The leader of this ambush signals something and more cultists appear, seizing Charmeine and Avarice. An arm locks around Melek’s throat. She batters her captor but the bludgeoning does not stop them from stuffing her into an iron cage a pair of cultists have dragged in. No hands grab for me but I'm trapped in a circle of these white-cloaked psychos.

“What are you doing!” 

The leader signs to me, this time i actually understand it, though barely. It’s been a while since Charmeine and Melek have taught me their language. “She ran from our late master, she must pay. Let this be our first offering to you, my lord.’

“Wha-” They just called me ‘Lord,’ perhaps I can use this to save Melek. “Then let me pardon her!”

The leader shakes their head. ‘Her crimes are too great to be ignored, this must be done. It will appease you, I promise.’

“But you’re supposed to obey me, I am descended from Zor- The White King!”

Cultists close in on me, tugging at my clothes, trying to take them from me. I beat them with my wings, twisting out of their grasps and swatting their hands away.

Charmeine’s wailing is horrible, I want to cover my ears but I make myself listen. I wish I’d brought my sword, maybe I could stop this, but I didn’t want It’s glow to attract Guardians and foil our plans.

One of the cultists cries out. They’ve lost their captive, distinctive scratch marks splitting open their face. Avarice is sprinting toward the young cultists setting fire to the kindling placed below Melek’s cage. He barrels into them, bowling them over and sending them tumbling into the wall.

Avarice leaps into the fire, turning it from red to bright green. The flames brush his skin and clothes but nothing is singed. He casually steps up to Melek, breaks the lock and pulls her out. Curling his wings around her crunched form.

Avarice sends the fire flying, letting sparks catch on anything flammable and blowing it out of control. The Fire ravages anything it touches and burns too hot for the cultists to draw near it. Even I run for Avarice, taking charmeine with me, seeking the shield of his wings. He builds a ring around us, keeping out the cultists rushing to strike down the wielder of the fire eating away at the building.

The weakened supports scream as they succumb to the stress the weighty roof is putting on them. The whole place is going to collapse and we’re trapped inside!

“The hatch we snuck in through.” Charmeine shouts over the roar of the fire. “Can you clear a path?”

Avarice is pinched in concentration but he raises an arm in the direction Charmeine is pointing and the fire parts for us. Charmeine gathers Melek to her and they break for the hall. Avarice is slow, straining to keep the fire under his command while forming new shapes to keep us who can be burned from being consumed. I do not leave his side until we reach said hidden hatch, where I drop down and wait for him to reach the bottom. He releases his hold on the reins of fire, following me down and leaving the hatch open.

Smart, I think, letting the burnt debris fill the hole will hide it for some time.

Taking in the hidden passage, luminescent hand prints have been slapped on the walls to prevent wanderers from bumping to the walls.

We follow Melek as she navigates the passages as naturally as she walks. She stops at a ladder and waits for Charmeine to go up and clear the way for us to ascend.

Once we’re all out Melek promptly scuttles off, commoners aren’t allowed in this building, especially those with coal-tipped wings like her’s. Though the place seems pretty vacant, usually after hours has a few wandering wraiths.

I start around a corner and freeze. Looks like I've found one of those wraiths, one who doesn’t startle easily.

“I figured Lady Ivory would have gotten to you already.” Evangelos’ gaze locks on something behind me. “And I’ve been looking all over for you.”

I throw out an arm. “You’ll have to get through me before I let you anywhere near her.”

“I’m happy to oblige you~”

Evangelos advances, unsheathing his sword. Each step he takes towards me, I take one back to keep distance between us. His strides are far and he is almost upon me when a sturdy hand draws me back into a person. This makes me freeze until I realize it’s Avarice pinning me to his chest when I tilt my head back, a fierce look in his eye as he stares Evangelos down. The stand off is akin to a Dragon staring down an angry serpent and I was crushed between them.

“I’ll call the Guardians.” Evangelos threatens. “They won't take too kindly to a whore and his Demon bedtoy offending The Ivory Maiden’s holy temple. Abhorrent.”

“I think you’ll find me very charming, Angel.”

The immediate look of disgust that mangles Evangelos’ handsome face fills me with embarrassing satisfaction. Good, I think, now you know how it makes me feel when you call me ‘Little Sapphire.’

