Wingless ~Book Two of Winged~

Diner

"I can't get the bullet out... I think it broke apart once it pierced my skin. It's radiating angelic grace." He breaths then picks up a knife, pulling the gauze away. I cringe at the hole in his side and all the blood. The waitress walks by setting down Dominic's glass of water before continuing to a table of a middle aged couple. Dominic hesitates before sticking the knife into the bullet wound. Blood pours out as he cringes and jerks forward slightly. Etheriel stares as Dominic grabs a bunch of napkins and wipes at the blood with one hand and moving around the knife with the other. He gives up on the knife and drops it into his glass of water. He then digs his two fingers into the wound.

"Come on..." he mumbles with a pained expression. He pulls his fingers out of the hole holding a very small piece of metal. A drop of blood drips onto the booth from his hand, right next to me. He drops the fragment into the way and grabs a bunch more napkins and pressing it against the gushing hole.

"Aren't you glad you don't die from blood loss?" Etheriel asks with a small smile on his face. Dominic lets out a pained laugh.

"Yeah." He pulls the napkins away and digs his fingers back into the wound. Etheriel stares at me as I cringe again when he twists his fingers around.

"Shouldn't that heal?" Etheriel asks with slight mockery in his voice.

Dominic shakes his head. "You already know why," He laughs again, "it won't heal until all the fragments are out." He mumbles. The waitress comes back carrying our food. She sets down the plates in front of us and when she leans back, her eyes scan the table, landing on Dominic water glass, tented red with the knife and bullet fragment in it.

"W-What happened to your water?" Her voice becomes a few pitches higher. "Are you okay, sir?" Dominic pulls out another fragment and holds it up to look at before dropping it into his water. The waitress's mouth is a gap and Dominic slowly looks at her before laughing slightly.

"I'm fine." He reaches out with his cleaner hand and lightly touches her wrist. "Just go back to work." He smiles and her cheeks start to turn pink and she becomes flustered before rushing off. Once she is gone, Dominic's pained expression returns and he flinches as he digs his fingers back in. I stare at Dominic. Can he do that because he is the prince of lust? Did he do that to me at all? Etheriel examines my face before looking at Dominic searching for more fragments.

"I can't get the rest." He starts sounding frustrated as he grabs more napkins and clears away blood.

"So how did you get into that altercation with those angels and demons?" Etheriel asks.

"Well... When you told me that you guys were heading to Denver," He takes a shaky breath in pain, "I was scouting the area when three angels decided to attack. In the midst of fighting them, two demons showed up and started trying to kill me and the angels. The two demons called for backup and two more showed up... with guns. I managed to kill them, but not without taking a couple bullets." He takes a loud shaky breath as he removed his fingers from the wound and wipes his fingers with more napkins.

"You were shot more than once?" I question and scan his body for more blood.

"I got the other bullet out, fully intact." He responds. There are a bunch of his blood napkins next to me and I realize that I have unintentionally pressed myself against the wall. He grabs some more napkins and dips his fingers in the water before wiping off more blood. He grabs more napkins and presses them against the still bleeding wound then lowers his shirt. He taps his fingers, trying to take his mind off the pain, while looking at our food.

"Not going to eat?" he asks and Etheriel looks down at his food, picking up his fork.

"I'm not hungry anymore." All that blood made me lose my appetite. Dominic makes an 'hm' sound and slides my plate to in front of him. He picks up a piece of bacon and takes a bite. I glance at the bloody napkins and Dominic notices, moving and touching the napkins. They become engulfed in purple flames. I move away from the flames and they die out leaving only a little ash. Dominic pushes the ash onto the floor and the flames didn't even burn the booth.