Luca (Veiled City #3)

Chapter Six

LUCA

I should’ve listened to my gut.

Story of my life, really.

Five cloaked and masked creatures spread out in a semicircle in front of us, cornering us like foxes to chickens. My heart thundered in my throat. They were ghostly in appearance, smoke billowing from their spindly frames like a sinister aura, and the longer I stared, the more intense the chill creeping down my spine got. It was a species I didn’t recognize from my books, not that I was in any condition to recall it, even if I had read about them. I was too busy observing their calculated steps, remembering how to breathe, and cursing myself for being at fault to really focus on the particulars.

Barely a day into our journey and we were being surrounded in the woods between the market and the tavern where we’d planned to spend the night—great start to any road trip. I was no seer, but I should have seen it coming. How silly it was of me to even hope that reaching Rosewood Creek safely and without incident was a possibility. I’d felt queasy about the whole thing since we’d left. If only I’d treated that feeling as a warning, Cair wouldn’t be standing in front of me, his wings unfurled from his back and fangs bared in a threatening snarl, protecting me from advancing predators.

Why didn’t I say anything?

He was one Fae against five beings I didn’t know anything about. Cair was strong, and he had a ward shielding him, but what if they were outsiders? What if they had powers he couldn’t withstand, and I had unwittingly put him in the firing line? He had no weapons, only his fists and his fangs, while they all brandished swords, daggers, or claws. I hated that fear was gluing me to the spot. Instead of the usual flood of defensive instincts overriding the panic, my self-preservation had taken a stance, forcing me to cower.

It chose its moment.

“Stand down,” Cair warned, his voice lowered to a deadly pitch I’d never heard before. It was petrifying, and my body reacted with a shiver. “I am your prince and?—”

The figure at the head of the group laughed, a distorted sound that served as another reminder that they weren’t human. “We don’t care who you are, princeling,” it hissed behind its gold mask. “Nor are we here for you.”

Its eyes were shrouded by the lip of its hood, but I felt it stare straight at me, those words settling like a lead weight in the pit of my stomach.

They were here for me.

They stepped forward again, and Cair’s wings twitched in agitation. “You will die before I let you touch him.”

Its smirk was hidden, but the intention was clear as day when it said, “We’ll see.”

Cair primed himself to lunge, fangs bared, but before he could, there was a whistle through air. I wasn’t given the chance to comprehend its origin as the creature that had spoken slumped to the ground, an arrow skewering its neck. Seconds later, two figures came rushing from the tree line, cutting through the ghoul-like beings with battle cries and the ringing of metal. I could only see vague shapes through the translucent panels of Cair’s wings as he guarded me, but one by one, almost too quickly for me to grasp, the bad guys dropped like flies, either dead or writhing in pain.

Yellow blood soaked the forest floor, spraying the tree trunks, and the stench of rotten flesh assaulted my nose.

My stomach roiled.

With the distraction of the newcomers, one of the hooded creatures surged toward Cair, clearly hoping to catch him off guard. Thankfully, my mate was on high alert. He dodged the slices of its daggers, managing to knock the weapons from its grasp before his hand darted out to seize its thin gray throat, squeezing until it went limp.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away, too focused on the growing heap of bodies and the scent of death to notice the plume of smoke sneaking up from behind me until it was too late. A clawed hand materialized, grabbing my wrist and hauling me out of the safety of Cair’s shadow, dragging me halfway across the meadow, away from the fight. The creature threw me to the ground before straddling my waist, once more a solid mass, and I bucked and kicked, swinging my fists at its masked face, but it was pointless. With little effort, it pinned my arms to the ground with one of its ghoulish hands before unsheathing its dagger.

The sight of the sharp blade had me freezing.

My breath was fire in my lungs, my vision blackening at the edges as terror consumed me. I didn’t know what to do as it set the point against my belly, where my shirt had ridden up, as if teasing me with the power it held. I couldn’t conjure up a single rational thought, couldn’t envision anything except my life force withering away to dust. I couldn’t defend myself, couldn’t struggle, couldn’t even scream . I was stuck in a body that was working against me, so I just screwed my eyes shut, hoping dying would be painless and that Cair wouldn’t hate me for giving up.

Of course he will, you’re pathetic.

There was pressure at my side and I bit my lip, preparing for the agony that would follow, for the darkness that would drag me under… but it didn’t come.

