“I’m a ghost, but in this form, shit hurts. And you”—she pointed at Luna—“if you think that was so easy, why don’t you go next?”
Luna winked at her as she walked toward the glass doors. Her ponytail bobbed and swayed with every energetic step forward.
I was trying not to tap my foot impatiently. Even if we did twenty conversions a day, it would still take us at least fifty days, according to the Porter’s estimate that there are a thousand wendigos. My gut was telling me that we didn’t have fifty days. We didn’t have fifteen. I felt this need deep down in my soul to rush. It could be because I needed Finn to be okay, but I couldn’t shake this feeling that something big and nasty was headed our way and we were running out of time.
Luna handled her wendigo much better, but as soon as the wendigo was down for the count, so was she, as her knees buckled.
Trev helped her back to her feet. “You okay?”
“No, I feel like I’m about to be sick.” She looked at me with embarrassment. “Maybe I’ll slowly be able to build up how many I can do in a day.”
I gave her a nod. “One is one more than we had five minutes ago.”
Trev went next. He was able to do four before his legs became shaky. Ezra pulled in another four.
“I want to go and check on Hannah again to see if she is up yet,” Remy announced.
“You just checked on her,” I said.
“Just let me do me. I can float in and out. That way, if she’s still asleep, I won’t wake her.”
“If she’s still asleep, that is the best thing for her,” Ezra told her. “Remember we heal faster when we are asleep.”
Remy nodded. “I won’t wake her if she is. I’ll be back in an instant.”
Remy came back within minutes, reporting that Hannah was still in a deep sleep.
With nothing else to do, I got back to my feet as everyone rested. The sooner we freed the wendigos, the sooner the people marked were free.
I turned three more wendigos when my vision started to go a little black. I convinced myself that I could do one more. Just one more, and then I would rest. I convinced Trev that I was good, even though the look on his face said he didn’t believe me. The moment the wendigo was released into the room, my legs began to shake under me. I didn’t think the others in the room had any more left to give. I had convinced them that I could do this, and if I failed them and let this creature get past me to their loved ones, they would never forgive me.
Time stood still as I began to panic.
“Trev, push it back behind the glass! She can’t!” Ezra shouted.
But it was too late. The wendigo saw an opening for freedom and was going to take it.
The strings around my heart tightened. As I began to sway on my feet, there was a sound of collective gasps. I put my hands out to the wendigo that was barreling toward me when a light so bright and pure hit it square in the chest.
It fell to its knees before face-planting into the cheap flooring.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I caught a flash of crimson. My wings were out.
The sounds of awe faded into shouts of concern as I felt hands grabbing me. Before my eyes unconsciously closed, I realized I was cradled against the chest of a wendigo, and not just any wendigo, but the one who owned my heart.
I woke up outside of the Empowered Academy. I was leaning against a bank of soil that had formed around a giant rock. The bank was cutting off the chill of the night wind, with a terrifying-looking wendigo crouched in front of me.
I reached up to cup his jaw. “I know you are still in there.”
The moment that the wendigo knew I was awake, he stood to his full height.
I tried to sit up, but everything started to spin, so I dropped my head against the dirt of the bank, telling him, “Finn, listen to me. I can change you back. Not now because I’m depleted, but I can. I promise.”
The beast before me clenched its fists and dropped its head back, howling at the night sky. The sound that he made felt like it would crush my soul if he didn’t stop.
I tried to stand, but the movement had me passing out into a blissful sleep.
I searched for him in my dreams, but it was of no use. What I did find was just as heartbreaking.
I met Hannah in her dreams. She was on her knees, the slab of cement ice-cold as I walked across it. She had hundreds of black feathers in front of her, and she was raking them toward her while tears streamed down her face. When she noticed me, she let out a sob.
“Gabriella, I thought I was dreaming.”
I nodded. “You are, my friend. Remember how I can dream walk?” I reminded her gently as I knelt beside her. “I think I recognized your need to talk to someone.”
She looked at my torn shirt. “Did your wings come out?”
As she dreamed of what was left of her wings, I found it hard to answer in truth. “How are you feeling?”
She fell to the side and pulled as many feathers as she could into her lap. “My birthday was the day after you disappeared.”
I reached over and grabbed her hand. “And I wasn’t there for that. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault that you got kidnapped. When I came into my powers fully, it was nothing like what you experienced. My symptoms were so light that I was able to hide it from everybody. Plus, I was really worried about you.”
I scooted so close to her that I was almost in her lap with the feathers. Sometimes, people weren’t looking for you to solve their problems. They just wanted someone to listen. Being what she needed at the moment, I encouraged her with a nod.
She sniffled. “So, I ignorantly thought that I could help against whatever the evil headmistress threw our way. I thought she had demons. I didn’t even know that wendigos existed, except for in old folklore.”
“What happened when you saw the wendigos attack?”
She laughed without mirth. “They didn’t. The commander attacked first. When I saw him turn into one of those things, I panicked. The commander is the commander, you know?” I did know exactly what she was saying. “He has this kind of power that radiates off of him. It’s magnetic and, at the same time, it’s terrifying. I couldn’t think of a possible thing that could take him down. Honestly, I still wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it firsthand. Then he turned savage.”
