"Yes. I’ll keep you safe. I won’t let you fall," Graves replied, the rain drowning out the sound of his voice.
She touched the space under her breast, and the air trembled as she gathered herself. "Then take me away from here. I want to l-leave."
It was all the permission he needed; though, he wondered what he would’ve done if he hadn’t had her permission. It wasn’t worth it to dwell on. She had agreed, and they had to go.
Graves lifted her, and she gasped against him as his arms banded under her thighs and back, keeping her cradled against his chest. He stared down at her, and she gripped his soaked shirt. "Hold on. If you need to, tuck yourself away." He pressed a hand to the back of her head, forcing her face into the crook of his neck.
She stayed there, face hidden in his neck, her breath warm against his damp skin. And Graves shot away from the boat, forcing it to list to the side as he took to the skies.
Luella was quiet in his arms, her lashes tickling his skin. His back burned with every beat of his wings, but not fucking once did Graves let himself give in to the exhaustion weighing him down.
When the boat was so far behind he couldn’t see it, and the rain once more a faint drizzle, she spoke:
"Thank you for c-coming for me."
He tightened his arms. As she shifted, her forearm brushed the part of his wings where they beat furiously at his back. Shivers ran through his whole body. For just one godsdamned moment, he faltered, and it was enough to send his stomach flipping.
When Graves righted himself, he replied, "We’ll always come for you."
"The ones who d-did this… The Fallen?"
He gritted his jaw. "We have them." And they wouldn’t be alive much longer if Graves had a say.
Her chin brushed his chest.
Graves pressed a gentle kiss to her brow when her silence stretched for too long. "It’s okay, sweetheart."
Through their bond, her emotions were a peculiar shade of blue and grey, but he swore there was a splash of scarlet somewhere in there. Anger.
"You’ll—" She coughed, turning her head to do so away from him. Her eyes remained squeezed shut, unable to stare at the sea below. He wanted to tell her not to worry. He’d let her cough on him for godsdamned sake, if it meant she could feel safe. "You’ll hurt them?"
"Yes," was all he said in reply.
She waited a beat, then whispered, "Good."
Graves felt a smile tug his lips. He moved his head until his mouth was right by the shell of her ear. "You’re becoming quite the tempest."
She didn’t respond to that.
After some time, when Graves thought Luella had fallen asleep in his arms, she shifted, bare, cut-up feet kicking out in the air where her legs hung over his arm.
Clouds enveloped them, sending a chill through him.
She trembled, awkwardly moving her shoulder to wipe some water away from her cheek, hands locked in a vise grip behind his neck. "What does it look like?" she asked him softly.
Graves’s hand moved until he only held her with one arm—he wasn’t worried. He would never let her fall, but if he did, he would catch her. He touched her face, thumb brushing her cheekbone. "Look," he urged, waiting for her to move her head. "See for yourself."
Just when he thought she wouldn’t, she did. Luella turned her face away from his neck, lids shut as she faced out at the sea, obscured by wisps of air. She opened her eyes, the blue like the stormy ocean below them.
She inhaled sharply, lips parting. "I-I feel like… I don’t know what to feel. I’m frightened, but I can’t look away. Is it always like this?"
Graves tried to see it through her eyes, the way she did. The way the clouds seemed to unfold as they passed through, or how the ocean looked like a large canvas, deep blue and lighter blue paint thrown over the surface, with threads of white foam laced over the darkness.
It was too grand a place to feel so sorry for himself.
He soaked up every moment with her in his arms, and she didn’t return to hiding her face in his neck. Graves knew, once the mountains came into view and the drizzle of rainhad long since ceased, that once they touched the ground, this companionship would shatter.
She would find solace in the arms of another.