The weight on my lap suddenly vanished, my arms were freed, and the expectation of my imminent demise drifted into the background like a cloud after a storm. My eyes flew open, landing on the creature hovering above me, a wriggling worm on a hook, screeching inaudibly. Cair was behind it, and the rage radiating through our bond was enough to have me crawling backward, a whimper lodged in my throat.

Cair’s eyes snapped to mine, softening in pity, but I couldn’t calm my erratic nerves, couldn’t find comfort in the look that typically soothed me. He barked an order—words I couldn’t hear over the blood rushing through my ears and the repetition of death, death, death echoing in the space around me—and suddenly there was someone in front of him, blocking my view.

There was silence for a moment before a sickening crack broke through the fog in my head, and another body dropped to the ground. Four in total. There had been five. Where was the fifth?Where had it?—

“Shh, little one, it’s alright.” Cair’s hands were on my cheeks, sticky and wet, and I didn’t want to think about what had made them wet. “You’re safe. They’re gone.”

I shook my head. “One more. There’s still one more.”

Death, death, death.

“It’s being tracked down as we speak,” he said, his voice gentle, surrounding me in warmth. “There are no more. You can come back to me now. It’s alright.”

Blindly, I reached for him, hands roving his chest, his arms, his face, checking for injuries, checking that he was whole and there . “A-are you hurt?”

“I’m okay.”

Tears welled in my eyes, and I plastered myself against Cair’s chest, inhaling the scent of him. Listening to the familiar beats of his heart. “I was useless, I’m sorry,” I sobbed. “I didn’t know what to do. I panicked, and I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” He kissed the top of my head, and hugged me tight. “They should not have gotten close enough to use their power. Forgive me.”

“Nothing to forgive,” I muttered mindlessly, letting myself breathe and gradually claw my way back from the void I’d strayed into. The heaviness in my chest loosened first, before the haze waned, and once clarity hit, it was immediately replaced by embarrassment. Self-loathing.

Cair had fought them off, had killed them for threatening me, and all I did was lie there, panicking and flailing. Even if I could fight—which I couldn’t because I hadn’t bothered to fucking learn—he wouldn’t have let me in on the action, but I should have felt an urge to abandon all reason and run headfirst into danger. As I was normally inclined to do. I should have felt the same anger surge through my veins, the desire to see their heads on pikes for daring to attack my mate, but I hadn’t. Cair’s first instinct was to protect me with all he had, to die for me if it came to it, and mine was to shut down.

Pathetic.

“Luca, my heart,” Cair said, capturing my attention. “There was nothing you could have done. Those beings emit anguish and dread. You were paralyzed by their auras, and what you’re feeling is the aftereffect. It will pass.” He gently squeezed my nape, and I slumped into it. “You are uninjured, you are here, and nothing else matters.”

I nodded, though I didn’t have the capacity to believe it yet. There was no energy left in me to argue or disagree. My entire body felt drained of everything that helped it function. Instead, I sat back and glanced over the bloody scene, squinting at the creature closest to me. It was dead, its hood askew, and its mask had been discarded on the ground beside it.

“He’s the guy from the market,” I muttered, mostly to myself, studying those ghostly gray features, and the now vacant red eyes that still seemed to stare into my soul, leaving me an empty husk. “I didn’t know they were following us.”

Cair shifted to the side, breaking my stare. “You saw him at the market?”

I nodded. “I thought he was one of Rathe’s guys.”

“They were reapers. Assassins of a sort. They don’t fight for any particular cause, or really exist for anything other than the enjoyment of bringing psychological pain to their victims. They are bound to a master until they carry out their task, then they flit around the darkest corners waiting for the next. Unless they die.”

“I’ve never heard of them.” I frowned. In all the books I’d read on the monsters of the Otherworld, I hadn’t seen a creature like that. I’d have remembered. “And I suppose their task was, what, to kill me?”

Cair’s jaw clenched. “I believe so.”

“Why?”

“I am unsure, but I will find out,” he said, resolute. “They were likely hired by rebels, and if that is the case, they will be brought to the palace and tried for treason—if I don’t get to them first.” I swallowed thickly. “In the meantime, please tell me if you see anything or anyone that sparks concern, even if you think it’s unimportant. Knowing you as I do, pet, your gut instincts are typically right.”

