I had decided I was done waiting on these foolish humans and would fly above the clouds to release some frustrated energy when a knock sounded at my door.
“Enter,” I barked, eager to see Lilith again. I needed someone to verbally spar with, and she was the only person in this horrible little cult with a brain. I felt a bit bad about how our conversation ended yesterday, but I didn’t regret anything I had said to her. She needed to hear it.
The door opened and a man stepped through.
My heart thudded in disappointment, and the ayim coursing through my veins turned sluggish.
I scowled.
The man smoothed a wrinkle in his black suit jacket. “I’m Elder Dalton. I’ve brought you breakfast.”
“We do not need to eat regularly like humans,” I told him as an adolescent girl tiptoed past him and brought a plate and napkin to the table beside me. She glanced up at me in alarm, then scurried out of the room.
Elder Dalton smiled anyway. “Whatever we can provide you, Herald, let us know.”
I bit back a sigh. This treatment, this veneration, was annoying and restricting. I wanted to leave.
My heart fluttered at the thought of leaving Lilith. I was just getting to know her, and she seemed wonderful. That was a shame.
I needed to get that old manuscript the other elder mentioned yesterday, and I didn’t want to rely on an old man’s memory to retrieve it.
But I also didn’t want to be too obvious about my steps. Gabriel and I had agreed our search should be done discreetly, drawing as little attention from humans as possible. The last thing we needed was a cult of followers traipsing after us as we returned home. Aerie didn’t need humans in it.
Also, we didn’t want to alert the Gar to what we were doing.
The Gar, our enemy, had Fallen through the sky with us. Both our sedge and their unit had been severely wounded, and in the aftermath of the Fall we ignored one another to gather our injured and retreat. I doubted the Gar had plans to attack us—the war was back home, not here—but we also didn’t want to tempt them. I didn’t know where the Gar had gone and I hoped they had no idea where we were, either.
Elder Dalton cleared his throat, staring at me.
Clearly I’d missed something with my cloud-gathering. “Of course,” I replied.
He nodded. “Come with me, then. Our meeting will begin in a few moments.”
Great. Just great. I still hadn’t studied the holy precepts. They better not quiz me on anything. I gestured broadly and followed him out the door.
“Your church is admirable,” I said as we walked. “Do all the members live right here, or are there others in the greater city?”
“We have a few friends who are sympathetic to our cause, but they hold positions of power and wealth.” He sighed, shaking his head. “They are seduced by earthly things, and so will not fully commit to walking Erlik’s path.”
“Is Lord Fallon one such man?”
Elder Dalton glanced back at me in surprise. “Why, yes. He is known for his rare collection of books.”
“I would like to meet this man,” I declared. “To judge his heart and see what hope we have for him joining this church before Erlik takes him home.”
I must’ve said the right thing, for the elder nodded and smiled. “I have great hopes that you, mighty Herald, will turn his gaze to our god.”
This was definitely a cult. I didn’t have a lot to compare it to—the worship of the universe back home in Aerie and the coven we met long ago that worshiped Emmas—but none of them used special language and such exclusive beliefs. Stars, I needed out before any of it started to rub off on me. I’d already heard some whispers about public punishments. Things not even the military would do to its warriors in Aerie.
We entered a room off the sanctuary. I clenched my jaw, tightened my wings, and wiggled my way through the door. I could not leave soon enough.
Inside, a large wooden table graced the center of the room. The bare wooden floors and walls spoke to the ascetic expectations of the group, though I noticed the chairs were plush with velvet upholstery.
The smell of decay was stronger here. A waterspot stained the ceiling in the corner, a corresponding musty, dark patch on the floor below it. I wrinkled my nose, trying to ignore the smell emanating from the room. Was it the age of the building? The age of the humans around me?
Something fresh and clean cut through the miasma. With a jolt, I saw Lilith standing on the other side of the table, bent forward and fussing with a bouquet of evergreen and bright red berries. Her hair shone the palest gold in the flickering candlelight. Ayim surged, my heart pumping it so fast I could feel the tingle down my limbs. Heat rushed over me, and I felt the urge to stretch my wings and straighten any ruffled feathers.
She glanced up, freezing in surprise. The hazy, wintry light trickling through the window to the right created a halo around her face. Stars, she was beautiful. My whole body ached at the sight. My cock perked up, too.
