His arms tightened around my waist, and he lowered his face close to mine, breathing my name like a spell that would make everything right in the world.
I strained up on tiptoe, holding his shoulders as our lips met.
“Donovan,” someone called from below us.
We jolted apart, laughing. There was nothing wrong with being together yet we acted like we’d been caught robbing a wyleen of its packages.
Donovan took my hand and led me to the back of the platform and down a set of rough-cut, stone stairs. A man waited for us at the bottom, curiosity darkening his sapphire blue eyes as he took in our hands clasped tight.
“Matu ir treiclin. Good to see you, Uncle.” Donovan’s eager gaze flitted between us. “Fleur, this is my Uncle Glynn, my father’s brother. Uncle, this is Fleur.”
This must be where Donovan had flitted to after he’d temporarily suspended his bespelling with pain.
“Ah.” Glynn gave me a half bow then took my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Finally, I meet her.”
He’d talked about me with his family?
A quick look revealed ten to twelve houses nearby. Donovan had said most of the perites had been killed. Was this village all that remained of his father’s people?
Glynn waved toward one of the houses. “Come inside. Please. Your aunt will be excited for the company.” Glancing up, his brow furrowed. “There are nips in the air.”
“Do you mean there’s a nip in the air?” I asked as we walked toward the cute wooden house. Wilty-sparks fluttered above the door, revealing its purple color that contrasted in an interesting way with the pink-painted plank siding.
“No, I meant nips,” Glynn said. He scowled. “Pesky creatures. They live in this part of the forest and are known for…well, let’s just get inside before they attack.”
Something chittered in the trees above us, making me jump and scoot forward.
He led us at a jog to the door and thrust it open, gesturing for us to go inside while he stared at the sky. Ducking as if something had swooped down close to his head, he scooted in behind us, the strain on his face making me wonder what the fae a nip could be.
“Company, love,” he called out.
“Donovan!” A short, round woman emerged from a door at the end of the long hall stretching between a kitchen on the right and a living room on the left. She cradled a squalling baby in her arms. Rushing to the kitchen, she paused at the stove and stirred distinctive herbs emitting a smell I associated with Ester.
A sketar witch, full troll if I guessed correctly.
The shot to my heart surprised me, and I was tugged back to the memory of me standing at Ester’s stove, stirring brew and laughing while she teasingly scolded me to get it right.
She’d laughed, too, though.
I’d forgotten but now, I smiled. They hadn’t been the teen years I would’ve chosen, but there were good memories wedged in with the bad.
The woman handed the screaming baby to Donovan. “Take Ulla, please?” Strain came through in her voice. “She’s been crying for hours.”
Instead of bewildered surprise, Donovan grinned as he easily nestled the child in the crook of his arm. Like he’d done this a hundred times already. He cooed down at the baby.
“Fleur!” the woman said with a twinkle in her fathomless black eyes. “I’m Inik, Glynn’s wife.”
“Nice to meet you.”
She braced her hands on my forearms and studied my face. “She is pretty, Donovan. Just as you said.”
My cheeks heated.
“I see I’m embarrassing you.” Releasing me, she stepped back. “What can I get you, sweetheart? Would a hot mug of willamar do? I make it myself, pressed from the fruit of my very own trees.”
“Sounds awesome.”
She nodded pertly. “I also made pinta cookies today.” Starting toward the kitchen, she called over her shoulder, “I’ll fetch us a treat!”
While she bustled into the kitchen and opened a cupboard door, Glynn ushered us into the living room. “Please. Have a seat.”
Donovan took a rocker and laid Ulla on her back across his thighs. She stared up at him, in probably the same way I did, as if he could pluck the stars from the sky. He held out his fingers and she latched onto them, cooing.
I sat on the sofa beside the rocker and kicked off my shoes, tucking my feet underneath me. Glynn dropped down into the chair opposite the sofa, on the other side of the gleaming slab coffee table.