She hiccupped. “Gabriella, my psychic abilities are so much stronger than anyone predicted, and I swear it’s because you helped me. I read the commander’s thoughts. Except … it was no longer the commander. It was a beast, and all he could think about was the raging hunger that demanded him to kill.”
“Go on,” I said, holding back my tears. Hannah needed me to be strong.
“While the commander destroyed the wendigos that were coming down the hill, I hid behind them, in a crevice between two rocks. Everyone was running back to the Academy of Seraph … except for one person.”
“Mrs. Fields?”
“Yeah. Man, I hate her. I knew what she was up to. I caught onto her thoughts so easily. She was going to betray you.
“I couldn’t immediately chase after her, because I would have had to give up my safe spot, and I was terrified that the commander would turn on me next. I waited until he finished with the wendigos. He made this guttural sound, and then he ran through the woods as blood dripped from his fangs.
“I was just about to crawl out of my hiding spot when a guard came down the hill. There was no sign of the wendigos; instead, there was just black liquid everywhere. He bent down and put two fingers in the crude oil and smelled. I plucked his thoughts from him. He had no clue what the liquid was. When he stuck his tongue to the black oil that coated his fingers, I almost gagged and blew my cover. Then he felt fear. Fear that he had to go back up the mountain where the headmistress and more guards were and tell them that, not only was the commander and his people missing, but so were the wendigos.”
She smiled at me then. “I got to use my wings.”
“You did?”
/> She nodded. “I taught myself how to fly. I made it to the academy, but not in time. Mrs. Fields beat me there, and what’s worse is she saw me come in. She told the headmistress all about me and how we were friends. Little did she realize that, after she gave the headmistress everything she needed then told her how she could bait you, the headmistress no longer needed her.
“Guards held my arms and forced me to watch as Mrs. Fields got injected. Then they forced her wings out of her back and ripped them from her.” She rocked back and forth. “I can still hear her screams. Then, after her head was taken from her shoulders, the headmistress turned to me and said, ‘You’re next.’ I fought so hard, but it was no use.” She started crying so intensely that her body shook.
I wrapped her in my arms and swayed her gently. “Hannah, I’m so sorry. If I could make this right, I would do it a heartbeat.” I felt so useless.
Hannah pulled back from me. “Someone is trying to wake me.”
I smiled. “It’s Remy. She knows that sleeping is the best thing for you, but she’s worried. Plus, she just saw a wendigo take me. She’s probably freaked out.”
“What?” Hannah gasped out.
I waved it off. “Nothing. Tell her I’ll be back soon.”
I watched as Hannah disappeared. Her feathers disintegrated when she left the dream.
I began to wander for what felt like hours, praying and hoping that wendigos needed sleep. I was starting to give up when I found him.
He sat on a dock in the middle of a lake, his legs draped over the edge, his feet submerged in the dark water. He had on a pair of shorts, and that was it. His perfect chest and abs glistened in the fading sun.
My eyes trailed over his carved biceps and forearms as he ran a hand through his wet hair. I studied him. To say that he was handsome would be like calling a Michelangelo painting a drawing, instead of a work of art. He was almost overwhelming to look at.
I walked to the edge of the water, noticing that not only was I still barefoot, but I was in a red bathing suit. Gone was my torn dress.
His eyes scorched a trail over me, leaving everywhere they landed feeling burned.
I ran a hand over my body. “Did you do this?”
He gave me a smirk. “You coming in or not?”
I waded waist-deep into the lake. Chill bumps popped out over my body.
“How come I couldn’t find you?”
He looked off into the distance. “It takes the wendigo a while to calm down and rest. Here, I have control. With him, there is no control. He worries me.”
I shook my head. “Not me. It’s still you trapped inside. I never felt like he would harm me.” I was trying desperately to reassure him. However, the look on his face told me that he was far from convinced.
I swam out to the dock, and he extended a tan arm to me then hauled me up beside him. I pushed my dark, wet hair back then kicked my feet through the water as we sat in silence and watched the last of the sun fade from the sky.
He scanned the calm water as he finally said, “When I don’t come to you like this, I need you to not think of me as Finn. I want you to think of me as only a wendigo.” He flashed his eyes to mine. “This means something to me. Promise me.” He truly was terrified that he would lose control.
“I promise that I will try my hardest to think of you as a wendigo.”
He nodded. “Not Finn, but a wendigo.”
Reaching out, I grabbed his hand. “Finn, I can turn you back. I was exhausted earlier, but I know, when we wake up, I’ll be able to.”
“How?”
“It’s the Flaming Sword inside of me. It allows me to free the blessed trapped from their wendigo form.”
His green eyes looked distant. “Maybe I’m meant to stay like this.”
My mouth dropped open. “What? Why would you even say that?” I squeezed his hand. “I don’t think you’re listening. I can fix this. I can help you change back.”
“You are not the only one who the angels visit.”
I watched as he slid off the dock and into the lake, dropping even his head under the water.
