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Scowling, he swings his attention back to me and locks his fingers to the front of my shirt, hoisting me up the wall. His amethyst eyes light up with holy power, sending purple beams around me.
“May you get the punishment you deserve,” Cassius mutters.
His eyes widen, a soft groan of pain erupting from his mouth. The light around us dims, and Cassius drops me back to my knees. A growl rumbles through the air, shaking me to my core. It comes from Micah, the guttural sound unlike anything I’ve ever heard. It’s sexy and scary, and the one thing that keeps me from turning into a crying mess.
“I warned you, Cass. Raven’s soul is mine. She is my mission, and I will not let you use your divine intervention to change my purpose.” Micah slides his sword from Cassius’s back. “Do you understand?”
Cassius closes his eyes. “You must accept what needs to be done. If you cannot, then I am sorry. Neither of you are leaving.” Stretching out his arms, he silently whispers something under his breath before snapping his eyes open again. “Zade, Andre. Prepare yourselves. Micah is lost to us. He has fallen. He has lost his light.”
Micah stabs Cassius again. “You’re wrong. I haven’t fallen. I’ve been in this position all along. But now, I don’t have light blinding me. I can finally see.”
Chapter 24
Fallen
MICAH
JABBING MY SWORD, I sink it into Cassius’s gut and kick him back. I rush to Raven’s side and scoop her into my arms. She groans in pain, her skin seared and bruised. An intense, horrible feeling crashes over me unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my existence. It’s dark and deadly, all-consuming and born from the unforgivable actions of Cassius.
“Hold on, Raven. I’m getting you out of here.” I smash the door open with my shoulder and charge from the apartment. “Be strong for me. I know you hurt.”
“Where’s Kase and Dante?” she asks, her voice whispery and trembling. “They will help us.”
“We don’t need them. They have put your soul in my hands to protect until I figure out how to save you. But don’t worry. I will take you to them before we vanish.” Expanding my wings, I bend my knees and prepare to launch into the air.
“What?” Sliding her warm hands around my neck, she hugs me and nestles her face into the crook of my throat, shielding her eyes from the brightness of my essence.
“I will explain everything. But we have to leave.” I flap my wings, shooting us into the air. As long as I can get us to my home, we will be safe. No one—no angel or devil—except for me and my achingly beautiful Raven can enter the place made solely for me.
She shivers at the icy wind blowing around us, and I adjust my jacket and pull it around her. Her lips brush the base of my neck with her shuddering breaths. Her pain and fear sink into me as she opens herself and lets me into her being.
Fire burns from my core, working its way through my essence. She thinks about the brethren over and over again and how terrified she is of Cassius but also how much she hates him and craves to see him destroyed. Just the hours he had her broke her pure soul into pieces, turning her toward Hell in her pure desperation. Cassius fed the darkness clinging to her, helping it bloom. Where he should’ve tread lightly with understanding, he allowed his hurt and need for justice against those who betrayed us get the best of him. Raven doesn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of his vengeance.
“Micah! Micah, bring her back! We can fix this. Please, I can’t lose you!” Cassius shouts from below. I look down and catch sight of him flying beneath us, zooming toward me.
“She needs me. All you want is to send the most brilliant soul I’ve ever touched somewhere she doesn’t belong.” I flip and nosedive, soaring past Cassius before he can reach me.
Raven shrieks and clings onto me, whispering a prayer in my ear. It stirs something fierce inside me. Summoning my heavenly sword from my inner light, I adjust Raven in my arms, getting her to wrap her legs around my waist.
A shadow crosses overhead, and I swoop and spin, slashing my sword.
“Micah! Please. I understand what you see. I saw it for myself. Don’t abandon us. We have a purpose—”
“And Raven is mine. Take her away, and you steal my purpose. Don’t you get that? You have to stop Cass. Please, Andre. Just give me a chance to lea—”
Fire cuts across my wing, sending me spiraling out of control. Raven screams in terror as we freefall toward the ground. Fifty feet, a hundred, a thousand—if I can’t catch myself soon, we’ll plummet and smash into the earth. I can survive it, but Raven can’t. This is Cassius forcing my hand. If Raven dies because of me, he thinks it’ll fulfill whatever path he claims I’m on. But if I lose Raven, I lose everything. I can’t let her go.
Pushing away the pain, I expand my wings, trying to slow our descent. I catch an air stream and use it to glide another hundred feet, slowing my fall. Raven heaves a breath, clutching onto me, her heart thumping against mine in a lively melody I’m afraid of losing.
“Micah!” Cassius shouts, nosediving from above.
I need to make it to the ground before he can get to us. We’re still too high. If I drop Raven, she might not survive. I refuse to let Cassius do this. He’s lost sight of our purpose. We’re not to damn anyone. We’re to do everything we can to save those deserving of the glory of the Higher Power.
A heavy body crashes into me and fiery agony scorches across my other wing. I automatically fold my wing in, sending us spiraling. Raven cries out in fear, her voice disappearing on the wind. The world zooms closer and closer to us.
“Raven, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me,” I whisper, clutching her to my chest. I tilt my body back to stare at the sky above and stroke my hand up and down Raven’s back. She trembles and prays, her body, mind, and soul open to me.
Anger snaps through me. This can’t be it. I refuse to let the brethren take my beautiful Raven from me too early. I made her a promise to save her soul, and I intend to keep my promise even if it means facing Hell myself and changing it from below instead of above. I can’t imagine an eternity without this angel-kissed soul. She’ll change everything. I know it.
