Wings of Destiny (The Erin Snow #1)

1. Erin

Chapter one

Erin

I ran as fear gripped my chest, making it increasingly harder to breathe. My throat was on fire and the air in my lungs constricted. I had to keep going. I didn’t know what or who I was running from but instinct kept me rushing forward into the darkness that surrounded me.

My pace increased as I barreled through the pitch-black world. I sprinted forward until I slammed right into what felt like a wall. My balance failed me and I fell backward. Instead of my body colliding into the ground below my feet, I went into free fall. My lungs began to deplete of the oxygen within them; I was suffocating. As I used every bit of fight that remained within me to suck in my final staggered breath, I awoke.

It had been a week since that nightmare. It was on constant replay in the back of my mind, partnered with a sense of impending doom, which nagged at me night and day. My already wonky sleep schedule had taken a hit over the last week, tossing and turning as I revisited the same nightmare night after night.

“Miss Snow, are you with us?” The familiar boom of my college professor’s voice pulled me from my sleep-deprived train of thought.

Shit .

I had gotten completely lost in my own world, and I’d been caught red-handed. I dragged my eyes from the top of my desk to meet Mister Jensin’s aged, angry, amber glare as he waited for my response.

“Sorry, Professor, what was the question?”

“Miss Snow, it’ll do you well to actually pay attention once in a while. The question was: who brought forward the realization that the empire was falling?”

Oh crap.

I racked my brain in search of the correct information. “Was it Lady Leonora?”

Mister Jensin heavily rolled his eyes as he tapped his pen on the sand-colored desk. “Correct. Now pay attention.”

The end of class couldn’t have come quick enough; I practically bolted when we were finally dismissed.

“Erin, wait the hell up!”

As I turned around, I saw Seth running toward me with a huge ass grin plastered on his face.

“So, what’d you do, fall asleep in Jensin’s class? Guy looked like he was going to pop.” Seth chuckled as he slapped a hand on my shoulder.

Of course, Seth thought it was funny. Usually, he was the one Jensin picked on. I couldn’t even begin to count the amount of times Seth had fallen asleep or slacked off in his class.

And yet, jackass here is acing everything. Prick.

“Ugh, tell me about it! I space out one damn time.” I huffed.

“Yeah, no kidding. So, what’s got your panties in a twist, Snow?”

“I was thinking about that weird dream I had the other night, the one with the running and impending doom. It keeps popping up in my head and it’s bugging me. I can’t even get a solid night’s sleep.”

“Dunno, maybe you’re just finally losing it”—I whacked him on the arm—“or may-be it’s just a weird dream. People have weird dreams all the time. No biggie. And besides”—he flicked his brow-length, shaggy, midnight-black hair to the side and stuck his tongue out at me— “when do you ever ‘get a solid night’s sleep’ anyway, Booknerd?”

I shoved my shoulder into his side. “You’re a dick, you know that?” I let out a laugh. “But you’re probably right.”

He smirked. “Of course, I’m always right.”

We walked down the hallway and made our way out of the main building on campus; Seth animatedly rattled on about his other classes, getting closer to finals, upcoming plans, his newest fling. That one kind of irritated me a bit, not that I had any right to the guy. Seth and I had been best friends since we were kids. We grew up right down the street from each other and never really crossed that line into the more-than-friends territory. Ever since girls stopped having cooties, he’d chase girl after girl and was always attached. Me, on the other hand? In college I’d only slept with one person, the first relationship I ever had and the guy was a total tool. Seth was more than happy to tell the douche to beat it after he called me a bitch for ending it. Until then, Seth had always been like a big brother to me, but in that moment, I felt a spark. A lick of something more attempting to burrow itself in my chest. I’d fought it and shoved it down every day until I’d been sure it was snuffed out once and for all.

“So, what do you think? Want to hit that new movie with Libby and me?”

Shit .

Apparently , my active listening skills were in the shitter.

“Uh, sure. Sounds good.”

“Oh, and the best part, my buddy Derik, you remember him? He’ll be tagging along, too. Maybe y’all will hit it off this time,” he said with a wink.

