sheen of sweat shines over Lincoln's back. It's all I can focus on. Somewhere inside my head I'm lost in the memory of his wings being torn from his back. I didn't ask before I began trifling through his mind. In all honesty, I hardly noticed the difference between his mind and mine until the memory came crashing in with full force against my mind’s eye.
Cordelia didn't use sedatives. She didn't even give him something to bite on.
When someone is in pain they scream. But Lincoln couldn't scream. He didn't have the energy to. His mouth fell open, his whole body weak, nothing but a breath fell from his speechless lips. Tears streamed down his cheeks in two steady lines that came together to drip off his chin. Blood covered his back. So much blood. Did it ever have an end?
"I'm not sure why you do that to yourself." Lincoln holds back a branch.
Sand gathers in the cuffs of the pants I was able to get from the crew. They practically made me beg for them and complained when I explained holes would need to be cut in the top for my wings to emerge.
"Do what?" I purse my lips.
"Force yourself to live through every torment I've endured. You don't see me picking through your mind and reliving every terrible home you stayed in."
Light is quickly fading. The sun is almost completely hidden by the horizon. The slightest hue of orange slices through the trees and casts itself over Lincoln's face. His golden gaze glows like the hoard of pirate treasure onboard the old ship. His free hand traces the rough stubble along his chin.
"Guess I'm just a glutton for punishment."
"You could say that again."
Ziko moves around me once I'm on the other side of the tree and out of sight of the beach. Warm gusts of wind shift up the shore, coming from the expanse of ocean, rustling the leaves. There is a soft caw of birds somewhere just out of sight. Still, the rest of the forest remains quiet.
Even our steps hardly make a sound. Lincoln doesn't have to think about moving with such stealth. Though my body is now capable of moving without noise, I, on the other hand, have to think about my steps and easing my body to balance in just the right way over the tanglement that covers the forest floor.
"How far out do you think that camp is?" I strain to hear any signs of the Fae band.
"I don't know. You have any idea how much 'about a hundred paces' is for an old pirate?"
His half-mouth smirk makes a bushel of butterflies take flight in my stomach. How long has he known how handsome he is? I wonder at what age he looked in the mirror and his head swelled with arrogance and confidence.
"No. We may have our humanity in common but they lived in an entirely different era than me."
Lincoln hops over a small divot in the land, the top of it covered with fallen leaves. He offers me his hand, closing his fist for a minute before his jaw tenses and he reaches back out. I place my hand in his gently as I jump the hole without a sound, quick to pull my hand away once I land.
"This outfit is much more suited for you," he acknowledges with the short bob of his chin.
"Yeah?" I whisper. "You like this better than the ragged gown?"
"Well, I like you best in hardly any clothes." He speaks with his own chuckle but his brows pull together quickly after as if he is rethinking the statement. "You may be a queen, but pants... they bring out a confidence in you that is fiercer than when you're in one of those gowns."
"Dresses can be so restrictive. How am I supposed to turn into this badass woman who kicks ass and takes her crown back in a fucking dress?"
"It's just a shame I can't see your legs through them. Though if I close my eyes I can still picture you in the first dress fashioned in your old apartment."
His eyes press closed and the vision of my appalled face looking down at my half nakedness flashes through his mind. The image of my naked body is quick to follow.
"Woah, woah, woah." I hold up my hands. "You can't just picture me naked whenever you want."
"What? Why not? The memory sits right there." He taps a finger against his temple. "It's the benefits of being your lover.