Page 66 of Lost Feather
CHAPTER26
Feather
It took longer than I thought it would to find my way back to my room. For one thing, the hallways were crowded with Protectors, flying and walking. I had to be careful not to bump into them, and I was almost dizzy with exhaustion to begin with.
For another, they all seemed to want to talk to me.
“Hey, Novice!” One guy with golden speckled wings and pure, shimmering ebony skin flew down and grinned. He sniffed, his eyebrows flying high. I guess my scent really didn’t match my smut now. “You’re Master Mikhail’s little mystery, right?”
I wanted to roll my eyes at him, but I forced a smile instead. “Yes, I’m Feather. And you are?”
“I’m Merry.” His dark eyes gleamed with merriment as he crouched down to my level. “I’m glad to meet you. And I like the hair. When you get cleaned up, you’re going to be a knockout.” He reached out with one arm and tousled my messy hair, laughing at whatever expression I had on my face.
“You’re not afraid of… getting dirty?” I asked curiously as he wiped his hand off on his formerly pristine robe.
“Nah. I just got back from Earth. Some of the very best experiences I had there were spent getting dirty.” He winked again. “See you at The Merge sometime?”
“Um, yeah,” I called at his back as he flew away. That sort of thing kept happening as I walked, and I wondered what had changed in the week since I’d met up with Righteous in the workshop. “Well, that was weird,” I muttered to myself as I slipped into my door, right before I was attacked, picked up and thrown onto my bed. “Sunny!” I still ached from all I’d been through in the past few days.
“Feather!” she shouted back and jumped on top of me. “You’re back! I’m so glad. And you look… well, better!” I ran my hands over my sheets, wondering why they didn’t feel as good as Mikhail’s face had under my fingers. His face hadn’t been soft at all, but it had felt like silk.
“—and Righteous has been telling everyone that you might look disgusting, but no one is to be unkind. Which is one hundred percent what he should have been saying in the first place,” Sunny went on. She was stacking a bunch of brightly colored pillows at the top of my bed.
“Sunny, have you been staying in here?” I asked, looking around in shock.
She shrugged. “Not all the time. I was so worried about you, though. When Righteous said you were awake, I started bringing in stuff to spruce the place up a little. What do you think?”
The room had been completely redecorated. Not white at all—or almost. The sheets were white, but the rest of the room looked like an explosion in a paint factory. The walls were painted in jewel tones: emerald, sapphire, ruby, and amethyst. The pillows matched, but included gold and silver ones as well. Even the chest of drawers, the tables, and our two chairs were painted with seven different, bright colors, with little suns and stars on the legs – and a hot pink feather emblazoned on the backs.
“You did this for me?”
“You’re my friend,” Sunny said simply. “I know you thought you were an assignment. A charge, or a job, or something. And youwerefor about five minutes. I should have been open about it from the start.” She chuckled ruefully. “You know the smut I couldn’t get rid of at first? It was so stubborn. The reason it stayed was because I was going against my name, my true self.”
I was confused. “Sunny?”
“My whole name is Sunny, the Light of Truth. When I deceived you—even that little bit—it damaged me. That’s what I was crying about, in the Maker Hall. When I cleaned your hair. You know you’re required to choose something to cry about, if you want to use your own tears for someone else’s purification? And the event has to besignificant. It’s such a comprehensive purification process. I think I’ll write a paper on it for my Redemption and Sacrifice seminar—”
I reached over to hug her, interrupting her nerd moment. “Mikhail said you gave me the agonizing deep-conditioning treatment. I never got to thank you.”
“You never will. Those tears washed away your smut and mine.” She ran a finger over her face. “See? No freckles.”
I rolled my eyes and threw myself back on the bed. “I liked the freckles. If you start cussing and they come back, even if I’m shinier than Righteous the douche, I’ll still be your friend.”
Sunny settled next to me, giggling. “So, friend. It’s time to chat about a few things. What have you been up to the past few days?”
I frowned. “Mostly playing Feather’s Do-It-Yourself Butcher Shop and Bathtime with McGrowly.”
“Yourangel daddy?” she drawled.
I chewed at my lip, trying not to blush. “You saw that shirt?”
She nodded, but she wasn’t smiling. “He’s been wearing them around Sanctuary. Some of them aren’t so bad—the one that saysHot Wings, everyone assumed was about food. And theHoly Hotnessonewas funny, and nobody but me understood the Growly Bear reference. But yesterday, he wore theFeather’s Snack, Get Your Ownone. I think he forgot he had it on, and he went to a Guides meeting.” Her eyes were so wide, I was afraid they might fall out. “When did you make that one?”
“Um, recently,” I squeaked, my blush so hot I was sure it showed through my muck.
“Feather, you know you can’t… Wait.” She grabbed the edge of the sheet and rubbed it over my mouth. “Your lips. They’re perfectly clean, and so pink. Did you use that awful knife on your mouth?”
I squirmed under her gaze. “So, Light of Truth, huh?” I said weakly. “If I tell you the truth, will you not yell at me?” She just narrowed her eyes a little, then nodded once. “Mikhail and I, um, wekissedtodayacoupleoftimes.” Huh. It was easier to say it if I went super-fast. I peeked at Sunny’s face, not liking the pity that peeked back at me. “What? I didn’t just kiss him. He kissed me back. And apparently kissing… moves smut around pretty well.”
