by R. A. Boyd
Like she had any other choice. She was irritated as all get out right now. She hated throwing up. Throwing up made her throw up even more. Dark liquid mixed with everything she’d eaten over the day with Aiden was draining out of her body. The pull started in her fingertips and toes, working its way from her digits to her hand and feet, arms and legs, and all of her organs. She could feel the spell being pulled from the very fibers of her body, and all it did was fuel the dangerous plan she had for Samiyah.
As if being suddenly awakened from a deep sleep, Paige’s eyes darted around trying to take in her surroundings. Her body tingled and the crisp air expanded her lungs as she gulped in huge breaths. Every single part of her body ached. It was a good kind of pain, like that of a tight muscle being massaged and coaxed to relax. Once the vomiting stopped and the nausea cleared Paige flung her head back and screamed into the night.
The chorus of crickets chirping and night birds singing all came to a halt when the cry of freedom broke its way through Paige’s lips. She fell to her knees, heaving as her body fought to rid itself of the spell. She looked down into the swirling vomit that puddled before her. It glittered with something dark that had splotches of silver running through it.
“It’s the magic,” Willow said, answering her unasked question. She stooped down next to Paige. “I’m so sorry this was done to you. You can come out now, but leave the salt line intact. We’re going to bind it and burn it.”
Paige panted as she looked down at what had kept her pliant all these years. Struggling, she stood up and carefully stepped outside of the line. “Was it him?” she asked, looking between Willow and Zeke. If she dare lay eyes on her mate she would never have the strength to do as she’d planned. She would never leave his side if she looked into his eyes. “Did you see the video Cass sent you from my phone? Is that the angel Samiyah?” Bitterness laced through her voice and she couldn’t do anything to hold it back.
Willow nodded. “It was. Come,” she said, gently placing her hands on Paige’s temples. Willow closed her eyes. “I’m making sure the spell is really gone.”
Lie. Willow had just told a lie. Well, at least not the whole truth.
Paige hadn’t been able to sense a lie in a long time, but what reason would Willow have to lie to her?
Willow opened her eyes and looked at Paige, eyes worried as she chewed on her lower lip.
“Am I free?” Paige asked.
In some weird way, she felt free. Light. Airy. Almost herself again. But she couldn’t focus on that now. She had to keep to her plan.
“Am I free?” she yelled. God help her if Willow didn’t say she was free Paige would have a breakdown right here in the middle of the woods while the witches and her mate watched. “Willow, please?”
Willow pulled out her phone and started texting, her fingers moving faster than Paige could keep up. “Yes,” she said, tucking the phone back into her pocket. “You’re free. Please, Paige. Come inside so you can—”
She was free.
Without a second thought, Paige bunched in on herself and felt the long lost sensation of her bones breaking and reshaping, and good God it hurt so bad but she was happy to experience it again. Everything was so bright as she shifted, like the Big Bang was happening right here and now in her body.
Pain transformed into freedom as Paige ascended to the skies and made a call so loud that she hurt her own ears. The air was crisp and her site was clearer than she remembered as she soared through the night sky. It was cold up here. She loved that rush of air as it fluffed her feathers and carried her wings. The terrain beneath her was lovely. More lovely than she remembered. The trees and flowers were in bloom as Spring covered the land, and if she wasn’t careful she would fall in love with what she was seeing. Not now. She couldn’t do that now.
She let out another cry. This one wasn’t of freedom. This was one of rage. One of revenge.
Paige beat her wings against the air in a silent promise as she made her way back to Baltimore where Poppa Sam was waiting. It was after midnight. The wards on the house would be set to keep them protected, but Paige was immune to them. He’d used her blood and his when making the spell so that anyone who wasn’t them couldn’t enter.
Her flat was right above his. He’d built their home this way to give her some false sense of autonomy. Their condo sat in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and open space where no one could connect with them. With her. She could understand that now.
He gave her space but still had Paige close so that he could keep an eye on everything she did. He was close enough that she couldn’t just go into her home and grab clothes to wear. She wouldn’t make it past him if she tried. She would go to his work area and grab one of his custom-made guns that had the power of Heaven’s Flame in its bullets. She would empty the entire clip into his body. There was no other choice. He was too powerful for her to do anything else.
There was no honor in what she was about to do, but she would take that shame onto herself.
She knew his routine. Right about now, he would be drinking his favorite tea and reading some book that he’d read a hundred times before. She would need clothes first. The weather was nice and Paige knew that someone would have laundry drying outside, somewhere. He couldn’t know that she’d been flying. That she could shift. That she was free. He would never let her close enough to him if he knew.
The time for him to explain himself had gone by like the years he’d taken from her. He had to die.
And then she would go to the Rogue meeting space and tell them what he’d done to her. What he’d done to her family. They prided themselves on being true shifters. What would they say once she told them that Samiyah had been using them to get what he wanted? Had stripped her of her ability to shift to make her a puppet? Would they understand?
Many would, but Paige knew that most of them were too caught up in a mob mentality to have any other purpose than to end the Ghost shifters.
If she had to, Paige would kill them too.
