Wings of the Wicked

3


THE NEXT DAY, MY BODY WAS STILL SORE AND I WAS still shaken up. I never thought I’d have a fear of heights, but I guess falling a thousand feet was enough to ignite that fear. At one point after homeroom this morning, I stood up too fast and had a swirling bout of vertigo and nearly fell to my knees. My class right after lunch was psychology, and it was my favorite. There were only thirteen students in the class, including my friends Kate and Chris. Landon had tried to get into the class with us, but enrollment was closed before he signed up. Served him right for sitting on his ass about scheduling. Today we were working in groups of mostly three on a learning-and-conditioning project. Instead of focusing, I flipped through my book absently as Kate and Chris argued about what to do our project on.

“We could just stick Ellie in a Skinner box,” Chris offered.

That got my attention. I glared at him from over the top of my textbook. “Or not.”

“Just think, Ell,” Kate chimed. “Solve a puzzle, get a cookie? Easy A for sure. Plus, you get cookies.”

“Or not.”

They laughed, but I knew they were serious about locking me inside a box. I’d like to see them try to overpower me, since I could throw them both through a wall with a flick of my wrist. My powers were scary, but at least I didn’t have to worry about anyone hurting me—unless they were winged reapers who ate people and dragged their souls to Hell. Yeah, they were a lot scarier than any human killers I’d ever heard of. Jeffrey Dahmer was a buttercup compared to some of the things I’d faced and defeated.

I needed to use the restroom, so I stood up from our table and asked for permission from the teacher. With the hall pass in hand, I walked toward the classroom door.

“Okay, everybody who’s not cool, leave the room.”

I’d already walked out the door when Chris’s words sank in, and I spun on my heels. Poking my head back in the door, I flipped him off, and pretty much the entire class laughed their asses off. “You are such a jerk,” I growled, and continued on my way.

My friends considered teasing me an Olympic sport, but when it really came down to it, I knew they had my back. Especially Kate. She was my best friend and had defended me on countless occasions.

The hallways were empty. As I passed by the windows on my way to the restroom, a figure standing out in the courtyard made my heart stop dead.

A demonic reaper stood in the sunlight, steaming like dry ice in a bucket of water. I didn’t stop to stare, but I registered that it was a he and a vir reaper. Gray feathered wings sprouted high from his shoulders, as if he’d landed just a moment ago. And then he was gone, disappearing into the Grim before anyone else noticed him. He wanted me to see him. Fear shuddered through me and I bolted. I wasn’t ready to face a vir reaper on my own. Their human guises were clever, but I knew they were the most powerful of all reapers.

“Ellie,” called a careful voice.

The reaper suddenly appeared right in front of me, wings folding and disappearing, and I couldn’t help the cry that escaped my lips. Adrenaline pounded through me, and I could barely hear anything above my own wild pulse. I swung a fist without a thought, but he grabbed my wrist and held my arm tight, away from his face.

“I’m not here to fight,” he said.

“Yeah, right.” I yanked my arm down and shot a knee into his gut. He let out a whoosh of air, and I slammed a palm into his chest, shoving his back into the wall. Tiles cracked and he doubled over.

“Wait,” he pleaded as I curled my hand around his throat and pressed him harder into the wall.

My eyes went wide when I recognized him. My spiked adrenaline hadn’t allowed me to think straight right away, but I’d know that ethereally beautiful face and pale-gold hair anywhere. It was Cadan. He was like the real-life version of an ancient Greek statue—except not totally naked. Thank God … or maybe not. I grimaced and shook my head, trying to banish the thought.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

“Nice to see you, too,” he said with a grin, as if reading my mind.

My heart slowed down, but I didn’t release him. “What are you doing here? Isn’t this a little early for you to be up, seeing as how the sun’s out and all? Pretty gutsy of you, if you ask me.”

“I needed to catch you without your Guardian,” he said. “He’d never let me speak to you otherwise.”

