Descent

by Rylee Winters

  “My legs! My legs!” Screeching as blood seeped from my wounds, my declaration was muffled as Derek pressed me into his hot, hard muscle. Muss’ soft wings caressed my skin and shoulder blades, and I gasped frantically for breath, as my lungs shrunk from the pain that flooded my chest.

  But I couldn’t move my legs – I couldn’t feel my legs even as that pain died to a vicious throbbing.

  “It’s okay – it’s okay, baby. I got you.” Murmuring hoarsely in my ear, Derek stroked my hair soothingly even as rage and self-deprecation rolled off him in thick, powerful waves. His hate for himself was so overwhelming that all thoughts of my legs flew from my mind, and my fingernails pried themselves from his muscular forearms to dig into his cheeks. “There was no other way – I’m sorry, Linne.”

  “It is done.” Shivering violently, I ground my teeth together as the pain in my back slowly lessened, and Kaslni’s fingertips trailed down either side of my spine. Her touch did nothing to restore feeling to my legs, but it was enough to speed the weaving of muscle and skin back together.

  With Muss’ abundance of wild magic, my back healed within seconds, and I clung to my mate as the human Chad and Melinda released my arms.

  “This is insane…so, what – we just wait for her wings to heal? What then? We open her back up and shove them back in?” The human Chad’s question rang in my ears, and I cracked open one pair of swollen eyelids to search for Kaslni. Slowly shaking her head, my former master stared at me with guilty eyes, and she licked her lips heavily before parting them.

  “Your wings should return to you harmlessly, Linne…” Kaslni’s mastery of the human language of English was astonishing, and I gulped down the thick lump in my throat to nod shakily. “I will never be able to express how sorry I am that I did this to you.”

  “I missed you.” Trembling, unstable as it flowed from wobbling lips, my confession earned me a soft, endeared smile, and Kaslni reached to brush away a lock of hair sticking to my cheek. Closing my eye to savor her touch, I rested my head on Derek’s arm even as he growled threateningly.

  “I missed you, too, Linne.” The shock of having my wings ripped out ebbed away quicker than I would’ve expected, and I used my mate’s strong stance to pull myself gingerly into an upright, sitting position. Unhooking my nails from his skin, I glanced around to find my wings encased in a bubble on the floor. Seeing them like this twisted my heart, and I wiped my face with my palms roughly to take a deep, rasping breath.

  “I have so much to tell you – ” Hiccupping slightly, I rubbed my neck and chest with both hands before turning to Derek with a small smile. “This is Derek – I love him.”

  Barking a hollow laugh, Derek set his hand on my head to cast me a tender upturn of his lips, and my smile widened as my gaze flickered to the human Chad. Affection welled in my chest at the relief painted on his face, and he downright grinned at me before I lifted a shaky finger to point at him.

  “The human – Chad. He has helped me very much since my banishment. I am very lucky to have him. He is a very nice human.” Pointing next to Melinda, I held my hands in my lap to rub my fingertips together as mixed feelings poured into my chest. “Melinda – she has been…useful…”

  “Don’t inflate my ego, there, Linne…” Melinda’s attempt at a joke earned her a strangled smile from me, but she only shrugged in acceptance before continuing. “I messed up, I know. It’s okay to feel however you feel.”

  Smiling brighter, I turned to Kaslni with pride shining from deep inside me at these connections I had built. She nodded slightly, with a bare curve of her lips, and stroked my cheek tenderly.

  Blood flushed where she touched, and I sighed in content as the silence stretched on. Muss’ claws pricked at my bare, outer thigh, but there was no feeling that tickled my spine or caused me to flinch. Reaching to ruffle the feathers covering his head, I couldn’t find it in me to care about my legs in this moment.

  Right now, for this tiny speck of time, everything was perfect.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Linne

  “I do not need this, Derek. I am fine.” Anxiety curdled my blood as my gaze flickered to Kaslni, and I licked my lips heavily before parting them to whisper harshly. “Please – I am fine.”

  “You’re a paraplegic, Linne – ” Cutting himself off, Derek clenched his jaw tightly even while my ears rang with his unspoken words. You’re unable to walk, and it’s my fault.

