Free Eden's Creatures by Valerie Zambito Page A

skin. Your body grows hot. No, not just hot, boiling! Your knees weaken and your heart races uncontrollably, knowing that you are as one. Knowing that…”
    “Yes?”
    “…the soft caress of his lips whisper a thousand promises.”
    Caliphy fanned her hand in front of her face. “I see. In that case, I am afraid that I cannot offer any further advice as I do not have experience in that… activity. However, I will caution you to be careful that you do not become too attached.”
    “Why? What is wrong with feeling such rapture?”
    “The Wonder is where we will obtain our rapture, Stassi, you know that. Besides, you are a warrior now. Duty comes before all other considerations.”
    “Why am I not permitted to have both?”
    “It is not—”
    “The Faedin way,” she finished softly. “Yes, I know.”
    Cal woke gasping for breath, his eyes wild. Although he quickly recognized the nightmare for what it was, it took several minutes to still his beating heart and then a second longer to figure out where he was.
    Stassi’s nest.
    He licked his lips and tasted her there. The bitter sweet taste of rejection.
    He twisted to the side. She still lay in the far corner of the nest, sleeping. He wanted to go to her, but she had already made her feelings on that pretty clear.
    Instead, he reached behind his back and removed a harmonica from his coat pocket. The soulful sound always helped to soothe his anxiety, especially after one of the shadow dreams. He cupped the instrument to his mouth and played an old love song his mother liked. The sweet music never failed to take him to a faraway place where shadows didn’t lurk. A place of innocence where his mind could be at peace — at least for a minute or two.
    So lost was he in what he was doing that he didn’t notice Stassi standing above him until she spoke. “It is very beautiful.”
    “Oh, I didn’t see you,” he murmured, shoving the harmonica behind him.
    “No, do not stop.”
    “I’m sorry if I woke you,” he said guiltily and jumped to his feet.
    “No, you… Cal!”
    “What?” he asked in alarm with a quick look behind him, just in case a monster Fallen had somehow appeared behind him while he’d had his back turned.
    “You’ve grown!”
    “What?” He looked down. Sure enough, his baggy sweatpants now hugged his legs around the thighs and stopped short at his ankles.
    Does this mean that I’m really becoming Faedin?
    The idea both terrified and excited him. The thought that he would be tall and strong and no longer a victim to the Pervalls and Ross Taylors of the world curled his lip with pleasure.
    Yet another errant thought hit him at the same time.
    Would the change also cause him to lose his humanity? Would he have to leave his world behind for good? What about his brother? Could he really abandon Landon?
    Stassi laid a hand on his arm. “Cal? What is it? Are you all right?”
    He shook away his thoughts. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just starving,” he said, deciding to put his concerns aside for now. Maybe it was just a growth spurt after all. Maybe he wouldn’t become Faedin despite all of Stassi’s claims.
    “We will hunt then,” she said and grabbed a long bow and quiver of arrows hanging from a hook. She handed both out to him. “Here.”
    “What? No Subway?”
    “I do not know this word, Cal.”
    He shook his head and took the items from her. “Never mind.”
    “You should wear your coat so I can carry you easily.”
    “Oh, right.” He put it on and waited for her to lift him out of the nest, thinking the entire time how quickly one could get used to things — no matter how bizarre.
    The flight didn’t bother him as much as it had the other times. Stassi weaved low among the trees and along the many trails that cut through the forest.
    In a small clearing, she dropped him — closer to the ground this time — and landed next to him. That was when he noticed the changes in her body as well. She, too, was taller, her muscles more