by Allison West
"Why would the royal council pay us a visit?" Leila's stomach flopped. Had she done something wrong? She had reaped Yvan on time and played by the rules.
"Between Wynter being a dark angel at the asylum, and Emblyn graduating, I would think the royal council would be on their way." Jasper walked outside and found Leila's horse munching grass next to the fence. He walked the horse around to the front of the house. Leila stood at the door, watching him with a raised eye. "I'm borrowing your ride. I'll bring her back in a few hours."
She didn't object. He was helping her out; she'd loan him the horse. Leila shut the front door. Walking into the living room, she bent down to check on Violetta. "Vi?" Leila gently touched her shoulder. Her skin was hot and Leila pulled her hand back, burned. Violetta hadn't budged since Leila came home. The color on Violetta's skin continued to redden until it became a blinding orange, with her body emitting a bright force of light. Leila turned her head. The energy blinded her. "Violetta?" Leila's voice trembled. What was happening to her friend?
With a bright flash, the color vanished. Leila's eyes opened and she bent down to Violetta's level. She hesitated, reaching out to touch her arm. Her skin was warm to the touch but bearable. Carefully, Leila rolled Violetta over and gasped. Her raven black hair hadn't changed color, but she now had bangs and her hair had grown a few inches in length. Violetta's eyes, a steel gray blue, stared up at Leila.
"What happened?" Violetta sounded different. Her voice squeakier. She looked a few years younger, barely twenty.
"I was about to ask you that question. How are you feeling?"
"Fine." She glanced down at her hands. Her nails had never looked so good before. She had a habit of picking at the tips. "I transferred, didn't I?"
"Something happened." Leila couldn't quite put it into words, shocked. "You look different, Vi. Can I still call you that?"
"It is my name." Violetta stood up and walked past the dead body, stepping over it. In the hallway, she stared at her reflection in the giant mirror. "One of the advantages of a reaper death. We change bodies."
Leila didn't want to know what dying felt like for a reaper. If it felt anything like when she had become a reaper and changed bodies, she would do anything to avoid it.
"What are we doing about that guy?" Glancing at Leila, she pointed at the body. "I'm not in the mood to break one of these." Violetta flashed her freshly grown nails at her friend.
"Jasper will help when he gets back, unless the royal council shows up first." Leila wasn't quite sure what would happen in that instance.
Violetta's scroll sizzled against her thigh. "I can't get a single day off from death. How are we supposed to ever find the time to visit Emblyn?"
Leila didn't point out that Emblyn wouldn't recognize Violetta, but maybe she'd seen it happen before, the transformation. "Tough day." She wanted to tell Wynter all about it. Too bad he was locked up in the asylum. Hopefully, he'd be able to adapt soon and come home.
"Tell me something I don't know. I've got to head out if I'm going to make my appointment. I'll see you later." Violetta walked outside to the back of the house and untied her horse.
Leila headed outside, finding a shovel in the cellar. She wasn't keen on burying Yvan but leaving him to decay in her living room seemed even more grotesque.
Chapter 28
Waking up the next morning, Wynter rolled around in bed, not forcing himself to get up just yet. He had no reason to keep a schedule. With no scroll to give him assignments, he spent his time reading the dark angel texts. Besides, until he could learn to control his newfound abilities, his class of reapers would have to survive without him. There were no replacements for a temporary basis. Wynter just had to hope that he wouldn't be permanently replaced. "Let me in. It's creepy out here."
Wynter rubbed the sleep from his eyes and pushed himself off the mattress, unlocking the door, pulling it open. "You're up early." Wynter was surprised to see Leila paying him a visit. Two days in a row.
Shirtless and dressed in black cotton bottoms, he didn't mind her eyes trailing over his body. She'd certainly seen more of him the night before.
"I couldn't sleep," Leila confessed.
It also seemed that she couldn't sit still, pacing the length of his room. "I've been up all morning thinking about reapers and dark angels, Wynter. Reapers can't decide who lives or dies, but you can. That's the power of a dark angel."
