Chapter 33 : Under the Stars 2

Rayline.

When the wings were fully extended, he slowly turned his head toward me, and there was a faint glimmer of light hazel in his eyes. Why was he afraid? I tried to understand his feelings, and he looked at me intently.

"I'm not afraid," he said, looking away. "Just nervous."

I jumped, but then I realized that he had been able to read my mind and answer my question. It felt strange because the two feelings were related, stemming from the same emotion: fear.

"Why are you nervous?"

"Nothing," he tried to answer but stopped short. "No one has ever seen my wings like... this." His eyes locked with mine. "They usually look disgusted... or horrified."

"Because they're black?" He nodded slowly, staring at the grass.

"I guess you could say I'm a little self-conscious."

I was saddened to hear that. Cole had always seemed very confident in his appearance in the human world, so it was strange to see him so affected by the opinions of others. I'm sure he had heard the comments about h