Because somehow I knew if I did not keep my eyes on Miles, he would slip through my fingers like sand, and I didn’t want to lose him.
Not again.
I looked up at him as he rubbed his thumbs over my cheeks, his gaze holding mine.
His eyes were so full of hope.
Stupid, daring hope.
“I’ve been trying to reach you, Mercy.I?—”
“Get your hands off of her,” Endor’s voice cut through the haze, and I froze.
Panic formed as I realized they had indeed found us.
My grip on Miles tightened as I turned to face them.
Endor didn’t look all that thrilled, but Valory looked...lost.Sad, even.
“Over my dead body,” Miles said, his demeanor shifting.He pushed me behind him.
Endor’s fist flared with energy.
I guessed his Go-Juice was back on tap.
“That can be arranged,” he said, but it was Valory who stepped forth.
“Stowe your power, Endor.This...this soul is lost, too.”
Miles growled at me.“Stay back, baby.”
And I realized he didn’t know what they were.Their wings were sheathed.
“No, don’t hurt them.They’re?—”
Miles’s gaze and form flickered like a bad Korean ghost movie.
Like an avatar.
“Miles...don’t...you can’t?—”
“Endor!”Valory bit, and then the glow overcame her.Her wings popped out and Endor growled, his wings unfurling almost instantly as he stepped forward toward her.
Valory stepped in front of us.“He is lost!”
“I am no such thing!”Miles said.“I am not lost.I am?—”
I watched him flicker and understood all at once the weight of their words, and the awful truth.
“No, he is not, Valory.He is...”
The heat built and so did the sweat.I recognized the oncoming vision, and I cursed.
“No...No...Not now...not like this...”
“Mercy...”Miles’s voice shook, and I grabbed his arm.
“Please, stop...”I told him, trying to gain control of my words.The energy rolled like a tidal wave inside of me, trying to take me under.
