Silver

Chapter 50

We flew higher and higher until I could've sworn we broke through Earth's atmosphere with a resounding boom that echoed around Grey, Michael and I. The air was incredibly thin, so thin that I knew human lungs would've given out by now. Following the boom, the dark blue sky around us had immediately become entirely saturated in a grey cloud that swirled and curled like waves on the ocean. It was beyond freezing cold, and I felt myself subconsciously tapping into my soul's power to keep my body warm. I struggled to keep Michael and Grey in my line of sight, as the clouds would swirl out behind them with every beat of their wings, hiding them from view.

The higher we went, the colder it got and the brighter the clouds became. The clouds slowly turned from a misty grey not dissimilar from the ones in Washington, to an annoyingly bright white comparable to the shade of Michael's wings. I couldn't see any sunlight anywhere, so I wondered how these clouds were so bright. Normally, I'd associate white clouds with warmth and a nice sunny day, but it was so cold I had to keep tapping into more and more of my soul's power to keep from losing feeling in my fingers and toes.

"Grey!" I called out after losing sight of Grey for what seemed like the hundredth time since we'd began flying.

Silence.

"Grey!" I called out again.

Nothing. Not even an echo.

Shit. Now I'd lost them.

I continued pressing in the same direction as I'd been flying, but directions were nearly impossible given that there was no ground, no landmarks, no wind, no sound- I was flying through a swirling white mass of clouds and everything looked exactly the same. Was I flying in circles?

My wings ached as I pushed them harder, the skin on my face burning against the ice cold air. I could feel my eyes tearing up against the fierce wind, blurring my vision a little.

"Grey!" I called out again in frustration.

"-eene!" I heard a faint whisper of a yell from above me.

That was all the encouragement I needed. With a powerful push, I soared up in the direction of Grey's voice, ignoring the searing pain on my skin and in my wings. The clouds somehow got even brighter, the air somehow even colder- but I pressed on. He couldn't be that far.

"Grey!" I yelled again, my voice getting raspy from the temperature.

Nothing. Again. Shit.

A searing pain erupted in my shoulder as a wall of steel nailed into my side, sending us both flying. Arms wrapped around me, however, and I realized it wasn't a wall. It was just Grey.

I looked up at him, his normally cerulean eyes now glowing a fluorescent blue. He looked positively unreal. I don't think I'd ever seen him look this angelic. His skin practically glowed in the light of the clouds, his lips remaining a perfect nude pink. His eyelashes fluttered as he gazed down at me, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes appearing more like starlight than ever before.

"Wow," I breathed out, unable to stop myself.

"Wow yourself," Grey replied in the same breathless tone.

"You look-," I began, but found myself unable to say the right words.

"Angelic?" He raised an eyebrow slowly as his wings beat down against the clouds below us, carrying us both higher.

"Why do you look-," I began again, but couldn't even finish my sentence I was so dumbfounded.

"We're close to Heaven, love. Our souls are at the surface because this is where our human forms can not exist on the surface. Our human forms are lies, masks to keep mankind from recognizing us. Lies don't exist in heaven. So, Angels appear as our true Angelic form up here," Grey explained.