With These Wings

by Wendy Knight

  Keven sighed.

  Nyx swung her legs off the bed so they dangled over the edge, her toes just brushing the fuzzy rug underneath. “Okay.”

  “What?” Enika gasped, and then gave a little shriek and jerked her finger to her mouth. “Ow.”

  Nyx closed her eyes and prayed for strength. “Okay.”

  She had no idea how long she’d been out. When she finally opened her eyes, she was in a cell filled with some sort of weird, thick liquid, with all kinds of wires and tubes running from her body to a machine on the outside — she could see it through the clear door to her cell. If she squinted, she could see beyond that — to an entire room filled with cells just like hers. She knew there had been at least a hundred girls that came back with her, but she could only see a few of them around her.

  “This one’s awake,” she heard, although it was muffled through the thick liquid. “And still alive.” It was them — their hauntingly beautiful voices lilting while they stared at her with blue, blue eyes.

  “Oh, she’s pretty. She turned very nicely.”

  “This last group has been stronger than the others. We’ve kept ten alive so far, and two more are still in transition.”

  “That’s twelve out of a hundred. Two percent better than usual.”

  “They’re stronger because they’ve been fighting us. We made them strong.” Was that pride Phoenyx heard in the voice? She jerked her hands, trying to free herself, but the liquid held her fast. They smiled indulgently at her attempts.

  “I think we’re almost ready to move them to incubation. She was the last of them.”

  Nyx wasn’t sure anymore if they were speaking out loud or in her head. After they left her again, she fought harder to move, making little rivulets in the liquid, but careful not to rip the tube bringing her oxygen.

  That would be bad.

  She could see one of the other girls across from her start to follow her lead, fighting hard against the liquid. It wasn’t until Phoenyx could move her head a little that she realized why the girl looked different.

  Wings.

  She had giant, beautiful wings.

  Was that why Phoenyx’s body hurt so badly? Did she have wings too?

  They seemed to respond to her thought, fluttering just a little. They were stronger than she was, and moved the liquid more forcefully than her pathetic attempts with her weak arms and legs.

  Holy crap, I have wings.

  They’d turned her.

  And then she remembered what they’d said. Eleven of her group had survived.

  There had been over a hundred.

  “That’s twelve out of a hundred. Two percent better than usual.”

  Phoenyx felt sick. Hot tears formed in her eyes, blurring her vision, but had nowhere to go. Out of every hundred women captured, only ten survived? Her mom and sister — were they dead?

  Or had they gotten what they wanted? Immortality, beauty, agelessness?

  Then where had they gone? Why hadn’t they come home?

  What would happen to her now?

  It felt like an eternity that she fought against the liquid in the darkness. It could have been hours, days, weeks. She had no idea. She did know that she would have been lost if not for the alien wings at her back. She heard conversations, bits here and there about the Garce, about the ship, about the other women. Through it all, she fought to free herself.

  But she wasn’t fast enough. They came back — the Pys. There were three of them, all identical, except for one who was much bigger than the other two. They were barely bigger than children. Phoenyx felt an instant connection to the tall one. And to one of the smaller ones. Like they were family. Blood.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t turn her alone.” The smaller one stared up at the big one, her eyes round and full of tears, her tattoos lining her eyes and down her cheeks flashing in the darkness.

  “Our DNA combined worked rather well. She is beautiful. A perfect mix of us.”

  DNA? Was that how they turned her? She had alien DNA in her now?

  She had alien DNA in her now.

  Suddenly, as if they’d woken it, she could feel every single cell in her body that wasn’t hers, warring for position inside her, killing the human parts of her. She could feel their blood in her, hot and fiery all at once, roaring through her veins like a flash flood.

  It was agony.

  It was strength.

  The liquid around her dissolved, fizzling into the air. She jerked the tubes off of her, gasping for breath, sucking in air — air she no longer needed. She didn’t realize her wings were fluttering anxiously behind her until they nearly lifted her off the ground.

  “Look at her! She’s mastered her wings!” The big one said, clapping her hands in delight.

