Page 48 of Wings of Lies (Daughter of the Seven Circles #1)

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

T he 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 my head 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 decided I 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.

I flinched, falling on my ass, making him laugh. “Don’t do that!” I exclaimed, irritated but unable to hold back my smile.

“How many times have I scared you? And yet, you still end up on the ground,” Aspen snorted, holding out his hand to help me up per usual. It had become our irritating routine.

“Maybe one of these days, you’ll be kind enough to catch me before I fall.” I grabbed his hand, enjoying the way the tingles tightened my stomach.

He lifted me, then smoothed a piece of my long hair back. “But how else will I come by my weekly chuckle?”

I pushed him and his delicious hands away, trying to act indignant, but it wasn’t easy when his dimples came out to play. They didn’t grace his face often, usually because of my prying words, but when they did, I melted.

“So, what sliver will you give me today?” Yep, and there they went.

Unlocking anything from Aspen was like attempting to find where my mom hid her old text about bonds.

I had searched everywhere for the damned book and still couldn’t find it.

Aspen was disappointed when I told him, but I said I would keep looking and tell him if and when I found it.

Until then, he visited, we talked, and I tried to learn things about him.

So far, I had learned that Aspen loved apples and possessed a bonded sword, which was a weapon he could only touch and channel his power into.

After he explained, I demanded an example and watched as his eyes and intricate sword lit with blue flame.

I also learned he enjoyed fighting because he was excellent at it, his words, not mine, and that he wasn’t from here.

But when I asked where he was from, he said those same six words and left me.

So, I now resorted to letting him choose what to tell me.

For the most part, my curiosity got the best of me at times and bit me in the ass half the time.

He stepped closer, brushing more of my wild hair from my face, which he did almost every time we met. I gazed up at him, smiling because I had officially become addicted to his tingly touch, stupid dimples, and even the thin-pressed scowl and frown he wore every five minutes.

“Tell you what, sweetheart.” He started to call me that after I accidentally leaped on him after he surprised me with one of my favorite chocolate bars. I didn’t mind one bit. “I’ll make you a deal. If you answer a question of mine, I’ll answer any question of yours.”

At first, I wanted to jump with joy at his offer, but then my smile dropped. Aspen liked his secrets, or at least thought he had to keep them, and I wasn’t much better with my own.

“Who is after you?”

I stepped back. Out of all the questions he could’ve asked, it wasn’t the worst, but it’d only spawn more. However, he was my guardian, so maybe he needed to know. I decided to compromise and give him a half-answer .

“Everyone.”

Or more of a non-answer.

He snuffed out the distance I had created and grabbed my hand. I wondered if he knew how easily he could sway me with his touch and the tingles that pitter-pattered their way into my lonely heart.

Maybe that was why I said it. For once, I wanted someone else to know the secrets of my past. I’d keep it vague enough he’d be safe if, for some crazy reason, he was questioned by the wrong people, but I’d give him a sliver.

“I was never supposed to exist, and my—” I gathered my thoughts before I spewed something I shouldn’t. “We’ve been hiding from my fathers.”

“Fathers?”

“Yes, plural.”

A soft glow illuminated his eyes, like he despised the fact someone so close to me was after me. Or someone was after me to begin with.

“Where are they now?” he demanded, clenching the hilt of his sword.

My lips pressed into a thin line, holding back my smile. What was he going to do? Kill them for us?

“My mom hasn’t shared that information with me.”

Determination rested in his brows. He opened his mouth, likely about to ask more questions.

“ Oh, no. My turn, Aspen. Where are you from?”

He shook his head vehemently.

“We made a deal,” I said, releasing his hand to brush his cheek, giving him a taste of the delicious torment .

He squeezed his eyes shut as if battling himself or possibly the influence of the bond between us. “If I tell you, you must promise never to follow me there.”

I nodded, all too eager to know.

But when he opened his eyes, they were all flame.

“I mean it, Lucille. You are not to ever go there. Ever. Promise me.”

“I promise,” I whispered, noticing fear and agony behind the demand in his flaming eyes. The emotions were so powerful it was almost like I could feel them.

His jaw pulsed for a second before he answered. “Elora.”

Stay here, stay put, stay safe. He never meant the house we lived in. He meant on Earth. Stay here and safe on Earth.

Oh, he should not have said that. Currently, hiding under my bed were four bobby pin-unlocked books about Elora—the angelic world I was forbidden from. Just knowing the name nearly gave my mom a heart attack.

Fathers. I had two fathers. How was that possible? What else was I missing from my memories?

I feared that answer—and the lingering ache I had for Aspen.

In my dream-walk, he was everything to me.

I adored the way he brushed my hair back, his tingly touch, and the cliche nickname he gave me because of my obsession with chocolate.

He made me feel seen, bringing life to my isolation.

Every time he left, my chest ached to follow him or make him stay.

Why couldn’t I have met that male when I came to Elora ?

Uncurling from my ball, I glanced around. The Celestrus from the forest glowed with warm light. Weren’t we too far away for them to glow?

I grabbed Oliver’s long leg and shook.

Nothing.

“Oliver,” I said.

“What?” he groaned, rolling over.

“Weren’t the flowers normal when we went to sleep?” I continued to stare, muscles tense. But underneath the fear, my worry felt foreign and overwhelming.

“Yeah, why?” he mumbled, stretching out before glancing toward the forest. “Shit.” He sat up, grabbed my hand, and pulled me up with him.

“But what if it’s not him?” I asked, knowing I sounded foolish.

“You really want to risk it? Say it wasn’t the evil prince. If the queen knows about you, then there’s a good chance others do, too.”

He was right. “Earlier, we ran into a blonde Dominion and a redheaded Power. They were after me. Do you think those were the ones you scared off when we were still on earth?”

Oliver nodded. “Sounds like it. And before I touched them with my power, they mumbled about a reward for finding you. That some he would be pleased. They were so focused on you that they didn’t stand a chance against me.”

“Who do you think he is?”

Oliver stared at the glowing Celestrus. “The king?”