ANGEL WINGS

Seven

Seven

The wind on Jordan's burning back was a much appreciated relief. But he knew it would soon end. The twenty nine others falling around him were screaming or passed out. But Jordan was already feeling the effects of the Darkness. He was too numb to feel afraid.

When he landed in the same city he had ascended from, he rose to his feet, brushed himself off and sought out Jade. If anyone could help him, it would be her. She was the First to Fall. No one knew the emotional pain of the Tearing like she did.

First he searched the lecture hall where she attended her classes, but she was absent. So he walked the thirty minutes to her apartment and knocked on her door. The look on Jade's face when she answered the door was enough to bring a smile to Jordan's face and a lightening to his heart.

"Jordan," She exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"I have to tell you something, Jade. Something big." He confessed.

"Come in." She offered, "I'd say take a seat, but there are none."

Jordan smiled and dropped to the carpeted floor. Jade slowly sat beside him and took his hand in her own. "What's wrong?"

"I'm an angel." He admitted, though he was sure that she already knew that, "I was assigned to this city to observe you and make sure that you never recovered from the Darkness. But I-" He cut himself off. He had been about to say he'd fallen for her. And he had, in more than the romantic sense. "I made a mistake and now...Now I've had my Tearing." He finished.

Jade gasped and lifted Jordan's shirt at the back, revealing his scars where his ethereal wings had once been.

~**~

Jade stared at Jordan's back in disbelief. Her scars looked exactly like that. And the brand in the lower right corner of his back...She knew who'd done it, even before she asked the question. "Who assigned you to watch me?" She asked.

"Jade, please. Don't make me tell you."

"Tell me."

"Jade..."

"Just-"

"Please-"

"Tell me who did this to you!"

"It was your father!" Jordan yelled, startling Jade. "He told me to ensure that you never knew happiness again and when I messed up, he tore the wings from my back like they were paper."

He dropped his head into his hands and sighed. Jade rubbed circles on his back, a sting in her heart and a plan in her mind. For the first time since she fell, she had a purpose. For the first time since she'd arrived on earth, she knew what she wanted and she was determined to get it.

"Jordan, how many others fell with you?" She inquired.

"Twenty nine others. Why, Jade?" He replied, lifting his head and staring at her with questioning eyes.

"I have an idea, but I need the help of the other Torn. That includes you. I need you more than anyone else, Jordan." She admitted.

"I think I'm going to need you too from now on, Jade." He confessed, making Jade's spirits soar and her heart warm.

UPDATE - Aug 3, 2015

This book is in the Watty Awards, so please vote! I love you all and it literally only takes a second!