  The smaller one looked up at her. “Maybe we could keep this one, Selenia?” she asked hopefully.

  Selenia tipped her head, watching Phoenyx. “She does seem to be far more advanced than normal, doesn’t she? I don’t know, Akit. Her eyes aren’t right. They’re too fierce. And she’s too big to be one of you.”

  I’m too big? Speak for yourself.

  They moved on, leaving Phoenyx staring after them. She ran to the cell door, slamming her body against it, trying to shatter it, to escape, anything. But it didn’t budge. The Pys were at the cell across from hers, with the girl who had been fighting like she had. The girl fell, landed on her knees, and forced herself to her feet, banging on the door, as Phoenyx was. The Pys laughed lightly and moved on.

  Nyx could see more, now.

  She could see the other cells. They were in a small, perfectly circular room. One of the cells had gone black. The rest were being drained, like hers. Nine other girls stared in horror out of their cell doors, all with matching wings and shimmering tattoos.

  We were human once.

  “Okay, ladies. We’re going to open the cell doors and give you a little tour of your new home. We’ll even let you see yourselves in a mirror. Won’t that be fun?”

  Akit lit the sparks at her hand, watching them arc from one finger to the other. “If you try to run, though, we’ll have to hurt you. And we really don’t want to do that.” She pouted beautifully, opening her eyes so wide she looked like the world’s most adorable puppy.

  The cell doors opened, and Phoenyx stumbled out. The other ten girls followed, until they were huddled together in the center, smacking each other with their wings. Selenia smiled in amusement.

  “My mom and my sister. Can I see them?” Phoenyx blurted. The smile died on Selenia’s face and she shook her head. “I’m sorry. They weren’t part of the ten percent.”

  “Ten percent?” Phoenyx whispered. Terror nearly closed her throat.

  “Only ten percent survive the turning process. Your mother and your sister were not as strong as you.” She beamed at Phoenyx proudly.

  “But—but how do you know? You don’t even know who they are!”

  “Oh.” Selenia closed her eyes, as if in a beautiful daydream. “I remember every DNA we come across. Like a lover you never forget.”

  Akit snapped, lightning arcing from her hands. “Move. We still have much to do.” Terrified, they all shuffled after her.

  Phoenyx clasped the hand of the girl next to hers, felt it trembling as hard as hers, and held tighter. “I’m Phoenyx,” she whispered.

  “Nima,” the girl whispered back.

  With her other hand, Phoenyx grabbed the little blond girl next to her, twining their fingers together. “I’m Calista.” In turn, Calista grabbed the girl on her other side, until all ten of them held hands.

  “I’m Sienna.”

  “Crystal.”

  “Jaycie.”

  “Kaydree.”

  “Brookyll.”

  “Constance.”

  “Andi.”

  “Cali.”

  “All introduced then?” Selenia asked with an amused smile. “Let’s go.”

  Holding tight, like they were each a lifeline to the other, they followed
Selenia in silence. When they were finally shown the mirror, Phoenyx’s first sight was a wall of strength, held together by sheer will.

  Her second sight was of herself, nearly unrecognizable. Giant wings fluttering behind her, sparkling blue tattoos twisting around her eyes, and up and down her arms and legs. Her hair was streaked with blue, and her eyes were no longer brown, but the metallic blue like the aliens. She would have broken down, then. Had it not been for the hands she held.

  None of them said a word. Just stared silently at the mirrors and waited.

  “Well.” Selenia’s voice was thick with disappointment. “Let’s move on.”

  Had she been expecting them to be thrilled?

  They followed, because they had no choice. Akit and whoever the other one was were behind them, the fiery blood snapping and arcing, sometimes hitting one of the girls and burning into her pale skin.

  Still, they said nothing. Barely grimaced.

  It wasn’t until one of the sparks hit Phoenyx that there was a sound, but she didn’t make it. Akit did, and beyond her, Selenia. They both shrieked. Selenia whirled, anger making her blue eyes black. “Akit!”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to hit her.”

  Realizing they were all staring at her in horror, Selenia smoothed her face into a mask of serenity. Anger wasn’t beautiful.