  Grimacing deeply, my chest tightened at the self-hatred that dribbled from his tongue. “Just – stay in the chair, baby. Just until your wings are healed enough to get put back on. They don’t have to be one hundred-percent.”

  “You did not do the wrong thing, Derek…” Leaning closer to him, I took his cheeks in my palms to feel him stiffen at my murmur. His eyes brightened with regret and concern, and I forced a small smile to tilt my lips as his thinned considerably. “I will protect you even if it means I lose my magic. If Kaslni’s spell hit you, it would’ve killed you. My magic is a small price to pay – one I would pay willingly.”

  “I’d handle you being pissed at me better, you know, babe.” Grumbling as he rested his forehead against mine, Derek ground his teeth together at my bare nod. His features were distorted due to his closeness, and my nostrils flared to take in his scent before his rough voice tickled my ears. “Stay in the chair for now. We don’t know when your wings will heal.”

  “…Okay.” Relenting with a slight frown, my gaze flew to Kaslni, and I nibbled my bottom lip furiously as embarrassment stained my cheeks. “I – I do not want her to see me like this.”

  “It won’t be for long. We’ll get the doc to look at your wings and give us an estimate on when they’ll be ready to get put back on, okay? Kaslni doesn’t know how this realm works, so she won’t be very helpful. Besides, we’re just going to the clan grounds, so she can formally meet Alpha Jackson.”

  Rubbing circles into my cheekbones with his thumbs, Derek straightened with confidence, and that feeling wiggled itself deep into my chest to curl around my heart.

  His strong arms cupped my knees and back, effortlessly lifting me off the couch, and he shuffled short steps out towards my waiting wheeled chair. “I never realized how much your wings weighed. Even when they were small.”

  “Yes – they’re very heavy. I don’t feel different, though.” Seating me in the chair, Derek only nodded curtly at my declaration, and I jostled my limp feet onto the stirrups before turning to Kaslni. She’d only watched silently, eyes narrowed and intense under furrowed brows, and the frown that painted her face twitched upwards. “Are you feeling okay?”

  Butterflies flocked to my belly, and my abdomen tightened to guard against the deluge of happiness that flooded my rib cage at Kaslni’s nod. Licking the roof of my mouth absently, I inhaled a deep, steadying breath, before Muss nestled into my lap. His feathers tickled my skin, but I couldn’t feel his claws pricking my legs beyond the hem of my shorts. Stroking his large body from his head down, I pursed my lips tightly at the healthy, silky, shimmering feathers that my fingertips caressed.

  “He is not happy with me.” Only when we were outside, under the baking sun that would only get hotter as early morning turned to mid-day, did Kaslni speak up. Regret laced her heavily accented voice, and Muss gave a grumpy huff but refused to acknowledge his master.

  “When I freed him from my service, I did not think he would be so adamant to come to the human realm. Clearly, I did not think things through very well at all.”

  “It’s called having friends, Kaslni – and even you need friends in this realm.” Speaking up roughly from above me, Derek tightened his grip on the handlebars of the chair, and the leather squeaked softly before he continued. “So, why did you leave your realm? What happened?”

  None-too-subtly changing the subject, Derek cast Kaslni a sidelong glance, and I stared up at her fully to watch her wings twitch in agitation. The massive span of feathers and muscle glimmered in the bright sunlight, and I clenched my hand
s into tight fists to beat back the urge to reach out and touch them. Thin muscles in my back rippled at the memory of my own wings, but the sensation wasn’t uncomfortable.

  “Bareiijnr has turned the Council against me. His evidence was sufficient to prove somewhat falsely that I had been a part of the group stealing Seelie and Unseelie wings. With Linne banished, I had to use more obvious means of investigating, and I was caught. Bareiijnr will not know I have gone yet, if Muss is correct about the difference in time. He will be busy securing his regime, and he won’t try to come after us beforehand.”

  “You did not think to just obliterate him?” My question hung in the heavy, hot air, and Kaslni shook her head with a sagely expression washing her delicate features. In the light of day, my cognition unaffected, it was very apparent how wise and beautiful she was, and a soft sigh escaped my lips. The very fact that we were now together again was something my brain was still struggling to process, and I stroked Muss firmly as Kaslni offered a reply.

