I didn’t respond, watching the never ending bank of stars stretching before us. A demon; a being of personified evil. I didn’t feel evil. I didn’t have horns, or claws, or fangs and wings like I’d seen depicted in all the hideous renderings of demons that I’d come across. And Cassie definitely wasn’t evil.
“Princess.” Ryker's right arm threaded past me, so he had both hands on the reins and an arm on either side of me, brushing along my waist. “Remember the story you told me you’d read about my people?” Reluctantly, I nodded. I would never forget the vivid pictures of the monsters, with their red eyes and blood dripping from their fangs, accompanying the ludicrous story surrounding the empress. “It’s true.”
My breath caught in my throat. “It can’t be.” A shiver ran through me as Ryker’s arms tightened around my midsection. I leaned away with a gasp as his skin touched mine.
“Sorry, I thought you were cold.” Ryker loosened his hold as I rubbed my side.
“That’s not it—and even if I was cold, you aren’t helping—your arm is like ice!”
He opened his mouth, but his words were ripped away as Arrow lurched beneath us, and in the next heartbeat, we were free falling through the sky.
Dyingwouldhavebeenso much easier thanthis. We’d been flying for hours and I clutched my churning stomach and leaned back against Ryker. His arms on either side of me as he held the reins steady were the only thing keeping me from slumping forward in the saddle.
“I didn’t realize flying would be this painful,” I muttered, my voice raw and my body aching. I fixated on Arrow’s powerful wings, rising and falling, turning gold in the pale light of dawn. My insides shot upward as we plummeted again on the invisible air current, and I bit back another scream. Arrow finally straightened out, revealing Coal several wing strokes ahead of us, and my heart rate started to slow.
“It gets easier with time.” Ryker’s voice vibrated through my back where it was pressed against his chest.
“You’ve flown before?”
“Yes, not a griffin, but a fae—though they’re similar enough I’m used to it.”
“What’s a fae?” My eyelids sagged, so heavy I could barely keep them open.
“They’re divine beings descended from the sun.”
An image of miniature suns flying around and Ryker trying to ride one played across my mind and I chuckled. “Wouldn’t they be kind of hard to ride?”
“Not in their corporeal form—they can shape shift and usually take some exotic, rideable form.”
“I hope I can see one someday, they sound fascinating.” Prying my stiff fingers from the pommel, I stretched them out one by one, shaking the numbness tingling through them. “How much longer?” We’d been flying all night, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.
“Your sister didn’t tell me where we were going,” he murmured.
Inhaling the bitter morning air, I let my heavy eyelids droop closed as the sun grew brighter and rested my head on the curve of Ryker’s shoulder. He cleared his throat, but didn’t pull away, making me smile. Being up there in the sky with him, it was the first time I’d actually been able to relax around him. He’d had every opportunity to kill me and hadn’t. Combining that with his earlier confession, unless something drastic changed, I didn’t think he would kill me. A fact my heart was all too happy to accept.
We continued to ride the wind, drifting, floating, and flying. Although the divots in the air currents still made my stomach drop and my heart race, the motion lulled me further toward sleep. Images of red eyes and sharp teeth filled my mind. I’d let our conversation about my heritage die earlier during the flight, but it still haunted me.Demon. . .Was that really what I was? Was that why Ryker had hated me the first time he’d seen me? Why the nameless assassin I’d killed had been so hell bent on my death? Because I was a monster?
“Princess, we’re here,” a voice murmured close to my ear, tugging me back from the shore of dreams.
“Hmm?” I shifted, curling closer into Ryker’s embrace.
“Kaleah?”
“Sin!” I shot upright, Cassie’s excited voice ringing in my ears. Disoriented, I would have toppled out of the saddle if not for my legs still being tied to the saddle. Vivid hues of every color peeked from swaths of white mist, filling my vision. When had we landed?
Cassie moved around Arrow’s far side, a brilliant smile lighting her features. “You were asleep like the dead,” she teased, reaching up from where she stood next to Arrow to start working on the leather ties around my leg. “Although you look pretty comfortable like that.”
Heat burned my face, and I ducked my head going to start on my other side, but Ryker reached around me, deftly pulling at the ties.
“Where are we?” I asked, my gaze drifting past my sister to our hazy surroundings. I couldn’t make out much past the mist swirling around us, but the grass beneath our feet was the most vibrant green I’d ever seen, so thick it looked like carpet.
“The First Garden,” Cassie chirped, bouncing on her toes beside Arrow.
My jaw dropped for a heartbeat before I snapped it shut. “Wait, like Adym and Eva, First Garden?”
“The one and the same.” Cassie laughed, finishing unlacing the leather.
“I thought it was just a myth?”