Page 67 of Wings of Lies
“Nalini,” I cried.
No. Not me.Aspen.
Before I could think about the implications, pressure, unlike anything I’d ever known, filled me—and so much blinding anger.
Fury intertwined with all-consuming agony. They pulled at something molten writhing inside me. The pressure swelled. With one last look at the stunning face, feeling a shattering in my soul, I whipped back my head and raged to the skies. Ungodly heat barreled to the surface of my skin. Bright light erupted, shaking the ground before a dark red cloud snuffed it out.
“You will obey me.”
“Hey Lucille, time to wake up.”A gentle hand pressed into my shoulder. I jolted, looking around. Hope and agony tightened my throat.
Was that real? Did I just witness that girl’s death through Aspen’s eyes? And how did I dream-walk to his memory?I needed to figure out how to control this power.
“Lucille? Are you okay?” She touched my shoulder again.
I glanced over to a head of frizzy red graying hair, freezing.
She actually was short and green. I didn’t hallucinate it. She was a foot taller than the bed. Her white shirt hung to her knees, covering loose pants rolled up to her scaly ankles.
My eyebrows scrunched. The scales weren’t there last night, or maybe they were.
“The blood loss had you addled. You passed out, but the serum should be taking effect. Although it will take time to remove the toxins of their saliva completely.” she said, assuming the expression on my face was about my state. I was thankful she couldn’t read my thoughts.
“What are you?” I asked, staring at the red surrounding her yellow-slitted pupils.
She smiled, nodding down to my torso. “May I?”
I slid the covers off my body. Someone clothed me in loose blue pants and a white t-shirt. Hana, I hoped. My cheeks started to heat at the memory of my exposed breasts.
She lifted my shirt, peeled back the gauze pads, and surveyed the stitches. They were still bleeding slightly and very red, but by her nod of approval, that was okay. Moving to my legs, she pulled up the loose pants and had me turn. “I’m a half-breed. Part human and part serpent demon.” She talked as she took something out of her pocket,lightly dabbing the sticky substance on my cuts. “Hence the scales and the eyes,” she said with a soft laugh.
I didn’t know what to say to that. First angels and angel half-breeds, now demons and demon-half breeds? Imagining a human and a demon together was horrifying.If this was what Hana looked like, what did her parents look like? Did humans willingly want to breed with demons?I bit my cheeks hard, attempting to school my features before she found the horror on my face.
Her gloved fingers slid over my stitches with the sweet-smelling substance. A safer question popped out of my mouth, “Why are you applying honey to my cuts?”
She dabbed a little more before wrapping my legs with gauze. “It’s to prevent infection. Angel or demon, quick healing or not, you can still get an infection.”
“Isn’t there something better to use?”
Pale green lips revealed a flash of sharp teeth. My Glory prickled at the sight.
“You’ll come to find Elora is nothing like your Earth. We healers don’t have the same medicines and machinery. We don’t even have electricity. Plants, herbs, skills, and magic are our resources. And if we are lucky, sometimes we can get human medicine. But can you really see someone like me going to a hospital and asking for antibiotic ointment?”
I couldn’t see a lot of things, or unsee, as I watched her forked tongue flick out and again wondered about her parents. “No.”
“You don’t have to be scared.” Her tongue flicked out once more. It was such a small thing, and yet I couldn’t control my out-of-control heart and painful skin.Please don’t erupt.
“I can sense it. It’s a useful skill when you’re a healer.”
Her words were meant to console me, but her razor teeth and slitted eyes kept capturing my attention.
She carefully tugged my pant legs down and had me sit back. “We aren’t all bad. Many, yes. But not all.”
Smooth scales touched the top of my hand, patting me. Her black-tipped fingernails grazed my knuckles. I stared at them as my vortex of panic stole the last of my minuscule restraint.
My hands erupted when she pulled back, only catching the tip of the white flames. She hissed.
“Heavenly shit! I’m so sorry! Oh my gosh!” And like a complete and utter idiot, I waved them around to put them out like it’d actually work this time.
