Page 56 of To Tame An Angel

He was mine.

No other one could have him. After I slathered the healing ointment, I cuddled myself into his arms and he buried his face in my hair.

It was only then that fear coiled itself into my belly.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

TANNOR

The dreamless sleep and peaceful feeling overwhelmed me as Nalla curled herself into my side. In my dreams, I felt my giant wings cover us, protecting her from whatever maladies lay outside the door. I tightened my wings like a shield, ironing them and creating a sort of fort.

She whispered my name, her breath a shadow against my chest. The feeling of safety and belonging was so overwhelming that I found myself completely happy for the first time in my life.

Truly, truly, happy.

A sigh left my mouth as a held her closer.

Then pain.

Pain like nothing I could compare rippled through my back. It jolted me awake, and I scrambled from the bed, collapsing on the ground. Nalla’s hands were there. She called my name; she begged me to tell her what was wrong. But I couldn’t speak. The pain split me in half, and I heard myself yelling as I felt bones breaking between my shoulder blades.

I arched, desperate for it to end, desperate for a respite as the agony climbed to new heights. Until all was darkness and I blinked, fearing I had gone blind. But I hadn’t. I was on the floor and the only sound I could discern was frantic breathing and a soft rustling of something soft. I pushed myself off the ground and found Nalla hiding in a corner. Her eyes were wide, panic on her face as she stared at me.

Had I harmed her?

For a moment, an apology nearly fumbled from my mouth, but the shadow of something moving in my spine startled me. I tumbled back, but instead of the ground holding me steady, my feet lifted from the ground.

Nalla gasped, staring at me with horror.

From the corner of my eye, I saw them.

My wings.

I felt them, for they were in me. They were me. They were part of my body’s composition. I felt them turn—no.

I turned them.

At least my mind did. The pure white feathers greeted me. The tips were reticular freckled specks of gold.

Words didn’t come to me. I hadn’t seen them in over twenty years, but here they were, outside of my body, no longer dormant, no longer hidden and pushed into my anatomy.

I curled one to me and felt the feather, so soft and light but strong like an oak. I was… I was free. I looked at Nalla, at the horror she displayed, at how I frightened her.

“Nalla -”

She cried, pressing herself against the wall.

“Nalla, it’s me,” I swallowed. “You did this. You made this.”

I needed to hold her, to keep her safe within my wings and not allow them to touch her. But she shook her head, horrified, and I felt myself shrink, as if I could hide the wings, hide what I was.

Couldn’t she see that without her and her love and care, this wouldn’t have happened? That my gratitude was as high as the mountains?

“Oh gods, Tannor.” Nalla held her hand over her mouth and sobbed.

“Don’t cry,” I pleaded and took three steps towards her, needing to feel her, wishing her hands on my wings.

But she cried louder. “They’ll kill you!”

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