Believing in Blue Read online

  She was finally able to hear what Sia must have been yelling all along: “Put out your wings! And dive, dive for that woman’s left arm!” Wren struggled to follow her friend’s commands, letting out her wings and righting herself just as she reached the pathway’s very end, her head now pointing at its opening. She shot toward her mom, and Sia soon caught up with her. Together, they grabbed her mom’s left and right arms seconds before all three of them crashed onto the hard metal surface beneath the portal’s end.

  Feeling more dazed and confused than she ever had in her entire life, Wren groaned, grateful for the platform’s surprising softness. Then she heard Denise moan as well, longer and louder than she had, and her mom mumbled, “B-by God, Wren, y’don’t look like you’re that heavy, but man, are you ever!”

  Wren would have been slightly hurt by her mom’s words if she hadn’t just realized that she’d landed halfway on her mom’s chest, her grip on Denise’s left arm still strong. She shoved herself off her poor mother, and then she realized that her head was only a few feet from the edge of the platform, and beyond it were only clouds and a star-speckled sky. The moon that hung above them didn’t look at all like her own, this one being gold-colored and somewhat oval, with a shining blue halo encircling it.

  She got to her feet and stood, grateful to be out of that horrid portal and onto firm ground again. But she soon noticed that this particular “firm ground” lay miles above the actual ground, as, looking over the platform’s edge, she saw a large city spread out beneath them. Or at least it seemed to be a city, because many differently colored and various-sized lights were scattered across its expanse.

  “Is that…is it…”

  It was then that Wren noticed with some surprise a fourth person on the platform, an old woman dressed in a white robe trimmed in gold and blue. Her hair matched the stars, almost glowing in the moonlight, and she couldn’t have looked happier to see Wren. She might not have been as pleased with Wren’s companion, as the woman directed a quick, annoyed glance at Denise before she turned back to Wren and spoke. “I see you’ve brought a friend. I’m guessing that woman is perhaps your stepmother?”

  “Y-yes, and I’m really sorry. I know I shouldn’t have brought her. I just couldn’t…couldn’t leave her, because—”

  “Oh, all that can wait, my special Winged Blue sister. It can wait forever for all I care. And it can surely wait until I say what I’ve been dying to say to you for years. Welcome to Shyon, Wren. Welcome to Azyr.”

  The elderly woman surprised Wren by taking both of her hands in her palms and bowing her head. Then the woman spoke again, and what she said next brought some unexpected tears to Wren’s eyes. “Welcome, our Savior. Welcome home.”

  Part Two

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Wren,” Sia said, “this is Nak. She watches over our portal, or at least she does when people are expected to arrive.”

  “So, you’re the welcoming committee?” Wren joked.

  “I suppose I am. And since I’m the welcoming committee, I’d like to welcome your travel partner. What’s her name?”

  “This is Denise. She’s my mom…my stepmom.”

  Denise was standing by this time, but she had been peering nervously over the edge of the floating platform where they all stood. These words caught her attention, though, and turning to Wren, she asked, “You knew? How? And…and where are we? I’m…I’m not still dreaming, am I? Wren, sweetie?”

  “I have a lot of explaining to do,” Wren told her. She turned back to Sia and Nak, saying, “To all of you, I brought Denise because I had to. I just knew it. I didn’t want to leave her behind. For personal reasons.” She gave Sia a pointed look, in hopes that she’d understand.

  “I get it,” Sia said, her face far gentler than it had been when she’d first noticed their unexpected guest. “No explanation necessary. I’ll do my best to make sure she enjoys her time here.” She turned to Denise, waving at her to draw her attention away from the platform’s edge. “I need you to understand something. It’s just that, even if you want to go home, you can’t. It’s not safe for anyone to go through the portal for the time being, at least for a while, so you’re stuck here, I’m afraid.”

  Denise glanced back down at the city beneath them, then looked up at Sia, her eyes wide but not quite as alert as Wren would have been were she suddenly thrown into this startlingly different situation. But her mom was drunk, and probably tired, and well, there were other reasons to cut her some slack, too, Wren supposed. “Stuck here?” Denise asked, then added, “Stuck where?”

