Chapter Six

JAYNE

Well, that was quite a buzzkill. One minute I was about to kiss the hottest guy I had ever seen. The next moment, he was pulling me out onto the balcony. I belatedly realized that there were no sirens ringing even though there was an intruder right in front of me. Had I forgotten to set the alarm system again? I hoped Dad didn’t find out. He would be furious even if today it was the only reason I could escape the house fire.

Although we didn’t see any flames, Arnon’s eyes seemed to glow orange. “Get on my back. I can carry you. Wrap your legs around my waist and throw your arms around my shoulders. I should have enough room to move my wings.”

“You’re not going to turn into a dragon, are you?”

The other man spoke. “We haven’t met yet, but I know who you are. I’m Ayrie. Stop asking questions for now and climb onto his back. Take a look over there.”

Ayrie gestured to the side of our house closest to the park. I couldn’t believe it was really on fire. “Let me secure the memory wipe solution.” He took the syringe from Arnon and inserted it into a thin cylinder he removed from his pocket. “Maybe I can get my credits back. I don’t think we’ll be needing it anymore. Nothing will be powerful enough to erase her memories of tonight.”

Arnon gave him a sheepish look and shrugged with one shoulder.

“Is there anyone else in the house?” Ayrie asked suddenly.

I shook my head. “I was alone tonight. My parents are out on a date.”

“Let’s get out of here before something else happens.” Ayrie had flown into the air as soon as he heard no one else was in the house. I awkwardly climbed onto Arnon’s back. He bent his knees and jumped, flapping his wings powerfully until we started moving through the sky.

In the beginning, I was nervous. I didn’t know what frightened me more: the fire or Arnon’s proximity. I wasn’t afraid of falling, but I still held on as tightly as I could.

Four other aliens with wings waited for us in the air. Had they been spying on me? I would have to hold my questions until later. I wondered if they would be willing to answer them. As soon as we arrived, they started moving higher in an attempt to get above the smoke. They began to sweat from both the physical exertion and the struggle to breathe.

The wind changed direction, blowing heat and smoke toward us. In an instant, everything below us vanished from sight. A cloud of smoke obscured the landscape. We slowed down immediately. Everyone could still fly, but we weren’t able to stay on course without seeing any landmarks on the ground.

I sensed that something had pushed Arnon and the other aliens off their path. I could hear him coughing. The thick, choking smoke had forced my eyes shut. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. The wind made it hard to move, and the intense heat seared my skin. If it were any hotter, I thought I was going to get burned. I was using all my strength to hold on.

He motioned for the others to move even higher, then fell into a coughing fit while we started to fall together.

“Arnon?” I felt scared for the first time.

His voice was hoarse. “Everything’s going to be fine. I’m okay.”

He wasn’t. He tried to fly but couldn’t stop coughing long enough to make progress in any direction. Gusts of wind buffeted us around like we were weightless. We were too close to the ground. We were now directly over the trees where the fire burned and close enough to see the flames.

A burning treetop flew past us, and we both flinched. I was unharmed, but I could smell the odor of burning feathers. Great. Arnon couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, and was apparently on fire. If I was able to cover his mouth, maybe he could breathe enough to get us out of the flames and smoke. I loosened my grip and twisted my right arm out of my camisole, holding on precariously while I pulled the thin shirt off over my head.

I was a little embarrassed removing my shirt, but the exposure would be worth it if we both lived. I pushed the thin cotton toward his face.

“Cover your mouth!” I wondered if he could hear my yelling over the roar of the fire and the sound of the sirens below. He reached for the thin fabric and wrapped it around his mouth and nose. I felt his chest expand and contract. I hoped he would find the strength to get us out of trouble.

Suddenly, he gave a powerful pump of his wings, and we shot straight up. I had my eyes closed and tried to breathe through my nose, but it wasn’t working. The smoke was so thick and acrid that it burned my throat and I couldn’t stop coughing.

He started flying steadily and I thanked my lucky stars and all the deities I could remember. The smoke persisted for much longer than I would have expected. I didn’t understand how Arnon knew which direction to move. The particles in the air obscured my vision. I couldn’t tell which way the wind was blowing.

The navigation problems must have occurred to Arnon, too. He began switching directions and searching for fresh air. When the smoke cleared, and we were in the open again, it was a shock. I looked behind us to see a thick cloud. It was moving in the same direction we had been moving. Now that we were in the clear, it was evident that we had been unlucky to fly with the smoke.

I greedily gulped in large breaths of air and closed my eyes. Now that we were away from the fire, Arnon flew with relative ease. I looked back at my house where flames engulfed the roof.

“Where did your parents go tonight?” Arnon’s voice sounded rough.

“They were over at a friend’s place at the other end of the city. I hope they’re okay.” My voice was unrecognizable. I wondered if I was going to have lung damage.

“I think they should be safe. The fires seem localized to this area.”

He fell silent, flying straight north until the city disappeared from view. We passed over a national park located fifteen minutes outside the city.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“My brothers and I always have a rendezvous point selected in case of emergency. We’re headed there to make sure they’re okay.” Without warning, he descended sharply, making me gasp. “Sorry,” he said. “I almost missed the spot.”

“It’s okay. I was surprised by the altitude change.”

“You weren’t scared?”

