Page 84 of Even Angels fall
His shirt is torn open, and I see the wound caused by my dagger closing right before my eyes, his tattoos intact under the blood still drying on his skin.
My dagger clatters to the ground, and the silence stretches between us.
I don’t really know what to say after my last words. It’s like my brain became fuzzy as soon as the words left my mouth.
Elhyor releases my hands and brings them to the sides of my face. Softly, he cups my cheeks and looks me in the eye.
He still hasn’t uttered a word since he tried to push me to kill him, and I don’t know what he’s thinking.
“Say something,” I beg him in a small voice.
I’m broken, and maybe I just need him to find all the pieces and get me back to being whole.
“We’ll find a solution,” he says after taking a deep breath, and I want to believe him, but the tears won’t stop.
“Together,” he adds as he bends to get our foreheads into contact. I close my eyes, leaving my tears to slide freely over my cheeks.
He takes another breath and kisses my right eyelid. “Whatever comes at us, we’ll face it together.” He kisses my left eyelid. “As husband and wife.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “We’re stronger together.”
He helps me tip my chin up, with his hands still softly cupping my face, and kisses my lips. It’s barely a whisper over my lips, but I feel it deep inside of me. It only lasts an instant and then he’s looking at me like I’m his world. I don’t think he realizes how unguarded he is in this instant, but I do, and I’m going to keep the image in my mind like a secret picture I shouldn’t have. I lick my bottom lip and I can taste him there, mixed with the salt of my tears.
He releases my face and slowly wraps me in his arms. It’s the first time I’ve gotten to be so close to him. I can’t really count the first time I tried to kill him and the two kisses we exchanged yesterday. For the former, I was so pumped with adrenaline that I didn’t have time to think about what I was doing, and for the latter, the feeling of his mouth on mine was the only thing I could focus on. But this is nice. This is warm and comforting. This is soothing, and as Elhyor strokes my head, I feel myself relaxing and my tears dry up.
I don’t need words anymore. I just need the strength of Elhyor’s arms around me.
As if he could bring my broken pieces together just by holding me.
This is a weird feeling, but not an unwelcome one.
It seems to shake my ideas back to where they’re supposed to be, too, and something hits me.
“We need to evacuate Notre Dame,” I say, my face still plastered against Elhyor’s chest, and he smells so good, despite the blood that has pooled on his shirt. I don’t even want to know how I smell. I’m still wearing my wedding dress. I haven’t showered since the morning before, and my makeup is probably a mess. Thank god I don’t have to worry about my hair.
“Why would you say that, Little Devil?” Elhyor asks as he kisses my forehead before tipping my face to look at him once again.
“Because of something Michaël said. I didn’t make the connection when he talked to you, but he told me something bad would happen if I didn’t kill you,” I say.
“So, this was what you were trying to do again?” Elhyor asks with a chuckle.
I hit his arm, but there’s no heat in the punch and we both know it.
“Shh. Listen. He told you that even Alexandria burned to the ground, didn’t he?” I ask him.
His only answer is a nod and his eyebrows raising. I think he knows where I’m going.
“He told me that I don’t want to know what he has planned for the day after if I don’t manage to kill you on the first day. I think he plans to burn Notre Dame to the ground.”
”He can try. It wouldn’t be the first time someone has tried, for sure, and it’s still here.” He tells me.
“You don’t understand, Elhyor. He has the means to do it.Libérationmight want to rebel against the power the archangels put in place, but other humans aren’t much compared to what’s happening in Versailles. Michaël has been working with humans for decades. Knowing him, he has everything he needs to destroyNotre Dame, and if we’re all still here when it happens, we will burn with her.”
54
Angélique
”How long do we have?” Elhyor asks me without letting me go from his embrace.
“Probably until noon today for Léandre and noon tomorrow to avoid Notre Dame’s destruction,” I say, after thinking for a little while.