  “This will be your new home.” Selenia swept her arm toward a large window overlooking what seemed to be hundreds and hundreds of large incubators. Phoenyx squinted, felt her alien half take over her vision, and could suddenly see into each one below her. They were humans.

  Well, they had been humans. Now they were whatever she was.

  “You will bring about the future generations of Empyreans.” Selenia said proudly. Phoenyx couldn’t look away from the scene below her though. Every single one looked hugely pregnant, as if she was carrying octoplets, maybe. Their bodies were massively distorted. “We will inject into you Empyrean embryos. You will carry them to completion, at which time they will be born fully grown and ready to feed on the Garce we rescued you and your people from.”

  Next to her, Nima started trembling again.

  Or maybe it was Phoenyx trembling. She couldn’t tell.

  “We will lead you to your incubators now, ladies. This way please.”

  They started to follow her, but below them, something caught Phoenyx’s eye. One of the women had broken out of her incubator. She was screaming, arching her back, her hands clawing at her stomach. Empyreans rushed to her side, but not to help her. With their sharp claws, they tore open her stomach and then let her body fall, lifeless, to the ground as they helped the newly born Empyrean from her womb. Phoenyx could see the broken bones, even from this distance. The woman’s spine was snapped in half. Her ribs were shattered fragments.

  That was going to be them.

  Selenia led them into a room with metal slabs and next to them, needles the size of baseball bats. Each one held a baby — with wings. Teeny tiny, the size of a fairy, but fully formed. Ready to be implanted into each of these girls.

  She glanced at Nima on her right, and then the little blond Calista on her left.

  No. She couldn’t let that happen.

  They met her eyes, and in their gaze she could read her fear. Somehow, they had to stop this.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  SLOWLY, SHE LET THEIR HANDS FALL, staring pointedly at Selenia’s retreating back. She knew what she was about to do might kill her. If the blood that Akit had hit her with had traveled from her to Akit to Selenia, she could only imagine what it would feel like coming the other way, from Selenia to Akit and then to her. But she didn’t care. She’d rather die here than down in the horrific room below them.

  Nima met her eyes, nodding. She knew. She knew what Phoenyx was about to do. Glancing around her, the rest of them also nodded, so minutely that it was nearly indistinguishable, but Phoenyx felt it.

  As one, they raised their hands.

  The blood seemed eager to escape Phoenyx’s body. It leaped from her palms and her fingertips, arcing through the darkness. Akit cried out, but too late. Phoenyx flung her hands forward, the fire smashing into the back of Selenia’s head.

  She screamed, tumbling forward. Behind them, Akit screamed, clawing at her skull. Phoenyx also felt the pain, but it was muted, as if her human half was sheltering her from the attack. Not hesitating, she did it again.

  And again.

  The third one, the one who never spoke, she tried to fight back, but the girls around Phoenyx had by then gotten the hang of it, and they attacked all at once. Selenia struggled to her feet, but was instantly thrown back to the ground.

  “Phoenyx! Phoenyx, don’t let them take me!” Brookyll screamed. Another Py, one Phoenyx hadn’t seen coming, had Brookyll by the hair, dragging her backward.

  Kaydree spun to face Phoenyx. “I’ll distract them. Get my little sister and get out of here. Do you hear me?”

  Phoenyx nodded. Jerking away, she let her wings lift her into the air. Jerking her hands up the way she’d seen the Pys do, she willed the alien blood in her to escape.

  Amazingly enough, it did.

  It hit the Py and Brookyll dropped to her knees. “Use your wings!” Phoenyx yelled. She grabbed Calista by the arm and jumped into the air, unsteady, sliding from side to side and crashing into walls. Selenia was struggling to her feet, and Phoenyx could see the blood already leaping from her fingertips and palms, ready to attack.

  “Fly!” Phoenyx bellowed, shoving Calista forward. The little blond shot through the air, wasting no time in acclimating to her wings.

  Phoenyx turned slowly, facing Selenia. “Let us go.”

  “So you can do what?” Selenia panted. “Your people will hate you. Your world will kill you. We are your future.”