  “It would not fix the problem, and I would only end up here. If Bareiijnr does not come after us himself, he will send part of his trade network – a mercenary, mostly. Even if there is only one, it will be more effective than just destroying Bareiijnr. I believe he will attempt to send as many through the Veil as he can. If they land where we did, it will be easy to pick them apart as they emerge. The Veil is…difficult – even for me – to traverse.” Kaslni’s rationalization struck a chord in me, and she caught my gaze with a knowing glint in her eye before continuing. “Tell me – what was it like for you, Linne?”

  “The human Chad hit me with his car.” Blurting out the fateful encounter so long ago, I blushed fiercely at the confusion that played on Kaslni’s face. Pointing to the road weakly, my muscles tightened, feeling the embarrassment rushing to my chest. “The contraptions on the road to carry the humans farther and faster. They are very heavy – it is how I got this scar on my leg.”

  Making a soft ‘ah’ of understanding, Kaslni nodded even as her gaze flickered to my injured, eviscerated leg, and I flexed my fingers to rid myself of some tension.

  “I do not remember traveling through the Veil. I only remember entering it and coming out. When I left the hospital with the human Chad, he offered me a room at his home, and eventually gave me a job at his business. He even allowed me to put one of my parasites in his eye so that he could see me past my magic shroud. But…that is all I know – the aftermath.”

  “And you do not have any issues with Linne’s abilities?” Directing her question at Derek, Kaslni stretched her wings under the strong rays of the sun in discomfort, and a smile tilted my lips. For a long moment, as we took the corner to the next block, he was quiet, and I reached back to stroke his knuckles with my fingertips.

  “She can’t use her magic on me.” Answering Kaslni curtly, reluctantly, Derek’s expression twisted into a grimace. Even without seeing him, I knew, and he flexed his fingers around the handlebar, as he roughly cleared his throat. “It’s a long, complicated story.”

  “Ah – yes. I was wondering how you are able to use Unseelie magic. It is because she is in love with you.”

  Blushing brightly at Kaslni’s deduction, I opened my mouth to protest only to pause, as my breath catches slightly. But she didn’t notice, and my mind flung out reason after reason not to deny what she’d said. After all, she wasn’t wrong.

  Derek was immune to my magic, able to harness it as his own, because of the mate bond. Even though we hadn’t been in love when we first met, our closeness was inevitable.

  ‘Kaslni can teach you to harness your power, Derek the Lion. She is a very good Trainer. Linne is vulnerable without her wings – it would be best to learn to effectively handle your ability to protect her from further harm. Bareiijnr might not be more than a looming threat in this moment, but you have accumulated many enemies. The witches – the shifters not in your clan – even the humans are a threat to her if they feel the urge.’

  Speaking up for the first time all morning, Muss’ five eyes bored into Derek’s chin as he borderline glared at him. ‘Linne may have shifter healing, but that can only do so much.’

  “I know that, you damn bird.” Derek’s irritated snap sent thick goosebumps blanketing my skin, and I withdrew my hand back into my lap as his growl reverberated down the frame of the wheeled chair. “I was going to bring it up. I don’t need you to remind me about the consequences of my dumbass decisions.”

  “I would be happy to help you, Derek the Lion – it is the least I can do. We can start when we get to where we are going?”

  My head snapped back, eyes widening as Derek nodded curtly. Meanwhile, my heart rate was jacking up from the sudden surge of excitement that shot through me.

  Glancing down at me, Derek released one of the handlebars to cover my face with his palm, but I saw him smirk from between his fingers. Licking my lips heavily, my tongue grazed the underside of his knuckles, and he squeezed my chin with a low, pleased rumble meant just for me.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Derek

  Circling Kaslni’s poised, practiced form slowly, I licked my teeth as wild magic swirled around her. The difference in ability between master and slave was overwhelmingly apparent, and every cell in my body screamed at me to run away and hide from this awesome creature. Wings outstretched, Kaslni was the vision of an avenging angel, beautiful and ethereal and deadly.

