Featherlight (21 page)

“I’m getting the trust of my
people. No other man has had a chance at chasing you. They would be angry if I
showed up in public after taking the only folium because they would feel like
they didn’t have a chance. My father thought that their anger would be a good
trade for securing you as a mate, but I disagreed.” John was staring at my
face, watching my reaction.

I tried to keep my gaze
neutral. It was a relief to finally be able to look him in the eye without fear
of a chase starting. “Ah, I see. So if you teach me how to resist, I can go out
in public without the fear of men chasing all over the place. Also, you secure
your future spot as my only suitor with this deal you want me to make.” I
raised one of my eyebrows and admitted, “Very clever, John.”

I was honestly impressed. He
had managed to catch me while letting me keep my allusion of freedom.

Since the alternatives were all
worse than this one, I held out my hand and said, “You have yourself a deal,
John Marshal.”

We shook, and the deal was
struck.

After a moment of silence, I
asked, “Hey?”

“Yes?”

“How come you don’t react to me
the same way you used to react?”

It took a moment for him to
realize what I was talking about. “Well, I was kind of blindsided the first
time I saw you. The second time, when you were in the gym, you were running
away from me and I, uh…” He glanced down at the ground and then looked up and
smiled. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“So you can’t Chase me now,
right? Just like Peter!” My voice was full of excitement as I hopped up on the
couch for joy. “You lost the Chase in the gym cause you couldn’t catch me,
which means that you can’t start it unless I run from you!”

John looked at me in amusement.
“Not quite, little foli
.
I was restrained from chasing you. If you
remember, Peter willingly stopped the Chase.”

“Oh…” I felt like a popped
balloon as all of the excitement rushed out of me. “But you were willingly
stopping yourself in the gym. I remember because I was waiting to run and you
were just hovering there and then your dad… Oh. Yeah.” I climbed off the couch
and continued, “Your dad knew, didn’t he? He restrained you so that you could
still start the true chase another day.”

John reached out and tucked a
stray part of hair behind my ear. I stood completely still, wondering if this was
what he had meant by ‘courting’ me.

He whispered, “I would say that
I am sorry, but that would be a lie.”

Oh boy. He was definitely using
his attractive mojo to enthrall me. Too bad this girl is immune. Well, almost
immune. I took a step back and forgot about the couch at my back. I fell on my
butt only slightly ungracefully.

What kind of deal did I make?
Could I stop him from doing all of this sexy stuff or would that fall under the
umbrella of not ‘letting him court me’? John leaned down and put his arms on
either side of me while his wings fanned out, cocooning us in a golden
chrysalis. I shrank farther down the couch.

“In the library, I had trouble
with control because I could smell your need to run. You may say that you don’t
want me to chase you, but your body thinks otherwise. Your body knows when it
has met its match.”

As if to aid his point, my
heartbeat rocketed and excitement shot through my limbs. My body was such a
traitor. John’s eyes and wings darkened the slightest bit before he pulled away
and began walking to the kitchen.

“I’m responsible for you, which
means that I need to make sure you’re fed properly. What are you hungry for?”

“Uhm… uh, a PB&J?” I said
the first thing that popped into my brain because I wasn’t the least bit
hungry.

“I may know a lot of Earth
slang, but I have no idea what a PB&J is.”

“It’s a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich. It’s two pieces of bread with… umm, peanut butter and jelly,” I
finished lamely.

John turned his head and
smiled, clearly amused at my stupidity. Or maybe he was just proud of the way
he could fry my mind. Regardless, it ruffled my feathers.

“I’m not hungry,” I told him
irritably just as my stomach growled at the thought of a PB&J sandwich. My
body was really working against me today.

He heard my stomach rumble and
smiled wider. At least this time he had the sense to turn away to hide his amusement.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he
said, opening the door to a large refrigerator.

I went to sit in one of the bar
stools while he worked. His wings gracefully flowed around as he retrieved
different ingredients. After his intentions and his interest in me were made
clear, I was not as ashamed to watch him.

