The Weight of a Wing (The Stolen Wings Book 1) (2 page)

At a quarter to midnight, Alise quietly knocked on the hotel
room door. She waited in the narrow corridor, holding onto her shoulder bag,
until Rafe opened the door. He looked serious, his blade in hand, but he
grinned when he saw her. She didn’t return the smile.

“Ready?” she asked, making a sour face. She had changed into
skinny jeans and a light jacket for the occasion, and she couldn’t wait to get
it over with.

“Come in. It will only take a minute.” Rafe nodded for her
to step into the room. All the lights were on, the room positively glowing. The
Guardians liked light. “I told you she’d come,” he said over his shoulder.

She felt Rafe watching her as she looked at the second
Guardian. He was running a healing stone over his torn shoulder, the claw marks
fading quickly. Apparently, they had been busy.

“This is Vale, by the way,” Rafe said with a smirk.

Vale nodded on his way to the bathroom, clean shirt in hand.
The one he wore was unbuttoned and sported several tears and a big bloodstain
on one side. He looked fine, though. Not a wound in sight. The muscles danced
nicely on his lean torso as he moved.

Alise turned her eyes to Rafe. “Is this going to take long?
I didn’t come for a strip show.”

“Does it bother you?” Rafe replied.

It didn’t, but the presence of the magic did. She didn’t
want to start bleeding through her clothes, the way it happened on the other
side. But maybe she wouldn’t. She had little magic left.

“Done,” Vale announced, emerging from the bathroom, still
working on buttoning his shirt.

 “Good,” she said while adjusting her bag. It pressed
heavily on her shoulder, although there was hardly anything in it besides her
wallet, cell phone, and make-up kit. Her grandmother had always said spells
were heavy, but that was a different lifetime. “The roof.” She pointed up.

“All right,” Rafe said, not about to argue with a Fairy
whose help they needed. She had the upper hand, at least for a little while. He
opened the door and gestured for her to go first. Vale grabbed his coat and
followed them.

The elevator ride to the top floor was awkward. The small
metal box could barely contain the magic dripping off the Guardians. Alise held
her breath, trying to distract herself from the war raging inside her body. She
felt the magic and needed it, but she couldn’t have it. The magic would bring
back the pain. Rafe appeared to be willing to chat, but the look Alise gave him
made him keep his mouth shut. Eventually, they walked out, still in one piece.

The restaurant on the roof was popular because of the tall
building’s panoramic city views. However, being late and a Wednesday, the
restaurant was closed. On one side of the terrace, a small flight of stairs led
to a locked door on an elevated platform. The restaurant terrace wouldn’t do
for what she had in mind. They had to go all the way up to the top.

Slipping in front of her, Rafe took two steps and touched
the tip of his blade to the lock. A blue light seeped off the blade and
lingered around the lock and handle for a moment before the door opened with a
click. Alise shifted her weight from foot to foot.
Anyone could do that
.
She conveniently forgot
she
couldn’t do those things anymore.

The Guardians went ahead to investigate the battlefield and
take down any enemies. She doubted they would find anyone else up there, but
she let them do their job. Meanwhile, she looked for a spot not far from the
ledge with a good view all around—the fancy lit façade of the old palace
nearby, the busy traffic downtown, the deserted Palas farther down the hill,
the river in the distance. She stopped there and waited while the
linden-scented, warm breeze played with her hair. Rafe and Vale positioned
themselves at a safe distance. The spell she had to cast posed no danger, but
they still shouldn’t get in the way.

Alise opened her bag and pulled out a small cloth pouch from
which she extracted a handful of dried leaves and herbs. She had spent the
majority of the evening looking for them, driving Cassie crazy with her
absence. “No pizza was worth so much trouble,” claimed her roommate, unaware
that most of the ingredients weren’t meant for the pizza sauce.

With her right hand, Alise spread the leaves around her.
Part of the mix was taken away by the breeze, but enough landed on the rooftop.
The air filled with a faint scent of basil, thyme, and quince.

“I need something of his.” She held out her hand.

“Yeah, about that…,” Rafe said. Neither of the Guardians
made a move.

