Chapter 12
The man and his son had left. It was just us here. I leaned against the rock as Zain paced.
“So…” he started. “I know this is a lot, and I wouldn’t blame you if you were freaked out after this and wanted nothing to do with me.
If that were the case, I could take you home, and we’d never have to speak again.
” His words sounded less like a warning and more like he was trying to convince me to walk away from him.
I barely knew the boy, but the threat of losing him already frightened me.
I shook my head. “I won’t be freaked out.” How could I be? I had seen so much in my dreams, I doubted anything he showed me could be worse than that.
He sighed. With his back to me, he took off his T-shirt and rested it against one of the rocks.
His shoulders were broad, biceps large and defined with a back that was smooth and tan.
The sight of him made my mouth go dry, and that gut-wrenching feeling was replaced by an unfamiliar flutter in the pit of my stomach.
The longer I stared at his back, the more I began to see faint scarring on each shoulder blade.
No longer smooth and untouched. I was hit by a memory of running my fingers along his back as wings emerged.
His back had been soft, but the points that had scarring were raised, and much harder than they appeared.
I watched, steps away, wondering how I could remember something I hadn’t experienced.
It took only a blink before wings unfurled from his shoulder blades, white with gray flecks, his wingspan about five meters.
The sight of Zain’s silhouette against the changing pink and orange sky, and the red rocks, was like something out of a dream—not mine, someone else’s.
His wings moved, faintly sweeping the air.
I had the urge to cross the distance between us and touch them, to see if they felt like I thought they did.
But my feet were rooted to the spot, despite my brain wanting so badly to be near him.
“Are you scared?” Zain asked, his voice shy.
I shook my head, but then realized he couldn’t see me. “No.”
Slowly, he turned. His shoulders rounded. “Are you sure?”
“Should I be?”
He tilted his head, and his lips perked up ever so slightly. “Maybe.”
I finally took a step forward. Then another. And another, until I was only a foot away. I could reach my hand out and touch his wings if I wanted to, if he let me.
“Can I feel them?”
His jaw clenched as he nodded.
I reached across and tentatively raised a hand to his left wing. It was surprisingly solid, the feathers soft, though the tips sharp.
The feeling that I had been here before wouldn’t leave me. I had caressed his back, had felt him shudder beneath my touch, had been bundled in his arms and carried away. The wings didn’t scare me as much as the unshakable belief that we’d been close like this before.
“This feels familiar,” I whispered.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “I know.”
Did he really?
He was so tall that I had to crane my neck up to see his face.
The intensity of his gaze made me turn away.
In fact, being this close to Zain suddenly felt like too much.
Conflicting emotions hit me—of being both safe and afraid, calm and on edge.
I took a step back to help regain what little sense I had left.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
Without thinking, I nodded. “Yes.”
He put his hand in the space between us, and I put mine in his. In one swift move, he wrapped me up in his arms, one of his arms underneath my legs, the other around my back. My breathing hitched at being held this close to him.
My senses were in overdrive. From the scent of him. From being pressed up against his body. I was conscious of how hard his entire frame was. Whether that was from working out and being on the football team, or because he was an angel. Either way, I melted into him.
His lips were to my ear, and I had to force myself to hold it together enough not to shiver. “Do you want to go for a ride?”
I was ordinarily risk avoidant to a fault, but my danger receptors were relaxed in this moment. Because I was with Zain. Deep down, I knew I would be safe with him.
I glanced up, our faces inches apart. Heart beats mingled. I thought I saw his eyes stray down to my lips, and then back to my eyes. I gnawed at my bottom lip, thinking, before releasing it and exhaling.
“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s go.”
His wings moved silently as they lifted us into the air.
At first, when I noticed we were off the ground, I couldn’t help but shut my eyes tight.
Zain moved with grace, his body gliding through the air.
With eyes closed, I could believe I was still on the ground, but when I peeked my eyes open, I saw all the red rocks below us. My breath caught.
“Remember to breathe,” he said. His gaze was ahead, focusing. Then our eyes met. I nodded, no words able to form. “Can you say something?”
“No,” I whispered.
I felt the rumbles of his laughter. I felt his heart rate pick up as I nestled closer into his chest.
“Look to the left,” Zain whispered into my ear.
I did—and saw the setting sun, the sky a mixture of lilac and deep purple, with lines of bright pink and small clouds of white. A noise of wonder sounded from my lips.
“Not long now,” Zain said. He angled his body slightly downward, and his wings fluttered us down, until we were at the peak of the Red Rocks mountain. We were off the trail hikers were allowed to climb, so it was only us here.
He continued to hold me, even though we were on the ground.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You haven’t said much.”
This time, I couldn’t help my shiver. I cleared my throat and said “Yeah,” even though I definitely didn’t mean it.
He set me down gently, and I wobbled, placing my hands on his chest to steady myself.
“Is it your head?” he asked, worry etched onto his face now.
I shook said head. “No, I’m fine.”
Not only had I seen Zain’s wings form, but I had seen him fly—flown with him. Any lingering doubt I had about him being an angel—of angels existing—had evaporated.
“You sure? Normally, I can’t stop you from asking questions.” Despite Zain’s usual confidence, there was something in his voice that gave away his nervousness.
I took a few steps over to a tree and rested a hand on it for support. “It just makes sense.”
Zain raised an eyebrow. “What does?”
He followed me over to the tree, resting a hand against the trunk.
I hadn’t even noticed it, but his wings had retreated.
Before our flight, he had tucked his T-shirt into the waistband of his shorts.
But he didn’t put it back on immediately, so I was left to face his bare chest. With great difficulty, my gaze moved beyond his shoulder, at the mountains.
“I’ve always had the sense that there was something more going on in the world.” Zain didn’t say anything, which prompted me to continue. “I even feel like I’ve been here before. That I’ve seen your wings, already, somehow…”
Zain was biting his bottom lip, but stopped, running his tongue over it. “So, you’ve seen me, too?” he asked. “Know what it means?”
I shook my head, holding my breath. I thought I knew, but I needed confirmation.
“The dreams of our past selves,” he said. “Of us being burned alive by jinn.”