Renegades (Hotbloods #3)

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” I said. “I was going to try to learn on my own, but then I got scared, and just… never got around to it.”

Navan smiled warmly, looking deep into my eyes. “Well, now I can teach you without you having to worry about dropping out of the sky. If you fall, I’ll be there to catch you,” he said in a low tone, stroking a strand of hair behind my ears. With every word, I wanted to burst out laughing, the whole thing feeling like something out of a cheesy rom-com. And yet, the queen seemed delighted by it, her eyes gleaming with the magic of romance.

“Love’s young dream, the pair of you,” she sighed, showing her approval. “Instead of continuing here, why don’t you head out to the training fields to try out your gift? I give you my permission to skip today’s scheduled sessions in favor of learning to fly.” She winked, ushering the pair of us out of the door, leaving no room for a refusal. I knew it wouldn’t go down well with the other trainees, but I found I just couldn’t bring myself to care anymore. They were going to hate me no matter what I did, so I might as well learn something useful in the process.

With me bundled up in my fur coat, we took the long hallway that led through the middle of the training center, going in the opposite direction of the entrance and not stopping until we reached the very end. It was a lengthy trek that ended in a vast hangar, with various ships stowed against the walls. They were practice vessels, for when the trainees reached that stage of their journey from recruit to full-fledged soldier. Beyond the hangar stood two large doors that opened onto vast, empty fields that were used for battle scenarios involving gunships and other armored vessels. Nobody was out there today, giving us the perfect opportunity to practice flying.

Without drawing attention to ourselves, we slipped out of a smaller door that was embedded in the larger one and headed into the bitter cold. It was a clear day, the sky a pale, almost lilac hue, the icy sun beating down upon the landscape. Barely a cloud spoiled the perfect calm above, though I could still smell the tang of ozone in the air that usually came before a storm. I kept forgetting that smell was always here on Vysanthe, whether it rained or not.

We paused in the center of the second field over, the brisk breeze restoring me after the tiring morning of training I’d endured. I already had a vial of wing serum in the pocket of my coat, stowed away there for safekeeping, while the other two were safely hidden away in the apartment. But the thought of it still made me nervous. What if it all went wrong?

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Navan asked as I lifted out the vial of serum.

I nodded stiffly. “She’ll be watching, and I don’t want to offend her any more than I already have.”

“I’ve got no idea how this is going to work, but you’ll have to take your coat off,” he muttered.

Dreading the sensation of the Vysanthean wind on my skin, I shuffled off the protective layer of the fur coat and cast it aside, instantly regretting it as I began to shiver. I ignored the cold as best I could and took the emerald stopper out of the vial, then lifted it to my lips. The metal of the bottle was cold against my skin, and a sour aroma rose up from within.

I allowed a few drops of the surprisingly thick liquid to trickle down the back of my throat. It was done before I had a chance to think too hard about it.

“So… nothing’s happening,” I said, tapping my shoulders to see if anything was growing.

“Give it a minute. I doubt it will be instantaneous,” Navan said encouragingly, though I could tell he was worried.

“How did you learn to fly?” I asked as I waited for the serum to kick in. I needed to do something to take my mind off what I’d just done.

He smiled. “My mother taught me when I was two. You start out with the basics, with lifting and falling and soaring techniques, then move on to sweeping and wing control. It’s all about currents and pockets of air, as well as the force you can create by flapping them together,” he explained. Normally, the image of Navan as a flapping, bumbling two-year-old would have brought a smile to my lips, but right now, all I could focus on was the serum inside me. I still couldn’t feel anything.

And then, it started.

It began as a burning sensation in the pit of my stomach, searing shocks of electricity shooting through my nerve endings. I winced, trying to brace against it, but the pain was too intense. It rocketed through my body, taking hold of every sense and cell, until I could only feel the white-hot agony of it. Navan put his arms around me, and I gripped his shoulders, using him as an anchor to get through the wave of torture.

A moment later, the pain moved away from my limbs and settled beneath the hard edges of my scapula. A strange sensation followed, like something was pushing violently against my skin, trying to burst through. I thought of all the sci-fi horror movies I’d ever seen, and worried that something alien and disgusting was about to explode out of my skin. The idea made me feel queasy, forcing me to grip harder at Navan’s shoulders for fear of collapsing.

I felt something split and tear, like someone had sliced my back open with a razor blade. I screamed out in pain, squeezing my eyes shut against it. It hurt. It really hurt. I remembered the way Ronad had struggled through the loss of his wings, his brow feverish, his cries echoing through the Texan night, and realized how idiotic I’d been—I should have known it would hurt.

On the grass in front of me, I saw two strange shadows spread out to either side of me, but my eyes were too clouded by pained tears to see the silhouettes properly. There was a weight, too, that I wasn’t used to. Most surprisingly, however, was the fact I didn’t feel cold anymore. Whatever the serum had done, it had made me less vulnerable than before.

“Are they there?” I whispered as the pain subsided.

Navan nodded slowly, his eyes wide. “They’re there… and, whoa, it is super weird seeing you like this.”

I sucked in a breath and waited a few moments before daring to pull away from Navan’s grasp, feeling the strangeness of the wings for the first time. They were bigger and heavier than I’d expected, the shift in balance almost making me fall over. Managing to keep upright, I focused on trying to flap them, but nothing happened.

“Let’s start small,” Navan suggested as he unfurled his own majestic wings. He wrapped his arms gently around me and lifted me up off the ground. I held him tight, taking a moment to enjoy the feel of his body pressed against mine, now that I wasn’t in a world of pain.

“It’s going to be hard to concentrate,” I whispered with a shy grin.