“I see Donovan shared our lineage with you,” Glynn said with satisfaction, leaning back and propping his heels on the table.
“Are all of you dragon shifters?” I asked as Inik joined us holding a tray loaded with mugs she passed around, plus a plate of cookies she offered.
I took one and placed it on a cloth napkin on my thigh.
“We’re not really dragon shifters,” Glynn said with a sneaky grin. “We’re actually dragons who shift into fae.” He bellowed out laughter.
“Family joke,” Donovan said, shaking his head.
We drank our willamar, which tasted like passionfruit and cider with a dash of ginger, and plowed through the plate of cardamom-flavored pinta cookies. Glynn, Inik and I did, that is. Donovan picked at his cookie and sipped his willamar but mostly played with Ulla’s toes while she squealed and giggled.
“I need to take you back,” he finally said. By then, the baby snoozed on his lap and the blaze in the fireplace had melted down to red and gray coals. “It’s late. You’ve got class tomorrow.”
“You do, too.”
“Remember. I can’t go back to the Academy until Niles leaves, but I’ll be in the meadow every afternoon if you need me.”
I had a feeling I was always going to need him.
After Donovan carefully handed the baby over to Inik, she and Glynn walked us to the door.
“It was wonderful meeting you,” Inik whispered. “Please come again.”
“I will.” The distance was probably too far to flit without a guide.
As if he heard my thought, Donovan nodded, indicating he’d gladly bring me.
“Take care with the nips.” Glynn squeezed Donovan’s shoulder. “If they come at you, you know what to do.”
Donovan grunted, stoic.
“How do we keep them away?” I asked as we left the house and Glynn shut the door behind us.
Donovan took my hand as we walked quickly to the platform. “Like many creatures, they’re afraid of fire.”
“Dragon fire.”
He smiled. “The best kind.”
“To change into a dragon earlier, you had to jump of the roof. The platform isn’t very high off the ground.”
“I can take dragon form easily here. It’s only at the Academy that I have trouble. Old spells linger.”
“What kind of spells?”
“Ones that work against shifters. Long ago, perite wizards were allowed to attend the Academy, but no one wanted to see the evidence we were different. They bespelled the Academy so none of us could easily shift, and the spells were regularly renewed. I…accidentally discovered that my body could be triggered in a life-or-death situation.”
“Falling.”
“Yup.”
The nips must’ve decided Donovan was up to the challenge because, other than chittering in the trees, they left us alone.
We took the stairs and stood together on the granite surface.
“Let me shift and then you can climb onto my back,” Donovan said.
“One thing first.” I stepped forward and slid my fingers along the back of his neck, tugging his head close to mine. “We need to finish that kiss.”
Too soon after, we were winging our way home.
We were halfway there when a sound I’d come to dread eclipsed the steady flap of Donovan’s wings.
Below us. Nightlace.
Straining up from the forest.
Hunting me.
Was Blaine, Cloven’s son, down there directing the plants? Or Ashton and Eben? Or w
ere these more clusters who’d been warded?
Yanking my legs up, I crouched low on Donovan’s back, trying to hide. “Go! Nightlace!”
Rearing back, he shot flames downward but I already knew they’d have no effect. The vines didn’t burn. If anything, they thrived on fire.
Like a tower of ants, each climbing up the stack to stand on top of each other. They clambered up into the sky, reaching for us, their spiky tips slashing and gouging like spears.
We climbed higher but the vines kept reaching, clawing at Donovan’s belly, creeping up his sides, latching onto my legs.
They wrenched me sideways.
My hands slipped, and I fell.
Chapter 31
I tumbled down through the air, my descent accelerated by the nightlace. They had me in their clutches and now, they were going to yank me close and finally devour me.
Overhead, Donovan roared. He twisted and gave chase, his claws extended, panic creating deep crevices in his face.
Rushing up to me, he snatched me from the nightlace’s clutches with his claws, somehow keeping his talons from sinking into my flesh. Vines snapped around my legs. He tugged while they pulled until I was wrenched free. Donovan shot backward, holding me tight. His wings furious and with smoke curling from his nostrils, he raced for the Academy.