That’s what she would focus on. There could be nothing else. Not right now. She would lose her nerve if she didn’t remind herself every moment of what he’d done. He’d taken the last eighteen years of her life from her. Her family.
She beat her wings faster and ignored everything but her rage. But she was too focused. By the time she heard the flapping of wings that weren’t hers, the flapping of wings of other flight shifters, it was too late.
The weight of a freight train slammed into her body, forcing her to the ground.
But Paige didn’t care. She fought the bird. This shifter could kiss every inch of her ass if they thought they would take her down. Sam had spies everywhere, and maybe he was prepared for this. Maybe he knew that she would someday find out what he’d done to her. Maybe he knew that if the spell from the necklace didn’t kill her, she would come for him. And he was ready.
Paige fought as the shifter tried to bring her down. She pecked and clawed and slashed with her nails, and just when she felt the shifter’s grip on her wing loosen another blast took her from the side.
Samiyah had been ready. He’d sent flight shifters to bring her down if she ever got her wings back again. And now that she had them and his use for her was gone, he just might kill her.
Chapter 8
Aiden looked up as his mate flew high above the pines and maple trees that surrounded the clearing. She was beautiful. Her wings were long and graceful and looked almost too big for her body. That made her even more beautiful as she maneuvered through the air. Two long feathers sat out on her tail that she used to curve her flight into lovely circles.
He was happy for her. Happy that she was able to fly again. Aiden closed his eyes and imagined being up there with her, feeling the freedom of the air as it caressed her face midflight. For just a brief moment he imagined how magnificent his wings used to be when he was an angel, and he wished he could experience this moment with her.
Even though she should be celebrating he
r freedom, something else was marring her joy. Before she took off, her words had been angry and short as she spoke to Willow. At first, he thought she was holding back tears of happiness, but maybe that wasn’t it.
“Come on, Aiden,” Willow said as she worked to bind the circle Paige had just stepped out of. “We need to go get your girl.”
Aiden quirked his lips to the side and scoffed. “No. Let her fly. This is what she’s been missing. She hasn’t shifted since he put that spell on her.”
Willow threw the last of the salt on the poison Paige had thrown up and then lit a match. “No. She’s on her way to Samiyah. She wants to kill him.”
His eyes went wide as he stared at Willow, and his heart hammered in his chest. What. The. Double. Fuck. How did he not figure that out? He should have known when Paige wouldn’t meet his gaze. He’d sensed the wrath pouring out of her like vapor.
He slapped his hands over his eyes and ran his hand down his face, bearing his teeth as he scratched the stubble on his chin. “We need to find out where he lives. She’s going to get herself killed.”
“Wait.” Willow threw the match onto the pile of salt, said a few words, and then stepped back as the circle caught fire. “I sent a text to Sara from the Gold Wing clan to stop her. Let’s just hope she got it.”
The Gold Wing Raven shifter clan. He should have thought of that. Now that they’d weeded out all of their members who were against the Ghost shifters, the Gold Wing clan were their biggest allies in town. The alpha, Dean Winston, and his wife and son would help. If they made it in time.
“Willow,” Aiden murmured. “How did you know?”
She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and started scrolling. “When I checked to make sure the spell had been completely pulled from her body it was like her emotions just… it was like a mantra playing over and over again in her mind. She wants to kill him. Now. And hopefully, put an end to the Rogue pack.”
“Go on,” Zeke said as he added more fuel to the flames. “I’ll finish binding this. Go make sure she’s safe. Audra will maim you if anything happens to Paige.”
Aiden and Cass drove in silence. She had insisted on coming with him to personally thank Sara and Neil for getting to Paige before she reached Baltimore. He’d wanted to talk to her when Sara had called to let him know that Paige was at her house, but she was cursing and screaming in the background.
She was pissed.
“She’ll be fine, Aiden.” Cass reached forward and turned up the volume on the radio. “She’s has so much anger inside and doesn’t know what to do with it. This is probably the first time she’s been allowed to properly be angry about anything in a long time. But she’ll be fine.”
He wasn’t so sure. Paige had a long road of healing to do, but she still had too much pain to work through before she would even get to that stage. Everything was still raw and fresh. Within the last forty-eight hours, her entire known life had fallen apart and there was nothing he could do to help her.
“We’ll be there for the both of you, Aiden,” Cass said, her voice easy and light as she looked out into the darkened woods.
“How do you know what I’m thinking? Stop answering questions before I get a chance to ask. You’re being weird.”
“And proud.” Her voice held an air of humor. “Weird and proud. I’m only answering questions I know I’d be asking if I were you. This is going to be a long road for her, and it’s only just beginning. But she’ll be fine.”
Taking a tired breath, he nodded and started humming along to the tune on the radio. He hated this fucking song.
That’s what he would do. He would focus on dumb shit like this stupid song to take his mind off of killing Samiyah. He wanted to make a U-turn and head to the interstate to go to where Samiyah lived. But he wasn’t a complete and total idiot. Cass would take him down before he even got a chance to try and be sneaky. Just as he turned to glance at Cass, she turned and looked at him. She smiled oddly and winked at him.
