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I search his expression for any signs of regret, but his eyes remain a cool, steely purple. The tension in the room is palpable, and I can almost taste the bitterness in the air. The longer I stand here, the more my heart races. Sweat is a river dripping down my palms. Akron is rigid, and his fists are balled at his sides.
I know there was no time to push for answers. I need to go before things get out of hand. My fate was sealed the moment I stepped foot into his apartment.
A palpable anticipation of violence looms over us. Every second I stay increases the likelihood of serious injury.
Without another word, I turn and run out of the room. I slam Akron’s front door. It seals itself shut, leaving me to wait while the elevator crawls like a snail. The guard says nothing as I burst into the lobby. Freedom is so close, but I still feel Akron’s presence pressing around me like an unbreakable spell.
In seconds, I’m in the street, sprinting to the docks.
The sun is cracking over the horizon. Most residents of Port City are rising to start their proper jobs, which I no longer have. I tear one of the cheap metal hoops out of my earlobe that I bought with Marie over a year ago, throw it on the ground, and replace it with the Black Opal stud.
Urgency is a pumping, urgent call in my veins. As I near the docks, I see the swing shift personnel leaving. Adam is still at the booth, checking shipments and watching those who enter the docs. His long white wings are folded behind him. Both are thoughtfully placed to provide a stable surface for the paperwork he completes with his stubby work-worn fingers. The light from the fluorescent tubes reflects off his short black hair and creates a halo around his perfectly sculpted features. He spots me and tries to wave me down. I don’t have time to stop or argue. I need to find Elva, especially if she is in danger.
“Nate," he calls out the window. "You can’t be here! I just got a call from Boss. He said to shoot you if you came near the paperwork.”
I keep walking. "Good news for you, I won't be near the offices."
“Come on, I don’t want to hurt you!” Adam is chasing after me as I pound across the metal grate flooring. "I need this job. You know how much I owe from the Sprite Races. If Boss turns me out, the creditors will get me in a week," he pleads.
I stop just as I reach one of the boardwalks and turn around. "Adam, I care about you. Just hold your gun like that and keep shouting. Akron won't do anything if you tell him I glamoured you."
His eyebrows draw together as if I am speaking a foreign language. He tightens his grip on the dart gun and points it at me. “I’m not joking; this is your last chance, so either you turn around, or I’ll shoot you with a tranquilizer,” he says firmly.
My heart thumping wildly, I see the uncertainty in Adam’s eyes. He’s my oldest friend in Port City, but I'm no longer sure he wouldn't be willing to shoot me. Money changes people. Having connected those dots, I take advantage of his hesitation.
Reaching down, I yank my shirt over my head and toss it into the lapping water.
Adam’s face blanches as his eyes go wide with shock. “Dude, what the hell are you doing?”
A smirk is the only response I give him before I take off the rest of my clothes and even my FaePhone. His gun shakes slightly as he watches me like a deer in headlights.
With a sense of reckless abandon, I run toward the edge of the dock. Fear grows inside me. I may be making a massive mistake by jumping. However, it's too late to turn back now.
I can do this—I hope.
Taking a deep breath, I launch myself off the dock, praying that this will work.
For a moment, I fall and curse. I’m heading straight towards the ice water, stark naked.
My magic crawls over me a fraction of a second before I hit the water. It’s foreign after so much disuse, but it still works. A flame sears through me. My body changes, bones break, and my wings stretch wide.
I let out a loudsquawk.
One wing skims the top of the water, and an immense sense of freedom and power fills me. Even though I haven't shifted in years, I instinctively know what to do and take off in Elva's direction.
Adam's cry is faint in the distance, but his gunshot is not; a tranquilizer dart barely misses me as it sails over my head, making me panic and fly even faster. My newfound wings carry me swiftly, allowing me to gain altitude and speed away from danger quickly.
The wind rushes around me as I beat my wings harder and faster. I soar above the harbor, feeling a sense of invincibility that comes with flight. It's exhilarating—the way the air carries me higher and higher until the sounds of Adam's shouts fade away completely.
I pray that Elva is all right.
Elva.
Elva.
I speak her name into the wild using a language only birds understood, hoping the air will carry my call to her ears.
Chapter20
