As remove the ring, my wings shimmer into existence out of pure nothingness. I watch Erys’ expression carefully for any signs of… well, anything.

Seemingly without thinking, he reaches out to touch them before pulling his hand back, a shocked look on his face. I debate running away or slipping the ring back on. I turn my head away from his face before I catch a glimpse of a smile cross his features. I quickly look back at him, stunned.

“You’re beautiful, you know. Your wings only emphasize that.”

I can feel my face heat up, and I try to shove the ring back onto my finger.

“Wait! Hang on! Please, Jana, I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide from me. I mean, yeah, I guess we only just met… what? Five minutes ago? So, I guess you have every right to be scared of me…” he pauses, an expression of mock confusion on his face. “What was my point again? Oh, right. Don’t trust strangers, it never ends well.”

This gets me to laugh despite myself, but I quickly stop when I look at his face. He stares down at my neck, eyebrows furrowed. Flinching, he turns away and covers his mouth with his hand. I can see him shaking slightly, swallowing hard before looking at me again, eyes pained.

Without thinking, I slip my hand into his with a small, reassuring smile.

You’re… hungry, aren’t you?

He gulps, tightening his grip over his mouth. Slowly, he nods, and even that looks physically painful.

“I’m so, so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I promise I’d never do anything to hurt you while in my right mind.” He takes in a shuddering breath, pulling his hand out of my grip. “That being said, I don’t trust myself not to hurt you if I go into a frenzy. I… I’m going to go see if I can find a rabbit or something. Do you think you could fly up into one of those trees until I come back? There’re are still plenty of other vampires out here.”

I shake my head, gesturing towards my right wing, which is still clipped in a ragged angle. In the dappled light from the trees, the opalescent rainbows seem even more prominent across the glossy black feathers, shimmering and unworn. He stares at it in awe, as if he’s only just now seeing it. His gaze shifts to my left wing, and I follow it, curious as to how he sees beauty in something I’ve considered a curse my whole life. The wing is demonic, covered with glistening white scales that reflect light like snow. It’s looks slightly like a dragon wing, a trait that a few demons share, though it’s not very well-known because they rarely come up to the mainland.

“Shit. Okay, this might hurt, but I think I might be able to heal that. I’m going to take out the feathers that are clipped, and then give you some of my blood. I know that it has healing capabilities so maybe it’ll fix your wing.”

I nod, stretching my wing towards him. As quickly as he can, he plucks out the bad feathers and then takes a knife from his belt and slits his hand. The blood pools, and he quickly offers it to me, and I hesitantly a small sip. Seconds later, his wound closes up, and my feathers start to grow back.

“Brilliant. Give that another minute or so, and then fly into the canopy. I’ll be back in a bit. Just, umm, please be safe.”

I nod, and he turns away, sprinting into the forest as fast as he can.