  “No.” Phoenyx flung her arm back toward the huge bay window. “That is not a future for anyone.”

  “It can be different for you,” Selenia simpered, her beautiful blue eyes widening pitifully. “You can be one of us. Look at you. Look at how beautiful you are. How powerful. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “That’s because you’ve never given anyone a chance. How many of us have you killed, Selenia? How many have you even let fly around your ship or attempt to use this awful ‘gift’ you’ve given us?”

  By the look Selenia gave her, Phoenyx had her answer.

  None.

  “We’re nothing but incubation houses for your growing race.”

  “We saved you from the Garce,” Selenia whispered.

  Phoenyx longed to look over her shoulder, to see if the other nine had escaped. But she couldn’t. It would get them killed. “You are worse than the Garce. You pretend to be heroes, and you’re worse than they are!” she screamed, hands fisting so tight at her sides that her sharp nails dug into her palms. She felt the blood rise to the surface, sizzling against the air.

  “You know nothing! The Garce are us! We are the same!” Selenia screamed back. “Do you know who leads them, these Garce you think are no worse than we are? We do! One of ours leads them away from us and feeds on them to keep herself alive. They are the same!”

  Phoenyx felt her world rock and her jaw dropped. “What?” she asked despite herself.

  “They’re mindless. Didn’t you wonder how they got here? They’re not smart enough to open a door, let alone build something capable of inter-planetary travel.” Selenia purred, realizing she had Phoenyx’s full attention. “One of ours realized she could keep herself alive forever, and she takes them from us. Takes them to feed until they’ve exhausted a planet of its resources. And then she takes them away from us again.”

  Selenia stalked over to the wall and hit a button Phoenyx couldn’t even see. A small window slid open, letting light into the darkness.”You can’t run from me, little one. I can stop you.” Selenia had a wicked, terrifying grin. She thrust her hand through the window, into the sun. She screamed, and Phoenyx screamed, as her arm blackened and burned, even though
she was in the shadows. But Selenia’s hand was worse when she pulled it inside. It was nothing but bone and blood, and Selenia screamed and cradled her arm to her chest, wrapping her wings around her. “See what happens when we go in the sun, little one? You’re mine now. You’re ours. When we hurt, you hurt. When we burn, you burn.”

  Moving lightning fast, Selenia caught Phoenyx by the throat. “You’re part of me now, pretty little human. You’re mine now.” She stroked Nyx’s black hair, and it seemed to follow her hand, turning blue wherever her fingers landed, and spreading. Nyx struggled, whimpering. A day ago, she’d been dying. Now, she felt like she could live forever.

  Except that Selenia was about to take that needle that was the size of a baseball bat and shove it into her stomach. Implant her child. That child would grow and grow until she burst out of Nyx’s body, full-grown.

  “Run, Phoenyx, Run!”

  Phoenyx jerked away as one of the needles shot through the air, slamming like a dart into the wall next to Selenia’s head. Selenia screamed, scrambling for the baby that slipped from the broken glass.

  Phoenyx didn’t hesitate. She leaped into the air, willing her wings to be strong and steady, and whirled away, shooting through the hallways. Nima and Sienna waited, motioning to her frantically. Giving up on her wings, Phoenyx landed hard and ran. She’d always loved to run. She was the fastest girl at her school, faster than most of the boys. So she ran.

  But she wasn’t faster than the aliens.

  Nima threw the blood from her hands like a baseball, hitting Selenia in the face. Akit, who had just struggled to her feet, screamed again and fell, and Selenia howled, clawing at her eyes.

  Nyx felt the pain, like she’d stood too close to the fire. It was hot and it was painful, but it wasn’t agonizing, it wasn’t boiling away her skin like it was Selenia and Akit.

  We’re resistant. Resistant to whatever it was that caused the chain reaction.

  They sprinted through the corridors, leaping from landings and praying their wings would hold them. Several times, Phoenyx crashed into sharp metal, certain she would die, yet she did not. An alarm sounded, blaring through the ship, over and over, seeming to reverberate through Phoenyx’s skull until she thought it might crack.