Wynter sighed and took a seat at the edge of his bed. His beige sheets were strewn all over the mattress. "It should be used lightly."
Maybe there weren't consequences to the dark angel for disobeying death, but there was still a system of cause and effect in place. They'd seen it with the young child when she hadn't been reaped in time—she'd spread the Great Plague.
"We can't save everyone, Leila. Besides, why would we want to? There are murderers and thieves out there too. They don't need a second chance. The man who killed you, would you want to delay his death?"
Leila paused beside the small window. "What if they're stealing food because they're starving?"
"Maybe we can save some of them, but there are consequences. You know that." He felt it necessary to remind her of the costs.
"Someone else has to die in their place, or their soul goes into another body. Is there any way around it?"
"If a reaper interferes, they become a dark angel too." How could she forget the most important rule, the one that had turned him into the hideous creature that he'd become? "I've been learning about my responsibilities as a dark angel. I have to be able to control my emotions, my feelings, and what I'm experiencing, so that I don't show the world what I am. After I accomplish that, I begin the second stage of training."
"How's that going? I can't imagine not showing fear, anger, hatred, or even love. Hiding something you're passionate about sounds dreadful."
Wynter hadn't found it necessary to hide his emotions last night, and as a result, his wings hadn't gotten in the way or interrupted their time together. Maybe giving in to temptation wasn't such a bad lesson to learn. "Until I can master it, I have to stay here." There were too many risks of being seen.
"Then, I'll help you. What do I need to do?"
What could she do to help him? "There's a book upstairs that explains the rules, laws, and experiences of other dark angels. I think if we break into the office and borrow the text, we might be able to speed up the time it takes me to adjust."
"You mean the royal council's office? Is anyone upstairs?"
"Not that I know of. The caretaker is away for the afternoon."
Leila let out an anxious breath. "I hope you're right." She dropped a chaste kiss to his cheek. "I'll be back." She headed for the door and opened it. Leila glanced back at Wynter and gave him a faint smile. "Wish me luck."
"You'll be fine. Quit stalling, and go!"
In a matter of minutes, Leila was back, knocking briskly on his door for him to let her back in. Wynter opened the door and took a text off Leila to help her see. "What have we got?" He shut the door with his foot as he walked to the bed and sat down. "This looks good." He showed her the title. A Dark Angel's Guide to Overcoming Death.
"I also brought you a book on the rules and consequences, so we don't accidentally turn you into a pig or something." Leila grinned.
Wynter opened the book and skimmed the pages. "This looks interesting."
"What'd you find?" Leila sat down on the bed beside Wynter.
Wynter read the text aloud. "A soul exchange or death transfer is only required when an outside influence requests a human be spared. Dark angels may at any time rescue a soul prior to death and change the outcome if it's in the best interest of society." Wynter glanced up from the book. "So, because we asked the dark angel to save Mara, we had to pay the price. However, if Juliana had felt Mara was going to be a queen and a great ruler who would help society, then she could have saved her from death without the soul exchange and death transfer."
"Sounds complicated."
&nbs
p; "Not really." Wynter continued to read the book. "A dark angel may consult the oracle for guidance. Under no circumstance, will a dark angel take orders from a grim reaper. A dark angel may not give orders to a grim reaper, either. It is the dark angel's responsibility to intervene if necessary. Reapers do not cause death; they are merely messengers who carry out assignments by the royal council."
Leila stood up and groaned. "I don't think I can take much more of this. It's too textbook."
Wynter stood up and stretched. His wings stretched out with him and Leila ducked on the bed, careful not to get smacked by feathers.
"Careful!" she squealed.
Wynter grimaced. He'd been trying to control his emotions, but he'd forgotten what just stretching his own body was like. "I am. I still need to work on it, but I'm better than I was yesterday."
"Speaking of yesterday. After I visited you, do you remember how I had an assignment from the scroll and rushed home?"
Wynter nodded. There was a lot he remembered about yesterday, but the reap hadn't been the first thought on his mind. "What happened?"
