A Beautiful Dark

that.
    “Planning to jump?” I asked, placing a hand casually on my hip.
    They both whipped around. Asher hopped down and grinned. “Not now.”
    “Did he tell you anything else?” Devin asked, shooting an accusing glare at Asher before taking a step toward me. His voice softened. “What do you know?”
    “Uh, nothing,” I replied, with a glance at Asher. “That’s why I’m here.”
    “Told you,” Asher said smugly. “Should we show her?”
    “Show me what?”
    Devin frowned. “I don’t know if she’s ready,” he said. “It might be too much of a shock.”
    “In case you’ve forgotten, I survived an avalanche,” I said, doing a relatively decent job of sounding like I wasn’t terrified. “Whatever it is, I can handle it.”
    A look passed between them. I just stood there watching, my heart in my throat. Now that I was here, I was beginning to think that maybe it was better not to know.
    Devin nodded. “Look, whatever happens, just remain calm.”
    I started to say okay, but then I felt the heat.
    It was like the old school bus heater clanging to life, but noiseless and expanding out all around me. Then light burst in front of me like a star exploding, so bright that I had to shield my eyes and turn away.
    Through my closed eyelids, I could sense the glow fade back to the dull gray sky and feel the heat melt into the bitter winter cold. I tugged my jacket tighter around me and opened my eyes.
    The first thing I saw was Asher and Devin, side by side, facing me.
    And then I saw the wings.
    Giant wings rose from their backs in a blaze of feathers. Devin’s were pure white, and light bounced off them so that the feathers resembled waves: peaking and capping, rolling, alive. Asher’s were black, inky, dark, drawing the heat of the day and the light of the sun and my breath into their feathery folds.
    Asher caught my eye. “Well?” he said tentatively. “What do you think?”
    What did I think? That it wasn’t possible. And yet, I was staring at the proof that it was. The wings were mesmerizing, the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.
    I reached my fingers out involuntarily to touch one of Devin’s wings. But before I could get too close, I lost my nerve and drew my hand away quickly.
    Devin laughed. Seeing his face light up like that seemed odd. I’d never heard him laugh before, but the sound filled me with a sudden, inexplicable joy. It was nice to see him happy. It made him seem less reserved, and more beautiful.
    “I told you it was a shock,” he said, his smile lingering.
    “I’m—I’m fine,” I said, gulping.
    The truth? I wasn’t fine, not by a long shot.
    I wanted to sit down, to find something to lean on. I felt dizzy, strange, out of breath. But I needed to be tensed and ready—just in case I had to run.
    “What are you?”
    Asher laughed. “You asked me to tell you how I knew the story your parents used to tell.”
    “Still a little confused over here,” I managed.
    “I know it because it’s my story, too.”
    “It’s our story,” Devin added.
    “What? But how . . . ?”
    “It’s a creation myth,” Asher explained. “Your creation myth.”
    His words made no sense. “But it’s not a creation myth,” I said. “It doesn’t explain how the world was created.”
    Asher gave me a pointed look. “Not the world, Skye. You. ”

Chapter 17

    T he sky twisted and shifted above me.
    “I don’t understand,” I said. “Is that supposed to be a joke?”
    Devin looked livid as he turned to Asher. “I knew you’d screw this up,” he said, seething. “You had to be all dramatic and get a rise out of her.”
    “Stop it! Stop trying to freak me out! Can’t you see this isn’t funny for me?” I said.
    “It’s—it’s not supposed to be funny,” Asher insisted, taking several steps toward me. “It’s your heritage.” He said the last bit quietly, almost as if I’d offended him.
    My knees buckled beneath me and gave way. I felt dehydrated, dizzy; the roof tilted and pitched as I grabbed desperately at the concrete, trying to get it to stay still.
    “Shh,” Asher murmured, taking the last few steps and kneeling next to me. I felt his hand on my back. “Hey.”
    “Are you saying that the Rebel and the Guardian in the story—they’re my parents?” My voice sounded far away, as if those were someone else’s words, not mine.
    Asher looked up at Devin for support. Devin nodded somberly. His wings folded gracefully behind him, crisscrossing