Page 149 of Between Soul and Vessel
Shadow’s eyes, which had been closed mere seconds ago, opened to half-mast, as if he were fighting with himself to keep them open. “Avena!” he rasped weakly. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”
She curled her upper lip. “I see you have not learned your lesson. We’ll have to work on that,” she snarled.
Her magic lifted me from the forest floor, pulling my arms out to the sides as I dangled in the air. She placed the metal-like nails over my chest, pushing them past my chemise and into my skin.
“Goodbye, priestess,” were her final words before she tore my soul from my chest.
Shadow’s desperate roar was the last thing I heard before she squeezed her fist, and my life came to an end.
Sage
We had reached the desert two days ago, although, in truth, it felt more like five. If the intense desert heat bothered my mate, he didn’t let on. I had my arm wrapped around his neck as his powerful wings flew us over the barren lands. It was like a golden sea, forged from sand, stretching on and on.
No civilization or vegetation in sight.
Only scalding-hot sand and a relentless, boiling sun.
My tongue swept over my lips, dry and cracked.
“Do you need water?” Von asked.
“I’m alright,” I assured him. “I wish I could fly so I would be less of a burden to you.”
“You, Kitten, will never be a burden. When I get a chance, I’ll start working on a new prosthetic wing for you,” he responded in a deep, soothing tone.
“Thank you,” I said, my heart brimming at the promiseof being able to fly again.
Like a knife, Von’s gaze cut ahead. His pupils narrowed—his tell.
I looked to my left, over my shoulder, toward what he was looking at.
There. A swell of sand shot up toward the sky like a backwards waterfall. It was a wall of pale orange, cutting off the rest of the horizon.
“That must be it,” I whispered under my breath, and Von nodded.
The closer we got, the more powerful the winds became. Bits of sand flew at us, pelting us with tiny rocks. Von held me close to him, his one wing arching down to protect me. Still, like that, he managed to fly, his hair whipping around violently.
“This is terrible,” Kaleb groaned, his wings flapping swiftly as he tried to keep up. Every once in a while, a gust of wind would send him careening to the side.
“Von, can you do something about the wind?” Folkoln shouted as he flew closer beside us, Artemesia in his arms. She held her hand over her face, trying to protect her eyes.
A muscle kicked in Von’s clenched jaw. “I can’t. They will not listen to me.”
Folkoln said something, but the howling wind made it hard to hear. It was growing worse by the second. Folkoln must have repeated himself through his private channel with Von, because Von nodded at him, and we began to descend to the ground. When we reached it, we landed about fifty feet from the beastly storm. Von set me down, his wing stillcurled protectively around me. Kaleb landed beside the four of us, shifting into his human form.
We walked the remainder of the way on foot, fighting against the wind.
Reaching the monstrous wall of swirling sand, Von held out a hand in front of his torso, flipping his palm skyward. Tendrils of shadow poured out from it, plunging toward the sand. They sectioned off, moving in front of each one of us, producing five lanterns before they retreated to Von’s palm. The lanterns had a metal frame surrounding five clear glass panels. Artemesia had purchased them in the last city we stopped in, and Von had so graciously agreed to store them for us. Von rolled his wrist, and a flame emitted inside each one.
While the others reached down to pick theirs up, Von’s shadows lifted ours to us.
Thank you, I said through the bridge that linked our minds as I took the lantern. The handle was slender, the metal surprisingly cool against my skin. I didn’t understand the mechanics of how Von’s shadows worked or how they just magically stored things, but judging by the cool metal, it seemed a bit like a cellar.
“Hopefully, Helga was telling the truth,” Artemesia yelled over the roar of the wind.
We all looked ahead to the wall of swirling sand, impossible to see through.
“Should one of us test things first?” Kaleb asked, voice raised.