I do not want to hang out with Derik. The guy is a freaking creep.

I nodded my head and kept my mouth shut. Derik was one of Seth’s closer friends. Why? I had no idea, but I wasn’t going to throw a fit about it. I’d been in a study hole again and, against my better judgment, I needed to get out and socialize with someone besides Seth.

I’d been in our little college town for several years. However, all I had to show for it was one bad relationship, a job at the campus library— that I loved—a tiny apartment, and college debt that had begun to near the several thousand dollar mark after burning through my scholarship.

If Derik tries anything, I’m kicking his frat boy ass.

My lip twitched at the thought.

“Great! We’ll pick you up around seven tomorrow.” Seth waved and walked out the metal doors at the building's entrance, sliding through the hoard of students as they headed home for the day.

I swung my backpack around and dug my keys out of the front pocket. I beeped my little, blue Civic open, got in, and turned on the radio. I let out a breath I’d been holding in. The onslaught of students and staff members at the end of the day had been nerve-wracking. Most days, I could handle the close quarters, people bumping into me, unintentionally shoving me as we each hurried toward the main lot, but with how little sleep I’d been getting, I was on edge. It was like there was static in the air, a snake of electricity, awaiting the perfect moment to strike.

At least my favorite alternative rock band, Roach, is playing.

I’d listened to them for years. My dad got me into them when I was a kid, before everything went to shit. Back then, we had a whole collection of CDs ranging from classic rock to heavy metal that lined the main hallway in my childhood home.

I briefly closed my eyes and felt a sudden shift. The air thickened, a weight fell onto my chest.

BAM!

What the hell!?

BAM BAM!

My eyes shot open as I whipped my head from side to side frantically searching for where the noise had came from. I was no longer in my car. And it was pitch black.

I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat. As my eyesight adjusted, it dawned on me that I was in some type of open field in the middle of what seemed like a mountainscape. I looked around and caught a glimpse of a treeline in the distance but no lights or buildings. The clearing was a field of scorched grass and debris. My ass was sitting right in the center of it. A wave of nausea hit me and my stomach turned as spots began to dance in the corners of my vision.

Where the hell am I?

I could’ve sworn I had been in my car in the parking lot on campus. I shook my head and closed my eyes once more as I rubbed the palms of my hands over my lids.

I must be more exhausted than I thought.

“You’ve arrived, it seems.”

I dropped my hands and snapped my head to my right and found someone standing there. Their piercing eyes trained on me and their body unmoving. The hair on the back of my neck rose.

They reached their hand out. “May I assist?”

I kept looking up at them, a total deer-in-the-headlights. “Uh… ”

They grabbed my hand and yanked me up to my feet. Once I was standing, I was able to get a better look at the man in front of me. He was tall with a slender face which contrasted with his broad shoulders. His muscles were clearly visible through his sheer robe, his chest practically bare. Snow-white hair sat just above his shoulders and his eyes were the deepest amber I’d ever seen. I was absolutely starstruck.

Dazed, the words tumbled from my lips. “Where am I?” I flicked my gaze around the clearing again. “Am I dreaming?” My brows furrowed.

“In a way, I suppose. We have been waiting for you.” His gaze bore into me as if he could read my every thought.

Waiting for me?

A shiver ran up my spine. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean?”

“It is almost time. We must prepare.” His voice eerily low, echoed around us.

What is this whack job talking about?

I narrowed my eyes.

I smell bullshit.

“Time for what? Look here, man, I don’t know what you’re talking about and quite frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass but I’m about ready to wake up now.”

This dream is getting weirder by the minute.

If looks could kill…

His eyes glinted in the moonlight as he stared down at me, a burning fury lit behind his frozen expression. ”Be prepared, Erin Snow. The time has come, and payment must be made.” He pressed a long, willowy finger to my chest and pushed. The world around me turned black and I fell backwards into an abyss.

My eyes shot open as I sucked in cold air. I was back in my car.

What the actual fuck!?