft chin and prominent nose, a nose almost beak-like. He was the eagle personified.
“Could I have my clothes?” Shadow asked.
I startled and peeled the pack from my back, set it on the ground, unzipped it to remove his jeans and flannel shirt, then Bracken’s and Race’s clothing, too.
“It happens,” he started to tell me. “Occasions when we have to land and transform in public. So we have no laws barring the practice. But as a matter of course, we do not.” Shadow paused to zip his pants. “Most mates, I have found, do not appreciate their other halves showing off their goods to the world.”
“I can understand that. Do you… um… have a mate?” I asked him.
Shadow’s eyes grew soft and one corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile. “No. Not yet.”
“Oh, well, I hope you find her—him?”
“Her,” he replied, this time on a laugh.
“Well, I hope you find her soon then.” Not knowing what else to do with myself, I tucked my hair behind my ear, pretty much staring at his feet, my feet, the wood for the bonfire. Anywhere but at him.
“You are taking all this surprisingly well. I am very impressed.”
That got me to look. “Well, nothing to be done about it. I should’ve brought a weapon with me. How long does it take, you think?”
“Does what take? And why would you need a weapon?”
“To fend off the wolves. And dying. How long do you think it’ll take for the process of dying to conclude? I must say, the cloud city is a beautiful representation.”
“Of what?” He titled his head to stare awkwardly at me.
“Heaven.”
“She thinks she is dead?” Bracken chuckled, zipping up his jeans. “That is a new one.”
“Enough, Bracken,” Shadow ordered his friend before turning to me. “Meena, you are not dead.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course, I’m not dead. I’m dying. There’s a huge difference. Heaven is a figment of the mind as it shuts down for good. That’s why people who die and come back have vivid memories of the place.”
“Meena, for the love of Saēna, you are alive. We saved you from those fucking disgusting wolves. You are here with us in Cloud City.” Race, curt with me, as always.
“What do you mea—”
“Saēna!” Race bit out again. “Listen, woman. Pinch yourself. Pinch one of us. Shit, throw yourself off the edge of the city and see what it is like to die for real. But in that moment before your head splatters like a ripe melon, kno
w in this moment, you were very much alive.”
It all came back to me. The aerial battle. Warning Copper. Throwing stones. He’d returned the favor. Saved me from the wolves. Holy cow! He’d saved me from the wolves. I opened my mouth and closed it several times before I finally managed to eke out, “The air battle, right?” I asked. “You heard me warning you.”
“Yes,” Shadow said. He took a step forward but stopped after only a step. “Then you took care of me.”
“I… took care of you,” I whispered, because my voice refused to rise above it, and I stumbled back a couple of steps, then went down, my bottom hitting the stone pavement underfoot.
The three men stood over me, looking down on me, arms folded over their chests. “She certainly is tiny,” Bracken said simply, as if my entire world hadn’t been flipped upside-down.
I ran my fingers through my hair, then gripped tightly, holding on for dear life. Men turn to birds. Tightness in my chest caused my breaths to come out as squeaky wheezing.
Shadow tugged up on his jeans, then dropped into a squat in front of me, ass to heels, resting his arms on his thighs and folding his hands together. “You are okay.”
I heard his words, but they made little difference to me. The wheezing grew worse. Worry flashed across his face. He unfolded a hand and used it to grip the back of my neck, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Come on, eaglet. Calm for me.”
His compatriots chuckled at the use of the nickname.
“Eaglet?” I asked.
“Bracken is right; you are tiny,” Shadow said. “Tinier than our women. Tiny, like an eaglet.”
“Eaglet?” I asked again, my voice rising.
“What we call a baby eagle.”
That got me. “I’m not that tiny,” I protested, but I will admit, I did it no longer wheezing.
And he was right, despite my protestations, I was smaller than every person I’d seen so far, including Bracken and Race, and of course Shadow. Even the women and men who strolled past us on the street towered over my five-foot-five frame. Though I’d argue my curves to be equally as curvy as the women’s.
They all, every one, had the brown mane of hair running down their backs like Shadow. Race and Bracken, and from what I could tell, the other passersby, had yellow eyes, not the deep amber eyes of Shadow. He seemed to be unique on that front.
Being so far up the mountain, it didn’t surprise me that the weather changed quickly. From breezy yet sunny to a literal force of nature.
“We need to go.” Shadow helped me up off the ground, pulling both of my hands with both of his. Bracken and Race picked up each of my cases and the four of us ran.
Shadow kept hold of my hand to direct me the way he wanted us to go.
We finally ended up at a, well if I was back home, I’d call it a boarding house. Despite the curious building materials, it had a welcoming front. There was a two-toned gray-striped awning and wild flowers in planter boxes running up the stoop, which set wider than the doorway, so if the planter boxes hadn’t been there, three people could stand comfortably on one step, shoulder to shoulder.
It wasn’t until he dropped my hand and the feeling lessened that I became aware of the pins and needles, like my circulation had been cut off and now flowed freely again. There had been too much going on before to give my strange situation much headspace, but it occurred to me that the pins and needles came on every time we touched. What was happening to me? First the odd overt attraction and now the prickles? I thought I might really need my head examined.
Shadow opened the door to what I’d call the foyer, and in there sat a beautiful, antique-looking desk, like a hotel check-in desk. On the desk there was a fixed silver cup with pens, and a ledger lay open.
Our little group walked over to the desk and Shadow handed me a pen from the cup. Each line had a different name printed on it, and next to the name, a room number. Pointing to the next empty line, he ordered me, “Your name, eaglet.”
