Chapter 14

“So what’s the plan then, if we aren’t handing Kossiq over?” Yvo asks when we begin moving again the next day. I shrug, trying to think it through. “We have to go somewhere else, start a new life away from people so they won’t see Kossiq’s wings,” I say after a moment.

Yvo has been acting a little strangely since last night, but he won’t say what’s wrong, so Kossiq and I are just assuming he’s tired from all the travelling.

But I know that’s not what’s wrong.

When Yvo is tired or anything, he complains, or at least is still pretty vocal about everything. But he’s barely said a word to either of us all day, saying less even than me. That’s how I know something is definitely wrong.

Looking back on it, I’m angry at myself. Maybe, if I’d figured out what was actually happening sooner, then it wouldn’t have all gone wrong. But, instead, everything went wrong.

It started with- no. It had already started to collapse.

There were a few more attacks on us in the following days, and it really began to sink in that the Duchess not only wanted the fallen angel, but she also wanted me dead. “I’m beginning to think she knew I would disobey her this time,” I mumble to Kossiq, not sure if he’s actually awake or not, with the way his head rests on my shoulder with his eyes closed.

“Hm, she sounds like a terrible person, not like I didn’t already know that,” Kossiq muses, and I smile slightly as one of his hands reaches up to stroke my cheek affectionately.

That’s something Kossiq has been getting me used to. Affection. He often holds my hand, strokes my hair, touches my cheek and hugs me. Before this mission, I’d never even considered someone my friend before, but now I have two in Yvo and Kossiq.

The next day, we decided on a location to head to instead. “Yvo, will you be splitting off from us now?” Kossiq asks, giving his friend a last strong hug. Yvo has still been very quiet, but now he looked devastated.

“I…I can’t do this,” he whispers, and I raise an eyebrow. I know that he and Kossiq were close, but…I didn’t think he’d be this sad.

“Hey, it’s ok, I’m sure we’ll see each other again in the future, once you’ve got your mum safely away,” Kossiq reassures him, and it’s like the walls Yvo slowly built around him come shattering down.

“No, you don’t understand- I- I betrayed you,” he whispers, looking away, his eyes widening at something in the distance. “What do you mean?” Kossiq asks, but I know exactly what he means when my eyes land on the horses coming towards us.

“You told them I was going to disobey her,” I whisper, jerking my eyes up to meet Yvo’s gaze. “I’m sorry, when we stayed at the inn…someone passed me a message, said that if the Duchess didn’t get her angel, my mother would die,” he whispers, tears clouding his eyes.

I stare at him, rage blasting through me. “You- you told me not to hand him over in the first place! And now, even after promising the Archangel you’d protect him- you’re going to get us killed!” I yell, for once my voice going louder than my usually low volume.

Yvo looks shocked, and scared, and so…distraught. “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to do,” he whispers, right as horses come speeding into view behind us as well.

We’re cornered.

“You’ve ruined everything, Yvo,” I tell him, pulling the bow off my back. We’re going to have to fight here, and without Yvo willingly letting the Archangel possess him, we won’t have their help.

“Martin, we can’t win. It’s ok, the Duchess won’t kill me, she wants me alive,” Kossiq says gently. I shake my head, unable to remove my eyes from the people my mother hired to steal the person I love and to murder me.

I hate her.

I hate her with everything in my being.

After that, things only go downhill. Yvo gets another vision and passes out, and I don’t see him regain consciousness. I try to fight off the mercenaries, but one person against all of them…it doesn’t work well, as it seems like even Kossiq has given up.

What I remember most from this incident, is the fact that I thought I was going to die. They tried to kill me, and I would be dead, if it wasn’t for Kossiq.

When I could fight no more, when I was exhausted and bloodied and had nothing left, they held me down, a sword right above my heart whilst Kossiq begged and cried for them to stop, to take him and just go.

They didn’t listen.

Strangely enough, I felt nothing as I watched the sword enter my chest. It didn’t hurt, I only remember vaguely thinking that they were cruel; they got the angle wrong, so the sword bounced off my ribs, not hitting my heart but instead leaving me to bleed to death.

I should have died.


But, Kossiq didn’t let me.

My eyes closed, too heavy to even open them again. And then, I felt heat. Warmth and comfort spread through me, and when I opened my eyes…Kossiq’s body was being dragged away, blood streaming down his arms.

My blood?

No. His own blood.

As I lay there on the ground, watching men drag away the person I loved, it slowly all dawned on me.

What had happened.

Kossiq had given me a second chance.

The men the Duchess hired had forgotten that angel’s blood and their tears have healing powers. The worse the wound, the more blood needed. It’s lucky for me, I suppose, that Kossiq was crying, because otherwise the blood he shed for me wouldn’t have been enough.

But instead, here I am, still alive, my wound desperately trying to heal itself around the sword stuck right through my chest. How could things have gone so impossibly wrong?