Then I heard a large swoosh of beating wings. A familiar voice spoke out behind me. "You talking to yourself again, Quinn?"
I lifted my head to see my cousin, Cloud. Like Zak and the rest of my cousins, I wasn't actually related to them by blood. I was the only one in the family without a blood relation to anybody, except for my own parents, obviously. But that didn't stop us from referring to each other as family. We were one no matter what blood ran in our veins.
Cloud was also a descendent of the water spirit Nautilus. But although Zak and Cloud’s twin brother River both had powers associated with water, Cloud did not. For some reason, he was born a harpy shifter.
I smothered a hint of envy when Cloud adjusted his wings and landed on the grass nearby. I didn't let my gaze linger on his wings, the thing I so desperately wished I had. It wasn't his fault he was born with them and he wasn't deserving of my jealousy.
Cloud waved his long flight feathers in front of my face. "Hello, earth to Quinn."
Like his father Weston, an osprey shifter, Cloud’s feathers were a creamy beige color with darker brown stripes, contrasting with his dark hair and skin. I wondered what color my wings would be if I had them. Would they be black like a raven, or red somehow, like a fox?
"Hi," I said to Cloud. "What's up?"
Cloud sat next to me. He had hands like a human, but instead of fingernails he had dexterous bird talons. He grabbed a handful of grass between his talons and sprinkled it playfully on my head. "Nothing. I was bored and I thought you'd be out here, since this is your new regular hangout spot."
I cringed. Did everybody know how much time I spent on this cliff? Yeah, I was desperate, but I didn't want my whole family to know it.
Cloud gave me a sympathetic smile, like he knew what I was thinking. "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. I only know you like to sit here because I fly around in the area and you're easy to spot with your red hair." He put another piece of grass on my head.
"Thanks."
"You're quieter than usual. Is everything okay?"
I tried to put on a smile. "Yeah. Just thinking about stuff."
Just thinking about stuff? What a lame excuse. Come on, Quinn.
Cloud believed that as much as my inner monologue did, which was to say, not at all. He raised an eyebrow. "What kind of stuff?"
Great, now I'd dug myself into an even deeper hole. Why couldn't I have just thought of a better lie from the beginning? Weren't foxes supposed to be good at that sort of thing? Lying and deceiving and all that? Apparently I hadn't inherited many traits from my fox side either. I may as well have been a freaking human.
"Uh, Quinn? You’re spacing out a lot," Cloud said. "You want me to leave you alone?"
I shook my head. "No. Sorry. It's nice having someone here to talk to, even though I'm not really doing a good job of that."
"Take your time," Cloud said.
I rolled over onto my back so I could stare up at the sky again. It seemed so close, yet so far.
"I don't want to tell you because it sounds pathetic," I admitted.
Cloud shrugged. "Nah. I doubt you could say anything that would make me think you're pathetic."
I appreciated that, even if I wasn't sure I believed him. Still, Cloud was the nonjudgmental type so I swallowed my pride and my jealousy and told him the truth.
"I want wings," I blurted out.
Cloud didn't look surprised. He clasped his hands together as if trying to make his own wings less conspicuous. "Oh."
"Yeah."
I shut my eyes. There wasn't much he could say to that, was there?
"Sorry," Cloud murmured. "I must be the last person you want to have this conversation with."
A breeze flowed over the cliff, ruffling Cloud’s feathers. He tried to smooth them down.
"You don't have to do that. Don't worry about it," I said, giving him a pat on the back.
