“We better take him to Julius.”
“Hell no,” Cal snarled, fright stiffening his backbone. “You’re not taking me anywhere.”
Four pairs of eyes narrowed in amusement and Cal felt like a piece of carrion in a sea of vultures.
“No?” asked one with piercing blue eyes and shoulder-length blond hair. “I think these will help me take you wherever I wish.”
A loud retort echoed in the twilight as a pair of enormous, snow-white wings snapped open behind the man in a bright halo.
Cal cowered back in terror. “What the—”
“Look out!”
A sudden whoosh sounded above Cal and he ducked along with the others.
“It’s Stassi!”
A female with wings appeared out of nowhere and swooped in close. Cal tried to move out of her way, but she dug sharp claws into his coat at the shoulders. “He is mine!” she hissed.
Cal’s stomach lurched as she swung him up into the air. He yelped in fright but dared not struggle. Her wings, much smaller and darker than the men, seemed entirely too fragile for the task of carrying him.
“You’ve finally found a mate, have you, Stassi?” one of the men shouted up at her. “Be gentle with him!”
The bird woman glanced back uneasily when the blond man howled in fury, but she didn’t stop. She dragged him through the sky with uneven, jerky movements, struggling with his weight. At least thirty feet in the air now, Cal held his breath, not wanting to do anything that might cause her to drop him.
Instead, he closed his eyes and tried not to think about the fact that he was in the clutches of a being that had no business existing in this world. Where was she taking him? What would she do to him once she got him there? He hoped to God she didn’t think of him as her next meal.
When his feet brushed the top of the trees in the forest, he opened his eyes — just as she let go.
He screamed, flailing his arms and legs, but the drop was short and he plopped into a massive nest, the sides of which were at least seven feet high. He scrambled back against the wall and glanced around warily at the crude space. Wooden shelves had been built into one side of the nest and held a variety of bowls, cups and eating utensils. A bow and a quiver of arrows hung from a makeshift hook. Several wicker baskets on the floor bulged with fur and leather clothing.
The bird woman settled down next to him and he noticed two things right away. First, she had the most beautiful face he had ever seen. Second, like the men, she wore no shirt.
A red hot flush stung his ears at sight of her bare chest.
She held her hands out toward him. “Do not be afraid. I am not going to hurt you.”
He twisted his lips in a show of bravado as he stood. “I… I’m not afraid. Much.”
“You are shaking like a frightened rabbit. Why are you looking at me like that?”
He swallowed and his eyes flicked downward.
She looked down at her breasts. “These?”
He nodded.
“What? They are just appendages.”
“No, they’re… boobs.”
“Boobs.” She played the word around her tongue, repeating it several times. “What is wrong with boobs?”
“Er… nothing.”
“Do you like boobs?”
“Yeah, a lot. That’s why you need to put them away.”
“Put them away? How ridiculous, Rupa! Only joined females cover their appen…boobs. How else am I to attract a mate if I cover myself?”
He just shook his head, unsure how to respond.
After a lengthy stare, she exhaled noisily and turned to rummage through one of the baskets. When she spun back around with her hands on her hips, an animal skin had been tied in place over her small breasts. “Satisfied?”
Yeah, probably not my smartest move.
He nodded, his mind whirling as he tried to think of a way to distract her so he could escape somehow. He wondered how high they were at the moment and whether there was a chance of his getting down without any broken bones.
“What is your name?” she asked him.
“Cal.”
“Cal?” She said his name with a hint of accent, making the simple pronunciation sound exotic.
“Yes.”
“My name is Perstassia, but mostly I am called Stassi.”
Cal studied the lovely creature in front of him. She was petite and thin with long, silver hair that hung straight down her back. Iridescent amber eyes marked her as something foreign yet intriguing. She wore a loin cloth around her waist and fur-lined boots. Her wings were dark and sinewy, not at all like the white feathers of the men.
This can’t be happening. She can’t be real.
He asked the burning question on his mind. “What… what are you, Stassi?”
“The only thing keeping you humans alive.”
I’m in the hands of a mad woman. Just keep her calm and talking.
He bowed his head. “Well, thank you for that. We do want to stay alive. Tell me, Stassi. Do other people know of your existence?”
“Do you mean the sons and daughters of Adam?” At his look of confusion, she asked, “Humans?”
Broken bones, here I come.
“Yes, humans.”
“No, you are the first son of Adam that I have seen up close.” She reached out to run her hands over his face and he flinched. “You have seen battle.”
His face reddened under her touch and he pulled away. “It’s nothing.”
“Battle excites me, Rupa.” She turned and rubbed her backside against him. “I choose you. I wish to mate with you now.”
He pitched backwards into the wall of the nest. “Whoa, what a minute. Mate?”
“Yes, mate,” she purred, backing into him once again.
He gripped her swirling hips to keep them in place. “Wait! I… I don’t even know who you are.” Hell, he didn’t know what she was.
She stopped abruptly and turned, a question on her face. “Tell me, Rupa. Have you mated before?”
