Page 128 of Wings of Lies
His jaw dropped. “You’re serious?”
“Dead.”
“You have a way?”
I nodded. “Yes, I have a way, and it doesn’t include any angelic runes.”Just a pair of cuffs and a key we’d have to steal from Aspen.
Oliver held out his hand, and I shook it. “Deal, but if we’re going to Magda’s, I’m having a full belly, so if she decapitates me, she has more to clean up than just blood.”
“Seriously?” I scrunched my face, disgusted. “You couldn’t keep that to yourself?”
He shrugged, strolling forward with a hop in his step like the little hope I gave him made his entire day. “Nope. Where’s the fun in having a filter? Life’s more enjoyable this way.”
Maybe for him, but not for my ears.
“So, fill our bellies first, then go possibly die at the hands of Ms. Decapitator, then finally get my sister back?”
“And my mom,” I added.
Oliver nodded. “And your mom.”
“Sounds wonderful. Now lead the way,” I motioned.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
The night faded. Eventually, the trees lost their glow and became thinner. A bronze blanket of needles covered the ground instead of vibrant mushrooms and moss. The white flowers became the size of my fist, clinging to vines that wrapped around the trees and dragged along the ground. They were perfumed with vanilla, masking the horrid stench of my hair and clothes. Their velvet petals with little blue centers continued to glow as the night waned. The only light we had left. But it didn’t matter since their size made up for the loss of light. Even in the distance, I could make out the glowing flowers.
“Tone down the crazy eyes.” Oliver moved to nudge me and thought better of it. “Celestrus are beautiful though, aren’t they? They only glow at night if someone with angel blood is in their presence. Then once they start glowing, it’s a chain reaction, and they light each other up.”
The flowers were now ten times cooler than before.
Oliver couldn’t hold back his laughter at my dreamy saucer eyes. “Come on. We need to find a place to sleep for a couple of hours before we pass out from lack of squirrel.”
“Is it safe to sleep?”
“Probably not. But Aspen hasn’t found you yet, and we need to rest, or we’ll be as good as dead if we run into anything. And if I need to use my fear on Aspen, surface-level fears aren’t going to cut it, and that’s all I’d be able to do right now.”
“How do you know?”
“Searching for my sister, I ran into people who talked about him. Plus, I’ve seen him from a distance sneaking up and down the Tenebrous border.”
“You never approached him?” I asked.
Oliver shot me a disbelieving glance, scanned himself up and down, then glanced at me again. “I’m sorry, but in what world do you think my 150-pound ass can go up against a commander who can snuff me out with a fireball?”
I shrugged. “You did it to two high-level angels and Marcus.”
“That was a last resort, do-or-die situation, and I wanted to murder Marcus. Plus, the demon prince is never alone. The ugly old male is always with him or a horde of soldiers.”
“Suppose you’re right.” He’d never stand a chance against Aspen.
We walked away from the forest. The flowers dimmed the further we went, shutting off as we stopped next to a foggy pond illuminated by Elora’s moon. We plopped onto the bumpy grass and tried to settle in without gear. From the way my bones ground against the ground and my breath clouded the air, comfort was unlikely. I curled up into a tight ball, conserving my heat. The moment I laid myhead down, I focused on thoughts of my mom and the present day and let exhaustion drag me into another dream-walk, hoping it would show me where she was.
After I decidedI shouldn’t follow Aspen, he was true to his word and returned every week, giving me slivers. He never returned on the same day, but he was at least consistent with the time.
That morning, huddled in an oversized baggy sweatshirt, making my rounds through the forest to see if he’d show, he luscelered in front of my face.
