Page 36 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

Then I turned on my feet and walked away from her, hoping that I was wrong. That she wasn’t a liability, that she’d somehow manage to get to grips with her magic before actually needing it, and that I wouldn’t lose her. That was something I wouldn't be able to bear.

Chapter Seventeen

Raevyn

Casimir was an asshole. “What the fuck was all that?”

I was seething. Absolutely seething at his words. A liability? Yeah, I got that I didn’t have a strong grip over my magic, but that didn’t mean I was a fucking liability. Urgh! I wanted to rip his eyes out. Peel his skin from his bones. Strangle him with his own intestines!

Motherfucker!

“Casimir is…” Korbin paused, looking for the right word, a frown above his white eyes.

“A dick?” I supplied.

Hawk snorted. “That is definitely the word I would use.”

Korbin sighed, the sound weary. “No, haunted.”

What did that mean? Haunted? By what?

“There is more to him than meets the eye,” Rook explained. “As there is to all of us. Yes, we are the Deathwatch, but we are more than that and we each have our own burdens to bear. Casimir’s is just darker than ours and, I know it’s hard to believe, but his anger comes from a place of kindness.”

Dammit! Now I wanted to feel sorry for the guy. Empathy fucking sucked sometimes. I wanted to hate the guy, but now, all I wanted to do was hug him. But I imagined it would be like hugging a prickly cactus.

“Fine. But don’t think I’m going to roll over and let him talk to me like that again.”

Korbin smiled widely. “Wouldn’t expect you to.”

“Good,” I said with a nod. “Now then, why don’t we go and catch some ghosts?”

“They aren’t ghosts,” Korbin drawled causing the rest of us to laugh as we all headed out to gear up. I was looking forward to my first visit topside after my sacrifice, but I couldn’t help wondering how I’d feel when I’d finally got up there. Would it still feel familiar, or had I changed too much?

The wind pulled at my hair as I stood on the landing platform. I’d pulled my hair into a plait to keep it out my face, but the wind still managed to wrestle some tendrils free. I peered over the ledge.

Fuck. That’s high.

We were about to learn if I could fly. If I couldn’t, I’d just hitch a ride with someone else, but I really wanted to be able to fly. It would be pretty awesome.

“Okay,” Nox called, drawing my attention to him. “Time to see if you can manifest some wings.”

“You make it sound so easy.” I rolled my shoulders and limbered up.

“It is easy once you know how,” he said.

Casimir scoffed and started to run.

Towards the ledge.

The ledge with the ridiculously long drop. Then he jumped. Just leapt off the edge and disappeared from view.

My heart lurched in my chest, and I ran to the edge, sure I’d see him falling to his death, but as I reached the edge, he swooped upwards in a rush, forcing me backwards. Wide black leathery wings spread out across the sky as Casimir flew in front of the sun, before disappearing completely.

“Asshole!” I shouted after him. I couldn't believe he made my stomach drop. Prick!

Nox sniggered behind me but when I turned to look at him, his face was a picture of innocence.

“If you can transform, you’ll feel it like an extension of yourself,” Nox explained. “And if you don’t have the ability to create wings, then we can try something else.”

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