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How early? I have no idea. I don’t understand the concept of time in the monster realm yet, but I know the suns travel across the sky in tandem and the moon rises when they set. All three bodies move in the same direction, chasing one another constantly.
Azarius says there’s a brief moment where you can see a hair of the suns on one horizon and a hair of the moon on the other if your view is unobstructed. Considering we’re constantly surrounded by trees, I haven’t had the chance to see it—and probably won’t ever be able to—but it sounds cool.
Dumping the rest of the nesda on the ground, Azarius tosses the bowl and pestle near the mansion. The whole house probably would have smelled like that if he’d left it inside.
“Okay, Az,” Elio says, looking toward the forest. “You go ahead, and we’ll catch up in a bit.”
Azarius nods and turns to me. He hesitates briefly—probably deciding if smelling me is worth getting close—before leaning and catching my lips with his. His kiss is quick and deep and leaves me begging for more when he pulls away.
“Be safe. I’ll see you soon.”
“You be safe too.”
With that, he turns on his heel and sprints toward the tree line. I’m able to see his pale form weaving through the trees for a few seconds before he disappears into the blackness.
I turn to Elio. “How long do we need to wait?”
“Not too long,” he says, dropping his messenger bag on the ground. He grabs the hem of his shirt and lifts it over his head, revealing his bulging muscles and chiseled abs.
The first time I saw his monster form he was shirtless, but I was losing blood and panicking, so I didn’t bother to notice how flawless his body is. Now, as my gaze drags up and down him, I’m taken aback.
“Az is one fast fucker.” He bends to store the shirt in his bag but leaves it on the ground. When he stands, he walks several feet away from me and stops, turning on the spot to face me. “He might not be the brightest or the strongest, but I can’t fault him there. He can outrun anything.”
In an instant, Elio’s dark wings erupt from his back, stretching at least five feet in either direction from his body. They’re thick and leathery. Their shape reminds me of bat wings with deadly six-inch claws at the ends of the fingers running through them. I don’t know if they’re usable in combat, but they look intimidating as hell.
A Batman joke rides my tongue, but I swallow it.
Elio probably wouldn’t get it anyway.
“Wow,” is all I wind up saying.
I don’t want any flattery to go to his head, but I can’t stop staring as moves his wings around, stretching them wide.
“That feels amazing,” he groans mid-stretch. “Keeping them put away all the time makes them achy, but they get in the way.”
“I think they’re awesome,” I admire.
He folds them and heads back my way, bending to snatch his bag off the ground before throwing the strap over his head.
“Have you ever ridden a motorcycle without a helmet before?”
I blink several times. “Umm…no. That’s illegal where I live. How is that relevant?”
“That’s kind of how it is to fly,” he explains. “You’re in luck because you won’t be facing straight ahead, but the wind will be wild, and it will be hard to hear anything. You might want to put your hair up.”
I obey, quickly snatching the hair tie off my wrist and pulling my hair into a tight blonde bun. Elio then hands me the cloak he retrieved from the armoire.
“I thought you said I wouldn’t need it until we got to the city?” I ask, letting it unfold and hit the ground.
“Just in case.” He nods. “It’ll help my nerves a bit.”
Again, I follow his instructions, pulling the cloak on and hooking the three silver buttons on the chest. It’s way too long, the bottom dragging nearly a foot behind me on the ground, and the arms hang past my hands comically, but it quickly soothes my nerves a bit too.
Even on the off chance that someone looks up at the right time, they won’t be able to see me.
“Perfect,” he says. “They won’t even be able to tell what you are.”
“That’s all that matters.” I push the sleeves up reflexively because I hate not being able to see my hands, and they fall back down immediately. I sigh. “So, how exactly does this work? Do I get on your back? Is there a seatbelt?”