Avarice pushes me behind himself and blocks me from retaliating when Evangelos throws a punch at him.

“I hope that isn’t the best you can do,” Avarice swiped his tongue across his upper lip, grinning. “You’re weak.”

Whoosh, blood blooms along Avarice’s arm. I cry out and Charmeine has to tackle me to keep me from throwing myself into the fray of silver and claw. Avarice gets a fistful of Evangelos’s hair, hopping into the air, trying to drag the man off balance but Evangelos keeps up. Clawed fingers dig into his sword hand, slamming into the stone railing of the bridge, sending the blade spinning into the ocean below.

Evangelos' howl of agony shatters the air as the bones of his wings snapped like twigs between Avarice’s hands, who doubles over with a solid knee to the pelvis. It’s only for a second but it was enough time for Evangelos to drag a slash a tear clean through the sheet of skin of Avarice’s dragon-like wing. Blood poured from the wound but Avarice didn’t scream, dashing the dragger from his opponent’s hand instead. Surely it had to hurt, I want to heal it and I find myself polling at Charmeine’s grip.

Footsteps sound from the hall and from it dances Evangeline. She startles at the sight of her brother fighting with an Ignaisin and Charmeine holding me back from leaping into the thrawl myself.

As if on cue, a deafening crack announces the age of the stone. Webs of black lines give way to empty chunks and chunks to massive sections. Neither of the two fighting on the collapsing bridge acknowledge that if they don’t do something they’re going to fall hundreds of feet to their deaths- they’ve already disappeared from the edge by the time I finished that thought.

I tear from Charmeine’s arms, knocking her to the floor, though I hadn’t meant to hurt her, and dove off the edge of the broken bridge. Wind screams in my ear as I gain speed with my wings and arms pressed flat. I’m forced to dodge chunks of debris, the only thing remotely slowing me down in my pursuit of the plummeting fighters.

Evangelos’ bloody ankle is wedged between Avarice’s jaw, thrashing wildly to escape the fangs sunken up to the gums in muscle and skin. Avarice releases and kicks Evangelos off when he notices the quickly waning distance between us.

“Zacchaeus, catch me! Please, my love, I’m so sorry I hurt you! I really do love you, lady Ivory was threatening to crucify me if I didn’t give you up!” I glance between him and Avarice. Evangelos stretches his arms to me, begging. “Let’s run away together, where no one will ever find us. We can be happy again, like before.”

Evangelos hasn’t spoken to me like that in so long, I’ve missed his kindness so much it hurts. I miss the way he held me, his kisses, his smile.

Then there’s Avarice who shot me down and locked me in a cage. He knows about my healing ability, a secret that should have died with my parents, a secret he can destroy me with.

This decision is stupidly easy.

Racing the ground to catch a person I don’t think I can live without. Our fingers lock around wrists, their weight nearly rips my arms from their sockets when I deploy my wings, and the wind scoops me into a leisurely glide. Evangelos disappears below, Evangeline still diving after.

I set Avarice down in a small clearing, collapsing on top of him. Both of us are shaking whether from adrenaline or exhaustion. Probably both.

I bury my face in his chest. “Stars I thought I was going to lose you.”

“I’m okay,” Fingers comb my hair, soothing my awful trembling. “You’re okay.”

I sit up, examining the jagged tear in Avarice’s wing. “Does it hurt?”

“Not yet.”

I shake my head. “I should heal it.”

“No, save your energy for the Goddess, Evangelos’ sister will expose us. We need to go through with the plans now, I’ll make sure Charmeine and Melek are successful in their part.”

“...Okay, but at least let me try and mend it-” His finger on my mouth quiets me.

“You’ve already saved my life too many times.”

“You saved mine too.”

“Zacchaeus.” His hands find my hips, sliding across the small of my back as they wrap around me.

I shiver. “Why must you make it so difficult to keep my oaths?”

“You’re about to flutter away and fight the goddess who made you take them in the first place, I don’t think it matters very much anymore.”

“You have a point but I have to go.” I press a kiss to his lips and pry myself away. “When I come back, I’m going to marry you.”

Avarice gives me a small smile. “I’ll hold you to that.”