I rolled my eyes at him and filled out my name, then turned to watch him pluck a room key from a hook hanging on the wall with a number on it attached to a keyring. He grabbed key ring 207. Next to my name, I wrote 207, then dropped the pen back in the cup.
“I don’t have any money,” I whispered to Shadow. “How am I supposed to pay for the room?”
“You don’t need money. Not for this place.”
“Are you sure?”
He shook his head, placating me, and breathed out. “I’m sure.” Shadow then turned to the other two, taking my suitcase and attaché. He nodded his thanks and said, “See you back home.”
Bracken punched Shadows shoulder softly but looked at me. “Take care, Meena.” Then he winked. Rogue simply spun around and walked out, no goodbye.
The inside walls, made up of a golden sandstone, held no artwork or photos. Each door, a plain wooden door, had a brass deadbolt and brass knob. Brass numbers had been nailed to each raised panel.
Placing his hand to the small of my back, he ushered us toward the stairwell down the back of the first hallway. We walked up to the second floor, down to room 207.
I shoved the key in the deadbolt and twisted, turning the knob at the same time, pushing open the door.
A simple room. A double bed. Plain dresser. Nightstand and light on that nightstand, and then two doors. The first I opened went to a smaller—one might even say miniscule closet—with wire hangers. As they weren’t charging me to stay, I couldn’t complain. But did these people not know that wire ruined clothing?
What lay behind the second door more than made up for the wire hangers. A small but functional bathroom. A small sink basin dropped into a cabinet, a commode and shower-tub combo. Like the rest of the room, it had no decoration. And that was more than all right. I was in a boarding house, not a hotel.
“So,” Shadow started, which made me jump, as I’d forgotten he’d come in with me. I turned to look at him. He filled the doorway. His broad shoulders skimming the jamb and trim. “Why don’t you rest for a bit? I have some stuff to take care of, then I’ll be back to take you to dinner.”
“Dinner?” I asked, lifting my hand to scratch my head. Was he serious? “Shadow, you turn into a bird.”
“Yes.” That was his answer? Just, yes?
I shot him the ‘so’ eyes and waited. He said nothing. “We had to run… what were we running from? Where exactly are we? How is any of this possible?”
“Eaglet, I promise that you will know all. You must trust me.”
“Trust you? I hardly know you.”
“You know me,” he said in a deep rumble. Okay, so that voice and the sexy raising of one eyebrow that he was currently shooting me didn’t hurt his argument one bit, but mostly it was that he was right on his point. I did know him. I saw him fight and fall as bird. I took charge of his recuperation for a month.
“You want to sit down?” I stepped aside in order for him to sit on the bed, but he didn’t budge from his spot. Where I come from, men don’t use rumbly voice and sexy eyebrow unless they plan to on act them. I wasn’t exactly turning him down or pushing him out the door.
“It is not a good idea, eaglet. You rest. I will be back.” Shadow repeated his earlier statement. But I didn’t want to rest. I wanted to… well, I had a few ideas that involved the sexy man standing next to me. I mean, come on. The room didn’t even have a television. So, I wasn’t sure what he expected me to do while I ‘rested.’ Though they’d brought my case. I could work.
Shadow and I locked gazes for a few minutes longer, and not in that whole time did he move to leave. He raised his hand to brush his fingers down my face along the hairline. A sweet, intimate gesture. Sifting his hand around, he cupped the back of my neck, pulling me closer as he leaned in. My belly clutched. I thought he was going to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me. Badly. So very badly.
Stupidly, I began to cock my head to receive his kiss, but he used slight pressure—a barely there squeeze of his hand—to halt me. Then, sucking in a deep breath a
nd letting the breath out slowly, Shadow touched the tip of his nose to the tip of my nose. With feather-soft contact, he ran his nose up the bridge of mine and back down. Finally, he rested our foreheads together. Our noses still touched.
If the hairline brush was a sweet, intimate gesture, this I had no words for. My virginity had gone the way of the dodo bird years ago. I’d had tender moments in the past. But the intimacy of this touch, the warmth and tingles it created, not to mention the inexplicable feeling of intense emotion, made absolutely no sense. Because it touched me so? Because it ended too soon?
No matter the reason, it was nothing short of the most intimate moment of my life. And we hadn’t even kissed.
We hadn’t even kissed.
I’d never been in love before. Relationships complicated things. Made you lose focus. And women, throughout history, were always the ones expected to give up their hopes and their dreams. Well, I’d worked too damn hard to give up my dreams. And I wasn’t saying I was in love. I mean, I hardly knew him, right? I’d spent more time with him in bird form than man.
Something had formed between us, though. Something primal. Not primal—instinctual. Even when bird, it felt like I needed to be with him. Not desperate, fatal attraction, boil-his-bunnies kind of need, but natural.
“Stay,” I pleaded.
Although the look on his face told me he really didn’t want to, Shadow gently pushed away from me. “I cannot,” he said, turning to leave.
“Right,” I whispered, yes, whispered because I could hardly find my voice. Because I didn’t want him to leave. What I wanted was to throw myself back in his arms and beg him with my lips, my tongue and my body, if need be, to stay. For him to hold me, nuzzle me. Make me feel even more of what he made me feel moments ago.
Get a grip, Meena.
Get a grip was right. I steeled my shoulders, cleared my throat and bent down to pick up my attaché. “Right. See you later, then.”
Flight: The Roc Warriors (Immortal Elements Book 1) Page 3