  My fur bristled from the intensity in the atmosphere, crackling like invisible lightning, while my lips lifted in a threatening snarl. The shadows of my creatures wafted off my body in thick tendrils, stretching and morphing in the air.

  An perturbing silence rang in my ears between the furious beating of blood in my heart. Gathered around Kalsni and me, giving us a wide berth, the clan buzzed with anxiety, waiting with bated breath. No one moved – no one dared take their eyes off Kaslni, this Unseelie that put Linne’s magic abilities to shame.

  “I promise not to hurt you, Derek the Lion, and you cannot hurt me. Do not hold back.” Speaking up clearly, Kaslni’s thick tone pulled an earth-shaking growl from my chest as irritation mixed with the volatile emotions roiling inside my rib cage.

  Bracing herself with movements made easy by practice, she gestured for the fight to start, and pure adrenaline shot into my heart.

  Quicker than the air could ignite, I charged forward, and her utter lack of reaction only spurred the agitation tightening my veins.

  With otherworldly agility, Kaslni dodged my experimental swipe, and my paw hit the dirt with an audible thump as I followed.

  The shadows around me fell into the background as they circled, swelling and shimmering from the wild magic that dribbled from Kaslni’s pores. Every ounce of training I’d acquired over my lifetime flooded my mind, pushing out all other thoughts even as my conjured beasts feasted on the knowledge.

  The exchange was so quick, I almost didn’t realize it’d happened until one lioness sprang into action. Kaslni was completely focused on me, dancing backwards as I rushed at her again and again, that she didn’t notice the threat.

  Or, maybe, she did notice, she just didn’t do anything about it.

  Blackened, sharp teeth latched onto Kaslni’s wrist, and slight surprise rippled across her features. Taking the opportunity, no matter how tiny it was, I jerked to the left when she took her eyes off me for that split second.

  My massive head connected with her side, and she gave a winded grunt as she went flying into the concrete wall at the back of the training yard.

  Even before the dust settled, I knew Kaslni was more surprised than hurt. Her body and wings created a foot-deep imprint on the wall, and I stalked back and forth as she gathered herself.

  Carefully dusting off her robe, Kaslni shook herself out roughly before shirking the thick fabric off her shoulders. My eyes widened, body freezing with one paw raised as shock replaced everything in my veins – even my blood ran cold.

  My very heart almost stopped beating.

  K
aslni was covered in what I could only guess were runes – big ones, small ones, of different shapes and colors. Runes I could tell were natural and others that only she knew the meaning of.

  There were runes on her toes, she revealed them as she kicked off her slippers. There were runes on her fingers, they began glowing as she activated them. There was even a rune on her forehead that glimmered grass green, bright against her jet-black hair.

  “I seemed to have underestimated you, Derek the Lion.” Thick with pure, unfiltered power, Kaslni’s voice echoed across the training field, and her eyes glittered brightly in challenge. “Show me what you can truly do.”

  Flinging her arm out, Kaslni pointed at my mate with a malicious smirk spreading her lips almost impossibly wide.

  The action – the threat of the action – struck me down my spine, and I launched myself at her with a vicious snarl. My claws ached to sink into her flesh, and the red haze in my mind only grew denser as she flapped her wings hard to float from my reach.

  But I expected it, and the shadows that swarmed her as she hung in the air knocked her to the ground hard.

  Kaslni repelled the lionesses with a mushroom cloud of magic, and they dissipated like smoke only to gather instantly around me.

  Scraping my claws down her exposed leg, I ducked sharply only to snap on air with my teeth. Rolling backwards, like a dancer, Kaslni shrouded herself deep in wild magic to disguise her form.

  This time, she met me head on instead of forcing me to follow, and the thick fibers of her wings stuck between my teeth. Tumbling across the dirt, I gnawed on her wing wrist for a second before realizing that she wouldn’t bleed.

  You cannot hurt me. Kaslni’s words from before the fight beat against my eye sockets, and I shoved myself off her with a grunt. Whirling around, she bared her teeth at me like she was the animal, the runes on her body swelling and glowing brighter.