Page 110 of Forging Darkness

“Are you okay?” I rub my hands up and down her biceps, heating the skin with the friction. “You’re freezing.”

“I’m okay, just really sore.”

I press my lips together, stopping myself from arguing with her. She’s not okay, but there’s nothing either of us can do about it at the moment. My first priority is to get her to safety. Then she’ll be able to rest and recuperate. With the amount of power she expelled today, it’s a wonder she’s even functioning at all.

I force my hands from her arms, worried that if I keep touching her I won’t be able to stop.

Emberly rolls her shoulders and winces. She’s quiet for a moment, introspective, before frustration tightens her eyes. Blowing out a breath, she swats at a few strands of red-blonde hair that lie over her forehead before asking, “Why are we here?”

Right.

“We have to phase back to the mortal world to call for help. That’s not going to happen carrying that orb.” I tip my chin toward where the glowing orb is cushioned on the snow a few feet from us. “It’s got to be stashed for safekeeping. A team from the academy can retrieve it later.”

Truth was, I couldn’t be more glad to ditch the thing. These orbs have only ever brought trouble down on our heads. The implications of its discovery and the stones Emberly refers to as “spirit gems” are going to be far-reaching for the angel-born, but that’s the Council’s problem, not mine.

“I spotted a cave. Give me a minute. I’ll go hide it.”

“Where’s the cave? I’ll go with you.” Emberly moves toward the orb, her hands already reaching for it, but I slide in front of her, blocking her way. I’m not about to let her touch it.

“I got it.” When she plants her hands on her hips I add, “we don’t know if it’s going to react to you in an unusual way like the last one.”

Her hands drop to her sides. “Fair point.”

For once she doesn’t fight me.

I can’t help giving her another once-over before grabbing the orb and jogging to the cave. I hurry to stash it, not completely convinced she won’t keel over while I’m gone. After finding a hidden alcove, I dig a shallow hole in the hard ground and cover the round object, hiding its glow. When I rejoin Emberly only minutes later, her teeth are visibly chattering and her eyes have glazed over.

I release a curse under my breath. “Your lips are turning blue.”

She slowly blinks, her gaze making contact with mine. “I’m pretty tired.”

“No sleeping in the snow for you.” I’m not going through that again. My heart almost gave out on me the time I found her sleeping half-frozen in the snow. She’ll never know how traumatic that experience was for me.

“Funny.” A shiver punctuates the word.

Moving forward, I lift my hand, taken over by the urge to brush my fingers over her full lips. I gain control of myself before I make contact, squeezing my hand into a fist and forcing it to drop to my side. “Can you make it a few more miles? We can fly most of the way.”

She nods, but it’s not convincing.

“I can fly us both.”

“No, really. It’s okay. It’s just a little farther.”

I transform back into an eagle, and we glide toward the town we spotted. Two mountain peaks stand between us and the means to contact the angel-born. Two peaks, and then I can take a full breath.

We’re over the first summit when Emberly starts to wobble in the air. I fly closer, spotting the ground for a place to land. She’s not going to make it. But I can’t find a patch of flat surface. Everything up here is steep angles. If she can just hold it together a little longer . . .

We’ve just crested the last peak—snow covered gables are visible in the valley below—when she starts to go down. Panic seizes my muscles. I’ve pushed her too far.

“Steel,” she shouts.

I let out a high-pitched caw. There’s a patch of flat snow to the left, but she’s not paying attention.

Thin evergreens have sprouted up from the white ground below. Her feet slap against the pine needles, and after a moment so do her arms. I make a grab for her with my talons, but once her wings clip the treetops, she starts to spin, and wraps her wings around her body.

She’s bounced back and forth like a pinball from one spiny tree trunk to another within the shell of her wings.

She slams into the snow covered ground in an explosion of white powder.

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