1.
“Are you sure this is safe?” I whispered to Alina, wincing as someone shoved me to the side. Sweat and labor were thick in the hot air, as well as the strange scents of whatever the mortals were selling. The suns certainly weren’t helping, scorching down upon the raging marketplace below.
“Of course not,” replied Alina off-handedly, her golden-brown eyes searching the crowd. “That’s why it’s fun.” Her hood was drawn up to cover the wolf-like ears that protruded from her tangled mane of snowy-white hair.
“I don’t think getting trampled to death by mortals is ‘fun,’” I hissed at her, narrowly dodging a rushing wagon. Dirt, dust, and everything in between was already splattered on the hem of my cloak. I was going to have to explain to Mother why there was when we got back.
There certainly wasn’t dirt in Caelumis, the world of angels. The place where me and my sister should be, with Mother, instead of tramping around in Mortalis, the world of mortals.
We weren’t Guardians, angels that were trained and given permission to watch over mortals. We weren’t trained at all. Only in the art of…troublemaking, or whatever this outing was called.
I picked at the skin on my hands, worrying about all the things that could go wrong as we slipped through the seemingly-endless crowd of mortals. My hood might slip, revealing the small, folded pair of wings on the sides of my head. A bloodhunter might scent the aether in our blood, although Alina had assured me there were no bloodhunters in this city. A Guardian might sense us and report us to Mother, possibly the Seraphims.
Or worse.
A demon could be lurking in the masses.
I picked up my pace, staying close to Alina’s side even as the crowd pushed and pulled like a single entity that was determined to rip me away from her side.
“What’re we even looking for?” I said, tugging my hood down further. “Let’s go home before Mother realizes we’re missing.” We’d be scolded. Lectured. Punished. Perhaps they’d even banish us, claiming we were tainted by mortals– my panic heightened as I bumped into Alina, who had suddenly stopped.
Why had I followed her down here? She said she was looking for something. For someone. And I had gladly tagged along, to make sure she didn’t cause any more trouble than she already was, which I now thoroughly regretted.
“We came,” Alina murmured, unusually quiet, “for him.” Her eyes were fevered, as bright as stars, as I stood on my toes to peer over her taller frame.
Curiosity rose as the world seemed to slow, to stop completely as my gaze lifted, beyond the jostling crowd of mortals, to a young mortal man. One who sat perfectly poised within the chaos, like the eye of the storm.
His eyes met mine, a brilliant clash of cold green, like faded jade trapped under ice. He smiled then, almost menacingly, like he could tell who I was–what I was, but that couldn’t be possible.
A thrill overtook my blood as his gaze flicked away to Alina, and the world came alive again. I seemed to forget who I was, the restrictions, the weight, the walls, all gone.
For the first time in a while…I felt…intrigued. Excited. Like a veil had been ripped away from my face. The threat of prosecution from the Seraphims scattered away like smoke on wind as I hungrily drew my gaze upon him.
He was tall, handsome by mortal standards, in a rugged way. There were a few nicks upon his face and a gleam to his eyes as if he had seen the terrors of the world and survived it, lived it. He was dressed in soft leathers–nothing that screamed that he was a higher-up, but supple and clean.
As well as the ruby-colored crystals that adorned the cuffs of his sleeves and pants, dripping like blood from his ears. Or the cherrywood rifle strapped to his back, maliciously gleaming in the sunlight.
Bloodhunter.
I should run away, disappear easily back into the crowd. Before he approached us, like he looked ready to do. Before he realized what we truly were.
“Alina,” I whispered, tugging on her sleeve. My feet seemed glued to the floor. We were alone, naked, torn open to reveal the golden ichor of our blood for all the world to see–
I sucked in a desperate breath, feeling the ground sway under me. I was fine. Nothing was happening. Mortals swept past us as if they didn’t know who, what, we were.
The bloodhunter had already fixed his attention on a merchant’s goods, but some primal instinct told me he had his interest in us. I swallowed hard, forcing a calm look upon my face as I pretended to look at a stall.
“What?” she replied, distracted. A flush was upon her cheeks, paling her skin. Either from fright or…something else I didn’t dare name.
“We came for a bloodhunter?” I said viciously. “Are you out of your mind?” Why, oh, why had we come snuck down to Mortalis? I should’ve left Alina alone to her fantasies, let her come down by herself.
But I knew, deep down, that I couldn’t let her go alone. It was too dangerous for an angel to be among mortals.
I gritted my teeth, feeling a frustrated growl build up in my throat, but I remembered that wasn’t a very angel-like thing to do. Mother would disapprove.
Alina seemed to snap out of her haze. Her gaze swung to mine. “Cressida, how many angels were slaughtered by bloodhunters? Innocent angels, good ones?” she demanded.
I blinked slowly, unsure where this was heading. Of course, Mother had told us many stories of angels being slaughtered by bloodhunters for the aether in our blood. But…they were just stories to keep us in line.
“Exactly,” Alina muttered, almost angrily. “We have to get rid of them.” Her eyes burned, smoldering like coals. “This is the only way to protect us.”
Static pranced across the air, coppery and charged, pulled taut as a hunter’s snare. I could feel my own aether reacting, pushing against my skin, and yet I refrained.
The bloodhunter’s eyes were upon us.
“Alina,” I whispered hurriedly. “I get what you’re saying but we can’t kill mortals.” Panic bucked within me, urging me to lash out. What was going on with Alina? Why was she so desperate to confront this mortal?
She was never this bold, this outspoken. This…sacrilegious. We were expressly forbidden to kill, to hurt, to maim mortals. It went against everything we’ve been created to do.
