The Weight of a Wing (The Stolen Wings Book 1) (10 page)

They drove on the main road until they left the city.
Dealerships, warehouses, and small private residences gradually replaced the
blocks of flats and smaller buildings, everything mashed up together like a
badly constructed puzzle.

When they arrived at a large yard with a variety of
ornamental plants displayed in front, Alise said, “Here.”

Rafe pulled the car over in front of the open gate, and they
got out. “What’s here?” he asked.

“The firm I do the landscape design for buys all the plants
we need from here.”

“That’s good to know, but it’s not what I meant,” Rafe said.

Alise smirked. “Like I said, here’s our supplier.”

She led the way to the greenhouse in the back of the yard,
set aside from the main building where the offices were located. “In here.”
Alise opened the door and stepped inside.

“Come in! Come in!” a voice welcomed from a distance while
they advanced between the stalls loaded with exotic plants.

“This reminds me of home,” Rafe said. “Does he fly around
and spit out poison, too?”

“Be nice and try not to scare him,” she said.

“Who? Me?” Rafe put on an innocent smile that morphed into a
feral grin, showing his teeth.

Alise rolled her eyes. “I mean it,” she hissed as they
walked between the rows of pots and plants. Tiny, colorful winged creatures
swarmed around them, and she had to fight the impulse to bat them away with her
hands.

After a couple more steps, they ran into an old man in a
faded gray lab coat bent over a small hydrangea bush. Half the leaves had lost
their color and hung limp against the green ones. He murmured something in a
soothing voice to the suffering plant and sprayed some liquid on it. Small
black eyes blinked behind oval-shaped glasses when he looked up.

“Miss Alise, what a pleasure to see you here,” he said.
“What can I do for you? A special order for your firm … or have you changed
your mind about my offer?”

“Hello, Mr. Elronicus,” Alise said with a pleasant smile.
“No, I’m not buying—” she shook her head, “but my friend here is interested.”
She nodded towards Rafe, who maintained a laid back, vaguely curious expression
on his face.

“Oh…” Elronicus’ eyebrows rose up his wrinkled forehead.
“All right. I’ll see what I can do.” He removed his gloves and stepped away
from the table. “Meantime, could you take a look at this, Miss Alise, as a
personal favor to me? I’m running out of ideas with this little thing, and I so
hate to see them suffer, don’t you?”

He walked away, and Alise moved into his place. “Of course.”
She placed her hands on both sides of the bush, her palms open and facing the
leaves without touching them.

Rafe waited for the old man to walk away then whispered,
“What exactly am I interested in?”

“Energy … magic … power … you name it,” she answered
quietly, her attention focused on the plant that, little by little, was
regaining its vigor. “He’s a dealer. He crossed over sometime between the wars,
and he’s been dealing ever since. The whole plant business is a cover-up. He
tries to sell me some each time we meet.”

“And you haven’t taken any? Not once?” Rafe sounded
incredulous.

“Oh no, I’m not touching it. That stuff is addictive.” She
shook her head with determination. “It doesn’t take much to get hooked on it,
and he’s the only dealer in town. I’m not dedicating my life to him.”

“So, you won’t, but I will? Nice.”

“You can handle it,” she said without looking at him.

“I hope your paycheck can cover it.”

“Oh, he doesn’t take money. He works for favors.” She
grinned wickedly. The favors would be his.

Blooms started to appear behind the leaves, and when the
first one opened, Rafe moved her hand away, saying, “Enough.” She needed to
save whatever magic she had left, so she didn’t protest when Rafe pulled her
away from the table.

Elronicus returned, both hands glowing as he held them out,
palms up, as if in offering. Bolts of light pulsed above them. “I took the
liberty to bring you two. I thought you could handle it.”

Alise bit back a smile as she gave Rafe an
I told you so
look. Focused on the bolts of light, Rafe paid no attention to her. She could
bet he had never seen that much magic concentrated in one place. She hadn’t,
either. When he grinned, she knew what he was thinking. Yeah, they could
definitely blow up the place with that!

