Page 1 of Wings of Darkness (Daughter of the Seven Circles #2)

Chapter

On e

LUCILLE

S trong arms held me close to their chest, their heart racing beneath my ear.

The rough leather of their clothing ground against my blistered skin.

That was all I could register between the boiling heat ripping through my insides and the searing cold offering a breath of hope—until it sluiced through my veins, just as cruel.

“Put her on my desk. Now.”

I wanted to scream no , but every step, jostle, and rise of their chest stole my breath, the agony forcing me in and out of consciousness.

A crashing noise split the tense silence. They moved me onto something hard, and I surrendered to the wispy darkness.

Pain never touched me here. The dark tendrils silenced the frigid cold and scalding heat. They wrapped me in warmth and made me whole. They cocooned me in their gentle, unyielding embrace and whispered words of protection.

I never wanted to leave.

A ferocious fire pierced my wrist and speared into my body. I woke up screaming and thrashing on a wooden desk, pinned by a tingling touch.

Aspen?

He claimed my last thought before I passed out again. But this time, I wasn’t with the wispy shadows. Instead, the darkness flickered with a familiar purple and white light.

The lie hit me the second I opened my eyes. Not a lie—a dream-walk into a dream that wasn’t a memory. Or so I assumed.

Wildflowers tickled my legs as I sat in a moonlit field.

Their soft, delicate petals reflected the blue light and turned a shade of indigo every time I moved my head, captured in my dream-walking haze.

At the edge of the field, giant pillars circled like silent sentinels.

The weathered stone supported arches overtaken by vines, creating an artful wall of green.

Firewings danced between the tall grass and landed on ancient pillars.

Small zaps sounded every time their wings touched, sending sparks of orange into the air.

I’d dream-walked to Elora. But I’d never been here before.

If I wasn’t in one of my memories, but I inhabited my own body, then what was this?

I felt like I’d entered an ancient elven realm that existed only in the pages of the books I’d devoured as a teenager. I moved to explore the fantastical land when a tingly finger brushed the curve of my lip, snapping my attention away from the magic.

My heart jumped. “Aspen?”

Moonlight streamed through the oak branches behind us, catching the wetness on his cheeks.

My smile dropped.

I cupped his face, brushing away his pain with my thumb. “What’s wrong?”

“I couldn’t save you,” he whispered.

“Save me?”

He latched onto my hand, and a shot of heartache speared through our bond as he lifted it in front of my face.

What the… A long pink scar slashed across my palm.

“Michael,” he explained.

Slowly, it all came back to me. Magda, Marcus, Michael’s torture, my mom poisoned to sleep, and the male who swore before I descended into a sweet, relieving blackness.

I looked around at the magical perfection of this place and really considered what it could mean.

“Are we dead?”

“I feel like it. I can’t sense our bond anymore.” His low, haunted tone stunned me. This wasn’t the Aspen I knew. He never sounded like this.

“But the tingles.” I touched his cheek, emphasizing my words. He rested his head against my hand like I anchored him from drowning in the sea of his unending sorrows.

“I can feel you here. But it’s just a dream, sweetheart. This is all just one big dream.” His voice cracked at the end, wrenching at my heart. He slumped against the oak trunk, as if surrendering to the finality of his words.

“But you’re alive?”

Aspen stared out into the field, silent, mourning.

I jerked his face to mine, forcing him to look at me. “Are you alive, Aspen? Out there?”

He nodded.

A slight breeze floated through my hair, rustling the oak’s branches. Its leaves fluttered in the ring of my purple haze. This had to be another version of dream-walking. I would know if I’d died.

I brought my forehead to his, breathing in his crisp apple and fire scent. “So am I.”

Sorrow bled into our bond, and he shook. His tears slid down my fingers, resting against his cheeks.

He didn’t believe me.

“Aspen, open your eyes.”

He did, showing me his vibrant blues surrounded by his angel rings.

“I’m alive, out there. Not just in your dream but in life. I’m alive.” Although I couldn’t promise I was safe or okay.

The weight of his grief still rested like a mountain on my chest.

“Have you ever heard of a dream-walker?”

Aspen’s watery expression narrowed. “I read the word once in an old angelic text.”

“That’s what I am. I can revisit a person’s memories—and my own—through dreams. And…” I glanced around the enchanting clearing. “It seems like a person’s imaginative dreams too.”

The sharpness of his gaze faltered .

“It’s part of my…” I paused, realizing I hardly had time to process who I was or where my purple flames came from.

Aspen stared at me, waiting.

I wanted him to know, no matter what he thought of me.

“Do you know who the King of Hell is?”

“Yes.” He nodded slowly. “Lucifer is Lilith’s unwilling husband.”

Well, Heavenly Shit. I never put that together.

I took a deep breath, then said, “I’m his daughter.”

Aspen looked like he expected me to take it back. He took my chin and twisted it back and forth, analyzing my eyes. Then a foreign pain seeped into my cautious emotions.

He dropped his hand and stood, gazing down at me with a curling lip.

“I only saw Lucifer once, when I was younger. But I never forgot the two white rings distorting his eyes. When I met you, I knew the double rings meant you were powerful. I knew you were something other than an angel. I just never imagined it’d be Hell’s offspring. ”

Offspring?

“Aspen?”

Then I saw them—two Hell Runes cut deep in his skin, as if carved by an invisible hand. Or, more likely, as if someone carved them on him as he slept. They peeked from the sleeve of his tunic, causing the invading pain.

I lurched forward, covering his runes. The raised skin branded my hands with their vile heat, demanding I let go. Instead, I gripped tighter .

The soft breeze picked up speed, whipping my hair around. His eyes shifted between a cold mask and a storm of unspoken emotion.

“Stay with me.”

He jerked on his wrists. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

But I wouldn’t let go. He was mine . Lilith couldn’t have him.

His skin puckered horribly beneath my fingers. All emotion bled from his blue eyes. Lilith’s chokehold swallowed his pain and resolve, leaving our bond numb and empty.

“Fight her! You’re stronger than her, Aspen!”

The moonlight blinked out, leaving Firewings as our only light—until the savage wind roared and hurled the tiny insects to the ground. Darkness swallowed us whole, stealing Aspen from my sight—but not from my hold.

“Aspen, remember who you are,” I begged. “Give me the moon.”

“I don’t know what the fuck that means. But if you’re alive, we’ll find you.” He wrenched his hands out of my grip.

The vicious wind halted, and a glowing ball of purple-white light illuminated the still, empty darkness.

He was gone.

I sat there, staring into the abyss of my mind.

He couldn’t stay like that. He couldn’t continue to be her lethal pawn, following her every whim and forgetting who he was and where he came from.

His mom wanted more for him. She wanted me to save him.

The more I thought about Lilith, the more my sorrow morphed into a vicious vengeance. Itches scattered across my skin. Purple flames burst forth, and the glowing ball beside me pulsed.

What did Magda say ?

Something about Hell’s general being able to remove his runes. I’d have to find him and force him to help me.

I slumped, letting go of my power. I didn’t know where I’d be when I woke up, or what state I’d be in, or where my mom was. How was I supposed to find Hell’s general and ask him to help me save my guardian? The male, I lov?—

I stopped that thought. Was that what these feelings were? I didn’t know. But he was mine, and I needed to save him.