Page 25 of How Does It Feel?

I really did sound crazy, didn’t I?

“Grow up, Cal,” I reprimanded myself, feeling my heart flutter as I took in the many sets of wings surrounding me.

I dug my thumbnail into the V-shaped scar until it left a dent and a reminder that I needed to get it together.

I shivered and adjusted my black dress nervously. I picked up my leg and stepped firmly into the circle.

It was as if the ground had been made of water. Nothing held under my foot inside the destroying angel circle. I tried to regain my balance and pull myself back out, but with nothing to hold onto, the rest of my body fell into the circle in an ungraceful stumble.

Sharp pinpricks covered my body. Thick black smoke suddenly swirled around me, choking my lungs. My eyes clamped tightly in fear as I fought to regain any balance I could. I was still falling.

On and on, I continued to fall.

It felt as though my body had been thrust into a black hole with no end, tumbling and flipping slowly into the abyss. My arms and legs flailed wildly, trying to grab ahold of something, anything to stop this feeling. It felt like my stomach was in my chest as I continued to fall, flipping and turning as I screamed bloody murder.

On and on, I continued to fall through the awful chasm of darkness.

I collided against something hard. The force was like I had landed on a brick wall, like I had been in a car crash. My body clung to the ground as nausea overtook me and bile rose up my throat. My mind swirled chaotically, unable to stop the horrible spiraling.

I went to roll onto my back when the ground beneath me shifted, and I was thrown.

“What the—”

“It’s landed on the prince! It’s landed on the prince!”

“It is an attack! They are retaliating!” Male voices rang out in alarm.

I struggled to open my eyes, my body holding tight to the lingering feeling of falling. I opened my eyes, but it was too dark, and I could see nothing.

Suddenly I was hoisted up by my arms. My eyes continued to fail me so I could only hear them.

“How did they know, my lord!?” Gruff shouts and murmurs echoed like waves around me in rough accents I couldn’t place.

“Cut its arms off now! It’s dangerous!”

The darkness settled in my vision, but I wished it hadn’t.

Inky black smoke shrouded what looked to be hundreds of men in fierce black armor. All faced me. I screamed and ran with the only bit of air I could collect.

I blasted into a wall directly behind me with what felt like the force of a train.

But it had not been a wall.

He towered over me like death himself. The moonlight illuminated bits of the dark armor that cloaked his massive body. Foolish because he didn’t look as though he needed any armor. Every inch of his frame radiated the power of a predator. Where a normal man’s head would reside rested a dark chest covering of armor glinting against what little light the moon painted. I lifted my eyes higher until my neck craned uncomfortably to see the face of death himself.

My blood ran cold. Every instinct within my body surged with a need to flee. My feet shifted away toward the other villainous-looking men.

A sharp jaw framed his backlit face as cold blue eyes bore into my body and through my very soul. Obsidian-black brows rested slightly above the terrifying pools of ice. Dark black hair glistened, almost invisible in the darkness had it not laid so close to the pale porcelain skin of his harsh face.

The monster grabbed me as I turned to run. I heard myself scream as though I were outside my body. I continued to struggle against the strong gloved hand that held my bare shoulder. I looked back in horror at the monster, only to realize it had one hand on the hilt of a jeweled sword as the other tightly-gloved hand nearly crumbled my shoulder from its strong grip.

Almost impossible to see in the darkness, thick columns of smoke coiled and shifted in billowy plumes from his back, slowly taking the shape of wings. The smoke was thick and lively, but it somehow appeared as though if you touched it, you would feel the wings somehow solid. The thick blackness seemed darker than the night that surrounded us. The wings of smoke flowed at least five feet out on either side of his enormous body. They were unlike any wings I’d studied before. More beautiful than any of the pictures that hung on my walls. Even the luna moth’s beautiful wings paled in comparison to the dark ethereal wings spread in front of me.

I realized I’d been frozen, gawking with my mouth open at the mysterious man’s wings. How could those be real? They were smoke—they were incredible.

Without permission from my brain, my hand shot out to touch one.

The black swirls moved instantly away from my hand, just as smoke from a candle would, but with more intention. The sensation of cold vapor encased my hand, and instantly, the onyx waves swirled and coiled around my fingers, causing me to nearly faint in wonderment.