Burn the Night

extended my wings, shaking them out, ensuring that each feather was in its proper place. They flapped twice on my back, stretching stiff muscles. The wind naturi were meant to fly, and fly as often as possible.

Tightening my grip on the sleeping Rowe, the earth seemed to cringe beneath my feet as I took a few running steps forward. The wind gusted at the same time, lifting us both into the air with practiced ease. It was rare for me to carry such a heavy load, but I had done it before.

Overhead, the thick clouds began to part and the nearly full moon broke through, sending down its silvery light, the forest below glistening and shimmering with raindrops. I watched the Earth quickly passing as we headed east, away from Aurora and back toward Cynnia’s hiding spot. The earth whispered hazy secrets of a dark future that hovered on the horizon. War was so close now, and no matter what plans we made or what allies we found, there was no avoiding it.

Two

Rowe stirred in my arms. I frowned as I twisted to look over my shoulder at him. His muscles shifted beneath my hands as whatever sedative or spell they had put him under finally wore off. I had been hoping to get a little farther before he woke up.

Pulling in my wings, I glided down to the ground, circling as I searched for a good spot near a swath of trees. The wind had been steady and strong, keeping me ahead of the naturi from whom I had taken Rowe. With any luck, I would be able to get him settled and back in the air before they could get a good fix on our location. I also didn’t want to meet up with the creature that had succeeded in defeating Rowe just yet. His wounds were still healing. Blood was splattered over his shirt and pants, while a binding on his forearm was soaked with his blood. We were relatively fast healers, but I had a feeling he had been trapped in a particularly nasty battle where he was significantly outnumbered. I almost felt guilty about what I was about to do. Almost.

I hit the ground at a run, crushing Rowe as tightly against me as I could while expanding my wings to slow myself. When I came to a stop, I pulled my black wings in against my back, wrapping them close to my shoulders, as if to fight back the chill that hung in the night air. Spring was still newly born, and the nights prone to frosts as temperatures dipped low. I was anxious to get back to Cynnia, where temperatures were somewhat more hospitable, and so was the company.

I placed Rowe on the ground, knelt beside his prone form and dug into the leather pouch at my side. My stomach twisted and churned into a knot, while my breath lodged in my throat. I couldn’t believe I was about to do this. I closed my eyes for a second, sucked in a deep breath through my nose and released it through clenched teeth as I reminded myself that I had done worse. Quietly withdrawing the iron collar, I wrapped it around Rowe’s neck and affixed the lock. The hope was that the iron would at least dampen his powers, if not completely shut them down.

As soon as the lock gave a soft click, Rowe jerked beneath me. I jumped back, one hand landing on the hilt of the short sword at my waist, as if I were facing a trapped, feral animal—and in many ways I was. His hands automatically dropped to his waist, searching for weapons that were usually close but now were missing. His head swung as he sat up. He looked dazed as he tried to adjust to his new surroundings before his eyes finally settled on me. I forced myself to lift my hand from the sword hilt and straightened my stance, trying to appear relaxed when my heart was actually pounding away in my chest like a thing gone mad. I wasn’t going to be the one to make the first threat, even though I had already attempted to take away his powers.

“Nyx?” His voice was rough and ragged.

“Yes, it’s just me.”

“What happened to the others? Claudia and her bitch pack?”

I fought back a smile at his accurate description of the earth clan members that had been holding him. “Dispatched.”

He arched one eyebrow at me skeptically. “You killed them?”

“Knocked them out. Slowed them down. We should have a couple more minutes for you to rest before we need to be moving again. Your wounds are still healing.” My gaze dropped down to the arm he was cradling against his stomach.

“You should have killed them,” he growled, his eyes darting away from me.

“I am the protector of our people. I won’t kill them if I can avoid it.”

“Aurora took that job away when she ordered your execution.”

“That job was given to me by my father in exchange for my life. Aurora cannot take that away from me so long as I am alive.”

Rowe heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head, causing some of his long dark hair to fall in front of his eye patch. There were so many questions I was itching to ask him about his appearance, about his time on Earth when the rest of our people had been held captive, and about his encounters with the Fire Starter, but they all had to wait. When we first met on my initial arrival back on Earth, I hadn’t cared about these things. My only concern was for Cynnia’s safe return to Aurora and me. But now, as we stood on the cusp of war, I wanted to know these things because I feared I would never have another chance to ask.

“Why did you take me from Claudia?” he asked.

“You are of more use to me alive than dead at Aurora’s feet,” I told him.

“You don’t know that was her intention!”

“She grows more paranoid with each passing day. She thought you would cause no trouble in exile, but I think she has now come to the conclusion that you are too strong to be left alive. Even if Cynnia fails to take the throne, there is always the chance that you might succeed. She can no longer take that chance. Aurora wants you dead for the same reason that she wanted Cynnia and me dead.”

“How could you possibly know that? When was the last time you spoke with your sister-queen?”

“I’ve not seen her since Machu Picchu,” I admitted. “But for a time we had spies within her camp.”

“Who?”

I hesitated. They had been close companions and followers of Rowe, and aided me in my search for Cynnia. When the two factions formed on that Peruvian mountain months ago, they had gone with Aurora, but always with the intention of reporting back to Cynnia with information.

“Who are the spies?” he repeated. “How do you know you can trust them?”

“Storm and Hale.” They were brothers, born more than two centuries apart but nearly inseparable. Where one went, the other followed. They had been devoted soldiers to Rowe during the long years he was trapped on Earth.

Clearing my throat, I pushed out the rest of the words. “Before Hale was killed, he discovered that Aurora was killing off as many of the wind clan as she could get her hands on. She was beginning to notice that most of the wind clan was flocking to Cynnia’s camp. It also didn’t help that Greenwood, leader of the earth clan, is now taking a close position next to Aurora. It’s no secret that he’s attempting to acquire your old position as consort, thus elevating the rest of the earth clan.”

“And Storm?”

“With Cynnia, grieving the loss of his brother and plotting his revenge.”

Bending one knee before him, Rowe used his good arm to run his hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face. It was damp hair and slicked back, and now I could see more scars that stretched across the side of his forehead and even into his scalp. Most of them seemed to be on the right side of his body, yet during the fights I had witnessed Rowe in, I never detected any weakness. He was both strong and very dangerous, something I needed to remember at all times despite the sympathy I could feel building inside me for this wounded warrior.

“The only reason you saved me is that you want my assistance in overthrowing Aurora,” he said in a low voice that made me want to put my hand back on the hilt of my sword.

“That is my hope.”

“No.”

“Rowe, the only way to save our people is through Cynnia’s plan of coexistence. Aurora is leading us to war and the decimation of what remains of our people.”