Page 17 of Twi-Flight
“You can—really bite me next time. If you like.” Swallowing hard, trying to remove the lump from my throat. Going home before sunrise, not eating garlic, the bite. It’s all so obvious. He has to be a vampire. He needs to be. I need to be sure about something in my life. “If you need blood.”
“Blood?” Eggward takes a deep breath. Alice clucks at his feet. I glance at the ever-present bird, she seems to be scolding him rather mercilessly.
“If you need to feed.” I clarify.
“Mina, I think it’s time for me to show you something.”
I glance up, his expression hidden in the darkness of his hood. There’s nothing left for me to do, but extend him another level of trust.
“Sure,” I say nervously.
“Not here. Some place nicer.” He glances at the dark chicken coop behind him, then shows me his back. “I can carry you.”
“Carry me?” The offer brings a grin to my face. Part of me knows I should pretend to be off-put by the suggestion, but I’m already moving to climb onto his back, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his wide body. His fingers circle my thighs holding me close and secure.
“Hold on, little chickadee,” he says. Then he’s moving. Running so fast that it’s almost like we are flying. The trees blur past so close that it feels like we could crash into one at any moment. I squeeze my eyes shut and press my face into his neck. An inhuman speed and accuracy. I trust that Eggward’s vampire senses will keep us safe.
Finally he stops, letting me down at the lookout overlooking Ghostlight Falls. The cliffside stretches below us, rushing water of the falls crashing against the rocks. It’s a beautiful bright afternoon, with the warm sun filtering through the trees, and the cool breeze glancing over my shoulders.
“It’s beautiful.” I say, watching the sun glitter on the waterfall and across the surface of Ghostlight Lake.
“It is,” he agrees. When I turn, his glittering dark eyes are watching me from under his hood. “Mina. You know something is different about me.”
“It’s Ghostlight Falls, of course you are different. Everyone here is.” Everyone except boring ‘ole me.
“And you are okay with that?” He shifts on his large feet.
“Of course.” I feel it in my bones. He’s going to confirm everything I thought.
“I can’t stop thinking about you, Mina. Since you came back into town. It’s been hard to keep you out of my mind. I find myself drawn to you.”
“Drawn to me?” I ask, not quite ready to say to his face that I understand it completely. I am drawn to him too. I want him. I want to know everything about him. I just need him to be more honest with me.
“I knew the first moment I saw you, I needed more of you. My heart, my soul, wouldn’t be happy until I got to know you. Until I got to have you—in my life.”
“I’m in your life, aren’t I?” I ask a little sheepishly.
“Mina. Do you know what I am?”
“I’ve thought about it a lot. I figured it out,” I admit. “You’re a—” I stop talking as he pulls down his hood.
“I’m a chicken, Mina.” He’s staring at me with a pair of pitch black eyes. A red comb on his head and a red waddle beneath a sharp beak.
“A chicken.” My knees almost drop out beneath me. But then his long arm is at my waist, holding me upright. The cloak drops away, revealing deep green and blue wings. “A chicken,” I repeat.
He nods.
Shit.
A chicken.
A giant chicken.
He’s covered in feathers, and his feet end in large claws. Everything slowly slots into place. The chicken rescue. Disliking chicken wings. Hiding his face.
“My neck.” I put a hand there, his eyes follow the movement. “Not fangs.”
“Beak marks.”