“What? Yes. Of course,” he scoffed. Twice. Under the school bleachers. With a girl two years older who already had a kid at home. Best six minutes of his life.
Her eyes blazed with heat. “Good.”
“Why?”
“Unless I can convince my people that you are to be my mate, they will kill you.”
CHAPTER 3
The Faedin
For the first time, Cal noticed that Stassi’s two canine teeth extended downward into sharp fangs. It did nothing to distract from her beauty, yet he couldn’t mate with anyone on demand. Particularly a girl that claimed she wasn’t even human. Cal had his doubts. The costume was elaborate, he would give her that. And the flying thing was probably just a well-hidden pulley system that lifted her into the air. It had to be something explicable, right? Otherwise he would be forced to acknowledge that the strange girl in front of him was real.
“Your people?”
“The Faedin.”
“So, let me get this straight,” he said. “Unless I mate with you, your people, the Faedin, will kill me?”
“They will not wish to harm you, but will have no other choice.”
“Why?”
“Gai’tan covets you.”
“Gai’tan?”
“The serpent. He has searched for a human since the dawn of time. It is the only way he can escape.”
“A serpent is after me?”
She sighed heavily as though he were a dimwit. “Yes, and now that you are here within our realm, he will stop at nothing to get to you. In order to prevent that from happening, you will be sacrificed to protect all others.”
“Unless…?”
“You mate with me. Is that really so objectionable to you?”
Cal speared a hand through his hair. “It’s not that simple.”
In a blur of movement, Stassi leapt at him and took him to the ground with a spine-tingling growl. “Are you rejecting me, son of Adam?”
“No!” he bellow
ed into the snarling face hovering inches from his. “I… I don’t even know you.”
“I do not understand,” she said, digging her talons into his chest. “Any Faedin male would gladly give up their nest for mine.”
“Of course they would,” he assured her through a hiss of pain. “You’re very beautiful.”
“But?”
“But I’m not Faedin and I have to get to know someone first.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s a human thing.”
She let go of him and stood. “If you want to live, we must.”
“Can’t you just tell your people that we… er… did it so they won’t kill me?” he suggested hopefully.
“They will know.”
“How?”
“I will get my white wings after it happens,” she told him, her expression turning wistful. “It is all I ever wanted. To get my wings and become one of the warriors.”
A sudden desire to give her what she wanted flooded through his body. He sat up with a sad smile. “I do want to help you. Really, I do.”
“Now?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“What will change your mind?”
After a long thoughtful moment, he said, “Tell me more about the Faedin, Stassi. Show me your world.”
A feral grin lit up her face and she snapped out her wings. A forceful leap took them both up and out of the nest and into the blue sky above the treetops.
Cal winced in terror as Stassi’s erratic movements almost emptied the contents of his stomach. Taking several calming breaths, he turned his attention to the space around Stassi, searching for wires or a cable, but found no evidence of anything keeping them in the air except her wings.
“Cal, look!” Stassi exclaimed, pointing.
Down below, the forest opened up to a village full of people going about their day. Men, women and children. All winged. Most with white feathers that lay furled along their backs, but the younger Faedin had the smaller bat wings like Stassi.
My God, they are real. This is no hoax.
Many of the villagers looked up at them with open curiosity. One — the blond man from earlier — with open hostility. Several of the children squealed in delight, running along beneath them to give chase, but they soon gave up when Stassi continued out of range. She seemed intent on taking him as far from the village as possible.
Just when the flight started to smooth out, Stassi fell into a steep descent, and he groaned as his stomach heaved once again. At about ten feet from the ground, she let go of his coat and he crashed down into the dirt.
“A little closer would be appreciated next time,” he grunted as he stood.
Stassi’s wings fluttered with a soft humming sound as she landed — quite gently, he noted — next to him.
“Forgive me, Cal, I forgot how frail you are.”
“Be careful there. I am a man, you know.”
A perfectly arched eyebrow rose above her eye as she ran her gaze over his body. “Barely.”
He fought an urge to check to see if all of his parts were still in place. “Gee, thanks.”
“Come on. Let me show you my world.”
Cal picked up his trampled pride, dusted it off and reluctantly followed.
Stassi moved quickly, her wings giving her speed even on the ground, making it look as though she was floating. She led them onto a darkened path that cut through a grove of gigantic trees of a species Cal had never seen before. He looked up in awe at rows and rows of bark and limbs that seemed to have no ending. It made him feel very small. Like he had suddenly stepped into the pages of a giant’s fairytale.
“Hurry, Cal!”
He glanced ahead just in time to see Stassi disappear into a thicker part of the woods. He ran to catch up and watched her dart inside the opening of a large cave.
“Hold up!” he shouted and went in after her.
Humid air drifted pleasant pinpricks of mist over his face, and he could hear the trickling of water echoing hollowly throughout the cavern. He followed the only source of light up ahead and came out of the tunnel into an open chamber that held a pool of water that, like the lake, glowed a luminescent green. Soft tendrils of vapor floated lazily over the surface, almost hiding the stone steps that led down into its depths.
