Chapter 6 #2
He nodded his head at me, more a bow than anything. “I never thanked you for that. And I’m not planning to give up my wings.” I heard a soft thread of thought in my mind. Though I would, and will, if we need them to protect her. Mikhail is a Maker; he has the power to transform them.
Shut up immediately, I thought back. She might hear and she’ll cry. And then I’ll punch you right in the anaconda, got it? From the way she’d flinched, I had a feeling Feather had already heard him.
He backed up a step, covering his genitals with his hands, though he had on loose-fitting light gray sweatpants. I was glad he and Mikhail had located some clothing, as I had, though I’d been forced to use a towel as a sort of bandeau top with my own white sweats.
I didn’t mind being naked, but it felt awkward here. I wasn’t physically perfect like all of the regular inhabitants. Sabriel said we’d get taller and shinier, but for now, we were the runts. Like little kid sisters and brothers.
Feather must have picked up on my thought, since she said, “Now you know what it’s like to be short. I’ve been a runt for my whole life. All of them, in fact.” Her nose crinkled. “But if they treat you like you’re less than them, I’ll show them how much damage this shorty can do.”
“Less than? Even if they don’t act like it, I’m pretty sure they believe it, birch. They don’t mean it to be unkind, but they think of me as cute. One of them called me a little sweetheart.” She inhaled sharply in horror, and I scowled. “I know.”
Feather sat up slightly. “Can you both read their thoughts, too?”
I shook my head, while Ry answered, “Not at all. It’s annoying.”
“Wait, too?” I squinted at her. Feather just tapped her nose in our tell you later, birch sign language. Time to change the subject. “What’s wrong with these sheets?” I asked, feeling the weave as I pondered the unexpected social inequity here. “They’re rough.”
“Like Earth sheets,” Feather agreed. “I’m not going to stay here.
Sheets that suck? Idiots who think you’re cute instead of epically hot and dangerous?
Ashholes who can’t see how glorious my baby girl is?
Our baby girl,” she amended, taking my hands.
Her grip was frail, her hands trembling.
She took a shaky breath, and I could tell I wasn’t going to like what came next. “I have to go back, birch.”
“Nope, not happening.”
She smiled weakly. “So, funny story… You know my birthmark? It’s Gavriel’s.”
“No way.” I blinked, trying to process that. “He hated you.”
She snorted a little. “Wow, just say it, why don’t you? ‘Your soulmate, from like, before you were even created—’”
“I didn’t mean it like… like that,” I stammered. But I sort of did. We both stared at each other with comically wide eyes. “He didn’t know?”
“Nope. I’m guessing he knows now, though.” She rubbed her birthmark gently, and I could feel the energy flowing from it and dissipating. “Is it mean to hope it feels just like this for him? Like your soul guts are being unspooled slowly and stretched out for miles?”
I felt like I might throw up. “How are you still alive?” Fear speared me. “Is he alive?”
She smiled. “Mikhail and Righteous and the blue clouds are keeping me going for now. But it’s not working well enough. They say if Gavriel had died, I would have, too. So maybe Sanctuary is keeping him going. I guess I’ll find out.”
“But… will you be able to come back?”
She tried to answer, but fell into a coughing fit. Righteous stepped up, handing her another glass of glowing water, and filled in the details for me.
I held up a hand. “Let me get this straight. You’re planning to go alone, across the Abyss, back to Sanctuary. Through the gate somehow? And get Gavriel—”
“And Arabella,” she broke in, able to speak again. I made a mental note to drink some blue juice myself. “And Percy and Hope, too. I swear I’ll bring her here by her hair if I have to.”
I swallowed. Of course she would think of me. I grasped her hand tighter. “Don’t do that, birch. She likes her hair pulled.”
“Things I did not need to know for two hundred, Sunny,” she snarked.
I took a deep breath to keep from crying. “I have a few questions. First, how do you get out of this realm? Isn’t it a big deal, like they only send Celestial Messengers every thousand years or so?”
“Yes. I’ll have to carry a super important message.” Her eyes twinkled, and she tapped her nose again. I knew that mischievous look. It gave me hope.
“How are you going to get back into Sanctuary?”
“Pfft,” she said. “Details are for amateurs. I’ll use my Heigel Jelly powers—”
I stifled a laugh. “Birch. You’ve got to stop calling High Angeli that—it makes you sound demented.”
“She is demented,” Righteous butted in as he took the water glass back.
“Rude.” Feather pulled a face at her mate, then flipped her hair. “Anyway, then I’ll use my Heigel Jelly powers and my sparkling personality to convince the gate to open up, but…”
“But what, girl?” She had turned a weird shade of pink.
She gulped, and rushed out the next words. “But also apparently the gate is sort of my brother.”
We locked eyes in horror, then both yelled, “EWWWW!”
When we finally stopped laughing and taking back every time we’d discussed the gate’s hotness, I blurted out, “This isn’t a plan. It’s a suicide mission.” I couldn’t stop thinking of all the things that could go wrong.
She whispered back, “If I stay, it is for sure.” Before I could apologize, Mikhail walked back into the room.
“When are you going?”
“She must leave tonight.” Mikhail’s voice was lower than ever, gravelly with emotion. “They’re preparing the Celestial gate now.”
“You’re not even strong enough to stand. How are you going to sing your way back to Sanctuary?”
The twinkle in her eyes got more pronounced. “That’s the best part of this whole plan. But for it to work, I need a favor.”
“Anything,” I promised, crushing her close to me. “What can I do?” I would give her my wings if they would help her.
“I need you to babysit for the rest of the day,” she whispered. “Because apparently, merging is the best medicine they have up here. And Daddy Bear and Anaconda Pants over there are gonna play doctor with me up until the very last minute.”
For a moment, it was like the first day I’d met her.
She laughed, a mixture of sly, naughty, and wide-eyed innocence.
Joy filled the room as Ry and Mikhail joined in.
Feather seemed rejuvenated by the sound of the laughter, as if positivity alone had some sort of healing effect.
Maybe it did? Who knew how stuff worked in this realm.
As she kissed Precious and Dado goodbye, I told myself it was all going to be fine. It had to be. Because if Feather wasn’t with me, this place wouldn’t be any sort of Heaven at all.