Eden's Creatures (7 page)

“Yeah, I am,” he told her truthfully.

“I’m glad you came.”

“Me, too.”

Her look suddenly turned quizzical. “There’s something different about you, Cal. I noticed it yesterday. What is it?”

He shrugged.

“Whatever it is, it looks good on you.”

Cal felt a stirring in his loins and pulled Skylar close. He could see the dancing flames reflected in her eyes and it instantly reminded him of the ceremonial fire he had shared with Stassi. But, then, the girl with silver hair became a distant memory as the girl in his arms pressed her soft lips to his.

Stassi snarled at the barrier that kept Cal beyond her reach.
The son of Adam should thank the fates that I cannot get to him at the moment! He would not find our encounter pleasant.

She eyed the girl with the paint on her face and lips, and spat on the ground.
Soft. Weak. Just like all the children of Adam.
Yet a pang of jealousy gripped her all the same. Ever since she had been a young girl, she had watched the female humans gather in this clearing, wondering what it would be like to leave duty behind and be so carefree.

Now she felt only anger.

Cal had promised to return yesterday and when he didn’t come back, she began to fear that something had happened to him. And now here he was, mating with another female as though he had never pledged himself to her.

The snarl became a scream.

“Is there a problem, Stassi?”

She whirled around.

Gilad stood against a tree with his arms crossed at his chest, his straight blond hair brushing the top of his shoulders.

“Go away, Gilad.”

He snorted. “Before this son of Adam came into your life, you wanted me close enough.”

She turned her back on him. “I never promised myself to you.”

He closed the distance between them in the beat of a heart and gripped her shoulders. He leaned down to whisper, his breath hot on her face. “I thought you wanted your wings, Stassi?”

She didn’t answer, just twitched him away.

Gilad brushed her long hair aside and ran a finger down her back. “Your wings, Stassi. The beautiful white feathers that give you strength and speed and will make you a great warrior. Are you ready for them?”

Stassi looked out at Cal once again. The girl in his arms was laughing at something he said.
Yes, Gilad, I am ready for them. I have always been ready for them.

“Mate with me, Stassi. Let us join our bodies as one. I will show you pleasure like you have never known.” Gilad’s hands moved down to untie the skin around her breasts. “Why are you wearing this? It is not the Faedin way.”

She swatted his hands away, but he would not be deterred. “I am better for you, Stassi! We are the same. We are Faedin. He is not!”

But Gilad was wrong. Although he didn’t realize it yet, Cal, too, was one of them.
And Cal will be the one to give me my wings, Gilad, not you.

“No. I am sorry, but—”

Gilad ripped the skin from her body, spun her around and pushed her up against the tree. Rough bark scraped her cheek and she cried out. He ignored her pain and roamed his hands over her hips. “Accept me!”

“No!”

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked it back, exposing her throat. “I could take you very easily, you know.” One of his hands slid to the front of her body and squeezed her breast. A predatory snarl tore though his lips.

“This is not the Faedin way either,” she snapped, “and you know it.”

She wasn’t sure if he would heed her words. Lust filled Gilad’s eyes in a way she had never seen before.

His hands froze, but his body continued to tremble with need. “You will regret this, Stassi. Mark my words.” He shoved her to the ground with an angry push and took off into the air.

U
ncontrollable shivers woke Cal with a jerk. Confusion muddled his brain and a raging headache pounded against his temples. He swallowed and winced at the taste in his mouth. Something very vile must have crawled inside and died while he slept.

He spat to the side and sat up, quickly realizing that he was outside in the freezing cold, practically naked. He wore no shirt or jacket and someone had written
MORON
across his stomach with a black marker.

Great.

Was last night all just a big joke to his new
friends
? Getting him drunk only to strip him and leave him out to die of hypothermia? Even if it were true, he couldn’t help the smile that lifted the corners of his mouth.

I made out with Skylar James.

A possibility that yesterday seemed even more remote than the existence of a winged race of people.

“About time, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Huh?” He turned to find his brother hovering over him. “What are you doing here, Lan? What time is it?”

“Seven in the morning. When you didn’t come home last night, I thought I’d come looking for you.”

“Is Mom mad?”

“Nah.”

He grunted. “Probably doesn’t even know I’m gone.”

“She knows.” Landon threw his coat at him. “Found this in the trees a ways back. Put it on.”

Cal reached for the coat and a sharp pain exploded inside his head. “Ugh. I feel like crap.”

“You look like crap, too.”

“Love you, too, bud.” Cal stood and shoved his arms into the coat.

“Why would you stay out in the cold all night? I was worried about you.”

“Sorry,” Cal said and meant it. He never wanted to disappoint his brother. Not when Lan’s life was already chock-full of them.

“Come on, let’s just go home.”

Cal shook his head. “Not going to happen.”

“Why? What did Dad do now?”

Cal decided not to say anything about the death threat. “He kicked me out.”

“Kicked you out?” Landon yelled. “Where are you supposed to go?”

“I don’t think he cares much.”

Landon flew into Cal’s arms and hugged him around the waist. “You can’t leave! Please, Cal! You’re all I have!”

