“You really want to see?” he asked.
“I do.”
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he shrugged out of his shirt and handed it to Angelle who neatly folded it and draped it over her arm. When she was once again focused on him, he lifted his wings and flapped them a few times. His feet left the ground and he was soon hovering near his father, though he had to flap his wings more often and with a little more effort than Carnage did.
Angelle’s eyes filled with wonder as she laughed and clapped her hands. “Daddy’s right. They’re just jealous. That is so great!”
Boon gradually brought his wings in a little closer to his body and allowed himself to descend until he was standing beside Angelle. “My father’s are bigger than mine, so I have to work a little harder at it, but I can do it.”
“I wish I could fly,” Angelle said.
“You can. I can take you up whenever you want,” Boon said.
“You can do that?” she asked.
“I can. I just don’t usually fly because I prefer not to call attention to myself, plus I’m in the woods and blending in is harder if you’re landing right in front of something that didn’t know you were there,” he said with a chuckle.
“I’m so proud that you can fly. That’s amazing.”
Boon, still smiling, took his shirt from her and put it back on.
As he buttoned his shirt, Angelle was still talking about his wings.
“They’re beautiful. I didn’t realize how big they are because they fold up so compacted against your back. They’re gorgeous.”
“I’m glad you like them,” Boon said, watching her with a quirky kind of smile. “Paranormal things aren’t unusual around here, but so far, only the Gargoyles have wings.”
Carnage descended, his feet slapping the ground beside Boon. “Noo. Bi’d have win’s.”
“Yes, but birds are supposed to have wings,” Boon said.
Carnage scowled at him. “Go’l ‘pose have win’s!”
“He’s got you there,” Daniel said. “Goyles are supposed to have wings. And let me just say, my Dragon can fly anytime, anywhere, but if I could just spread my wings without having to shift, and take to the sky, I’d do it a lot more often.”
Carnage put a hand on Daniel’s back and patted him affectionately. “D’agon fiiuh?” he asked.
“Yeah. My Dragon has fire. I’m a Fire Dragon.”
“His Dragon is huge, black, and breathes bright orange and red flames,” Avaleigh said proudly.
“My want fiiuh!” Carnage said, opening his mouth and hissing out a noise like a huge cat.
Daniel and Carnage both laughed while Carnage pounded on Daniel’s back in a bonding action.
“Hey! That hand pounding my back reminds me. You intentionally hit me hard enough to almost knock me over at Tempest’s house when we were waiting to meet the baby!” Daniel exclaimed.
Carnage smirked at Daniel. “Dahn no f’iend. Dahn meen Boon. ‘Arnge hit Dahn,” he said with a shrug as he started down the path again.
Daniel burst out laughing. “I was not mean to Boon! I just didn’t know if I wanted to trust him with my daughter.”
“What did I do to make you think I wasn’t trustworthy?” Boon asked.
“You breathed.”
Boon’s mouth opened in surprise, but whatever he was going to say was quickly forgotten when Daniel kept speaking.
“Twenty years from now, your daughter, yours and Angelle’s, meets a male. He’s fixated on her. She’s been raised here in Whispers. She’s got little-to-no experience and is much like the two of you, hates strangers and prefers the quiet of this community. He won’t take no for an answer, and he lives out in a city somewhere you don’t have easy access to. He’s going to take your baby away from you where you won’t be able to protect her. What do you do? How do you feel?”
