by Ivy Sparks
“We’re mated,” I said with an indignant lift of my chin.
Valk’s eyes widened. He knew what that meant: that Vorian could feel that I was in trouble, that he’d be able to follow the pull to find me, no matter how far away I was.
Valk glanced behind himself, then back at me. “You lie. A lowly human can’t mate with an Adonian, not even one as undesirable as him.” He chuckled, regaining his confidence. “But you did have me going there for a moment. I’ll miss toying with you, after you’re gone.”
The pain in my arm was too much. I inhaled Adonia, the winds, the freedom I finally had as my eyes fluttered closed and I allowed myself to become limp, allowed myself to let go.
But I wasn’t giving up.
I was giving all my trust to Vorian.
He would come.
And then there was a roar echoing across the lands.
Vorian
When I saw her lying limp before him, I completely let go of all control, allowing the animal inside me to take over as I swooped down, tackling Valk to the ground with a guttural roar. I felt the power consume me, the need to rip him into pieces. I growled, baring my fangs as I straddled him. My fists landed in his jaw, over and over again. My knuckles smashed into his nose with a satisfying crack.
She was my only, my love, my mate and this piece of shit took her from me. Valk laughed under me, not bothering to block my hits. I saw red and my fists came down harder. My knuckles rammed into his side, down on his abdomen. I would destroy him.
It was the soft moan near us that made me stop, and I whirled around, seeing Ellie’s green gaze on me, her eyebrows tented in pain. I quickly stood, running toward her, kneeling beside her to take her hands in mine and kiss them. “You’re alive,” I breathed.
Her hand stroked the side of my face and I leaned into her touch. “Of course I’m alive,” her voice rasped. She held her arm awkwardly, a bruise forming at the joint. I needed to get her home. I needed to get her somewhere safe.
A punch landed into the back of my skull and I fell over, my vision blurred.
“So it’s true,” I heard his voice say behind me. “Well, that’s a shame. Change of plan then.”
A scream pierced the air. I looked over just as Valk hauled Ellie up by her injured arm, his wings pumping higher into the air.
“Vorian,” Ellie cried. “Vorian!”
I launched myself into the sky, following after them as Valk soared higher. My disfigured wing burned the more I pumped, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered until I got her.
“Give up, Vorian,” Valk taunted ahead of me. “You know you’ll lose. You know you can’t keep up with that broken wing.”
I ignored the pain and surged forward, nearly grabbing him until he swooped down. He was too fast. Much too fast. There was no way I would be able to catch him unless…
Unless…
I stopped my wings, I stopped everything, and allowed myself to simply fall. I fell fast, Valk was still in control of his flight, not allowing gravity to take over. He turned around, Ellie barely hanging onto his arm.
I could catch her.
I landed on Valk, launching us into a spiral. Ellie shrieked as she was let go. I slashed at Valk’s wing, taking it and ripping it into two, throwing the other half into the distance. He fell and I barely had the time to see him land safely on a peak nearby. I surged forward, Ellie several yards away. I will catch her, I told myself. I would. I had to.
Ellie was facing me, her hands outstretched as her gaze met mine. My wings pumped faster. My muscles burned and ached, but it didn’t matter. I was nearly there. I was almost there. Our fingers were just mere centimeters away. With one final pump of my wings, I grasped her wrist and pulled her into me, my wings expanding and riding the currents.
“You’re safe,” I whispered, rubbing her back as she sobbed into my shoulder. “No one will hurt you now.”
She pulled away from my shoulder and kissed me. “I was so worried,” she said against my mouth. “I thought I would never see you again. Never…”
“Shh,” I said, kissing her. “I will always come for you. No matter what.”
Ellie put a hand to my cheek and said in a whisper, “I love you.”
My wings malfunctioned momentarily, or perhaps it was just her words that made me falter. But within seconds my wings beat stronger than ever, my heart lifting. I looked at her closely, searching her eyes to see if she meant it. Nothing could have made me feel happier than hearing those words come from her. “I love you too, Ellie,” I said against her wet cheek.
But I still had one more thing to take care of.
I circled back around, looking for Valk, finding him on a high peak with no way down, sitting with his torn wing out to the side. He looked up, quickly standing when he saw my shadow. “Get me down from here!” he had the audacity to demand.
“I don’t think so, Valk.”
“Our houses are united for life, Vorian. It would be dishonorable—”
“Such is life,” I hissed. “You attacked my mate and therefore there is nothing more I have to give to you.”
“I didn’t think it was possible!” he continued. “I… I wouldn’t have hurt her had I known. I swear!”
I flew on, ignoring his cries for help, cradling my love to my chest and knowing now it was finished. No one would hurt her ever again. I would see to that.
Epilogue
Ellie
Tonight was the night. I couldn’t fight off the nervousness overwhelming me so I decided to go with it, swiping my hands over the invisible wrinkles in my twinkling lavender gown, fidgeting with the wings now strapped onto my back for the hundredth time. I walked slowly down the steps. All eyes were on me, the mistress of the Zhora household. I wore controller gloves, which I used to trigger the wings’ power back on.
My arm still twinged in pain here and there, but the Adonian medicine pretty much healed it. The muscle was also torn and needed a bit of physical therapy, which Vorian hounded me on all the time. Sometimes he really needed to take a chill pill. However, I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed him fussing over me.
I nodded at Rachel as I passed her. She gave me the thumbs up, nodding appreciating eyes at the wings latched to me. My gaze sought out my handsome Adonian in the crowd. Tonight was a special night. A very special night.
