Wings of the Wicked
Page 71

He took my barely audible response as a sign that I didn’t want to talk anymore. When we arrived at the bowling alley, my nerves were screaming at me, spinning around a thousand miles an hour through my gut, and my hands trembled as I removed the key from the ignition and touched the door handle.
“You’re uncomfortable already,” Will observed, watching me carefully.
I scowled at him. “I’m fine. I have to do this.”
“No, you don’t.”
I pushed the door open. “Yes, I do,” I said as I climbed out.
He made an unintelligible grunt as he followed me into the building, but I tried to ignore it. Inside, Kate tackled me and squeezed me quite literally until I was strangling. A stream of inarticulate noises escaped me as she wrung me from side to side.
“Kate—can’t breathe.”
She released me, and I sucked in all the air that would fit in my lungs. She was grinning ear to ear and practically dancing with excitement. “I’m so happy you came!”
“Oh, my God, calm down,” I said. “You saw me like four hours ago.”
She shrugged dismissively. “Yeah, but I wasn’t sure you’d come out. And you brought Will!” She grabbed his arm and yanked him into a hug. When she pulled away, she gave Will a stern look and shook a finger in his face. “You’d better be good to her.”
He offered her a warm smile. “I try.”
“Good,” Kate said sharply, and turned to me, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go have some fun. Everyone is waiting for you.”
She pulled me toward the crowd of people surrounding one of the lanes. The rest of my friends were scattered around as Rachel rolled a gutter ball. Her boyfriend, Evan, pulled her into a hug as she pouted, and he planted a smooch on her cheek. I picked a purple bowling ball and tried it out. To my surprise, I didn’t do that badly. After I finished my turn, I watched—chomping on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing—as Kate forced Will to try. He held the ball awkwardly as if he’d never done it before.
“Gently!” I called to him as I sat down on a bench. If he rolled the ball with his normal strength, he’d put a hole in the floor and possibly the wall—and possibly through someone’s body.
Gutter ball. I wasn’t shocked. Bowling wasn’t something I’d expect to be within Will’s expertise. Mixed martial arts, sword fighting, video games, getting impaled, kissing—all those were things Will was superb at. Bowling? Well … everyone had their limits.
“You’ll do better next time,” Kate assured him with a look of pity.
He shrugged and sat beside me. When he grinned at me, I felt a rush of happiness. The wool of his sweater was warm as his sleeve brushed against mine, and my heart swelled. I appreciated so, so much how hard he was trying. Bowling with my friends. It was so stupid. And still he was here. After everything that had happened.
“Dude,” Landon said as he appeared in front of us with his arms crossed over his chest. He stared down at Will incredulously. “You’re as bad as Rachel, and believe me, that’s a feat.”
Will’s expression was impassive. “Sorry. I’ve never been bowling before.”
Landon scoffed. “Are you serious? Everyone in America has bowled at least once in their lives.”
Will shrugged and his mouth flattened. “Never got around to it, I guess.”
“Do you want me to show you how to roll the ball and not look like a freak?”
Will blinked at Landon. He seemed to weigh Landon’s offer for a moment before looking at me. I gave him a small smile of reassurance.
“Okay then,” Will said. He got up and allowed Landon to teach him how to hold the ball and roll it. After some direction, Will knocked down four pins.
“All right!” Landon shouted, and raised a hand for a high five from Will. Will just stared at him, and I laughed. Then slowly, tentatively, he raised his own hand, and Landon slapped it.
Then Will flinched, the same instant I felt a rush of power and emotion burst into the building like a flood breaking a dam. Ava and Sabina. Their hair was windblown and their cheeks were flushed as if they’d just flown through the Grim. Sabina cradled her arm to her chest. When Ava’s blue-violet eyes settled on us, she marched toward a dark corner of the building and waved us over. She and Sabina looked nervous.
“What’s wrong?” Will asked, his brow dark and furrowed with concern.
Ava put her hands on her hips, and she paced back and forth. “We crossed paths with Merodach and Kelaeno. Sabina was wounded.”
My hand covered my mouth. “Are you all right?”
Sabina gritted her teeth. “I’m healing. My arm was shattered. Kelaeno is so strong and Merodach—it’s as if he feels no pain. He just keeps coming.”
I noticed slashes in Ava’s zipped-up leather jacket—slits that weren’t intentional, like the ones on her back that were for her wings. Still-damp blood darkened the fabric beneath her jacket. “Are you okay, Ava?”
She gave me a fleeting, flippant glance. “I’m fine. Just tired.”
“What happened exactly?” Will asked with an edge of authority to his voice. He had transformed into all-business Will.
“We were ambushed,” Ava explained. “They made it clear they were looking for you, Ellie.”
My blood ran cold, and Will’s gentle hand on my back did little to reassure me. So Merodach and Kelaeno were collecting me next. “Does this mean they’ve found whatever else they need?”