Page 135 of Wings of Lies
“No.”
“Can you tell me why? Why on Earth you were… you. And here, you’re…”
“An evil bastard,” he filled in for me. At my silence, he nodded. “I’ll try. I can’t always say what I want.”
I brushed my finger underneath his chin, feeling a zap. “Because of this Hell Rune?”
Confusion and clarity waged a war in his gaze. The rune beneath his chin attacked my finger, but I kept it there, taking the pain to see if it’d allow him to talk. No matter how painful it became, I pressedmy thumb into his chin until he unclenched his jaw, and the clarity won.
“I know she carved something there. Sometimes, I can remember the pain and the ebony feather moving against my skin, but then it fades away like a bad dream.” He took my free hand and interlaced our fingers. “But around you, its influence dulls. I found that out the first time I met you.”
“Why were you there? You said it was because you were my guardian, but you never explained further.”
“That’s because I’ve only been slowly figuring out what it means after you showed me the sentences from your mom’s book.”
I scrunched my brows. “I found it? What did they say?”
“Born of imbalance, destined to right the wrongs of the past, a force written in ink shall emerge. Sacrifice will pave the way as voices whisper the secrets of the Fallen. I’ve figured out—” He started to stand, and I panicked, releasing his hand, and cringing as I reached to clutch his face. “What happened?”
He didn’t know my ribs were broken, and right now, I didn’t want to derail the conversation and lose whatever clarity he had.
“It’s nothing. But I think touching you helps more than just being present.”
“It does,” he said, still gazing at me with questions in his eyes.
“Then why are you moving?”
“I wasn’t going to let go of your hand, Lucille. But I need to show you what I’ve figured out.”
I put more pressure on his face, refusing to let go. “Can you do it down here?”
He looked ready to refuse, but either from how tightly I gripped his face or from the worry he saw in my expression, he nodded. “Okay. But I need to move.”
One of my hands dropped as I slowly settled back on the ground, holding back my cringe so Aspen didn’t notice. But by his expression, I had a feeling he did. With my hand on his face, he sat back, unbuckling his stiff uniform. Shucking them off, he noticed my furrowed brows. “Just wait. It’ll make sense in a second.”
When he untucked his undershirt, pulling his arms through the holes, heat flushed my face at the view of his sculpted body. It brought me back to the moment I writhed against him, wanting to feel his skin, and the terrible words he threw in my face after my power released us. Shame pulled my gaze away. Ever since I met him, I was attracted to him, and each time he returned to the forest on Earth, those feelings only grew. When I tackled him off the carriage, and the music amplified, my feelings amplified for him. I may have felt his desire, seen it in his eyes, and heard it from his lips, but I wasn’t sure I believed it. And if I forced those feelings onto him, if I made him want me, made him kiss me, then I was no better than the redhead.
“Lucille,” he said, gently tilting my chin back toward him. I attempted to resist, but he didn’t allow it. “I don’t want to see that shame in your eyes. If anyone is going to feel shame, it’ll be me.”
“I almost raped you like?—”
“Don’t you dare compare yourself to the piece of shit. You hear me? Your powers elevated emotions that were already there. I’ve always wanted to share that moment with you. I just wasn’t sure you wanted your first time to be in a forest crawling with eyes or under the influence of your power. I wasn’t worried for myself, only you.”
“But you said I wasn’t worth it.” Out of all the things he said to me, that one hurt the most.
He grimaced. “Because I couldn’t stand the thought of Brock even thinking about you that way. You are worth it, Lucille.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead. “You are worth it. I’m sorry for ever making you think you weren’t. For everything.”
His warm, tingly lips mended my shame, at least a little.
“Now let me give you a few more slivers and explain the rest. But know that not everything I did was influenced.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
Aspen took my hand from his face and shifted around. Two giant indigo wings inked his back.
“Can you see them?”
“They’re hard to miss,” I said.
