Chapter Twenty-Two We Bleed, We Burn, We Rise #2
All of them noticed their entwined fingers, but no one made a comment.
Adan did not miss the narrowing of Thammas's eyes.
She tried to pull away but Nox only held on tighter.
He dipped his head, to speak into Adan ear. "You'll be flying with me." He made no mention, or barb about her not flying herself. She still had not summoned her wings, and never knew if she would again.
She had lived the last twenty years without them, she could do without them a little longer.
Thammas and Ren already had their wings out.
She realized there was not enough room on the roof for them all to take off at once.
Thammas shot off first, his brother flashed a wink at Adan as she studied his wings, before taking off.
They disappeared into the falling darkness of night.
Both him and his brother had pitch black feathered wings, so similar to their lord.
"I told Ren to quit it." Aster spoke to Nox, with a shake of his head.
His wings flashed behind. Poking over each shoulder were claw-like tips.
The wings themselves, so close in colour to the dark red of his hair.
Where the brothers had feathers, Asters wings looked like stretched leather.
He was gone before Adan could inspect further.
"Quit what?" She turned back to Nox, who's wings were on full display.
Larger than the other three males by far.
Everything about this man was larger than life.
He had donned his mask too, the same as the others.
It had a severe effect, one that sent Adan's heart racing.
His eyes seemed brighter against the dark fabric.
Nox was the epitome of death incarnate, and Adan had to squeeze her thighs together to keep in control of her body. She had never seen someone so terrifying and yet unbelievably fucking devastating. She bit her bottom lip underneath her mask, and was thankful for the small shield.
Those dark wings, so similar to the demon brothers, but wholly different. Only their colour looked the same, but as they curled around her body, she knew they were nothing alike.
Nox did not have feathers, they were more like scales.
From far away they appeared to be feathers, but with a brush of her fingers she felt their hardness.
Nox shivered at her touch, his hands moved to her waist to pull her in closer.
She forgot all about her original question, and asked, "why are your wings so different from your brethren."
She had never seen demon wings like these before, and never had the courage to ask.
"I'm the head of my House. I am already different from them—apart."
As if that were explanation enough. His hands tightened, and he shot into the sky like a bullet.
Silencing her retort into a small shriek.
Her hands wrapped around his neck, and he pulled her closer, shifting his arms so that one held her upper back and the other under her knees.
His scent wrapping around her as his wings flapped hard.
She inhaled a greedy deep breath, while she watched the remaining sun glint against his wings, before dipping into the horizon.
She watched as they flew over the city. She was so content in the air that she didn't realize how relaxed she was. Her head dipped to rest in the crook of his shoulder, and his hands tightened around her.
"Where have you been?" She let her curiosity get the better of her.
"Miss me, love?" He teased. She would have smacked his chest had she not been thousands of feet in the air.
He laughed as if he knew her thoughts. "I had to make sure everything was in order for tonight. Besides, Caz promised me she would call for me if I was needed. Seems you got along just fine without me."
She knew he slept at the house, but she had not seen him in two days.
In truth, Adan had not slept much. A few hours here and there when her body gave out from exhaustion. She was terrified to close her eyes, for fear of what she might do in her sleep. She hoped that Nox wouldn't comment on the dark purple shadows that haunted her.
She had a thousand and one questions for him, but now was not the time. She focused her mind on what they had to do next. She kept her eyes on skyline, at the large tall building that was unmistakably Nox's. The only other building taller in the City of Bones was the king's castle.
Adan had always thought that Nox had built his tower specifically as an act of male ego, but now she thought it might have been more complex than that. That maybe Nox himself at first glance was all ego and arrogance, but on deeper inspection he was, in fact, something more.
Complex did not even begin to describe Lennox Hollow.
As his towering building grew closer, Adan shoved all thoughts of Nox away and quieted her mind.
They landed silently, and she marvelled at the control it would take to pull off his descent.
Aster and Ren waited for them on the veranda of Nox's penthouse.
Thammas was waiting on the streets below, his job was guard and lookout.
We held the skies while he worked the ground.
