My Immortal (10 page)

Where the hell is Shadow?

Watching over you, of course. Literally
and figuratively speaking
.

I search the open air above me and see my
bright red eyes.

"
Your
bright red eyes?"

"Stay out of my head," I reply tersely.

We're upon the wall now and the arrows are
whizzing past us. Unfortunately Gabe and I are zigzagging at
opposite times so when an archer locks his crossbow on Gabe and
fires, it misses Gabe on his zag to the right and heads straight
for me on my zig to the left.

It's inevitable that it's going to hit me so
I just squeeze my eyes shut and cringe.

Mmmph," is the only clue I get that instead
of hitting me, the arrow hit the infuriating object of my
affection.

Before I know what's happening yet again, I
am grabbed and tucked below Shadow in one smooth move as we sail
over the wall.

"Don't look back," he tells me.

"Why?"

In answer, a plethora of more arrows whizz
past us and I know that it's not over until we are way beyond the
reach of the arrows.

I also notice that Gabe isn't in front of us
anymore.

I panic because there's no way we would have
gotten free if it weren't for Gabe, and I love him. Just, not
romantically.

"He's with Jezebel, they're above us, and
they're fine so far, Sweetling."

"Wow, Shadow, I've never known you to take
anything but the high road," I say smartly.

"Well, I'm injured and carrying you, maybe
you can forgive me just this once," he says and grunts again as I
notice a strange noise and he jolts a little.

My idiocy knows no bounds apparently.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," I
sigh. I look up and notice the cords in his neck and shoulders are
straining with my weight and his fangs are at their longest
point.

This is usually not a good sign with him, but
I have no idea what it truly means.

"I'm good to fly now, Shadow…"

His eyes meet mine and he gives a swift nod
and releases me. I immediately flutter my wings until I am gliding
along beside Gabe and Jezebel, who are…holding hands?

When Gabe notices my arrival he drops her
hand and redness colors his face and neck.

I smirk.

"We should stop just over that ridge," Gabe
suggests.

I look behind us and can still see the wall
in the distance. That ridge is not far enough for my peace of
mine.

"I prefer to get as far as we can, that ridge
doesn't seem far enough…"

He glances below me, and then behind us as if
looking for someone that he lost, so I follow his eyes until mine
set on those beautiful black wings that make my heart stutter.

"Your boy got hit pretty badly…I don't think
he can make it any farther. I may have to drag him to that ridge as
it is…"

"Lexi!!" Someone yells my name and it sounds
familiar in the back of my mind but I just can't place it in my
panicked state.

I look around for the source and am jostled
to my right when arms are wrapped around me in a mid-flight hug
just seconds later.

"Oh Lexi, I saw Shadow and I was so afraid
you were hit too. Gods, I missed you…"

Realization dawns on me. My best friend is
here.

"Kaia?"

"Yes, it's me, who else?"

"H-h-how did you…?"

"Gabe set the whole thing up, and there was
no way I could live inside that stupid wall without you for the
rest of my life. So, Wraith and I snuck over the wall at a
different spot while all the crossbows were pointed at you
guys."

I frown, thinking how much Gabe did for me
when I literally broke his heart and betrayed him and this
marriage.

"Alright let's take it down here, he can't go
on any longer," Wraith announced suddenly from next to Gabriel.

We all turned to Shadow waiting on him to
deny it and when he doesn't argue I know he really can't
continue.

We all start angling down for decent and I
put my wings in parachute position to drop down to Shadow's
side.

For the first time since we left the dungeon,
I see that he is not hit just once with an arrow, but five times.
And one is through the middle of his wing. I have no idea how he is
still flying.

Blood streams down his side, back, and legs
in little rivulets caused by the wind.

He looks more feral than ever with the
streaks of blood, bright red eyes of the same color, and black
wings of midnight.

I reach out to grab his hand but he refuses,
even pushing mine away.

I land in a crouch and he sort of just falls
into the ground collapsing.

"Stop taking the hits for me if you are going
to be such an asshole about it," I bite out.

I kneel beside him and brush his hair off of
his forehead examining the damage to his body and contemplating
what to do.

He just shakes his head in exasperation.

"You just feel guilty," he says as everyone
else gathers around and examines his injuries.

"Yes! I do! And you just make it worse when
you slap my hand away and won't talk to me! It's like it's my fault
or something…"

"I just don't want you to touch me!" His
voice level is rising and my friends have the manners not to
acknowledge us.

"Well you sure let Jezebel touch you back in
there!" My stupid voice breaks while trying to yell at him.

"Gods! Really? Don't ever mention that to me
again, Alexia, I don't want to think about it."

My lip wobbles and I bite it as hard as I can
just to cause myself more pain, somewhere other than my aching
heart.

I turn away and run to the woods surrounding
us.

He sighs in my mind-link as I bend down at a
little stream winding through the forest.

Please don't hold that against me. Or do. I
deserve it. But just know…that I thought she was you…

Oh.

My past shouldn't burden the both of us,
please just let me deal with the pain. Now come back over here and
get these arrows out of me. Please.

I slurp mouthfuls of water, quenching the dry
mouth I have had. Wetness slides down my throat and refreshes my
mouth.

When I have had enough water and time to let
everything he to me sink in, I decide to head back to him and get
those arrows that should have been in my body, out of his.

The fast that he said, "please'" is the
driving force that gets me back over to him.

Shadow saying please is equivalent to him
begging, and I never want him hurt bad enough to beg, in any
way.

• Chapter Eight
  

Everyone watches me expectantly as I walk
towards them. They surround Shadow, but no one has gotten any of
the arrows out yet.

Jezebel is on her knees next to his head and
Wraith, Gabe, and Kaia are beside his torso.

