Chapter 9

The good news is that so far, we’ve had no trouble, and we’re almost back to the Duchess’s mansion; it should only take about another week or so of riding.

The bad news is that now we have trouble.

Yvo’s visions kept happening to a pace that we were sure those bandits who attacked the carriage would be after us.

The even worse news is that they have finally caught up to us.

We didn’t even stand a fighting chance; they attacked at night, when Yvo was on watch. I was woken up by an intense feeling of danger, before sharply getting a thwack to the back of the head, and a darkness overtook me again as I slipped out of consciousness.

Much to my surprise and relief, when I regain consciousness, it’s to find that Yvo and Kossiq are tied up next to me, and both look fairly unharmed. Even I feel pretty ok, except for my head, which has a splitting headache.

Peeling one eye open, I regard the bandits in front of us coolly, without emotion. The one in front, who looks too…posh, I guess, to be a bandit, steps forwards, lacing his fingers through Kossiq’s hair.

He’s extremely obviously an angel, although I’m guessing they already knew that, as he is most likely the reason they came after us.

However, to my surprise, I don’t feel angry at the prospect they’ll take him and I won’t complete my mission- no, I’m angry about the first half of that. I think that- I think why it feels like my blood is boiling right now, is because this person keeps touching Kossiq’s hair and face, and the angel looks disgusted.

I just want to get him as far away from these people as possible.

“Wow, we really hit the jackpot this time, huh?” The man croons, grabbing Kossiq’s chin and jerking him to look at the man forcefully. I suddenly have the overwhelming urge to kill this man, and no one even has to pay me to do it.

“So you’ve been transporting this commodity the whole time, huh, Hunter?” He suddenly turns to look at me, finally removing his hands from Kossiq. If only I didn’t have this damned gag in my mouth, I could tell him that Kossiq is a person, not an object to be sold.

You always thought of him as an object, an object to win the Duchess’s affection with.

I push the thoughts from my mind, although I know that they are correct. I haven’t treated Kossiq with even half of the respect he deserves. I have to treat him better.

You could start by not giving him to the Duchess.

Defy her? Could I even do that? It doesn’t matter, what matters is that right now, I might be about to lose him. I refuse to lose Kossiq. I won’t let anyone hurt him or Yvo.

The man turns his attention from me back to Kossiq, which only makes me more angry. If only I could get out of these damn ropes. Side-eyeing Yvo, I realise with a start that he’s unconscious- but not from being knocked out. No. He’s having a vision.

“Still, I’m surprised by how this one looks…I’ve always heard that fallen angels look much more…feminine. But this girl…well, she’s more along the tomboy spectrum, isn’t she,” he muses, letting his hand ghost down Kossiq’s chest briefly.

That fucking does it.

Shifting my position so that my leg is free from beneath me, I kick out hard at the man’s hand, pinning it beneath my foot against the floor as I stomp on it with all of my strength. He lets out a scream as a satisfying crunch sounds from beneath my boot, and the other bandits immediately spring into action.

Yvo apparently wakes up in perfect time, and quite honestly, saves the day. I don’t know much about Diviners, but I know Yvo is good at what he does. I just didn’t know quite the extent of what his powers could do.

At the same time, in perfect synchronicity, I spring to my feet, kicking the nearest bandits, whilst Kossiq opens his wings out to their full length, and- wow. They’re incredibly beautiful, to be honest. I’m guessing they’ve healed substantially, because the angel’s expression stays focused as he whacks a bandit over the head with a wing, knocking them down in surprise and the sheer weight of the force he put behind the swing.

Yvo, however, does something somehow more surprising than watching someone get knocked out by an angel wing. Yvo opens his eyes, but they look…blank. Like he’s not even there at all. He stands calmly, literally snapping the ropes off himself, whilst…are those…wings? Spring from his back.

The wings shimmer like heat-haze, and judging how I can see the forest through them, aren’t actually there. When he opens his mouth to speak, a voice not even distinguishable as his own is emitted.

It is booming and loud, a deep rumble as he casts his hands out, shimmering feathers like glass shards raising with his hands. “Leave this place, or I, the Arche Archangel will strike you down where you stand.”

Kossiq’s eyes widen, recognition flittering through them for a moment before he whacks another bandit over the head with a wing. Get you an angel who can take care of himself, I think fleetingly, before looking at Yvo with confusion, a little fear, and a lot of respect all at once.

“Now, this isn’t going quite to the plan I’d devised,” the man who I am assuming is the bandits’ leader says. “When Duchess Derevene asked me to hunt the Hunter, I thought I would only be going up against one person. Of course she failed to mention that there was also an angel and a Diviner in the mix,” he huffs, not looking scared but annoyed, like we’re all merely flies buzzing around his head to him.

“Leave now,” Yvo, or not Yvo I guess, says, raising his hands higher as more shimmering feathers join the first few, seeping out of his wings and hardening into sharp points. Jumping through my hands so that they’re in front of me, I grab a knife from one of the bandits groaning on the floor from Kossiq’s head bashing.

Severing my own ropes, I quickly make my way over to Kossiq, freeing him also. Now that we’re this close, I can see that he’s shaking, and his eyes no longer hold the same determination they had before, and instead he looks scared.

Hugging his arms around his chest, he folds his wings around himself protectively, and I stand in front of him, so that if any of the bandits make a move, they’ll have to deal with me first.