“You have fifteen minutes to get here before I remind you of exactly what happens when you cross me.”
“We’ll be there,” I replied, before thinking better and quickly tacking on the words, “My apologies, Your Majesty. We won’t be late.”
His disgruntled noise was still audible as I hung up and began rushing around the living room, shaking Finn and Emberly awake.
Finn’s eyes narrowed at my flurried state.
“W-why are we rushing?” A half-asleep, gravelly voice met my ears as he slowly stretched, not at all in the rush I needed him to be in.
“We’re late—” I stated as I began tugging on loose, cream-colored pants that flowed with my movements. Gold ribbon lined the hems of the pants, exposing my bare legs from mid-thigh down. The golden tassels along the waistband swayed with my rushed movements as I dressed.
“And . . . Wait . . . Late for what?” Emberly asked this time, as her eyes narrowed in on my outfit.
“Our scheduled performance at the court,” I stated, grabbing the tank top from my dresser as I peeked out of the room. “So get dressed. We have fifteen minutes to get there. Well, thirteen, at this point.”
“Rae—” Emberly began as she ran her fingers through her hair. “I checked our schedule last night, and we don’t have any performances scheduled today.”
“That doesn’t matter,” I stated. “Luc called me himself, and evidently, we are expected. So we need to?—”
“We’ll be ready in two.” Finn was fully functioningby this point. “We’re just going to have to accept that we will have to fly to make it in time.”
“Please tell me you’re joking,” Emberly protested, tugging on the matching outfit to mine. The gold tassels on our tank tops swung as we both clamored to fix our hair into a presentable state, which was saying a lot, considering the natural waves of my hair were bent in far too many directions from the night before. “If we fly, I’m going to have to spend the nexttwoweeks trying to get sand out of my feathers.”
“Welp, this is as good as it’s going to get.” My voice was laced with frustration as I stared at my appearance in the mirror for two seconds before Finn rushed Emberly and me outside of the apartment. I only took the briefest look back at my two younger sisters, still peacefully curled up on the couch, asleep, before I raced out the door after my two friends, determined to make it to the court before we were late.
“Fuck us all,” were the first words out of Emberly’s mouth as we stepped out onto the street in the Nox District and were hit with a gust of sandy wind, the granules pelting against our skin, forcing us all to tug our dunewraps higher over our faces.
“Flying is our only option,” Finn grumbled as he tugged his wings to the surface, and dark gray feathers burst forth into the air.
“In case I haven’t said it already today, Ihatehim,” I replied as I focused on the muscled marks on my back, tugging my own charcoal wings forward. I felt the tingle and ripple of the muscles in my back as feathered wings sprouted. Sand continued to pelt my exposed skin as I pushed off the ground, my wings flapping in a powerful push as I began to move above the skyline. I could feel every pinprick as sand cut into the feathers of my wings. The summer winds were particularly brutal as they whipped against us while we ducked under skybridges and cut through skyscrapers to make it to the court in time.
It took everything in me not to think about the painstaking amount of time I’d be spending brushing sand granules from my poor feathers over the next few weeks, as I pushed myself higher into the Solis skies. My wings beat above me, guiding me along the currents as we shot toward the court, hardly paying anyone any attention. Not that there were many other angels who dared fly in these conditions today.
Finn flew ahead of Emberly and me, bearing the brunt of the desert sand gusts, while we glided behind him, racing against time.
“The king wishesto speak with you privately,” an elderly female’s voice snarked from the dressing room as I spun around, trying to pinpoint who she was speaking to. My eyes soon hooked on brown orbs focused on me, and I held back the internal groan that threatened to spill over.
“Now?” I questioned in return as I finished changing outfits. We’d been dancing for the past three hours, and my feet had been begging for a rest. Even just a few minutes of rest would be enough at the moment.
“Yes,” she replied as she turned on her heel and began to exit the room. I madly gestured toward my stuff, and Emberly nodded beside me as she began to collect my things along with her own, mouthing the words, “See you at your place,” as I rushed after the female, her steps quickly gliding along the tiled flooring.
I followed along, my steps rushed as we moved throughout the halls of Solis Court. My eyes darted nervously as I took in the number of guards throughout the spaces. Every door wepassed on the third floor of the court appeared to have a guard standing by its entrance, hands on their firearms.
My skin prickled with discomfort as we moved down the hall, the eyes of every guard watching me closely as we moved past them.
“Has something happened?” I asked in a hushed tone as I glanced toward the elderly female guiding me down the corridor. “There seems to be an increase in RSG along the halls.”
“That’s not for you to concern yourself with.” Her tone was harsh as we sped down the hall, followed by a disgruntledharrumph.
I bit my tongue,hard, as I refrained from saying anything in response to the female.
When we finally came to a stop in front of a solid gold arched doorway on the third floor, my skin was near breaking out in hives—the anxiety and fear palpably radiating off of me as I wondered what could be so wrong.
Four guards stood watch in front of this door, their charcoal gray uniforms stark against the walls as they stood immobile, eyes following my every movement. The female guiding me whispered in hushed, urgent tones to the guard who was currently barricading the room’s entrance. Her hand gestures were flying frantically as she spoke. Still, I couldn't pick up much of what was being said as her affinity whirled around her, keeping her words from me.
A few painful moments of waiting later, the guard finally nodded his head, his hands going up to the keyed sensor by the door before stepping aside, and the door slid open in a graceful, smooth movement.
“You may enter,” a deep voice commanded from inside the space, and my heart sank as I recognized his voice—a stupid thing really, since it was Lucanus who’d demanded my presence.
