Changeling (Book 1) Rated R

Chapter 10

He moved to the open window.

The air that came through chilled my arms and made goose bumps crawl over my skin. I reached for my jacket and zipped it up, trying to gather as much courage as I could with every passing second.

When I saw him perch himself on the window sill, I stared at him blankly.

"What are you doing? There's a door, you know?"

"This is faster." He replied, gesturing impatiently for me to come closer.

"And what, you're suddenly going to turn into a bat?"

"Really? A bat?" He sighed. "Your ignorance is almost laughable. And kind of cute."

"Don't patronize me, Christian."

"I'm not. He protested. "I'm teasing you. There's a difference. Now come on, stop wasting time and hop on."

"Hop on? You mean, like on your back?"

"How else are we going to do this?"

"You have a car."

Disengaging himself from the window, he approached me in two long strides. He stood before me, his broad shoulders blocking out most of the outside light, a sliver of moonlight creating a halo over his features.

He moved two steps closer than was necessary, until he was just centimetres from me.

My breath caught in my throat, a sliver of attraction passing through my stomach before I squashed it down.

"This is faster." He muttered.

Christian's long fingers gripped my waist, pulled me hard into his chest and then—then the floor disappeared from underneath me.

There was a sound, like that of a parachute unfurling, and then the cold Oregon air was around me, stinging my face and hands.

I let out a small shriek when I realized we were outside and in the air.

I could see Christian's throat from this angle, the way his face looked up and away from me.

I glanced around frantically, wondering how in the hell this was even possible.

My feet glided over nothing but air. My fingers clutched onto his t-shirt for dear life. No matter how far my nails dug in, he didn't appear to notice.

Black, soft wings stretched out on either side of me, beating the air with purpose.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." I admitted.

"Not on my leather jacket."

Only a couple of hours had gone by yet we'd covered the expanse of a couple hundred miles in no time.

Christian had been right.

Flying had been faster.

The hush-hush of the wind, combined with the smooth gliding motion of flying had begun to lull me to sleep.

After a while, I'd stopped minding being attached to him like a monkey.

As we flew over a mountain range, light suddenly flooded the sky.

In the distance, I spotted casinos glimmering under the stars. Cars pooled down a narrow strip of road, their tail lights shifting between red and white.

Las Vegas.

Which I'd only ever seen in movies. The glitz, the lights, the liquor shops on every corner. Gentleman clubs as far as the eye could see.