“You think I’m a fallen . . .”
He glances down at me, studying me before staring deeply into my eyes.
“Your eyes are incredible. Like actual silver at the edges,” he whispers, heat coating his words. They wash through me like it used to when someone admitted how pretty I was.
No one’s complimented me in years, and instead of preening the way I once did, I look away from him. The pavement holds my gaze, and I try to think through the mess I’ve made.
Again. Catherine chimes in.
God. I thought she’d dozed off.
At least now you’re getting out for a bit, my parasite scoffs.
Yeah . . . I’ve been arrested. This doesn’t exactly count as a fucking field trip, Catherine.
My jaw clenches, and the warmth of the hard body pressed against me shifts beneath my thighs and arms.
“What’s your name?” he asks. This time, when he looks down at me, his dark watchful gaze slips to my lips for the briefest moment. I feel the attention burn along my skin.
“Aries.” My spine’s stiff, and my arms are straight down at my sides in the most uncomfortable position. It’d be easy to melt into him, lean against his shoulder a little.
But that’s not going to happen.
He might be carrying me, but I’m not weak.
Okay, I’m really tired from our struggle and need to get a nap in today, but I’m not that weak.
“I’m Damien,” he says in that delicious rasping tone, as if I asked.
I probably should have. But I’m apparently shit at talking to people now. That’s what happens when your best friend lets you lead the conversation all the time. Alexa is follower. A little quiet, too. I guess I’ve lost touch with how to communicate with regular society.
You think? A snarky voice at the back of my mind chirps.
God, I hate her.
“Your wings are seriously heavy. Maybe I’ve just forgotten how heavy they should be since mine have been gone for six months.”
Six months? He shed his wings six months ago and hasn’t made the final transition into a demon?
How is this possible?
Generally, fallen make it a week before becoming as dark-hearted as I am.
Not that you can compare dark fae to demons. My father would kill anyone who suggested such a thing. Fae are more powerful. Trickier, of course. Crueler by far. But . . . we are alike. In a way.
The light fae will always be the innocent opposites of the dark fae. Demons are so damn similar to dark fae and yet, they’re deemed monsters in my father’s eyes. They’re not blessed by the gods like fea are and so, they’re not good enough for his kingdom.
But the real issue here is why the fuck are these two searching for fallen angels? And . . . what fresh hell are they taking me to now?
It all makes sense when Zav turns down a quiet alley between two tall buildings. The shadows lick at his footsteps, and my dark fae magic stirs to life just from being in so much darkness.
A tabby cat with vivid green eyes peers at us as it paws a sack of trash near the backdoor of Italy’s Finest. Puddles litter the cobblestones, but Damien’s smooth pace never allows his shining black boots to collide with the dirty water.
My entire body hums to life just being here again.
Magic is a prickling thing that I think humans are sometimes aware of. It’s a cold chill chasing down your spine and lifting the hair along your arm. A sense of silence that rings in your ears. It’s the most casual thing that isn’t casual at all if you really pause to think about it.
And I feel those telling sensations crashing into me like a freight train right now.
Ahead, a brick wall coated in heavy spray paint is our destination. This is it. This is the veil between the fae realm and the human realm. I came through that portal three years ago, and I’ve come back a hundred times, usually in the middle of the night, and yes, usually disgustingly drunk.
But it’s never opened for me. Not since my father shoved me out of it without looking back. Some days, I think he did it to protect me from my brother’s violence. And somedays, I think he did it to protect my brother from me.
I feel it now, though. I feel the fae realm calling to me, sizzling through my veins and pressing into my chest, like it needs me as much as I need it. The way I glance toward Damien out of the corner of my eye feels suspicious.
Can he really bring me back? He can take me home?
I want that to be true more than anything. The pounding of my heart feels like I’ve already been let down. It feels like he’s already failed, and I’m fucked all over again.
Zav waits in the darkness and gestures carelessly for Damien to go first. His big white wings ruffle behind him as his cutting gaze slices over our surroundings like he might lash out at that cat if he feels too terribly threatened.
Damien strides forward. Magic claws at my body. His fingers dig into my arm and thigh as he holds me closer to his chest. He takes a single step. And bright white light floods over us, wrapping around us so tightly, it feels like we’ll never be unbound from one another for as long as we both shall live.
When my eyes open, quiet nature is all that surrounds us. Trees as wide as my king-size bed spiral up into the deep blue sky. Their limbs cascade down from above to tickle against my cheek. Their enormous leaves brush against our bodies as Damien walks deeper into my homeland.
Wet tears sting my eyes, and the breath in my chest physically hurts, but I can’t seem to release it. I never thought I’d see this place ever again. Not even when I died. I thought I’d die in that loud Bin of a realm. I thought I’d ruined my chances at a final sleep beneath the meadow as my mother liked to call it.
I’m here.
I’m home.
3
Home
My head keeps swiveling to take in the long vines and leaves, the moss and the dirt, every minute detail.
“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Damien whispers.
Then I realize he thinks I’m in awe of the fae. Because he thinks I’m a fallen angel instead of someone who should have been here all along.
I made sacrifices, and maybe it was a stupid, stupid choice to snort demonic remains, but it’s a choice I’d make all over again if given the chance.
We all have our reasons. Mine just had life altering consequences.
“Wait till you see the fae.” There’s a small smile lining his full lips, and he’s still talking in that calming gravelly voice he has.
I’m addicted to the sound of his words, but more so, I want to know how he feels about fae. Because I know how fae feel about him and his kind. They’re beneath us. Literally, they should be beneath us. Not here in our realm.
I don’t agree with that entirely. They have a demon realm, but if the fae can come and go in the demon realm, the human realm, and our own realm, why can the others not do the same? Centuries ago they could only leave their realm if they were called upon. If they were summoned then they could finally leave their hellhole.
It’s not like that anymore. But I can’t say it’s any better for them.
“What about the fae?” I finally ask him.
Faint lines crease around his amber eyes. His gaze is like warm honey, and I’m all too aware of how handsome my captor is.
Have you ever considered seeing a therapist? Catherine chimes.