“Elina! Stop this instant!”
Dodging another bottle, he does the only thing he can think to do, he jerks a tarp from the top of a crate and throws it over her head. She races at him, just as he hopes and he grabs her porting them to the safety of an abandoned building near the docks.
The moment he grabs Elina she fights with all of her strength to break free. She is powerless without her abilities against the archangel.
“Let me go, Malach!” she screams outraged at his treatment of her. He tosses her to the ground like a sack of potatoes and releases the tarp freeing her.
Elina jumps up to run, but he moves lightning fast pinning her to the ground. His large body is stretched on top of her and her wrists are trapped in his tight grip. His large muscular legs are pinning hers beneath his.
“Elina, you are forcing my hand. Look at me!” Her eyes are squeezed tight, and tears are escaping, sliding back into her black hair. “Look at me,” Malach whispers. “See me, Elina. See me...”
Heart pounding in her throat, “Nameed!” She screams in her mind.
He leans into her throat and rests his forehead on her shoulder. “See me, Elina.” His emotions wash over her and he feels the panic begin to fade. He releases her hands and she wraps her arms around his neck holding on tightly.
“Malach!” she moans and like a dam bursting she holds onto him and weeps for all they have lost and can never have.
He rolls over sitting up, shifting her onto his lap shielding them with his magnificent wings. His tears join hers and he weeps with her. She kisses his damp face and looks at last into his emerald eyes. “I won’t watch you die because of me!”
“Elina, I am dead without you! Let me have whatever time I have left, at your side! I am close but I promise not to fail you again. Will you not trust me?” He asks with hurt in his tear filled eyes.
“Fail me? It was not your failure, but mine! This attraction between us, Malach it is wrong!” pushing against his chest, he releases her unfurling his wings. He feels relieved that she is finally talking to him.
Elina paces away to put space between them, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
“I know we can handle it together, Elina.”
She is shaking her head no at him before he finishes his sentence.
“That’s just it, Malach. You don’t know anything!” she yells.
“Then tell me, what is going on? Why are you pushing me away, Elina? I can handle anything but that.” He hangs his head and his black hair drops shielding his face from her. His shame, calls to her heart, and she knows she must tell him.
“It is time,” Nameed whispers in her mind.
Elina walks toward him until she is close enough to taste his breath. She clasps his checks in her hands, and whispers…“See me, Malach,” echoing his words back to him.
The moment she says the words, the images rush in. He sees her standing on the deck of Polly’s house and tastes their first kiss.
Elation fills his mind as their souls unite. The next image is of the two of them surrounded and the pain. The images flood in, pain, fear for her, and all of humanity. He sees their failures and the price that humanity pays.
Horrified, he tries to break free, but she holds tightly to him. Elina does not break her hold even when he stumbles and falls to his knees before her.
“See, all, Malach.” He hears the cries of his brothers as they fall, one by one, to death and despair. He hears thousands of humanities voices silenced in an instant when Raphaim frees the fallen and they attack. She bares her soul to him and finally, she is free to complete the Covenant.
“What have I done? Have I tainted your soul, Elina? Have I damned us all to death?” he asks in a hoarse voice.
She falls to her knees in front of him once more. “Malach, don’t you see? If it were only my soul and not the souls of both heaven and humanity, I would gladly fall with you! I would take the punishment and spend whatever time we had, completely yours. But even I am not selfish enough to damn them all.”
“Then we will do just that, Elina. We will spend whatever time we have left, together. I promise to help you with your task. Just don’t ask me to walk away! Whatever happens, we must face it together. Promise me!” he demands grabbing her hands.
“I promise,” she rises up to her knees and leans in, “Malach, I love you.” She smiles and joy fills her eyes as she finally says the words. “If I have to die, let it be in your arms, that is my heaven.”
He kisses her, tasting the salt of her tears and the truth of her words. The beast inside is satiated.
Chapter 25
“I have a plan, Malach, but I will need help. Lots of help.” Malach pulls her up from the ground and wipes the tears from her face. Then cloaking them from view, he leaps into the air, passing silently through the roof of the building.
Elina wraps her arms around his neck and inhales the scent of him into her soul.
He cleanses her body, clothes her in the ways of his people and heals the wounds from the battles she has fought.
“Tell me your plan, Keeper.” He says softly in her ear.
“I feel him, he’s on his way to get the pen. Maeling and her family must be protected, but I need to get to the ship.”
Lost in the feel of his arms around her, she is not paying attention to where he is taking her. They land in the dirty alley beyond the docks. She smiles
