Forty-One ◑ The Fall

Dimitri was cradling Lucille's head on his lap, his hair falling over his forehead, dripping wet.

There was something large on his back that casted a wide shadow in the room, and after a couple of seconds, she realized that it was a pair of wings. His wings. Shiny and folded and shadowy black, just like the rest of his clothes.

"Dimitri," she rasped. She tried raising a hand to touch his face, to make sure he was real, but there was no strength left in her body.

It didn't matter, though. Once Dimitri saw that she was awake, he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair.

Like nothing ever happened between them, like she'd never accused him of doing unspeakable things, like she'd never doubted him.

Tears formed in Lucille's eyes. "I'm sorry. Dimitri, I'm so sorry."

"Shh." He pulled away just enough to press his forehead against hers. "It's not your fault. It never was."

"But it is," she insisted. "It's all my fault."

"We'll talk about that later, okay?" he whispered, his breath hot against her lips. "For now, you have to be safe. You have to take this."

He broke free from her to extract a tiny bottle from his coat pocket, flipping open its lid and tipping it against her shaking lips. She gulped the thick black liquid, as she was much to weak to stop herself from doing so. Thankfully, it didn't taste like anything. It didn't even feel like liquid. It just passed through her mouth and into her throat, leaving a warm sensation in its wake.

"You feeling better now?" he asked tenderly, stroking the side of her face.

She tried to nod, but she ended up sobbing instead, letting out all the ache she'd been harboring since the whole thing unfolded. He just held her there, closer against him. After a while she noticed that he had a hand clasped around her damaged wrist. He'd wrapped some sort of a cloth around it, stopping the bleeding. Something about it strengthened her despair.

"Did I almost die?"

Dimitri kissed her forehead. "I won't let that happen."

"How. . . ." She trailed off, took a deep breath, and started again, "How did you know where I am?"

"Keiran had an epiphany about this." His lips tightened. "He's back at your hotel. Now let's get you out of here."

In one fluid motion, he rose to his feet while carrying her in his arms. He climbed over the window and into the tiny ledge outside. They were twelve floors up, and the wind was strong. A thin sheet of rain covered the sleek, noisy streets below.

Lucille tightened her arms around his neck, and with that, he unfurled his wings and shot into the cloudy night sky.

The droplets of water cascading from the sky immediately drenched her dress, but the warmth that enveloped her body was enough not to make her shiver. The motion of Dimitri's flight was smooth as well, making their journey above the New York skyscrapers almost peaceful.

She wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn't. Her gaze was glued on the horizon, her chest still filled with anger, guilt, and shame. As they sped past the clouds and satellite poles, fear began rearing its ugly head. She looked up at Dimitri, seeing a hint of dread as well, lurking under the mask of calm determination in his face. It was the first time she'd seen him this anxious.

And only when they approached Chateau Hotel did she find out why.

Glowing at the side of the rooftop like a blazing crown was a ring of big yellow flames, and standing in the middle of it was Keiran.

Even from this distance, his icy blond hair and his all-white ensemble was unmistakable. There was an aura of light surrounding him, and it made the gold box in his arms gleam. Lucille immediately recognized the small box as her candle's container, which meant that he was trying to protect it.

The twins, who she'd found untrustworthy before, were now sinking to mortal levels to protect her.

Rightly so, because Cade and Agnes were also on the rooftop.

The two skirted around the circle of flames, as though looking for an entry point to try and get to Keiran. The god made the fire grow whenever they got too close, but there was a certain apprehension in his movements.

He inhaled deeply and exhaled in one go. The droplets of rain froze midair. The cars below stopped. Once again he'd slowed time, but Cade and Agnes were unaffected.

Dimitri's shoulders tensed. The closer they got, the faster he flew, until he was diving right towards Cade.

To Lucille's surprise, Cade was radiating an aura of power as well.

It was considerably dimmer than Keiran's, but it was bright nonetheless. Even Agnes looked shocked. Still, it was nothing compared to Lucille's sudden flood of fear and confusion.

As though sensing this, Cade smirked, raised a dagger out of nowhere, and shot it towards her.

