I wrapped my arms around him in a vise-like hold. If I was going in, he was coming along for the ride.
“Dixie?”
“Yes?” My face was buried in his neck. His scent was making my tummy tingle.
“First of all, I would never throw you in the pond, and second, you’re cutting off my circulation.”
“Whoops.” I grinned and eased up on my hold. “Where’s my dream,—or was that just a story you made up so you could kick my ass in the race?”
He laughed joyously and gently pushed my hair out of my face. “No Dixie, your dream is right here. I simply have to show you.”
“So show me.” I was getting a little nervous. I had no clue what he was going to do.
“Can you keep a secret?” he whispered against my hair.
Little fissions of magic whooshed through my body and I felt lightheaded. I wasn't sure if I caused it or if he did.
“I can keep a secret,” I assured him.
“You can’t tell anyone or question me about it.”
What in Hades was he about to show me? “I won’t,” I said, wondering if this was such a good idea. He was making me nervous.
“Promise?”
“Promise,” I whispered. If he killed me, at least I’d already kissed him.
Hayden put me down and took a few steps back. “Close your eyes, Dixie,” he instructed.
I did.
As soon as my lids shut, an absurd amount of magic filled the air. I’d grown up around magic and power and I knew the real deal when it happened. This was the real deal. I felt raw, alive and alarmed. What in Satan’s name was he doing to create such a strong enchantment?
“Open your eyes.” His voice was deeper and sexier. Like that was even possible.
I slowly opened my eyes and I gasped. This couldn’t be real. I closed my eyes and reopened them to make sure they weren’t playing tricks on me. They weren’t. My knees buckled and I sank to the ground. He was glorious—I’d never seen anything so magnificent in my life.
“Are you trying to impress me?” I asked, awestruck.
“Maybe,” he replied. “Is it working?”
“And then some.”
His eyes were closed and his arms were outstretched, reaching to the sky. His shirt was gone and his body seemed to glow, but that wasn't what astonished me.
He had wings.
Huge, breathtaking golden blond wings that matched his hair. They shimmered like spun gold in the starlight and blew gently in the breeze.
I stood up on wobbly legs and approached him. His eyes stayed closed, but a smile touched his lips. I circled him again, but this time in shock and reverence.
I felt small and inconsequential compared to the beautiful creature that stood before me. Magic hung thick in the air. I walked slowly around him to really see his wings.
“You can touch me, Dixie,” he coaxed. His voice was richer and more seductive. My already weak knees weakened some more. He sounded older and wiser, but I knew he was still Hayden.
I reached out and stroked his wings. He sighed in contentment. They were soft. Softer than cashmere, softer than puppy fur, softer than anything I’d ever touched. I ran my hands through them as tears poured down my cheeks.
“Why are you crying?” Hayden turned his body, his face full of concern.
“You’re so beautiful,” I murmured, stepping back from him. The very air around him was electric. How could someone like him possibly want someone like me?
“Don’t back away from me, Dixie,” his voice was soft. “Not now. Not like this.” He held his arms out to me.
I didn’t hesitate or even think. I ran right into his arms, the only place I ever wanted to be again. The tension left his body as he wrapped his arms and wings around me.
“Would you like to fly with me?” he asked, still holding me tight.
“More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life,” I whispered.
***
Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what it really felt like to fly.
I laid on his back, my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. I nestled between his downy wings. My heart beat so loudly I was sure he could hear it.
“Are you okay?” he asked. I heard the smile in his voice.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“We’re not even in the air yet.” He laughed.
“I know.” I was grateful he couldn’t see the blush that had covered my whole face. “It’s just that. . .um, I’m not sure what I’ll dream about anymore.”
“You’ll dream about me, Dixie,” he said so quietly I wasn’t positive I heard him correctly.
His wings expanded with a whoosh. They had to be six feet of gleaming gold on either side. His skin felt hot to my touch and the feeling of anticipation skittered down my spine like little mice. He took several running steps toward the pond and we were airborne.
I shrieked with delight as we glided low over the water and I felt his body shake with laughter.
“Go higher,” I urged, locking my knees around him tighter. His feathers tickled my nose so I raised my head. The view was tremendous.
