Wings of Darkness: Book 1 of The Immortal Sorrows Series (18 page)

     “Well, that’s where things get a
little unbelievable, but stay with me, ok?” I rubbed my sweaty palms against my
jeans.  “They’re, well, angels, I guess.”  Ok, got that spit right
out.  I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.  Doing good so
far, Izzy.

     Gwen burst out in giggles, which
quickly deteriorated to laughter, then finally, to very unladylike
snorts.  She laughed so hard that tears leaked at the corners of her eyes,
and I was pretty sure she wasn’t breathing properly.  Surely she
appreciated that she’d gotten here, to this place, by some supernatural
means?  Didn’t she understand that we weren’t dealing with everyday crazy,
now?  Or was she about to have a nervous breakdown?

     I started to get a headache; this
was going nowhere fast.  Asher must have taken pity on me.  He
stepped in front of Gwen and gave her his imperious stare-down till her
laughter dried up to a few stray snickers.  His mouth set into a hard
line. “You are a strange girl, but for Isabel’s sake, we will indulge
you.  Grim, show her your wings.”

     Grim stepped forward, grinning as
usual. God, but he loved being the center of attention. “Well, I don’t know,
this is all so sudden, and we barely know each other.”  I wanted to tell
him to cut the shit, but I managed to keep my mouth shut.  Barely.  “Oh,
alright, then.”

     Grim did a complete turn for Gwen,
preening it seemed. He was such a show-off.  Still bare chested and
covered with scorch marks from the fight at the school, he was kind of hot.
Worse, he was just Gwen’s type. Under normal circumstances, we both might have
been drooling over him.  I just had to take away points for
personality.  He went from a ten to a seven, just as soon as he opened his
mouth. 

     The scars running the length of his
back began to glow softly.  In the blink of an eye, brilliant light flared
and his wings unfurled with a low “whoosh”.  I flinched, even though I
knew what was coming.  I didn’t remember ever seeing the flash of light
before, but he was showing off, so maybe that was it. Gwen squealed like a
little girl and jumped back about a foot.  He extended his wings high over
his head, then spread them out to either side of his body.  They were huge,
but unlike Asher’s charcoal grey wings, his were almost totally black. A black
so glossy, that they were nearly purple, with an emerald shift when he moved in
the sunlight.

     Gwen’s eyes were enormous, and her
face had gone as pasty pale as mine usually was.  “Well, what do you
think?  You can touch them, if you promise to be gentle.” He turned and
gave her a smoldering look over his shoulder that he probably practiced in
front of a mirror. Big flirt.

     Gwen’s reaction was immediate, and
painful to behold; she ran behind the closest bushes and barfed. 
Loudly.  Grim looked only mildly disgusted by the whole thing.  I
figured his ego could take a hit. He seemed to be impressed with himself enough
for the both of them.

     Asher clapped his hands together
once, sharply.  “Well, that went better than expected.  Alright, we
really do need to move things along.  Isabel, do you mind fetching your
friend?  Grim seems to have upset the poor girl.”  I wondered how
upset she would be once she remembered where she and Grim had met before.

     I walked up on Gwen slowly, and
noisily, so she wouldn’t freak out.  She had had just about enough
surprises for the day.  She straightened up and wiped her mouth on the
back of her shaking hand.  “Are you ok, Gwen?”

     She nodded, sniffed back tears a
few times, from being sick, and smiled weakly.  “Yeah, I’m good. 
Must’ve eaten something bad for lunch.”  She wouldn’t admit to weakness,
if she could help it.

     “Yeah, that was probably it.” 
I linked my arm in hers and drew her back towards the clearing where the guys
were.  She walked stiffly, like she thought running the other way was a
much better idea, but she let me lead her back because she trusted me.

     Asher had his wings out and he
looked around, suspiciously.  I wondered if we might be under another
attack soon, in spite of this being neutral ground. I walked over to him and
looked up.  No one from above seemed to take any notice of us yet.  I
didn’t know how long that would last, but I doubted we had much time.  One
thing was certain, I had to get back to my dad before someone else found him
first. 

