Finding Heathcliff

Twenty

When he saw her, all alone, standing between the silent crowd and the roaring fire, he couldn't believe his eyes.

What was the girl doing here?!

The night when he had laid eyes on her last, more than a year ago, he had promised to himself to never seek her again, never think of her-- it was her fault that he couldn't kill demons any longer, her fault that he would never get his wings back now...

Why was she here??? She knew nothing about the world beyond the walls of the castle where she had been raised like that rose under the glass dome in that book she used to read-- cared for, spoiled by the comforts the regent's court basked in, overly protected, sheltered from truths and knowledge. Perfectly unprepared for the reality of her own country.

If anyone knew how dangerous sending her into the world was, it was the abominable Regent Arcturus... What was the man's game? This little princess wasn't like her uncle, it was incredible that the man even claimed to be related to her-- the girl wasn't a pure demon like the regent, or part-human like his courtiers, nobles and servants. She was clearly of angel origin, and yet, it would seem, not angel enough for the angels to accept her as one of their own.

She belonged nowhere in this world.

Just like him...

No. No, she wasn't like him. He had taken his own choice by failing to kill this halfling. She had seemed to be such a perfect target until she wasn't. He had stayed around her too long.

Now, he was paying consequences for his own choices, choices she had never been offered. How had she ended up in the demon Arcturus' care? How was she really related to him? Her angel side was so much stronger than her demon part, if she had any...

He hadn't had much time to read her mind before she fainted, but from what he had glimpsed, he understood that she hadn't changed much, she was still as pure, honest, openhearted and loving as when he saw her last, too kind and gentle for her own good.

An open book.

He smiled wistfully at the thought, missing those weeks he had spent in the castle around her. She had always been so easy to read, such a pleasure to contemplate. If only she was like one of the girls they rescued from the flames, a human of angel origin... But no, she had to be a halfling, a descendant of demons as well as angels.

Killing her would bring someone their wings back much faster than killing regular demons, halflings like her were rare, they shouldn't even exist... He couldn't kill her, but it was only a question of time before another fallen angel would. Now that she was out of that castle, she was easy prey.

He was one of the very few of those who were skilled enough to attempt to kill her within the castle without making it look like angel work and risking a new war. But out here, no one could protect her. If the word spread that the demon queenie had left Arcturus' untouchable fortress, she would be dead the next Black Night.

Looking at the girl's peaceful face, eyes closed, the corners of her lips still turned up into a faint smile, he realised that he couldn't let that happen.

I missed you, I think... That's what she had told him out of all the things imaginable, the words as surprising as that wink she had given him at the ball an eternity ago. The wink that had saved her life, just like these words, made him her protector against his will, a guard against his kin.

As he pushed a few golden curls from her face, frowning at the torn men's clothes she was wearing, her bleeding lip, the images he had managed to suppress for so long, flooded his mind. Meeting this girl daily in the library of her castle, the joy on her face whenever she saw his doves, the feeling that she could see him, too, unlike anyone else, and how she finally confirmed it with that wink that saved her at the last moment.

Pressing her small, cold hand tighter to his cheek, he recalled the few lines they had exchanged on the balcony where she had followed him, trembling with fear, breaking all the rules and taboos encaging her since she was born.

He recalled the great hunger for truths and knowledge filling her sky-blue irises, the disappointment spreading over her face when he jumped off the balcony, running away from her, without offering any.

He hadn't treated her nicely.

But it was her fault that he would never get his wings back, her fault that he banished himself to Oblivis forever, instead of trying to get back to Heaven, only hers... That's what he needed to remember.

"Azrael! Hurry or someone will notice our presence; the girl's entourage is furious."

Dropping Astrid's hand, Azrael frowned at Ramiel, who hovered above them, the girl rescued from the flames unconscious in his arms. He followed his friend's look towards the crowd, staring at the girl who would appear to them floating above the fire, all alone in the air. None of these people could neither see nor hear the two fallen angels, just like the demons pushing their way through the mass of stunned, silent bodies to reclaim their princess-- Azrael could see her fiancé's bright, extravagant hat sailing above the people's heads.

Someone should kill him...

Groaning inwardly, he laid Astrid gently on the ground and took flight, staring into Orion's worried face defiantly, regretting that the demon could not see him. But making himself visible now was out of the question; it would have to wait for their next meeting if they ever met again. The next Black Night was only a little over a week away. Maybe one of Azrael's friends would free the angel girl from this demon then... In moments like these, he really regretted having allowed the girl to get so deeply under his skin and learning to look at the demons surrounding her through her eyes. They were not all the same; there was good, deep down, in some of them.

Sighing, he looked at Astrid again. Why did he have to meet her, why did he have to fall...

"Azrael!"

Ramiel's voice disturbed his reverie again, and he finally turned his back on Astrid, Orion, and the crowd and followed the other fallen angel.

"Let's hide her," Azrael said, nodding to the girl in his friend's arms. Whatever injuries she might have suffered were healed, Ramiel took care of her before he made her fall asleep, using his magic.

Ramiel sighed, the sound nearly lost in the susurrus of the wind as they soared above the village, their black cloaks billowing around them like wings. "We will find a safe place for her to stay somewhere beyond Vega, as we did for the others. But Azrael, this persecution of humans of angel descent has been going on for too long. We can't save them all, it must stop."

Azrael nodded, too lost in his thoughts to talk, absently observing his friend who wrapped the girl in his cloak, rendering her invisible to all human and demon eyes.

"What about the other one, Azrael, did she see us? How?"

When Azrael said nothing, Ramiel tried again, "Who is she? You seemed to know each other..."

"I don't want to talk about her," Azrael said, adding on a groan when he felt Ramiel probing his thoughts, "Don't. I mean it."

"All right, I meant no offence. I was just curious... You spent too much time in Oblivis to know that Arcturus' little demon princess has grown up. She is sixteen now, and rumour has it that she has been sent on a trial according to their tradition."

"And...?" Azrael glared at him.

Ramiel gave him a gauging, sideways look, "And I just thought it might be her, seeing the regent's guard rushing after her. It's so tempting, so, so tempting... getting the wings back by killing just one more..."

Azrael closed his eyes, summoning patience. He knew that even those fallen angels who had stopped participating in the Black Nights a long time ago would be tempted by her. There was no point in getting angry with Ramiel. He could only lie now and try to keep her alive as long as he could.

"You are right, I didn't know that. It wasn't her, though, just a girl I'd met before. She didn't see you, I revealed myself to her for a moment, but she won't remember."

Ramiel nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer for the time being, and they continued on their way, flying south, in silence.