Page 7 of Twi-Flight (Ghostlight Falls #6)

Chapter Five

A fter arriving home at nearly dawn I wake understandably late.

Barely managing to get dressed and ready for work, putting on a wide-necked shirt so the mark that remains on my neck is clearly visible.

I admire it briefly in my mirror before I step out of my bedroom. I want everyone to know it’s there.

“Good morning, sleepyhead. Did you have fun last night?” Lucy manages to be consistently peppy, no matter how little sleep she seems to get.

“When did you get home?” I ask. The house was empty when I got home.

She shrugs and sips her breakfast smoothie from a metal tumbler. “After you did.”

“You’re going to have to denounce your all liquid diet because you will be eating crow once you hear what happened last night,” I announce.

“Will I?” She glances at my outfit. “What’s on your neck?”

“It’s a vampire bite. Obviously,” I gloat.

“No, babe, it isn’t,” she chastises. “Did Eggward bite you?”

“Maybe? Are you going to tell me, with all the weird crap I see in Ghostlight Falls, that vampires aren’t real?” The heat rising to my face is embarrassment this time.

“Vampires are definitely real. And there are definitely some in Ghostlight. But Eggward isn’t one of them.”

“Why are you so insistent?” I snap. “He could be!”

Lucy’s smile is almost apologetic. “You are seeing what you want to see. You really want him to be a vampire, so you are looking for the signs of that.”

I pause in the middle of the kitchen. “But it’s all been really clear. The signs.”

“Are they? Things about me are different, aren’t they? You’ve noticed changes?”

“Of course. We were kids.”

“It’s more than that though, isn’t it? Have you really thought about it? How I’m different? Why I’m different?” She pauses before continuing. “My liquid diet?”

“You’re watching your weight?” I swallow hard, but the lump remains in my throat.

“And all the odd things in my house? The late nights? The mirrors? The garlic?” She gestures to the house around her.

I laugh. She doesn’t.

“No,” I take a step back. “You can’t be—are you really claiming that you’re a vampire?”

She shrugs.

“But—we’ve been friends since—I saw you grow up—when would you have?”

“I was twenty-two.”

I try to do the math in my head but being flustered makes it impossible. “How long have you been twenty-two?”

“About three years now.” She thrusts her tumbler toward me. “You can look at my ‘smoothie’ if you like.”

“I’m late for work.” I shake my head, not sure what I’m denying. “I don’t have time for your weird jokes.”

Eggward has already been working for hours when I arrive.

I have to pause when I see him across the field, his strong silhouette making a impression from afar.

He’s already fed the chickens and completed all the morning chores.

I want to talk to him about last night so badly.

But he barely nods a greeting to acknowledge my arrival before he turns away and heads back into my father’s old house to work.

The building I haven’t set foot into since I showed it to him the first time.

Left with nothing but my own thoughts, I set to work on my own.

I know what needs to be done. Until our meeting is unavoidable, he nearly runs into me as we both step toward the coop door.

He doesn’t say a word, but I feel his eyes land on my neck.

His chest rises and falls quickly. I try to smile, but feel myself falter.

What if everything I thought I understood was incorrect?

If he’s not a vampire, then what is he? And what else have I read wrong about our situation?

His hand moves to my shoulder, his warm fingers brushing softly against my skin.

“Did I hurt you?” he asks.

“No.” I lie a little. Of course it hurt, he left a mark. But I’d let him hurt me again.

“I got carried away. I shouldn’t have done that. I just saw you with—him.”

“Jace?” I ask. “What’s the deal with you two?”

“I don’t like him.” Eggward mutters.

The non-answer has me throwing my arms in the air. “Well, it’s not any of your business who I hang out with, is it?” I challenge.

“It is my business if you are going to walk around with this mark on your neck.” Eggward’s hand still doesn’t leave my skin.

“You can—really bite me next time. If you like.” Swallowing hard, trying to remove the lump from my throat. Going home before sunrise, not eating garlic, the bite. It’s all so obvious. He has to be a vampire. He needs to be. I need to be sure about something in my life. “If you need blood.”

“Blood?” Eggward takes a deep breath. Alice clucks at his feet. I glance at the ever-present bird, she seems to be scolding him rather mercilessly.

“If you need to feed.” I clarify.

“Mina, I think it’s time for me to show you something.”

I glance up, his expression hidden in the darkness of his hood. There’s nothing left for me to do, but extend him another level of trust.

