Page 47 of Wings of Lies
The tan, boxy thing, illuminated by one small window, revealed a figure hidden in the corner.
A guy slept wedged between boxes, with his knees bent and head tilted back, which was good. What wasn’t good was the familiar uniform hugging his toned frame, only black instead of blood-red and with an azure blue emblem. The colors must be a ranking.
Hissing erupted, making me rethink the idea of opening my eyes. Slowly, I turned to my right, thinking it was too late to return to pretending.
Maybe it wasn’t too late.But how could I possibly close my eyes again, knowing three feet away, hunched two scaly monsters?My fingers hooked into a plank groove, barely preventing me from scooting away. But I was already moving too much.
They filled the back half of the carriage with their bulbous bodies. Horns jutted from their unnaturally large heads. At first, they both crouched underneath the square window, staring at something. Then, one hissed and shoved his shoulder into the other. Their horns scraped across the top of the wooden ceiling as they fought. A small circle of light flashed through the gaps of their shoving.
A peephole underneath a window?
My eyes widened as one slammed the other into the wall, rocking the carriage and dislodging my weak hold on the wooden plank, sliding me forward. I cringed at the sound of my metal chains dragging.But they took no notice, too occupied with shoving each other.
With small movements, I glanced to the corner, wondering about the male, and met drilling blue eyes.
Shit, a hundred times over.
We stared at each other, neither moving nor blinking. Under his scrutiny, tiny beads of sweat condensed on my forehead. I wanted to drop my eyes, but something predatorial held me. I swallowed. His searing gaze followed the contraction of my muscles, making me inhale my spit. My face flushed as I held back a cough, then hacked, lips failing to muffle the noise.
“Shit!” I squeaked as one of the black creatures yanked me into their arms.
“Bael! She lives, and her eyes! She will be pleased.” The creature rasped. Bael turned his head toward me, and my stomach dropped to my toes.
I was going to die.
He laughed with a mouth of sharp, crimson teeth. “Afraid pipsqueak?” he hissed.
Afraid?Was I afraid of the three beady eyes the same color as its razor teeth and the symbols dotting its entire body? Was I afraid of the slits it had in place of a nose or the slimy scales that squeezed against my body, preventing me from moving?
No, I was terrified.
The thing squeezed me harder as it laughed with his buddy. A familiar pressure stabbed at the invisible barrier under my skin.
Bael crowded in. My heart pounded against Cacus’s large bicep, compressing my jerking lungs.
“She smells good, brother.”
“So, what about that nibble, Cacus?” Bael shifted his weight between his feet, shaking the carriage. “Please, please?”
He was begging to eat me? To take a nibble?
I shook. Bael’s red razors glinted in the window light, slick with saliva. A glistening glob trailed down his chin while he widened his lipless mouth. Rotten egg breath heated my face, and I realized Cacus had lowered his mouth to my ear.
“You don’t want to eat me. I—I taste bad!” I stuttered out. Black specs seemed to think it was a good time to invade my vision.
I was about to pass out, and they were going to eat me.
Caucus and Bael laughed before they both drew in and sniffed.
“No, you smell delicious.”
Bit by bit, the stabbing sensation ripped into my barrier, seeking the outer portion of my skin.Please surface!It couldn’t be like with Marcus’s goons.
Its sticky lips pressed against my neck when it happened—a flash of light, a sharp jolt of pain, hissing, rocking, hands jerking, and a tingle.
One moment, I was about to be snacked on, and the next, my back was pressed against a chest angled away from the hissing things. The scaly creatures bared their teeth, holding their arms to their chests.
“Stupid beasts. She’s not a snack! She’s our prisoner!” I flinched at the ferocity of the male’s voice in my ear.
