Mark sighed and moved to rest his back against the side of the cave, suddenly looking very tired. “I’m less worried about this situation and more worried about what’s going to happen when we get home. Daniel has a way of getting out of tricky spots, but he’s in a bad place. I don’t want this to encourage him to start using fire again.”
She looked between the angels trying pathetically to use their swords on Daniel, but flying back every time they got too close. “I don’t know how you have so much faith that this insane situation is going to work out, but he can’t control his addiction.”
Mark closed his eyes. “Spoken like a person who knows nothing about addiction. I’m sorry, Surcy, but angels he can fight. Himself? Well, he might not be strong enough. Especially without you at his side.”
“I’m on his side,” she said, feeling prickly. Hadn’t she just been talked to by Tristan about this?
In answer, the Immortal known as Spring spoke. “If we could shift, we could help end this. But we can’t. It’s like our bodies forgot that side of ourselves after so long.”
Surcy turned to the blonde, and her emotions changed. The three Immortals looked so weak and so sickly. Their backup plan couldn’t be that they’d shift and save them all.
It’s our job to protect them.
No, not ours. Mine.
Mark was exhausted from using the God Finder. These people were suffering. She was the only one who could help Daniel. But how?
And then, it hit her. A completely insane plan. But one she knew could work.
“What do you think the chances are that the angels will find you here?” she asked.
Spring answered with certainty. “They won’t. They’ll either assume we already escaped or that we’re in the tunnels.”
She nodded, feeling more certain with every passing second. “Mark, keep them hidden here. We’ll be back.”
“Surcy…”
Rising, she slowly and cautiously made her way out of the cave, sliding along the outside of the larger cave until she reached the entrance. Daniel was still surrounded by fire. The angels were no longer attacking, but staying just out of his reach.
Let’s do this!
“Daniel!” she shouted.
He turned, his eyes widening in shock.
As one, the angels turned to her too.
“Get rid of the fire!” she shouted, then, taking a deep breath, she ran towards him.
His jaw tensed, and the fire around him suddenly leapt from the earth, latching onto the white-winged angels. Screams surrounded them as their wings burned, and sparks of fire fell down from the sky like rain.
She didn’t slow, even when she felt the sting of the embers on her skin. She just continued toward Daniel. His arms were outstretched as he forced all the fire from her path. And from him.
But as he did, he took several steps back, the sand and rocks at the edge of the mountain tumbled over the edge as he neared it. And yet, he seemed unaware of how close he was to falling to his death.
She sped up, her muscles burning as she sought to reach him in time. When she drew closer, his gaze moved back to her. She saw the moment he realized she wasn’t going to slow. He put his hands out as if to stop her, but she was going too fast.
Her arms wrapped around him. For an instant, she tried to flap her wings, her instincts going against all logic. And then, they plummeted over the edge, tangled together.
The wind whistled around them. Daniel wrapped himself around her, as if doing so could protect her from the fall. And when she felt the tingle that told her she’d passed through the barrier surrounding the mountain top, she teleported.
They hit the ground, her on top of Daniel. Their breathing was hard, his strong arms wrapped around her. For a long minute, they just held each other, too relieved to do anything else. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she inhaled his smoky scent. It was familiar, and yet, unexpected.
“What were you thinking?” he whispered. “I had a plan.”
What was I thinking? “I needed to keep you safe.”
“Why?”
She pulled back and stared at him as his arms dropped to his side. “You have to know I care about you.”
The look of absolute pain that ran over his face made her heart stop. He didn’t know. He actually didn’t know.
“Daniel…”
He shook his head, closing his eyes.
“I care about you. I know things are different now, but—“
“You have absolutely no reason to care about me. I’m an asshole. I don’t know how I got you to love me the first time, but you’re not going to be that dumb again.”
She couldn’t breathe as she leaned down and brushed a light kiss against his lips.
His eyes opened, two dark pools of anguish.
“You’re not an asshole… you’re wings.”
“Wings?” he repeated, raising a brow.
“Yes,” she felt more certain now. “When wings are curled up, they look like nothing. Maybe even ugly piles of feathers… but when they open up, everything changes. They’re beautiful. Not just beautiful, but capable of amazing things! Some people are wings. And you’re wings. There’s nothing wrong with the fact that it takes you longer to open up to people. And there’s nothing wrong with the fact that that’s the time where they see who you really are.”
“I’m wings,” he said, and the slightest smile touched his lips.
She gave him another gentle kiss. “And wings are absolutely loveable.”
Her words seemed to break something inside of him. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her tightly against him. His mouth sought hers, and then, they were kissing. Not their hard normal kisses, but this time it felt different. Less rushed.
When he broke the kiss, they were both breathing hard, staring at each other. And then, his gaze moved away from her and widened.
“Where did you teleport us to?”
She glanced around. They were in a cabin of some kind. There was a mustiness in the air, and the curtains were drawn,
