“Fine,” she sighed. “You can give me flying lessons.”
Satisfied, Knox kissed her. “We’ll start tomorrow.” Curling his arms around her waist, he lifted her. “Now let’s go wash the smell of bull off your skin.”
Harper locked her legs around him. Sounded good to her.
“Ready?” asked Knox.
Harper grimaced. “Not really.”
“You’ve had flying lessons before.”
Yeah, she thought, but she’d never had them near the border of a winding ravine before. It was making her nervous, even if the scenic views were divine. It also didn’t help that she was baking in heat that was as dry as the breeze. “The lessons didn’t amount to much. I don’t know how easy it is for you to use your wings, but mine are a pain in the ass. I didn’t realize how hard it would be just to call them.”
“But they come to you on command now?”
“Yes, I have that part down.” She batted at a bug that came too close. “It’s the flying part that’s the problem.”
“Where do you feel the wings? Your back? Shoulders?”
“They feel like a weight extending from my shoulder blades right down to the center of my back. They feel more like another set of arms than a pair of wings. And that’s just freaky.”
Knox also “felt” his wings near his back and shoulders, but they didn’t feel like an additional pair of arms. “Call them. I need to get a good look at them.”
She nervously shifted from foot to foot on the uneven, gritty ground. “Are you sure we should be doing this here? The Grand Canyon is a pretty popular place.” And extremely beautiful with the varied, vibrant colored rocks and the Colorado River flowing through the center.
“Baby, the park encompasses something like 1,904 square miles. The canyon itself is roughly 277 miles long. There is plenty of land for the tourists to explore; this particular spot is difficult to navigate and it’s mostly left alone.”
“Some tourists use helicopters,” she reminded him.
“We’d hear them approaching and then I could pyroport us away from here.” Just as he’d pyroported them there in the first place.
“Maybe we should reschedule. We have more important things to take care of. Like tracking Crow before he hurts Carla.” If he hadn’t already done so. They all knew there was a good chance she was dead.
The gravelly ground crunched beneath Knox’s feet as he moved to her. “I have many people tracking them, Harper. The Force is working night and day to locate them. They will be found eventually.” He just couldn’t promise Carla would be found alive. “Okay?”
Harper took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Good.” He backed up a step and said gently, “Now stop delaying the lesson.”
Inhaling deeply, Harper rolled back her shoulders and called on her wings. They snapped out, fanning around her and she bit out, “Motherfucker.” It felt as if the skin of her back peeled away, but she knew it hadn’t.
“Beautiful,” said Knox. His demon agreed. They were huge gold, gossamer, eagle-like wings that had red and black streaks running through the feathers. He skimmed his fingers over one wing. “Hot. Silky. Soft. They look flimsy, but they’re strong as steel.”
“I doubt they’re as strong as Larkin’s wings, though.”
“Her wings are heavy and strong, but they have bones; bones can be broken, and then she can’t fly. Yours don’t have bones or muscles, which means they won’t break or feel any strain.” She would only feel strain on the muscles of her back and shoulders. “They couldn’t be snapped in half, but they do have some weaknesses.”
Harper nodded. “They’re so thin, they’re very sensitive and especially vulnerable to sharp objects. They won’t necessarily tear, but it’ll still hurt.”
“Yes, which means you need to be careful with them.” He stroked her wing again. “You have an additional problem.”
She knew what he meant. “Sphinxes are often hunted for their wings. They’re considered a prize and they sell well.”
“I don’t want your wings to end up mounted on someone’s wall. It’s probably a good thing that you’re keeping them secret. They’re very unique.” While she was vulnerable in that she couldn’t yet fly, a hunter would definitely take advantage and try to steal them. That was why Knox was so set on teaching her to control her wings.
“They share the same colors as the flames of hell.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “What does that mean?” She’d never actually asked him outright before, wary of the answer.
“It could mean nothing.”
“But it could mean something. What?”
“I truly don’t know.” He’d pondered over it many times, but he’d never come up with a satisfactory conclusion in his head. “It can’t be that you now possess some of my power. That would have killed you.”
“I’m not built to handle that level of power.” Harper honestly didn’t know how he did it. “When the shield between our minds dropped and your power poured into me… I’ve never felt pain like it. I really thought I was going to die.”
He slipped his hand around her nape and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Maybe these colors simply represent that my power gave the wings a little push before it bounced straight back to me.”