“Can you blame him?”

His grin widened, and something dark flickered there. “Not in the slightest.”

“If you came here to speak, then speak,” I said, my voice ice cold.

His smile vanished. “I’ve come here to warn you.”

I almost laughed. “About what?”

“Bastian has the Enshi.”

My blood ran cold and my lips went numb. I stared into his opal eyes, watching the flames flicker there, searching for any sign that told me he was lying.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. I quickly released his throat in exchange for his arm and dragged him into the girls’ restroom for some privacy. Humans couldn’t be allowed to overhear our conversation, and while the Grim could conceal us from sight, we could still be heard.

“How?” I barked, and let go of him a little too roughly.

“I have no idea,” he said, rubbing his arm. “A submarine, maybe a leviathan, who knows. But he has it. I’ve seen the sarcophagus with my own eyes.”

I studied his face, perplexed. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I like things the way they are,” he confessed. “This Enshi, whatever it is, scares me, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. It could be more dangerous than anyone ever imagined.”

“That’s strange for one of the demonic to say. I thought you guys loved chaos, death, and destruction.”

“Chaos is a treasured pastime, but I’m not really interested in destroying the world.”

“I thought Bastian just wanted to destroy my soul.”

“You’re only a stepping-stone, angel girl. Bastian wants a war. Like in the old days. Hell on Earth, if you catch my drift.”

“The Second War,” I concluded. “The Apocalypse.”

Something flickered in my senses, and I shoved Cadan into one of the stalls. The door opened suddenly. I spun around, my heart pounding, as Kate emerged.

“Dude, where have you been?” she pressed, her annoyance obvious.

“Just in here,” I said with a smile. If I’d gone into the Grim and no one could find me, I would’ve created a lot more problems for myself.

“You’re going to get into trouble if you don’t come back soon.”

“I’m just fixing my hair,” I lied. “Another minute and I’ll be back.”

She narrowed her eyes, frowning. “Your hair looks fine.”

“Whatever. I’ll be back in a minute. I promise.”

“’Kay. See you.” She disappeared out of the restroom, her long blond hair swinging behind her.

I turned back and pushed open the door to the stall I’d shoved Cadan into. His grin made me want to punch him. Again.

“Imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t heard her coming.”

“Screw you,” I growled, and grabbed his collar to drag him out of the stall.

“In a public restroom, Ellie? Really? Didn’t think you were that kind of girl.”

My jaw ground tight. “I don’t have all day and neither do you. Finish what you came here to say and get lost.”

“I’m here to warn you that you’re being hunted,” he said, suddenly serious, his words edged with something frightening.

“I’m always being hunted.”

“They want you alive, and Bastian’s sent his nastiest to snatch you up. The nycterids are only the beginning. If they fail, Bastian has worse things lined up. Worse than me, worse than Ragnuk, worse than Ivar. Things that know what they’re doing. They’ve lived a long time, even by my standards, and they calculate every move they make. They aren’t fueled by rage or madness like those you’ve fought before. Killing is their occupation, and they are very likely to succeed in capturing you if Orek and his ilk don’t get you first.”

I leaned back against the sink and crossed my arms over my chest. Pressure built in the front of my skull as I weighed his words. This was not what I wanted to hear the day I had to start a new psych project. Why couldn’t evil wait for summer, when I had nothing better to do than fight it and get a tan?

“Are they vir?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Oh, great. The humanlike vir reapers were the strongest by far, and I’d only killed two before in this lifetime—and barely. If these could scare a demonic vir like Cadan, then my future was bleak. “Why doesn’t Bastian come for me himself?”

“Because he’s looking for a key of some kind,” Cadan explained. “The Enochian prayer on the sarcophagus is actually a spell. Angelic magic has it locked up tight, but every spell can be broken. Something will unlock it, and I think it has to do with you. That’s all I know. I’m no longer in Bastian’s private circle, and he doesn’t trust me—for good reason.”

