Wings of Darkness: Book 1 of The Immortal Sorrows Series

by Sherri A. Wingler

  “Some of these trees kind of look like they’re human shaped.” I pointed just off the path at a large, curvy tree with a remarkably feminine silhouette. Curves ran in all the right places where hips and breasts would be on a woman. Branches stretched towards the sky, like slender arms, and the thing swayed slowly in the breeze. Once I started looking closer, I realized that there were dozens of trees like that. And they whispered his name.

  “That is nothing to worry about. These trees are the homes of dryads, tree spirits.”

  “Seriously?” I’d read about dryads during some of my lighter reading in junior high. I wasn’t about to tell Asher that, though. Gwen had accused me of being a pretentious little shit for reading Greek mythology in my downtime, but who was laughing now? Ah, who was I kidding? Gwen was right; I was a pretentious little shit.

  Asher nodded toward the tree. “The ancient Greeks told stories of them; women who resided in the forest. Their spirits make their homes in trees. Like most supernatural creatures, they kept to themselves until they became only myth to the humans around them. Better to be ignored than hunted, do you not agree?”

  A tree slowly bent towards us, almost in acknowledgement. One long, gnarly branch twisted to brush through Asher’s hair in a delicate caress. I nearly had a heart attack. I really tried to act natural, but then that same branch flew back and smacked me upside my head. Ouch! That freaking hurt. And to add insult to my injury, the wind picked up, shaking the leaves on the trees, and they seemed to be laughing at me. It was obvious that here, I was prey, to everything. If I had a chainsaw, a gallon of gas, and a few matches it would be a whole different story.

  I picked up the pace, and stayed closer to him. It seemed like the only safe place to be. He didn’t seem to notice my head injury. “Um, sure, but it makes me wonder what else might be real. Vampires? Werewolves? Ghosts?” Ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties?

  “Yes, on all counts, and many other supernatural beings, too. There is always some grain of truth in all of your old stories.” Now I knew why ignorance was supposed to be bliss. Some things I really didn’t want to know. So many things could go bump in the night. Too many things.

  “Um, Asher, where are we going? I thought we were going into the castle, but this just looks like a forest, and I don’t see anyone around.” Except more dryads, of course, and they didn’t seem to like me. Asher, they liked plenty. Twigs and tender young branches seemed to constantly reach to touch his wings, or run through his hair. I even saw one swish across his butt. I made a point of snapping that one off sharply, then jumped out of the way before the next branch caught me. They could only reach so far.

  I spun completely around, but only dense forest surrounded us, as far as the eye could see. “This is so weird. A forest on top of a mountain inside of a castle; who’d have thunk it?” Certainly not I.

  “I told you, the Aerie changes according to its occupant’s needs. We happen to need privacy, just at the moment.” He looked around, and I worried he might be as lost as I felt. He pointed just up ahead of us, “Ah, here we are.” A tiny cottage had conveniently appeared out of nowhere. I blinked, hard, then rubbed at my eyes. I knew that it hadn’t been there a few moments ago.

  “Neat trick. It’s adorable; looks like something the wicked witch would live in. We won’t find the Big, Bad Wolf in there, will we?”

  “Do not be silly. He lives elsewhere.” Asher opened the door and motioned me inside.

  “Asher, did you just make a joke?”

  He winked at me, and I blushed instantly. “I will never tell.”

  I snorted. Very lady-like, I know, but I couldn’t help it. “Seriously, where are we?”

  “My home,” he said, simply. “On the rare occasions that I have time to visit.” He held the door open for me.

  I stepped inside the little cottage and stood still. It was simple, yet very beautiful. The great room’s walls were field stone. The floor, ceiling, and all of the trim were made of broad beams of blonde wood polished to a mirror surface. The curtains over the tiny windows looked to be some type of light-colored leather: good for blocking out the light and any drafts.

  There was a loft above, and I assumed, a bedroom up there somewhere. Although I couldn’t see much up above, except a railing made of twisted, flowering tree branches. It looked like the forest outside had managed to invade the cottage. I absolutely loved it.

