But...why would Zacharel do such a thing?
Dark eyes pierced deep. Right now, Koldo, you are filled with so much hate theres no room for love. I can feel it. And without love...well, youll fall, and Zacharel has no desire to see you fall.
I will
Silence.
A simple command from the king, but one Koldo could not refute. His lips felt glued together as he nodded.
The mouth can be a snare, Clerici added more gently. Sometimes its better not to say anything at all.
He knew that very well. He gave another nod.
Do you know what Zacharel asked me to give you? Clerici asked.
Before Koldo could guess at the answer, pain shot through his entire body. Pain like he had not endured even in his fathers camp, when he was hung from the ceiling by hooks embedded in the muscles in his chest, each of the Nefas warriors allowed to strike him once, with the weapon of their choice.
His knees buckled, and he hit the ground with a hard thump. The shirt was ripped from his body, though no one touched him, the material floating to the floor. A sharp, agonizing lance bowed his back, and he fell the rest of the way forward. His chin slammed against the marble, the taste of copper coating his tongue.
A shout pounded against his teeth, split his lips apart. What had Clerici done to him? There was no way he could survive this. It was too much...it was...fading? Yes. Yes, it was, the pain ending as abruptly as it had begun. Panting and sweating, Koldo lumbered to his feet. Clerici was nowhere to be seen, and there was a heavy weight at his back, as if two warriors had jumped on him and refused to let go.
He reached backand encountered the soft graze of feathers.
Heart slamming against his ribs, he jerked whatever he held forward. White feathers veined in gold greeted his eyes, the tendons thick, strong and unscarred. He lost his breath, again fell to his knees. He gave another tug, but the appendage remained attached to him, pulling tight, creating the most wondrous pain.
Wings. He had wings.
His mind reeled as he pushed to his feet. Thank you. Thank you!
He walked toward the door, dazed, but the moment he cleared the entrance he picked up speed. Soon he was running, bypassing the second set of doors, outside, racing along the cobbled pathway, hitting the edge of the cloud
Falling.
Koldo spread the wings and they caught in a current, evening out his glide. He threw back his head and laughed with undiluted joy. He was flying! Up, down, up, down, flapped the wings. No, not the wings. His wings. His. They belonged to him. And no one would be able to take them away from him.
The wind whipped against his skin, his feathers. He shot as high as he could go, the air growing colder. He dived low to the ground, the air heating, before twisting his body and shooting back up. Clouds dusted over him, cool and moist, and birds flew beside him. He performed flips, laughing all the while.
Never had he been so carefree.
What would Nicola think when she saw him? He imagined her at home, in their room, on the bed, waiting for him. She would smile, and she would gasp. She would exalt over the beauty of his wings. And why not? His feathers were the purest shade of white and threaded by the most beautiful rivers of molten gold.
She would be the first person to touch them.
He flew until the forgotten muscles in his back burned from the strain, unable to take much more. Until his wings seized, refusing to move another inch, and he began to plummet. Just before landing, he flashed to the front yard of his ranch. He hit with more force than he was used to, and had to roll with the impact. Dirt and grass tangled in his beard, clothing and feathers.
The moment he stilled, he popped up and ran inside. There was no sign of Zacharel, no sign of Axel. Laila was asleep in her room. He burst through the door of Nicolas bedroom. She sat at the edge of the bed, and jumped up when she spotted him. She was...upset.
He lost his grin, his excitement. Whats wrong? Did something happen?
She blinked, her gaze zeroing in on his wings. Well get to that. First, how...?
So youre not hurt?
Not physically, no.
The excitement returned and he spun. The wings were a gift. Pleasure filled him as he clasped the ends of the wings and stretched them to their full length. Touch them. Theyre real.
She reached out, her fingertips brushing the arch, flowing down the center. He closed his eyes and savored. Even as a child, no one other than his mother had ever touched his wings, and never this way. Never so gently, so tenderly.