Groaning, I followed him into the lake and swam toward the bank, only stopping when I saw him pop up from the water. He stood there, waist deep, waiting for me to come to him.
I ignored the water droplets that ran down my face. “Finn, who came to see you? Which archangel?”
“Maka, listen to me. A long time ago, I didn’t protect you. I failed you. This time around, I will do anything to make sure that I don’t lose you again. Even if it means I need to stay a monster, I’ll do it.”
My feet sunk into the mushy bottom of the lake, and I did my best not to cringe as wet mud slid between my toes. “Finn, you don’t need to stay a wendigo. That’s what I am trying to tell you. I can destroy the wendigos or turn them back to what they once were with just a thought. Who would you need to protect me from?”
He trailed his hand down my cheek. “Even you, Maka, are not infallible. But with me in your corner, you might have a chance for what lies ahead.”
I was getting angry. “And what exactly is that?”
“If I tell you, then you will choose me.”
I crossed my arms over my wet bathing suit. “So, there is an option where I don’t choose you?”
That damn sexy smile lit up his face. Then he raked his teeth over his bottom lip, and I sighed, causing him to laugh.
I waved a hand between us, trying to air out whatever magic spell he had me under. “Wait a second. You’re being all allusive. I need facts, and then I’ll make the choice that needs to be made.”
He grabbed my hips and pulled me toward him. “The night grows more chilly. You need to wake up.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m immortal. I don’t think I’m going to catch a cold.”
His hand trailed my ribcage. “Did you know that you can be hurt while dream walking?”
I guessed I had never really thought of it. I felt lust ninety-nine percent of the time when visiting Finn in my dreams, so it made sense that I could feel other things, such as pain, as well.
I felt the deep rumble of laughter coming from Finn. He rolled over so he was looking up at me. “Only ninety-nine percent? I’m doing something terribly wrong then.”
I smiled before I grabbed his head pulling it down to mine laying a gentle kiss on his lips. When I pulled back, his face had lost all joy, and worry coated his words. “You can be hurt. Any dream you walk to, even if it’s manifested like this lake we’re in, it could still harm you. If you had hit your head on the dock, you could take on water and drown in your sleep. The issue with searching for me is that, not only is it unsafe in the dream, but you found me. What if someone startled me awake before I could be entirely cognitive? You could have a wendigo in your dream. That’s just dangerous. You wouldn’t get this Finn. You would get the wendigo.”
I bit my lip as I digested his words. I understood his concern but this was the only time that I got to see him. I would be on my guard but I wouldn’t stop wanting to see him.
He said, “Let me have one kiss before you need to go.”
“Go? I’m not going anywhere. You just don’t want to talk to me about me changing you back.” I didn’t get to say anything more before he crashed his lips against mine and rubbed his wet body against mine. I thought I was going to have a mini-stroke as a fire ignited in my bloodstream. Then he slanted his mouth over mine, and there was nothing tender or soft about this kiss. It was ravishing. It was as if … as if … he was getting his fill of me.
I pushed his chest as I reared my head back. “Finn, you better tell me that was not a goodbye kiss.”
He ran his thumb across my bottom lip. “Of course not. Haven’t you been listening? I don’t aim to lose you again, Maka.”
I poked a finger at his chest and winced—damn rock-hard body. “So, you don’t plan on staying a wendigo? You are going to let me use the sword to free you?”
He smiled down at me. “Did I say that?”
/> “That’s the problem! You’re talking in circles. I’m so confused.”
He dropped his lips back to mine again. This time, he was slower and more gentle, teasing me with his tongue.
I felt myself leaving the dream world once again, but not before I heard him say, “And that is how I’ll kiss you hello when all of this is over.” He was pushing me out of the dream and forcing me to wake.
My eyes popped open, and I looked around me, finding I was still lying up against the bank in the cold. The only difference was there was no looming wendigo. Finn was gone entirely.
The whole walk back to the Empowered Academy, I raged as I talked to myself like any true, going-around-the-bend psychotic would. Sometimes, I even answered myself. Like who doesn’t have time to cry over the hottest boy in the land? Me that’s who. And why is that? Because I’m super busy kicking ass and taking names. I could have used my wings to take me back, but the truth was that I needed a moment to think and calm down.
I stomped through the lavender fields, not even enjoying their smell or their beauty. My mood had the flowers reaching to me to try to comfort me, but I was not in the right frame of mind. The blooms almost looked like they had enlarged as I walked by. That was new. Since before I was eighteen trees and plants would respond to my moods but it was clear that my powers that were given to me were growing daily. Once I broke through the field and toward the forest, I was ready for murder.
How could he not let me fix him? Did he want to be a damn wendigo? Of course he did. I didn’t understand his thought process, but I knew he felt that, by him staying a wendigo, he was somehow protecting me. I wondered which archangel dropped in to talk with Finn. If I could just get him to myself for more than thirty minutes, we could actually have a real conversation.
The leaves on the trees began to rattle as I continued to fume. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. All I needed right now was all the trees being uprooted.
Captured: Academy of the Seraph Page 12