  Wren might have been uncomfortable keeping all her supernatural secrets from her mom, but she couldn’t hide them any longer. “That’s part of what I need to tell you about.” Wren paused. Yep, it was now or never, and “never” wasn’t really acceptable at this point in time. “You may have noticed by now that I have wings, Mom?” She fluttered them for emphasis, and her mom took a stumbling step backward. Maybe she hadn’t noticed them yet after all.

  “Wings?” Denise stuttered. “And this thing we’re standing on, and that weird blue tunnel we went through, can you explain all of it to me?”

  Sia said, “First, we need to get everyone down to the ground. I’m sure the two of you are almost as tired as I am. We don’t want any crash landings, do we?”

  Only Wren smiled at her joke, and her mom was looking pretty scared. It also seemed like the shock of being here had sobered her up a bit, and Wren wondered then if the Winged Blue had alcohol down in Azyr. If they didn’t, how would her mom react? Detoxing from alcohol wasn’t easy, or fun. If the Winged Blue didn’t have liquor, maybe her relatives down on Shyon would know some sort of magic to help poor Denise get through the withdrawal period she was likely about to experience.

  All of that could or, actually, had to wait until they had reached the ground. After a short discussion with Nak and Sia about their options, Wren and the other two Winged concluded that since her mom was so light, Wren and Sia could probably manage getting her down to the city themselves. If they were careful, Nak had said, with a sharp glance directed solely at Wren.

  She wondered why Nak was singling her out, but only for a moment. Wren knew this was all her idea, and good or bad, they were now stuck with it. She and Sia had Denise wrap one arm around each of their shoulders; Wren had never had her mom hold on to her so tightly in her life.

  Not that she could blame her.

  Nor could she blame her for yelping each time they hit an updraft, even though the two of them managed to keep a firm grip on Denise the whole way down. Wren barely had the chance to take in the beauty of the city before they reached the ground, landing in the middle of a small square surrounded by blue, one-story houses and dotted with pots of flowering plants. Wren couldn’t quite make out the colors of the flowers, but she decided they likely were blue as well.

  A bench was located to their left, and Denise begged them to let her rest there for a bit. After she’d sat down, looking very tired and possibly somewhat nauseous, Sia pulled Wren aside. “I don’t think she can make it all the way to your dad’s,” Sia said, her voice soft. “It’s at least a fifteen-minute walk, and she looks totally spent. Would you be okay waiting here with her, while I go get my brother? He’s a big guy, and I’m pretty sure he could manage carrying her all the way to Torien’s. Besides, I don’t think we’re getting her there any other way.”

  Both of them turned in Denise’s direction. She was looking quite pale as she leaned against the building behind the bench. “You gonna explain now?” Denise said, and Wren took note of the not-so-slight tremble in her voice. Then her mom moaned, leaned over the side of the bench, and threw up.

  “You’re right,” Wren answered Sia. “I don’t think we have a choice.” She rushed over and sat down next to her mom. “Why don’t you lay your head on my lap, and I’ll tell you everything I can.”

  Sia squeezed Wren’s shoulder, then took off at a fast walk, which became a run as she reached the corner. T
hen she was gone.

  Shortly after Sia disappeared from the square, Denise slowly leaned over and rested her head on Wren’s lap. “So, you know I’m not your real mom, and you have wings, and we’re in a weird place that I don’t think is on Earth.” She groaned, and Wren began to softly stroke her head. “Now, please, sweetheart, tell me the rest.”

  Her mom’s voice was surprisingly full of compassion, despite her nonconsensual transplant to Azyr, which reminded Wren that she was loved, even with the heavy drinking that sometimes had threatened to bury that fact. Denise’s loving tone of voice warmed Wren in the cool night air, and she knew then that she had made the right decision.

  So Wren told her everything, from the first time her wings appeared to the reason she’d tricked her into coming out to the clearing, as well as the letter from her dad that had started her on this journey. It took far less time to tell her about it than those events had taken to pass, and Wren wondered what would have happened if she’d told Denise sooner. Maybe nothing at all.