Cal pressed Landon’s face into his chest. “Hey, now, come on. It’ll be all right. We both just need time to cool off is all.” Cal looked down. “Hey, what’s this?”

Landon twisted his neck around. “What?”

Cal pulled the large white feather from his back pocket. “This.”

“Oh, I found it in our room. Can I have it?”

A sudden thought hit Cal and he froze as he mulled it over.
Is it possible?
It might be a crazy idea, but he
had
been carrying the feather the last time he found the Faedin, so he had to wonder. Could it lead him to them again? Something in his gut told him it could and his heart raced at the prospect of seeing Stassi again.

“Go on back, Lan. I just need a few days and then I’ll be home. I promise.”

Landon wiped the tears from his eyes. “Do you have somewhere to go?”

Cal studied the feather. “Yeah. I think I do.”

It took some time, but he finally convinced Landon to leave. After seeing him off, Cal strode back into the woods, holding the feather out before him as if it were a magical talisman. If he ever needed a little magic in his life, it was now.

And he got it.

With instinct guiding his steps, new paths opened before him. Cold air turned warm. Bare limbs sprouted new growth. Birds began to sing. So focused was he on his task that he stumbled to a stop when he finally saw her.

My God, she’s real.

Stassi stood with her wings folded behind her back and her hands curled into fists. Her mouth was closed, hiding the fangs behind her lips and in this moment, she looked like any other girl. Healthy, young and beautiful. No… wait. Not quite a girl. She looked different since he last saw her. Taller. More womanly. Yesterday, she did not have those curves. The appendages were not that full, the hips not that curvy. In contrast, her arms and thighs were more muscular, giving her a fierce look.

She crouched and hissed when she saw him, eyes inflamed with anger.

He held his hands out to her. “Whoa! Stassi, it’s me, Cal.”

“I know very well who I look at,
Rupa
.”

“Well, if I’m to be honest, your eyes look a little more murderous than I remember.”

Her chin lifted. “You were supposed to return yesterday.”

“I tried! I really tried! But I didn’t have the feather with me. I finally figured it out, Stassi. This feather,” he said, waving it at her, “is what leads me to you.”

She moved close and yanked it out of his hand. “This?”

“Yes,” he admitted nervously, not quite convinced that she wasn’t about to kill him.

Her eyes flicked to his stomach. “What is that writing?”

He pulled his coat closed and zipped it. “Just the prank of some not-so-nice people.”

“That makes me sad since we live to protect these not-so-nice people.”

He shrugged. “Not all people are bad. Just the ones I know.”

A full moment passed under her disapproving glare.

He tilted his head at her. “So, are we good?”

If she forgave him, she didn’t say. She simply handed the feather back to him and started away at a dead run. “Come! We are late for the trials.”

He stuffed the feather into his pocket and raced after her. “Wait! Trials?”

“Do you think you can become a warrior overnight,
Rupa?”
she asked over her shoulder. “You must prove yourself before you can participate in the Faedin raids.”

Cal looked down at his weakling body. “I’m no warrior, Stassi!”

“You are what you believe yourself to be.”

Panic settled in his chest. “No! Stop! I just came back to…”

She stopped and turned. “To what, Cal?”

“I don’t know. I had to see you again to see if…”

“I grow tired of your games. Are you here to stay, Cal? I must know.”

He swallowed.
Am I?
There was that overwhelming drive that led him here to consider. And, he had to admit, it felt right. He was tired of being alone. Tired of being a victim. As much as he loved his family, his stepfather made the life they shared unbearable.

He would stay. For a little while, anyway.

“Yeah.”

She nodded as though she had expected no other answer and started away at a fast trot. Cal took off after her. This time, he felt safe enough to look around at his dreamlike surroundings.

How can it be that this world or realm or dimension — I’m not sure what to call it — can remain so hidden?

The word
paradise
couldn’t even begin to adequately describe the landscape around him. Every color vibrated with a life of its own. Every sound tickled his ears with pure joy. To a kid who lived in hell, this was heaven on earth.

Stassi must have sensed his steps falter. “Hurry!” she hissed. “You will not ruin my chances today. Do you understand?”

He nodded and urged her forward once again, wishing he had time to ask more about these trials.

Stassi skirted the village and took a path that brought them to the large lake Cal had seen at the top of the valley when he first entered Faedin. To the west of the lake stood the ruins of an ancient arena with a stone archway and tall pillars. Some of the posts had toppled, their rubble scattered in heaps at their bases. Tiers of time-worn benches led down to a circular dirt field.

Stassi stopped to point at the arena. “That is where the second trial will take place.”

“And today’s trial?”

“A hunt.”

A hunt? Good. Something I’m good at.

Although, he had to admit that his confidence wavered slightly at sight of the Faedin warriors standing outside of the arena. There were at least twenty of them — all male — and they made an impressive sight. Tall and muscular with shirtless, bare chests glistening in the sunlight. White wings spread wide and undulating in the gentle breeze.

And every single unwelcoming eye directed his way.

It took all of Cal’s willpower to keep moving forward when his whole body urged him to do what he did best — run the other way.

“I see Perstassia has finally decided to join us,” Gilad announced with contempt.

Cal decided he would have to keep an eye on that one. The jilted Faedin seemed to have a score to settle.