Under His Dark Wings (Dark SBI)

Chapter One

Kristin stared into the amber liquid in her glass, the world around her fading into a soft, distant blur. The news she'd received earlier that day echoed relentlessly in her mind, a cruel reminder of the future that had just been ripped away from her. Infertile. The word tasted bitter, harsher than the whiskey she was slowly sipping. She hadn't realized just how much she longed for a child until that possibility was brutally taken from her, leaving her hollow and aching.

The bar was lively, filled with the hum of chatter, laughter, and the clinking of glasses. Normally, Kristin avoided places like this, preferring the quiet of her small flat or the soothing solitude of her piano studio. But tonight, she couldn't bear the silence. It amplified the emptiness gnawing at her and made the weight of her situation feel all the more suffocating. The alcohol, at least, was taking the edge off, leaving her pleasantly tipsy and slightly removed from her own misery.

As she stared into her glass, lost in thought, a tall figure slid into the seat beside her. Kristin glanced up, and her breath caught. He was an elytrian. Like her.

It was impossible not to notice- the huge, pitch-black wings folded neatly behind him, the long fingers ending in sharp black talons, and the slitted piercing blue eyes that seemed to cut through the dim light of the bar. Elytrians were rare, almost mythic in their scarcity. She had spent her life feeling like an oddity, her own large white wings and exceptionally tall stature marking her as something apart from your common everyday hybrids. To see another of her kind, especially here, was nothing short of astonishing.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, his voice carrying the smooth, lilting tones of a foreign accent, his words polished and effortlessly charming. A smile played on his lips, and it was impossible not to notice the roguish glint in his eyes.

Kristin hesitated, still reeling from the surprise of encountering another elytrian. "Go on, then," she finally said, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Phil," he introduced himself, extending a hand. His grip was firm, his touch cool against her warm skin, and there was something almost comforting in the way he held her gaze.

"Kristin," she replied, still sounding a bit taken aback. "I can't say I've ever met another elytrian before."

Phil's smile widened, a knowing twinkle in his eyes. "We're a rare lot, aren't we? Must be fate, finding ourselves in the same place like this."

Kristin nodded, still surprised. She couldn't help but take him in more carefully, noticing the sharp contrast between his dark wings and her own white ones. There was something undeniably magnetic about him, something that made it difficult to look away.

Phil ordered a drink, then turned back to her. "Been a rough night, has it?"

"You could say that," she murmured, her eyes flicking back to her glass. "But I'd rather not talk about it."

He chuckled softly, the sound warm and somehow reassuring. "Fair enough. How about we talk about something else? I've been told I'm quite good at cheering people up."

Kristin arched an eyebrow, surprised by his confidence, but there was something so disarmingly charming about him that she couldn't help but be intrigued. "Alright," she said, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

"Impress me, then."

With that, Phil launched into a story- something ridiculous about a botched deal involving a garden gnome and an overly enthusiastic pub landlord. His accent made the tale all the more entertaining, and despite herself, Kristin felt a smile creeping across her face, a soft laugh escaping her lips. For the first time that day, the tightness in her chest eased, if only a little.