The wintry forest was eerie with no animal life.
It was steeped in shadows.
Tones of blue-gray distorted my vision even worse than usual, and a preternatural chill froze my bones from the inside out.
I shivered uncontrollably as Knox hovered gracefully among the trees.
His shoulder-length brown hair defied gravity; it floated around the crown of his head like a halo as the rapid beat of his wings created wind.
His face was ethereal.
Contorted in pure bliss.
One black and one yellow eye were opened wide and staring up at the sky as if he’d found his life’s purpose and there was nowhere else he’d rather be, nothing he’d rather do.
He was built to fly.
I’d never known such rapture.
The angel captain folded his wings against his back and dropped to his feet. He smirked at me.
Sadie clapped loudly in the silence, and I glared over at the traitor.
Rina put her pointer finger to her red lips in an exaggerated shushing motion.
Sadie made an obscene gesture back, and Cobra smirked down at her. Jax rubbed at his face like he was exhausted, while Ascher and Xerxes stood behind Sadie, making similar gestures in solidarity.
No one would ever say they didn’t support their mate.
The twins sat on the ground in front of the shifters, watching me silently. I made eye contact with John, and he gave me a thumbs-up.
Scorpius was the only king present, and he’d announced that Orion and Malum had to do “secret High Court business.”
He’d sounded angry that he hadn’t been included with his mates and had been left behind to babysit me.
A part of me was upset that two of the kings had disappeared again.
The blue-tinted forest darkened to gray.
All pigment disappeared.
The cold intensified.
The kings were keeping secrets and lying.
“Now you try.” Knox pointed at me as he demonstrated the motion with his shoulders.
I took a deep breath even though I knew it was pointless. I’d already tried and failed plenty of times.
Standing up straight, I tried to ignore the crushing weight that pulled my spine toward the ground as sweat streaked down the sides of my face and dripped off my chin.
Wild curls were itchy where they stuck to my neck and forehead.
Discomfort radiated down my spine.
Bent knees shaking, I flared my wings wide, flexed my arms, and pushed my shoulder muscles downward with every ounce of strength I possessed.
My muscles strained, and I grunted through gritted teeth. Groaning, I tried to replicate Knox’s smooth flapping.
Unfamiliar appendages ached with pain.
My wings flapped like they were in molasses.
Time morphed and expanded until each second lasted an eternity.
I didn’t fly.
Again.
Mother would have loved this moment, too bad I ate her heart.
Back buckling under the weight of my wings, I gave up and rested my hands on my knees, gasping loudly while cold air whistled through my teeth and burned my gums. I tasted copper in my mouth even though there was no blood.
My teeth ached from inhaling harshly.
Freezing temperatures were a miserable bitch.
“Good job. You’re doing it.” Sadie clapped loudly, and I shot her a glare because I clearly was not doing it.
She stopped clapping when she saw my facial expression. “I swear I saw you hover a few inches.” Her face was earnest and shone with pride.
“Did I really?” I asked doubtfully.
She crossed her arms over her chest and made the symbol of the sun god with her fingers. “I swear on Cobra’s life that I saw you rise off the ground.”
“Excuse me?” Cobra hissed.
Across the clearing, Vegar mouthed, “No, you didn’t fly. You suck,” while Zenith gave me a thumbs-up.
I exhaled exhaustion.
“I promise you flew!” Sadie said aggressively and glared at the other people in the forest, daring them to contradict her.
“I hope so,” I mumbled as I concentrated on not passing out as I asphyxiated on air. Fatigue and zero progress after hours of effort were killing me.
It was like running in place.
Banging my fractured skull against a brick wall.
Being trapped at Elite Academy.
Fighting in a battle against monsters.
Killing when I wanted to rest.
“She’s lying to try to make you feel better,” Jinx’s voice rang inside my mind. “Nothing happened.”
Her voice cleared the haze.
It sounded like she was speaking directly into my ear. Each word was crystal clear and nothing like the fuzzy connection that had cut out in the middle of battle.
I stopped spiraling and glared over at her, nearly falling over from my sudden movement. The unfamiliar weight distribution pulled me lower into a hunch.
I gasped out clouds of water vapor.
Hyperventilated.
Jinx leaned against a tree next to Scorpius, who clenched her elbow in a tight grip and made sure she didn’t fall over. Since Warren was currently in ferret form, wrapped around her neck, it seemed the king had taken his place.
She had a black cast on her wrist. She said she broke it tripping while trying to maneuver into bed.
Annoyance flared in my gut. What was taking the prosthetic so long? The High Court couldn’t be this incompetent.
Black sunglasses hid Jinx’s face as she watched me with a bored expression. Standing next to the tall devil, she almost came up to his shoulders. She no longer looked like a small child.
Had she always had curves?
She was definitely getting taller.
“How old are you again?” I asked in my head, forgetting to be annoyed that I hadn’t made any progress with flying. “You don’t look fourteen.”
Jinx’s voice echoed crisply through my skull. “I’m older than you.”
I scoffed aloud. “Good one.”
“What?” Knox’s mismatched eyes focused on me. “Who are you talking to?”
“A crazy bitch,” I mumbled as I turned back to the angel.
In my peripheral vision, Jinx and Scorpius shared a smirk. When had they become friends? I sensed danger.
“Try again,” Knox said encouragingly as he showed me how to push my shoulders back. Now that I had earned my wings, the angel captain was nothing but pleasant and positive.
In fact, he made it a point to be nice to everyone in the camp.
His attitude differed vastly from how he’d acted during the Legionnaire Games, and contrasted with the haughty arrogance of the rest of the angels.
They used the term grounders frequently.
They sneered when we gave them instructions.
Case in point, Rina huffed loudly at Knox’s proclamation, and she flopped back against a tree with annoyance. The men and women angels around her did the same.
They grumbled and shuffled with boredom.
Glared at me with disgust.
I hated to say it, but I got where they were coming from. It seemed like the gods had made a mistake naming the shifter and academy legions as champions.
We were chaotic, unorganized, and prone to falling apart. Not the best candidates for leading a war.
I wouldn’t want to listen to me either.
But the angels could fly.
They were majestic and elegant, full of confidence, and seemingly unfazed by the ungodly’s violence.