Page 92 of The Demon's Discovery
“That’s kind, but the tissue must be living for the limbs to have any chance of reattachment once he goes into stone sleep. Hold. Still.” She jerked against Gaius’s wing, and he roared again. “I have this well in hand if you’d like to go get something to eat?”
I looked over at Greta, and Lovette nodded, indicating that she’d take care of her as well.
“We won’t be long.”
“Take your time.” Her smile was genuine when she flashed it at me, but I’d seen the wrath in it already and perhaps respected her more for it.
She might be Magnus’s sunshiniest daughter, but I’d never want to be on her wrong side.
Gaius wasa grumpy-faced statue in his infirmary bed when I returned with a plate of celebration leftovers for Greta.
She stirred at my light touch along her back, sending my pulse skyward when she smiled at me. “Feeling better?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Can you pass me my shirt, please?”
“If you insist,” I teased.
For the moment, we were alone in the big room, except Gaius, of course, and he wasn’t aware of much, right then.
She ate while I gave her a brief summary of what had happened in Revalia.
“Is it odd that he was hurt so badly when nobody else was?” she asked, pausing with an apple slice halfway to her mouth.
“It is.” Rylan and I had discussed as much with Magnus when he arrived back. He’d been cryptic but assured us he was looking into things where Gaius and the mysterious man were concerned. “Are you ready to test out your wings, Dragonfly?”
She nodded. I helped her to her feet, and we joined the gathering of people standing beneath a row of tall oaks. Imogen, Lovette, and Magnus all lingered there, smiling encouragingly at her as we approached.
“If we make you nervous, we can leave,” Imogen offered. “But we thought perhaps you might benefit from some help this first time.”
“That’s alright, you can stay.” Greta blushed, which told me perhaps she’d be more comfortable with less of an audience, but also worried she’d need the help. “How do I make them come out?”
“For me, I think of how they look when they’re spread wide, the feeling of wind under them,” Imogen said, holding her armsout to the side, her wings snapping out wide behind her a moment later.
Greta’s face was stern with concentration but nothing happened.
“I get a tingle in my wing ways,” Lovette said. “I focus my attention there. You might have trouble with that approach since I’d imagine it’s rather sore, just now.”
Greta turned her back on us all and went through several motions. She did like Imogen had demonstrated, holding her arms out wide. Her head tilted to one side, and she pulled the back of her shirt up.
I stiffened, the sight of her scars still inciting my fury with Lara, though they detracted nothing from her beauty. The others seemed wholly unaffected, and I was proud of Greta for not being so modest that she hindered her progress.
“That’s right, get the feel of the wind,” Imogen nodded encouragingly.
I wished I could see her face, but I didn’t want to break her concentration by walking to her front. Then, she made a surprised sound and stepped one foot to the side to catch herself as her center of gravity shifted.
Her wings unfurled like those of a freshly hatched butterfly as they opened and gave one slow, gentle flap. They shimmered with iridescent color, nearly translucent, and they were slightly oblong instead of the regular inverted V shape.
“Wonderfully done, little niece!” Magnus boomed.
“Dragonfly wings,” I muttered, simultaneously awed and horrified by what I saw. They were gorgeous, unique in every way, but they were clearly not as developed as they should be.
“What?” Greta asked, eyes glossy as she looked over her shoulder at me. I hated that the experience had been painful for her.
“Your wings. They’re lovely. Like opal glass.” I stepped closer, finger outstretched to stroke along one of the edges. I stopped before touching her though.
“That wasn’t so hard. I was afraid because of how it always hurt before, but this wasn’t bad.”
“You did perfectly, beloved.” Blood pulsed loudly in my ears as I examined her new appendages along with the others.
