Soul Bound

Chapter Eighteen

"What do you have in mind?" I ask, eyebrows arched, smile wide.

"Sabotage."

"You do it too?" I'm not entirely surprised.

His grin slants, one side of his mouth raised with cockiness. "Destroyed about forty on my way here from Colorado."

I hop on the small bit of information. "You're from Colorado?"

River's lips straighten into a thin line. "It was home." He pauses. "For a while."

"Why did you—"

"Give me one more night of being the mysterious new visitor." His blonde eyelashes flutter as he looks away then back at me. "Let's do what we do best for now."

I think about questioning him further, but decide I'd like one more night with things as they are too.

We say our good nights to the kids—well, River awkwardly shakes their hands—and Hicks gives me a questioning glance, before tossing River's shirt to him. Dunn voices his disapproval but, when River holds out his hand to apologize, he shuts up and shakes it, nodding his head in acceptance. Things are smoothed over for now.

When they're all packed up and driving away, I glance over the ocean just in time to see the last bit of sun disappear. Only the barest bit of light is left behind.

"It's about four miles from here right?" River asks, slipping his shirt over his head.

I swallow the disappointed huff I almost let out. "Yeah, about that. Grab some oranges for the pipes? There's a few trees on the way."

His snicker is a bit degrading. "Oranges? What is this? Amateur night?"

My cheeks flush with embarrassment, "Well, how do you do it?"

"Come on, I'll show you." His eyes glint with anticipation.

He climbs up into the sea grape, disappearing from view. Out the top of the canopy flies his osprey form. Guess he wants me to give bird form another try. I follow his lead and, in what's a much smoother transition this time around, shift into the eagle, flapping my wings as hard as I can to pick up altitude.

It's an entirely different experience, flying at night. I'm calmer, Wolf is calmer, and it's much less stressful. The brightening glow of souls beneath us is a reassurance, the air is moist and cool, and the wind is taking us exactly where we need to go. With the barest effort, I glide beside River, beneath a dark sky that's slowly lighting up with stars and above the ground where lights are getting flicked on one by one in houses and streetlights in the distance. When looking ahead, it's almost impossible to tell where the night sky ends: it's an expanse of flickering lights. It's becoming a maze of illumination.

Next to me, and before I'm really ready to stop this wonderful flight, River begins his descent. I follow suit, tucking my wings in closer to my body, legs spread for balance, ready to shift back.

River reaches the ground much faster than I do. And it's when he hits the ground in human form that I realize I've never landed before. How the hell do I land?

Calm, Wolf tells me.

Right. Calm. I take a deep breath and do what River did: at the last possible second I push my wings out, letting the wind catch them like a parachute. It's only after I shift that I realize I do so too late, and before I can get my feet under me, land hard on my knees, which sends my face straight into the dirt.

"Hey!" River rushes to my side.

He flips me over on my back and looks me over. When he gets to my face he bursts out laughing.