Runaway Devil

The space between my palms and Balan's skin warmed, emitting a golden glow. I closed my eyes and focused my energy on him, wrapping it around his body. I felt his bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. I curled my metaphorical fingers around them and twisted. I reshaped his body, holding it in my mind like a mound of clay.

I conjured the memory of an animal planet documentary, leafing through my information on the human realm's birds. An image of a bearded vulture flipped behind my eyes and I felt Balan's liking for that form. He liked the colors and the eyes, which made me smile despite my intense focus. I fleshed out the image and carved his new body from it. My fingers had gone numb in my work but I continued nonetheless.

I put the finishing touches on him to make it as realistic as possible. I let everything cool, the cold replacing the brief warmth in my veins. I looked at my work and smiled. Balan tested his new legs, rustling his feathers, and stretching his wings. He opened and closed his hooked beak, making clicking sounds.

Alec stood out of the way, staring at Balan. The look in his eyes told me he had never seen a demon change their hound's form. It was a skill that many demons would never have the opportunity to learn. It took years of practice and more studying than I had signed up for. It was a sign of skill and experience. Demons that mastered the art were respected and revered. I understood that no matter how seasoned I was as a warrior, no matter how feared or respected I once was, I had lost those sentiments. I was probably classified as a traitor, to be killed on sight. I had made my peace with that. At least I thought I had.

I stood and cracked my neck, releasing the tension. "Alright," I said. Alec made no response and looked from me to Balan for a few more seconds. I could see the thoughts racing behind his eyes and waited if he was going to say any of them. He did not.

The air was dry and cold, thinner. My lungs were already working overtime, breathing in the mildly poisonous air. But now they constricted painfully, even making me wince. They braced against the influx of cold air and tightened, making it even harder to breathe. Alec did not seem to be struggling at all.

He lead the way, his proud shoulders squared and his face hard against the wind. I watched his muscles move beneath the skin on his back as his wings worked to keep him level. I hadn't seen his wings since we first met, and we beat the shit out of each other. They were just as beautiful then as they were now. The flecks of burnt orange tucked between his flight feathers gave them dimension, like they were small embers hidden in a sea of white.

My gaze kept gravitating towards him. I knew we needed to talk, but I couldn't find the right time. I thought that now was as good a time as ever.

"Alec," I said as gently as I could in his mind. He looked over his shoulder in question, presumably to read my lips over the wind howling past our ears. I could feel Balan watching me with his new vulture eyes, which were far more invasive than his canine form. "You remember what I told you about a demon's healing?" His eyes were fixed on my unmoving mouth and his wings faltered for the first time. His mouth was ajar, he was practically asking for a bug to find a new home in his mouth. The fire slowly crept into his eyes and replaced any surprise that was there. He folded his wings close to his body and dove.

He drove downward, leaning hard into the decent. I cringed and followed, he was going to want a full explanation with our feet on the ground. The dense forest below us had little in terms of comfortable landing areas. Alec paid that no mind and tucked his wings in tighter, slipping through the small space between trees. He slowed with friction, grabbing and releasing branches until he dropped to the forest floor with a soft thud.

The second my feet met the same soil he was on top of me. "What the fuck?" He took two strides towards me and grabbed my shirt in his fists. I put my hands up despite my agitation with his aggression. I wasn't looking for a fight, I just thought it was time he knew. We were preparing to go into battle, we would be fighting together instead of against each other. He needed to know how to use mental communication, so we didn't get ourselves killed.

Balan stretched his wings to their full span and made a drawn-out, raspy, hissing noise from deep in his throat. He opened his talons and sunk them into Alec's forearms. Alec grunted and let go of my shirt, swatting at him. Balan made a strange grunting noise that sounded like an angry pig. He let go of Alec's forearm and perched on my shoulder. He felt like a good ten to fifteen pounds sitting there. I pet his head, settling his ruffled feathers, figuratively and literally.

"I thought we had gotten past the whole attacking each other thing," I said. Alec growled and shook out his arm. Balan's talons hadn't gone deep, it was a warning rather than an attack. The blood had already stopped. Balan shook his head to let go of the extra tension.

"I wasn't fucking attacking you. I'm allowed to be a little freaked out, Kara. You spoke to me without opening your mouth and I heard you," He ran his hand through his wind-whipped hair. He turned, closed his eyes, and took a long breath. "What was that?"

"Healing for Angels is different than for Demons. You can heal anyone you want, anytime. It's more of a lifelong commitment for Demons," I scratched the back of my neck. His eyes narrowed and something clicked.

"You had said something about souls..."

I nodded and huffed out a breath. "When Demons heal, we give a part of our soul to that person. A connection is made, that can only be broken if one of them dies," I said quickly. I wanted to get this over as fast as possible. Rip the fucking bandage off. "Through that connection, there is a direct line between the healer and the healed. They can share thoughts, emotions, even memories."

"So you've been in my head all this time?" His voice was rough and coarse, the anger dripping from every word. My hackles raised and I sneered.

"No. I haven't been in your big, empty head, you jackass," I growled. I felt my face heat. The bond of a healer and the healed was sacred, and breaking that trust was an uncrossable line. "We only heal our loved ones, our chosen mates, or comrades in dire situations," I reined in my remaining rage. "Do not ever insult me with your ignorance, angel."

My response shut him up. I used the back of my fingers to distractedly pet Balan's head. "You needed to know. We are doing something unheard of. We are working together. And if we're meeting this head-on, we need an open line of safe communication."

He nodded and took a cleansing breath. We had been flying for a few hours and we were tired, stressed, and worn out. We were going to snap at each other. "How does it work?"

"Concentrate on a thought, start small. Think of it with intention, try to send it my way." He nodded and stared at me. I assumed that the gears were working in his head, although it looked like nothing was happening.

If I had known that I was opening the flood gates, I would have given him more instruction. All of his thoughts, the background white noise, and any stray emotion laying around washed over me. My left eye started to twitch and it felt like an ice pick was jammed into its socket. He bled into me, filling me up. Anxiety and frustration, he was used to the one in control, and the fact that we were doing things my way grated him. He was tired of taking orders from his employer, whom he didn't trust. He would turn on Alec without a second thought and Alec knew it. Alec was not committed to taking me in. He thought he had signed up for a quick and easy job. Instead, he found a belligerent she-devil, who was growing on him.

I built a mental wall, blocking the overflow. "Holy shit, kid."

"What?" He stopped pushing and was worried that he had done something wrong.

"I'll teach you how to control when and how much you share. So you can maintain some semblance of privacy," I chuckled and rubbed my twitching eye.

"How much did you see?" I raised my brow and smirked. He set his mouth in a hard line and turned away, but not before I could see some color bloom in his face. "Come on, we're almost there. I want to go to eat, then go to bed."

"Aye aye captain."