A laugh fluttered in my chest at the thought. Wings and immortality be damned…he was jealous. He didn’t even hesitate. I shook my head slowly, my steps still gradually withdrawing my figure back to the road. My hips rolled with my steps, exaggerating the curve of their shape and hooking him immediately on their movement. I let the look in my eyes grow hungry, devouring his gaze in my own as I raked my appetite from his head to his toes.
“No, I was thinking of you.” I admitted in a voice sounding foreign in my ears, each word a weapon intended to cripple.
I watched a shiver run through his wings and shimmer the silver of their feathers. His lips twitched into a delicious smirk at my confession. The leather under my feet found the road as I turned at last from his attention.
“Remember, Azriel, don’t take your eyes off me.”
As my stride quickened into a trot, I heard him whisper dryly into the night, “Never.”
10
I’d been runningfor hours. The miles flew under my feet and my stride relaxed into a steady pace. I had already run far past my goal, far longer than I’d ever completed in a single stretch, but I couldn’t stop. I needed to find these leystones, and I wouldn’t feel settled until I had them safely in my hands.
The air warmed the further south we traveled, and the moisture from the sea blew waves of dew across the rolling planes where I trekked off the beaten path. Humidity was not a friend to a runner. The mugginess made it difficult to breathe and slowed my pace to compensate for the lack of pure air. I fought for each breath, my chest expanding deeper, exhaling louder and heaving faster to push myself a little further past my goal.
Racing off road, however, was problematic. The ground was bumpy, and my joints had to be both limber and stable in order to adapt to the uneven terrain. But I had pushed myself too far, and my muscles were drained of the strength needed to maintain integrity in my ankles.
One wrong step was all it took to send me tumbling.
My foot twisted painfully against a rutted deviation in the ground, and the rest of my leg gave into the sharp pain as it flashed up my knee. My body found the soft earth an instant later, moist dirt coating my palms and burrowing beneath my nails. I quickly rolled to my back and tensed my stomach to sit up, dirty hands clutching the throb in my ankle, begging for it to stop. I gritted my teeth and breathed deep and steady, swallowing any cry building in my throat. Thankfully, it was just a muscular injury, the integrity of my skin still intact and bloodless.
A slight breeze kissed my skin, and I looked over my shoulder to see Azriel. His face the picture of plain displeasure, the look in his eyes an obviousI told you so. “Honestly, how did they let a clumsy fool like you out of the mountain? This is the third time you’ve proven your ungracefulness in our short time together,” he said while shaking his head.
“You’re right. I should have never left.” I winced as I tried to put a testing weight on my foot.
“It’s probably sprained,” he observed my movements with a critical eye. “Let’s make camp and I’ll take a look at it.”
We found a thin break in the plains where a small forest began. The tree line was sporadic but far enough from the road where we could light a fire without the careful attention of traveling soldiers. I untied my bag from my chest, letting the sack of supplies plop into my companion’s lap as we sat by the fire.
We helped ourselves silently to its contents, eating only half of our stash to save the rest for the trip home. He ripped off his own bag he’d had tied against his back and removed a thin blanket, handing it to me.
“Oh, thanks,” I said, accepting the tightly rolled fleece and unfolding it. I only packed the basic necessities, not affording to be weighed down by anything that wasn’t useful in keeping me alive. I wrapped myself in its warmth and instantly felt more comfortable among the stiff grass and damp night air. He mumbled under his breath, something about beingno big deal.But I knew there was a silent understanding between us—it was his peace offering.
I held out a corner of the blanket, giving him a space to join me, my subtle way of accepting. He shook his head. “I’m good. I’ve got my own blanket built-in.” He ruffled his wings for effect.
“Ah, yes, down is much warmer than fleece anyway.” I offered him a small smile.
He tossed his head disapprovingly again, this time accompanied by a grin of his own. His gaze fell across my swollen ankle resting on a stack of stones. “How’s your injury?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Throbbing. I’m just trying to elevate it and keep it still.”
“Mind if I take a look?” he asked. I waved a hand toward my sprain, granting him permission. He shifted stealthily to his feet and stalked towards my ankle, currently growing to twice its size. I winced as he palpated the area gently in his hands. The slightest touch sent daggers scraping up my shin.
“It’s already turning all kinds of colors. Are you sure you’ll be able to walk on it tomorrow?”
“Do I have a choice?” I bit my lip in frustration. I was so close to finding those leystones, but this injury threatened to slow me down and ruin everything. An entire day of running spoiled with one wrong move, one step too far. “I should’ve stopped, I know better than to push myself beyond my limits. I don’t know what came over me.”
“You were excited. I noticed by the way you picked up your pace during the last stretch. I was going to stop you but didn’t want to seem like I was…hovering.” His hands glided gently under the bony part of my ankle and slowly removed my sock. “I have something that might help if you’re comfortable with it.” His head lifted to assess my response. I nodded eagerly. I’d do just about anything to rid myself of this burden, somewhat wishing I hadn’t let the staff confiscate the healing candies in my dirty leathers. Those would have come in handy right about now.
His hands wrapped snug against the most swollen part of my leg, sending tiny pricks of pain perforating through swollen tissue and bruised muscle. A second later, the warmth of his calloused fingers turned frozen, and a coldness rushed from his palms and deep into my flesh. I gasped in surprise, fighting to withdraw my leg back and out of his icy clutches.
“It’s okay,” he soothed, forcing me to relax with a gentle tug. “I’m just trying to ice the injury to help the swelling.”
I nodded again, his frozen grip stealing the breath from my lungs and the words from my throat. I clenched my teeth against the sting of his glacial touch, breathing quickly through the ebb and flow of ice-covered agony. The freezing pain then ceased abruptly, and he gently set it back on the stones I’d elevated it upon.
“All better?” I asked, desperately hoping the five minutes of torture had been worth something.
He smiled sympathetically, pity returning as he inspected it. “A little. We’ll have to repeat the process a few more times to extend the effects, but it should heal faster.”