Wings of the Wicked - By Courtney Allison Moulton Page 0,25

you, Ava.”

“Phenomenal,” Marcus bellowed. “Two down, one to go.”

“I’m ready for Orek,” I said. “And for whatever’s lined up after him.”

“What happened up there?” Will asked, glancing over his shoulder at the destroyed building.

I shuddered at the fresh, terrifying memory. “She was trapped. Eki. She fought her way through the building, but I don’t think she could see me or anything else. They’re blind, aren’t they? The nycterids.”

“Yes. They use echolocation and the supernatural sense that we reapers have to navigate their surroundings and locate prey.”

“Like bats,” I added.

His expression was distant and hard with thought. “Sort of. This combination in the nycterids is even more effective than eyesight, but Eki was disoriented in the building.”

“Yeah, like she couldn’t find me and started tearing the building down,” I said. “Everything happened so fast.”

“Maybe that’s what you need to do,” Ava suggested. “Stay fast. If and when Orek attacks again, keep moving. He may not be able to sense you, and you can gain an advantage over him.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Will said.

That was if he didn’t come back with reinforcements. I knew that somewhere out there, Orek was pitching a rage over the loss of Eki. I wasn’t sure if his kind was capable of love the way humans and the vir were, but I wondered if the two nycterids had been mates. The thought made me feel regret for tearing them apart, but I had to defend myself. I also knew that if Orek cared for Eki, felt any sort of affection for her at all, then his next attack would be personal. It might be more difficult for him to take me alive when he would probably ache to just tear me into pieces.

9

SCOURING THE MALL WITH KATE THE NEXT MORNING, I still felt shell-shocked. These days it wasn’t common for me to feel so exhausted the day after a hunt, but last night had taken its toll on my body—not to mention my mind. The nycterid reapers … they were just too out of this world, like some kind of demon dragon. Kate and I roamed far ahead of our moms, who chitchatted while strolling behind us, taking their sweet time. Kate and I, on the other hand, were on a mission. But I was tired of missions, and Kate was tiring me out even more.

“I’m going to ask Marcus if he’ll go to Josie’s party with me,” Kate said as she picked through the dresses in Neiman Marcus.

I frowned at her but kept my eye on a red strapless David Meister she had passed over. Josie Newport was having a pre-Valentine’s Day party called Hearts Afire, and the dress code was red or black. Organizing my thoughts on potential dresses while playing shrink for Kate was very conflicting. “If you think he’ll say yes, go for it.”

“Why wouldn’t he say yes?”

“I—” I stammered. “Well, he probably wouldn’t be into a high school party.”

“He came to mine a couple weeks ago,” she said, frowning. “And you’re bringing Will, right?”

“Maybe, but I haven’t even talked to him about it,” I said, and pulled the red dress out. My thoughts were far away. Something about Kate potentially dating Marcus didn’t sit well with me. He was a reaper, and she was completely human, mortal, and unaware of the supernatural. I couldn’t let Kate get involved with reapers, and I had my doubts he’d ever tell her the truth about himself. How could they be together without Marcus keeping such an enormous truth from her?

Kate selected a dress and examined the fabric. I already knew it’d look gorgeous on her.

“Why are you trying on a black one?” I asked. “Get red like me.”

She made an ugly noise and held the black dress up to her chest. “Uh, no. Kate is not a matchy-matchy kind of girl. I’m not going to a party wearing the same color as my best friend.”

“You always wear black,” I noted, picking at the chiffon.

“It’s slimming,” she grumbled. “Don’t you read Cosmo? They tell you all this stuff.”

I rolled my eyes. “Right. I knew that.”

She grinned. “Want to come over tonight?”

“Of course,” I said. “I’m meeting Will after the mall, but after that, definitely. I’ll bring my homework so we can get both of ours out and not do any of it.”

She laughed. “Okay. I could really use some girl time, for sure.”

“So I’ll call you as soon as we’re done?”

“You’d better.”

Our moms walked into the dress area with their hands full of shopping bags.