“I will.” I looked down as I picked leaves off my pants. “I’m sorry.”

Cair tapped the underside of my chin, bringing my eyes back up to meet his. “No apologies are necessary, sweetheart. I’m only glad they didn’t succeed.”

I smiled up at him, and a positive response that I had to wrench from the deepest recesses of my brain was gathering on my tongue, but at the same second, I became acutely aware of the dampness around my butt region. My face contorted into a wince. “Um, can you help me stand? I’m pretty sure I’m sitting in a pool of blood and I’m really not loving it. Either that or I’ve pissed myself, and in that instance, I will be passing away.”

With an amused huff, Cair helped me to my feet. My knees wobbled, shaken by the ordeal, and though I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that there was nothing I could have done differently, the thoughts still lingered. An irritating nip in my ears. But everything was slightly clearer now, and I felt more and more like myself with each passing second. Cair’s closeness helped. He was glued to my side, always touching me as if he was afraid of letting me out of his sight, and I was grateful for the reassurance. I linked our fingers, needing the extra grounding, and he studied my face, his concern evident.

I smiled again, though this time it actually felt genuine. “I’m okay.”

“Your Highness?”

I flinched at the gruff voice and slotted myself under Cair’s arm, getting a better view of the stranger I hadn’t even noticed approaching. She was some type of wood nymph. I recognized it not only because she was distinctively beguiling, but because of the tree bark covering both of her hands and the parts of her face peeking out from the thin scarf-mask over her nose and mouth. There was also a branch protruding from the side of her head like an antler, nestled among a thick cascade of leafy hair. She was elegance personified, tall and unapproachable, giving off an air of authority and self-assurance I was only slightly intimidated by.

She dipped her head at me in a passing gesture before turning her full attention back to Cair.

I relaxed.

“Did you find the runaway?” Cair asked, and she gave a firm nod, her fluorescent amber eyes flaring with a hint of smugness as she adjusted the carved wooden bow strapped to her back—the craftsmanship of which was stunning, and oddly familiar. Where have I seen red gems like that before?

“It is dead.”

“Good,” my mate said coldly, and I felt a little tingle in my stomach. “Do you have any idea where they came from?”

“None. As is typical with those wretched beasts, they wore no emblem of their master and carried no evidence. I do know that they were tasked to eliminate His Highness.” Her eyes flicked to me before returning to Cair. “The reaper who fled was under the impression the job had been carried out. I took immense delight in informing it otherwise before I put an arrow through its black heart.”

I knew there were bigots in the Fae realm, a handful of monsters who, like the king, hated the idea of interspecies mixing—especially with humans. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if they’d recruited the reapers to wipe me out, hiding behind the guise of anonymity rather than dealing the blow themselves. It was scary, actually having a target on my back instead of just considering the possibility, but I’d known the risks when I bonded with a Fae prince.

Well, I’d sorta waved them aside because I was impatient and bullheaded, but the point stood.

“Send word to Rathe at the palace,” Cair ordered, using his ‘dominant voice,’ as I affectionately called it. “Tell him what has happened, and to inform me immediately if any of his associates hear any whispers of a coup. If anyone has information, it’ll be him.”

“Already done, boss,” a second stranger reported, wandering out from between the trees. They were the two who’d helped Cair fight off the reapers, I realized—delayed reaction. Though in my defense, they’d whirled onto the field like tornadoes, so quick I could hardly tell whether they were friend or foe. Then, of course, I’d had my psyche tampered with by some Grim Reaper dickhead, so I could probably be forgiven.

“Our two fastest scouts are on their way to the palace as we speak,” he added, radiating a cocksure energy that dwindled in potency when he tripped over his own feet. I bit my lip as he tugged down his hood and mask to properly scowl at the floor. “The others are tracking ahead or surveying the area, making sure nothing is amiss.”

Cair tilted his head in acknowledgment, poised and regal despite having witnessed the same display. “Thank you.”

“Um… hi.” I ventured out from the safe confines of Cair’s wings. “Are you guys… the Shades?”

The matching dark gray outfits they both wore were a bit of a clue, although they leaned more toward assassins than general spies as I’d been expecting—what with the effortlessly sexy knee-length coats, the tight pants, and all the belts and holsters equipped with various weapons.

Oh, and the cloaks.

