Steel

Chapter 44

I splayed my wings out to either side of me, catching the air and holding myself steady in the sky. My gaze immediately fell to Siena and Lucifer, gut curling in concern when I saw Siena's frightened expression. She blocked every swing of Lucifer's sword with her own, dodged his razor sharp wings when he would slice them across her- but I could see the exhaustion wearing down on her. She'd been able to keep up this far, but her soul's power was waning. She wasn't made to fight against Lucifer. This wasn't her destiny, and yet she had thrown that notion to the wind to protect me.

I raced over to where they fought against the overcast sky, flashes of Lucifer's green light erupting across the clouds like an opaque lightning. Every flash seemed to disorient her more and more, and I felt my wings straining against the wind as I fought to get closer to them. How they had managed to get so far away from the sinking ship in so little time, I had no idea.

Another flash of brilliant green light and a scream echoed across the sky. Furious flames of my soul's power ignited within my veins as I watched Siena fall from the sky, a dark wide gash on the inside of her wing. Her other wing frantically flapped against the swirling wind as she fell towards the earth hundreds of feet below, spiraling faster and faster. My gaze drifted up to Lucifer, to his growing grin as he shot down after her, shimmering blade aimed at her torso.

No.

I let my soul loose once more, hurdling towards her spiraling frame as she plummeted towards the earth. She would not die for me. Not today, not ever.

I watched as the edges around my vision began to grow fuzzy with a white light, water and wind tearing at my skin as I pushed faster towards her. With a final push of my wings, I crashed into her body just before she hit the ground, wrapping my wings tightly around her to shield her from the impact.

My feet slammed into the ground, the cement crumbling like sand beneath Siena and I's weight. I felt the shockwave erupt out from us the moment Lucifer's blade hit the outside of my wing. A blinding flash of light at the impact sent me reeling, my vision completely gone for a few moments while I continued to shield Siena from Lucifer.

Then, there was silence. A deafening, ringing silence.

The faint sound of small rocks raining on the ground around us, the crash of waves against the nearby shore, slowly began to crescendo in my ears. I opened my eyes once more, allowing myself to focus on the details of the feathers on my wings, still held tightly around Siena and I like a cage. I looked to my side at her. She was barely conscious. I could tell she had lost a lot of blood.

"Jo-," she began, her eyelids barely fluttering open before closing tightly again. "Jo- you're glowing."

I glanced down at my body. She was right. Every single vein in my body was alight with a brilliant blue light, pulsing brighter with every thump of my heart. Even my wings, now that I could see clearly, had blue light bleeding through each individual feather. I could feel the power inside me like a wildfire, raging and free from its cage at last.

"I can't- Sie I need you to run. I know you can't fly, and I don't know how far you'll be able to make it, but you need to get as far away from Lucifer and I as possible," I instructed. Her bronze eyes widened in protest, and I shook my head.

"He's going to kill you," she whispered out. I fought back the burning sensation that curled like a viper in the back of my throat.

"Run away and find Grey. Tell him I love him, and I'm sorry. I will do everything I can to stay alive," I pushed, staring down at her intently until I saw the hardness in her eyes dissipate. She shut her eyes tightly, tears streaming down her ash covered cheeks.