Grey

Chapter 21

I never should've trusted Grey. He pulled me off a cliff with him. I was going to die this time, wasn't I?

Bracing for impact, I shut my eyes tightly, balling my fists against Grey's chest as if he were some sort of lifeline. I could've sworn I'd heard Grey chuckle.

He was absolutely insane. A certifiable lunatic.

And then- his arm tightened around my waist, jerking me upwards with a force that knocked the air out of my lungs yet again. His arm was absolutely rigid, like an iron bar tight across my chest, positively inhuman. I could feel that we were spinning, but I refused to open my eyes until I felt the wind stop beating against my cheeks.

"You can open your eyes now, Greene," I felt Grey's warm breath fan my cheek and my eyes fluttered open. The world swirled into focus, my equilibrium clearly off-balance.

Grey's charcoal wings were unfurled, huge and magnificent, every now and then beating to keep us steady. They were positively enormous, stretching out at least 10 feet in either direction. There was no way I'd get used to seeing those, the way they stretched out from his shoulder blades. There was no way I'd understand how he kept them hidden, how he could go from this to appearing somewhat human.

Grey must've noticed me staring because there was a satisfied smirk plastered on his lips. I averted my gaze quickly, opting to look around. We floated several feet above the clouds, and they drifted below us like a grey sea, churning in waves and curling over the tops of the trees. It was almost close enough to touch.

I looked up behind Grey at the massive cliff we had soared down. It jutted out of the Earth like a massive wall, towering over us.

"You okay?" Grey asked, eyeing me and tightening his arm around my waist. I pressed my lips together and nodded, unsure of how exactly to respond to that. My heart was still pounding loudly in my chest. Being yanked down the side of a cliff tends to do that to you.

But it was exhilarating. It was insane. And where we floated now, just barely above the sea of clouds, it was breathtaking.

I still didn't understand how any of that was Hell, besides maybe the risk of death, but I kind of enjoyed it- in a weird, adrenaline-junkie sort of way.

"You're probably wondering how jumping off a cliff is experiencing Hell, aren't you?" He hummed, his eyes alight in that blue fire I found so mesmerizing. I needed to snap out of this. But it was so hard- with my heart still pounding, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, the absolute unreal thing I was experiencing right now. Not to mention how dangerously beautiful Grey looked, with his hair all disheveled and that wild look in his eyes- I was drowning.

So, unable to form a coherent sentence, I nodded.

"Heaven is run by a strict set of rules. For one, no human is allowed to see our wings. Which I've obviously broken," he smirked, a faint smile breaking out on my lips before I had a chance to stop it. "Second, we aren't allowed to make a human fear for their life, which I just did," he explained, tilting his head slightly to the side. Goosebumps erupted across the surface of my skin as he trailed a slow finger up my arm. "And third-," he whispered, his eyes glued to mine, "-we aren't allowed to touch humans."

"Why not?" I somehow managed to breathe out. Grey chuckled as if he noticed the difficulty I had found in speaking.

"Angels find it addictive, and so do humans. We like how it feels to touch something so raw and unfiltered. Humans like how it feels to touch something so pure and powerful. Angelic souls and human souls are like two extremes, and when they touch-" Grey smirked at the frown that formed on my lips as he took his hand away,"- they're at a sort of equilibrium."

"Why does Heaven keep angels and humans from interacting then? I mean a peaceful equilibrium sounds like the kind of thing Heaven is all about," I replied.

"Because the moment an angel falls in love, they can't prioritize God's work above all else," Grey explained and I frowned. "Falling in love goes against an angel's entire reason for existence."

So that was it. Grey could never care for me. As he said, it went against his entire reason for existence. He could never feel for me the way a small part of me wanted him to. He could never be the person I wanted him to be. I couldn't let myself feel anything for him. It was no longer for the sake of my pride, but because those feelings would be unrequited. They always would be.

"What are you thinking?" Grey asked lowly, his eyes searching mine as if they'd give away the answer. I couldn't tell him. That wasn't an option.

"What do you have planned next?" I asked, changing the subject. It appeared to have worked, as Grey's eyes lit up again.

"Hold on tight," he winked, his grip on my waist tightening. With a huge gust of wind, which I realized afterward had come from his wings, we soared upwards, back towards the top of the mountain from which we had fallen. When his feet touched the gravel, he slowed to a gradual jog before lowering me to the ground. I felt uncomfortable now. I didn't like how I felt around Grey now. I was upset because he could never care for me, but also mad at myself for wanting to ask him to turn against his entire reason for existence- just for the sake of whatever it is I felt for him.

"You can't go where we're headed looking like that," his eyes wandered up my body and I scoffed. I don't know if I should take offense to that or not.

"Where are we headed?" I asked, hoping that for whatever was next, he wouldn't keep it a secret.

"Out," he smirked devilishly, a lock of his black hair falling across his forehead as if on cue. I frowned slightly at his lack of elaboration but got in the passenger seat anyway.

The drive back was uneventful. We hardly talked, and a sort of awkward silence hung in the air, as if we both wanted to say something, but neither one knew how. Once we dropped below treeline, it had started to rain, and it now fell in sheets against the windshield. I'm not exactly sure how Grey managed to maneuver a car like his through the downpour, let alone the fact that you could hardly see. But he was an angel. Of course, he could do it.

I was wrong to have thought that Grey cared about me. I was wrong to think I was anything but a personal agenda. He was hired to recruit my soul. Nothing else. Tomorrow, we'd go back to his brutal training routine, and none of this would matter. I'm sure there were two completely separate things going through each of our minds at that moment. He was probably satisfied with himself, thinking I had enjoyed the day living on the dark side. He was probably wondering when I would pledge my soul to Hell, probably proud of himself for changing my ways.

And then there was me. I hadn't enjoyed the day because it was Hell's way of life. I had enjoyed the day because I had spent it with him. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid- this feeling of crushed spirit that I knew accompanied Grey. I should've tried harder not to fall for him.

But here I was.

Falling for Grey as he broke my heart.