“Sure,” I say nervously.

“Not here. Some place nicer.” He glances at the dark chicken coop behind him, then shows me his back. “I can carry you.”

“Carry me?” The offer brings a grin to my face. Part of me knows I should pretend to be off-put by the suggestion, but I’m already moving to climb onto his back, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his wide body. His fingers circle my thighs holding me close and secure.

“Hold on, little chickadee,” he says. Then he’s moving.

Running so fast that it’s almost like we are flying.

The trees blur past so close that it feels like we could crash into one at any moment.

I squeeze my eyes shut and press my face into his neck.

An inhuman speed and accuracy. I trust that Eggward’s vampire senses will keep us safe.

Finally he stops, letting me down at the lookout overlooking Ghostlight Falls. The cliffside stretches below us, rushing water of the falls crashing against the rocks. It’s a beautiful bright afternoon, with the warm sun filtering through the trees, and the cool breeze glancing over my shoulders.

“It’s beautiful.” I say, watching the sun glitter on the waterfall and across the surface of Ghostlight Lake.

“It is,” he agrees. When I turn, his glittering dark eyes are watching me from under his hood. “Mina. You know something is different about me.”

“It’s Ghostlight Falls, of course you are different. Everyone here is.” Everyone except boring ‘ole me.

“And you are okay with that?” He shifts on his large feet.

“Of course.” I feel it in my bones. He’s going to confirm everything I thought.

“I can’t stop thinking about you, Mina. Since you came back into town. It’s been hard to keep you out of my mind. I find myself drawn to you.”

“Drawn to me?” I ask, not quite ready to say to his face that I understand it completely. I am drawn to him too. I want him. I want to know everything about him. I just need him to be more honest with me.

“I knew the first moment I saw you, I needed more of you. My heart, my soul, wouldn’t be happy until I got to know you. Until I got to have you—in my life.”

“I’m in your life, aren’t I?” I ask a little sheepishly.

“Mina. Do you know what I am?”

“I’ve thought about it a lot. I figured it out,” I admit. “You’re a—” I stop talking as he pulls down his hood.

“I’m a chicken, Mina.” He’s staring at me with a pair of pitch black eyes. A red comb on his head and a red waddle beneath a sharp beak.

“A chicken.” My knees almost drop out beneath me. But then his long arm is at my waist, holding me upright. The cloak drops away, revealing deep green and blue wings. “A chicken,” I repeat.

He nods.

Shit.

A chicken.

A giant chicken.

He’s covered in feathers, and his feet end in large claws. Everything slowly slots into place. The chicken rescue. Disliking chicken wings. Hiding his face.

“My neck.” I put a hand there, his eyes follow the movement. “Not fangs.”

“Beak marks.”

I grip a hand around his arm, there’s hard muscle beneath the soft feathers. He’s still himself. He’s still the tall, thoughtful person I’ve been getting closer to. He just doesn’t look the way I expected. Why didn’t I notice?

I’m an idiot. I saw in him what I wanted to see. I should have known; I should have realized.

I tentatively touch him. First his chest, covered in soft feathers that he lets me dig my fingers into before I raise my fingers to run them through the red mohawk of his comb.

It’s kind of rugged, flopping to one side like bangs.

The feathers on his cheek are softer, shorter and more delicate.

They tickle my palm when I stroke his cheek.

“You’re—always a chicken?”

He nods, there’s amusement in his dark eyes.

“How did it happen? Were you born—human?”

His head shakes slightly. “I hatched from a normal egg, from a normal hen, I just kept growing until I became this. I learned to talk. Eventually I moved away from my flock to find my own way in the world.”

“And you came to live here? In secret?”

He shrugs. “It’s easy to blend into Ghostlight. But most people know what I am.”

“Not me,” I say quietly. “I’ve been so stupid.”

“No, you haven’t.” His voice is hard, his waddle moves as he talks. “You couldn’t have known. I should have trusted you more. I should have told you the day we met.”

“I’m glad you told me.” I say truthfully. “It’s okay, I understand why you’d want to keep this to yourself.”

“I wanted to tell you, but...”

“You weren’t sure how I would handle it. What I would do if I found out…” I finally drop my hand from his face.

There’s a subtle concern in his eyes. “Eggward. I need you to take me home. There’s something I have to do.”

He nods solemnly and turns his back. I climb on and let him carry me back to my house.