The man’s wings appear at his back. Stars, they’re small. They barely look big enough to carry his own weight, let alone the two of us.
“They’re strong,” he clips when he realizes I’m staring.
Thankfully, it’s too dark for him to notice my ferocious blush. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t need to.” His mouth presses flat, and he motions me forward. “Come on. I don’t have all night.”
My heart pounds as I wrap my arms around this stranger, breathing in the leather and wind clinging to his soft cotton shirt. Stars, I’ve missed that smell.
“Hold tight.” He lifts me into his arms and launches into the night sky. The forest becomes nothing more than a smudge of black at our feet. With my heart in my throat, we burst through the thin layer of gray clouds, climbing until the stars look so close, it feels as if I could reach out and touch them.
Every beat of the young man’s wings brings us closer and closer to a flickering star, larger than all the rest. Suddenly, warm liquid and bright silver light replaces the icy air burning my lungs. I’m not prepared for the sudden change, clamping my mouth shut a second too late. My tongue and throat catch fire, and I really should’ve taken a breath but didn’t because this fool forgot to warn me that we were about to enter the bloody portal.
How long is this going to take? It wasn’t this long the first time, was it? Then again, maybe that’s because we were going down instead of up. Or it could be this man’s tiny wings. If I don’t get a breath soon, I’m going to suffocate.
Calm down. You’re too close to die now.
If those bastards who hacked off my wings didn’t kill me, this won’t either.
We emerge into a darkened sky capped with black clouds. My gasp of fresh, cool air relieves some of the fire burning inside me.
Short houses resting on cobblestone streets surround us. The beautiful portal glows bright in the very center. A beacon. A reminder.
My escort lands, releasing his hold on me. The moment my boots meet the ground, laughter bubbles inside my chest. I want to sing to those low-lying clouds. Dance with joy with my arms raised in the air. Let my victorious shouts echo through the alleys. Kiss the damp cobblestones.
I’m home!
I fling my arms around the young man who saved me and press a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
He smiles down at me, his blush bright beneath the orange fae lights flickering atop iron posts. “The pleasure is all mine…I’m sorry. I never caught your name.”
“My name is Allette.” And I’m finally home.
“The pleasure is all mine, Allette.” With a wave, he drops back through the portal and disappears.
Heavens above, I cannot believe, after all these years, I have finally made it.
Now to get out of this square.
I rarely ventured to this part of town before that fateful night, so none of the alleyways cutting through the low houses look familiar. Which one should I choose? The one that anglesupward makes the most sense since my aunt’s tower is uphill and across the river from the city.
The skinny street spits me out onto another, wider road directly across from a wall of black marble.
Memories of that night come flooding back, raw and so real, I swear I can hear Senan’s laughter. When the tears come, I don’t fight them but let their saltiness wash away the bitterness and sadness consuming my soul.
The doors burst open, and a man twice my size comes barreling out, dragging another man whose forearms have been painted in colorful tattoos. The thinner man’s skin glows like he has swallowed sunlight—another unfortunate soul lost to the dust. The duster murmurs something unintelligible that makes the giant smile, ball up his meaty fist, and slam it into the thinner man’s face, laying him out on the cobblestones.
The overwhelming urge to run to his aid washes over me, but getting involved is too risky. The poor man—what did he do to deserve such a beating?
The giant continues glowering at the duster through murderous black eyes as the tattooed man slowly rises to his feet. Is he mad? Why doesn’t he stay down? The giant hits him once more, and he stumbles back and back, careening toward the stones, collapsing at my feet.
I expect a curse or a howl of pain.
Instead, he laughs.
He laughs a laugh I know as well as my own.
A wave of heat expands in my core.