This should work, I kept telling myself. Dravak and I tested these things at least a hundred times. I just hoped it got the response I wanted from Vorian. The procedure to get these wings was a bit controversial, and I was expecting Vorian to scold me and lecture me about safety protocols for the next month, but if all went as planned, it would be worth it.
Vorian was worth it.
It had been almost three weeks since Valk had kidnapped me, something I wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon. After that incident, I wanted to make sure I could fly, even though Vorian made it very clear no one was allowed to come near me like that ever again. I didn’t quite know what was said, but he spent a very long time with the royal family over the first week since the assault. I was sure he made some sort of deal. Adonian court procedures went over my head. Since our unprecedented mating couldn’t be denied, perhaps some exceptions had been made.
It had been two weeks since Dravak suggested I give the engineered wings a try, a week since we began testing them and the gloves that helped me to control them, then approximately two hours since we latched them onto my back for what would hopefully be the final test.
I had sent Vorian on by himself before I strapped on the wings, with a message I gave Zoe to give him. I didn’t need him seeing the surprise.
“He was not very happy,” Zoe had said after returning, smiling at me and my new wings. “I think he suspects something is going on.”
“He always suspects something,” I had replied.
Thankfully, Dravak had helped me to the royal palace, acting as my safety net. We still didn’t know if these bad boys were completely good to go, but so far the mechanical wings cou
ld flap, swoop, and hover, which I decided was good enough for me. I was able to control them with my gloves with ease.
Now at the palace, all eyes were on me, which I definitely enjoyed. I understood how Cinderella felt when she came late to the party: like a freaking queen. Maybe I should arrive late to parties more often… Although, that might eventually give Vorian and Zoe a heart attack. The Adonians were a bit overly punctual, I was beginning to realize.
I saw Vorian standing at the table, holding a glass of tal. His mouth was open, staring at me like I had just sprouted wings or something. I smirked. I did sprout wings. I marched toward him, twisting my body to make my gown swish. I was enjoying this a bit more than I should have been, but the look on his face was truly priceless.
“But I hadn’t finished those wings for you,” he said, mouth agape.
I shrugged. “I know. I finished them myself. Me and Dravak worked on them whenever you weren’t around.”
He touched the wings, gazing at the artistry. “Did you fly here?” His voice cracked and I laughed.
“Of course I did.” I felt giddy, excited for what was to come. Dravak caught my eye, his hands raised as if to clap. I nodded to him and took Vorian’s hand, pulling him to the center of the room.
“What’s going on?” Vorian looked around the room, everyone parting to give us space.
Dravak clapped his hands twice and the music played. Realization dawned on Vorian as he recognized the music from the heir apparent’s dance with his love. He looked down at me and I was beginning to feel annoyed he hadn’t taken flight yet. “Is this—?”
I took his hand and flapped my wings. He followed, which was a good sign. A worrying feeling was sinking into the pit of my stomach and for a moment I wondered if this was too soon, if he wanted to bail, but his hand was still in mine, his wings still flapping next to mine. “I wanted to dance with you,” I said.
Vorian still looked confused. He looked down at the people below us and I took his chin, pulling his gaze back to mine. “But why?”
I smiled and took his other hand, spinning him around me. His movements were clumsy, yet he followed, his gaze never leaving mine. “Because I love you, silly.” Those words had become surprisingly easy to say over the past few weeks, and I didn’t think I’d ever get bored of saying them.
Vorian pulled me close to him, his arm moving around my waist. “I love you too,” he breathed, nuzzling my nose.
I smiled and pushed away, allowing my wings to swoop me down. He followed my lead, flying down until we were flying across from each other, circling one another. I didn’t really plan this dance going into it, assuming that we would just know what to do. And, somehow, we did. My hand reached for him and he met it, pulling me close once again.
“I wanted to give you something,” he began, “but I didn’t know if you were ready.”
Vorian pushed me away and flew higher, not bothering to tell me exactly what it was he wanted to give me. I followed him, but before I could get to him, he dived. He turned around and laughed when he saw my scowl. What sort of nonsense dance was this? Of course, I was one to talk since this wasn’t even a thing on the Orion. I followed him, finally grabbing his hand before he could fly away. “What did you want to give me?” I asked. It seemed I wasn’t the only one with a surprise planned this evening…
Vorian pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear before taking my hand in his, and floating us down where we landed softly. But he continued down until he was kneeling on one knee. He took my hands and gently slipped my controller gloves off both of them, then slipped a gold band on the ring finger of my left hand. It was a simple ring. Nothing extravagant. But still, it was a ring. It reminded me of what my mother used to wear, the one my father gave her, the one she would fidget with when she didn’t think my sister or I was looking. It was perfect. Exactly what I would want. He took my ringed hand in his.
I looked around, catching Dravak’s eye. He winked at me and I scowled. I realized I wasn’t the only one who had been scheming. Vorian tugged my hand and I returned my gaze to his, my heart swelling at seeing his smile, knowing deep down that after everything we had been through, we were destined to be together. “Ellie,” Vorian began. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Would you like to spend the rest of yours with me? As husband and wife?”
I knelt down in front of him, taking his hands into mine. I knew the answer deep within. “Yes,” I breathed, and his mouth was on mine.
Cheering erupted as I was swarmed by the people who mattered most to me: Zoe, Dravak, and most importantly, Lyra. I couldn’t have asked for a better moment to share with those I’ve grown so close to.
And, finally, all was right with the world.
THE END
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