We keep them tucked away until we really need them.
“Have you ever showed anyone your wings?” I ask, quietly. There’s so much I don’t know about Rose, so much I suddenly want to know. She shakes her head, but steps toward me.
“Never,” she says. “Not like this.”
Not in a romantic way.
Which means she’s never been with someone before.
Which means that if I were a good man, I would back down. I would let her save herself for someone more worthy, for someone better than me.
I’m not a good man, though.
“Let me see,” I whisper, stroking her cheek.
Rose considers the request for a moment, and then she closes her eyes. Suddenly, her wings emerge silently from her back. They spread: large and wide and glowing. They’re beautiful and big and a deep, brilliant shade of night. They have the faintest silvery glow around the edges.
“Beautiful,” I whisper.
“Your turn.”
I’ve never been one to deny a request like this. Contrary to what rumors may say, I’m not much of a showoff when it comes to women. I don’t go to bed with women. I don’t take them out. I don’t court them in any way. After I lost Cheryl, I lost my desire for all of that, and my needs have been dormant until now.
Now all I want is her.
Now I want to show her my wings, and my heart, and everything else I have to offer.
For a long time, I didn’t want to open up myself to the possibility of love because I didn’t want to be hurt. I didn’t want to try to find someone who could even sort of take Cheryl’s place. There’s more to it than that, though.
I didn’t want to risk falling for someone who might only want to be with me because of my position as king.
Rose doesn’t know I’m the king, though. She doesn’t know the fierceness or the power or the responsibility that I hold. She just knows that I’m a man she saved from a dungeon and that I owe her everything. She just knows that there’s a wild attraction between us. She just knows that tomorrow, she’s going to do everything she can to save her kingdom.
That’s what she knows.
Perhaps I should explain the truth to her. Maybe I should warn her that I really am the king and that getting involved with me isn’t a good idea, but for once in my life, I don’t want to worry about any of that. I don’t want to deal with any sort of stress or anxiety or frustration or anything. I just want to look at her and spend time with her and be with her.
I just want to forget about everything that’s happened today.
I want to forget about Wyatt.
I want to forget about the dungeon.
I want everything else to just fade away.
So I pull off my shirt, baring my chest, and I let my wings out.
They emerge silently, painlessly, and spread. Like Rose’s wings, mine are a deep black. Unlike hers, mine have no glow. They’re just plain, ordinary black, but she gasps when she sees them.
“Have you ever seen another fairy’s wings?” I ask her quietly.
“Only my sisters’,” she says. “My parents warned us to keep them hidden so other people wouldn’t know what we were. Sometimes, though...sometimes we’d show each other.”
“It was wise of your parents to keep your true selves hidden,” I tell her.
Especially now, with the demons and vampires, but I don’t think Rose agrees.
“No,” she whispers. “This is better. When my wings are free, I feel strong. I feel brave and courageous. Maybe we’re supposed to keep our wings hidden because it doesn’t hide who we are, but it keeps our powers under wraps.”