Page 169 of Scars Like Wings

“We fought our way downstairs. I finally was able to knock her out and subdue her. Even if she wakes up, she won’t be able to move. Are you with your friends right now?”

“Yeah, Maisie and Simone are in front of me.” Both of them perk up when they hear their names, looking over at me.

“Put me on speaker please,” Quinn requested, and I listened. Simone and Maisie approached and crouched in front of me to hear better. I let Quinn know that she was on speaker and good to continue.

“Maisie? Zaria mentioned that the house had been magicked. What do you know about that?”

“I have no idea how, but she casted a slumber spell. To cast it on only those blood-related to you requires some dark fucking magic. It’s heavy shit. Most practitioners of magic—fae, witch, or both—don’t go near that kind of sorcery because it’s too dangerous. No good comes from it.”

Simone furrowed her eyebrows. “Wait, was Zaria a witch?”

“No, she isn’t,” Quinn answered shortly.

Maisie expanded. “Blood magic is one of the few kinds of magic that you don’t have to be a magical being to practice. If you are a witch or someone with magical ancestry, though, it intensifies it, making it way more potent. The good news is that this is just a slumber spell. It should wear off in another hour.Two, at the most. When everyone wakes up, they are going to have one hell of a headache.”

“Is that enough time for you three to get off the island?” Quinn asked, her voice leveled and sure.

“I’m so sorry, what?” I asked. Simone and Maisie were just as confused as I was by their matching furrowed brows. “Why do we need to get off the island?”

“Byrd, Zaria is after you and she wants to kill you. It isn’t safe for you here.”

“Yeah, but you said that you had subdued her. Are the police on their way to pick her up? I don’t understand why the bitch can’t just be thrown in jail and we continue with our trip.”

“A jail can’t hold her. Hell, it took everything I had to take her down. You need a whole army to contain her enormous ass, honestly. But if she’s here after you, there’s bound to be more connected to her that are after you as well. Besides, that isn’t how my family does things. We have rules that we have to follow.” Quinn sighed. I knew she was ruffling her curls right now from her nerves. “The safest thing is for you to go home, where you are protected and safe. Your uncle is a griffin-shifter, right? And your condo is guarded by gargoyle-shifters twenty-four-seven?”

“Yes, and yes.” Tears pricked at my eyes, threatening to spill over. This reminded me too much of the day I lost my mom and Pops. People wanting to keep me safe from some Big Bad, but then never coming back or coming back hurt. I didn’t know if this situation was anything like that, but I could only assume it was.

I had lost so many already. I don’t know how much more I could give and have taken from me. I was scared. I didn’t want to lose Quinn. I didn’t know how she would react to me in this current state, either. She had said that she would love me in all forms, but that was when I could only grow fangs and claws.Now, I had fucking wings and a tail and could turn into a whole ass dragon. Would she still love me? I was afraid of the chance that the answer wasn’t in my favor. “Quinn, I love you. I can’t lose you.”

“I love you, too, Byrd. I wish I could explain all of this to you. I want to tell you everything so bad. You deserve to know, and it isn’t fair that I have to keep you in the dark like this. But I meant every word of what I said today. I’m all in on this. I love you more than life itself. That’s why I call youmi vida. You are my everything. I want to be with you always. Through the good and the bad. You aren’t losing me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Aw! That is so sweet!” Simone declared before covering her mouth. “Oops, so sorry! That was supposed to be an inside thought.”

“Honestly, thank the gods. The sappiness was making me want to vomit.” Maisie faked a gag.

I rolled my eyes while Quinn laughed on the other line. “Get out of here, you three. Text me when you get home, okay? I will give the boys and Stass a rundown, too.”

“I wish I could kiss you before I left.”

“I know,mi tesoro. Once this is over, I plan on kissing you until you can only think of me. And I don’t care if your friends heard that.”

My face grew hot at her words while Simone and Maisie groaned. “We definitely did!”

After I finished laughing, I said, “In all seriousness, promise me you will come back to me?”

“I promise, baby girl.”

“I love you too much.”

“And I love you back.” The call ended, but the gnawing within me was just getting started.

Tree Rings

Simone, Maisie, and I hurriedly packed our bags, and Maisie teleported us home to Blackbell. As soon as we were in the condo, it was like the encounter with the energy vampire all over again. I felt so exhausted, a level of tired I had never felt before. I could barely stand. My eyes fluttered, and I could feel myself falling back with Simone and Maisie calling for me. Something caught me just before I hit the ground, though.

“I got you, kiddo,” Uncle Everett reassured as he picked me up in his arms. He cradled me like I was a kid again who had just scraped her knee or broken a bone. I settled into the comfort and familiarity of it, letting my eyes close for the briefest moment to enjoy it.

“Byrdie, are you all right?” Simone asked.

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