Alina’s hand tightened against her cloak. She took a deep breath, turning away from the bloodhunter. “I know,” she said, rather calmly, though I could see the aether churning in her eyes. “His name is Damien Greenwall.”
Damien. A name for a conqueror, for a hunter. For someone unrelenting, vicious, a nightmare made flesh.
It sent a shudder down my spine, but not one borne of fear nor anger. I shook it off, instead grabbing Alina’s arm and attempting to drag her away from the bloodhunter. We were going home and we would never talk of this day again.
Instead, I felt a hand ghost my shoulder. I went as still as a stone, a deer sensing danger. People parted around us, and I wished one of them would trip, sprawl, do anything to shake their attention.
“That’s my name,” a smoky voice said, dangerously close to my ear. I whipped around, pushing Alina behind me. I pasted a smile on my face, and I hoped it didn’t look like a grimace.
Just our luck.
Damien Greenwall, in all his violent glory. The teardrop rubies dangling from his ears and clothes caught the sunlight, momentarily blinding me.
“Pardon us,” I said swiftly, bowing my head in what I hoped looked like respect. Of course, we studied mortal customs with the other fledglings, but all thoughts seemed to escape from my mind. “My sister is…a big fan.”
Inwardly, I cringed. Bloodhunters were usually seen as volatile and unpredictable by mortal standards. Most of them worshipped them, since they also killed demons, but the most sane of mortals strayed away from them.
“Is that so?” Damien cocked his head to the side, like one of those large, carnivorous birds our Mother told us about. The one that resided in canyons and picked off young goats.
“Yes,” I cleared my throat, my thoughts spinning wildly. He was close. Far too close. Close enough that I could feel the raw heat of mortals, the scent of danger rolling off him in waves.
Alina pushed in front of me, a strange glint in her golden eyes. “I’ve heard all about you,” she gushed, but only I could hear the tightly reined anger in her voice. “About how you protect us from those horrible, unnatural…demons and angels.”
Damien puffed up his chest at that, the arrogance every mortal possessed finally taking hold. “Those filthy immortals think they’re so much better than us,” he said. “They think they can do whatever they want to us.”
That wasn’t true. His simple declaration made me feel uneasy. Was it true? I know some of the angels in Caelumis sometimes said some unsightly things about mortals, but they didn’t really mean it. Right?
I turned to Alina, but she was too busy glaring at the bloodhunter. Alarm flashed through me. What if he noticed her hostility and put two and two together? We didn’t look like mortals at all, with our golden eyes and wild manes of hair. The feathered wings that jutted out of the side of my head twitched, but remained hidden under my hood.
“Indeed,” Alina gritted out. “They are extremely…cocky…and pompous.” She smiled sweetly then, but it was the sickly kind of sweet. “My name is Alina.”
“No last name?” A dark brown eyebrow rose at that. “Speaking of, you two don’t look like you’re from here.”
“We’re just visiting, actually,” Alina lied smoothly. Her voice thickened with false grief. “Our parents were killed in a hunting accident, so me and my sister are looking for a new town to settle in.”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah. A new start.” What was Alina playing at? We should get away as soon as possible. Damien could pull out his rifle at any moment and level it upon us.
But those jarring, pale green eyes shifted to me. “And your sister?” He smiled then, with the cold beauty of a winter dawn. He did a little bow, taking my hand in his.
My breath caught in my throat as he lifted my hand, brushing his lips gently across the back. What–what was he doing? We never learned this in our teachings of mortals–was this a greeting? Then why didn’t he do it to Alina?
“My name is Cressida,” I said coolly, even as my pulse went doubletime. “It’s…a pleasure to meet you.” What was I even saying? Why was I allowing him to glide his skin across mine? Sparks flooded my veins, jolting ones that sent warning bells singing in my head.
“A beautiful name for a beautiful woman,” he said cheekily, glancing up at me through hooded eyes.
I snorted, pulling my hand out of his. Alina must’ve forgotten to mention he was a fine jest, but I warily murmured, “Thank you.”
Sensual humor captured his face as he straightened, brightening his features. “I–”
“Damien!” The deep call sounded from a large, burly man who looked similar to Damien. “Come on!” I couldn’t see that far, but I could see the cruel glint in the man’s beady eyes that every predator had. Was that his father?
I would do well to stay away from him, especially from what looked like two swords strapped to his back. The large man was a bloodhunter, possibly Damien’s father, with their matching ink-black hair and strong jaws.
“Will I see you again?” Damien asked, his eyes roving over my face. I could hear the vague hint of hope in his tone, which was ridiculous. He’d press the rifle’s tip to my forehead if he knew what I really was, and that dulled the sparks into nervous jerks.
“Perhaps,” I said, aloof. Who was he to demand my presence? But I couldn’t resist toying with him a bit. I would never see him again, after all.
“Farewell,” He tilted his head towards Alina before turning on his heel and weaving through the crowd back to his father.
What just happened? “Alina?” I asked, in a sort of daze while mortals bustled around me. I turned around to face her, but her features were unreadable, which was rare. She was usually like an open book, the ones beautifully calligraphed from the Alyxandria Libraries, the ones that spanned across Caelumis where angels of any rank could frequent.
“Let’s go home,” she said bluntly, her cloak fluttering behind her as she ducked into the crowd, to a safe place where we could open the door that led us here and sneak back to Caelumis.
Casting a look back at Damien, I already found his gaze clashing with mine. With a shiver, I quickly followed Alina who was rapidly disappearing into the crowd.
I had enough of Mortalis today.
