Within seconds, I’m on my feet. I run back out to the courtyard, pulling my dagger from my waistband as I look towards the false sky, searching for danger.
Angels!
There’s a whole group of them, soaring high above the city, headed in the direction of the castle… but none of the locusts are mobilizing.
“Hey!” I call towards the nearest general, who swivels his head around towards me in that unnatural, boneless way they do. “Do you see that? Are you guys expecting visitors?”
The locust nods. “The Council arrives.”
24
There’s a magnificent, glimmering rainbow of wings above me. They fly in the shape of a triangular kite, trailed by?—
My dagger falls into the dirt, forgotten and useless. I choke on a hysterical noise, caught somewhere between a laugh and a cry. It feels like it’s been aneternitysince I’ve seen those familiar white and gold wings.
I use my free hands to wave both arms in the air, trying to catch his attention—but the distance is too vast, and he passes over me without wavering.
A loud, dramatic groan of frustration slips out of me. Because, of course, he wouldn’t see me. He’s way the fuck up there, lost in his own little dream world.
I pace, looking along the ground for something to kick in frustration, when an idea strikes me. There’s another way I can call him. I haven’t tried it yet, though if I close my eyes, it’s there for the taking. A shimmering pathway—the tether between us.
I pull it with ease, begging him to come my direction…
Miraculously, it works. He breaks off from the group immediately, flipping backward in the sky, diving in my direction like a hawk at breakneck speeds.
Within moments, he lands on the ground with athudand a cloud of dirt.
“Dawn,” he calls, rushing towards me. I don’t even have a second to say another word before he scoops me up with lightning-fast reflexes, squeezes the life out of me, then plops me back on the ground. “Was thatyou?My, my, how you’ve progressed.”
“Yes,” I cough, catching my breath. “That was me. Unfortunately, that’s about the extent of my abilities.”
“Oh, surely not!”
“It is, trust me.” Dismissing that topic, I touch his shoulder in an attempt to be sincere. “Look, Dusk. I want to apologize for how I acted when you told me you were being reassigned. I took it way too personally?—”
“No, let me stop you there.” He shakes his head. “You had every right to be upset with me. I’m the one who brought you here. When you needed my support, I abandoned you to deal with all this on your own. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I feel so bad.”
“It’s okay. I understand.” In the real world, I wouldn’t have taken offense if we’d been accepted into different medical schools or something. I shouldn’t be upset about the demands of his angelic responsibilities, either. If anything, his work islesstrivial than anything I could compare it to. “You were just doing your job.”
“Even if so, I could have done a lot better.” Stepping closer, he takes my hands in his. “I’ve been a terrible messenger, but an even worse friend. Please forgive me. If you give me the chance, I promise I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”
One of my eyebrows rises. “I’ll forgive you if you quit being so painfully serious. I’ve had enough of that from the brooding angel who lives here.”
“Deal,” he says quickly, but doesn’t let go of my hands. Instead, he bites his lip, pausing. “I missed you.”
An awkward laugh escapes me. “I missed you too, Dusk. But I think we need to have some… uh… boundaries. To our relationship.”
“Right. Of course.” He drops my hands, taking on a soft smile. “Whatever you need.”
I need to know everything about everything,I almost say, but I stop myself. Dusk always seems to have a short attention span. Whenever I ask him too many questions, or too vague of a big question, he only seems to answer one part of it.
So instead, I start with a simple, “How’s the surface?”
“Not great, but relatively okay for now. The fuses are being lit, and it won’t be long before some things start to combust.” Dusk peers over myshoulder. “If you’re done beating the dummy into a bloody pulp, maybe we can head back to the castle? Particularly, the dining hall. I’m famished.”
“Fine, but I want more details later.” I cast a wary glance towards the castle. “Will your company be joining us?”
“Unfortunately, I’m fairly certain they will be. They’re the?—”
