13. Raelyna #3
One.
Two.
“Stars-damn.” A voice sounded from somewhere above me—no, ahead of me. “This is not how I wanted to find you.”
I forced my eyes open the slightest crack, my vision swimming as I looked toward the male in front of me. Gray wings expanded from behind his back, stretching wide as he scooped me into his arms and pushed off the ground.
Finn.
I groaned as my center of gravity shifted off-kilter and the desire to vomit rose within me.
Flying was so not ideal.
I felt the air brush across my face as Finn darted through the back halls of Solis Court before stopping in front of a distantly secluded door that was propped open. We landed before the door with a soft thud, and I heard it creak open.
“You can put me down, Finn,” I mumbled as I pinched the bridge of my nose, thanking Astara I hadn’t gotten a nosebleed this time.
“You reek of multiple males and ambrosia. So, just tell me, was it another episode or not?”
Just tell him, the voice inside my head answered for me as my lips parted, the word “ambrosia” falling off them.
He sighed. The noise seemed to be flooded with relief, but I couldn’t be sure as I fought a raging headache.
“Just stay here. I’ll be back soon with Emberly.”
I nodded as he set me down—somewhat unceremoniously, I might add—on the couch in the room.
I heard the door swing before I’d even processed that he’d left me.
I sank against the material, feeling the soft fabric beneath my head as I closed my eyes and resumed counting in my head, waiting for the brain fog to abate.
It didn’t take as long—it never did when only the nausea arose. Not that it did anything for the headache I’d developed.
A headache. I was unsure whether it was nausea-induced or a particular stars-damned angel induced. Blackwood’s words rang through my head in an onslaught of unwanted torment.
Tampered with. Faint outlines. Not telling the truth.
Tampered with. Faint outlines. Not telling the truth.
I shook my head, trying to scatter the thoughts.
I needed to get it together.
I held up my left forearm in the dim lighting of the room Finn had deposited me into, twisting and tugging at the expanse of exposed skin as I studied it.
There was nothing out of the ordinary. I traced the triangular lines of my water affinity mark.
The same mark I’d had for over a century now.
Yep . . . nothing’s changed at—
Hmm . . . okay, so maybe there was a slightly darkened shadow below the water affinity mark.
But that was not another mark. More than likely, it was another bruise.
I was already banking on at least four bruises appearing on my skin over the next few days, thanks to Luc’s punishing grip.
Not to mention, the darkened portion of my skin was surrounded by angry, red half-moon nail marks that were raised across my flesh.
It was a bruise . . . It had to be.
“You said this would be a quick way to earn some extra cash!” The voice was raised in the hallway, slipping through the cracks of the door.
“And it will be if you just shut up and fucking help me.” A male’s voice rose in response. “So hurry up and grab her stars-damned legs before someone sees us.”
Wait . . . what?!
“Now!” The voice sounded again. “We don’t have all night.”
“She’s just so heavy,” the other voice grumbled, and I pushed off the couch. “I didn’t realize they literally just collapse to the ground like that.”
“I told you that’s exactly what would happen after they were injected with the serum.”
I shouldn’t be here.
I shouldn’t be hearing this.
And yet, I tugged on the muscles in my back, willing my own set of wings into existence as I flapped softly, lifting into the air and flying across the room, careful not to make a noise.
This . . . this is what I’d been waiting for all this time.
“You read too many mystery novels, Raelyna Kingsley.” Emberly’s teasing rang through my head as I flew toward the door.
Hovering just behind the door, I peeked through the slight sliver of open space, just barely glimpsing the backs of two angels as they tugged a third, unconscious, angel between the two of them.
My gaze narrowed in on the female between their arms. I recognized her—I had seen her earlier tonight on the street outside Solis Court.
She had been yelling about turning against the king, about how darkness was overtaking our Quarter, and that we needed to turn before it was too late.
Her cheek was cut from where someone had thrown something at her before I’d entered the building—telling her to shut up and stop speaking ill of our king and gods.
Where exactly in the Solis Court had Finn brought me?
I waited until they turned the corner before I cracked the door open further. A sharp burst of pain shot between my temples, nearly halting me mid-flight as I squeezed my eyes shut momentarily.
Two more deep breaths later, I opened my eyes, determined not to let the slight inconvenience of a raging headache disrupt what would be a perfect opportunity to figure out where the dropping angels were being taken.