She should have known. They wouldn’t have come to her if
they had it.
Bastards.

Throwing them a dark glare, Alise dropped the bag on the
ground and shrugged off her jacket, revealing a blue halter top. She gathered
her hair on one shoulder and presented her back to Rafe, keeping her head
lowered. He seemed to be the most capable of doing it with a steady hand.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Rafe pull out his blade.
He moved closer and froze behind her. A moment later, he drew in a sharp breath.
To anyone on this side, the two thin, lighting-shaped scars parallel to her
spine wouldn’t have looked too bad. But he knew what they meant, what she was
missing.
Welcome to my nightmare
.

As more seconds passed, the scars started to burn. They had
to be glowing by now.

“They won’t grow back, you know? What are you waiting for?”
she asked.

To her left, Vale looked a little sick to his stomach. This
went against everything in the Guardians’ nature. Their whole purpose in life
was to protect people, not torture them.

“Just do it…” Vale sighed.

When the tip of the blade touched the scars, Alise clenched
her teeth, trying not to let herself be caught up by the memories of Gorem
slicing her open and chopping her wings off at the very base. Sometimes, she
still felt his fingers digging into her back to make sure no trace of them
remained. If there was anything left of him, it had to be inside those wounds
that never fully healed and kept bleeding while she was on the other side.

The blade was so sharp, no real pressure needed to be
applied. The skin broke in a straight line as it followed the already existing
pattern, fresh blood kissing the blade. Rafe let a few drops drip onto the
ground, a sudden gust of wind ruffling their hair.

Pretending the pain in her upper back was a minor
inconvenience, the way she had plenty of times in the past, Alise brought her
hands together and tossed the last ingredient up in the air. The scintillation
flew high up on a curved trajectory, heading for the hills to the north of the
city where the expensive private residences were located. Gorem would never
share a house with commoners.

Why had he crossed over and come to this world? It wasn’t
really a question. She knew why. He had come for her, just as he had promised.
And, this time, he was determined to kill her.

Big, red fireworks exploded close to the cloud ceiling,
lighting up the conical roof of a house hidden between the trees.

 “He’s there,” Alise said, pointing towards the building.
“And now he knows you’re coming.”

She picked up her jacket and slipped it back on, ignoring
the blood that dripped down her back, soaking the waistband of her jeans.
Damn,
the wounds are going to take forever to heal
.

“If you want, you can stop by our room to clean up,” Rafe
said. Vale was already leaving the roof.

Alise shook her head. “No need. Just catch the bastard.”

“I brought beer!” Alise said with a cheerfulness she didn’t
feel as she entered the apartment. Cassie had a low tolerance to alcohol and
tended to act silly when drunk. Two cans were more than enough for a Wednesday
night. Actually, it was Thursday already. The clock on the wall showed it was
quarter past midnight. They had a full workday ahead of them, so better start
rolling. “Is the pizza ready?” she asked as the smell assaulted her nostrils.

“Yes,” Cassie said, putting on an embarrassed smile, and
hurried to hide her hands behind her back. The tips of her fingers were green.
So were the tips of her ears, for that matter.

“What did you do?” Alise stared at her, too tired to get
upset. Besides, it wasn’t the first time it had happened. Her roommate had
messed with Alise’s herb collection before.

“I was trying to make a dressing for the pizza,” Cassie
said. “You’ll love it.” She kissed her fingertips. “It’s dynamite!”

A smile appeared on Alise’s lips when she saw the girl’s
enthusiasm. Oh well. The side effects would wear off by morning. “I’ll go
change, and then we can eat.”

She hung her bag on the back of a chair and went to her
room. The halter top was ruined, but she tossed it into the laundry basket
anyway. While not bleeding profusely, the skin opened with every move she made
and would continue to do so for a while, so she put on a large bandage and a
loose shirt that wouldn’t cling to her skin and, most importantly, would hide
any new stains that might appear on the back of her jeans.

When Alise returned to the living room, Cassie handed her a
plate with a hot slice of pizza. “Here.”

