Page 31 of Heavensent & Hellbent

Before he could finish the sentence, the boy from earlier jumped out into the gap between the rocks, shouting, “Boo!” It was so unexpected that I jumped, banging my head against the chalky rocks.

“Fucking hell,” I said before promptly covering my mouth, realizing swearing in front of children was universally frowned upon, even if the child in question was deeply irritating.

His dad followed shortly after, apologizing for his son and taking him away by his wrist.

“Are you okay?” Zain said, reaching for the back of my head. It ached, and when I winced, he added, “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

I laughed, even though it hurt a little to do that. “No, I’m fine, honestly.”

“You could have a concussion.”

“But I don’t, trust me,” I said quickly, leaving the crevice we had been standing in.

“We’ll need to monitor you for the next twenty-four hours,” he said, following me out, all serious.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that deep.”

“One of my teammates was hospitalized after getting hit in the back of the head. He thought it wasn’t a big deal, either.”

“Are you trying to scare me? Because if you haven’t already gathered, I have a lot going on at the moment.”

After that guilt trip, his resolve softened. “Fine, no hospital, but keep me updated if it gets worse, okay? How many fingers am I holding up?” He raised three.

“Uh, four?” I joked, but when his face crumbled, I realized he didn’t know me well enough to get my humor. “Three,I’m joking!”

He put his arm around my shoulder, an act that took me completely by surprise. He smelled like fresh air and wind, cool and sweet. “You are so annoying,” he whispered into my ear. And with that, I had become a pool of nerves. It took me a moment to realize he was looking at my head, one hand brushing over the place where it had collided with the rock. “No cuts,” he murmured. My heart was hammering in my chest at the touch, all the blood rising to my shoulder, my head.

He took his hands away, seemingly satisfied.

The sun was about to set, the sky muted now.

I peered down at the trail below us. “I’m not really lookingforward to the walk down,” I said, complaining half-heartedly. “If you really are an angel, can’t you fly us down?” It was another joke. Kind of.

“Well, that’s actually a perfect segue,” Zain began, smirking. “I promised I’d prove to you that I was an angel, didn’t I?”

12

The man and his son had left. It was just us here. I leaned against the rock as Zain paced.

“So…” he started. “I know this is a lot, and I wouldn’t blame you if you were freaked out after this and wanted nothing to do with me. If that were the case, I could take you home, and we’d never have to speak again.” His words sounded less like a warning and more like he was trying to convince me to walk away from him. I barely knew the boy, but the threat of losing him already frightened me.

I shook my head. “I won’t be freaked out.” How could I be? I had seen so much in my dreams, I doubted anything he showed me could be worse than that.

He sighed. With his back to me, he took off his T-shirt and rested it against one of the rocks. His shoulders were broad, biceps large and defined with a back that was smooth and tan. The sight of him made my mouth go dry, and that gut-wrenchingfeeling was replaced by an unfamiliar flutter in the pit of my stomach.

The longer I stared at his back, the more I began to see faint scarring on each shoulder blade. No longer smooth and untouched. I was hit by a memory of running my fingers along his back as wings emerged. His back had been soft, but the points that had scarring were raised, and much harder than they appeared. I watched, steps away, wondering how I could remember something I hadn’t experienced.

It took only a blink before wings unfurled from his shoulder blades, white with gray flecks, his wingspan about five meters. The sight of Zain’s silhouette against the changing pink and orange sky, and the red rocks, was like something out of a dream—not mine, someone else’s. His wings moved, faintly sweeping the air. I had the urge to cross the distance between us and touch them, to see if they felt like I thought they did. But my feet were rooted to the spot, despite my brain wanting so badly to be near him.

“Are you scared?” Zain asked, his voice shy.

I shook my head, but then realized he couldn’t see me. “No.”

Slowly, he turned. His shoulders rounded. “Are you sure?”

“Should I be?”

He tilted his head, and his lips perked up ever so slightly. “Maybe.”