Rafe ran his fingers through the light. Nothing happened. He
grew bolder and, at the old man’s nod, took it in his hand. It didn’t stay
there long, slowly disappearing inside his palm. The sun on the back of his
hand flared brighter than ever and faded just as fast. Then it was all over, as
though it had never happened.

At Elronicus’s shake of the head, Rafe changed hands and
repeated the procedure with the other one. When he was done, he stared at his
hands as if amazed they could enclose that much power.

“I take it you are pleased with the result, sir?” The old
man smirked.

“Indeed I am.” Rafe nodded.

“Good. I’ll take a favor in return … at my discretion, of
course.” Elronicus glanced at the hydrangea plant. “Oh, it was blue. How
lovely!” He brought his hands together. “Thank you, Miss Alise. You always do
wonders.” He offered no favor in return.

“Thank you,” Alise said, and signaled to Rafe that it was
time to leave. “We’ll probably have another contract for you in the upcoming
weeks.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Elronicus said. “It’s a pleasure
to do business with you.”

They left the greenhouse, hurrying as much as they could on
the narrow path between the potted plants that seemed to have multiplied during
their short visit.

“How does it feel?” Alise asked once they were back inside
the car.

“Fantastic. I feel like I can blow up the whole world,” Rafe
said, his fingers gripping the steering wheel.

“Well, try to hold it in until we get to the right place,
will you?”

Vale had been awake for a while. He had pretended to be unconscious
then stopped bothering when it became clear no one was paying any attention to
him. He heard voices, one of which he recognized. Cassie was there, and not too
far from him. At least he had ended up in the right place. Since she sounded
relatively fine, he decided to stop worrying about her and worry about himself
instead.

His blades were still attached to his belt, but the chains
prevented him from reaching them. He flexed his muscles to test their strength.
He wasn’t going to be able to escape without help. Not when he could barely
move, even without the restraints. He felt weak and sticky from the dried
blood. Too much blood. Guardians weren’t supposed to bleed that much. Their
wounds closed faster than anyone else’s.

But, then again, they weren’t supposed to fight alone,
either. The Guardians worked in pairs for a reason. A team of two could handle
most of the threats, while three of them were practically invincible. Still,
Rafe had sent him into battle alone, preferring to stay back with the Fairy.
Vale resented him for that. It was better to focus on something else rather
than on the various parts of his body that hurt. Also thanks to Rafe, he didn’t
have the healing stone with him. Not that he would have been able to use it,
given the way he was pinned to the wall. The chains were most uncomfortable.

He cracked an eye open and peeked between the locks of hair
that had fallen over his face. His left eye refused to open more than a few
millimeters. He hated being weak. He hurt, and his stomach twisted to the point
of throwing up. Despite the pain, he couldn’t allow it. The smell of pork roast
didn’t help.
Pork roast
?

Vale’s vision cleared enough for him to see the two figures
seated at the table, having what appeared to be a delightful late afternoon
lunch. The image would have been perfectly fine if it hadn’t included Cassie
and some guy who gave off strong vibes of magic overload.

“Don’t mind us. Make yourself comfortable,” the man said,
not bothering to look in his direction, though clearly addressing him. The
Wizard. Boy, wasn’t he glad they had finally met?

Cassie didn’t acknowledge his presence, either. He should
have known. Humans couldn’t be trusted. They had no honor code. He didn’t know
why he’d thought this one was any different.

Wincing, Vale tried to move to an upright position. He was
pleased to discover the chains allowed him to sit up, so he rested with his
back propped against the wall, the chains becoming instantly tight. He lay his
head back with a sigh. This was going to be a pain.

“Your friend is surely taking her time getting here,” the
Wizard said conversationally while cutting the food on his plate.

“I asked her to come, and she said she would,” Cassie said.
The fork trembled in her hand a little. “She just needs to convince the
Guardian that there is no other way. I trust her. I know she’ll come.” Her
pleading hit a desperate note that took Vale by surprise.

“She better come, or our deal is off.” The Wizard’s voice
was calm and collected, like he was talking about the weather.

Cassie’s entire body shook at that thought. “She will…,” she
whispered.

