— Jackie
After yet another near-miss, with Abaddon apathetically commanding me to try again, I finally snap.
“No. I’m fuckingdone.”I whirl around, stomping towards him with a finger pointed out. “I can’t keep doing the same exact thing, over and over again, expecting I’ll magically get a different result. It’s insanity. It is thedefinitionof insanity!”
He returns none of my frustration, unsurprisingly. “Patience, Kae. I’m confident you will master this in time.”
“All in good time,” I hiss back, mocking his favorite slogan. “That’s all you ever say. Can’t you do anything else? Say anything else? You told me that my training would be expeditious. Does this seem expeditious to you?”
“You’re letting your emotions rule you.”
“Yeah? Well, at least one of us still has some.”
A muscle in his cheek twitches. “My emotional state is not your concern.”
To Hell it isn’t! I spend way too much time with him looming over my shoulder to never complain about his sordid company. There’s little Iwouldn’t give to punch him in the face right now, but since his indestructible skin would probably break my hand, the best I can do is kick him where it hurts.
His pride.
“You know, I’m curious, Abaddon. Were you created this way, or did you just wake up one day and choose to become an eternal asshole?” A wicked smile blooms across my face as I catch his reproach, his eyes turning hard and cruel. Clearly, I’ve hit a nerve. “Finally! Something genuine! That black little heart of yours must still have feelings, after all. Who fucking knew.”
Abaddon closes his eyes, breathing in deep, and I can tell I’ve truly pissed him off. Good. He deserves it?—
“Fine,” he says, breathing out. When his eyes open, every sign of hatred and spite is gone. “Then let’s go for a walk.”
“What?”
“A walk. You haven’t seen the city. How about we go to the market?”
I laugh in incredulity, verging on hysteria. “I have been barricaded in this one corner of the city for well over a month now, and now,now,I’m suddenly allowed to go exploring? Fuck you, Abaddon.”
True to his nature, he turns around and begins to walk away. “It’s your choice, Kae. Come with me or not. It makes no difference to me.”
I’m nearly shaking in anger as I watch him move towards the edge of the cliff. He knows he holds all the power here. He’s flaunting it. God, I hate him. I hate him so much.
“Fine!” I yell after him, the moment his wings spread out. “I’m coming.”
He turns around, the wide berth allowing him to keep his massive wings at full length, and looks at me idly. “It would be much quicker if I just flew you down there.”
My face pales. I shift my gaze beyond him, thinking about that nauseating drop. We’re so high above the base level. And how would that even work? I can’t imagine him bridal-carrying me through the Abyss. I absolutely cannot.
“No thank you.”
His face sours, becoming less than unamused. “Why not?”
“I, um… I just… I want to see everything.” I swallow. “Along the way. That’s all.”
“You can see everything even better from above.” He prowls towards me, quickly closing the distance between us. “You’re lying. I don’t like when you lie to me, Kae.”
“What? No. I’m—” I’m cut off by my own squeak of panic as I’m scooped into his arms.
“Don’t be scared,” he mumbles, so quietly I can barely hear him.
A second later, we’re jolting into the air.
I’ll admit, I’ve imagined what it’d be like to fly with the angels.
I did not imagine I’d spend most of it with my face pressed to an armored chestplate in sheer terror.
