Finding Heathcliff

Fifty-Two

"I..." Astrid muttered, feeling too confused and exhausted to explain what was on her mind, letting Azrael make the best of her nonsensical thoughts as she returned her cheek to his chest.

"You only need to rest tonight and not worry about anything. I don't know which of the fallen angels Michael will pick to accompany us, but we'll have to make our way back across Oblivis to the entrance of the pit, only angels can reach the world above directly. It will be a tiring journey."

Astrid nodded, not protesting when he lay down with her in the bed, his arms and wings never leaving her, making her feel loved and cocooned in his protective embrace. He wasn't going anywhere; that was the only thing that mattered...

She woke up alone in the bed hours later, but Azrael was at her side before she could start worrying.

"I was going to wake you up in a minute. It's time, Michael already sent Ramiel to summon everyone. I packed your bags; you only need to wash and eat."

"Won't you get changed?" she asked, eyeing his white tunic shirt and trousers. Those clothes were the most unsuitable thing to wear for a trip across Oblivis.

He chuckled as he read the thought. "Just like the wings..." he said, spreading them wide, making Astrid's memories of the previous day trickle back into her mind. She bit into one of the small cakes which he had brought to her, along with a cup of tea, banishing the flashback of the morning in the Land's End cave, when it had been Orion, who had brought her breakfast.

Azrael winced when he glimpsed that memory, wrapped in Astrid's feeling of disappointment and betrayal, but didn't comment on it; he simply continued to reply to her question, "They are magical. They'll stay forever white and pristine clean. The dress you are wearing, all the clothing belonging to fallen angels, is imbued in the same magic," he added, his seafoam eyes caressing the tight, silk and lace bodice of her black dress, making her breath hitch, scattering her previous thoughts and replacing them with images she tried, and failed, to keep to herself. She had never felt like this before, Orion had never awoken the real love and desire within her...

"I love you, Astrid," Azrael muttered, pulling away from her after a long, deep kiss, in reply to her thoughts. "We need to hurry up, though..."

"We always do," she said, pushing away from him and standing up, walking towards the bathroom.

He reached her halfway through the chamber and spun her around to face him. "I want what you want, just as much as you do," he whispered, kissing her again.

"Then why...?"

"There's no rush... There will be a better moment when all this is over... And your father trusts me, remember?" he added, raising his eyebrows at her, failing to suppress a smile at seeing her frown.

"I'm an adult, Azrael, I know what I want, and I'm not afraid of the consequences of my actions. And my father only happened to me yesterday..."

He pressed his finger to her lips. "You are a sixteen years old adult. Do you want me to tell you how old I am?"

She nodded, then gasped as his thoughts reached her mind.

"Well, you don't look your age if that's any help," she said playfully, kissing him again, then continuing on her way to the bathroom as he chuckled softly behind her.

She tried to ignore the image of Azrael never growing old while she, a part human, was destined to wither and die in the course of a few dozens of years as she prepared for the journey, but even though she managed to hide it from him, the thought never left her mind entirely.

A group of black-clad figures was already gathered in the gloomy Entry Hall of the White Tower bathed in wan, bluish light, when Astrid and Azrael arrived, holding hands. The sight of them made the fallen angels mutter and sway as they they turned to watch the couple's entrance, revealing Michael and Rigel, the two men looking different from the rest of them, in their midst.