With the king's sons birthday arriving soon, the hotel was filled almost to capacity. Exactly the reason that Nox chose tonight as a distraction. It was opportunistic that the night sky was filled with clouds, covering the moon and helped keep them in shadows.
Nox had been busy, Adan looked around the veranda that had been cleared of all furniture. Buckets of paint had been left in an organized pile near the edge. Adan stepped to the railing and peered over, and gasped at what she saw.
Nox had put in a rigging system, bolted to the cement of the balcony they all now stood on. A thick rope was coiled at her feet and already looped and tied to perfection, waiting for her. It was a work of art, the science, and craftsmanship that had gone into it must have taken him days to prepare.
That was why he had been gone.
She felt the heat of him as his shoulder brushed hers, his large hands white knuckling the railing. "I don't know what you had planned, but I hope you don't mind if I took some liberties with your safety."
"It's brilliant." She was in awe, her body now hanging over the railing to get a better look. Nox grabbed her shoulders bringing her back to the safe side of the ledge. He did not let go until she was firmly planted on the ground.
"You can see it better later."
"This is what kept you away?" Her eyes sparkled in the soft glow from the lights inside Nox's apartment. His curtains were drawn, but there was just enough to allow them to work.
He shrugged. "If I left it up to you, you would scale the building with only your hands and wits."
She had no intention of telling that was, in fact, her plan.
She had been climbing buildings for a long time.
She was sure she could do it now, even if it would be the highest building she had ever attempted.
He shook his head, but his mouth moved under the mask.
She knew he was smiling, and that he knew he was right in his assumption of her.
Nox handed Adan two silver instruments to hold, they were so peculiar that she almost missed Nox dropping to his knee before her.
She froze as his deft fingers started wrapping the rope around her legs.
"They're called ascenders. The mechanism slides with the rope. It allows it to catch so that your weight can be applied, and allows you to move up and down the rope with ease."
He explained the instruments to her while he made quick work of the rope.
Wisps of his black hair stuck out of his mask, and her fingers twitched to sweep the strands back.
The rope wrapped around both her legs, so close to the apex of her thighs that her body was on fire again at his featherlight touch.
Even with the thick leather between their skin, she could feel the trace of his fingers and then the butter soft rope.
He stood, his gaze locked on hers as he pulled her close to wrap the rope around her back.
He stilled for a moment, closing his eyes to stop them from rolling into the back of his head at her scent. He continued once when his cold mask was firmly back in place. Focusing again on the intricate harness tie that would allow Adan to hang safely from the pulley system he had invented.
He took her hands and the ascenders, threading the rope into the metal.
He showed her how the rope stilled when she closed her hands around them, all the while his enclosed around hers in demonstrating.
He let go only to bring them back to her waist, her thighs, pulling on the rope to make sure it wasn't going to hurt or pinch, but more importantly that it would hold her.
When he finally pulled away, Adan was on fire.
A living flame ready to burn out. Every ounce of will kept her true fire at bay. As if sensing her thoughts, Nox spoke, "the rope's not fire-proof, love. So be careful." His voice fuelled with mirth, and his bright-green eyes twinkled. She scowled at him, as much as she could, behind her skull mask.
Adan was thankful that Ren and Aster had made themselves busy with filling the paint jugs that Aster had designed.
All we had to do now was wait for the signal.
"Here." Aster handed Adan a bright orange paint jar. The black handle connected to a nozzle on the other end. "Careful. When you squeeze this." He pointed to second handle, "the paint with spray, you don't want to be on that end."
"Simple enough." Adan carefully hung it from her hip from where the rope hugged her body in an almost comforting embrace. Nox held the same jug as Adan, orange like the sun dawning a new day.
Aster and Ren both had onyx paint, darker than the night sky around them.
"You two know your orders." Nox nodded to the younger males.
They both silently nodded, while double-checking their sheathed weapons. Asters axe firmly strapped to his trim waist, and his many tiny daggers hidden on his body. Ren's hunting knife swung from his hip. Nox didn't appear to have any weapons on him at all. Adan hoped they wouldn't need to use them.
If it all went to plan, they wouldn't have to.
They all stood shoulder to shoulder looking out over the city.
Adan clutched the railing hard and steadied her breathing.