Chapter 5

-Martin-

As we ride, the angel keeps twisting round to look at me, clearly unsure whether he should be trying to jump off the horse or not, but based on the needles in the basement, he was clearly drugged with something.

Yvo will be surprised when he realises the angel isn’t in fact a girl, but very clearly a boy instead. A boy with pure white wings, which match his soft-looking white hair and washed-out blue eyes, which are so pale they’re practically white also.

His skin, by contrast, is a dark honey colour. A small freckle rests to the lower left of his mouth, his lips no longer turned down in a frown, but instead he looks more curious.

He stops turning around, instead letting himself sink back into my chest, resting his head on my shoulder. His eyes flutter closed, his lashes dark against his skin. I’m surprised he managed to stay awake for as long as he did, with as much of that drug in his system as he has.

His head tilts back, a soft snore escaping past his lips. I stare straight ahead of me. This guy doesn’t deserve to be sold off, but a job is a job.

Yvo isn’t where I left him; good. That means he started on his way back, to distance himself from whatever went down at the burnt town. I didn’t kill all of them, just those who got in my way, and I couldn’t subdue without ending their lives.

They’re mercenaries though, that’s how they’ve always lived their lives. Kill or be killed. It’s how I’ve always lived my life, and I’m a hunter, not a mercenary.

A horse comes into view on the horizon, and I squint, trying to work out if it’s Yvo or not. And then I see the figure on the horse sway dangerously, and my breath catches, before the figure flops forwards, resting on the horse.

Thank goodness he didn’t fall off.

Spurring my stolen horse into a faster canter, we push forwards until I can confirm that the figure is indeed Yvo. And, like usual, he’s passed out. I can’t get off my own horse without disturbing the sleeping angel, however, and somehow I’d feel really mean if I didn’t just let him sleep for now.

Instead, I slowly lead our horses off the main path, and into the surrounding forests. I grip Yvo’s horse’s reins along with my own, waiting patiently for either the angel to wake up, or Yvo.

Eventually, Yvo sits up, groaning and rubbing his eyes. “Ugh go fuck yourself, dickhead,” he grumbles, before noticing me. And the angel.

“Holy shit Martin! Are you ok? You’re not injured anywhere? Is the angel ok?” He asks all at once, still pressing a hand to his head. I nod in answer to all of his questions, before raising a hand and gesturing to him.

“Are you ok?” Yvo seems taken back by my question, but he smiles warmly, before slipping his horse’s reins from my hands, retaking them. “Yeah fine, just had another vision, except it was an accidental one.”

I raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue his explanation. By now, I know he always has more to say.

“I saw fucking Duchess Derevene, and she was totally slagging me off, about what a rubbish Diviner I am! Like, what a bitch. I know she’s like, evil incarnate, but really? All I’ve ever done is help her, and there she goes, being a total wanker!”

He exclaims in exasperation, before glancing at me. “Sorry, I know she’s your mum, but like- I don’t like her,” he says simply, and I allow myself to smile briefly.

“I don’t like her either,” I say quietly, gently lifting the angel and placing him back down, so that he’s riding perpendicular to me. This way, his wings won’t be trapped between us, and hopefully won’t hurt as much.

I can tell they were causing him pain, mainly from the fact that I feel like wings shouldn’t be at the angles his are. Were they broken? That’s just mean. Angel wings are usually kept in pristine condition, until someone severs them, and hangs them on a wall.

I shudder at the thought, unconsciously pulling the angel closer to me, and his head resumes its former position on my shoulder.

Smiling gently, I can’t help but be happy that we got to the angel in time, and that no lasting damage has been done. I mean, he has a few injuries on his arms, which were most likely from self-defence, by the look of them.

But, he’s all in one piece.

It really is a shame his wings were broken.

“Are angels normally this weak?” I ask, glancing up at Yvo. “I thought they were powerful beings, but this guy looks so…fragile.”

Yvo shrugs, crossing his arms across his chest. “Well, they’re powerful when up in heaven, where they belong. Less so when they fall to earth - I mean, they were cast out of the heavens, so they lost all their divine powers. All they have left is their bodies.”

I nod, watching the sleeping angel shudder slightly as the sun goes down, and the cold night chill sets in. The angel isn’t wearing much, just some tatty-looking robe thing. I’m guessing this clothing wasn’t his originally, based on how it’s clearly way too big for him. It was probably something the mercenaries gave him.

Untying my scarf from my neck, I tie it around his neck instead. We’ll have to stop off in a town along the way, and get him some actual clothing, or he’ll freeze before we make it home.

“I can’t believe how rare this is though,” Yvo states, disbelief evident in his tone. I glance over, waiting for him to finish. “I mean, a boy angel?! Like, I’ve never heard of that before. I didn’t think they exist,” he continues, tapping his chin.

I shrug, rootling around in the gear on the stolen horse to see if there’s a blanket or anything. To my luck, there is, and I drape it over the angel, before placing my arms carefully around his wings, so that I don’t bash them every time I move the reins, and hurt him.

“We need to go to a town,” I say, and I think Yvo gets the idea, based on how I keep tucking the blanket around the angel.

“Funny how you commented on me getting familiar with the angel, and how much of a liability that’d be, and yet, here you are, tucking him up like you’re his mum putting him to bed.”

I freeze at that, and it’s not really to do with the main point of his comment. No, it’s more to do with the fact that I never had anyone to put me to bed as a child. Yvo doesn’t seem to notice the slight shift in my mood, which I’m grateful for.

Instead, I push my horse onwards, to get a little more travelling in before the sun is completely gone. 

A/N

yo it's me again, nev :) so here's the avatar thingy i made of my angel son. i did it on the same avatar maker as the others, then put it into the digital art app i have and gave him freckles and drew on his eyebrows haha i hope you like him he's so cute <3