"Violetta transformed into another body. I guess she died."
That sounded about right. "What happened?" Wynter asked.
"Warner de Clare sent one of his men to kill us." She recounted the entire story to him.
Wynter walked to the window. He wiped the dirt and grime with his hand, trying to look outside. "How are you holding up?"
"I should be asking you that question," Leila said. "You're the one locked up in this dingy place."
Wynter bit his bottom lip. His wings began to lift, moving away from his back.
"Control it," Leila said.
"I don't want to. I don't have a problem with feeling pain, heartache, anger, sadness. What I don't like is that it shows, like a dog wagging its tail when happy. My wings unfurl when I feel anything. I like feeling things, Leila." Wynter stared at her. "Sure, I'm not thrilled with having bad days, the ones with regret, revenge, and longing, but I want the good that comes with it, love, happiness, surprise. There are a host of emotions that I'm not ready to bury away."
"Maybe you don't have to bury it, so much as control it. We'll figure it out, together."
Chapter 29
Leila heard a repetitive knock against the front door. She was making dinner for Violetta, who still hadn't come home. She wanted to tell her all about her encounter at the asylum with Wynter.
"Come on!" A muffled male voice reached through the door.
Leila cautiously unlocked the door and opened it. "Wynter, what are you doing here?" Leila's eyes widened, and she ushered him inside. He looked good. Wynter removed the jacket that mostly covered his wings. He wore a cotton shirt and long, black slacks. The back of his shirt was torn for his wings to fit through. Leila wasn't sure if he'd intentionally torn the material by hand, or if the wings had done it.
"I'm tired of hiding in the asylum. I escaped."
"Two days was your limit?" She laughed under her breath. Leila knew he was prone to breaking the rules, much like she was, but she didn't think he'd go this far. What were the consequences of leaving the asylum without permission? Ordinarily, it might not have been a big deal, except he wasn't a grim reaper. He was a dark angel. Everyone could see Wynter for what he was. This wasn't good.
"Don't worry about it. I'm going to spend the next few weeks in the house with Jasper. Once I'm comfortable with the wings and can hide them a little better, I'll be able to leave."
Leila nodded. She wasn't sure he'd ever be able to fully hide his wings. He'd always have to cover them up, but so long as they didn't expand from beneath his clothes, he'd probably be all right. "You're really back?" Leila couldn't believe he was standing in her house. She threw her arms around him, not caring about his wings or that they were rising as she squeezed him tight. "I'm so glad you're going home."
"Me too." Wynter hugged her in return.
Chapter 30
Wynter stood up and stretched. "I think it's time to call it a night." Although he didn't want to leave, tomorrow would be another stressful day. He was sure of it. Soon, he'd have to save a soul.
"Already?" Leila groaned in protest. "I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked him, standing up.
Did she not want him to go? A part of him wanted to stay over, but they hadn't talked about what had happened.
Wynter grinned, stepping toward her, wanting at the very least a kiss goodnight. "I'll come by after breakfast." He hoped she wouldn't have an early reap in the morning. If she did, then he'd stay until she showed up.
"All right." Leila dropped a kiss to his cheek. "Goodnight."
That wasn't enough for Wynter. Not after what he'd experienced with her back at the asylum. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, breathing in her scent. He wanted to do more than just brush his lips against hers. Wynter wanted to taste her nectar, the sweet juices that flowed from her cunny. It seemed he'd have to wait. With Jasper and Violetta watching, Leila appeared to tense up. Did she not like the attention?
"I'll be outside," Jasper said, clearing his throat. Clearly, he got the message. "Night, Vi."
"Night, Jasper." She smiled warmly, a twinkle in her eye before she sauntered off into the bedroom.
They were alone.
Leila laughed softly, her cheeks blushing as she leaned closer, pressing her breasts against him, clinging to him. "I guess you have to go home." She didn't sound confident in her answer but she also had yet to invite him to stay. He wasn't going to invite himself.
