new wings. It made me feel a stronger connection to dad, even though he wasn’t even here to appreciate it. And yet, I wanted my blue wings back. The color of my wings and hair were one of the few things I had left that reminded me of mom. There was nothing left of hers when our house burned down, and now, I didn’t even have the one trait she gave me.
My chest ached with the agony of missing her and dad, and now Lennox.
Now, I was alone.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold in the tears that wanted to fall. The throbbing ache spread from my chest up into my throat and I couldn’t hold back anymore. Tears silently slipped down and I clasped my hands to my face, sobbing.
I missed them so much.
I imagined mom’s face, her bright blue eyes, the only feature I had left now. The absolute love shining from them when she looked at my dad. His mischievous smile, the small but sweet things he did for mom.
Their love had been true, and because of the ridiculous world we lived in, they couldn’t be together.
They would’ve made the whole earth shine with their happiness, and now their flame was blown out, never to be lit again.
I swore then and there to find Lennox and kick his ass for disappearing on me, even if it wasn’t his fault. I wouldn’t let my family die out; it wasn’t ending with me.
I wrapped my arms around myself, letting my wings sag behind me so I wouldn’t have to see them, and delved into the darkness of my thoughts until I fell asleep.
When I awoke, the sound of tinkling rain made me take in a deep breath. I loved the smell of fresh rain, how it trickled against my window, especially the way it muted the sun, casting a grey atmosphere across the landscape. A small wind blew at my hair and my eyes flew open as I remembered where I was.
For a moment, I’d forgotten.
I should’ve been drenched since there was no roof, but instead, Maverick was on the floor next to me, asleep. His own wing was stretched out, insulating me from the rain. I could see the tremble at his shoulder, how it probably ached to stay up. Even in his sleep, he was protecting me.
It made a warmth wash over me and a fuzziness choke in my throat. It’d been so long since someone had cared about me like that.
Lennox would try, he really would, but his own lack of control over his powers made a closeness between us too risky. Sometimes, when he had tried to protect me, he would end up going too far.
There was a buried skeleton deep in the woods of a human who’d tried to rape me behind the high school. When Lennox found us, he’d gone into such a rage that only my own wings had protected me from his raging fire. Dad had just nonchalantly buried the remains, and we never spoke of it again. Ever since then, Lennox kept a distance between us which made me ache inside.
I studied Maverick’s face, which was still in sleep, except for the flickering of his eyebrow. His long hair pooled onto the floor and my eyes roamed over the soft, golden highlights. I studied his face, noticing for the first time that his nose had a slight crook to it, as if he’d been in a fight and broken it. His lips were full, the right kind of plump, and I wondered what it would feel like to kiss him.
“I have a feeling she’s staring at you.”
Nix’s voice startled me, and Maverick’s lips twisted upwards. “She likes me, remember?”
Nix let out an exhale. “It’s only because she doesn’t know you.”
Maverick still didn’t open his eyes. “Maybe she just knows you better than you think.”
I rolled over onto my back and realized that Nix’s wing was also hovering over me. Maverick had tucked his head up under his wing but Nix hadn’t, and his face and hair were soaking wet. A strange feeling stirred inside me. Why did these demons care so much about my welfare? What was in it for them? Did they really care or was there something else going on that I didn’t know about?
Demons were supposed to be arrogant, self centered, reckless, and evil.
I knew because I’d seen those same things inside myself. I tried to suppress a lot of the demon inside me but it