We soared up like a roller coaster and my tummy dropped. I squealed in sheer terror and joy. The wind roared through my hair and his wings. The ground below looked like a fairy tale, moving and sparkling in the starlight.
The beat of his wings was reminiscent of a calming metronome. I let one of my hands loose and ran it through his hair.
“None of that, Little Missy. I’ll lose my concentration.”
“Sorry.” I giggled and wrapped myself back around his neck.
The peace and happiness I felt was new to me. I was meant to fly. In my heart I’d always known. I just never knew it would take a beautiful boy with golden wings and green eyes to get me there.
We soared so high the stars were our traffic. Wanting desperately to touch one, I reached out. Although I knew they were millions of miles away, I swear I felt their heat. He rolled and dipped, flying at extreme heights and almost touching the ground. I held on for dear life. Even though I knew a fall wouldn’t kill me unless I got decapitated on the way down, I didn’t want to let go of him. I loved the way his body felt under mine. It was sinful.
We flew for hours. I was positive I’d have no voice tomorrow for all the screaming and laughing I did. The terrain below began to look familiar. We were at my house. He landed smoothly in my front yard. I hopped off, ran around to his front and threw myself into his arms.
“That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done,” I babbled. “It was beautiful and you’re beautiful and I. . .” I stopped abruptly. Hell’s Bells, I was about to tell him I loved him.
“You what?” Hayden bent down so we were nose to nose.
I couldn’t think straight with him so close. “I. . .um, I don’t know.” I pulled back a little bit so my brain would work. I touched his lips and gently ran my fingertips back and forth. “This was the best night of my life.”
He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. “Mine too.”
“Really?”
“Yes Dixie, really, really.” He chuckled. “Would you like something to remember it by?”
“Yes.” I knew even without a memento I’d remember this night forever.
He removed a small feather from his wing and handed it to me. It glistened in my hand like a jewel.
“Thank you.” I would treasure it forever. “I’ll see you at class tomorrow?”
“No,” he said regretfully, tucking my windblown hair behind my ears. “I have to take care of something tomorrow, but I’ll see you on Friday.”
My disappointment was embarrassing, but it seemed to make him happy.
“It’s only one day.” He pulled me into a tight hug. “I promise I’ll be thinking about you the entire time we’re apart.”
“Okay,” I said as I tried to hide my disappointment.
He lifted my chin and brushed his mouth against mine. My lips tingled with need. “Go inside now.”
“Your truck,” I remembered. “It’s at the field. How will you get home?”
Hayden laughed and spread his wings. “I have several modes of transportation.”
Hades, after an entire night of amazing, I had to end it with something stupid. “Right,” I murmured.
“Dixie.” He stopped me as I was about to go into my little house. “Tonight was perfect. You are perfect and I’ve never been so happy in my life.”
My breath caught in my throat. He gave me one last intense kiss, turned and flew into the night.
He was right. It was perfect.
I felt his absence keenly and my cozy bungalow made me more lonely than ever. I grabbed my now working cell phone and quickly texted Stella a big thank you and a semi play by play of the highlights minus the flying part. I wandered to my room and crawled into my bed fully dressed. I clutched my feather to my chest and fell asleep.
That night I dreamt about flying, but for the first time in my life. . .I wasn’t flying alone.
Chapter 8
Class was boring without Hayden there. I found myself unable to concentrate on anything academic. My father would be delighted. Stella had a field day giving me crap, but nothing could rip my mind from reliving the most beautiful night of my life. Well, nothing except another round of group therapy.
Due to the fact that we were scheduled to leave Hell soon, we'd graduated from therapy to combat training. As usual anything we did turned into a royal cluster. . .and of course we were back at my bungalow.
Not having heard Carl speak much in the months I'd known him, I remembered why when he tried to persuade the group to take up hip-hop instead of combat.
"You thould all realithe that fighting ith dangerouth and hip-hop ith good cardio," he explained as he busted a few moves, trying to impress.
"I really don't think hip-hop will protect us from Angels and all sorts of other things that will want to kill us on Earth," Myrtle volunteered as she tried to imitate Carl's moves.