It was almost anticlimactic to land in the meadow.
I tumbled off Donovan and dropped to my knees in the deep grass. My lungs heaved, and my heart thudded irregularly behind my ribs.
Part of me wanted to steal a pair of Searing Shears and return to the eastern forest. An even bigger part of me wanted to curl up in a ball and cry.
Donovan shifted to his fae form and swept me up before I toppled onto my side. He held me close, my cheek pressed to his chest. Dropping to the ground, he cradled me in his arms, stroking my back, my hair, all while murmuring soothing nothings in my ear.
“That was close,” I finally said.
“Not happening again.”
“I’ll be careful.” Easy to say. More challenging to do.
Yes, I put myself in the path of trouble, but the vines tonight…They’d come after me.
I was only secure behind the walls of the Academy, with the Council Seekers patrolling the grounds and endless spells keeping danger at bay.
Something hard on Donovan’s chest pressed against my cheek. Leaning back, I frowned. He wore a chain and there must be a pendant attached, since I’d felt it against my face. I tugged on the chain to pull it out, but he stilled my hand.
“It’s nothing,” he said. “Leave it tucked inside my shirt.”
“Why not show it to me? It must be new. You weren’t wearing anything the last time we met up.”
“I got it recently. You might say it’s my…good luck charm.”
I snorted. “Lately, we both need one.”
“We sure do.”
I climbed off his lap and settled on the ground beside him, leaning into his side. His arm wrapped snug around me.
A quick sync with the sundial told me it was well past midnight. I needed to flit to my Coven room.
Tria had to have noticed me missing. I’d catch hell for that.
I also had to make sure Beatrice wasn’t hosting a revolt, because I’d neglected to fill her bowl and Patty always forgot. After that, I needed to get some sleep.
He shifted, and his shirt briefly parted at his neck, revealing…
A spider pendant? The red eyes winked.
Suddenly reminded of Katya, I shivered.
Chapter 32
“Sirra?” I called in a singsong voice, leaning over the rail on the western bridge overlooking the moat the next afternoon. “You around? I’ve, um, come to play.”
Sorta. I’d actually come to make things right between us.
She burst from the moat, rising up to loom over me. Murky water sleuthed down her iridescent scaled body, the late-day sunshine making it glisten like sapphires. Under other circumstances, I’d call her beautiful.
Under all circumstances, I called her intimidating.
“You not here playssss.” Her glare pierced my hide like a spear. “You hurtsssss Sirra.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry that happened. I didn’t mean to—” Actually, I had. “I just…” Think fast. “I was scared. I pulled my knife. It…hit you when you tried to grab me.”
She reared back, baring her fangs. “You liesssss.”
“Not exactly. I was scared. I did pull my knife. And you did try to grab me.”
“Only to playssss.” Baring her fangs, she darted toward me.
Yelping, I stumbled backward until my back hit the railing on the opposite side of the bridge. Thankfully, it held. The last thing I needed was to fall into the water.
I held up my hands. “Wait! See? No blade.”
She paused mid-strike.
My jaw shook, and my belly quivered, but I crept forward and continued with my plan. “I left it in my room.” So scary. I hadn’t been without it for more than a few minutes since the jeweler set my moonstone in its hilt. “I wanted to talk. See if I could do something to make amends.”
“Amendsssss?”
“Yes. It was wrong of me to stab you, and I want to show you we can be friends.”
Her wrinkly face drew together. “How we be friendsssss?”
“You probably already know it, but everyone admires your beauty. You’re simply stunning.” Don’t lay it on too thick.
“Isss true.”
Yay. Her voice was softening. “But…” There was always a but. “I think, with a few changes, you could be the fairest in the land. Fairest of them all.” Thank you, Mom, for letting me watch all those movies when I was a kid. TV babysitters were the best.