Theyre wonderful, she said. But its kind of hard to enjoy them when I know you have a woman locked in the shack out back, and I dont know why shes there.
He whipped around, his elation draining. She knew. Hed wanted this, he reminded himself. Hed wanted her to learn about this side of him. To know him, all of him. To want to be with him anyway.
She demanded that I set her free.
But you didnt, he confirmed. She couldnt. There was no door.
I didnt. Her hand fluttered to her neck, rubbing. Who is she?
He watched a feather float through the air and land on the ground, and fought a wave of fear. What if Nicola considered him a monster? What if she decided she was better off without him?
Find out now, before you come to depend on her any more than you already have.
My...mother.
Nicolas jaw dropped. What? Why? she demanded, closing the distance and flattening her palms over his bare chest. Because she removed your first pair of wings?
His mouth went dry. Among other things, yes. Understand. Please. Afterward, she threw me into a nest of vipers. I was so weakened, I couldnt escape, and for years I was forced to do terrible things to survive.
Sympathy cloaked her features. Im sorry about that. I really am, but this isnt the way to make her pay. You need to take her to the judge of your people. There is a judge, isnt there?
He nodded stiffly. I dont know what her sentence will be, if it will be harsh enough.
Her brows knitted together. Thats not your call.
She hates me. For no reason, she hates me. She isnt sorry for what she did. Shes proud.
And you, what? Want to inflict upon her every pain that was inflicted upon you? she asked, clearly dazed. Yes. You do. It was her hair that you cut that day, wasnt it?
A pause before he nodded.
And you were so angry with yourself, so torn up. Koldo, dont you see? The longer you keep her, the more likely you are to harm her irrevocably. And if you do, youll never be able to forgive yourself.
He breathed in...out. She deserves to suffer.
Maybe so, but hatred makes you just as much a prisoner as she is. You cant even see past it.
I dont care.
Well, I do. Take her to your judge.
Stubborn female, just as hed known she was.
Anger beaded in his chest. Youve been hurt by someone, too. Hurt horribly, and yet you had no means of fighting back. Well, what would you do if the opportunity to gain revenge finally presented itself?
Before she could respond, he flashed to the apartment of the man who had killed her parents and brother. Oh, yes. Hed memorized the address. The male sat on his couch, watching TV and drinking beer. Scowling, Koldo materialized. The man spotted him, cursed and scrambled backward. Koldo grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and flashed back to the bedroom in Panama.
Nicola was pacing in front of the bed, and now stilled.
Koldo shoved the male to the floor face-first. What do you have to say to the one who murdered your family?
Wh-whats going on? the man in question cried. His eyes were wide, glassy, as they darted between Koldo and Nicola.
Finally, his attention remained on Nicola and he gasped. You.
So. He recognized her, despite the years that had passed.
Nicolas hands formed a tent over her mouth.
Do you truly have the strength to pardon him? Koldo demanded.
She said not a word. Her gaze remained locked on the one responsible for her loss.
Tears rolled down the humans reddened cheeks. Im sorry, he cried. Im sorry. But please, let me go.
Youre sorry because you were caught, Koldo yelled down at him.
The male squeezed his eyelids together, his tears falling with more force.
Koldo looked to Nicola. Remember your brother in his casket and then tell me what you want me to do to this man.
As the man tried to crawl away, Koldo pressed a foot into his lower back and held him down. Im sorry. So sorry, he repeated.
Well? Koldo insisted. Stop. You have to stop this. But he didnt. Hed started it. He would see it through to the end.
Nicola raised her chin and finally met Koldos stare. Her eyes were cold, hard. After the accident, Laila and I went to his house, intending to kill him while he was out on bail. Yes. Thats right. We actually plotted a cold-blooded murder. We were so angry, so hurt. We figured we were dying anyway, and at that point, we wanted to die. So why not, you know?
Koldo listened, dread replacing the anger.
She continued softly, His wife answered the door. She was holding their infant daughter. We realized we couldnt hurt the pair of them the way he had hurt us.