  To the left, I spotted a tiny kitchen with brass-bottomed pots hanging from iron hooks placed over the center island, and an old-fashioned black iron stove. That there was a kitchen there, at all, surprised me. It never occurred to me that Asher might want, or need food. There were so many things that I didn’t know about him. I wondered, after today, if I’d get the chance learn.

  I startled as the door clicked shut behind me. I’d been so caught up with the charm of this little cottage that I’d forgotten about Asher. His hand pressed into my lower back, and ushered me into the great room. “Asher, this is beautiful.” Just seeing this little piece of paradise made the trip almost worth it. Too bad it would probably end badly for me.

  “We do not have much time.” His voice was tense, but he tried to hide it. He’d seemed so relaxed, earlier, but obviously something had him worried. If something had him worried, then I should probably be scared shitless.

  I turned towards him, and his wings were gone again, put away to wherever they went. Curiosity was killing me about that. “Where are your wings, Asher?”

  He colored slightly, and looked away from me. “They do not fit inside the cottage very well.”

  “Where do they go, when you don’t need them, I mean?” He turned his back to me, and looked back at me from over his shoulder. Scars ran the length of his back, slightly raised, and faded to silver, like old knife wounds.

  “They’re there, inside.”

  That seemed impossible, but I should be getting used to the impossible by now. “Does it hurt, when they come out?”

  “Not really. I think they may work similarly to a cat’s claws. They extend when needed, and store away when they are not.” That made sense, I supposed.

  My hand hovered just above the scar on his right side. “May I?” He nodded. He flinched a little when I touched his bare shoulder. The scar was hot under my exploring fingers. Asher’s whole body grew taut at my touch, and he groaned, low in his throat. I yanked my hand back as if I’d been burned. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

  “No, no it is fine. I did not realize…“ He moved quickly out of my reach, but kept his back to me. Had I hurt him? Embarrassed him? A blush burned its way up into my cheeks. I felt intensely guilty, but I wasn’t sure what I had done that was so wrong. I wrung my hands as I sat down on the leather sofa, and tried to make myself as small as possible.

  Asher went to the large trunk pushed up against the far wall, and started rummaging through it with a vengeance. He seemed determined to ignore me. He lifted out large pieces of what looked to be armor, of all things, and started silently strapping it on. A large, black and gold breastplate went on, then a back plate that fastened to the front with leather buckles. The back plate was cut so that the scars were exposed. In case he needed his wings, probably. I would have offered to help him put it all on, but I got the impression that he didn’t want me anywhere near him just then.

  There were ornamental guards that ran the length of his forearms that matched the intricate designs on the breastplate, too. His armor looked light, and probably used only for more dressy occasions, but I had no doubt that it would hold up to a battle, if it had to. He went back to the trunk and added a short sword to his hip. A pair of lethal looking daggers slid into the top of each boot. I’d thought he was getting ready for a formal meeting, but now I wasn’t so sure. He’d said the Aerie was a place of peace, and no violence was allowed, but it looked like he was prepping for war. I really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

  He made his preparations without looking at me, not even once. The tension in the room
stretched tight as piano wire. I was getting the silent treatment, apparently, but damned if I knew what I’d done to deserve it. I bit my lip, wanting to ask what I’d done wrong, but unsure if I really wanted to hear the answer. It was kind of unnerving, and more than a little aggravating. I didn’t know whether to be sorry for upsetting him, or pissed at him for his upsetting me.

  When he finished buckling on the sword, Asher stood before me armored, and still painfully silent. Black and gold gleamed in elaborate patterns. He looked deadly, and dangerous as all hell, and I suddenly wanted to kick his ass. I didn’t know what I’d done, but he had no right to look at me like that. His face had gone still and cold. He’d never looked at me like that, before. He was closed off from me, and I didn’t know if I could reach him. Throwing a huge fit probably would have been highly satisfying, but I doubted it would get me anywhere. So I’d try to be pleasant, first. Then, if that didn’t work, I’d go ahead and throw a fit. Good plan.

