“Okay,” I say nervously. “Should you let me down?”
“I think we need to get out of the house entirely. If we stay in here, I’m not sure what I’ll do to you.” He sets me on the ground, but his stare scans me up and down. My stomach flips on itself. “Why don’t we go to the river?”
“You mean the place I almost got eaten? No thanks, that place makes me sick to even think about.”
His hand brushes over my face. “Then let me help you with that. That’s my job. I don’t want you frightened of every place we battle.”
“Okay, but as a warning, if a new water demon jumps up and eats me, I blame you. I will come back from the grave and haunt your rock hard behind for all of eternity.”
“That’s hot.” He grins.
Chapter Sixteen
Violet
Alex and I walk onto the Dalles Bridge that crosses over the river. I had thought we were going to the beach below, but there was a change of plans. My stomach lurches with memories. The moon is high, almost but not quite full yet. It glows in the clear sky. I can smell autumn on the way in the crispness of the air. Once we reach the bridge, he grabs my hand without a word and we make our way to the middle. Sparks ignite up my arm and I have to keep myself from shivering like a dork at his touch. I swear every time I close my eyes, I feel him kissing me, and I want more. I can’t believe how easily he just grabs me now. In the middle of the bridge we can see the moon shimmering on the water below. The river moves silently and looks like a glass reflection of the sky above. We stand here quietly. It feels a little off with Alex being so quiet. I like it though. My heart flutters in anticipation.
Alex turns to me finally. “Let’s climb up to the top.”
“Wait, what? Up there?” I point. “What if we fall?”
He gives me a flat look I can only see from the glow of the moon. Of course, he can fly.
I take a deep breath; I am with a gargoyle. One who saved my life a few times now.
“Okay,” I say despite my trepidation, “How?”
“Follow me.”
He climbs up onto the railing and extends his hand. I grab it and up I go. The bridge is a tress bridge with large green stability beams holding it up. The beams are all angled though so I realize as I step up onto one, this may not actually be that hard to climb. I slowly grab the angled beam above me as I walk my way up to the top. Alex stays behind me presumably just in case I fall. When I reach the top beam, I’m unsure of how I’ll climb up without falling. Alex swoops around me and is above me extending his hand again before I can comprehend the grace at which he does so. I grab him once again and the electric sparks are still there to my delight. He pulls me right up. I’m standing at the very top of the Dalles Bridge. The wind up here is slightly stronger with nothing to break its way aside from our bodies. Alex stands behind me and holds my arms until I get my balance.
“What do you think?” he asks into my ear.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathe.
And it is. I’ve always loved seeing things from a high vantage point. There’s something about the look of the earth below you that makes it pristinely beautiful, as if the little problems that may plague us, like parents disappearing and demons finding me, melt away and it’s a world full of possibility and light. Even as a child I would imagine being a bird and flying off to some lovely city of trees where everyone I loved could be a bird with me. Also, there was the added bonus of pooping on people’s heads that I didn’t like.
“I wouldn’t use that word so lightly yet,” Alex breathes into my ear again sending goosebumps down my spine. “Doesn’t the water look lovely from here?” he asks, his hands moving up and down my arms.
More goosebumps. “Mmhmm,” is all that comes out. I don’t trust my voice and I don’t want him to stop touching me.
“How much do you trust me?” he asks, stopping my train of thought.
“Trust you. Really, you question that? You’ve only saved my life how many times?” I say. I can’t believe I have to reassure him, when he is basically my knight in stony armor. I try to turn around but almost slip off the bridge. Alex laughs and centers me, righting me again before my heart can reach my throat in terror.
“I am asking you a simple question, Violet, don’t read too much into it.”
“Oh,” I say wondering if he means don’t read too much into this entire night, “I trust you completely.”
“Really?” He sounds surprised, but happily so.
Which makes it all that much easier to answer, “Yes, Alex.”
He straightens at his name. “I’m glad because I’m going to ask you to do something crazy with me.”
“Anything I’ve done since the day I met you is crazy; I’m game.” I smile.
“Perfect,” he grins by my ear, “Let’s jump.”
“Jump?” I ask startled. “As in jump off the bridge? Into the same waters that a sea monster tried to eat me in? You know there’s a human saying about what to do if your friends jump off a bridge.”
“Your friends aren’t human, Violet. Trust me, please.”
I sigh.
“Okay,” I tell him. “I’ll jump. But how?”
“Just let go.”
“Fine.”
“Tell me when,” he says.
I breathe. Once. Twice. I smile, I’m ready. “Let go, Alex.”
He does.
I fall.
The air whizzes by my face. It feels amazing. Then I see the dark water rushing towards me and I panic. Before I can scream, something grabs me somehow gently around the waist and slows my descent to a stop. Shocked, I look around me and it’s Alex. He went full gargoyle and was holding me suspended above the water. His massive wings flap above him and his giant hands fully enclose my middle.
“Ready to fly?” his gargoyle voice asks me.
“Yes!” I yell.
He smiles with shiny fangs sticking out of his mouth. “Let’s do this!” He booms a laugh. His wings work harder and we begin forward. The river begins to zoom under me as he works our way down the black water. All of the reflecting stars become shooting stars as we fly. The wind caresses me from all sides. I stick my hand out, barely skimming the water; it’s causing the shooting stars to ripple. Suddenly Alex banks and we turn over the water. He does a U-turn. We are headed back up the river. He rises higher and higher. The world soaring farther below us. Soon we fly over the bridge I jumped from and up we go following the flow of the river. I hoot. I don’t care if people can hear us. This is amazing. I don’t care where he’s taking us; this is the absolute best moment of my entire life. Wind from his wings comes down around us with every flap; the wind under me feels almost solid like I could hug it. I spread my arms and close my eyes and for a moment, for that one moment, I am a bird soaring through the sky.
Once we are high over the town, his wings stop moving, just spreading wide as we soar. He moves left to right in a way that’s probably normal for him, but exhilarating for me. My hands become fists as I throw them up shouting in glee, held out below him like he’s a parachute. He laughs as I shout, and it vibrates down his arms to me. I reach my fingers out to touch the tops of the trees around us, but I can’t quite reach.