I throw my thumb over my shoulder. "There's a
stream right back there if anyone is thirsty…"

They nod and all get to their feet with looks
of excitement and anxiousness on their faces. As they pass me for
the stream, Kaia stops with a hand on my shoulder and leans in
whispering in my ear, "Don't give up and you will win him
back."

We make eye contact and I smile at her as she
takes off skipping after Wraith.

They seem to be getting along really well.
Obviously in love, their marriage worked out perfectly,
I
think.

Once at Shadow's side, I kneel back down next
to the two arrows in his left side.

His blood has puddle into the dirt all around
him and the area around each arrow is purple and inflamed. It looks
very painful.

"I need you to roll over Shadow. I really
hope all of the arrows went out the other side so that we can break
off the tip and I can pull them out."

"Are they poisonous arrows?" Jezebel asks
with concern in her voice.

"No." I respond bitterly. This claim she
thinks she has on him is absurd.

He rolls over with my help, his skin
twitching when I touch his side to push him onto his back.

I immediately push that into the little black
vault of pain in the back of my mind.

I exhale gustily. "Of course, four are
showing through and the one in your side is not." I bow my head,
praying for patience. "Can we not get a break?" I hiss.

Shadow stares straight up into the dark night
sky with the tiny diamonds flickering all across it.

"Just get on with it, Alexia. I'm getting
older by the minute."

"He needs to feed," Jezebel offers.

We both look at her.

"I know that!" I say.

She holds her hands up in a "whoa, okay jeez"
manner.

"I'm just saying, demons need to feed three
times a day, just like us. And he hasn't even fed since I woke up,
and
he's injured and lost
a lot
of blood…"

"Yes, I'm sure
demons
do…" I say with
pregnant meaning, enjoying her confusion. I smile (mostly teeth) at
her and break off an arrow tip.

Shadow grunts and I watch the cords in his
neck flex as his muscles tense.

His body is so nice
, I think,
dreamily.

His head is tilted back a little, I guess
because of the pain, and his jaw grinds as I break another arrow
tip off and toss it behind me. His fangs are at their longest
length again and a mental picture of them sinking into my neck
flashes through my mind.

His eyes open, immediately landing on mine
with knowledge that he saw my mental picture. He squeezes his eyes
shut and moans again, but this time it sounds more like
annoyance.

What the hell?

For that, I break the third one off and toss
it.

His chest is heaving up and down and his
fists are bawled. The cords in his arms are flexed taught along
with every ab muscle he possesses.

I glance up at Jezebel and her eyes are glued
to his stomach as she licks her lips.

This fuels my fury so I move to the last
arrow tip. Fortunately, it's on the wing opposite from me so I can
take this to my advantage. Eyes on her, smile in place, I straddle
him, pausing for just a second on his stomach causing his head to
whip up, eyes wide open with shock and something else, before I
slide completely across to kneel on his other side.

I give him my most innocent smile.

"You had to assault the injured boy with your
feminine wiles instead of walking around or stepping over his
legs?" she asks incredulously.

I look up at her with my most convincing
stupid face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She glares at me.

Now, on to his wing.

I gently lift the delicate feathers of his
heavy, obsidian wing. His wingspread rivals Gabriel's and may be
the strongest wings I have ever seen. I know for a fact that Gabe
couldn't fly that far with an arrow in his wing.

Wings are so sensitive that plucking just one
feather is equivalent to being poked with a needle on the tip of
your pinky.

I lay the wing on my knees and examine the
wound. The beautiful black feathers are slick with his lifeblood,
making them glisten in the sun; but the moment I touch them my
fingers come away stained with red.

I gently grab the tip of the arrow and break
it off, causing his wing to jerk and him to grunt while smacking
his fist into the ground.

I brace his wing as best I can as I yank the
stem of the arrow out from the back end. He roars loudly and curls
his wing into himself. It looks so pitiful and I would much rather
comfort him than inflict this pain on him.

I give him breaks in between but I pull out
the other three arrows one by one in a span of about half an
hour.

The others are still not back from the stream
yet and I store this away to worry about after I have rid him of
the final, most dangerous arrow.

"Alright, last but not least," I say,
motioning him to turn back over onto his stomach.

He obliges me and Jezebel grabs his hand and
squeezes for support.

"He doesn't really like to be touched," I
tell her.

"Maybe not by you then," she nods towards
their joined hands, proving a point.

Whether I'm mad at her, Shadow, or both, I
take it out on him by yanking the arrow through unexpectedly.

Blood flies everywhere and I hear tendons,
ligatures, and muscle tear.

His scream is silent this time but his whole
body is taught and I can see the pained expression on Jezebel's
face as he squeezes her hand too hard.

Ha! That's what she gets.

I stem the flow of blood with my hand as the
silent scream fades from his face.

"Why aren't you're exceptional healing skills
kicking in?" I wonder aloud.

"He needs blood in order for the process to
start," she answers.

"I'm not talking about a
normal
demon's accelerated healing abilities, you moron! I was asking him
a question that you don't really know anything about."

She rolls her eyes at me. "Whatever, just
pull the other arrows out before he passes out."

I huff indignantly and pull the arrows out
that I had already broken the tips off of.

You okay, Shadow?

If dizziness and weakness are feeling okay
then count me in. My head is spinning like a top.

Do you really need to feed as often as we
need to eat?

Not really, I'm used to going days without
it now. At once time I did. But now I probably couldn't feed that
much if I tried.

Oh. Alright. Well, you aren't healing like
you were when you punched the wall…

I think that's because I lost so much blood.
I just need to be at optimum health in order to heal that fast. But
I still have those abilities; it's how I could still fly that far,
that long, with four arrows in my body and one in my wing.

Jezebel clears her throat. "Well, he needs to
feed now. I can't stand seeing him suffer any longer."