Dangerous Diabolical: Book 1 (Iridescent) ✔️

Chapter 6 - Run Rabbit Run | Edited

About ten minutes after Leofstan left, I bolted out of bed. This Grahame character might be able to protect Willow, but I didn't know him and wasn't about to risk it. Hurrying toward the window, I unhooked the old window stay and pushed the pane wide.

The moonlight caressed the landscape below. Misty lamplights flickered as a few persistent cars sat below in the hospital car park. After a quick skim to confirm no signs of life, I climbed on the windowsill. Usually, I'd push a bit of magic into the whole 'don't look here' vibe, but despite Leofstan healing the worst of my bumps and scrapes, the reserves were still shockingly depleted.

Standing on the fifth floor, the wind ungracefully buffeted the flimsy hospital gown. Although my other clothes had disappeared, I wasn't too heartbroken considering their threadbare state.

Although I was sad to lose the jeans.

With nothing but a deep breath, I stepped out. There was something about being weightless. No matter how many times I did it, there was always the moment falling when the world went by quickly, but time slowed to a crawl. As soon as I pushed my wings free into the air, the force was not dissimilar to hitting the ground. The power of the air smacked into them with a jolt, suspending me momentarily and leaving the rest of my body, still human-shaped, dangling awkwardly.

The updraft gently tickled beneath the stretched skin of the elongated bones, and I greedily inhaled the scents carried within it before drifting steadily to the ground. I bent my knees slightly for the impact, snicking my wings back into my human guise. I stumbled as I landed, running a few steps to absorb the motion. Unpracticed and under-transformed, my landing was too fast. Propelled forwards—skinning my palms and the gem—off the ground, I froze, waiting to see if the world changed again.

Instead of a memory, a homeless drunkard gaped at me, his hand wrapped on the neck of a bottle. "Well yeah, you try landing on two feet!" I snapped at him, struggling to stand.

He merely took a swig of his drink, face agape.

He wore several layers, the top of which was a deep green knee-length number. "How about you give me your jacket, and I let you live?" I proposed to him. He didn't need to be asked twice. He shrugged it off, passing it over with trembling hands.

His voice wobbled, "Lord forgive me, I'm going to get sober. I promise I'll repay my debts."

The long trench coat was mottled with dirt and dried alcohol. It smelt acidic and was a strong contender for being worse than the hospital. It was either this or running in a hospital gown up the street. "Good for you!" I told him, shrugging the rough material on. Leaving the homeless man standing in a t-shirt, I briskly made my way to find Willow.

Irritatingly, as the club came into view, she was nowhere to be seen. Marching toward the club, I didn't wait for the bouncer; I slammed the door open myself.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!" The bouncer called, his arm coming to halt me on my breastbone. Oh, I knew this one. Grabbing the thick wrist, I slid my hands to link through his fingers.

"Markus, you're not going to deny a girl some fun, right?" Biting my lip as I looked up, he smirked handsomely back. He worked the most shifts, so I saw him most nights more often than not.

"You know you'd have a lot more fun if you came home with me, Andy." He twirled me into his chest, and I obliged. Whilst I could smell the human in him, underneath lurked something other. Like me, he seemed to fill more of a room than his size indicated. Whatever his other self was, it was something big. Several times, I'd daydreamed about taking him up on his offer.

"Sorry, handsome. I've got errands to run and people to eat." I winked at him.

Watching intently from under his eyebrows, he drew my hand to his lips, gently brushing my knuckles. I tightened my other hand behind my back, relieved he hadn't grabbed it. The smell of his longing hung in the air, and the urge to drag him to a back room was beginning to overtake the previous worries about Willow.