The girl lowered her eyes, played with her food for a little
while, then looked up again. Whatever she saw above the Wizard’s left
shoulder—Vale didn’t see anything, other than the cracked wall behind the
man—made a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. She bit on her bottom lip and
quickly looked away to preserve her composure.
Interesting
.

“When she gets here, will Gorem come for her?” she asked.

“Why? Are you eager to meet him?” The Wizard’s patronizing
tone didn’t promise anything good.

“No, not really,” Cassie mumbled. “He scares me. Look at
what he did to Alise.” A hint of outrage slipped into her voice.

He waved a hand dismissively. “There are worse things than
that.”

“Worse than torture and murder?” Cassie’s eyes opened wide.

“Ask him.” The Wizard nodded at Vale, and they both stared
at him.

Vale could think of a few things that were definitely worse
than torture and murder, but Cassie didn’t need to hear about it. She looked
scared enough as it was. He settled for straightening his head and stared at
the Wizard.

Wizards were vain and cowardly at the same time. They rarely
killed, unless they were forced to, so Vale felt safe … for the time being. Not
safe enough to ask for some water, though. The Wizard probably would have given
him poison just to watch him suffer.

Cassie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Once again, she
diverted everyone’s attention by saying, “When he has her here, is there a
chance Gorem will let her go?”

Vale would have liked to know that, too, even if his best
guess was no.

“His plans are … complicated,” the Wizard said, and Vale
noticed he never called Gorem by his name. “Either way, you can count on never
seeing her again.”

It was a bleak prospect as far as Alise’s future went, but
he wasn’t surprised by it. The Fairy was better off dead. In fact, she should
have died years ago. Vale was curious why she hadn’t, and part of him wanted to
track down the Centaur who had helped her and look into it. Rafe had expressed
the same concern, and he might do it, too. If he did, Vale would be right
beside him, despite the issue involving the healing stone. Some things were
worth knowing and, by nature, Guardians were curious creatures. It helped
knowing stuff other people didn’t. Unfortunately, the same concept applied to
Wizards.

Seeing Cassie’s shoulders drop and the girl lower her head
made his fists clench tightly. He didn’t particularly care for the girl, he
found her mostly in the way, but his protective nature revolted against what
the Wizard was doing to her. If only his hands had been free … just for a
little while. He would show the bastard what those who hurt the innocents
deserved. But it was not too late. Wizards and Guardians had a similar life
expectancy. There was still time.

Cassie seemed distracted, staring blindly at nothing. While
the Wizard moved to the window to look outside, a cold gust of wind passed over
Vale. After centuries of experience, few things could startle a Guardian, but
he still had to stifle a gasp of surprise. Underneath his clothes, his wounds
were slowly healing on their own. If he hadn’t known better, he would have
sworn there was a healing stone nearby. Yes, there definitely was.

Wincing because the healing stone’s effect was weakened by
its presence not quite in the same timeline, Vale realized he had another
problem. He needed to find a way to let Rafe know that Nate had escaped the
golden cages and was wandering around not far from there. He groaned inwardly.
They were in deep trouble. The Council was not going to like this.

“Ready?”

Alise drew in a deep breath. She wanted to say no. Hell, she
wanted to
scream
no. Her entire body tensed, ready to bolt. She wanted
to run and hide—a healthy impulse. Still, she was standing there, in front of
the back entrance of the university, contemplating entering. She had to be
insane. Along with her wings, Gorem must have taken her brain, too.

She remembered the pain, the horror, everything. So why was
she doing this? For Cassie? The same part of her that was terrified hoped Gorem
would be there so they could end this once and for all. She looked at Rafe, who
stood shaking slightly beside her. Guardians’ bodies weren’t designed to hold
that much magic. They had to make their move soon.

“I’m ready.”

She nodded, and Rafe pulled the coral necklace string out of
his pocket, the one that had nearly amputated her arm during the night. The
difference was that now it was midday, and she knew what they had to do. It was
the only way they would both be pulled inside.