      Grim crossed his arms over
his chest and fluffed his feathers out as Gwen walked up and stood her ground
in front of him.  He may have startled her before, but she had a grip on
herself now, and determined not to let him have the upper hand.  He was
taller than her by several inches, so she had to look up at him.  Being
freakishly tall for a girl, Gwen wasn’t used to looking up at anyone, so I knew
how much it bit her ass, having to do it now.  “You may be an angel, but I
still think that you’re an asshole.”  She said it quietly, through gritted
teeth.  I understood. The urge to run is natural when confronted with
Death.

     Grim flashed suddenly sharp teeth
at her.  “You will find that I grow on you, Pretty.”

     Gwen glared at him.  “Not
likely.” She spun on her heel and turned her back on him.  She took a deep
breath and straightened her shoulders. “Well, Iz, interesting new friends
you’ve made.  I guess that answers my question about them.”  She
motioned above our heads with her chin.  “Now, how do we get back home?”

     I let out the breath I hadn’t
realized I’d been holding.  She was going to keep it together. 
Good.  That made things simpler.  “Good question.  Asher?”

     His blonde head was tilted,
listening for something probably only a dog could hear.  He held up a
staying hand, asking for our silence.  His expressions changed quickly and
inexplicably.  It looked like he was carrying on an entire conversation
inside his head, which he probably was.  Finally, he looked at me, but his
expression was bleak.  “We have a meeting with the council of
Elders.  Once they see that you are no threat, they should leave you in
peace.” He tried to look confident, but I wasn’t so sure.  He didn’t look
totally convinced, either.  “Grim, take the girl home.”

     “But we were just getting
acquainted.”

     “Wipe her memory of today.” 
Ice water rushed through my veins.  What was he doing?

     “Hold up,” Gwen threw her hands up
in a ‘stop’ motion.  “I’m not going anywhere without Izzy, so you can get
that idea right out of your damned head.”  She pointed an accusing finger
at Grim, “And you can keep your hands to yourself.  You won’t be able to
wipe your own ass if you try brainwashing me.” I thought about duct taping her
mouth closed.

     Grim reminded me of a cat watching
a mouse; it was a matter of when, not if he would pounce on her.  “Well, I
could let you keep your memories, Pretty, but I’d have to kill you if you told
anyone about us.”

     “Seriously?”  Gwen threw her
arms out wide.  “Who in the hell would believe any of this?”

     “Asher, it isn’t safe for her,
there.  It isn’t safe for any of them, there.”   I was about to
panic. This situation had gotten screwed up so fast, it wasn’t funny.

     Asher gripped my shoulders in his
large hands, and looked me square in the eye, blocking out everything
else.  “Isabel, we have amnesty, but only for a little while.  The Elders
want to meet, and decide what to do with you.  Your family is human, and
therefore, insignificant.  They will harm your people only in an attempt
to force your cooperation.”

     “I’ll cooperate.  I
swear.  Just keep them safe.”

     He kneaded my shoulders.  “I
think I can keep all of you safe, if you will trust me.”  I nodded. 
I would do whatever he asked.

     “Are you crazy?  I don’t trust
him!”  Gwen was getting over her disbelief and heading straight into
pissed off.

     I turned back to her, “Please,
Gwen, do as he says.  For me.  These people aren’t playing
around.”  My knees were weak and I had a sick feeling in the pit of my
stomach, like all of the butterflies had died.

     “Are you listening to yourself,
Iz?  These
people
aren’t people!  What the hell kind of angel has black wings?”

     “Oh, oh, me, pick me, I
know!”  Grim waved his hand in the air like an eager schoolboy, simply to
irritate her more, I was sure.  He swept a regal bow, dropped to one knee,
and placed a hand over his heart.  “We are Reaper Angels, my dear. 
You may have heard of us.”  He watched her reaction like a predator
watches particularly fine prey. He gestured towards Asher with both hands.
“Ashrael, commander of legions of Reapers.  He is not just any angel of
death, mind you, he is The Angel of Death.” He stood up to his full height and
looked down his nose at her, uncharacteristically serious. “So show some
goddamned respect.”

     Gwen’s lips thinned into a hard
line.  She wet her lips before speaking.  “And who might you be,
really?”

    He brought his face down very close to
hers, until their noses were nearly touching.  “I might be the Grim
Reaper.”  His voice came out in a low purr.

