Page 16 of Give a Devil his Due
“Peachy,” I squeeze through clenched teeth.
Chuckling, he lifts above me, his wingspan casting a dark shadow over my body. Refusing to fall for his bullshit, I keep my eyes glued on the speck of land in the distance where we will enter the underground Atlanta metro network. It’s easy to see it now that most of the skyscrapers are sliced in half as if God himself was pissed off and slashed a planet-sized sword across them. Sorrow weighs heavy in my chest, but I push it away.
Eric and Raphael have a heated discussion ahead of me, forgetting I can see them. My path to them is cut off when Colt glides a little too close for comfort, the feathers of his wings brushing mine and making me tilt sideways until I almost lose the current I’m riding.
“You know we won’t be in the air forever, right?” My voice cracks from the panic choking me. “The second my feet touch the ground, I suggest you run, or it won’t be jinn that kill you.”
“Come now, Hel.” Flipping over like he is swimming the backstroke, Eric’s twin tucks his hands behind his head with an arrogant smirk. “Everyone is always so serious. A little fun won’t harm anyone.”
“Just me if I drop hundreds of feet to the ground,” I mutter under my breath, and his grin grows. “You really are an asshole.”
“Nah.” He shrugs, and I want to jump on his stomach so he can drop and see how it’ll feel. It pisses me off to see him so carefree while I’m sweating bullets. “I’m just trying to show you that flying is second nature for all of us. Not something you need to concentrate on so it works. The wings are part of you, and if you were not meant to fly, you wouldn’t have them. Just relax.”
All sarcasm washes off his face, and at times like this, he looks so much like Eric it’s freaky. After dealing with the jinn, anyone resembling someone I know sends my heart galloping in my chest. But this is Colt, and all his mockery aside, I know he won’t hurt me, although I do keep my narrowed eyes on him longer than necessary.
“It’s not a foreign thing you need to control. It’s part of you.” His voice is smooth, and the tension in my shoulders loosens slightly. “All you have to do is simply think where you want to be and let them do their thing. See yourself flying in the back of your mind to the destination. Then just breathe.”
Raphael and Eric had taken turns teaching me how to use the feathered appendages, and his words were no different than the ones they’d repeated million times before. Yet, the fact that we might come across jinn in less than fifteen minutes made it more urgent to feel comfortable with my wings. Pressing my lips together, I gave Colt a determined nod.
With a deep breath, I close my eyes and relax, pressing my weight on the pressure of the breeze rustling my feathers. The tight band over my chest loosens, and I smile broadly as strands of my hair graze my shoulders and upper arms. Warmth spreads through me, melting the icy terror that had me in its grip the second my feet left the solid ground.
I open my eyes and grin wide at Colt before I notice him gaping at me.
He is bathed in a soft golden glow with specks of burnt orange, and his eyes are like saucers on his face. Mouth unhinged, he doesn’t look like he is breathing, which makes my heart skip a beat, and I plunge toward the ground. Why did my wings fold on my back?
Flailing, my shriek echoes across the city while my ass flips over my head, my tail writhing like the rope of a kite behind me. Panic claws and rakes my insides, and I grunt hard when my body is jerked up. A pair of strong arms tug me to a hard chest, but I can’t see who catches me because my eyes are squeezed shut, though I cling to his shirt with the desperation of a drowning man. It takes a second for the train thundering in my ears to go away and for me to hear the person muttering soothing words. Shaking like a leaf, I lift my face with great effort and look up at Colt.
Eric’s brother has never looked that pale. His green eyes stand out stark against his blanched face, and lines form deep groves around his firmly pressed mouth. Flicking his wide gaze over my head, he says something to whoever is behind me, but I don’t dare turn around. Fuck moving, I’m going to glue myself to my mate’s twin like white on rice until we are down on the ground. My fingers wrap harder around his shirt, the fabric protesting from my white-knuckled grip.
“What did you do to her,” Eric’s snarl penetrates my hysterical brain.
“I …” Colt darts a wary glance at me before locking it on Eric. “Nothing. She only tried to flip around. Let us … ummm … get where we are going first. I will carry her the rest of the way.”
Like he has a choice.
If Colt tries to move his hands, I’m going to clamp my teeth on him and take off a chunk Narsi style before anyone can remove me from his hold. One time staring Death in the eye while flying is enough for me, thank you very much. Good thing Colt has never sounded so unsure since I’ve known him because Eric doesn’t argue. Nor does he move away from us, flapping his wings so close the air tickles my exposed skin.
“We are almost there,” Raphael chirps from our other side, telling me the Archangel didn’t miss my embarrassment either.
“We can walk the rest.” My voice is too high-pitched, but I couldn’t care less. “Like, I’d love to stretch my legs.”
Colt’s arms tighten around me in a crushing hold. “No. We fly.”
It’s never too late to bite him, and it’s actually very tempting, but he still has me in the air, and I’m scared to look down to see how high we are in the sky. That’s the only thing saving Eric’s twin from losing a chunk of meat right now. Quaking in my boots, I hug him the same way Narsi clings to me, spider-monkey style, arms and legs wrapped like bands around any part of his body I can reach.
“We will enter the metro at Five Points,” Eric grumbles, and I’m grateful his voice soothes the crippling panic still rushing through me. “We will split up there; one group will follow south toward Atlanta airport through Oakland City. The other will search north to Sandy Springs through the Art Center.”
I know what he is doing.
Sensing my distress, he rambles the same thing we agreed on before we left the safe house so he can take my mind off things. I focus on his words instead of imagining myself spiraling through the air to my death. As much as I’d love to brush it off, I keep thinking about why my wings folded the way they did. I sure as hell didn’t want them to do that.
“We will meet back at Five Points if we find nothing.” Raphael took over. “Then split up east and west if there is a need.”
“We can go to Mars for all I care. Just take me to the ground, please.” My mumbling has all three of them groaning in agreement.
Before I know it, I jolt in Colt’s arms, and we are on the ground. Scrambling off him, I drop on my knees, panting and running my hands over the grime like I just discovered the most precious treasure. A fist connecting to flesh has my head whipping around to see Colt sprawled on the floor and Eric looming over him.
“What the fuck did you do to her?” My mate snarls, hunching in preparation to pounce on his brother.