The dread left him, too, leaving only despair and desperation. He had to make her understand his position. I assure you. No one will be hurt by what I do to my mother.
You will. Youll have to live with whatever you do, and we both know you cant do that.
This time, he had no response.
She laughed without humor. All along we thought I was the one in need of healing, but its you. Youre wounded inside, and those wounds are festering. Youre filled with a toxin of your own making, she said, and then she walked out of the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
KOLDO HAD MADE a grievous mistake. He never should have wanted Nicola to learn about his mother. He should have kept the two women separated now and forever. If he had, he could have continued on with his life, just the way it was.
His mother...his to torment, to feed his need for vengeance.
Nicola, his to taste and touch, to feed his yearning for affection.
Now, he had his mother, but not Nicola. She avoided his gaze. Anytime he entered a room, she vacated it.
While he couldnt fix the problem hed created, he could certainly burn the reminder of it. Two days after their argument, he moved his mother to the home he kept in South Africa, and torched the cage in Panama. He couldnt take her back to West India Quay. Sirena, and now Jamila, knew its location.
When he finished, he returned to the cavern above the waterfall.
Hed chained Cornelia to the wall. Her hair was growing back, her scalp covered by stubble. She spit curses at him, and tried to reach for his wings.
You shouldnt have spoken to the female.
Aw, she sneered. Has she wised up and decided youre too repulsive for her?
His blood boiled, but he flashed away before doing something he would forever regret. As Nicola had said.
He spent the afternoon with Axel, hunting his father. They found several sets of tracks but each proved to be a dead end, the Nefas nowhere to be seen. As weak as the Sent Ones had left them, they had to be hiding, licking their wounds. But where?
He wanted this war over with, done.
He wanted to concentrate on Nicola. Nicola, whose heart amazed him. She had been dealt the worst, and yet light still shone inside her. He had been dealt the worst, and had allowed darkness to consume him.
She was right. He was wounded. But he had no idea what to do or how to heal himself.
He just knew he had to make things right with his woman.
Get your head in the game, Axel muttered.
Koldo blinked into focusand realized he was about to slam into Charlotte and her girls, who stood atop a cloud, discussing...Nicola.
need the redhead to make me another omelet. So good!
I know! Think Koldo would let me borrow her for a few years?
He angled up and over, avoiding contact. Heard a shouted, Hey!
As the wind whipped against him, he looked to Axel. I must go. Ill see you tomorrow and well continue this.
Uh-oh. I recognize that look. Papa Bears gonna do some groveling, isnt he? The warrior laughed with smirking amusement. Much as Id like to see that, Ive got some people to do. See ya.
They branched off in opposite directions. Koldo flashed as he flew, traveling from state to state and across an ocean in the blink of an eye, until finally arriving at the ranch.
The sight that greeted him nearly stopped his heart.
A dark cloud surrounded the entire ranch, rather than the white one hed left behind.
Through the darkness, he saw multiple demons crawling over the walls. And thats when he knew. His cloud had been pumped full of demon toxin, sickening it. Hed heard of this happening only once, and had thought it a rumor. False.
He palmed his sword of fire and flashed to the top of the cloud, where he hacked through the gloom. The edges curled backward, sizzling, creating an opening. He jumped through and landed on the homes roof, keeping his wings tucked as close to his sides as possible. Hed never fought with them, and wasnt trained to do so. But that wouldnt stop him from fighting now.
The demons scrambled to move away from him, but he turned and swung the sword, turned and swung, slicing one after the other in half. Black blood sprayed in every direction. Bodies thumped against the grass.
Finally the roof was cleansed and he was able to drop into the house. Demons, demons, all around, each one bigger and stronger than the last, and all the more determined to wreak havoc.
Two leaped on him from behind, ripping handfuls of feathers from his wings. Koldo gritted his teeth and released his sword, then pulled the creatures off, broke their necks and threw them down like the garbage they were.