     She nodded, once.  “Got it.”
She looked him square in the eye without flinching away.  “I still think
you’re an asshole.”  The look on Grim’s face was priceless.

     “Grim, stop toying with the girl,
and take her back.  We are running out of time.  Stay to make sure
that she and the others are safe, please.  I will call you if I need your
help.”

    Maybe he sensed that Asher’s patience was
almost at an end, but Grim didn’t stop to argue with him.  This whole day
had been one crappy thing happening after another.  We were all running
short on patience.  Gwen backed away from Grim when he started towards
her, and really who could blame her?  He was a scary sight.  I
thought he might toy with her, since that seemed to be how he kept himself
amused, but he grabbed her quickly and disappeared.

     I took an involuntary step forward,
as if I could do anything to bring them back, but I was too late.  My face
grew very hot and began to crumple as my eyes started to sting.  With
horror, I realized that I was about to cry.  In front of Asher, of all people. 
I couldn’t do it.  I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek.  The
pain distracted me long enough to let me get a grip. “What is wrong?”  He
looked so concerned.  I wondered what he would’ve done if I’d just gone
ahead and let the tears and snot fly. 

     “I didn’t get to say good-bye to
her.”  My voice was tiny, barely above a whisper.  Inside, I writhed
in shame for my weakness. I could do better than this; I needed to stay strong,
at least for a little while longer. “I didn’t get to say good-bye to any of
them.” I really wanted to get to my meltdown, and be done with it.

     “All will be well.  If
everything works out, your separation will be but short-lived.”  He
sounded so confident, I almost believed him, but this situation was screwed
nine ways to Sunday, as Gwen would say.  I didn’t see any possible
solution, other than my own early demise.  I’d kind of hoped to avoid
that, if at all possible, but if that was the only way to protect my family,
then so be it. Nobody gets to live forever. I glanced side-ways at Asher…
almost nobody.

      Asher held his hand out to
me, and I slipped mine into it, trustingly.  The knot in my chest
loosened, somewhat.  Maybe this would come out ok, somehow.  If I
could just keep my dad and Gwen’s family safe, then it would be enough. 
It would have to be enough.

     “I know you will not want to, but
we have to fly from here up to the Aerie.  There can be no shifting in and
out, for security reasons.  The Elders want to meet with you.  We do
not have much time.”

     “Alright,” I squared my shoulders
as I came to him, my heart in my throat, “but you better not drop me into
another lake.”  Or anywhere else.  Getting dropped was high on my
list of things to avoid.

     When he smiled, it softened the
hard lines of his face.  “I promise not to drop you.”

     His arms snaked around me and
pulled me up tight against him.  It was strange, how well we fit
together. I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head on his bare
chest. His skin was warm against my cheek.  My throat tightened.  I
thought of trying to hold myself at a distance, but the pitiful truth was that
I was scared, and I wanted him to hold me tight.  I was alone in the
world, except for this beautiful, deadly angel.  Cold fear poured through
me. How much trouble would he be in for trying to protect me?  Would there
be any way to keep him safe?

     I inhaled deeply, taking comfort in
Asher’s unique scent.  It left me almost light-headed.  I didn’t have
much experience with boys, a few dates, here and there, but I knew what I was
feeling was more than a simple crush. And really, a super-complicated
relationship couldn’t have come about at a better time. Not.

     Even if he weren’t the freaking,
almighty Angel of Death, and all his creepy-assed friends didn’t want to kill
me, then I still had high school to finish and college to start.  Not to
mention there was kind of an age difference of oh, say, a few dozen
millennia.  It gave a May/December relationship a whole new meaning.
 And all of this was assuming that he had any feelings for
me
.  I was so
thankful, just then, that he didn’t seem to be able to read my mind.  I
would have died of embarrassment long before anyone else got the chance to kill
me.

     Asher’s arms tightened around me as
his wings spread out, enormous, and silvery black in the sunlight. He looked me
in the eye, his face only a breath from mine when we shot straight up into the
sky.  My heart flew into my throat.  Thankfully, I did not scream,
but only because it took my breath away.  Although, I dearly wanted to
holler my fool head off; a good, gut-deep shriek would’ve made me feel much
better about the whole thing.

