The Unfinished Song (Book 5): Wing by Tara Maya Page B

took away her wings? That is actually very helpful to
know.”
    “I thought you saw the Vision as well.”
    “Unfortunately not,” he said. “I will soon find a
way. In the meantime, you must report exactly what you saw.”
    She would have thought her heart could not pound any
faster, yet now it started thumping wildly. Umbral was not as
invincible as he seemed. He had no idea she had seen Vessia right
after the fall of the Bone Whistler, a day some twenty and one
years past. He thought she had seen Vessia recently, in the hands
of her captors.
    Or was he just testing her, to see if she would lie
to him?
    The only way to know was to lie to him.
    “I saw her with Amdra and Vumo. They were on
horseback. They stopped to camp and took her wings.”
    “What shape were the wings once removed?”
    “A small shiny rock…an opal, I think.” It seemed
best to sprinkle some truth into her lie.
    Umbral nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes. That makes
sense.”
    Dindi forced her smile of triumph to hide in a
frown. So Umbral wasn’t the only one who could tell people what
they wanted to hear.
    She had to tread very carefully. But if he could be
deceived in this, perhaps she had a chance to deceive him in other
things as well. Perhaps she had a chance to save both herself and the White Lady.
    Unless I’m just deceiving myself .
    “I will give you my word to help you free the White
Lady from Orange Canyon,” she said. Then, she pushed his limits,
despite her fear he would push back. “In return, I want something
from you.”
    His brows climbed his forehead. “Really.”
    Breathe deep. Don’t cringe. Don’t give in to
fear. Just keep pushing. Just keep dancing .
    “I want your word that you will not kill me until
after the White Lady is safe. I can’t go to sleep every evening and
wake up every morning wondering if you will decide you don’t need
me anymore and slit my throat.”
    “Is that all?” he asked in the same dry, dangerous
tone.
    “No.” Breathe deep. “I also don’t want you to
put that…that horrid leash thing back on me. You have my word that
I will not run away until the White Lady is free.”
    “You will be leashed.”
    “You said you wanted me to help you willingly. I
can’t be willing and tied up like an animal at the same time.”
    He paced back and forth in front of the fire. The
flames popped.
    “All right. I agree. If you give your word not to
run away…and not to use your magic except when I command it. Then
no leash. And you can sleep in peace until after we have freed the
White Lady. Is it a bargain?”
    “It is a bargain.”
    He took out his knife and sliced his palm, then
handed the knife to her.
    If only she could stab him with it.
    She had never sealed a bargain in blood before,
though she knew the custom. Terrible hexes were said to afflict
those who broke the blood seal.
    She pricked her own palm. He clasped her hand,
mingling their bloods. Her aura also mingled with the black void
that pulsated around him. The emptiness hit her powerfully again, a
sense of vertigo.
    She had to pull away her hand. She staggered a few
steps to the stream and vomited. She waited until the stream
carried away the mess before she washed her face and tried to
recover her dignity.
    “If you break your vow, you will wish for the simple
death you would have had before,” he warned.
    “I would not break my word.”
    He nodded. “No. I don’t believe you would.”

Chapter Three
Crossing
Hawk
    I lift off the edge of my nest.
    My wings row the waves of wind. My feet pump the air
for a few steps, before I tuck them beneath me. With strong, hard
strokes I beat my wings, climb higher on the steps of the sky.
Below me, the mountains are folded like bunched cloth, sprinkled
with the green fuzz of trees over orange bedrock.
    I catch a current of air, swift like an invisible
river, and extend my wings to let it carry me. I soar.
    Another soars above me, higher in the river of wind
than I. Her wing name is Golden Hawk.