Rocks rained down with me as I fell into the abyss. They were on fire, burning down to the ground like falling stars. A brilliant white light caught my eye, and I turned. My hair. It was rippling in the wind, shining like a beacon of light in the darkness of night. I waited for it to do something more than shine, something magical, something that would save me. After a few moments, the glow on my hair faded out, and I faded into darkness. My hair wasn’t going to do anything. It couldn’t do anything.
“Nero,” I whispered.
Leda.
“I wish we’d had the chance to finish our date.”
We will.
A blinding light, a thousand times brighter than the weak glow of my hair, flooded the expanse. The darkness melted away. Black blotches floated in the air in front of my face, suspended in time.
A winged silhouette dove down, displacing the floating rocks. Arms folded around me. I looked up into Nero’s face.
“I’ve got you, Leda.” His voice shook with naked vulnerability.
I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the searing light. He was carrying me up. Either I was already dead, or Nero had just saved my life. Based on the throbbing pain from five distinct locations across my body, I was guessing the latter.
“Oh, thank goodness,” I said. “I did not want to die down there surrounded by those vine monsters.”
“Neither did I. Want you to die,” Nero added quickly. He was uncharacteristically flustered. It was adorable.
“Yes, I figured that out when you swooped in heroically to rescue me. How did you do that trick with the rocks?”
“Telekinesis.”
“You mean inverse telekinesis,” I said.
“Inverse telekinesis?”
“Telekinesis is moving objects with your mind. Inverse telekinesis is making them stand still.”
He stared at me for a moment, then declared, “You just made that up.”
“I did not. It’s a thing. And you just did it. Case in point.”
“That’s circular logic.”
“No, it’s not. It’s very un-circular logic.”
“You can’t just assign your own names to things that already have names.”
“Of course I can.” I smirked at him. “Don’t you know me at all?”
“You’re throwing the entire world order into chaos.”
“And that’s different from what I normally do exactly how?”
“You make a valid point,” he said as we landed. Rocks littered the ground where the black ice had once been.
“What happened up here?”
“The smoke-and-stone monster broke free of my spell and knocked you over the edge. Then it floated up and turned to stone. I broke through it.”
“Wow.” I looked around at the rocks. They covered everything. Neo hadn’t just broken through; he’d broken the whole monster. “You must have hit it hard.”
“I was motivated.”
Eleven pairs of eyes were watching us.
“Where are Captain Somerset and Valiant?” I asked Nero.
“Captain Somerset carried Valiant ahead to the truck because he was passing out from the pain.”
I hoped Captain Somerset didn’t make good on Nero’s threat to tie Valiant to the roof of our truck. Sure, he had just nearly gotten us all killed, but he seemed like a nice guy. And we had the same goal. We all wanted to keep the angel-killing weapon safe.
“Nero. Maybe you should put me down,” I whispered since everyone was still staring at us.
“Why?”
“Everyone is staring at us.”
His arms held me in a protective embrace. “I’m not putting you down, Leda.”
Nero backtracked our path out of the city. The others followed, not saying a word.
“They are oddly silent,” I commented to Nero.
“Shh. I’m appreciating the silence. Usually, it’s impossible to shut them up. Especially you.”
“Hey, you should be nice to me in my frail state.”
He arched his brows. “I’m carrying you, aren’t I?”
“I thought you just wanted to cuddle.”
We passed the next few minutes in silence.
“What do you think of my two Pilgrims?” I asked Nero.
“Your Pilgrims.”
“Yes, my Pilgrims. I had them compelled for a solid two minutes.” I turned my hand to show him two fingers but dropped it, wincing from the pain.
“Try not to move,” he said. “Your injuries aren’t life-threatening, so I haven’t healed them. There’s no time for that now. We need to make getting out of here fast a priority. Before any more monsters come.”
Now that the high of surviving that fall was wearing off, the pain was returning with a vengeance. The broken ribs didn’t hurt as much as the bump I’d gotten on my head when the fog beast had tossed me onto the black ice.
“It hurts,” I admitted.
“But you’re tough.”
“You bet your ass I am.” I cracked a smile, which hurt as much as moving my hand had.
He sighed. “I told you not to move. For once, could you just follow orders?”
“Well, you know me.” I kept smiling. It hurt, but it was worth it to see the frustration—and more so, the admiration—in his eyes. He might have been annoyed with me for not listening, but he respected my strength for toughing out the pain.
“I know what you’re thinking. And what you’re feeling.”
I realized I wasn’t blocking him from my mind—and that I didn’t have the strength to do it now anyway.
“Anyone else would be screaming in agony at that pain you’re feeling,” he said, his tone reverent.
“If you can read my thoughts, then you know I’m screaming inside.”
“Yes, and I’m very impressed by your creative use of such colorful language. I’ve never heard anyone swear so well.”
I grinned through the pain. “I aim to please.”
“We both know that’s not true.”
“Ok, maybe not.” I winced. The pain was growing stronger.
“We’re almost there.” He glided along, moving so smoothly, not jostling me at all.
I rested my head on Nero’s shoulder. The two Pilgrims were walking behind us at a limping gait. Every so often, one of them stole a quick glance up at me.
“Are you all right?” I asked them over Nero’s shoulder.
“Our injuries are far less severe than our crime of acting against Colonel Windstriker’s orders,” one of them said, dipping his chin.
“We await his punishment,” said the other.
Nero looked back at him, shaking his head with slow disapproval. But he didn’t speak threats, not even to repeat his promise to tie them to the top of the trucks. All he said was, “I am in command of this mission, not Valiant. Not you.”
And it was enough. They nodded, lowering their eyes in shame.
“Wow, that was lenient,” I whispered to him.
Nero said nothing. I looked back at the Pilgrims again. They quickly averted their eyes from mine.
“What’s up with them?” I asked Nero. “Why are they afraid to look at me?”