I nearly laughed. “Is this because you didn’t help him stop us from throwing the sarcophagus to the bottom of the ocean?”

“Something like that.”

“Will he kill you for telling me all this?”

“If he finds out, then I don’t doubt it.”

My gaze darkened. “If you think you’ve just won amnesty from me, you’re wrong.”

To my surprise, he glared at me in anger. It appeared I’d struck a nerve. “You have trust issues, you know.”

“You’re a reaper. Of course I don’t trust you.”

“I’m putting myself at risk by coming here, out in the middle of the day, no less. Who knows if your overzealous guard dog will smash my face through a wall any second, or if Bastian will be waiting for me when I get home? In any case, I’ve told you what I know, and I want you to make use of it before we all die.”

“Are you finished?” I slid along the wall to the exit so that my back was never to him.

“So eager to get away from me, I see. How disappointing.”

“I have to get back to class,” I said. “I’m not getting detention because of you, and I don’t want to get caught with a boy in here. If I get expelled, then I’ll never get into college.”

He laughed softly. “College? Really? If only things were still that simple for you.”

“Don’t talk to me like you know me, vir.” I started to turn away from him.

He grabbed my hand and my throat tightened. The touch reminded me of the night of the Halloween party, when we’d first met and he’d taken my hand to dance with me. His grip was gentle in a way that frightened me. I stared at him, frozen like a deer caught in the glare of headlights, until my senses finally returned to me. I yanked free with ease. “And don’t touch me, either.”

“I’m sorry,” Cadan said, and swallowed hard.

His apology startled me. I’d expected a wiseass remark or for him to grab me again, but he just stood there looking conflicted. My gaze wandered unbidden over his shoulder.

“Your wings,” I said. “They didn’t have feathers before. On the ship when we threw over the sarcophagus, your wings were leathery, like bat wings.”

He looked at me inquisitively and shrugged. “Some of us can change more than others. Feathers aren’t as waterproof, and flying over the sea was dangerous. I took precautions. Why? Do you like the other wings better? I can change for you.” His wings burst free, the feathers replaced by a strong hide. They were so massive, it felt as if the room had closed in around us suddenly. For a moment I could only stare and keep myself from reaching out to feel them.

“You should put them away,” I said shakily. “What if someone comes in?”

“Then they’ll probably run screaming.”

“I have to go and so do you.”

“You’re no fun, angel girl.” His wings vanished.

I could sense the energy from his transformation. When his wings grew, the air crackled with electricity, and now that they were gone, the relief was instant. “I can’t leave you here. How will I know you won’t decide to snack on some of the students?”

“I have never eaten a human.” He said it with such disgust that I almost believed him.

I had a brief flashback to the night on the ship: Geir clutching Jose’s body in the darkness, the poor ship captain’s blood dribbling past the mad demonic reaper’s shark teeth and down his chin and chest. I shuddered, desperate to keep the image of Cadan doing something similar out of my mind. “Sure you haven’t.”

“What is your problem? I’m trying to help you.”

“You’re a demonic reaper,” I said, almost laughing. “I have no reason to trust you.”

A stab of anger darkened his brow. “And I’ve given you no reason to treat me like an animal. As I recall, you didn’t have a problem with me until you found out what I was.”

“Good-bye, Cadan,” I said, backing out the door.

“If I hear anything new, I’ll come to you.”

“Be careful,” I warned. “My guard dog bites.”

He grinned, and that impish gleam returned to his eyes. “And you don’t?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Don’t get me excited.”

I couldn’t tell if Cadan was just being an idiot or if he was seriously trying to flirt with me. Disgusted, I said nothing more and left the reaper in the restroom. Some part of me believed him when he said he’d never eaten a human. It was hard to imagine a boy that hot eating people, and eating people was just all kinds of wrong.

But, then again, Cadan wasn’t just a boy, and he was all kinds of wrong, too.