With a quick glance at her face, searching for approval,
Rafe tied their wrists together. They didn’t have to wait long. The fire
appeared before the burn, and Alise bit her upper lip and stared straight ahead
without flinching. When they landed on the other side, wherever that was, she
would be ready, and so would Rafe. With a little luck, Gorem would be there,
too. Hopefully, she had enough life left inside her to see him dead.

* * *

“Here we go,” Fabian murmured, putting Cassie on alert.

A pinpoint of light materialized in the middle of the room,
right in between them. Cassie jumped out of her chair and, eyeing Fabian, moved
a few steps closer to Vale. Not that the Guardian would have been able to
defend her, but she felt better in his proximity. At least,
he
hadn’t
tried to hurt her.

Silently, the source of light enlarged to the size of a
human silhouette.
Rafe!
Cassie wanted to clap her hands in excitement.
Rafe was going to save them. Then Alise walked through the opening behind him,
and Cassie shook her head in panic.
No
!
No
! Her friend was not
supposed to be there. It was too dangerous.

Rafe had both blades out, using one to cut the coral thread
that held their wrists. “Catch!” Already on the move, he tossed Alise one of
the blades with a short nod in Vale’s direction. He switched the remaining
blade into his left hand and held his right hand up. Bright light poured out of
his palm, momentarily blinding everyone. Fabian raised an arm to shield his
eyes.

Under the cover of the white, burning light, Alise ran to
Vale and kneeled by his side. She sliced through the chains, releasing him.
While staggering to his feet, leaning against the wall for support, Vale also
prepared to fight. A fierce smile lit up his face when Alise offered him the
blade.

“I’ve got mine.” He grinned widely and produced his blades.

“I can’t hold him back much longer!” Rafe yelled.

Urged by Alise’s frantic gesture, Cassie joined them just as
Alise yelled back, “Do it!”

With a fluid motion, Rafe fell to his knees and slammed his
hand against the floor, palm open. Cassie’s skin prickled when the light from
the blast washed over them. Fabian screamed and stumbled backwards.

Rafe looked up, his unforgiving eyes fixed on Fabian. He
slammed his hand against the floor a second time before Fabian screamed again.
The Guardian’s skin cracked along his arms, and blood spotted his shirt. Vale
already had too much blood on him to see any change, but he turned even paler
when Alise became as white as a sheet and collapsed to her knees.

Cassie idly thought that it would be ironic if she were the
last one standing in the end because then she would be trapped there for
eternity.

“We’re not gonna make it!” Vale’s shout confirmed her fears.

In front of them, Fabian was surrounding himself with
purple-red flames, which didn’t seem to hurt him but gave him strength. He was
switching from defense to attack.

“Yes. We. Will!” Rafe roared.

The third blast left them breathless, blinking in surprise
that they hadn’t been blinded yet. Flames turned into ashes, and Fabian was
blasted away in a cloud of smoke. Upon his disappearance, the walls began to
shake, multiplying as the universes and timelines intermingled. Even for
someone as naïve as Cassie, it became clear they couldn’t stay there. If they
did, they would end up being crushed.

“How do we get out?” Vale yelled to overcome the rumble of
the stone walls rubbing against each other.

“No idea!” Rafe answered.

Next to Cassie, Vale mumbled something about planning.

“Another blast?” Alise said. Her voice was shaking as she
failed to find the strength to get up.

“We won’t survive it, not after all this…” Rafe shook his
head, his eyes unfocused. “And we don’t know where it will take us if we break
down the walls…” He stopped, breathing heavily.

He might have been out of ideas, but someone else wasn’t.
The specter Cassie had been seeing on and off materialized close to them, his
shape less defined in the daylight. The man smiled at her, gesturing for her to
gather them all together. Unable to explain why, she decided to trust him.

“Come here, quickly!” Cassie waved her hand at Rafe, urging
him to hurry.

Rafe swayed back and forth on his knees then made an effort
and crawled to them.

The specter tried to put his arms around them, but there
were too many people, he couldn’t hold them all. He looked at her, his clouded
face a silent plea. She shuffled closer and stretched her smaller arms around
Alise and Rafe, who were already holding Vale. The end of her fingertips came
in contact with the specter’s hands, and he grinned. Bright light surrounded
them, and everything went black.