The Weight of a Wing (Excerpt)

Chapter Two

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."