“Not really,” I said. “I could have done without the fire, but I don’t have a problem with flying. Do you usually have a lot of terrified passengers back here?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never carried a woman on my back before.”

“Oh, of course not. I’m sorry, Arnon.” I wished I could read his face. Was he amused, or did he think I was an idiot?

“No, that’s okay.” We continued descending until we flew past the treetops. “I know you weren’t trying to be rude.”

I knew I shouldn’t ask the question, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Weren’t you ever interested in flying with any of the other candidates?”

He snorted. “No. It’s something I would only do with a person to whom I felt close. It would be uncomfortable with a stranger.”

Well, he was carrying me. I didn’t have a chance to say anything else because we started to land. He came down slowly, gliding over the ground at first, then running along the ground and slowing to a walk. When he finally stopped, I hopped off his back, crossing my arms over my naked breasts.

His eyes got big and lingered over my chest for a few seconds before he turned his head away from me. “We should get you covered up.” He pulled something out of his pants pocket. It was once my camisole but had turned into a dirty rag. I carefully reached out my hand to take it. Even though it would feel disgusting to wear, it was better than being naked when all his brothers arrived. I put it on and wished I had an opportunity to fix myself. I must have looked like hot garbage.

At least I didn’t seem any worse than Arnon. His face and bare chest were black from the smoke, and he looked like he had been through a war. He was exhausted. The fire, smoke, and extra weight must have taken a lot out of him.

If I were him, I would want to take a break and get off my feet. He couldn’t do that with his wings out. He leaned against a tree with his eyes closed instead.

“Arnon, I think I saw a big boulder when we were coming down. Do you want to sit down?”

He opened his eyes. “I could use a break right now. It’s like you can read my mind.”

“Follow me.” I wanted to offer him my arm, but I didn’t think he would appreciate it. Fortunately, the moon was out and gave a small amount of natural light. When we reached the boulder, he crashed onto it. I wondered if he had been about to keel over.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Of course. I think I’ve been affected by the smoke. It made me weak, along with the extra weight. No offense.”

“Don’t worry about me. I don’t have any body issues.” I glanced down at myself dispassionately. I was short and slender, with B cup breasts and moderately curvy hips. My hair was naturally a bright blonde and mother always said I had unusual eyes. Both parents encouraged me to use my brain instead of focusing on superficial things. It was a given fact at home that I was beautiful.

“Nor should you. You’re perfect the way you are.”

I raised my eyebrows. Compliments never hurt anyone. I wondered if Arnon said that to all the Earth women.

“Thanks. So are you.” He hadn’t expected me to say anything in return, and he smiled.

“Has the perfect man from your dreams always had wings?” He had forgotten his weakness and was looking intrigued instead.

“Only for the past few nights.” I flashed what I hoped was a flirty smile as his brothers started landing in the clearing. They looked as bad as we did and all went to sit back-to-back on the huge boulder, resting and catching their breath. When they had recovered, one of them stood up. I thought I recognized him. Had he been on my balcony before? He strutted over to me and held out his hand.

“Ayrie Madellan,” he said. “I’m Arnon’s younger brother. They always call me the spare.”

I took his hand gently and shook it. “Jayne Lynch. Nice to meet you, Ayrie. Spare? That sounds a little insulting.”

“It’s supposed to be an honor, in case anything happens to the crown prince.”

I glanced at Arnon out of the corner of my eye. He shook his head.

“Ayrie’s far from a spare anything. He’s studied business, government, and is one of the best flyers ever seen on Auxem. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up.” Ayrie glared at him with a sour look on his face.

One by one, Arnon’s brothers came forward and introduced themselves to me.

“I’m the next one down. The middle child. They call me a troublemaker, but I’m not.” His name was Anders. He took my hand and kissed it. When he released me, I noticed his eyes drift slowly down my body. I glanced at Arnon, raising my eyebrows. He shook his head.

“Anders thinks he’s quite the lady’s man,” he said. “You wouldn’t know it from the way he was checking you out, but he’s trained as a pilot and pretty good with computers.”

“You can call me Andy.” Anders gave me a big grin. The expression was so contagious that I couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’m Avren, fourth in line.” The next brother had a slightly reserved expression on his face. He was thinner than the rest and looked like he read a lot of books. “The intellectual.”

“He’s a scientist,” Arnon explained. “A geneticist, to be precise. Last is Allex, the baby of the family.”

Allex’s face turned darker in the faint light. He looked annoyed but resigned to constant teasing.

“I don’t know.” I gazed at Allex appraisingly. “He looks like an adult to me.”

Allex was muscled, tall, and handsome. He was not a baby anymore, but I’m sure he couldn’t tell that to his big brother. He looked gratified by my comment and quietly thanked me.

“I’m a doctor. I mostly do research these days although I do have time for a few patients.”

“This is all a bit surprising.”

“Are you talking about our large family? I thought you already knew about Arnon’s wings.”

“Five is a lot for one family on Earth. I knew about Arnon. I remembered him as soon as I saw his face.”

“What you need to understand is that you are forbidden from telling anyone about our wings, Jayne.”

“I won’t. My lips are sealed.” I made a motion to zip my mouth shut.

“Thanks. If word gets out about our wings, it could mean the end of our entire planet.”