Page 113 of Infernal Secrets

It didn’t take long to find a place as far from human eyes as possible.

Once we reached a quiet clearing in the forest near Rae’s home where the sounds of traffic died and birdsong carried through the trees, Ezra stopped and stripped his shirt off without hesitation.

I cursed behind him, seeing the same damning marks on his shoulder blades.

“What the fuck are you two doing out here?” Cyn called out, crossing the grass to us with Zeke on his heels. “What happened to your back?”

“That’s why we came out here,” I said, pulling my shirt up my back to reveal my own scars.

Cyn and Zeke shared a look before Zeke turned, letting Cyn pull up his shirt. “Son of a… Check me.” He turned, allowing Zeke to do the same. They both bore the same scars.

“Right now, we don’t know anything.” I looked at Ezra. I knew as much as he did that this revelation meant something none of us wanted to face.

Zeke wrung his hands and started pacing as Cyn flicked his tongue piercing against his teeth, and I settled on a large rock protruding from the ground.

Turning away from us, Ezra moved a few feet away.

I tried to relax while he did his thing, inhaling the forest’s smells and the underlying, unique smell of approaching rain, but I couldn’t.

After several minutes I felt the familiar stirring of Ezra’s magic brush my skin.

Zeke’s voice broke my concentration. “Why isn’t he doing anything?”

“Shh,” I admonished. “Can’t you feel it? He’s trying.”

Ezra’s shoulders dropped at my words. He knew I could feel his power leak into the air, but judging by his reaction, he couldn’t call on his wings. The realization settled like lead in my stomach.

Cyn cursed and spun around, heading for the forest when Ezra turned to look at us, expression shuttered. “I’m going to kill her.”

“Cyn, no!” Zeke grabbed his arm, hauling him to a stop. “It’s not her fault.”

He shrugged Zeke’s arm off. “Then whose fault is it?”

“Kalthea,” Ezra said, getting dressed.

Cyn’s scowl deepened. “What?”

“We didn’t use a tiisra stone to cross Kalthea.” I ran my hand over my beard. “If we weren’t in control of how we crossed from the infernal plane to this one—or what sacrifice we offered—then Kalthea made the choice for us.”

Cyn’s lip curled. “And I’m not supposed to hold her responsible for this shit?”

“No.” Ezra buttoned his shirt at the wrist. A bead of sweat trailed down his temple, and I wondered if his shadows were giving him a hard time. He’d told me they didn’t like Cyn’s volatility toward Rae but didn’t elaborate. “While I believe she summoned us here, you can’t act rash and harm her when she may be our only key to getting home. If we can’t get home, we can’t get help reversing the magic that took our wings.”

Zeke slumped onto the rock next to me, his eyes glassy. “Can it be reversed?”

“I can’t say, but we have a better chance of finding a strong vallant to help us in Niemna than on our own here.”

“Maybe there’s something in the book about it,” Zeke offered, rubbing his eyes hard.

While the book hadn’t provided any leads on how to return home, maybe it could give us insight on how to get our wings back. I doubted it. No matter how many times I read over the pages, I found nothing I understood. None of the guys recognized the languages.

I wondered if our inability to read the script was another manipulation keeping us bound to Earth.

28

RELATIONSHIPS

RAE