  Wren apologized after she finished explaining. “I realize you didn’t agree to this, and I didn’t know you couldn’t go home if you didn’t like it here, so I want to apologize, as many times as I need to. Please forgive me?”

  Denise had probably heard the desperation in Wren’s request, because she slowly sat up and tenderly cupped Wren’s chin, staring straight into her eyes with a look that could only be described as pure faith: faith in Wren. “My dear, dear daughter. You haven’t done anything wrong. You’ve never done anything wrong. It was…it was me, with my drinking and not kicking out your stepdad years ago like I should have. I don’t know how I managed to get so lost, but I’m the one who needs forgiveness. Not you. Never, ever you. Can…can you?”

  “Of course!” Wren placed her forehead against Denise’s and smoothed back her hair. “Of course I can.”

  Sia returned then, with a sizeable, handsome man following right behind her. Wren was crying, and so was Denise. Sia must have noticed, and she waited quietly a few feet from them. Wren wiped at her eyes and leaned away from Denise, turning toward Sia and the young man.

  “Hi, Sia. Hi, Sia’s brother.”

  “Kriss, it’s Kriss,” he said, approaching her and offering a hand. He hadn’t held it out for her to shake, though. Kriss loosely gripped a dark-blue hanky in his giant paw.

  “Thank you, Kriss.” Wren took the cloth from his hand and dabbed at her eyes, then blew her nose with an embarrassingly loud honk. “I’ll…I’ll get it washed before I return it to you.”

  “No. I would be honored to own a hanky covered in the Savior’s snot. Truly.” Kriss’s sweet grin showed that he was joking, but only partially. With a small bow, he reached out, and after hesitating a moment, Wren returned the now-damp blue square.

  “Thank you,” he said, stuffing it back into a pocket in his robe. “Now. I hear you have a mother in need of some assistance?”

  “That would be me, young man,” Denise said, and she pushed herself up from the bench with a little help from Wren. “Are we headed somewhere with a bed? That would be my preference at the moment.”

  Kriss scooped her up into his arms as though she weighed less than the hanky. “Of course, miss. We’re going to Torien’s home, and he has plenty of rooms, including one right next door to your daughter’s quarters.”

  “Torien, huh? I don’t know if I’m ready to see him again yet.”

  She didn’t sound like she felt ready, either, so Wren took her hand and gripped it as they began to walk away from the place where they’d first touched down. “I’m not sure if I’m ready either,” she told Denise.

  “Good. That means we can be unready together.”

  Despite the fact that Kriss was carrying a somewhat heavy load, he led the way, turning left and right and sometimes going straight for a stretch as they traveled down a number of wide streets. They all contained evenly placed streetlamps, each lamp aglow with a brilliant blue light. The lamplight allowed Wren to see that all of the houses and buildings they walked past were painted blue, but in varied levels of saturation.

  It seemed that Wren would be seeing a lot of blue during her visit; she was thankful she liked the color. She was also thankful that, after going up a slight incline, they reached what could only be called a mansion. She saw at least twenty windows scattered across its upper and lower half, and two large doors with stained-glass windows sitting at the building’s exact center. Wren paused as Kriss shifted Denise slightly in his arms to open one of the building’s double doors.

  He’d opened the unlocked door without a second’s pause, as if he had every right to enter. And maybe he did. Maybe the Winged Blue were more laid-back than the people in Wren’s previous city, where all the houses were locked tight, each requiring one or more keys and sometimes even codes to enter. Wren waited a short while, taking in the gorgeous art contained within the door’s stained glass as she did. Each large circle of clear glass contained the image of a Winged Blue, one male, one female. Their hands had met where the doors did while still shut, with their palms almost touching and only divided by the thinnest column of wood.

  “Can we go in, Wren, or do you want to keep looking at those doors?” Denise was looking at her, and so were Sia and Kriss.

  “Hello, you must be Wren,” came a voice to Wren’s left.

  She jumped a little, then turned in the direction of the voice.