“You know what I’m thinking now?” he asked, turning onto the main road that led to the Winston’s house.
Her whiskey brown eyes lightened to the golden amber of wheat and she smiled. “I’m making a pretty good guess. Try if you want to. We’ll end up at the Winston house one way or another.” The inside of his truck darkened for a brief moment as she blinked. She shrugged and smiled. “You’ll either be unconscious in the back or driving like you are now. Take your pick, my friend.”
He shook his head and scoffed. “When did you get so badass?”
“When my instincts to keep this clan safe kicked in about two seconds after I met you all.” Cass puffed out her cheeks and blew out a hard breath. She looked like a sweet kid in moments like this. “You and Samiyah may both be fallen angels, but he has years of witchcraft on his side. I don’t want to add another kill to my list, Aiden, and I would have to gut him if he hurt you. I already want to make him suffer for what he did to Paige, but that’s her job. And yours. Ohh, Paige looks really angry.”
Aiden turned just in time to see Paige shove her finger in Neil’s face, her crown of dark coils bobbing around her head as she fussed at him. The young man held his hands up in surrender, but that didn’t stop her advance.
He pulled the truck to a stop in the driveway and thought about sitting in his seat until Paige was ready to talk to him. She was pissed off and he didn’t want any of the reaming she was giving Neil and Sara. It was a cowardly move and he knew it. There would come a time in their lives that he would be on the receiving, but not just yet.
“You did it on purpose,” she yelled. “I know you did. The only reason I haven’t punched you in your freaking throat is because I don’t like violence, but trust you me, I am going to hex you something awful when I remember how to. Jerk.” Paige stomped off and walked in a circle, mumbling to herself as her eyes flashed from white to their normal color.
Sara stepped forward from the porch and looked as prim as a newly ordained queen. Her brown hair was pulled into a tight bun and her dark eyes sparkled in the light from the porch. “I told him to do it. You’re upset right now. Willow told me what happened.”
Paige swirled around and started walking toward Sara. Aiden was out of the truck before he knew it. His mate may not like violence but the shift in the air around her wavered like a mirage as fury and anguish radiated out of her. It broke his heart to know how much pain she was in. How enraged she was. She had every right to have those emotions, but it didn’t make him feel any different.
“You have no right. And she shouldn’t have told you what happened to me.” Her words faltered. The ache in her voice echoed through as she fought to keep the tears at bay. “It’s not her story to tell. I didn’t— I don’t want everyone to know. Not here. I’m new here. I can be me. Just me.”
Aiden wrapped his arms around Paige and drew her into his protective embrace. She froze at his touch, and for a moment he thought she would push him away, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed.
She held onto him as if he were her lifeline. He accepted the lack of oxygen as he comforted her, bending his knees until they folded down to the gravel covered walkway as she sat in his lap. Sobs punched through her lips and she mumbled words he couldn’t quite make out.
To make his beast feel comforted by her closeness, Aiden put his face against her chest to breathe in her scent. She didn’t smell like herself. He pulled away and realized she was wearing someone else’s shirt and pants. She’d managed to fly right out of her clothes back near the clearing.
For the first time in so long, his beast was raging inside of him. It wanted to breathe her in, make sure she was okay. His next instinct was to drag her into the woods behind him and fuck her against a tree to fill her with his seed, marking her with his scent. His only option now was to look her over to make sure she was still in one piece.
Running his hands over her arms, torso, and then legs he said, “He would have killed you before you had a chance to do anything
.” Aiden whispered as she loosened her grip on him. “You have so much to do now. So much life to live.”
“I had a plan,” she cried. Covering her face with her hands as if she were ashamed, she rubbed her palms against her eyes so rough that Aiden wanted to make her stop. “I was going to kill him and end this for you. For us. It might have worked.”
Yeah, it could have worked but most likely it may have failed. This precious woman sitting in his lap could have ended all of this. Or, most likely, she would have gotten herself killed. Aiden didn’t want to find out. She was his to protect. And to love. And to cherish.
“Paige.” Aiden swallowed a few times to keep his voice steady. He hated to lay his feelings out in front of an audience but he knew Paige had to understand that her actions had consequences. “I know I can’t make up for all you’ve lost but I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy. Can you please let me do that?”
That’s all he wanted to do. Make her happy. The sad truth slammed into his gut and made his heart beat erratic at the thought that he may not be enough for her. She was already enough for him. She’d been worth the wait. But what if he wasn’t?
Putting her face into the bend of his neck, Paige took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around him. “Regret? Sadness? Why do you feel like that?” Her eyes shimmered in the light of the moon. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on. “Oh, Aiden. I’m so sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry about anything.”
Giving him a faint smile, she wiped her tears with the sleeve of her shirt. “I do. You feel those things because of me. Because you think you won’t be enough for me, don’t you?”
He watched her but didn’t answer. How the hell did she know?
“New sniffer,” Paige said, tapping her nose with the tip of her finger. “I can smell emotion again, remember? And yours is strong. It’s like reading a book that has a direct line to my heart.”