Feathermore (22 page)

“
What the hell?” I muttered to myself. Definitely more than a dream. I picked up the sword. It felt much heavier now than it had in the dream. It was actually hard for me to maneuver it.

I could hear laughter outside. I went over to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. It took a while for the water to warm up, so while I waited I manifested some comfy but still attractive clothes.

I headed out into the living room, but no one was around. The laughter came again, and I looked out the picture window. They were all outside, throwing the football like a bunch of kids. Avan looked glorious as he tossed it high and long to Nate, who, with his angelic powers, had no problem catching it.

After gently laying the sword on the dining room table, I grabbed my coat from the hanger by the front door and ran outside, petting both eagles before bounding down the steps. The scenery had changed drastically since last night’s eerie darkness and white fog. As I stepped onto the ground, a twig broke under my foot, making a strangely loud snap that seemed to reverberate across the clearing. I looked down, picking up my foot, and thought,
all that noise for a little twig?

The laughter was gone, and as I looked up, so did everyone else. “Guys?” I called after them, but I couldn’t hear a thing. Suddenly, I wished I had the sword with me. Someone was out there, and yet, I didn’t feel threatened by the presence. Still, it paid to be cautious.

I moved slowly and carefully, making as little noise as the forest floor would allow. It was challenging, but I made it all the way around to the back of the stone cabin. There, from the trees behind me, a rustle in the fallen leaves caught my attention. I turned just as a dark figure leaped on top of me.

21 PAST LIVES

Falling onto my back, I got my feet up and rolled, launching my attacker all the way across the clearing and against a tree, breaking off a huge limb. Giggles erupted from the unknown adversary and also from behind me, where Nate was clapping as he approached. The figure stood up, and I saw that it was Claire.

“
What the hell, you guys!” I yelled. I looked around, but there was no sign of Avan. “Where’s Avan?”

“
Went to the stream . . . wanted to see if he could catch a fish for dinner,” Claire said between laughs. Very
hombre
of him.”

I shook my head and lunged as if I meant to shove her into another tree.

Claire and I decided to make a quick flight around the perimeter, just to be sure no one was hiking close to us. Nate had offered to go with Claire, but I was faster than either of them in the air and could get the job done faster. The second I took off, I heard the eagles’ piercing screams behind me. It brought me comfort to know they were there. Claire wasn’t so warm to the idea of my newfound escorts soaring right next to her, as if they might attack us at any moment. They were bigger than any raptor I had ever seen, and their sharp, curved beaks looked as if they could tear flesh with ease.

We had flown about ten minutes and were almost at the cabin when I felt my whole body start to shake. I felt anxious, as if I had better prepare to fight. My wings were failing, losing loft, and then receded completely. The eagles started crying out frantically and rocketed downward after me.

“
Claire!” I yelped as I spiraled earthward.

She dove after me, her arms stretched forward, but she was too late. I was already slamming through the treetops, and I could feel branches ripping into my flesh. My screams echoed along with the cries of the eagles, who clamped on to my arms with their sharp talons, trying to ease my fall. I hit a gnarled old tree, which spun me around and made me hit the ground face-first. I heard a crack and felt pain shoot up my arm. I turned onto my back and again shrieked in pain. My arm was probably broken, and I was covered in blood.

I felt Claire’s shaky hands on my arm. “Don’t worry,” she said. It’ll heal itself in no time.” And so it did. I looked at the gashes and deep lacerations on my battered body, and as I watched they started to close, leaving behind only the dry blood as proof.

I got up, feeling light-headed, and staggered about until Claire grabbed hold of me. My wings shot out, and I crouched on the fallen leaves and pine needles.

“
What is happening?” I asked, my eyes begging her for an explanation.

“
I don’t know!” she said, still holding on to me. “What . . . what are you feeling?”

“
Anxious, I guess. I feel like there’s a threat, like I’m in trouble, yet I don’t really
feel
it.” I heard the rustle of dead leaves—someone was approaching. I faced the sound and felt Claire’s hand tighten on me.

“
Relax, it’s just Nate.” She shot me a wary look, trying to decide whether I could stand upright on my own again.

“
I’m okay,” I lied as Nate came into view and my wings went back into the warmth of my body.

The second Nate saw my torn clothes and the blood on them, he dashed to my side. “What happened? Who did this to you?” He examined Claire to make sure she hadn’t been hurt. Still facing Claire, he asked again, “What happened?”

I started walking back toward the cabin. “I don’t really know,” I said. “I felt anxious, like I had to fight something that wasn’t there. My body started to shake, and then the wings receded. And I
still
feel the threat, even though no one’s around.” I saw them exchange a quick glance and wondered what they weren’t telling me. Then I realized that Nate was alone. “Where’s Avan?” I said, looking into the forest in the direction he had come from.

He sighed and bit his lip—coming from Nate, not a good sign.

We were already at the edge of the clearing when he said, “He never came back from the stream. I was hoping you guys had spotted him.”

I stopped. It was impossible. How could he just be gone like that? “Do you think someone . . . took him?” I said. “Lilith?” I shook my head. The idea of Avan being in
her
hands made me feel suddenly weak. How could this have happened? “What just happened to me—was it related to that?”

Claire nodded solemnly. “You share a bond, formed of your love. When one of you is in trouble, the other feels it as if it were happening to them. You have to go to him—now.”

“
But . . . how am I supposed to know where he is? Not even
Nate
could follow him.” My voice resonated in the silent woods.

“
You’ll find him. Your soul will find him. If I were in trouble, Nate could find me in a heartbeat. That’s the bond that connects you both. Just focus and let your heart take you to him.”

