Chapter 30

Bael waited for her in the carriage, and she ran across the onyx platform. She yanked open the door, clambering inside.

She took her seat across from Bael, trying to catch his eye. As the team of bats pulled the carriage into the air, he studied the window intently.

She shoved her hand in her pocket, toying with the silver ring. “The lords’ wives really aren’t that bad.”

He cut her a sharp look before fixing his gaze out the window again. Clearly, he wasn’t in the mood for conversation.

She closed her eyes, trying to rid her mind of the image of Hothgar parading before a congregation of animated dolls, stroking his lunar staff. Despite herself, laughter escaped, and she covered her mouth.

“What in the gods’ name is funny at this moment?” asked Bael.

“Did you know that Hothgar animates dolls to worship his knob?”

Bael’s eyes widened. Slowly, a smile curled his lips. “I did not. Perhaps I could have lived without that knowledge.” He kept his eyes on her, studying her intently. All traces of tension had left his face. “Would you like to go riding when we return to the manor?” he asked quietly.

“On bats, I assume?”

Bael nodded.

“I’m not really dressed for it.” Ursula glanced down at her evening gown. “I suppose, with the enormous slits Cera cut up the front, I could get my legs around a bat.”

Bael cleared his throat. “The cloak will keep you warm. It’s beautiful, hunting in the daylight, the way the sun catches the moths’ wings.”

How could she say no to that? “I suppose I could really use the practice.”

“Good.” He leaned back in his seat.

Pale sunlight streamed through the window, sparking off his icy eyes and illuminating the perfect contours of his face. She had the strongest impulse to reach out and touch him, but he’d already told her how he felt about “hounds.” And if she thought about it, the rebuke still stung. Obviously, he didn’t like hellhounds. So what kind of women did he like?

She bit her lip. There was no reason she should care. They were going to fight to the death in less than a week, if she even made it that far. Clearly, the wine and the altitude had already gone to her head, muddling her thoughts.

What she needed was to focus on the race that lay ahead of her.

She drummed her fingertips on the seat. “For this race coming up, is there anything else I need to know besides flying?”

He shook his head. “You’ll only need to follow behind me, and try to stay on the bat.”

“Where does the race take place?”

“Around Asta’s spire. We race in three loops.”

She nodded slowly. “And the winners are the fastest?” She frowned. “I really do need the extra practice. I can’t imagine anyone there will be slower than me.”

“Just try to keep up with me.”

She felt the carriage touch down on the roof, sliding over the marble, and she grasped a handle to steady herself.

Bael opened the door, and she stepped out onto the gleaming roof. Bael stared up at the black sky, and he put his fingers in his mouth to whistle for the two bats.

As the carriage lifted into the air, she hugged her cloak tightly around herself. “Did you say something about hunting?”

“Yes. Hunting for moths.”

She scrunched her nose. “Do we have to kill them?”

His brow rose. “Are you suddenly wary of drawing blood? That’s not the warrior I saw slaughtering demons twice her size in the melee.”

She shrugged. “I have a strange affinity for the moths.” Because they’re prey, and so am I.

“We needn’t kill them, if you don’t want to.”

She shielded her eyes, catching a flicker of movement in the dark sky.

Gracefully, the two bats glided onto the roof, just a few feet away.

Bael mounted Vesperella, gripping his neck while Ursula climbed onto Sotz’s shoulders. She wrapped her legs around Sotz, and the fabric of her dress fell away from her thighs. I’m going to have a bit of wind burn by the end of this journey. Bael stared at her for a moment longer than necessary before lifting into the air.

By the time she and Sotz found their way to the roof’s edge, Bael was already circling in a wide arc above her.

She tightened her thighs around Sotz, leaning forward to whisper into his ear. “Follow Vesperella.”

Sotz beat his wings, taking flight off the roof’s edge. He climbed higher, until he flew just beside Bael and Vesperalla.

“Nice work!” Bael shouted over the wind.

“Soon, it’ll be second nature.”

Bael’s flight climbed higher in the sky, rising above the crater’s rim, and Ursula followed a few yards behind, moving in time with the beating of Sotz’s wings.