Can’t forget the cloaks.

It was the guy who answered, a playful smirk on his face. “That we are, small prince.” He offered an extravagant bow, and the other creature rolled her eyes. Cair looked mildly alarmed. “At your service.”

I couldn’t quite put a finger on his exact species. He was partly humanoid, but reptilian in appearance, with scaly green skin, pincer-shaped hands, and big round eyes that moved independently of each other. He had no tail, though, and a tongue that didn’t seem forked. He looked familiar, like a lizard I’d studied before, but my brain was failing me.

That’ll get on my nerves.

“What are your names?”

“Cerila Dovin,” the tree lady announced, sounding detached as if the words were from a script. “But you may call me Cee, Your Highness.”

I nodded before turning to face the guy expectantly. He stared at me with a blank look on his face, as if he’d tuned in halfway through the conversation and needed a sec to catch up. I was about to repeat the question when he jolted back online.

“Oh! My name’s Gary Flinstock,” he said, grinning proudly before tacking on, “You can just call me… Gary.”

I pressed my lips together, stifling my amusement as Cee huffed in obvious irritation.

“I thought there was a group—a guild —of you?” I said, recalling what Cair had told me before we left the palace grounds.

Gary nodded.

“There is, but with only five reapers, there was no need for extra hands.” He puffed out his chest. “We could handle it.”

It was a little eerie to imagine how many eyes were actually on us, creatures I hadn’t sensed for even a second, right there in the shadows, every step of the way.But I was glad of it.

“Well, thanks.” I offered a smile. “For helping.”

“It’s my pleas?—”

There was a rustle in the trees, and Gary’s eyeballs jerked in different directions. My heart skipped, and Cair draped his wing around my shoulders, coaxing me behind him. No one moved a muscle or even twitched. Not until Cee raised one arm, dangerously slowly, to unhook the bow at her back, while the other reached for her quiver. I held my breath as if it would somehow counteract the faint hiss of the arrow against the leather as she slid it free, but before she got it halfway, the rapid thud of footsteps came from the tree line…

A hare scurried out of the bushes, darting around us.

Gary squawked and turned neon pink .

“For Creators’ sake.” Cee sighed, glaring daggers at Gary before reaching out and smacking the back of his head. He jolted back to his usual pale green color, his eyes returning to a central position as if she’d done a factory reset. “Control yourself, will you? It’s lucky we’re not in hiding.”

“It startled me,” he whined, rubbing at his head, totally ignoring her ire. I chuckled at his very non spy-like behavior, but gasped when it hit me.

“You’re a chameleon!”

“A basilisk,” he corrected, and despite myself, I frowned in disbelief, having had an entirely different image of what a basilisk looked like.

He didn’t have a noticeable tail, for a start.

Gary snorted at my expression. “I’m a hybrid. Da’s a basilisk, Ma’s a shapeshifter. Somehow those genes crossed, and this is what they got.” He made a ta-da motion with his hands, smiling blithely. “My sister looks like a croc, so at least we stuck to the reptilian theme, and since the only things basilisk about me are my DNA, my fangs, and the toughness of my skin, you won’t die if you look into my eyes. Our Da has to wear enchanted contacts. He says they sting a bit, and they’re not a hundred percent effective. He kinda killed his cousin’s boyfriend. Dude was an asshole anyway, but still. It’s wild.”

I nodded dumbly at his rambling, grateful for the little anecdote, considering he seemed very fond of very deep and slightly unhinged eye contact. “That’s… good then.”

Cee huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “There’s nothing but an empty space behind those googly eyes.”

“Oh, my sister has two brains,” he gushed, ignoring her jibe. “How cool is that?”

“Did she get yours?” she asked flatly.

I was half convinced he couldn’t even hear her at this point, or he’d learned to switch off entirely. “I have two dicks, though,” he said with a shrug. “So I won the genetic lottery.”

Cee groaned skyward and pinched the bridge of her covered nose. “That’s a yes, then.”

If Alex were here, he’d be having an absolute field day.

An unseemly snort burst out of me, my body heaving with it, but the sound tapered into a grunt as a sharp pain cut through my side. My hand flew to the source, and Cair was already in front of me, nostrils flaring.

“You’re bleeding.”

“What? No, I’m?—”

He peeled my hand away, revealing the thin line of blood across my palm. Its source seeped through my white shirt.