We were already inside the house, and as I walked past I saw the sword lying on the wooden table, gleaming as brightly as it had in my dream. I looked back at Claire. She was staring openmouthed at the table. Nate stood frozen beside her.

“
Where . . . Jade, where did you
get
that!” She stared at her long-dead mate’s sword.

Oh, shit.
There was no getting out of this one—no making up some lame story to mollify them. I had to tell them the truth. “Um, I had a dream last night. Well, it wasn’t a
dream
dream—more like a piece of history. Just like that dream with you and Lilith. I was holding it before I woke up, and I guess . . . I don’t know. It just made the trip back with me somehow.”

I started walking around the room. I wanted to hug Claire. She looked as broken as she had in the dream. But I couldn’t. I was itching in my core. Here was this threat I couldn’t shake off, and I couldn’t stop pacing.

“
I’m sorry, Claire,” I said in a voice much softer than anything I was feeling in that moment.

“
That sword is sacred. No one is supposed to have it. The gods should have it locked up. Why . . . why is it here?” Her fingertips stroked the engraving on the blade.

عندما يكون الحب هو المعني
,
ملاك سنبذل كل ما عندما يكون الحب هو المعني
,
ملاك سنبذل كل ما

I looked down at the elegant, flowing, indecipherable script.

“
What does it mean?” I asked her, trying to still my whirring, manic mind.

“
Where love is concerned, an angel will do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

A flash of anger shone in her darkening eyes. I knew I had opened a can of worms, and it was about to spill everywhere. She looked up at me.

“
You have to go, Jade. He is in trouble.”

I walked outside,
closed my eyes, and rose up from the porch steps. Seconds later, I was soaring high above the treetops, flanked by the two eagles. It seemed that after my last episode, they weren’t taking any chances.

“
Let’s find him,” I said to them, and we went forth. Claire was right: I could feel the bond between us, guiding me to him.

22 THE ATTACK

I flew as fast as I could, moving my wings with long, powerful strokes. It wasn’t my first time flying solo, but I had never tracked anyone before. And the one I must track was the one I loved—the one who had kept me sane through it all, who had made my life bearable. But with no idea how to find him, all I could do was follow my instincts, just as I had that night in town, when I allowed my being to lead me to him. And if that didn’t work, the pull between us was too powerful to ignore—even with my eyes closed I could see my way to him.

A low fog blanketed the town, making it harder to know which way I was headed and whether it was safe to descend. Suddenly, my whole body urged me to land, and like a hawk stooping on a rabbit, I dived. It was an eerie sight. I was behind Bruno’s, the only supermarket in town. The fog was thicker than I had expected, so that I could barely see the dark bulk of the building ahead. I quickly realized that this was no ordinary fog—it had been created to obscure whatever was happening, to keep evil deeds hidden from any who might try to interfere.

Retracting my wings from view, I began to walk toward the street. I felt fear creep up under my skin, but I knew that it wasn’t mine. It was
his
fear I was sensing, which only made me more anxious to get to him. I ran the block to the alley where he had been taken—I could see him clearly in my head now. Scanning the street as I drew near the alley, I saw no one around. I jumped, letting my wings deploy and fly me to where he was. This time, my descent trajectory was steeper, so that I landed hard on the ground, crouched like an animal ready to attack.

Before rising to my feet, I lifted my gaze to the person in front of me, shrouded by the fog but still barely visible. I shot up and turned to see Avan, with his back against a fence, terrified. The moment he saw me, his eyes widened. Oh, well, so much for the subtle approach.

His eyes went from my face to the wings. He was probably more frightened at seeing what I was than at whatever had gotten him into this predicament. My wings were out and ready for a fight. I smiled—in the moment, it was the best I could do to try to calm his boggled mind. I had thought a thousand times about how to tell him, how to ease him into the shocking truth of what I was, and when it finally came time, I had done the same thing Claire and Nate had done: showing instead of explaining.

I turned and looked behind me at who had dared to terrorize my beloved. This time, she was perfectly visible. I almost fell down laughing. It was Amy who stood behind me.

“
Oh, come on! What, is she flirting you to death?” I laughed at my own lame joke.

Avan shook his head and pointed toward Amy. I turned around, expecting her to make some snotty remark about what a loser I was, when I caught a glimpse of her eyes. No longer their usual brown, they now were a glaring, incandescent crimson.

Lilith,
I thought to myself. I had no real proof that she was the one behind this, but something in me told me I had nailed it.

“
What do you want?” My voice was as flat as my expression.

She didn’t respond. I watched her move closer and suddenly realized that Amy wasn’t there anymore. Instead, her body moved woodenly, as if its legs were numb. Her lips were parted slightly, making her look hollow, vacant. She lifted her index finger and pointed straight at Avan, mirroring exactly his own movement from just seconds ago.

“
Yeah, well, there is a problem with that. He’s not going anywhere with you.”

She slowly withdrew her eyes from him and looked at me. Her face and body language were unreadable. She closed her mouth, her expression darkened, and she took a few more steps forward. As she grew closer I stared into those crimson eyes and saw a flash of Amy in them. It came and went so fast, I couldn’t even be sure I had seen it, but in that instant I felt terrible for the girl. I hated witnessing what this being was doing to her and her body.

I must admit that I played with the thought of letting her stay possessed. After all, she was awful and arrogant and did deserve some retribution for all her meanness. I knew I wouldn’t, though—never mind that if it were the other way around, she would have reveled in my helplessness and done nothing to help me.