The girl popped a can open and filled her glass. Alise
thanked her with a smile. Cassie was a convenient roommate who put up with her
strange little habits without complaining or asking too many questions, and
Alise enjoyed her company. So what if she stuck her fingers in Alise’s herbs
once in a while?

“Oh, damn.” Cassie pulled at her navy T-shirt containing a
fresh tomato sauce stain. It reminded Alise of another kind of stain, and she
looked away while Cassie took another bite of pizza and then ran to the
bathroom to clean her shirt.

Lost in thought, Alise slowly chewed on her slice. She
didn’t want to lean back and leave some sign of her injury on the couch, so she
leaned forward and propped her elbows on her knees instead. A soccer game was
on TV, and she muted the sound. She didn’t see the attraction of watching men
running after a ball when it would have been easier to make the ball come to
them. But Cassie liked watching sports, so she couldn’t discuss the subject
openly with the girl since Cassie didn’t know
.

She was reaching for the glass when the apartment door
nearly came off its hinges, and two bruised and battered Guardians burst in.

“What are you doing here?” She stared at them, shocked by
their entrance, while cheese dripped off her pizza and onto her fingers.

“Gorem got away,” Rafe said, breathing heavily.

Alise needed a second to digest the news. She should have
expected it. Gorem was too smart to be caught that easily.

“We thought he might come after you—” Rafe said.

“Since you sent us to him,” Vale finished, and moved to the
window to glance outside.

“We kind of destroyed his house.” Rafe smiled a feral grin,
displaying no remorse. “Are you alone here?”

Cassie chose that exact moment to return. “Oh … hello,” she
stammered, startled by the presence of two strangers in her living room.

“I guess not,” Rafe mumbled. “Is she your girlfriend?” He
smirked at Alise, but she kept her cool.

Cassie blushed.

“This is Cassie … my roommate,” Alise said. “She
owns
this place.” She made sure it sounded like a warning not to trash it.

“How convenient,” Rafe mused, looking around the room. “I
love plasma TVs.”

Cassie still looked confused, so Alise said, “This is Rafe,
and Vale.” She pointed at each Guardian.

“We’re family,” Rafe said. When that earned him a glare from
Alise, he added, “Distant family.” It wasn’t that much of a stretch. After all,
they all came from a different world.

“Hi. It’s nice to meet you.” Cassie offered her hand to both
men, and Alise silently cursed her for being so friendly. “I didn’t know Alise
had any family.”

“Well, we didn’t part in such good terms,” Alise muttered.
“And they’re not staying.” She gave the Guardians a pointed look.

Cassie missed it. She was too busy staring at the visitors.
She had a healthy appreciation for beautiful human forms, although she would
have been shocked to discover how far from human these two were.

“Since you’re here, I’m sure you’d like to catch up. Please,
take a seat.” Cassie gestured for them to make themselves comfortable on the
sofa or in the armchairs surrounding the coffee table. “Would you like some
pizza? It’s fresh out of the oven.”

Alise hated her perfect hostess skills. Cassie had the
plates ready before they could answer.

“I wouldn’t mind a slice,” Vale said, moving away from the
window and coming closer to the table.

Rafe took a seat on the other end of the sofa. “You cook?”
His eyes twinkled at Alise.

“She doesn’t. I do.” Cassie smiled. “But she’s great with
the dressing.”

“Ah … I see.”

She put a slice of pizza on the plate for him, and the
unusual color of her fingers caught his attention. He leaned in towards Alise
to ask quietly, “What happened to her fingers?”

“Dressing,” Alise deadpanned.

He let out a muffled chuckle that brought out wrinkles
around the corners of his eyes, and he thanked Cassie for the pizza. As she
turned to serve Vale, Rafe nodded at him.

Vale got up. “I’d like to wash my hands first.”

“Sure. The bathroom is right over there, second door on the
left,” Cassie told him.

Appetite gone, Alise pushed her plate to the side. It looked
like the visitors weren’t going to leave any time soon.

Meanwhile Cassie continued to chat as if she had known Rafe
for ages. “What happened to you? You look like you’ve been run over by a bus.”