“See if you can keep up,” Bael yelled. He leaned down, increasing his speed.

Ursula leaned low over Sotz’s neck. Simply adjusting her weight was all the encouragement he needed. His wings beat more strongly as they raced around the crater’s edge in the pearly sunlight. Ursula’s hair blew wildly about her head, but she could still see a stunning view of the crater.

Ahead of her, Bael and Vesperella charged forward, extending their lead and climbing higher into the sky.

Ursula crouched even closer to Sotz. “Can you catch them?”

Sotz’s wings whooshed thorough the air and they sped up. Ursula’s pulse raced as the wind whipped over her skin.

Despite the icy cold that bit into her exposed knees, a strange feeling rippled over her body, almost as if she belonged here, up in the air under a clean, black sky.

She pulled alongside Bael, thrilling at the speed of the flight. They’d climbed higher than she’d ever flown in the carriage, swooping up above Asta’s spire. A frothing sea of moths rose up before them.

With a whoop, Bael directed Vesperella straight at the moths. Sotz plunged after them so fast, Ursula almost lost her grip. She tightened her grasp on the bat just as they hit the edge of the cloud.

The moths parted as they entered, both encircling them at a safe distance. Sotz’s ears perked up, and a low growl rose from his chest. A rich sound vibrated through her gut—the deep thrumming of the moths’ beating wings.

Sotz winged forward, deeper into the cloud.

Ursula leaned into him. “We’re not killing today, Sotz. Just riding.”

Another growl rose from his throat. She had the feeling he wasn’t thrilled about that idea.

Beating his enormous wings, Sotz rose again, climbing out of the cloud of moths until she could see the black sky once again.

From here, Bael led her and Sotz around the edge of the cloud. The writhing mass extended high into the dark sky. From there, the light of Asta reflected off of the moth’s wings, washing them in flashes of purple and violet. There was something almost hypnotic in the way they undulated around the spire.

One hundred feet above her, a bat burst from the cloud, a bleeding moth in its jaws. Another followed. She could hear the beating of their wings as they passed over her. Sunlight highlighted their forms in the dark sky, beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Far above her, another bat burst from the cloud. Ursula gasped. The pale form was unmistakable—the white bat of the Gray Ghost.

“Bael!” she shouted.

He turned to look at her, but when she tried to point, the white bat had disappeared.

“What was it?” he asked, circling back.

She followed his path, the wind whipping through her hair. “The bat of the Gray Ghost.”

“Did you see where it went?”

“No!” Bloody thing disappeared. Much like a ghost.

Leaning down close to Vesperella, Bael began curving back to the manor. Ursula leaned closer to Sotz, picking up speed to keep pace with Bael. Her pulse raced with a sharp thrill as they swooped lower over the city. I actually think I can do this. I can keep pace with Bael just as well as anyone.

She might have frostbite on her legs at this point, but the clean feel of the lunar air called to her. Somehow, she felt she was meant to fly.

And clearly, so was Bael.

Vesperella dove sharply for the roof of Abelda, and Ursula followed close behind. As the black marble drew nearer, Sotz beat his wings, slowing his descent. He glided gracefully to a landing by Vesperella’s side. Bael was already dismounting.

She stepped off Sotz. The inside of her thighs burned from exhaustion, and the outside from the freezing wind.

She straightened, glancing at him. “I take it you miss your wings.”

“It’s hard to get used to being grounded after twenty-two millennia of flight.”

She smiled. “The lords’ wives said you were worshipped as a god in the old days.”

“The lords’ wives have a lot to say about me.”

“And yet you’re still a total mystery.”

He eyed her cautiously. “What do you need to know?”

A chilly lunar wind toyed with her hair. “You said you were from Canaan. Where’s the rest of your family?”

“Dead,” he said flatly.

Shit. She shouldn’t have brought that up. She already knew his wife had died. She swallowed hard. “I meant your parents.”

“Dead. A long time ago.” He climbed back on to Vesperella’s back. “You should get inside. You’re going to freeze.”

Before she could respond, Bael leaned forward on Vesperalla’s shoulders and whispered in her ear. Vesperella’s wings stroked the air, and Bael surged upward into the black sky.