Avi Marie's Arc

Chapter 19 of 30

Avi Marie rode from the cathedral with the wrapped stone against her chest. Horns still called behind her. Wings beat somewhere in the pale light above. Azrael flew beside her, silent, watching the object in her arms more than the sky. She had seen that look before. It was the look of a man who wanted a thing for himself. They reached a broken shrine at the edge of the cloud. A crumbled stone archangel stood there, cracked and gray, one hand raised with a crystal-topped scepter. The same kind that had trapped the guardians. Avi Marie pulled the horse up. She needed a moment to think, to hide, to breathe. "Give it to me," Azrael said. She turned. His hand was out. His face was flat. "You can't carry it and fight," he said. "I can move faster alone. I know these heights." "You've wanted this stone from the start," she said. "Before you ever helped me." "I have." He did not soften it. "I watched it hollow someone I loved. I've hunted it for years. Now it's here." The horns grew louder. Shapes gathered in the light above, angels with drawn blades. Avi Marie held the stone tighter. If Azrael took it and flew, she would face them alone, with no proof and no way down. He knew it. He was choosing his moment. "Take it and run," she said. "That's what you're deciding." He stepped closer. His wings tensed. For a breath she was sure he would strike her wrist, snatch the cloth, and vanish into the clouds. She braced to lose everything. Then his eyes moved past her, to the crumbled archangel and its crystal scepter. He stopped. "That crystal holds enemies," he said. "Like the one below." He looked at the angels massing overhead. "You can't outfly them. But you can trap them, the way you trapped the guardians." He reached out. Avi Marie did not move. His hand closed on the scepter, not on the stone. He wrenched it free of the statue's grip. It glowed in his fist. "Ride," he said. "I'll hold the crystal at the pass. When they follow, I bind them. You keep the stone." She stared at him. "Why?" "Because the stone means nothing hidden." His voice went hard and low. "They killed him to bury the truth. I want it dug up more than I want the stone in my hands." He turned toward the coming angels. "That's all. Go." Avi Marie kicked the horse forward. Behind her, Azrael raised the glowing scepter. The first angels dove, and light flared as crystal caught them mid-air. She did not look back again. She had feared he would abandon her for the prize. Instead he chose her cause over his own. The stone stayed in her arms, and the road above stayed open. But the higher angels knew her face now, and they were done sending servants.