Page 24 of Suncatcher

The bullet had gone through the leathery velvet webbing near the upper bone, leaving a tear. The wing twitched under Pearl’s fingers as she brushed gently near the hole, the texture softer than she expected. It had stopped bleeding, and she had no idea what to do for a wing injury. So she refocused on the other wound on Driz’s body. The one Pearl had put there.

Based on the shininess of the streak coating the previously cream shirt, that one was still bleeding. She reached for the buttons, undoing the top few. It shouldn’t have been intimate under the circumstances.

Pearl sensed Driz’s intense gaze as she exposed Driz’s sternum and the upper swells of her breasts. Pearl recalled how they’d pressed into her own body, though she hadn’t been in any state to appreciate it. She still wasn’t.

She’d wondered that morning if Driz would be hard and cool like the stone she resembled and embodied. But she wasn’t. Her skin was warm. She felt very much like a woman.

Irritated with herself, Pearl shoved those distracting thoughts aside as she drew the fabric down and away from the wound, which was about at eye-level for her. She’d stabbed into the front of Driz’s shoulder. Pearl pulled her handkerchief from a pocket and also unwound her scarf from her neck. She’d been going through them recently. When she pressed the handkerchief to the wound, Driz’s wings twitched again. It seemed to be an uncontrollable reaction. Pearl didn’t bother asking if it hurt.

“Can you fly?” Pearl asked instead as she tied the scarf around Driz’s shoulder. There wasn’t much left to tie.

“If I had to. But I will find a place nearby for today.”

“You’ll be alright?”

“I heal quickly.”

Pearl tugged the fabric of the ruined shirt back up, and her fingers accidentally brushed against the skin beneath as she redid the buttons.

She noticed far too much. Steve’s comment must have gotten in her head.

“I should get back,” Pearl murmured, withdrawing her hands and retreating. “We’ll be gone by tomorrow night. But I’ll bring you that replacement pie to the ravine. It may take me a few days.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

“Then I will wait each night.”

Pearl’s belly fluttered. It should have been out of fear at the prospect. She needed to leave.

She turned and headed back into the valley.

10

The Second Pie

Driz waited four nights for Pearl.

One day of stone sleep almost healed her injuries, leaving only a minor tear in her wing, but that, too, was gone after a second day.

She flew to her grotto and trove of treasures late on the second night, when she knew Pearl would not be meeting her. She washed herself in the waterfall, running her fingers over the scarf and handkerchief Pearl had tied to her shoulder. They made Driz happy each time she saw them.

Pretty floral embroidery decorated the corner of the pale blue handkerchief. It was so delicate even stained with red dirt, like the scarf and her shirt. Driz couldn’t scrub them clean, no matter how hard she tried.

She tied the scarf around her own neck, hoping Pearl wouldn’t mind that she borrowed it until she could give it back.

Her heart pounded and her skin tingled at the reminder of when Pearl had given it to her. Pearl had willingly touched her, and with something like care. Driz didn’t think she would ever forget. Her wings twitched at the recalled contact.

She spent the rest of the nights perched on the bluff, watching the lights of Pearl’s town. The pain in her wing was gone, but not the memory of it. The immediate rejection.

Driz knew she was their monster. It wasn’t the humans’ fault that they were afraid of her. At first, she had been angry at the one who shot her. But that anger faded quickly. He’d thought Driz had hurt Pearl. Driz had done worse to the man who truly had.

His fragile body had broken so easily. She hadn’t thought about what she was doing at the time, the instinct to protect driving her actions. It had been so quick. So easy. She’d never killed a human before.

Driz didn’t exactly regret it. He had been one less for Pearl to take care of. But it bothered her some as she watched the stars slowly spiral around her. Who had he been? Why had he done it? Did he have a family to miss him?

Driz had watched humans for a long time, trying to understand their nature. They were so loyal. Destructive and violent, but caring too. They belonged to one another. Driz belonged nowhere and to no one. And perhaps that was a belonging in itself.