Stassi sat regally on the shale rock at the edge and dragged her hand through the still water, causing it to ripple out.
“It’s beautiful,” he breathed.
“Yes. It is but one of many of our hidden grottos.”
Cal shed his winter coat and sat next to her. “How long have the Faedin been here?”
“According to our lore, we were sent here by the Maker after the great flood to guard the Tree That Will Not Die.”
“The Tree That Will Not Die?”
She nodded. “The serpent is trapped beneath that tree.”
Cal shook his head as every answer only created more questions. “And you said this serpent covets me?”
“Not you specifically. Any human.”
“Why?”
“A human sacrifice would allow him to break his bonds and be reborn into man’s image.”
“And if this serpent is reborn? What will he do?”
“He will destroy the world.”
The look on Cal’s face told Stassi just how difficult it was for him to believe her story. Yet she would do whatever it took to keep this green-eyed human for her own. Somehow, she had to find a way to convince him to commit himself to her.
“No offense, but do you know how crazy this all sounds?” he asked and ran a hand back through his dark hair, something he did frequently when frustrated.
She shrugged. “It is the truth.”
He blew out a long breath. “It’s hard for me to believe that all of this — the Faedin — have been here all along and no one knows.”
“From what we understand, a veil separates our worlds and humans cannot find us.”
“I found you.”
“Yes, but I do not know how. It has never happened before. Maybe our leader, Julius, will have the answer.”
“So if the serpent is trapped, why do you need to guard him?”
“He is very sly, Cal. He has created an army to help him.”
“An army?”
“We call them the Fallen. They were once Faedin warriors but are now cursed into doing the serpent’s bidding.” She shuddered and wrapped her arms across her chest. “It is a fate worse than death.”
“His bidding? What do they do?”
“They endlessly search the boundaries of the veil, searching for a way out. Searching for a human.”
This time Cal shivered, most likely from wondering just how much danger he really was in.
“What do you do with these Fallen?” he asked.
“The warriors hunt and kill them.”
“They can’t be saved?”
“No.” Stassi turned toward him and took his hands in hers. “I must know. Will you join us, Cal? Will you be my mate and become a Faedin warrior?”
He licked his lips nervously. “Yes. Of course I will.”
The lie fell easily off his tongue, but she recognized it for what it was and accepted it. After the Shahda, it would no longer matter. She stood. “Let us go talk to Julius.”
“Whoa!” he said, scrambling to his feet. “Who is Julius?”
“The chieftain of the Faedin people.”
“Are you sure he’s not going to kill me? I mean, after what you just told me, a human can’t be a welcome sight around here.”
“I will protect you.”
His face fell, as it had earlier, and it pleased her that he felt pride. He would make a good warrior.
“Wait!” he said, grabbing her arm. “About this whole mating thing…”
“Yes?”
“I can’t do it yet.”
His declaration hurt her. Was she not to his liking? Did he not find her a worthy mate? “To make a good warrior, I need my wings, Cal. You must give them to me.”
“But I have another family, Stassi. I can’t just leave them without saying goodbye.”
“You may return to them after the ceremony.”
His face lightened. “I just need a little time.”
She leaned in close. “Very well, son of Adam, but do not make me wait long.”
CHAPTER 4
Ancient Ways
To Cal’s relief, Stassi set him down gently this time in the middle of the torch-lit Faedin village. Excited murmurs grew as the bird people gathered, appearing out of the forest at a run or flying down from their nests. Their curious silence gave Cal a few moments to study his surroundings.
The men were all dressed the same — shirtless and barefooted. Most of the women wore exotic sheer garments draped and gathered together at one shoulder. The younger females wore animal-skin wraps around their hips and little else. Cal tried his best not to stare, but his eighteen-year-old eyes seemed to have developed a will of their own.
Several small buildings edged the perimeter of the village, each with its own purpose. The largest was a store of some sort with a variety of fruits and vegetables displayed out in front in wooden carts. A clothes maker next door worked an old-fashioned loom with racks of clothes behind him. Further down, a woodworker sat on a stool with large piles of shavings at his feet. Another building looked to be an infirmary if the Faedin being escorted out with a blood-stained bandage across his temples was any indication.
In the middle of it all stood a domed pavilion with white pillars and wide steps. At the top of the stairs stood a tall man and a woman, both with long gray hair and white wings fully extended.
It was toward this couple that Stassi stalked.
“Perstassia, what is the meaning of this?” the man asked, his deep voice silencing the anxious whispers of the villagers and sending Stassi bowing low to the ground.
“A son of Adam has found us, Julius.”
A snarl erupted from Julius’s throat and he flew down the steps. The mumblings in the crowd grew more ominous as Julius bent into an aggressive crouch before Cal.
“He brings danger!” someone yelled out.
“Kill him!” another suggested.
Cal yelped as a Faedin poked him in the ribs with a long and very sharp spear.
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