32. Chasm #2
If Trygg knew anything about these boundary lines, his face gave no indication. Though based on his own actions in the Retreat, not too far from where we stood, I gathered he knew and didn’t care.
I nodded in answer, allowing him to wrap his arm around my waist and fold me into his chest. The metal scales of his armor bit into my skin through the thin, sheer fabric of my shift, and I sucked in a hissing breath at the contact.
“Sorry,” he murmured, bending to hook his other arm under my legs and hauling me into the cradle of his arms. As I circled my arms around his neck, his hair brushed against my bare forearms, soft and silky as a raven’s feathers.
Trygg stepped up on the windowsill, tucking his wings tight against him to fit through the opening. As I adjusted my grip, I couldn’t help but stare over his shoulder at the magnificent wings sprouting from his shoulders.
The scales were so small and delicate, like beading on a gown.
A hard ridge of blunt spines ran along the top bone connected to his back, starting out small but growing successively larger until they met with the wickedly sharp talon at the apex.
The charcoal-colored membrane was so thin that I could see a river of blood vessels beneath the surface, thousands upon thousands snaking across the translucent expanse.
“I’ll try not to jostle you around too much,” he said quietly, the deep tones of his voice rumbling in my chest.
A month ago, I would never have dreamed I’d be in this position, sneaking around my own home—letting my Talon carry me like a babe while we did something I’d been told my whole life was a sin. I couldn’t wrap my head around how quickly my life had changed in such a short period of time.
“Just fly,” I breathed, tucking my head into the hollow where his shoulder met his neck. I squeezed my eyes shut and drew in a deep breath as he leaned forward, bending at the knee.
His face turned toward me, stubble scratching my cheek as he whispered in my ear, “Hang on tight.”
The world as I knew it fell out from under me.
Wind roared in my ears and tore at my hair as the earth dragged us down, down, down.
And then a deafening snap pierced through the night as his wings extended outward, catching that wind.
My stomach lurched into my throat as our descent suddenly slowed, and then we were surging forward again with a few mighty strokes of his wings.
I squeezed my eyes tighter, reflexively pulling closer to him.
He chuckled darkly but swallowed it down as we dipped to one side. “Sorry,” he grunted, hefting me further up his chest. “It’s different, carrying someone. Could you… Ah, if you’d just?—”
“What?” I snapped through gritted teeth, trying hard not to scream as we hurtled through the sky. His wings pushed down in rapid strokes, dragging against the weight of the earth as we climbed higher and higher.
“Fuck’s sake, woman, I said ‘hang on tight’, but not that tight! Loosen your grip or you’ll send us both to our deaths.” His forcefulness startled my eyes open.
Immediate regret.
Past the tan skin of his throat, lights, rooftops, and the endless night sky swirled together in a dizzying array. What little I’d eaten of dinner tried to work its way back out of my stomach. We dipped again, and I tasted bile this time.
But I did as he said, loosening my arms as the Shadow undulated softly.
He stretched his neck and we leaned to one side.
A small yelp involuntarily escaped my mouth.
It felt like the wind was about to rip me out of his arms and send me careening to the ground far below.
That thought alone was enough to make me shake in fear.
“I’ve got you,” he soothed, his hand squeezing where it gripped my thigh. “Relax.” It was an effort to ignore the desires his touch on my leg conjured.
“Says the one with wings,” I rasped, eyes scanning the darkness. “We start going down and all you have to do is drop me to save yourself from splattering on the stones.”
He laughed again, a heartier sound than his usual, teasing chuckles. It tugged at the bond, chasing away some of the numbness lingering in my heart. Warmth bloomed in my chest, and a slice of my trepidation disappeared.
“I’m not going to drop you, hiska ,” he said, so low I barely heard over the wind.
The Shadow suddenly bristled as his wings leveled out and we began to slowly descend toward the earth. What’s wrong? I asked, sensing her wariness.
That name he called you… It sounded familiar… She trailed off into silence, but her trepidation remained.
Trygg’s hands tightened ever so slightly, drawing my attention back to him.
And then we were swooping down toward the ground, streaking past the stone edifice of the Citadel.
I tried not to cry out, but a strangled squeak slipped from my throat all the same.
He banked to the left, the membranes of his wings fluttering gracefully as they sliced through the air.
And then he landed firmly beneath a bare hawthorn in the garden.