When satisfied, he said, "Then prepare yourself. I’ve only shown you the beginning."
50
NAMELESS
LUELLA
The next evening, Luella regretted her words.
Graves found her at dinner. Vale and Az sat on the floor by her side in the lounge area.
Az fed her tart chunks of citrus, while Vale sat further away, hand passing over his jaw as he stared at a scroll.
Vale would often look up, catching her with a piece of fruit hanging from between her lips.
He had begun showing up wherever she went—with his scrolls and parchment, he would take up camp in the same vicinity as her. Content to be near.
It always set her on edge.
She looked up at Graves, juice dribbling from her lips. The eve-darkened clouds cast shadows on the trees outside.
"Come with me," he said, wings tucked against his back.
"Why?" she asked, poking at her plate of fruit and nuts. The Fallen Isles lived off fish mostly, and since she didn’t eat meat, she had to make do.
"You’ll see."
His reticence piqued her curiosity. She set her plate on the low table before her.
Az stilled her with a hand. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"I’ll be okay," she whispered, uncertain.
Luella rose and took Graves’s gloved hand.
"Where are you going to take me?"
Graves led her away. A warmth passed over her thigh. She jolted, looking down to find Vale’s fingers reaching for her. He’d drifted his hand over her thigh as she passed, yet hadn’t even bothered to look at her.
She carefully stepped over the cushions and blankets where she often spent her days. Az’s gaze lingered after her as he lifted her half-eaten piece of citrus to his lips, a forlorn look on his face.
When they were outside, Graves replied, "Guess."
The wind rustled through the leaves. Sweat slid down her back as her wings shivered from the cooling heat. She let them unfurl slightly to feel the wind in her feathers.
An ominous groaning sound filtered over the wind.
She looked up.
A bridge swung overhead, casting slats of shadows onto where she and Graves stood beneath.
Her head lowered. He was closer to her now.
"Up there?" she asked.
"If you can manage it."
Before she was able to ask what he meant, his wings snapped out and he shot to the sky. Wind that held traces of his scent flowed down upon her as he ascended.
