Adara
After some heartfelt goodbyes for Leap—the most emotional coming from Rachis, much to our surprise—we zoomed off to Wynth on top of Leap’s cloud, Cirra. The harpies had equipped us with hooded fur cloaks to wear during our travels as thanks for rescuing Aria, and while the cold didn’t bother me, I was grateful for a buffer to protect my skin from the harsh winds.
It was a long flight, and Leap had a short attention span, so he quickly roped an unwilling Einar into playing a variety of games with him—rock-paper-scissors, the yes-no game, and something called Would You Rather.
I wished I could get into the spirit of things with them, but my mind was too heavily weighed down with thoughts, and I let it wander as I absently took in the verdant, rocky landscapes we passed over.
I knew the harpy queen was right, that finding out more about what the king wanted was the smart thing to do. It would be nice if I could charge into Kaipei Castle, whisk my mother out of the dungeons, and run off into the sunset with her, but that was unrealistic. The king would search every corner of the kingdom to find me. I needed to know what he wanted from me, and if there was a way to leverage that to my advantage.
“Would you rather have no elbows or no knees?” Leap asked Einar.
Einar wrinkled his nose. “What kind of dumb question is that?”
Leap grinned. “Just answer the question, grandpa.”
“Quit calling me that!”
Einar swatted at Leap, then yelped as the section of cloud beneath him began to evaporate, causing him to sink nearly all the way through. “I’m sorry!” he shouted, and Leap fell back, cackling madly. The cloud solidified beneath Einar again, who scowled. “I would rather have my elbows. I would tell you why, except I fear Cirra will try to murder me again.”
Leap snickered. “Oh, stop being dramatic. I’ve seen your wings, you can fly.”
“That isn’t the only thing I can do,” Einar said, a threatening tone in his voice.
“Leap,” I said, interrupting them again before Einar could upset Cirra again, “aren’t the Gaoth Aire cities heavily fortified to keep out shadow creature attacks? How are we going to get in without being seen by the guards? I’m wanted by the king, so word is going to get out about me eventually. I can’t assume they haven’t been told to look out for me already.”
“Yeah, I figured that,” Leap said with a nod. “The city of Wynth is fortified with a domed electrical field that zaps anything that tries to fly in or out without going through the official entrances and exits. But I can use my own lighting magic to open up a path for us.”
“Are you sure?” Einar asked, sounding dubious. “It’s one thing to use your lightning to strike down a few shadow creatures, but using it to manipulate an electrical field large enough to protect an entire city is quite a feat. And youarestill a youngling.”
Leap rolled his eyes. “I’m thirteen, only three years away from my majority. Which means I can run circles around you, grandpa.” He waggled his tongue at Einar, who growled. “There’s a weak spot in the force field I’ve used before. We just need to wait until it’s dark to get in.”
“The fact that you even know about this weak spot means that you’ve snuck in and out of the city before,” I pointed out. “Why would you need to do that?”
“That’s for me to know, and you to wonder about.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re pretty secretive.”
“I’m a male of mystery. Makes me more attractive to the ladies.” He winked at me, and Einar and I both snorted in unison. We caught each other’s eyes, and I thought I saw the corners of his mouth twitched before I looked away.
I wished things weren’t so confusing between us. That he didn’t make me feel both safe and vulnerable, that he didn’t light me up with his touch, that we’d never shared that kiss. My core pulsed as my body remembered the taste of him, the way he’d sunk his hands into my hair and held me tight, and a wash of heat stung my cheeks.
He didn’t even remember the damn kiss, and here I was, getting all hot and bothered over it!
Huffing out a breath, I curled up in my spot on the cloud, turned my back to Einar, and put all thoughts of males and kisses out of my mind. I hadn’t slept much last night, and I needed to keep up my strength for the challenges ahead.
* * *
“Adara, wake up.”
I stirred groggily at the sound of Einar’s voice. His warm breath ghosted across the shell of my pointed ear, and every fiber in my body came alive as his hand curled around my shoulder to shake me gently. I could feel the leashed strength in his palm, and the warmth of his hand seeped through my clothes and skin and all the way into my bones, making me want to curl into him.
Instead, I pushed his hand off me and sat up, rubbing at my eyes. “I’m up,” I said, glancing around. Shades of red, gold, and lavender streaked across the sky, and I had to squint against the harsh glare of the dying sun. “Where are we?”
“Shhhh,” Leap said, his voice barely above a whisper. “The winds carry here.”
He pointed, and I followed the direction of his hand. Just ahead, built at the very top of the mountain in front of us, was a gleaming walled city that seemed to be carved entirely from a bluish-white stone, no doubt quarried from the mountain itself. Battlements and rounded towers surrounded the city, and pristine stone buildings staggered at intervals along the steep mountain peak. Perched at the very top, right in the center of the city, was a pagoda-style temple. A narrow, spindle-like tower jutted from the top, with four smaller spires clustered at the base, and below that, four terraces that spilled out from a cube-like platform. Bluish-white light burned from the tips of the spires and the tower, like stars that had been speared from the sky and brought down to live amongst mortals.
Similar lights topped each of the turrets placed at intervals along the city walls, and I wondered at their purpose.