"Yeah, I probably should." Wynter leaned in, brushing his lips against hers, his finger tangling in the red locks, pulling her closer and tighter. His heart pulsed and the blood flowed down to this cock, making him harden as he desired more than just a taste of her sweet cherry lips. "Goodnight, Leila." Reluctantly, he pulled back, giving her hand a squeeze before opening the front door and stepping outside.
Jasper stood by the horses, glancing over his shoulder at his friend. "What was that?"
"What?" Wynter played it coy. He wasn't one to kiss and tell.
"Obviously, something is going on between you and Leila."
Wynter smiled. "Yeah I think that about sums it up." His ears turned red. Just thinking about her made his heart soar. He didn't wish to elaborate on what had transpired, and he wasn't even sure what it meant.
"You think?" Jasper laughed. "You two haven't talked about it?"
Wynter rolled his eyes. "It's been complicated, with me becoming a dark angel. I guess it hasn't come up." A part of him was nervous to bring it up to Leila. She'd been through a lot. The last thing he wanted was to push her away. What they had was working for them.
"You're going to have to talk eventually, about where your relationship is heading," Jasper said. "You are her professor. If the royal council finds out—"
"They won't, Jasper. Relax." Wynter rolled his eyes. "Besides, you know so much about relationships. When was the last time you took Violetta out?"
Jasper grimaced. "That isn't the point. I don't want to see you getting hurt. You're a dark angel. She's a grim reaper. It seems like a disaster waiting to happen on top of the fact you're her teacher!"
"I know. We're both adults, Jasper. Mind your own business, okay? Leila and I are happy together." That was all that mattered to Wynter. They'd figure out the rest as it was thrown at them. It was how they'd handled things so far, just fine.
Jasper glanced over his shoulder before digging into his jacket pocket. "I wanted to give you this." He handed Wynter a folded piece of parchment.
Wynter struggled to read it in the dark. "I'll look at it when we get back to the house." At least under candlelight, he could see.
Ten minutes later, they walked into the cottage, and Jasper shut the door behind them. Wynter felt around in the darkness, retrieving a lantern. He placed it on the kitchen table and lit it. Sitting down, Wynter removed the paper, unfolding it under light.
"Where did you get this?" Wynter glanced at Jasper.
"Princess Mara posted it to a tree, just outside the market. She's looking for Leila."
Wynter felt his stomach somersault, and his wings expanded, causing him to grimace. "Why?" What could Mara want with Leila? Had she remembered what happened that night at the Winter Solstice Ball? Certainly, she would have questions about her maid Sophia's death, but why call upon Leila for questioning? Maybe Wynter was looking at it all wrong. Perhaps Mara wanted to befriend Leila. He snorted under his breath. It was doubtful.
Jasper cleared his throat and glanced over Wynter's shoulder. "No idea. Do you think she remembers Juliana?" If Mara so much as dreamt about the dark angel, eventually, the memories would resurface. "What do you think we should do?"
"We can't tell Leila." Wynter knew that Leila missed her sister. He could see it in her eyes and faraway glances in the direction of Casmerelda. She'd promised not to return, but for how long? Grim reapers didn't age. Would she wait twenty years and then seek out her sister, Princess Mara? It would be too dangerous for Leila. The last thing he wanted was to lose her. "She can't know, Jasper. You have to promise not to tell Violetta, either. We can't let Leila go anywhere near the kingdom."
Jasper nodded. "I swear, I won't tell a soul, living or undead."
Chapter 31
"How'd the reap go?" She remembered Violetta being in a rush to leave for an assignment, but she hadn't been given the details.
Violetta grinned, picking at her fingernails as she stared down at her newly manicured hands.
Her friend looked far too happy about taking a soul. Why was she acting quite so strangely?
"You mean the reap of Warner de Clare? You can rest assured that the vile man can't give any more orders or take it upon himself to hurt you or your family."
"He's dead?" Leila's voice scratched as she spoke, sounding rather unsure of herself. Why had she not been told sooner of his death? Perhaps it should not have been any great surprise, considering he had been caught in the royal palace.