Something—probably Dimitri's power—made it bounce off, but the simple sight of it whizzing towards her face snapped something in her.

Perhaps it was an illusion. Perhaps it was simply Cade's magic. Nevertheless, Lucille withered against Dimitri's arms, her body as limp as jelly.

In contrast, Dimitri's body stiffened up with fury.

He darted straight towards the rooftop. Wind whooshed in Lucille's ears, bringing along a loud ringing sound. She prepared herself for a crash, but it didn't come. In an impossible speed, Dimitri set her down beside the fire as he landed, before launching himself towards Cade, his hand wrapped in black energy.

Every single cell in Lucille's body jolted in alarm, even as she collapsed on the wet ground.

Gods weren't supposed to use their powers on mortals. Yet here was Dimitri, poising for a deadly shot at Cade, who stepped back and raised an arm to block the blow.

"Don't!" Keiran yelled. "We'll be severely punished!"

Dimitri gritted his teeth, and his millisecond of hesitation allowed Cade to duck. The black aura around Dimitri's fist died, but he continued with the punch anyway and hit Cade straight on the jaw. It was strong enough to send him flying back a few feet, his back colliding against a concrete barrier.

A loud crack punctured the night air along with Agnes's scream.

"Lucille!" Keiran cautiously extended a hand over the fire, his eyes wide with fear. "Come here. Come to me."

She tried to take his hand, but she couldn't raise her arm. Black spots danced in her eyes. The ground she was sprawled on seemed to be moving in waves.

"I'll come get you," he said. "Just hold—"

"No, stay behind the fire." Lucille managed to sit up, but she was still too weak to stay consistently in that position. "If one of them touches you. . . ."

She didn't need to continue. The grim look on Keiran's face was enough for her to conclude that he understood. He was the God of Fate, the most powerful and the most vulnerable. It would only take one touch of him to take control of his powers.

Dimitri seemed to be thinking this, because he was driving Agnes and Cade back, away from Keiran and Lucille.

His eyes had turned pure black, and the shadowy feathers of his wings were now as sharp as blades.

Cade got up with Agnes's help, his lips pulled back in a snarl.

He summoned another dagger from thin air and threw it at Dimitri, who shot into the air just in time to avoid it. To retaliate, the god flapped his wings, and a shower of wickedly sharp feathers rained down. Cade sped out of the way, nearly rolling straight into the fire, but he managed to avoid the torrent of blades.

Agnes was not so lucky. Two long blades punctured her in the shoulder, making her cry out in pain.

Cade saw this, scowled, and tackled Dimitri as soon as he landed. Both of them staggered close to the fire, but didn't fall on the ground. Dimitri stayed upright, but he was still wrestling with Cade, who was taking advantage of the fact that Dimitri was holding back. Still, even with restraint, Dimitri was able to slowly push Cade down on his knees.

And while the god was occupied, Agnes removed one of the blades from her shoulders and tried to stab Dimitri's back with it.

However, before the blade could impale Dimitri, Keiran bursted out from behind his ring of fire and pulled his brother out of the way.

The force of his uncalculated pull caused Dimitri to fall back and out of the way, safe. But before Keiran could slip back into his protective circle where he couldn't be harmed, Cade took the god by the arm and dragged him right from behind the fire.

One touch, full control.

Cade smiled, knowing full well what he'd just done. He tried to swipe at the candle's box in Keiran's arm, but the god held it close to his chest as he struggled to get away.

However, he didn't manage to break free from Cade's grip.

A flash of blinding light erupted from Keiran's skin, blasting into the air like a geyser. Then, the glow began to seep into Cade as though he was a black hole vacuuming the remaining life out of a dying star.

One touch, and the god would be powerless.

A scream rose in Lucille's throat. Adrenaline shot in her veins and gave her enough of a boost to jump to her feet and interfere. She leapt straight for Cade's hand and yanked it off Keiran's. The candle's box tumbled out of his arms, breaking off the transfer of power.

But just as she succeeded, Cade snatched the box, grabbed her by the back of her dress, and sent her over the ledge, down from the side of the rooftop.