Page 36 of Pieces of Halves

With a large grin that hurts my cheeks, I look at Jona. Images of flying overwhelm me as I remember the fall into the river. The wings move forward, lifting me off the ground.Frazzled by the motion, I flail my arms, and Jona chuckles, his voice soothing. Stabilizing myself, I adjust to the weight of them behind me.

“We can fly if you want.” He offers with a shrug. With the wings behind me, I feel powerful. The idea sounds wonderful. “It will be rough, but I won’t let you kill yourself.”

I laugh at his encouraging words and say, “Let’s try it.”

What is the worst that can happen?

Jona’s wings come out with ease – powerful and majestic. I watch in awe as he allows them to move back and forth, gracefully lifting him off the ground. I follow his action, and my feet float over the sand. I panic from the loss of support from under me.

“You wings sense your fear,” Jona says, hovering over me. “Control your fear. Control the wings.”

Easier said than done.

He has been nothing but patient with me, so I focus on the task at hand.

These are my wings. I control them.

The wings move, and I elevate further. My heart is hammering in my ribcage from fear, excitement, and disbelief. Jona is floating at my level, guiding me. I make the mistake of looking down. We are at least ten feet up, and everything below me goes fuzzy. Before I have a chance to recover, I am going down, my wings unresponsive. I hit the grass a few feet away from our lift-off location. Everything on my body aches, my wings including, as I peel myself off the ground.

“Ow…” I mumble, pushing up with my elbow.

“Are you okay?” Jona asks, but he does not seem to be worried about any injuries.

“I think so.” I get up, my wings following me.

“Do you want to stop?” He offers a way out, but his expression says I can do better.

He would be right. I can do better. Flying is a part of me – my power and my blood.

“No,” I state.

I will master it today, no matter the cost.

A proud smile stretches across his face, filling me with hope. My shoulders are still throbbing, but I straighten out and plant my feet firmly on the ground, determination coursing through my veins.

Fluttering my wings, I move up again. Trees blend into the mountains, and the urge to look down takes over. We are a few feet over the treetops. It takes a moment to register that, but once I do, my wings stop working and I am going down again.

Oh, dear saints. I don’t think I will survive this fall. Jona’s arms wrap around my waist, but we are already going through tree branches. The twigs scratch and scrape at my skin and wings, burning pain shooting everywhere, but there’s nothing I can do. Jona turns us midair, and with a solid thump, we hit dirt and rocks. Well, Jona does. I land on his solid chest.

“Oh, sweet Jesus. It has been a while since I fell like this,” Jona groans, releasing me from his hold.

Hissing and grunting, I roll off him, pain searing my skin.

Slowly, I sit up and, through the ache in my muscles and bones, I look behind me. My wings are gone, but the blouse is not even torn where they used to be.

“The wings will often disappear if they sense that they are in the way or not needed. They will repair your clothing as well,” Jona grumbles and sits up as well, rolling out his shoulders.

His wings are gone too, arms full of cuts and scratches. I wince, feeling guilty.

“Sorry.” I cringe at his injuries.

“It’s nothing,” he says, his wounds visibly healing.

My eyes go wide, and my jaw drops at how quickly his wounds close. Technically, I should be able to do that as well. Vampires don’t heal as fast as Jona does, but we have that ability. Ishould’vebeen taught this from a young age.

“We should stop. I don’t want to hurt you any further.” I look away into the woods.

He has done enough for me. The last thing I want is to take advantage of his kindness.

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