"Angels really want to kill us?" I asked in a strangled voice.
"Sweet Lucifer's bouncing balls, of course they do! Angels, other Demons and Hell knows what else," Janet chimed in happily.
Why she was happy was a mystery, but I was not. "Guys, what would you say if we decided not to go to Earth and we just stayed in Hell and opened a dance school?"
Carl looked intrigued, but Janet and Myrtle shook their heads impatiently.
"No. Satan has said Earth and to Earth we shall go," Janet declared.
"Your dad may be a whack job, and
please
don't tell him I said that, but he's been around for millions and knows the score. If he's sending us there it's for a reason. And I prefer to keep my head," Myrtle said.
"What if we open a danth thcool on Earth?" Carl suggested as he did a tremendously horrid split leap that made my groin hurt.
"I don't want to go," I said quietly. "I have no power yet."
I wondered if this new wrinkle would cause a violent episode. I knew if they demolished my house again Stella would come to my rescue. My odd little group didn’t even seem to notice the bungalow had reverted back to its former glory or even care that I was powerless aside from a few normal Demon tricks. Whatever. I hadn’t been able to figure out a kind way to dump them and I wasn’t sure I really wanted to. So here we all sat back in my bungalow debating kick lines as opposed to kickboxing.
"You power will come," Carl said gently. My nutty group surrounded me protectively. "Bethides." He grinned evilly. "We've been holding out on you."
"Wait. What?"
"Carl," Janet admonished as she put her stubby little hands on her cute curvy little hips.
"Jutht remember, what the eye theeth is not alwayth true."
"Enough," Myrtle mumbled grumpily. "I like my life even if you don't. Can it."
"Besides, if you think Hell is safe. . ." Janet muttered worriedly.
"Why does everyone know more than I do?" I demanded, tired of all the cryptic bullshit I had dealt with my entire life.
Carl smiled. He actually had beautiful teeth and cute dimples, but the lisp. Hoo baby, now I knew why he preferred to communicate through interpretive dance. On Earth he could have had speech therapy, but in Hell you were stuck with what you got.
"Pathienth is a virtue and withdom cometh with time and maturity," he said as he patted my head like a dog.
At loath to admit it, he might be right. I hadn't behaved like the grown woman I'd become. I was stuck in adolescence. Could I change? Did I have a choice?
"We're Demons. We are born of Hell and sin. We are destined to make sure the balance of good and evil remains. Without one the other distorts and becomes the end of the world. Simple and impossible," Myrtle stated.
When in the Hell did she get so smart? Had they really been holding out on me?
We'd all been born in Hell. However there were different levels in Hell, same as Heaven, from what I’d heard. The lowest level, or the Basement, was truly horrifying. That was the Hell from nightmares. The Hellfire and brimstone, screaming in agony, burning for eternity Hell. That was where the very evil went when they died. They were punished in fire until the end of time. Nobody could give me a definition on what the end of time actually meant. You would assume that my dad or his brother God would have an idea on that one, but if they did they were incredibly tight lipped. I’d never been to the Basement and I never planned on going. A couple of my sisters, the ones from the seventh and eighth centuries, seemed to enjoy visiting the Basement, but it just wasn’t for me.
The next level up was the Sub-Basement, another place I’d never been. The Sub-Basement was for lesser evil souls when they died. There was fire there too, just not as hot. The lucky people who resided there were not quite bad enough for the Basement, but not quite good enough for Purgatory. I knew many doubted Purgatory, but it existed. I’d been there and trust me, you don’t want to go. It’s boring and beige, it smells stale and they play bad cheesy elevator music twenty-four seven..
There was also an area in the Sub-Basement that my dad preferred to ignore. It was an area where souls did penance so they could leave Hell and ascend to Purgatory. . .then possibly Heaven. It was a major long shot, but there were some who I did think ended up in Hell by mistake. Not that I would share that with my dad—my outstanding grades were about all he could take. The flip side of that was that some in Purgatory end up becoming violent and had to descend into Hell. Personally I think the constantly piped in elevator music caused some souls to snap. It would make me want to tear my own head off.