     It must have taken incredible
strength for Asher to move so quickly, especially since he was carrying me, but
he didn’t seem to be putting much effort into it at all.  The towering
trees below became nothing more than tiny specs as we soared above.  Raw
terror didn’t seize me, this time.  A deep-rooted fear, yes, but not mind
numbing panic.  I guess I just knew that Asher would never let me
fall.  He might drop me on purpose, like the last time, but he would never
let me fall. 

    I dared a glance over his shoulder.
 At least a dozen angels paused mid-flight to watch us.  Both male
and female; inhumanly beautiful faces turned astonished, disapproving glances
on us. Humans, undoubtedly, do not belong in the Sanctuary. Bringing one there
was probably unheard of.  It was sacred ground, and I didn’t have to be
told that I probably wouldn’t be welcomed with either open arms or wings.

          We
passed them by and continued on, up into much colder air.  My teeth were
almost chattering, but I didn’t complain; I didn’t want to distract Asher in
case some of the angels we passed were of a mind to pull a sneak attack. 
I kept my head buried in his neck most of the time, still terrified of the
view.  It didn’t hurt that he was the only warm thing in a world full of
miserable cold. 

    At the top of the mountain Asher paused
and dropped down lightly onto jagged stone.  I chanced a peek. The drop over
the side was beyond dizzying, though mostly obscured by marshmallow
clouds.  “You are safe, Isabel.  Look up, girl.” He didn’t even sound
out of breath.  I was impressed, since I was feeling sort of breathless at
the moment.  It could have been the view, but most likely it was the lack
of oxygen.

     Slowly, I pulled myself away from
him and looked all around.  “Wow.  Just…wow.  What is this
place?”  It was a castle in the clouds, and it was magnificent.  It
was a fortress that stretched miles into the sky and spread out as far as the
eye could see.  It was mind-blowing.

     “This is the Aerie.  It is
home to many beings, and it changes constantly.”  Asher smiled as he
watched my reaction.  He looked happy, and relieved to be home.  I
hoped he was right about it being a safe place.

     “What do you mean, it
changes?”  My eyes widened as I tried to take in everything at once. 
The castle was grey stone, solid as the mountain itself, but even as we
watched, pieces of it grew transparent.  Parts of the great hall grew
wooden, then shifted back to stone.  “Holy crap, why is it doing
that?  How is it doing that?”  Out of all the weird stuff that I had
seen and done in the past couple of weeks, this topped them all.

     “The castle shifts depending on the
needs and tastes of its occupants.  Some rooms grow smaller, some
larger.  Hallways, also.  From the inside it may appear to be
anything from tiny shack, to an enormous skyscraper.”  He shrugged, “It
all depends on what we need, or what we want.”

     I shook my head, trying to
comprehend, but it was impossible to wrap my head around this crazy
place.  “That’s insane.”

     “In my Father’s house, there are
many mansions…”

     I bit my lip nervously as I looked
all around.  Where, exactly, had he brought me?  “That’s part of the
Bible.  This isn’t Heaven…is it?”

     He laughed at me, almost like I’d
surprised it out of him.  “Oh, no, this is nothing half so grand. 
Just a place of rest.  This is Sanctuary, and it is neutral ground. 
The Elders are here, as well as other immortals; angels mostly, but also a
demon or two, probably.  You will be amazed at the things you will see,
but not half as amazed as they will be to see you.”  He looked younger
than I ever remembered seeing him; not that he ever looked old, but he was
always so
serious
. 
Maybe it was because the lines around his face relaxed, and his eyes were
shining a silvery, liquid grey.

     “Because I’m human?”  I hated
to burst his bubble, but it was his buddies who just tried to kill me.  The
chances of anyone listening to reason were pretty slim.  I didn’t like our
chances.

     “No, because you are something more
than human.  You are something
other.
” 
He took my hand, pulling me along towards the entrance.  “I want to show
you everything, but unfortunately, we do not have much time.”  I tripped
along, struggling to keep up with his much longer legs.  He made a point
of slowing down for me.  After that comment about the demons showing up, I
wasn’t sure I wanted to go inside.  I’d already had quite enough to do
with demons, thank you very much.  Then I reminded myself, ruefully, that
it was angels who attacked my school.  If both sides wanted to kill me,
what chance did I have?

