Page 48 of The War of Wings
Please, Miles. A few more seconds.
I reached for his hand, pulling his arm over my shoulder. “I’m here!” I shouted. “I’m here. Can you kick your feet? There you go. I’ve got you.” His weight made it harder to keep us afloat, but by the fucking Saints, I’d manage. Another roar from a driva overhead, this one a high pitched, painful screech. The sky illuminated silver and orange — lightning and driva fire somewhere far overhead.
No words left Miles’ mouth, only strained, gurgling breaths as he fought to keep his nose and mouth above water. His face was pale, his hair plastered to his forehead. “Kick your feet, Miles,” I urged again. His boots collided with my shins as he fought. Waves crashed over our heads. Saltwater stung my eyes.
Miles surged forward and suddenly more of his weight was on me — too much. “Miles, you’re–” He pulled me under the water. Somehow I managed not to panic. I knew he was taking a much needed deep breath. But as I tried to surface again, even more of his weight pushed down on my shoulders, and I couldn’t break free. I began to thrash, trying to wrestle out of his grip. I screamed beneath the waves, a stream of bubbles cascading from my mouth as I clawed at his hands on my shoulders.
My fist connected with his gut, just hard enough for his grip to loosen. I managed to break free, splashing to the surface while keeping his arms on my shoulders. “Don’t do that, Miles!” I coughed. “I know you’re scared, but you can’t push me under like that!” I met his eyes. They were wild with terror, something brewing behind the blackness I’d never seen before. He looked crazed as he fought to stay above water, his eyes full of… It had tobe fear. “We’re going to be okay!” I called, but I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince more, Miles or myself.
Something brushed against my leg, and this time, it wasn’t Miles’ boot. My breath hitched in my throat. What was that? Miles’ heaving breaths suddenly stopped, his eyes flying wide as he stared down into the water. Had he felt it too?
Whatever it was hit my leg again, and I squeezed my eyes shut.Adorex!I shouted internally, down the line between us. I tried to look around us, but with Miles’ arms slung over my shoulder, I couldn’t turn myself.
Kill. Driva,she answered.Bleeding.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,fuck.
Another wave crashed overhead, and just when I thought it was going to pull us under, something hit me from below. The impact was so great I was launched from the ocean, saltwater burning my eyes as I tried to cling to Miles. He lost his grip and was gone, like an invisible current had caught him and ripped him away from me.
Help, Adorex thought, but I couldn’t focus on her as I slammed back into the water, thrashing wildly, looking for Miles. Again, my body was hit from below, pushed out of the water just as another gargantuan wave curled overhead. But before it crashed down over me, I saw the familiar form of a driva breaking through the clouds, limp and lifeless, plummeting into the sea.
Chapter 18
Cal
I watched the woman I loved fall into the clouds.
“Follow her down!” I screamed at Obitus.
Petra. Safe, his thoughts rang through my head. How did he know?Kill. Intruder.He surged toward the unknown driva, following closely behind Adorex, and it was all I could do to hold on. The intruder was in pursuit of Gehenna, whose torso was slashed open and pouring blood at an alarming rate.
Adorex roared, my ears ringing as fire streamed from her throat and collided with the driva’s back. The other driva’s head snapped in Adorex’s direction, and the two beasts flew full speed at each other. They collided in a clash of teeth and talons, Adorex firmly gripping her opponent’s neck in her jaws.
The other driva managed to hook its talons into Adorex’s side, and she cried out in pain as her jaws released. But the talon at the tip of her wing sliced through the intruder’s cheek in a lucky strike, and Adorex managed to slip free. The moment shewas clear, Obitus and I moved in, striking the intruder from the side and knocking it further away. Gehenna lunged, her talon slicing through the enemy’s wing and leaving a sizable hole.
Not large enough to take it down, though.
That only made the other driva angrier, and it turned on Gehenna, a terrifying screech leaving its throat as fire burst forward. I turned away on instinct, throwing my arm over my face in a futile attempt at shielding myself from the stifling heat that radiated from the stream of flames. Gehenna bellowed as the flames collided with her chest, but Obitus was close behind, delivering a burst of fire of his own that reverberated through my bones.
The other driva’s eyes were set on me, and that’s when I noticed — they were not a brilliant icy blue, but depthless black. And those black eyes were slits as it charged straight for Obitus, tilting up at the last second. Its talons dragged along Obitus’ neck, a roar tearing from my own throat as I watched blood pour from the wound.
Obitus. Okay, he thought immediately, and I thanked Onera.Obitus. Kill.
The intruder banked hard, its path headed right for Gehenna, maw hanging open. The wound in Gehenna’s abdomen had slowed her down, and I closed my eyes, prepared for the worst.
Until Adorex intercepted the intruder and her jaws closed around the base of its throat. A deafening crunch sounded over the thunder and chaos and the driva went limp, falling from Adorex’s jaws and into the clouds.
I held tight as Obitus dove headfirst into the storm alongside Gehenna and Adorex. My stomach rose into my throat as the wind tossed us around like paper kites. Finally,finallywe broke through, and I squinted through the rain, my view obscured by the heavy downpour. We hovered over the ocean as I searched for Petra in the crashing waves. The fallen driva floated on thesurface of the water, its body pitching and rolling in the surf. Obitus chirped, folding his wings and diving for the dead driva.
And there she was, a fucking miracle incarnate sitting atop a horse made of the ocean itself. Akelpie. A disbelieving laugh rumbled from my chest, my hands clapping together as I saw Miles atop his own kelpie alongside her. Tears and rain blurred my vision. She was okay. She wasokay. And so was Miles.
The moment her eyes met mine, they roved over me before surveying Obitus, Gehenna, and Adorex. Relief slackened her face as she realized we were all accounted for and, more or less, okay. Petra’s eyes were on Adorex for a moment before she nodded and reached for her dagger, her movements clumsy as her kelpie rose and fell with the waves.
Petra ran her blade across her palm in that familiar way, and one by one, each of the drivas lowered themselves to hover just above the water’s surface so she could run her hand over their sides. I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched the gash in Obitus’ neck close, and I felt the tension in his body unfurl.
With shaking hands, Petra shimmied from the kelpie to where Adorex’s leg was extended, then climbed up to resume her seat. Miles and Gehenna followed suit. A wave crashed over the two kelpies, and just like that, they were swallowed by the sea. Would I ever get used to seeing this? Seeing these legends come to life?
As the storm began to lighten, the rain turning from punishing sheets to a light sprinkle, we lifted off into the sky again. Everyone was silent. I heard nothing from Obitus. What was there to say? The truth hovered like a stranger in the shadows, its presence felt but acknowledged by no one. We could see the problem out of the corner of our eyes, waiting expectantly until one of us worked up the nerve to address it.