Her head tilted and a half-smile played on her pale lips. “I like thissss. How?”
I’d thought hard about this after learning Sirra was a bit self-indulgent.
A bit? No, a lot.
I pressed on. “I’ve brought you presents.” Lifting the bag full of goodies I’d picked up at the mall, I shook it, making the insides clink together. “I’d like to do something nice for you. Something women do for friends to make them look even better.”
“Tellsss me.”
“I want to paint your nails.” Talons, actually. About three inches long and pointy, they’d been eager to fillet my flesh. But who was being picky? “Every girl deserves a manicure every now and then.”
Frowning, she slithered closer, creating a rippling wake in the fathomless water. “Paint nailssss? What issss this?”
“Something that’s going to blow your mind.”
“No! Blow mind not playssss!” Her claws raked out, and I ducked.
“Hold on!” Huddled against the rail, my arms remained wrapped around my head. “It’s just a saying. It means you’re going to be excited and happy. Watch.” Before she could decide this was a decent time to bite my head off, I unraveled myself and, grabbing my bag, dumped the contents onto the stone bridge. The bottles scattered, rolling down the incline, and I gave chase. After gathering them up, I set them in a colorful row on the railing. Unsure which shade would work best, I’d bought a good variety. “What do you think? Should we start with pink? I could add tiny white polka dots on top. Or we could paint them black with orange stripes for Halloween. Very seasonal. As I’m sure you know, all the Elite naiads are wearing polish nowadays.”
She shook a finger at me. “No trickssss.”
That was her specialty, not mine. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Promise. I’m here to enhance your natural beauty.”
She studied me for a long moment before her face smoothed and she gave me a decisive nod.
Vanity. Wins every time.
“Thissss.” She nudged the red bottle.
“Awesome choice.” I held it up and light hit the bottle, making the blood-red liquid inside gleam. “This one’s called sizzling scarlet. And that’s certainly you, Sirra. You sizzle in multiple ways. Your sisters are going to be so jealous
when they see your nails.”
“Yesss!”
“To do this, I’ll need you to keep your hands on the railing. Can you hold yourself above water for ten minutes or so while I work?”
She scoffed, which I took for a yes.
Shimmying in closer, she dropped her hands onto the wooden surface with a dull thud. Her nails…
Let’s just say the ladies and guys at the mani/pedi shop my mom went to when I was little would pass out if these babies showed up for a polish. Sirra not only needed a good filing, slime coated the undersides of her thick nails. Fortunately, I’d brought a bunch of improvised salon tools.
I held up a package of baby wipes. “Mind if I give you the full spa treatment today?”
“Sssspa?”
“Pamper you. It’s not just about the nails, it’s the entire experience. Your hands.” I made a tutting sound. “Did you know that a woman’s hands can give away her age? No matter how many tucks and brow lifts she has done, lines and creases on her skin can make her look older.”
“Not old!”
I tucked my palm underneath my right cheek and posed. “Sirra. Honey. You don’t look a day over twenty.” Twenty-thousand might be closer to the real number. During class, Professor Alean told us Sirra had been living in the river when the Sídhe built the Academy. They’d diverted the water to form the moat and Sirra—and her sisters—had agreed to guard the Academy ever since.
The naiads had lured outlings to their deaths initially. Mustn’t forget that detail.
She preened. “You thinksss I look young?”
“Definitely.” I pointed to the rail. “But there’s no harm in massaging your skin with some of this.” I held up a bottle of anti-aging cream I’d purchased at the drug store. “Lay those puppies down, and I’ll get to business. In no time, your sisters will be oohing and aahing, begging you to tell them where you got your nails done.”
Her lips curled back, revealing her fangs. I hoped it was a smile. “Jealoussss.”
“Indeed.” I blotted the dampness off my forehead with my sleeve.
I lifted her right hand and, while I held in my grimace, my flesh squirmed like centipedes crawled all over me. Something wiggled underneath her thumbnail!
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 45