Evangelos claws and gasps as I swing him by the hair like a morning star before I find a prettily carved pillar to cack him against; somehow our fight had graduated from the ground to the ceiling. He collapses onto a rafter beam wherein I spit a nice fat wad of phlegm on him. It covers his hair and splatters half his face.

“Argh,” He recoils. “I see where Zacchaeus learned his insolence, you’re repulsive!”

I smirk. “Aw, you flatter me.”

“No matter, this’ll be over soon.” Evangelos brings a broken piece of the rafter down on my wing, slapping me out of the air.

There’s a sickening crunch when I hit the floor, a crippling shockwave of pain rippling up through my body from my leg. A noise escapes me. Something loud and guttural, torn from deep within my chest, a sound I didn’t even know I could make.

If I thought a broken horn was unbearable, this is much worse. I may have even blacked out for a few seconds.

I curl in on myself like a withering rose, clutching my misshapen thigh to my chest despite it only inviting fresh agony with even the tiniest movement.

Then, just as quickly as it appeared, my agony soothes. A river of ice flushing away the scorching fire and breathing life back into the dying limb. The flight of my torment enlightens me to the hand puzzling my horn back into it’s shattered stump and the hand curled over mine.

“Zacchaeus?” I pant.

In response, Zaki flops forward, his skin pale and clammy to the touch. My leg retained a gash but the fracture was gone and my horn feels attached; at worst it’ll have a nasty crack.

Evangelos is striding toward us when I look up. I snatch up my bow and aim an arrow between the bastard’s eyes, curling a wing over Zaki as if it were a shield. This stops him mid-step, blood trickling from his nose. “Demon.”

I drop my aim to take out his knee, fitting him a new arrow for his face. “Two can play at that game, Angel.”

“That’s all you’ll ever be, an insult to Hestia’s light! The gods should have razed you and your people centuries ago!” He grounds out through clenched teeth.

“And why do you think they haven’t?”

I bask in the seething look he gives me. “It’s not so bad being the cockroaches of the world, at least we got great hair. Mines definitely prettier than yours, I got highlights.”

If he didn’t want to throw something at me before, he certainly does now. I risk a glance at Zaki still draped over my lap. Knowing him, he wouldn’t approve of me murdering Evangelos, whether or not I offered fair warning. I settled with a compromise, trading Evangelos’ wing for his life, better if he didn’t follow us.

I give Zaki a rough jostle. He doesn’t respond but I can still feel a heartbeat when I check for a pulse, so I scoop him up and set off again; though not so swiftly considering my thigh injury.

I skitter around a corner, slipping and slamming into the wall, cursing to myself. “Damn it! Why are the floors waxed?”

The moment the words leave my mouth a small blond girl and her raven-haired companion materialize out of nowhere, spilling from a hallway I had missed in my rush. I have no time to slow down and topple both of them. To keep from suffering the same fate I beat my wings until I've regained my balance.

“Cloudy?” The blond girl shrieks, horror stricken.

“Get away!” I snarl, bearing my teeth like some feral animal. Her companion boldly returns the gesture with a mangled snarl of her own. It’s impressive, though I hardly notice, having gone back to careening through the labyrinth.

The tap, tap, tap of footsteps sounds and quickly fades behind me. Probably the blond one tried to follow me but I’m more than twice her size. While I can’t always fly fast, I can outrun all my siblings except for Zeldris.

Finally, the main entrance, the only door to the outside, comes into view. Freedom is so close I could taste it and yet lay just out of reach. I’m brought to my knees by the weight of my spent determination and the knowledge that all hope, of the beautiful thing in my arms surviving, is lost.

“I’m sorry Blue,” I mutter, though I know he can’t hear me. Still, I wish he’d wake up so I can see the dark ocean trenches one last time before the goddess of cloud Spire smites me into the next life. “I wish I’d told you how I felt.”

“A regret you’ll take to your grave.” Lady Ivory glowers down her nose at me, lifting her staff over her head. “No one will care enough to mourn you anyways.”

The doors blow out behind her, the beat of wings like the thunder of an impending hurricane, followed by a string of white light that cuts clean through Lady ivory’s neck and raised arms. Her staff changes to the floor, severed arms still clinging on, and all the hair caught below the line collapsing into a heap. The cease of blood spray signifying her immortal body righting itself, knitting wounds and regenerating a fresh pair of limbs.

“I would mourn.” An electric voice hissed, cold as ice and echoing off the walls. The Fallen steps around Lady Ivory to stand between me, Zaki still wrapped in my arms, and her sister,

“Go,” She says to me. “Get Zaki out of here before he’s slaughtered.”

I nod, tears stinging my eyes as I hold Zaki to my chest with newfound strength.

~~~

The Fallen’s home is in ruins, I have no choice but to bring Zaki home. At least at home, my servants can bring him warm blankets and help me clean him up.

Asmode shrieks when I kick down my front door. He shrieks again when he lays eyes on the body in my arms.

“Light the dining room fireplace. Quickly!”

He bolts, the papers in his arms scattering. I don’t bother stepping over them while I stride toward the dining room. I send the servants I pass off to fetch me things. Blankets, water, washcloths, the logical things.

I’m rubbing Zaki down with one of my favorite fuzzy blankets when The Fallen arrives, blood splattered. I don’t hear her enter, I'm so focused, and flinch when she lays a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s just me.”

“She nailed him to a cross.” My voice cracks pitifully.

The look on her face is one I cannot discern. Without another word, she turns her attention to the body I refuse to let go of. The Fallen peels back the blankets I’ve wrapped Zaki up in to check him over, her growing horror amplifying my fear tenfold.

“Can you fix him?” I beg, desperation straining my voice.

“Funny, isn’t it? An ageless creature without worry for anything and yet I still have limits. If Zacchaeus’ heart still beats there is some hope.” She presses an ear to his chest. She pulls back, giving me a faint smile.

An ancient language slithers from her tongue, slurred and rolled words that sound more like Whale song. This is more than just healing, I’ve never seen the Fallen do this before and it doesn’t help that Zaki is half dead on my dining table.

The skin and bones mend at her touch, Zaki’s breathes growing less shallow. Then the light fades and The Fallen steps away, weariness weighing down her features.

“It is done, I’m going to take one of your guest rooms. Let me know if he wakes up.” She sweeps out of the room ,patting my shoulder on the way and vanishing into the hallway.

Tentatively, I lay a hand on Zaki’s cheek. It’s warm, no longer cold and clammy as it was a minute before. Sadly, it does nothing to comfort my anxiety. The Fallen did not say he would survive.

I run my thumb over the ragged ridges of the scar. No feather will ever grow there, a permanent reminder of the horrible things I've done out of the desires of my heart. My fingers comb through cloud-soft fluff and smoothing down rebellious tufts.

If he lives, never again will I let vice harm the things I love, nor the people I love.