Page 89 of Wings of Valor
A gust of wind hits my wings, causing a fierce pain to lance through my left one. I want to shout, but the pain holds my voice hostage. All I can do is crash to the ground.
I flip over, tucking my wings as best I can, but the pain is too much. When I finally stop skidding, I’m near the wall with Miraat my side, trying to figure out what’s happening. Even through the pain, I hate that she’s here.
Dad shows up next, but as I sit, I feel almost lopsided.
There’s a dark shape a short distance away, and I know instantly what it is.
My wing.
“Let me see,” Dad says, peering at my back. I don’t fight him. All I do is breathe as the pain slowly diminishes to a dull ache. His brows draw down, and he says, “Whatever Hayliel did, a part of it is still there. The wound is closed, but son, I—”
“I know,” I say, my voice far stronger than I feel. “The wing is gone for good.” I don’t know how my voice sounds so calm, but here, in the middle of this battlefield with Atlas so close, I need to keep my emotions under wrap. “It’s fine. Atlas is close. Let’s just—”
Five demons filter out through the hole in the wall. The smallest guy notices my discarded wing on the ground and laughs. “We’ve found ourselves a flightless bird!”
Then it’s utter chaos.
I stand too quickly, and the regret is immediate as my head swims. Dad is there, protecting me like not only a fierce warrior but a father protecting his young.
There are too many of them for my dad and Mira to handle alone.
Even though I’m not at full strength, I have to do something.
Yanking out my multi-weapon that Hayliel imbued for me, I launch into an attack. Every twist of my left arm tugs at my shoulder and makes me hiss, but I power through it as best I can, and for a second, I think we’re winning.
That’s when I catch sight of Mira from my periphery.
Three demons surround her. She’s standing in the middle, circling to not give one of them her back for too long.
Two of them have their angel blades drawn, but the other either doesn’t have one or has it tucked away somewhere. The two with the weapons are toying with her, and when one of them lunges forward, he barely makes it a step before he dissolves into dust.
When the ash and dust clear, Atlas stands behind him, his face filled with an emotion I’ve never seen him hold. Fear.
“Zeke! Behind you!” Dad yells, kicking my instincts into full gear. I block a swipe of claws, but the sudden movement forces an embarrassing yelp past my lips.
I will not give up.
The fight takes every ounce of my concentration, and by the time Dad and I are done fighting, so is Mira. Except she’s anything but victorious.
She’s kneeling over a body. It takes me a second to recognize who it is.
Atlas.
Immediately, I wonder if she killed her own father. Yet as bad of a man that he was, I can’t imagine her doing it. Even if she hated him. Even if she was never working with him.
Dad and I approach her slowly. He scans the ground and skies for demons while I focus on Mira—the liar and the traitor, yet I can’t quite see her that way right now.
“Mira?”
When she looks at me, I expect to find tears running down her cheeks, but her face is dry.
“He took the blade meant for me. I killed the one who did it, but the other one got away.” Her voice comes out monotone, as if she’s on autopilot.
“I’m sorry,” I say. I don’t mean that he’s dead, only that she had to witness it. It’s almost worse that he died protecting her. It blurs the lines of his wickedness and probably makes his death harder to swallow, or at least it would for me.
All she says is, “He chose his side.”
I can’t tell if she’s referring to him siding with the demons or choosing to protect her in the end, but I don’t ask. Something tells me she wouldn’t know the answer.