I scrambled to lift the hem, sighing with relief at the small scratch above my hip bone. It looked to have stopped actively bleeding, the drops that had escaped already drying. It wasn’t a complete catastrophe, a paper cut really, but when I gazed up at Cair to make a joke about dry cleaning, the murderous glint in his eyes would’ve told a different story.

“It hurt you,” he growled, his eyes glowing their supernatural purple. “How could I not smell it before?”

“Cair, I’m alright.” I dropped my shirt to set my hands on his chest. “It’s just a scratch. That guy’s dagger must have nicked me. It’s hardly even bleeding, look…”

His gaze was fixed on the spot as I showed him again, but he wasn’t seeing . “I should have sensed it.”

“You were probably high on adrenaline.” I took a deep inhale, scrunching my nose up. “And to be fair, I can only smell their blood. Which I’m kinda covered in, by the way. It’s literally sticking to me.”

He wasn’t listening.

“Scout ahead to the inn,” Cair barked at Cee, his whole demeanor switching from neutral to protective-mate mode. “Ask for a room on the top floor, offer whatever payment you have to, then meet us at the back entrance. I want as few eyes on us as possible.”

Cee nodded in understanding before disappearing into the trees like a ghost to carry out her orders.

Gary stepped forward. “What do you need from me?”

“Follow behind us,” Cair instructed. “Stay alert.”

He bowed, pulling his hood over his head with one hand and lifting his neck gaiter over his nose and mouth with the other. He drifted into the shadows, not an ounce of his earlier goofiness evident. On the job, he was like an entirely different being, focused and attentive, but I didn’t get the chance to dwell on it as my mate ushered me forward, bending as if preparing to scoop me into his arms.

I took a step back.

“Cair, I’m alright,” I said sternly. “I can walk.”

His jaw clenched, and I knew that meant he wanted to argue but was forcing himself to suppress it. For my sake. I sighed. The emotions coming through our bond were chaos, a whirlwind of bloodlust, possessiveness, and despair. His instincts were going haywire, and I knew they wouldn’t settle unless he appeased them.

Unless I appeased them, as he so often did for me.

It’ll be a long night.

“Okay.” I relented, smiling up at him. “Carry me.”

He was careful, picking me up bridal style as his wings extended to their full span. Within seconds, we were soaring into the air, weaving through the forest toward the nearest inn.

Gary had to run to keep up.

* * *

The room we rented was spacious yet cozy. An embodiment of all those medieval taverns I’d read about in my fantasy romances. The fire was burning away, and the green curtains were drawn, giving it a secure, homely feel—a good place to unwind. It had also been vacant when Cee arrived, so there’d been no need for bribes. I’d asked her about it as we snuck through the back door like celebrities avoiding a mob.

Much to Cair’s satisfaction, we’d met no one as he climbed the stairs, two at a time, with me still in his arms. He’d locked the door behind us, barely stopping to admire the king-sized bed or the shower and tub situation before he was helping me bathe. He’d tenderly scrubbed the reaper’s blood from my skin, then drained and refilled the murky water to wash my hair. His tentative fingers had felt heavenly on my scalp—on every inch of me, really—but it was over far too soon. Gary had delivered bandages and ointment, and my mate had insisted on dressing the wound without further delay. I’d let him do whatever he needed. It was no real hardship, being taken care of and pampered.

And if it helped him regulate, then it was a win-win.

“We’ll stay here for a few nights,” he said as he tucked the tail of the bandage securely under itself. “Let you rest and heal properly. Then we will return to the palace.”

My eyes snapped to his, blinking as I processed what he’d said—his first full sentence since we’d got here. “Um, no…” I countered with a short, incredulous laugh. “We can stay here for two nights, then we’ll carry on.”

“But—”

I covered his hands with mine, lifting one to my cheek and nuzzling it. “I’m not giving up because of those assholes.” I kissed his palm. “I want to find out if this Zadok guy really is my dad. I’ve waited long enough.”

“We can still do so,” he said, thumb brushing my skin. He wore a concerned frown that I wanted to smooth out with my finger. “But in the company of the royal guard. Two weeks and your wound will be healed, then I can gather a?—”

“I love you.” I cut in, sending him a smile that I hoped conveyed my gratitude for his unnecessary fretting before adding a firm and concise, “But no.”

