Page 24 of Darkened Wings
He had called me treasured. Treasured. Me of all people. Maybe the crow had eaten some diseased meat and was bat-shit crazy. That was the only explanation for someone, anyone, calling me treasured.
I put my hand over my chest, convinced it would slow the pummeling speed of my heart. By the time the students came back from their flight, I had calmed down, not only because the crow was gone but because I was sure no one had seen me. They were all enthralled with flight, with the grace the wind beneath their shiny black feathers awarded. The freedom of being in the sky without gravity as a tether.
Nothing to be afraid of. Not looking over their shoulder or wings for someone after them.
I envied their autonomy in shifting. I, on the other hand, had to be careful, acutely careful of shifting. My bird wouldn’t be envied by others; it would be sought after, hunted, and my feathers would be plucked from my body.
The students all landed one by one, with grace and composure since they shifted all the time and were free to do so, especially here.
My heart stammered as I thought about the crow. How had he gotten into the academy without being noticed? And why did he come to speak to me of all people? There were hundreds of students in this place and yet, he sought me out. Perhaps I was making too big of a deal about nothing. I was simply the first person he saw and thought he could pry secrets out of me with his smooth voice and charming temperament. My presence was simply convenient.
He didn’t know he was speaking to the raven rejected by all other ravens.
Good thing I didn’t really know any sacred academy secrets.
Most of the other students grabbed their bags and headed to their next class, but I was intent on seeing all of them land, a chance to live vicariously through them if only for a moment. I felt a smile play at my mouth. No matter how much they hated and despised me, I was happy for them. Sharing their joy at an act they probably took for granted.
“What exactly did you whisper to the crow?” I switched my gaze from the ravens landing to the person now standing right next to me at an awkward distance. As I did, a sense of déjà vu spiraled through my mind. I knew those blue eyes. I would know those icy-blue irises anywhere. So easy to get lost in if not for the man with the attitude they were embedded in.
This was the guy I’d seen in the hall, me in my robe of all things.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, pretending and probably failing to be nonchalant about the subject. I would stick my hands in my pockets but, of course, there were none in this damned skirt.
Someone seriously needed to make a formal complaint about these skirts.
He took a step toward me but looked around as though he were being watched. Wait a damned minute. If he saw me speaking to the crow, it meant he saw me from the air. While he was supposed to be enjoying his flight, lost in the wind and soaring toward the clouds, he was watching me.
Interesting to say the least, but I tried not to read anything into it. He was watching me to make sure my damage didn’t somehow burst into the sky and smudge him.
The man, now with his perfectly ironed uniform instead of the casual hoodie and jeans I’d seen him in before, tugged at his collar as though it were the summer instead of the cusp of fall. The wind blew my hair toward him, the strands appearing to reach for him. I quickly tamed them by pulling my hair into a twist that couldn’t reach for him any longer.
“You know what I’m talking about. You can’t lie to me.”
I scoffed. “I didn’t lie.”
A low, menacing rumble came from his chest. “Why were you talking to a crow? Tell me.”
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “I didn’t realize he was a crow when I was talking to him. He was here, at the academy of the ravens. I thought he was a student. How in the hell was I supposed to know?” My tone was defensive since I was under scrutiny from this man. His eyes searched mine. My hands balled into fists, waiting for him to speak again.
Waiting for more accusations.
My raven sat down inside me. This was not the interaction she wanted with this male. Truth be told, other than Astra, this was the longest conversation I’d had with anyone that day. I stayed to myself and the others students were more than happy to keep their distance from me.
Nixon was the only other person I’d spoken to for this long, but the conversation with him was equally unpleasant.
“You didn’t realize? Couldn’t you smell him?”
Withering under his relentless gaze, I shrugged. “I thought he was another species. I haven’t really been around a lot of bird shifters, much less crows. Like I said, I never imagined a crow would be here in the academy. I assumed a smaller bird.”
One more step toward me. His smell I would know from a mile away. The scent filled my senses and could’ve easily taken me away to somewhere else in my mind if I allowed it. I didn’t realize someone could smell like the wind that kicked up before a rainstorm but here he was, smelling like an incoming storm. “What did you say to him?”
“Nothing really. He asked what you all were doing. I told him it was just practice shifting. I said I was a student here. Not much more. Anyway, why do you care? I don’t even know your name and you’re here rattling off questions as though I owe you answers.”
Damn, way to grow a pair, Gwen.
“When you are speaking to the enemy right here under our noses, you do owe me answers. What else did he say? Tell me everything. I saw you two. There was more than telling him about our shifting exercises.”
Gods, the last thing I wanted was to be in conflict with another student, and especially him. My raven wanted nothing to do with an argument with this man and yet, my sense of self-preservation bloomed more and more by the minute. “He said no one knew how special I was. No one knew what a treasure I was. He was nice to me.”
