Read Online Wings of Boden by Erik S Lehman - Free Book Online

and sobbing.
The years of sleepless anguish, bawling into a pillow. The vision
of a hunter dragging me to the moon when I was eight years old,
while I screamed my little lungs out in horror:
    My forgotten childhood.
    Dad waited while I stood frozen to the floor
… He spoke in a serious tone, “The dreks honey, they’re immature
hunters, scavengers, tormenting spirits. They eventually transform
into the vultures we know as hunters, adult and ruthless enemies.
Then they fly away into the night, away from the light. But you
need to know something. A hunter will be coming for you, with this
war. We’ll protect you, though, so try not to worry. Ellie?”
    NO!
    My stomach tied into knots, a metal taste in
my mouth as I trembled in memories.
    Why is he telling me this?
    Horrific, throaty, vulture sounds went
through my mind like guttural air pushed through a constricted
pipe, Urrrr ... long and drawn out so long. Even as it
continued, I could smell his black feathers; the charred scent of
my own fear filled each sniffled breath.
    Angie said with her hand on my shoulder.
“It’ll be okay, sweetie, I promise.”
    Something skittered across the back of my
mind. I jerked away, stomped across the room and sat in my chair,
hunched over with my face in my cupped hands. I couldn’t breathe.
The salad wanted to come up and I just wanted to go to sleep. Why the flap did he tell me? I was happy. I slept good last
night. Was that the last night of peace I would ever know?
    Angie had crouched down at my feet, her hands
on my knees.
    With images flashing in my mind, I muffled
into my palms, “It was Dakarai, wasn’t it?” My hands dropped. I
glared up at Angie and snapped out, “Tell me.”
    “Yes, sweetie, it was.” She snatched my hand
up. “Please don’t worry. We’ll help you, all of us. We’re all here
for you.” She looked around the room for support.
    Dad spoke up, “That’s right. Vyn can take
care of you too. Isn’t that right, Vyn? I’d say it’s time you let
her know a few things about you, now that the block is
removed.”
    “Of course.” Vyn walked over to me, placed
his hand on my shoulder, dropped a kiss on my forehead and drew
back. “Ellie, do you remember everything about that day?”
    Thoughts twisted—Dakarai, the drekavac who
had morphed into a hunter and tried to take me away. I was just an
innocent child back then, picking flowers in a field when my young,
fascinated mind, forgot about the time of day, dusk. I remembered
Dakarai’s talons clamping down on my wrist and dragging me toward
the moon. And the moment it all went blank, my mind going somewhere
else as the world dissolved, and I wilted, slipped into darkness,
only to wake up in the arms of my Dad. Then the nightmares
came.
    I pushed from my chair, stalked over to the
wall of windows, gazed out to the forest while hugging myself. My
heart raced, pressure building behind my eyes, but I couldn’t
stomach any flappin consolation at that moment. Not from—
    “What’s going on here?” my mother’s voice
made me turn. She stood near the doorway in a blue sleeveless silk
dress that hung almost to her heeled pumps. A cascade of straight
blond hair spilled around shoulders and chest. Flawless white
wings. Even though she appeared confused, she had the look.
Six-five worthy of a magazine cover, and she was finally home. I
dashed across the room and crumpled into her, she enveloped me into
an embrace. With my face on her warm chest, my arms curled up in
front of me, I breathed in the scent of her flower perfume. “It’s
okay, honey,” she said, rubbing my back and wings, then questioned
across the room, “Phillip. Well?”
    When I rolled my head over to view Dad, he
just gave a firm, pursed-lip nod.
    “You didn’t,” Mom snapped. “I thought we
agreed, Phil. I thought we weren’t going to tell her yet. Why would
you—”
    “Just calm down, Celeste,” Dad barked. “It’s
time she knew. You don’t know what’s going on here.” He