  “Asher, did I do something wrong? Because if I did, I really wish you’d just tell me before I have to go out there and face your friends. I’m sorry, for whatever it was.” My stupid eyes started to sting again, and I blinked quickly. It was more because I was aggravated than anything else, but I’d let him believe whatever he wanted to.

  His lips flattened into a hard line. Still, he wouldn’t look at me. Getting to my feet and going to him was almost painful. I moved stiffly, but I forced myself to walk to him. He could break me if he wanted to, and from the way he was acting, I wasn’t so sure that he didn’t want to do just that. Cautiously, I reached out and touched his hand. “Asher?”

  I expected him to push me away. I was shocked when his arm shot out and pulled me to him. His breath was hot against my ear, his voice rough. “Isabel, you should not.”

  “What? I should not, what?”

  “You should not tempt me so.” He sounded as if the admission pained him, and maybe it did. A dark thrill went through me at his words.

  “I don’t understand what I did that was so wrong.” I sounded kind of breathless. Being so close to him did bad things to my concentration.

  His laughter was dark and humorless. “Before I met you, you irritating girl, I felt nothing.” His hands were in my hair, stroking softly as he nuzzled against my neck. He scared the hell out of me. “Now, I feel.” Well, he was officially crazy as hell, but he did strange things to me with his touch. Strange, and wonderful things that curled my toes and stole my breath away. I had this weird, heavy feeling in my limbs, and I was burning up. I wanted to be closer to him, even though self-preservation should have sent me running the other way. Self-preservation is highly over rated.

  “What do you feel, Asher?” I didn’t know what had brought on such a swift change in his mood. I wasn’t even sure if I liked it, but I liked being so close to him, even if he did terrify me. His stubble grazed my jaw. I didn’t know if he planned to kiss me or kill me. I don’t think he knew, either.

  “I felt nothing, before you, and now I feel so much. I feel everything. I feel fear for you. I feel guilt. I feel too much, and I do not like it.” His words came out as a growl, and his hands were at my throat. I would have been afraid he’d strangle me, but I knew that if he wanted me dead, he had more elegant means to accomplish it. His fingers gently stroked my skin.

  This gorgeous, deadly creature suffered, and somehow it was my fault. “Asher, what can I do to help you? Tell me, please.” My hands came up to his, our fingers entwined.

  “You must live, Isabel. At all cost. You must live. Promise me. Once we leave this cabin, trust no one. Not even me. Especially not me.”

  I was so completely, and hopelessly confused. “I promise.” I think I forgot how to breathe, at that point.

  Right on cue, two hard knocks shook the door on its hinges, and made me jump. Asher pushed me away from him. Almost reluctantly, he crossed the room to open the door. Twin guards, for that’s all that they could be, stood silently waiting, on either side of the door. Asher’s eyes were stormy grey again, and dangerous looking. “You are early.” I peeked around his shoulder to get a better look at what we had to deal with.

  The smaller of the two guards was a woman, and by smaller, I mean that she was taller than Gwen. Her hair was cut shorter than Asher’s, slicked back and platinum blonde. She was blade-thin, and had the bone structure of an Austrian supermodel. She curled her lip and sneered, exposing overly sharp canines. “We thought if we asked nicely, you and your pet monkey might hurry things along.” Ok, so she was a bitch, and we wouldn’t be braiding each other’s hair or going shopping, anytime soon.

  The other guard appeared to be a mix of races. He had almond-shaped blue eyes set against dark skin. His armor looked similar to Asher’s, but there weren’t nearly as many doo-hickeys on it, and it was silver on black instead of gold. “Halo. Remember your manners.” He had that deep, rumbling voice of a radio announcer. She rolled her eyes at him, but took a step back, in spite of her obvious loathing for the human in their midst.

  Asher glared down at the woman and spoke quietly, though there was an edge to his tone that could have cut glass. “I respect your loss, Halo, but you will remember who you are speaking to.” Halo’s delicate nostrils flared and hatred flashed in her eyes, just before she dropped them. Outranked. That seemed to burn her ass.

  The other guard, made an inviting, palm up gesture. “Sir, when you are ready?” He, at least, seemed reasonable. Or at least, not rabid, like the woman appeared to be.