  “Good to know I’m still intimidating, but you don’t have to be afraid. After all, I’m one of the people who will be watching over you.” A statuesque, perfect-looking woman with short-cropped, curly black hair stood in a dimly lit spot on the mansion’s small front lawn. The woman’s skin was a similar shade to Wren’s own, which made her feel she might be able to fit in better here than she had back in her hometown. It also made her feel grateful, even if the woman’s looks surpassed her own so far.

  Then she noticed two equally tall men, one on the woman’s left and one on her right. Both of them looked too similar to the woman to be unrelated. They also looked similar to each other, and Wren realized they must be twins. All three were dressed in the style Wren had come to believe was customary for the Winged Blue, each wearing a long, somewhat loose robe in a matching shade of royal blue.

  “Hello,” said the twin to the woman’s left, raising a hand in greeting. “I’m Quiq.”

  “And I’m Faest,” said the other twin, and he gestured to the woman in between them. “And this is our sister Speyd.”

  “Very nice to meet you, young lady.” Speyd smiled at her, a smile that looked a little more feral than Wren was comfortable with. “You are Wren, correct?”

  “Um, yes. Nice to meet you, too.”

  “We’ll be your guards for the evening. If you need anything, like someone’s butt kicked, just scream,” said Faest. Speyd elbowed him in the side, apparently hard enough to make him wince.

  “Excuse my brother. It’s been too long since he’s gotten laid.” Speyd winked at Wren as she said this.

  “Excuse both my brother and my sister,” said Quiq. “They’re more trouble than they are inches tall. I’m sorry for their rudeness.” He also smiled in Wren’s direction. Then he smiled at Denise, a slightly wider smile, but not as wide as the one Denise was giving him in return. She also looked a little pink around her cheeks. Was her mother blushing?

  The statuesque siblings were all attractive, this much was obvious, and Wren wondered if her mom was attracted to the two brothers. They were handsome, she decided, if you were into people with hairy chests and loads of testosterone. Wren wasn’t, and she didn’t really want to think about her mom finding anyone attractive, either. Not when Torien was here; not when her parents might still stand a chance as a couple.

  “I guess we should go inside now?” Wren asked, but it wasn’t intended to be a question someone could say no to. Especially not her mom. “I’m pretty tired, and I’m guessing my mom is, too.”

  “I suppose…um, yes, yes, I am, too.” Denis
e didn’t sound tired anymore, and she was still staring at Quiq and still grinning, somewhat like a schoolgirl checking out her first crush.

  Wren didn’t want to give her mom any further chances to drool over Quiq. It was kind of gross seeing her gawk at a man like that. She turned away from the three Winged relatives and gestured at the open front door. “You ready, Mom?”

  “Y-yes. Good night, Quiq. And Speyd, and Faest.” Her mom waved at them, and Wren stepped aside, allowing Kriss to enter first, and then she and Sia followed him inside.

  The mansion’s interior wasn’t nearly as ostentatious as Wren had been expecting. Instead, it had a rustic feel, the high-ceilinged rooms they walked through filled with countless bookcases, a few well-worn sofas, and a large brick fireplace against the far wall of most of the rooms. Each also contained many windows, and the row of them in the fourth room they entered showed a view of a lush, flower-filled garden. It was also filled with what looked like blue fireflies, floating back and forth and lighting up the plants. Wren hoped she would have some time to spend among all those flowers, but she knew her responsibilities here came before any fun or relaxation.

  Kriss led the way farther inside that fourth room. As they all reached the back wall, which held a short staircase leading up to a second floor, Wren tried to stifle a yawn. But she failed, and its echo throughout the extremely acoustic room was embarrassingly loud.

  “Sounds like I’m not the only one who’s ready for bed,” her mom told her with a somewhat loopy grin. Denise looked like she might now be the happiest she’d been since she’d arrived. Wren couldn’t blame her. Bed was a very welcome prospect, considering all that had happened since she’d gotten out of her usual bed on that night…her bed back on Earth. She knew she was only just beginning to accept that she was somewhere so different, so foreign, but she was also sure her comfort would likely grow with time, and probably quickly, too. It would have to.