Page 80 of Crown of Wings and Whispers

Kivi laughed.Again! Find the next!

Don’t we need to leave a trail of breadcrumbs or something, so we can find the way back?

Do not fear, Marka. The path back will be just as clear.

Without the streaking silver light, my eyes had to adjust to the darkness again. I blinked and scanned the sky. Now that I knew what to look for, I found it quickly.

Down. Two o’clock. But down.There had to be a better way to describe--

I see it, in your mind.

Our bubble filled with her laughter yet again as she pounced through space like a puppy and plunged through the second waterdrop. When it was time to find the third, I concentrated on it and she saw it immediately. We shared a mind, a body. There was a strange exhilaration that came from the ability to move through space—a feat that should have required tons of rocket fuel.

It was all us. The power was ours. Ours alone.

I was a sixteen-year-old with a freshly minted drivers license, turned loose with a sports car in a parking lot the size of the universe. In my giddy state, I’d nearly forgotten about our destination, along with my fear of leaving Earth and my known world behind. I could see the bridges behind us as well as the bridges ahead. Kivi was right. No need for breadcrumbs.

At the end of yet another bridge, we emerged frighteningly close to a massive white moon and my heart jumped. Kivi sobered immediately.

Almost home.

She veered left and flew forward with much more care than before, heading for a blue and green planet directly ahead of us. For all I knew, we’d traveled in a circle and came out at the start. But then I noticed the handful of bright stars in the distance, and the sun at our backs that burned white.

The Pleaides. I knew it before Kivi spoke it, and my chest burned white-hot too, as if those nine sapphires had migrated from my arm to my soul.

We broke through the atmosphere of this new world with our bubble intact. The edges warmed a bit as we descended, but what was a little warmth to us?

Someone will notice this. We mustn’t stay long.

Soon, our bubble dissolved, and we were flying like we always did. Wings extended. A slight dip here and there to speed our descent. My ears gave a sharp pop, but the adjustment grew less painful each time. I saw Kivi’s intention and braced myself for a hurried landing on a stone pinnacle at the top of a mountain. The pinnacle had been carved into the shape of a dragon, itself the size of a small mountain. Kivi perched on its shoulder.

Tell me their dragons aren’t this big.

I cannot say. I have never been here.

But you knew this was home?

This is home. For all of us. A pity we cannot stay.

We can’t?Not that I wanted to. Nothing would be home for me without Griffon.

Perhaps one day. Take it in quickly. We must go.Beneath me, I felt her heart jump.We have been seen!

28

Smile, Damn Ye

Alwyn rang his little dinner bell and Persi dragged herself down the stairs. The rest of the team emerged from different corners of their small Georgian rental house and funneled into the dining room.

The Welshman and Rinky had outdone themselves. The green and red tartan tablecloth was covered with traditional Christmas dishes she would expect to see on either an American or Scottish table. Potatoes, stuffing, Brussel sprouts...

Christmas. She couldn’t get it through her head. It couldn’t be Christmas without Lennon, could it?

She and Everly, Urban, Brian and Flann settled into chairs. Kitch came in from the cold to join them. Just the sight of him made her smile and nearly banished the sullen mood that had her by the throat. Nearly.

He gave her a peck on the head and squeezed her shoulder before sitting beside her. Then he looked around the table and nodded to all the extra place settings. “Ivy and the laddies?”

“Wickham took them away last night,” she said, “so they could have a family Christmas somewhere. J.W. wanted a Christmas tree so Santa would come.”

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