“Yeah. What happened?” Alise mocked him. She wanted to know,
but Rafe better not discuss it in front of Cassie. There was a limit to the
things she could make the girl ignore before she would start to wonder what was
real and what wasn’t.

“We got attacked…” Rafe glanced at Alise before adding, “by
some
dogs
.”

Werewolves
.

“Oh, but that’s awful!” Cassie brought her hands together.
“This city
does
have a big problem with dogs. There are many strays.”
She shook her head.

“Indeed.” He grinned, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“Don’t worry. We’re fine.”

“I’m not,” Alise said with a matching grin. She couldn’t
care less if the Guardians ended up as dinner for some Werewolf pack. They had
brought too much disruption into her life, and she didn’t like it one bit.

“So compassionate, isn’t she?” Rafe winked at Cassie, who
looked from one to the other, not sure exactly what was going on.

She didn’t get to answer. An explosion coming from Alise’s
room made them jump from their seats. Out of nowhere, a blade appeared in
Rafe’s hand as he rushed in the direction of the noise.
Dammit!

“No, wait!” Alise tried to stop her, but Cassie had already
stepped into the corridor.

The girl stared wide eyed at a giant sponge mass that
encompassed the back room, threatening to engulf Rafe as it oozed its way out.
The only thing in its way was the Guardian’s determination to cut a path
through it in order to get to Vale. Alise caught a glimpse of the once brown,
now purple hair matted against the other Guardian’s head. He had somehow ended
up right in the middle of that growing thing. What was he doing in her room?

Forgetting about her back, Alise leaned against the wall.
The presence of the creature was draining her of what magic she had left, as if
it was feeding off her. Maybe it was. She hadn’t been attacked by monsters on
this side before. Warily, she waited to see how things were going to turn out. Either
way, they would have to run. Even if the Guardians killed it, if she knew
Gorem, it wouldn’t be the only monster. She sighed to herself. Now she was
going to have to rebuild her wardrobe from scratch. While not poisonous, the
monster left behind a disgusting residue that made any object it touched
unusable.

With their combined efforts, Rafe managed to pull Vale out,
pushing against the monster with his shoulder, then dragging Vale out by the
arm. Once Vale was free, Rafe pressed his palm to the monster’s side. A
sun-like shape flared on the back of his hand, and the whole thing exploded,
dissolving into dust.

Cassie covered her mouth with her hand to prevent a scream
from escaping.

“Everyone okay?” Rafe looked back, although the girls hadn’t
been in danger. After all, it was only a little monster. The Guardians had
battled things much worse than that in their lifetime. Vale wiped slime out of
his hair, making a face as if he was about to puke.

“What … What was that?” Cassie stammered.

“That…” Rafe pointed with the tip of his blade towards the
inside of the ruined room, “was an expansion monster, also known as a
compression monster because it crushes everything that gets in its way. As long
as it has a roof over its head, it grows until it fills any available space,
and then it explodes.”

“Rafe…,” Vale warned, but Rafe ignored him.

“Any more questions?” Rafe asked.

“Well…” Cassie’s shoulders shook lightly, her lips paler
than her face. “What was it doing here?”

“Oh, she didn’t tell you?” Rafe’s sarcastic laugh echoed
along the corridor. “It came after her.” He nodded in Alise’s direction.

“Thanks a lot!” Alise glared.

“Rafe!” Vale raised his voice. “We’ve gotta go. We need to
get out of here before more show up.”

The urgency in his voice made Cassie anxiously look around.
“More?” she whimpered. The small apartment couldn’t take any more monsters, and
neither could she.

“It’s all right.” Alise moved to stand by her side and put
an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “It’s going to be fine.”

“It will be if we move
now,
” Rafe said. He glanced at
the dark smudge left on the wall where Alise had been standing. “Let’s go. We
need to find shelter for the night.”

Ahead of them, Vale walked out the front door, leading the
way. Alise gently ushered a shell-shocked Cassie out. Rafe closed the door
behind them, but no one bothered to lock it. With these creatures, locks didn’t
stand a chance.