Page 14 of Claim the Light
Damn, my mind is foggy now. The longer I stay like this, imprisoned in a sheen of dust, the worse I feel.
“A large water source?” Felix points west. “You have it.”
He’s pointing in the direction of the Schuylkill River. It’s only five blocks away, its swilling water a constant sound beneath the hum of vehicles and nightlife on the streets below.
“I’ll help you carry him,” Felix says.
“No.” My response is immediate. “You’ll only endanger yourself. We have no guarantees that river water will work. Beatrix and I are already affected. We’ll have to manage by ourselves.”
Beatrix nods to me. “We can do this.” She quickly turns to Felix. “You need to warn Zahra. Tell her about this new threat so she can decide if this building is still the safest place for her and Emika to stay. She may even need to seek help from Micah’s clan. They hid for decades without being found.”
Beatrix then turns her attention to Gisela and Dane, giving them an apologetic grimace. “I’m sorry, but Zahra’s trust is hard to win. Even though you fought by our sides today, you’re Scorn dragons. You can’t go with Felix into Zahra’s home unless she invites you.”
Don’t I know it.When I brought Lana back to this building with Micah and the angel Isaac, Zahra had come out on the offense, attacking us without hesitation. It was only because of Lana’s control of dragon’s gold that nobody was hurt.
Gisela gives a nod. “We understand. We can fly with you to the river to make sure you reach it safely.”
But Beatrix shakes her head. “I won’t be able to camouflage all of us. It’s better if Sophia and I go alone so I can focus on shielding her and Micah.”
Gisela’s brow creases with apparent worry, and Felix looks like he’s going to object, but I get in first.
“Camouflage?” I ask.
Beatrix’s eyes light up. “Felix and I have a new power that will help us fly without being spotted by humans.”
As she speaks, muted wine-red scales form over her entire body. They don’t shimmer like my scales do and at first I think she’s trying to show me that she won’t stand out as much, but then she plants her hand on the rooftop and its motley color floods across her hand and up her arm.
My eyes widen when her scales morph across her upper body, mimicking the color of the building and the sky in the distance behind her.
Within seconds, I can’t distinguish her from her surroundings.
Her visually disembodied voice says, “As long as I’m touching you, I can camouflage you too. In this case, I’m hoping that my power will flow through Micah so that by holding him, you’ll vanish from sight at well.”
“So that’s how you all crept up on Tyler,” I whisper.
Beatrix’s scales ripple and her form returns to view. “We’re still learning how to control it. I can’t maintain it for longer than ten minutes, although I’ll try. We’ll need to move fast.”
The light fades from her eyes as she rubs her palms against her black jeans, as if the darkness is pushing at her mind again.
“For more reasons than one,” I say.
Beatrix turns a rueful smile up at Gisela. “You and Dane should get to safety.”
Gisela pauses, as if she’s about to argue, before she nods. She says to Felix, “You know how to contact us. As soon as Zahra makes a decision, let us know how we can help.” Gisela draws herself upright. “I won’t let Tyler win.”
At Felix’s firm nod, Gisela and Dane step back into the rooftop’s shadows and within moments, they’re gone.
Beatrix reaches for me again. “Sophia? Are you ready?”
I grit my teeth. “I’ll take Micah’s head. You take his legs.”
I’m lucky Tyler’s body didn’t come into contact with my wings or they’d be no use to me. Thankfully, I’d already retracted them before he grabbed me.
It’s my arms I’m most worried about. I can only pray they won’t give out on me in the air. Particularly as some of the dust on Micah’s body could rub off onto us and make things worse.
Beatrix seems to be thinking the same thing. Her lips press together in a worried line as she casts a glance at her arms, but without further hesitation, she scoops Micah’s upper wing over his body.
Together, we turn him onto his side so we can pull his lower wing around him, wrapping him up and cocooning him.
