|
Fern's Wings |
TEASERS
EXCERPT
Trails of blue stars sparkle against a misty background. I blink hard, squeezing my eyes shut before opening them again. The stars and mist disappear, replaced instead with three faces I recognise.
Ether.
He’s leaning over me, his eyes shut. I can see the weight of the responsibility his position as leader brings him. It pulls at his eyebrows, drawing them together. I want to reach up and wipe away the stress he holds in his face. I want to share the burden. I want to be his equal in everything. Perhaps one day I will find a way to do that. The heat from his touch zings across my cheek and I turn my face into his hand, my lips grazing against his palm. He opens his eyes slowly and for a few seconds we just stare at one another. Ether looks at me with a mixture of shock, awe, and something much harder to decipher.
“Welcome back,” he mouths with a gentle dip of his head. His shoulders are tense, a muscle ticks in his jaw. His hand trembles against my skin- with the need to withdraw or to stay, I’m not sure. His fingertips flutter over my lips. I smile tentatively, watching him.
“Fern,” he murmurs.
Something changes, his eyes burn with a fire that moves me, that constricts my heart. They blaze with passion, with respect, with want, with a whole host of emotions that even Ether appears to have trouble hiding now.
In that brief glimpse I see the truth of him. I see the man he tries to hide from everyone, the man who has seen and felt pain, who shows strength even when he feels weak.
His hand falls away from my face and the protective wall that shields his heart stacks back up. But I’ve seen him, and he knows it. There’s no going back now.
I watch as he rests his hand on the shoulder of the man who is holding me safe in his arms.
Mihr.
Turning my head, I meet Mihr’s summer-blue eyes. They are filled with happiness, with joy. It shines brightly out of his face.
“Hello, Fern,” he signs one-handed.
It makes me smile. Choosing to converse this way. Somehow, it has become our way now.
“I’m so happy you’re okay,” he says softly.
Did I just hear him speak? Mihr, who hasn’t said a word to me since we met. I’ve only ever heard him sing and even then, there were no words, just a beautiful melody.
“You’re talking?”
Even the sound of my own voice is loud in my ears. I’m still deaf, aren’t I? And yet I can hear him, and my own voice now with ease. Before it was only Gabe and Ether’s, never mine. Never Mihr’s.
“I am, it would seem.”
He has a beautiful voice. I hear every musical note as he speaks, the soft lilt of an accent I can’t place. I love the sound of it, it’s so lyrical. A thread of comfort pulls in my chest as his fingers tighten around mine. Mihr runs his thumb over my knuckles; the brief touch has my skin tingling. No, more than tingling. It’s like he’s giving me an electric shock but in a good way, a very good way.
“How do you feel?” he asks, gently pressing his lips against my hand.
“Strange. Better, I think.”
Ether.
He’s leaning over me, his eyes shut. I can see the weight of the responsibility his position as leader brings him. It pulls at his eyebrows, drawing them together. I want to reach up and wipe away the stress he holds in his face. I want to share the burden. I want to be his equal in everything. Perhaps one day I will find a way to do that. The heat from his touch zings across my cheek and I turn my face into his hand, my lips grazing against his palm. He opens his eyes slowly and for a few seconds we just stare at one another. Ether looks at me with a mixture of shock, awe, and something much harder to decipher.
“Welcome back,” he mouths with a gentle dip of his head. His shoulders are tense, a muscle ticks in his jaw. His hand trembles against my skin- with the need to withdraw or to stay, I’m not sure. His fingertips flutter over my lips. I smile tentatively, watching him.
“Fern,” he murmurs.
Something changes, his eyes burn with a fire that moves me, that constricts my heart. They blaze with passion, with respect, with want, with a whole host of emotions that even Ether appears to have trouble hiding now.
In that brief glimpse I see the truth of him. I see the man he tries to hide from everyone, the man who has seen and felt pain, who shows strength even when he feels weak.
His hand falls away from my face and the protective wall that shields his heart stacks back up. But I’ve seen him, and he knows it. There’s no going back now.
I watch as he rests his hand on the shoulder of the man who is holding me safe in his arms.
Mihr.
Turning my head, I meet Mihr’s summer-blue eyes. They are filled with happiness, with joy. It shines brightly out of his face.
“Hello, Fern,” he signs one-handed.
It makes me smile. Choosing to converse this way. Somehow, it has become our way now.
“I’m so happy you’re okay,” he says softly.
Did I just hear him speak? Mihr, who hasn’t said a word to me since we met. I’ve only ever heard him sing and even then, there were no words, just a beautiful melody.
“You’re talking?”
Even the sound of my own voice is loud in my ears. I’m still deaf, aren’t I? And yet I can hear him, and my own voice now with ease. Before it was only Gabe and Ether’s, never mine. Never Mihr’s.
“I am, it would seem.”
He has a beautiful voice. I hear every musical note as he speaks, the soft lilt of an accent I can’t place. I love the sound of it, it’s so lyrical. A thread of comfort pulls in my chest as his fingers tighten around mine. Mihr runs his thumb over my knuckles; the brief touch has my skin tingling. No, more than tingling. It’s like he’s giving me an electric shock but in a good way, a very good way.
“How do you feel?” he asks, gently pressing his lips against my hand.
“Strange. Better, I think.”
