A grin bloomed on my face, the taste of freedom on my tongue.
The high marble came into view a moment later. Heraphia sailed toward it, only her wings visible in the dark.
A torch flickered to our left. I flapped hard and grabbed her ankle, hauling her backward. Deftly, she snatched a thick bough and banished her feathers. I did the same, the two of us hanging a hundred feet off the ground.
The muscles in my shoulders quaked from the effort as a sentry passed below us. My hand slipped, slick with moisture. I slammed my lips shut to keep from crying out as I righted myself.
The moment he was out of sight, I called on my power and released the branch. Heraphia and I sailed toward our liberation again, heads pivoting in all directions to ensure our surreptitious escape.
Hope starleaped in my chest as we cleared the stones.
“We’re really doing this!” Heraphia celebrated, her voice nolouder than a whisper. The widest smile I’d seen on her in ages shone in the pitch.
I couldn’t help but mirror the expression.
An image of Heraphia racing toward Zuriel, of him capturing her in his arms and twirling her with unbounded love, rose. The clarity was almost a prophecy, and my heart ached for the happiness I could almost reach out and touch.
I wanted that so badly for her.
For myself.
I slapped the thought away before it could take root.
We banked right, toward the Skala Mountains, toward the Demon Realm. And far, far away from the male who was my ultimate villain. The stories our parents told us as children had nothing on the reality of my mate.
Tears blurred my vision at the thought of him again.
Surely, this torment belonged to our connection. Not to me. Not to that spark that still reached for him.
At the thought of the beast in my chest, it awoke. Angry. Gnashing its teeth.
A cry slipped from my throat as an invisible rope yanked me backward.
Heraphia spun, concern etching a deep line between her brows. “What’s wrong?”
“Bond,” I gasped, forcing a few more flaps.
This is better, you stupid, stupid magic. He doesn’t want us anyway. His betrothed is much better suited to him.
But that lie tasted bitter. Because hedidwant me. And I couldn’t deny that reality.
My best friend reached out her hand, and I took it. Together, we continued our flight into the forest. Each beat of my wings was labored. Ragged breaths inflated my chest. Sweat rolled down my spine, soaked my hair, slicked my palms.
This level of exertion should have been nothing.
But I battled with this damn chain for every inch away from my mate.
Sivy disappeared, the last of the tree huts lost to lush ferns. And not a moment too soon. Knives slid between my ribs and stabbed my lungs. My back burned from the inside out. I let go of Heraphia and careened toward the ground, the pain too great to continue on.
I cast a white net to catch my fall so I wouldn’t further injure my knee. Used the last bit of sanity to lower myself into a nestle of palms.
Hot salt slipped down my face, a tempestuous mix of sorrow and relief.
Heraphia landed a few feet away, banishing her wings. Darkness clawed through the trees, only a faint glow of moonlight carving her outline into the night.
“We can rest here, but then we need to continue on,” she said, teeth worrying her bottom lip.
I nodded, chest heaving, unable to voice my reply. It wasn’t safe for us to stop for long. But fuck, I needed a break.
