The Lariat (Finding Justus Series) by Ashley Dotson Page A

out.”
    That brought a laugh from me unbidden. Before she could move I flapped my wings once, violently, to their full glorious height. It always felt so fabulous to free them after keeping them confined most days. I stretched them wide, tracing the bumps on the wall with the tips of my flight feathers. I rolled my shoulders feeling their full weight hanging deliciously.
    Ben was speechless. She had curled her legs up onto the couch and looked like she might retreat into the cushions of the couch like a clam into its shell.
    “Say something,” I whispered.
    Click, click, click.
    I snapped, my deamon within me seized on that noise of the camera in her hand. My eyes lit with a fire all their own. Ben screamed and threw the camera at my head. I caught it easily, crumbling it to black molten bits on our living room carpet.
    So much for the deposit.
    My hands flew to my mouth, “Oh, God. I’m sorry. I can’t believe I did that.”
    I laughed to myself and cooled my jets, unsure why I had reacted so rashly. I looked at the mess and at Ben, shaking with fear, who had backed herself into the smallest corner behind the entertainment center. Someone was bound to come bursting into our apartment any moment the way she was carrying on.
    I moved toward her and tried to grab her by the shoulders, but I moved too fast. She fainted dead away over my arm. I was glad Ben got some good photos, but not at the cost of her life. I didn’t want this for her. I tried to keep her separated from this part of my life, but my father, Orrin and now Cyrus had all warned me that this would happen to anyone I kept close.
    Bennet took a heavy steadying breath and her eyes fluttered behind her lids. Her week had been hellacious, and I was only making it worse. Her eyes flew open and her body tensed.
    “Hey, hey, hey, it’s still me,” I began. “I’m not going to hurt you and I don’t want you to hurt yourself. It’s just me. I’m still Layla.”
    “What the hell is going on? What are those, wings? What did you do to your eyes? They were red, like in the picture.”
    “That happens sometimes.”
    “You melted my camera. Your hands were on fire. This is too trippy. Did you give me acid or something?”
    “No, Ben,” I sighed knowing she needed honesty not sarcasm, “You’re not on a trip. Is isn’t a side-effect of your illness. This is just me.”
    “What the hell happened to you?”
    “Nothing,” I backed up slightly offended, touching the bottoms of my wings that hung below my hips. “This is what I look like. Most Vagabonds, half human creatures I mean, look like me. I mean they look like that version of me in the photograph. Well some have horns, or no eyes, or… never mind. ”
    “Can you put those away?” she asked pointing to my wings, “And when did you get a tattoo?”
    I touched my neck, “You can see this?”
    “Yeah,” She scoffed. “I can’t believe you went and got a tattoo and wings and didn’t tell me.”
    I smiled, “I didn’t mean to keep it from you…wait, actually, I kind of did. This isn’t something I share with everyone.”
    Ben was still breathing too hard and fast, “I guess I can see why. Wait, can I touch them?” She was asking and reaching at the same time. Her fingers touched the hard arc at the top of my wing, wrapping her hand around it and followed the feathers to their tips below my elbow.
    “How is this real?” she asked searching my eyes for an answer.
    “You’re asking the wrong person for that answer.”
    I backed away from the corner giving her more room to breathe, side-stepping the black plastic goo that was fast hardening into a solid mess in the middle of her bedroom.
    “Sorry about your camera too. I’ll get you another one tomorrow. Promise.”
    “Like you can afford that.” she threw back.
    “I’ll call my dad.”
    Dad!
    I still hadn’t called him. Sometimes I couldn’t’ believe how forgetful I could be.
    I needed my phone. I needed a drink.
    I need