Page 89 of Glass Wings
Hadley stared at her, her mouth opened and head cocked. Maybe this was the final straw. Perhaps she had finally gone insane.
Can no one else see you?
Sheng clicked his tongue, disapproving of her wandering attention.
“My creator is a jealous creature,” he said in answer to her question. “Though all Vrae are her children, they are the only living thing she creates instead of nurturing in this realm. It’s not enough. She hates this realm. She hates this planet. I think she seeks to destroy it due to her feeling of insignificance.”
“Who is she jealous of?” Hadley asked, her shadow self now doing cartwheels in front of her reflection. She frowned at it.
“Isn’t it obvious? Us. Any living being that has any consciousness or true life. I do know that my kind only exists to kill your kind. Your kind only exists to foster life on this planet.”
Hadley nodded at Sheng to show her understanding and shifted her gaze back to her shadow, who began shuffling around the mirror, pretending to be nursing a large pregnant belly.
Was her shadow self . . . mocking her?
That’s it. It’s official. She was losing it.
“Sheng,” she started. “I want to go home. To my home.”
Her body screamed at her in response as her mind found an opening to overcome the chemicals mixed in her blood from Sheng’s bite. Hadley visibly tensed, her movement limited by the two very different directions.
Run. Jump out of a window. Go.
Stop. Listen. Stay. Your life will be so easy. You will be loved and cherished, always.
He took a few steps from her, shaking his head in response.
“It’s not possible, what you are asking, Hadley. I need you to adapt to this faster than you are.”
She thought she was taking this all in very well. The fight between body and mind, the sudden burst of wings, learning that the fantasy novels she read when she was younger might have some merit to them . . . yes, she was taking it well.
“I think that I’ve been more than a trooper,” she said, smiling as she relaxed into the comfort of her shadow self, looking for her attention.
“Sheng,” Amis’ voice shouted from the intercom in the room. “Sheng, I need you to come to the door. It’s urgent. They will recognize me.”
Sheng eyed her curiously, and Hadley wondered for a moment if he could also see her shadow self. He shook his head and began walking out of the room.
“Stay here,” he ordered, before disappearing into the hallway.
Sheng was the only person she had. She had sent Hector away, and he hadn’t come back. He hadn’t tried again.
Her shadow self had now come out of the mirror. It held up a hand, standing inches from Hadley, who relaxed into the energy. Hadley raised her hand in response, staring into the figure's blue-green eyes, and pressed their palms together.
Hadley felt hot wisps of air as her hand kept moving, not finding anything solid to stop it.
“Are you here?” Hadley whispered to her shadow.
The moment was interrupted by the faint yelling of a woman in the distance. Hadley snapped her head towards the door as hershadow self disappeared, bringing an extra tinge of heat into the air.
Hadley crept towards the hallway, hearing the same voice now conversing with Sheng. She was still too far away to make out the conversation, but her instincts told her that it was something she needed to hear. She knew that voice, but just couldn’t quite place it.
Stepping as lightly as she could, Hadley’s wings brushed against the wall as she gripped the rail descending the stairs. Once she reached the bottom, she waited for someone to discover and hide her, but nobody came.
She could hear the woman’s voice at the door better now, and it finally struck her.
Reign.
Hadley moved through the room and into the hall, approaching the foyer. She stopped once she was at an angle where she could see the back of Sheng’s neck, standing at the door.
