First Offense (Noir Reformatory #2) - Lexi C. Foss Page 0,2

kind of reassurance, it was clear by his blank expression that none would be coming.

Fine. I’ll do this myself. I lifted my aching chin and sidestepped him.

2

Layla

The guard led us to the bay door, several feet from the cockpit, where two other men waited. As we approached, one of them grabbed a bolting mechanism on the steel door and unlatched it. I braced myself when he tugged the heavy metal open on sliding hinges, sending a blast of air into the cabin as my ears popped.

“Are we not… landing?” I asked, side-eyeing the guards with their fluttering free wings.

“Nope,” Auric replied, sounding bored, but I knew him better than that. His gaze flicked to each of the other guards, cataloging their weapons, their stances, and their demeanors.

I knew, because he’d taught me to do the same.

The first guard reached for my shoulder and guided me toward the opening. Wind whipped my hair wildly into streaks of brilliant fuchsia across my vision.

“Um, I—”

“You’ll jump and fly straight for the island,” the guard interjected as he worked at the straps binding my wings. “Don’t get any ideas about escaping unless you have a burning need to drown. You’d have nowhere to land before your wings gave out.”

While he tugged at the straps to free my wings, I looked out the open door at the ocean. Night had nearly fallen, but I could see flickering lights in the distance emerging from the vast darkness of the sea.

Fire, I realized. Towers of fire.

Yeah, maybe drowning was the better option here.

“Auric,” I started, only to cry out as the guard yanked the strap off my shoulder with a handful of feathers. “Ow!” My wings were still bound and, if possible, even more tangled up than they were before.

“Apologies, Princess,” the guard said, his voice gruff. “The straps are too tight.”

No, kidding, I nearly snapped, wincing.

Auric unsheathed his dagger. “I’ll cut them off.”

“You’re not damaging Reformatory property,” the guard retorted. His fingers dug into the sensitive skin beneath my feathers again.

Auric shoved the guard away from me. “And you’re not damaging royal property.”

Great, I thought, holding back a sigh. I was property of the crown and property of the prison. That didn’t make things complicated at all. How about I just be property of myself?

As if to answer that unspoken suggestion, the plane pitched forward again.

My knees buckled, and I fell forward, my arms flailing for anything to stop my fall. For an interminable moment, I hung suspended against gravity.

Oh, sh—

My arms pinwheeled, my hands seeking purpose, but all I met was air as I tumbled out through the open hatch with my wings still bound.

“Aur—”

I didn’t even have a chance to finish my scream before the free fall took my breath away. I tumbled head over heels three times, then barrel-rolled, my arms waving uselessly. My wings strained against the leather straps, trying desperately to beat at the open air and stop my descent.

Think, Layla. Think!

Arms spread.

Legs spread.

Balance.

I managed to stop spinning, but the wind hummed around me in a dangerous welcome. The last of the day’s sunset gleamed orange on the dark water below as it rose up to meet me.

Guess I’m gonna drown after all.

Something slammed into me, and I spiraled again. This time, I did scream as the world rotated in a disorienting blur of color. Then fingers wrapped around my arm, and I felt the bite of a blade against the edge of my wings. One leather strap sprang open, and then with a second slice, the other strap fell away.

Strong hands gripped my arms, and we rotated until I was facing the ocean again. Those hands moved from my arms to my waist as Auric’s voice drifted to me like a ghost over the roar of the wind. “On three, open your wings.”

I balked at the idea. We were in a total free fall! If we opened our wings to stop now, the pain would be devastating. Not to mention the fading glitter of the water beneath us looked way too close. Even if we did try to put on the brakes, we were about to slam right into the water.

From such a height, we’d break on impact. And the minute our feathers became waterlogged, we’d sink to the bottom of the ocean like stones.

He must have sensed my hesitation, because Auric’s fingers tightened on my waist. “Trust me, Layla!”

Layla. No sarcastic “Princess”? He hadn’t called me by name once since showing up at my chambers to escort me out