The outside light hit his wings
and they shined, much like the color of a dark yellow rose. Although a rose
wasn’t the best thing to compare John to, it was the only one that came to
mind.

His petals were larger than mine
(there’s a joke in there somewhere) and they didn’t seem as flexible, not that
I was planning on testing that theory out anytime soon. John’s nose was
perfect, but that wasn’t surprising. The Marshal was handsome, and his wife was
elegant and beautiful. Their features combined made one hell of a good looking
man. Before I had a chance to say or do something stupid, like drool over John,
a plate was placed in front of me.

“I know it’s not what you’re
used to, but I gave it my best shot.” He smiled and my stomach flipped.

Food was the last thing on my
mind right now, but I grinned back and said, “Thanks! It’s perfect.”

The sandwich actually resembled
a PB&J, for the most part. I took a bite while John watched, and I tried to
hold back an unladylike groan. 

“We’ll have some protein
tonight to put some meat on your bones.”

I made a sound at him that
resembled ‘hmph’ and continued devouring the scrumptious little sandwich. How
could something so simple be so good? Was it my enhanced taste buds, John’s
cooking skills, or the delicious ingredients? After shoving the last bit in my
mouth, I decided that all three reasons made it amazing.

John was still staring with
this satisfied look on his face.
Men.
I could only imagine what he was
thinking. ‘
Jacque eat my food. Jacque like my food. I am man because I feed
woman.’
Give me a break. I knew how men worked, and all they wanted was
food and sex.

“I’m not as bad as you think,”
John said suddenly while I was swallowing whatever remained in my mouth.

“How did you know what I was
thinking?” I asked him warily.

He murmured, “Jacqueline, your
thoughts were written on your face and I could smell your displeasure.”

I cautiously lifted my hair and
smelled, but only picked up the faintly sweet odor of lotion and soap.

“How do you do that?”

“Practice and intuition,” he
said while I gave him a look. “All in good time, Jacqueline, all in good time.”

I rolled my eyes. “So, when are
we gonna start resistin’?” I asked in a sing-song voice to show how unfazed I
was.

“We’ll start in the den.”

“How come y’all didn’t teach me
how to resist the chase as soon as I got out of Roya? Why did Omar teach me how
to fly first?” I asked him while sitting down on the couch.

“You sure ask a lot of
questions,” John commented.

I tucked my feet under me while
saying, “It’s how I learn, homeboy.”

After shaking his head, John
walked to the far couch and sat down. “For one, we thought you’d be safe at the
Sentinel camp for a while. I underestimated the King and Peter. Also, it is a
lot easier to learn resistance if you are comfortable with your wings and
yourself.”

“Why?”

“Because a man may only start a
chase if he is more dominant than the woman he wants to take.”

“So I just need to take
testosterone pills!” I said jokingly.

“Not quite. You will never be
able to completely resist me, because I am the Marshal’s son.” Did I detect a
hint of smugness in his voice? “Although you will hopefully be able to resist
long enough to break my gaze.”

“Okay, so how do I do this?” I
asked him, sitting forward eagerly.

“You have to be internally
strong. This won’t happen overnight, because it takes a long time to strengthen
your inner character enough to truly believe in yourself.”

I said, “Alrighty! Let’s get
started.”

This would be a breeze. I could
most definitely pretend to be haughty and all that. Just to be sure, I gave
myself a small pep-talk.
You’re better than this man. You’re fast and smart.

“This will be a pre-chase, not
a true one,” he said. “You won’t be able to resist, so I’ll have to come
restrain you to stop the chase so we can try again.”

“Wait a minute, you want me to
just give up during a chase?”

“It’s not a real chase,
Jacque.”

“But still! I can’t just lay
myself down and give up, practice chase or true,” I said, crossing my arms and
putting my on my serious face.

John grinned at me and rose off
the couch. “I hope you’re ready to do some flying, then. But don’t worry, you
won’t last long.”

I caught a pair of brown
slipper-shoes that he threw at me and hurriedly slipped into them.