     Enormous wooden doors, banded with
iron, guarded the entrance to the Aerie.  Asher made a fist and struck the
door, once.  A deep, low boom echoed far longer than it should have. 
I scooted in close to his side, almost literally under his wing.  He
squeezed my hand gently.  I squeezed back, then worried that my hand might
be clammy. My stomach was in knots; I so wanted to get this over with.

     The doors opened soundlessly to a
long, tree-lined pathway. Oddly enough, there wasn’t a soul in sight, no pun
intended.   Blue skies shined overhead.  “Are we still inside
the castle?  This place is so strange. Why isn’t there anyone here? 
I thought there would be guards, or something.” It felt like being in church;
you just automatically lowered your voice to a whisper.

     Asher chuckled indulgently. “I told
you, it is a place of rest.  No one guards the Aerie, yet everyone does,
if that makes any sense to you.”  With all of the angels flying around the
place, it made perfect sense, and yet, I expected some kind of welcoming
committee.  An armed welcoming committee.

     This place was enough to give me a
headache. It was all confusion and misdirection.  “I guess that makes
sense. This is kind of creepy, Asher.”  Mossy trees lined both sides of
our dirt path, their branches gnarly, and misshapen.  Leaves crunched
beneath our feet, and deeper into the forest a brook bubbled.  In the wind
blowing through the strangely fashioned trees, I heard his name;
“Asshherr.”  It was a sibilant hiss, a whisper on the wind.  A shiver
crawled down my spine as his name whispered over and over, on the wind.

     “Some of these trees kind of look
like they’re human shaped.”  I pointed just off the path at a large, curvy
tree with a remarkably feminine silhouette.  Curves ran in all the right
places where hips and breasts would be on a woman.  Branches stretched
towards the sky, like slender arms, and the thing swayed slowly in the
breeze.  Once I started looking closer, I realized that there were dozens
of trees like that.  And they whispered his name.

     “That is nothing to worry about. These
trees are the homes of dryads, tree spirits.”      

     “Seriously?”  I’d read about dryads during some of
my lighter reading in junior high. I wasn’t about to tell Asher that, though.
Gwen had accused me of being a pretentious little shit for reading Greek
mythology in my downtime, but who was laughing now?  Ah, who was I
kidding?  Gwen was right; I was a pretentious little shit.

     Asher nodded toward the tree. 
“The ancient Greeks told stories of them; women who resided in the
forest.  Their spirits make their homes in trees.  Like most
supernatural creatures, they kept to themselves until they became only myth to
the humans around them.  Better to be ignored than hunted, do you not
agree?” 

     A tree slowly bent towards us,
almost in acknowledgement.  One long, gnarly branch twisted to brush
through Asher’s hair in a delicate caress. I nearly had a heart attack.  I
really tried to act natural, but then that same branch flew back and smacked me
upside my head.  Ouch!  That freaking hurt.  And to add insult
to my injury, the wind picked up, shaking the leaves on the trees, and they
seemed to be laughing at me.  It was obvious that here, I was prey, to
everything.  If I had a chainsaw, a gallon of gas, and a few matches it
would be a whole different story. 

     I picked up the pace, and stayed
closer to him.  It seemed like the only safe place to be. He didn’t seem
to notice my head injury.  “Um, sure, but it makes me wonder what else
might be real.  Vampires? Werewolves?  Ghosts?” Ghosties and ghoulies
and long legged beasties?

     “Yes, on all counts, and many other
supernatural beings, too.  There is always some grain of truth in all of
your old stories.”  Now I knew why ignorance was supposed to be bliss.
Some things I really didn’t want to know.  So many things could go bump in
the night.  Too many things.

     “Um, Asher, where are we
going?  I thought we were going into the castle, but this just looks like
a forest, and I don’t see anyone around.” Except more dryads, of course, and
they didn’t seem to like me.   Asher, they liked
plenty
.  Twigs and
tender young branches seemed to constantly reach to touch his wings, or run
through his hair. I even saw one swish across his butt.  I made a point of
snapping that one off sharply, then jumped out of the way before the next
branch caught me.  They could only reach so far.