Aidan

There was something cathartic about ripping bodies apart. That much, I had become certain of in the last hour, or so. I really wasn’t aware of time. Actually, I wasn’t aware of much of anything. All of the anxiety and stress that had been weighing and beating me down for the last week just lifted little by little the more I let my monster mode do its thing. I was more, or less, in control in the sense that I didn’t have to remind myself to hold back. I’m sure Lana and Chris were annoyed with me for taking all the fun, but no one had stopped me thus far, so they couldn’t have been that bad off. Even the air soldiers couldn’t stop me, as the force of their wind barely made me move an inch in my gargoyle form.

My fun came to an end when a familiar and aggravated voice came from down below. “Aidan! You killin’ all my guards!”

I looked down and saw Nadia staring up at me from the entrance of the flying castle. She looked less than pleased with me. “Uh, wha--what do you mean your guards?” Two of said guards were in the middle of struggling to get my huge claws from around their neck, but I needed answers first. “If they’re your guards, how come they’re still trying to attack me?”

Nadia's voice got twice as loud. “They’re not trying to attack you, idiot. They was trying to give you a message from me that we good. Why don’t you try looking around?”

My wide eyes moved from one side to other. I was the only one still fighting. “Where did everybody go?”

Nadia closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Just get down here and carry me.”

There was no way I was going to do that. She was for sure going to hit me, again. “Why don’t you just fly?”

Now, she looked genuinely pissed. “Because I don’t have any wings, you blind bastard!”

Well, now, I definitely wasn’t carrying her. “Give it a try. You had them in your past life and since this place is supposed to be making you stronger, it should be a breeze.”

She let out a groan, and shoved her hair out of her face. “You know I hate it when you use logic on me!” Nadia closed her eyes and didn’t do much for about a minute as her face twisted and contorted.

While she concentrated, I quickly let the guards go and mouthed a sorry to them. They didn’t say anything. Just disappeared. I didn’t blame them.

Nadia let out a giddy yell. It had been so long since she used it, that I barely recognized the sound. Her face was lit up as she floated a few feet off of the ground due to the two shiny, gossamer wings gently flapping on her back. “Oh, girl. I’m aerial now! These hoes ain’t never gonna see me coming.”

I rolled my eyes, but her enthusiasm was infectious. “Well, come on. We’re gonna be the last ones to the after-party. As usual.”

Nadia floated up to me and stopped, still smiling. However, her face became pissy again when she saw the look of confusion on mine. “What? What you got to say?”

I put my hands up in defense to keep her from hitting me. “It’s nothing. It’s just that, well, your wings aren’t really moving that much. I don’t understand how you’re staying in the air right now. I mean, mine have been flapping non-stop. They’re actually starting to get a little sore. Also,” I said pointing down to the bottom of her wings. “You are, literally, trailing glitter everywhere you go. You can’t bring those things in the house.”

It was her turn to roll her eyes at me. “Girl, everybody is waiting on us. Now, shut up, and let’s go. I mean, really. Why is everyone wasting my time today?”

I raised my eyebrows at her. “Hey, you said you would work on being nicer.”

That got her to smile. “I said I would try my best. And besides, this is me being nicer. I haven’t hit you yet, have I?”

I knew it!

***

We flew for a while before finally coming up on everyone at the spot where we first arrived. Nadia landed first and immediately headed towards Noelle, who was just sitting on a log staring at the ground while Serena rubbed her back.

I dropped down near Chris and Lana before changing back to my normal form. In the past, I’ve felt my mindset ease when switching back to human, but this time, nothing changed because I was already chilled out. I took it as a win. “Hey, guys. Glad y'all made it back alright.”

Chris was still his ever-perky self. “Well, we have you to thank for that. If you hadn’t been the center of attention, we probably wouldn’t have had such a clean getaway.”

I cocked an eyebrow up at him, not forgetting how he had been lying for god knows how long. “Stop kissing my ass.”

Lana immediately cleared her throat. “So, we met Serena. She told us some crazy stuff. Have you heard?”

I took a deep breath. “Yeah. Nadia told me everything that happened on the flyover. It’s messed up.” My gaze drifted over to where Nadia and Noelle sat, feeling a lackluster victory. “Let’s just go home.”

We gathered everyone together and formed a circle. Apart from Serena and Noelle, who still hadn’t said a single word, the rest of us were prepared this time. With a final look around, we said goodbye to the Fae Kingdom and braced for whatever fate had in store for us next.