He studied my face, with its unwavering expression, and because he was so attuned to my every thought and emotion—and my tendency to not budge when I’d put my foot down—he relented. I understood his worries, I truly did. Being tied to someone, body and soul, and feeling their life force so keenly inside you, meant that every fear, no matter how irrational, was so much more visceral. He’d have sensed my panic and helplessness almost as intensely as I’d felt it myself, and all he would’ve seen was the worst possible outcome. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but what had happened had terrified him, and knowing another being had touched and harmed what was his would be eating away at him, sending his senses into overdrive. I would indulge him all night and all day, give him as long as he needed to be convinced that I was okay, but this was my limit.

I’d had no choice but to give up in the fight; I wouldn’t be doing the same now.

“Alright,” he said, smiling weakly back at me. “But not until you’re better.”

A compromise I could definitely live with. “I suppose a little break won’t hurt.”

He nodded, seemingly pacified, before urging me into bed. I went willingly. The covers were already folded back, so all I had to do was wriggle into position and sigh happily as my head sank into the pillow. I lay there for a moment, staring up at the nondescript ceiling, but the lack of a solid body weighing down the mattress beside me had me confused.

Cair wasn’t joining me. Instead, he rose from his kneeling position to set the supplies on the side table. He was puttering around, busying himself. Creating a distraction . The line of his back was tense, and it didn’t take the skill of a mind reader to know he was wound up tight, teetering on the edge of collapse. He was always so strong for me, rarely showing his vulnerabilities, and even now he was doing his best to hide them, but fuck that noise.

I was well aware of how hypocritical that sounded, considering I was also trying to ignore everything, but not being given the opportunity to wallow helped, and seeing my mate in this state broke my heart.

There was no point in us both getting lost in our heads.

I sat up. “Cair…”

“Hm?”

“Talk to me.”

He paused, and in all honesty, I thought he would refuse, tell me to go to sleep and not worry about it, but he didn’t. He balled his fists at his sides, and through a hint of a snarl, he said, “My duty is to protect you, and I failed.”

“You literally choked two smoke dudes to death because they tried to kill me,” I said dryly. “You protected me.”

“It… touched you,” he gritted it out as if the word tasted sour on his tongue. “It should not have gotten close enough.”

“Maybe not.” I shrugged. “But it did, and there was nothing you could have done to prevent it. I’m also not in any pain. Rattled, yes, but all things considered, I think I got outta there pretty unscathed.”

He seemed to sober at that, blinking out of his stupor. He strode back over to the bed and lowered himself to his knees again.

“Forgive me,” he murmured, taking my small hand in his large one. “You went through this ordeal, and I am making this about myself.”

“Uh-uh, we’re not gonna do that. You’re allowed to have feelings, and to need comfort. You don’t have to bottle everything up or set your worries aside for me. I won’t love you any less if you fall apart every once in a while.”

Eyes glassy, Cair leaned forward and rested his head against mine, breathing the same air. His voice cracked in his throat when he finally said, “Seeing you hurt made me remember that I can lose you, and I… Fuck , I can’t lose you.”

“I know.” I combed my fingers through the hair that had fallen from his braid, closing my eyes and letting his scent surround me. “But I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

He brushed my nose with his, drifting lower until he could kiss me, the gesture soft and adoring. All of his emotion poured into me, and I pressed closer, suddenly wanting more now that I could taste him. The desire to throw my arms around his shoulders and drag his body on top of me was urgent and startling, but annoyingly, exhaustion had other ideas.

I broke away, yawning, and he chuckled softly. “Tell me what you need, sweetheart.”

“Come to bed?” I lifted the sheets and shuffled out of the center to make room. He began to peel off his clothes without hesitation, and another thought came to me just as he was about to slide in beside me. “Can you release your wings? I want all of you around me.”

He’d glamored them for practicality, but I missed their larger-than-life presence, their power and protection.

“Of course.” They unfurled from his back, still so breathtakingly beautiful it almost made me cry.

My mate settled into the bed, maneuvering us until my back was against his chest and every part of him could curl around me as I’d wanted. His wings blanketed me last, the crystalline panels shielding me from the outside world, and though my nerves still buzzed under the surface, being in his arms, safe and comfortable, quieted the worst of their bite.

This time, when the dark came, I was less afraid.