I muttered to myself while
following John out the back door, “We’ll see who doesn’t last long.”

The trees outside were tall,
with enough room in between each one to freely roam about in the green grasses.
The thick trunks were as wide around as a small car, and the needle-like leaves
left just enough light to the plants below. All in all, the place was
beautiful, and we were hidden right in the middle of it.

“So, how do you wanna do thi-“
I was cut off as John gazed into my eyes.

A familiar need to flee flowed
through my veins like a rushing tide. I was able to resist the calling I saw in
his eyes and my own body for three whole seconds, and then I ran.

Although the need to flee was
not nearly as bad as it had been during a true chase, it was still
overpowering. My mind held only one thought in its head. Instead of the need to
run, though, there was a powerful need to prove myself. I desperately wanted to
show John my awesomeness.

When Peter had chased me, I was
full of fear. With John, I felt only a powerful feeling of exhilaration and
excitement. My limbs were light and my body was eager to stretch its limits. I
ran to celebrate my freedom from leukemia and to celebrate my amazing health.
Most of all, I ran for all those who could not run for themselves.

My eagerness to be chased made
me forget that I was supposed to focus on resisting, but little did I care. I
had needed some fun in my life since the doctor told me I had leukemia, and my
body knew that this would be so enjoyable.

The
trees turned into a blur as I tore into the woods. The weather was prefect, as
if nature were holding its breath and hadn't yet decided which season it would
be. The crisp air cut my face while my power and speed allowed me to tear a
path through the wilderness. I navigated the trees without conscious thought
and relished in the feel of true speed as I dropped all worries and gladly let
instincts take control of my body.

After shooting out from the
woods, I entered a large clearing with a small lake. Wings shot out from my
back and caught the air whipping past my body. I lifted into the sky like a
kite. Soreness from my last chase urged me to stretch and shake off the pain. A
broad grin spread across my face as I laughed with joy. I was unstoppable.

My body was sweaty. With wings
strong, implications were heavy. Once over the water, I banked and dipped my
wingtip in the cool lake. Somehow, I knew that John had just emerged from the
woods.

Not being able to beat my wings
caused me to lose altitude, and a foot of my right wing was suddenly submerged.
The water dragged my right side back and I careened, completely off-balance.
Seconds before face planting the water, I saw my startled reflection. Wide,
dilated white eyes stared back at me with surprise. Brown hair styled in a bob flew
back from her face as wide lips opened to yelp.

I broke through my reflection
and into the icy water with resignation. As soon as I gasped in a lungful of
air I let out a colorful curse and began swimming towards the shore. My wings
weighed me down, but the water on this planet was easier to swim through than on
Earth. By the time I dragged my waterlogged body onto the bank, John had caught
up to me.

I just hoped the mascara was
waterproof.

“Ahh, my little bird. You must
have some common sense to go along with your physical prowess if you wish to be
a challenge.”

I spat out a mouthful of water
and ignored him (Which, for the record, was hard to do since my body wanted to
continue running away).

“Why do I still feel like
running?”

I was about to take off one
shoe to wring it out when he tackled me from the side. We rolled several times
before coming to a stop by the lapping shore. He was on top of me and I lashed
out instinctively, hitting him in the chest.

I knew that I should feel utterly
terrified. I had trusted this man and he was completely betraying my trust. I
was so stupid! But, oddly enough, my body didn’t feel frightened or panicked.
It was almost as if my mind and body were two different entities, and my mind
had never regained control after the Chase. I felt calm and joyous, even as I
kicked out in desperation.

My skin tingled everywhere we
touched, but I ignored it. The kicking did absolutely nothing, so I tried to
roll him off of me. Go figure, the golden winged man wouldn’t budge.

“Quit struggling,” he
commanded, finally pinning my arms above my head.

I was trapped and helpless. “Get
off me, you brute!”

“Hold still,” John leaned down
and whispered.

Knowing that there was nothing
I could do, I finally gave in to defeat. My body went limp and I sat there,
breathing hard.