  Asher nodded. “Isabel, come along.” He held the door open for me. I started through it, then stopped dead in my tracks. The world had shifted, again, it seemed.

  The beautiful, enchanted forest that surrounded the little cottage was gone. The dryads were gone. Everything was missing, in fact. Just off the first step, the world around us disappeared into nothing. Fluffy white clouds surrounded us on all sides, and straight below was the drop of a lifetime. I glanced at Asher, questioningly. He stepped off into thin air, and stood still as a statue, waiting for me to follow. “It is a hallway, made of diamond, but solid as rock.” He stomped his foot for emphasis, and it made a solid, satisfying thud. “You cannot fall.” Easy for him to say; he had wings when he needed them.

  I bit my lip and wiped my suddenly sweaty palms against my jeans. “Um, what happened to the forest?” Asher’s eyes flashed a warning. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable question, but maybe he meant for me to be quiet before I got myself into more trouble. Like that was even possible. I was already in a world of trouble.

  Nothing about this situation was my idea of fun, but I realized that my fear of heights would translate to weakness in front of our guards. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of watching me cringe; especially not the woman. I took a tentative step toward him, my heart in my throat. Silently, I prayed that I wasn’t about to fall to my death, because if I did, I had one helluva long time to think about it on my way down. To my shock, the air beneath my feet was as solid as rock. My brain was just having a hard time processing it. Seeing was not believing, in this strange place.

  The diamond hallway reminded me of a large aquarium in Tennessee that my dad had taken me to when I was a little kid. The giant fish tanks were awesome, but the highlight of the whole trip had been the glass tunnel running directly below the shark tank. I remember staring in fear and awe as the giant predators swam just over our heads. Mere inches separated us, and it was the biggest thrill of my young life, up to that point. One tiny crack in the glass, and we would have been fish food.

  This hallway was like that, only the predators here were angelic in nature. I was stupid enough to look down, of course. There were birds flying far beneath us, and they looked like tiny little specks. My stomach tied in several knots and did a few slow flips. Asher had said that the Aerie’s whole purpose was to provide for the needs of its occupants. Someone obviously felt the need for fear and intimidation. Only someone without wings would fear such a drop. Unfortunately, I was the only on
e here without wings.

  My grandma used to say, “God hates a coward.” I didn’t know if that was true, or not, but she got me to do a whole lot of unpleasant things, just by saying it. That phrase kept playing, over and over in my head, as I took a deep breath and stepped out farther into the diamond walkway. It was just bearable if I forced myself not to look down. It was solid, but I knew it was all illusion. At any moment the bottom could drop out and send me for a very long tumble. The way that Asher was acting, I wasn’t entirely sure that he would even try to catch me if I fell. He ran hot and cold faster than a faucet.

  Asher wouldn’t look at me, no matter how hard I tried to catch his eye. He just stepped back so I could follow the ice queen down the hallway. That was probably just as well, because having her at my back seemed like a really bad idea. Halo seemed to have taken an instant loathing to me, and she didn’t even try to conceal it. Asher stayed close behind me, always almost close enough to touch, but not quite. He was like a silent, disapproving shadow, taking every step that I took. The other guard followed behind Asher, but at a more respectful distance. He didn’t seem to enjoy his duty in escorting us. Halo, on the other hand would have dearly loved to escort us to my execution, if the look on her face were anything to go by.

  I didn’t dare look back at the cabin, but I had the strangest feeling that it had disappeared, perhaps forever. The clear diamond walkway gave way to something far more sturdy looking, finally. Rock appeared out of nowhere and formed a real, proper sort of hallway. I sighed quietly in relief, and felt myself relax just a little. It may have been another illusion, but it was a solid illusion, and very welcome at that point.

  A large set of bronzed, intricately carved doors loomed, well above our heads. Inside, the room was cavernous, and slightly chilly. Elegant marble statues and oil paintings lined the stone walls of the great hall we found ourselves in. A few pieces of the artwork, I thought I recognized, but surely, they wouldn’t stoop to something as mundane as collecting human art?