Page 72 of Tainted Hearts

“I like the sound of that,” I say, eagerly trying to move toward the exit.

“Hold up.” He laughs harder. “You're going to hurt yourself again.”

We’re in the middle of the rink, and I’m not planning on falling on my ass again. “Help me down.”

“What?” Noah asks, raising a brow.

“Help me.” I start to let my knees bend, and he helps me to sit back on the ice.

“What are you doing?”

Quickly, I unlace the skate and pop them both off before jumping to my feet. “Ahh, that’s better.”

“Abby,” he calls after me as I start to slide my socked-feet against the ice. He skates his way over to me. “You're crazy,” he sighs.

“Crazy smart.” I shoot him a grin, ignoring how my feet are now wet and freezing.

When we get off the ice, I rush over to my boots, pull my socks off, and slip my feet back into the warmth of the fur-lined boots.

“Let me bring these back,” he says, taking my skates from me.

Once we’re ready to go, I start to walk the way we came from, but Noah stops me.

“Walking will take too long,” Noah states. “Come here.”

I give him a funny look but step into his outstretched arms. He wraps them around me, and I sigh happily, the bond humming to life.

“I’m all for cuddles, but can it be at the cabin, on a couch, in the warmth?” I murmur against his chest, making him chuckle.

“Yes, love, just wait.” With my eyes closed, I hold on to him and wait for him to say or do something.

When I open my eyes to ask, I gasp when I see that we are no longer on the ground. My eyes snap over to Noah’s stunning, pure white wings. “Wow. I’ve never seen your wings before.”

Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen any of their wings outside the fight Isaac had with Zed, and the first time I saw Isaac pull the black feather from his wings.

“We don’t use them much. Not really sure why. I miss it.” We fly over the buildings, and I grin at how tiny everything looks.

“They’re so white,” I comment as we land in front of the cabin. Reaching out, I run my fingers along the softness. Noah groans, his whole body shivering, and I grin, forgetting that wings are a sensitive body part. “Noah.”

“Yes?” His voice is thick with need and my heart starts to pump a little faster.

“Have you ever plucked a black feather before?”

His body goes still. “No.”

“Isaac has.”

His eyes widen slightly before nodding. “I know. Isaac... he’s done some hurtful things. Some things that were deemed so wrong that his feathers would turn. At first, he freaked out because he thought his dad would lose his mind if he found out. But one time, I saw Isaac watching his dad through the crack in the office door. Michael had his wings out, and we watched as he grabbed a black feather and pulled. I was horrified because losing a feather by force like that is like ripping fingernails off. Later, when all the adults left again, I was awakened in the middle of the night to Isaac’s scream. When I went to check on him, he was in the shower and there was a bloody black feather in the trash can. It might have been the first time I saw it, but it sadly wasn’t the last. Over time, he grew immune to the pain. And now that I know what his dad did to him, I understand now why it didn’t hurt Michael.”

“Fuck,” I whisper, my stomach sinking as I start to feel sick. “The thought of how many feathers Michael has pulled is messed up.”

“But enough of the sad stuff. It’s in the past. Luke and I, we’re helping Isaac the best we know how. It’s not easy, but thankfully he’s allowing us to be there for him this time.”

“How’s he doing?” I ask as we head inside.

“He’s trying. I can see the guilt eating at him. It’s like he spent so long pushing everything down, trying to pretend it wasn’t there, but now that it’s surfaced, it’s slowly draining him. He hates himself for hurting Luke and me. He hates himself for the way he treated you. He loves you, you know?”

That has me stopping. “What?”

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