Chapter 19 #4
Scrambling over bodies and rubble, we ran for our lives, pausing only as we reached the opening and looked down at the chasm-like space below.
We were near the center of the library, and there were still countless floors that spiraled downward into the earth.
Scanning in either direction, I quickly realized that we were too far from the railings to jump.
Even if we could make it, the guards would be on us in seconds, as we’d only be outside the lab.
“I meant the other wall!” Bastien shouted over the chaos.
I laughed, finding no other alternative.
We’d played a good game, but our escape attempt was short-lived.
From behind, I could hear the roar of Vengeance and the sounds of shifting rubble.
They’d be on us at any moment, their patience worn thin.
Looking ahead, I stared down into the darkness, weighing the feasibility of surviving a fall from this height.
A swell of familiar heat in my chest.
“Do not be afraid. You will not fall.”
That was delightfully vague. But our alternatives were exhausted.
I turned to Bastien, reaching for his hand. His fingers wrapped around mine without hesitation. His face was covered in dust, bits of plaster clinging to his locs, yet I couldn’t recall a time he looked more beautiful.
“I love you, too.”
His brow furrowed, mouth falling open to question my intent, but I gave him no other chance. Pulling him closer, I scooped his legs out from under him, backed up a few steps, then charged toward oblivion at full speed.
“Cirian!”
Heat scorched through my veins as we plummeted down, layers of the library flashing past too quickly to comprehend.
Bastien clung to me, his head tucked into the crook of my neck.
The Source’s blessing gathered, centering along my back and focused around my shoulder blades.
With a surge of searing pain, I felt the flesh of my back erupt, almost as though two hooks had found purchase within.
I cried out as these hooks pulled taut, our descent slowing abruptly, and the sound of buffeting air went quiet in my ears.
Again, that pulling sensation, and we stopped falling completely, suspended in the air by whatever machination the Source had inflicted upon my body.
Bastien pulled away from me, his eyes wide as he looked upward, something large and bright reflected in his eyes.
“How?” he breathed.
Another buffet of wind, and we bounced in the air, those hooks tugging at me once more. I followed Bastien’s gaze, seeing the edges of two cerulean-hued wings as they flapped overhead.
“The blessings continue,” I muttered, my mind overflowing with the implications.
But then shouting came from above, and we needed to move.
Allowing myself to accept the alien sensation of the wings that sprouted from my back, I pulled down swiftly, propelling us upward at an alarming speed.
By the time we’d reached the laboratory level once more, the pain of my wings had dulled, an exhilaration replacing the panic as we continued to climb towards the roof of glass that waited overhead.
“You’re not going to—”
“Cover your face.”
Exploding through a maelstrom of glass and metal, we emerged over Paradise, quickly ducking into the shadows of the night as we landed on a nearby rooftop.
I set Bastien down, shaking the remnants of window panes from my hair, and marveling at the odd sensation of my wings folding along my back.
“I can’t believe we’re alive,” Bastien said through a laugh, running a hand through his locs.
“Did you mean what you said back there?” I asked, because now that we were away from immediate danger, that was all my mind could focus on—even over the two new appendages sprouting from my back.
Bastien’s grin faded as his gaze returned to me.
“I did. I couldn’t let what was supposed to be our last few moments together be wasted without you knowing. Though now that we’ve survived, I wish that I had kept my mouth shut.”
“Do you regret telling me?”
He shook his head. “I don’t regret anything, Cirian. Not a single damn moment. Besides, you told me that you loved me, too.”
“Aye, I did do that.”
Bastien closed the distance between us, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close. “So, you can’t take it back.”
“And neither can you.”
He nodded, then leaned forward, pressing his forehead to mine. We lingered in that moment for as long as we could allow ourselves, before the sounds of the guards in the streets below shook us back to reality.
“We need to find the others,” Bastien said, releasing his hold on me and moving to the edge of the rooftop to peer over. “How on earth are we going to get down from here?”
I unfurled my wings, the edge of one clipping Bastien’s shoulder and spinning him around.
“Climb aboard, Bast.”
He rolled his eyes, a smile creeping across his face.
“Fine, but this is not going to become a regular thing. I don’t like to be carried.”
“Whatever you say.”
With Bastien secure in my arms, I stepped up on the ledge, testing the tension in my wings. So many things had changed since the last dawn, and we still had a long night ahead. But I had Bastien to cling to, and for now, that was all I needed to take the next leap.