A minute passed, maybe two. Apollyon groaned and then screamed in frustration. I was trapped, but still alive.
Something was wrong. Could he not kill me?
I stared at Apollyon, falling to my knees, and was shocked to see beads of sweat running down his face. A black rope flew from his hand and wrapped around my neck, but then a purple spark shot from me, and it fell away.
Finally, Apollyon dropped one hand and the pressure eased but didn’t leave. I was still rooted to the spot, and he shook his head. “I knew having two of you was a mistake.” He nodded as if confirming something to himself. “Sometimes our backup plans become burdens. Now I’ll need to get her too. I see that now.”
What the what? Was he getting dementia or something. Two of what?
I tried to move but it was like walking through quicksand. His other hand came up, and again that agonizing pressure enveloped me. “Oh no. I’m not letting you go. I’ll get your sister and bring her here and then finish you both off,” he sneered.
Sister. He said…sister.
My brain was still processing his words when the room exploded with golden light. One second I was looking at Apollyon, locked in some invisible vise, and then the next Aurum appeared before me and everything fell away. No more pressure. I could finally move.
“Run!” Aurum bellowed, and I was so relieved to see him I nearly burst into tears.
Without wasting any time, I ran and leapt out of the window, watching as Apollyon’s face contorted from disappointment to rage. A black whip shot from his hand, reaching for me, but Aurum’s golden light filled the entire tower, and then I was falling.
I had to believe Aurum wouldn’t have beamed down here if he couldn’t handle himself. So I envisioned the beautiful blue sky above Lumen Academy and pushed my power beneath me, opening a portal in midair. My wings snapped out of my back, but then one of Apollyon’s black ropes wrapped around one and I fluttered as I fell. A sharp pain laced up my shoulder and then there was a snap.
I screamed, rolling over in the sky, peering down at the portal I’d made. I could see the green lawn of Lumen Compound; a few guards were clustered around my mom. It was all from a bird’s eye viewpoint, and I realized I’d opened a portal in the sky. No time to fix that.
Reaching behind me, I hacked the black whip with my light blade and Apollyon’s bellow resounded through the sky.
With one useless wing, I fell through the portal like a stone and sealed it shut immediately behind me. I flapped madly with my good wing to slow my descent, but it did nothing but make me spin in the air.
Looking up, the guards on the ground shouted, and I did the only thing I could think of. I braced for impact.
The ground came up to meet me and I collided with it. My forehead slammed against the ground, and everything went black.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Icame to and immediately remembered everything.
“Mom…” I moaned, pushing through the fogginess and peeling my eyelids open. Drea’s face swam into view, then Gage’s, then the rest of the Angel Gang, including Indigo.
I nearly sobbed in relief at the sight of them all safe and sound. I was in a recovery room at the healing center.
“My mom…?” I said again.
Drea put her hand on mine, smiling. “Alive. Healthy, and with your gran in the next room.”
I sat up and hissed at the pain in my shoulder and head.
“Wing fracture,” Drea told me, “that turned into a dislocated shoulder. Even though your wings are made of smoke, they still carry an energy that’s connected to your physical form. It will take some time to fully heal.”
Gage leaned down and kissed my cheek. “You did it,” he whispered. “You saved her.”
It hadn’t really hit me until that moment that he was right. I did save my mom from almost two decades of imprisonment in the Netherworld. I couldn’t help the smile that graced my face then.
“We did it. All of us,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear.
They all looked tired and battle weary but were wearing matching grins.
“Help me see her?” I asked Gage.
He nodded, holding out an arm. With my right hand pinned to my chest by a shoulder sling, I took his outstretched arm with my other one as I got to my feet and started to slowly shuffle out of the room.
