Wings of the Wicked - By Courtney Allison Moulton Page 0,126

Grim, hidden from mortal sight, and the four of us ran toward the front door, down the rickety porch, and into the shadows between dilapidated houses. The whole world seemed to have a layer of gloss over it from the misty sleet, the pavement like mirrors beneath our feet. Horns honked in heavy traffic a few streets away, and the tall buildings of the city could be seen in the distance over the tops of the trees. Between two houses, Will stopped and turned to me. Ava and Marcus spread their wings and lifted into the sky.

“We’re going to have to fly now,” he said. “It’s the quickest way to escape, and they won’t be able to track us.”

I was breathless from running, but I nodded. He touched my hair as he gazed down at me, his shoulders easing with relief.

“God, I thought I’d lost you,” he breathed, his eyes darting back and forth between mine. “I thought I’d be too late to save you.”

I shook my head. “Will, I—”

Before I could finish what I’d wanted to say, his lips pressed against mine fiercely, his hands holding my hips and pulling me closer to him. I threw my arms around his neck and let myself fall into him, dropping my guard for just an instant to feel reprieve from the violence I’d endured.

“William,” said the dark, familiar voice behind us.

We sprang apart, only to find that Bastian had caught up to us. Will tore away from me with a cry of anger, his sword filling his hand.

Bastian raised his palms, his expression soft. “I’m not here to fight.”

“I will not surrender her to you,” Will snarled, pointing his blade to Bastian. “I will not yield this night, not ever!”

“I know, my son,” Bastian said. “But the part of you that is demonic yearns for this. You are going against your very nature, against your own kind. Deny it all you want, but I will only offer one more time. Join me, and I will spare your life. Hers, though, I cannot. She can undo everything we’ve worked for.”

Will let out a furious, impatient growl. “No! I will not hand her over to die so you can destroy the world!”

“William, you’re making a terrible mistake.”

“No!” Will shouted, raising his blade higher to Bastian’s throat, but I could see that he was shaking. “This is no mistake! You are the one who is mistaken and misguided. I cannot throw away five centuries like that. I cannot throw away my life like that! I will not sentence her and the rest of the world to death for anything!”

A figure in dark clothes landed and folded his silver birch–colored wings behind his back. Cadan’s arrival sent a tremor of shock through my entire body. His wings were bat wings again, to enable him to fly better in the drizzly rain. He stared at me first for what felt like a heartbreaking eternity, and then he looked painfully to Bastian.

Bastian snarled at him. “I told you to—”

“I can’t,” Cadan said, cutting him off with a quiet voice. “I can’t let you do this. This has to stop, and if I’m the one to do it, then so be it.”

Bastian’s face lit up with shock. “You’re turning against me? Was it you who killed Ivar?”

“Yes,” Cadan replied, lifting his chin defiantly. “You’re wrong about this world, about what it has to offer. The humans—”

“The humans are already destroying this world!” Bastian roared. “They are weak, flighty creatures. They don’t deserve to rule this world. They don’t deserve to spread their plague to Heaven! Not if we can’t have it.”

Cadan shook his head. “Humans are inherently good. You and I—we don’t belong here, or anywhere. We weren’t meant to be, and the humans, not us, were meant to go to Heaven. You can’t destroy seven billion souls just because you envy them!”

Bastian’s reaction was volcanic. He vanished and reappeared in Cadan’s face, his fist tight around Cadan’s throat, and he slammed Cadan’s back into the side of a house, shattering the weathered wooden panels. Will threw an arm over me, shielding me. He knew now that Bastian was his father, but neither he nor Cadan knew that they were half-brothers. I opened my mouth, wishing I could say something, but it wasn’t my place. Now wasn’t the time. It would have only made things worse.

“How dare you?” Bastian rasped. “How dare you accuse me of feeling something so vile?”

Cadan swallowed hard. “Because that is all that you