Before These Wings (Wings Book 1)

by Wendy Knight

  Phoenyx. I love you.

  A thousand memories flooded through him, and time stood still while he watched them flash by. Enika, his parents, Keven.

  Phoenyx.

  He’d lost her, thought she was dead, but it didn’t matter because three days ago, he’d found her. Phoenyx, his little survivor, small, sweet, and fast.

  And now he was losing her again.

  A lifetime of thoughts, in a mere fraction of a second.

  The Garce screeched as it was jerked back, away from him. Cole’s eyes flew open as a whole new horror nearly drove him to his knees.

  The Pys. They were here.

  There were two of them, light blue wings waving lazily in the darkness, beautiful faces with the ornate, sparkling tattoos twisting around their eyes. The Garce howled and struggled and screamed, but it couldn’t escape. Where the humans had no way to fight something made of shadows, the Empyrean could grab the shadows… and suck the shadows dry.

  Cole stepped back, praying they wouldn’t notice him as they eagerly tore into the Garce, their delicate white fangs stretching, almost piercing the perfect lips. His feet moved silently, carrying him backward down the alley toward Phoenyx and Enika. He had to protect them. He had to get them out of here. Because the Empyreans would kill him, drain him like they did the Garce, but Phoenyx and Enika were in real danger. They would take them. The Empyreans would take them and torture them and who knew what else, because no one had ever escaped from them. He couldn’t let that happen.

  Once he’d made it to the shadows, he spun and sprinted around the corner of the alley, praying Phoenyx had gotten them out of there. Praying that they were safe. Praying that there weren’t any more Empyreans than the two he’d left behind.

  But there were.

  Akit had Enika in her hands, long, dark blue fingernails tracing a pattern lovingly against her cheek, drawing blood. “You’ll be so pretty as one of us,” she purred. Already, Cole could see the tattoos forming around his sister’s eyes, catching the moonlight as they sparkled like there were a thousand tiny diamonds embedded in the fine lines along her skin. Enika trembled and whimpered as she turned her face away, eyes squinched shut tight. Cole stumbled forward, looking around him for a weapon — anything. Their guns and knives did little to the Empyreans, but if he could just distract it…

  “Hey! Hey you ugly moth! Do you really want her when you could have me? She’s little. And weak!” Phoenyx screamed, throwing a broken brick at the Empyrean’s head. It moved so fast Cole couldn’t follow, although he would be haunted by the movement for the rest of his life. Akit dropped his sister and shot across the cracked, deserted road. She snatched Phoenyx off the street and soared into the night. Enika screamed, diving for them, like her arms could possibly reach into the sky and save her best friend. And Cole was forced to turn away from Phoenyx, from his hopes and dreams and future, to save his sister. He scooped her up against his chest and ran for the safety of the rising sun.

  * * *

  FOR BEING SO TINY, Akit and Aylin had no problem holding Phoenyx. She fought every wing stroke, every inch they passed, every mile, but they were too strong. When the ship came into view, the ship she’d ironically been spying on just three days ago, she fought harder.

  It didn’t matter.

  They dragged her inside while she fought and screamed and kicked. The Pys had raided her small group, but there were at least one-hundred other girls being brought in with her now. Some fought, some had given up. Most cried.

  Phoenyx wasn’t ashamed that she cried too.

  Cole. Enika. She’d lost them. She would never see them again.

  Cole.

  The interior of the ship was metal. All metal and gleaming surfaces, tall and thin, like a giant bullet. There were many, many floors but no stairs, no elevators. Because they all had wings.

  No windows. No sunlight. She would never see the sun again.

  They dragged her to the top, and she still fought and kicked with everything she had. Better that she fall to her death below than whatever they were going to do to her. They landed in front of a tall, beautiful Py, much bigger than the others. Akit shoved her forward. “I want to keep this one.”

  The tall one turned, looking Phoenyx up and down like she was livestock, not a human fighting for her life. “This is the one you’ve had so much trouble with?”

  Akit nodded.

  Phoenyx ignored them, frantically looking for a way out. She was surrounded — their giant wings formed a gate around her, boxing her in. There was no escape.

  She crumpled to her knees, burying her face in her hands. “I’ll turn this one myself. Akit, you can help me. We’ll see if she survives.”

  “Yes, Selenia.”

  She had no idea what that meant and swore at herself for not paying attention, for giving in to the fear and the hopelessness. Before she could react, before she could gather the strength to fight back, they had her trapped down, their freakish strength holding her in place. She felt their claws on her, tracing her skin with their long, sharp nails. She felt them draw blood, but more than that, she felt something enter through their gashes, something that wasn’t part of her. Something…

  Alien.

  It fought with her blood, her organs, her soul. She’d thought — TV made it seem like she’d be strapped to a table, that there would be time to prepare, but there was no time. It happened within seconds. Pain tore through her, ravaging every cell, every platelet. It was unlike anything she’d ever endured, more than she could bear. She passed in and out of consciousness, unaware of what they did to her, unaware of anything but the pain.

  So much pain.

  She was dying.

  Cole.

  When she was conscious, she tried to see past the pain to his memory. When she blacked out, she dreamed of him. His dark eyes. That devastating smile. His kindness. His strength. She wished she would have kissed him again when she’d come back to him. Wished she would have touched him more, felt the beat of his heart.

  They took her to a cell made of glass and dropped her in the back corner. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. It hurt too much.

  She was dying.

  Hours stretched into days, days into who knew how long. With every breath, she felt her soul slip farther away. Felt herself die a little more. And it was okay. Any of that would be okay — death possibly couldn’t be worse than this, could it?

  She almost gave up. Almost. But something in her — be it Cole’s voice or Enika’s memory, she wasn’t sure, but something in her fought back. For them.

  * * *

  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 now.

  “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? You aren’t the reason we’re strong! She wanted to scream, but couldn’t. Instead, 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.”

  Phoenyx 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 rivets 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. Twelve 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. Akit, Aylen, Selenia. Phoenyx felt an instant connection to Selenia. And Akit. Like they were family. Blood.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t turn her alone.” Akit stared up at Selenia, 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.”

  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 nothing. 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!” Selenia clapped her hands in delight.

  Akit 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.

  Phoenyx 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 her, felt it trembling as hard as she did, and held tighter. “I’m Phoenyx,” she whispered.

  “Nima,” the girl whispered back.

  With her other hand, Phoenyx grabbed the little blond girl on her other side, twining their fingers together. “I’m Calista.” In turn, Calista reached for the girl on her left and held tight.

  “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 eyes were no longer brown, but the metallic blue of 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 Aylin were close behind, the fiery blood snapping and arcing in their palms, sometimes hitting one of the girls and burning into her pale skin.

  Still, the girls 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 incubators below. 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 the
m 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 her.

  The grip on her hand tightened and Calista closed her eyes in fear. She was so small…

  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 13

  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.