Page 4 of Crown of Wings and Whispers

"Shouldn't you be watching the road or something?"

He laughed and beat his wings a few times before gliding again.

I turned my head and saw a long dark stretch of cliffs in the distance, closing fast. The morning sun was up, the sky clear. I had to ask, "Won't someone see us?"

"Mortals? Not unless I want them to. The Fae and the Uncast are a different story. Perhaps witches." He winked at me, then thankfully turned his attention to where we were headed.

The black cliffs grew tall and menacing and I assumed our destination was yet another hideaway that would be impossible to escape, like the one in the mountains had been. But I couldn't complain. This time, I'd come to him, invited him to take me away from my friends and kill me. And now that the shock of the morning was wearing off, my instinct to survive was returning, and I was grateful I was still breathing.

Griffon’s grip on me tightened just before he dove closer to the water. Though he hadn’t moved much, it increased our speed and the wet spray of the ocean dampened my skin as we flashed past hundreds of waves. The cliffs rushed toward us too, growing suddenly, like some grizzly bear jumping to his feet to loom over us. It was then I realized my winged escort was stoking the drama for my benefit. He was trying to impress me.

We shot up the face of the dark rocks to find civilization once again. To the right, the ruins of a castle stood on a small island in the bay. And before us lay lines of buildings compressed together, each of which was painted a different shade of pastel.

The cliffs, the speed, the drama all ended with a shock of playful color. Like a platter of dark chocolate brownies topped with sherbet ice creams of pink, orange, blue, lavender, and yellow. At the heart of the bay, it looked like the medieval castle was trying to rise from the dead and gobble up a more modern building painted a pale misty green.

And then it was all behind us.

The ocean fell away, along with the stretches of cheerful paint, replaced by squares of farmland quilted together in various shades of greens and tans, separated by tufts of treetops. The days of harvest were gone, but it would probably take a hard frost to kill off all that healthy foliage.

I made a mental note to tell Griffon that if he ever took me in the air again, I would prefer sleeping through the landing. Watching the ground rise up to meet us, I was certain this was what skydivers felt like the first time they plunged back to earth.

Maybe Griffon sensed my terror because he slowed down drastically, his wings beating back the air until we all but hovered over a small dirt road with a vibrant green stripe of growth between the tire tracks. Instead of putting me on my feet immediately, he just started walking, carrying my heavy body like I weighed no more than a pillow.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“You can put me down now.”

He stopped short. “Oh. Forgive me. I’ve just grown used to…”

“Hauling me around?”

He set my feet on the ground but kept hold of my shoulders while I steadied myself. “Holding you in my arms,” he said quietly.

I looked up into his eyes. They were so close. His lips within reach, waiting, but coming no nearer. I had a ridiculous desire for him to pick me up again, so we had no choice but to stay that close.

That’s what he’d been trying to say.

I laughed lightly. “I was getting used to it too.”

“No more of that for a while, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve passed the equinox, which means it will be far too cold to fly with mortals.”

“Mortals? What about DeNoys?”

His smile fell away and he glanced from side to side as if fearing we might be overheard. “Whilst we are here, we mustn’t speak of it, even if you believe we are alone. Can you do that?”

I nodded. “But you are going to explain it all to me…first chance we get?”

“First chance we get.” He leaned quickly, gave me a peck on the lips as if he couldn’t help himself any longer, then started down the road.

A permanent grin grabbed my face and I wondered if I would ever get it off again. Since he marched ahead of me, dragging me along, I didn’t bother hiding it. Ahead, the corner of a roof peeped out from a brief gap in a mass of tall trees. Otherwise, I saw no other structures, no barns, no farmer’s fields.

“Where are we?”

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