• Chapter 13

    I moved to where I knew he would land and held my arms out to catch him, knowing it would probably dislocate or break them. The weight of his impact knocked me on my back and force the air from my lungs. Rian rolled off of me, “Are you okay Angel?”, he asked me.

    “I’m not sure. Let me try to get up.” I tried to push myself up with my arms, but sharp pain shot through my right arm and back. “Ah damn! My arm‘s broken and my back hurts like crazy.”

    Rian pulled me up by my left hand an took a look at my back. “Looks like you’re bleeding again and I’m sure your ribs are bruised, if not broken. I’m sorry.”, he said apologetically.

    I turned to face him, “Don’t be sorry. If I wouldn’t have caught you, you’d be in pretty bad shape. By the way, what was going on up there?”

    “Before I talk to you about that, we need to get out of here before the guards start coming.” He looped his arm through mine and we started walking towards Caelum.

    We went as quickly as we could to the outskirts of Abyssus. “Now will you tell me what was going on in the cell?”

    Rian’s head dropped slightly, I could tell he was bothered by whatever had occurred, “It was my father. He yelled at me for helping you. Then I told him that I’d do anything for you because you were so important to me.”, he took in a shaky breath, “Right before he pushed me, he said that I was better to him dead than alive if I were helping you.”

    I stopped walking and put my good arm around him, bringing him into a hug. “I’m so sorry Rian.”, I felt his hot tears falling onto my shoulder, “Maybe he’ll regret what he did and welcome you back one day.”, I said, trying to give him hope, though I knew Ivan had no regretful bone in his body.

    Rian pulled away from me and I wiped his tears as he talked. “I wouldn’t go back to him, even if he did welcome me. I belong with you.”

    I gave a small smile and shook my head, “He’s still your father. I wouldn’t want you to miss an opportunity to see him. Whether he wants us together or not.”

    Suddenly I could see soldiers running towards us. I grabbed Rian’s hand and ran as fast as I could. I caught a glimpse of Rian looking back, “Oh no! Angel, if they get close enough, we’re dead.”

    “Trying to run!”, I was gasping for air because I was running so fast, which kept my sentence short.

    Rian quickly picked me up and cradled me in his arms as he ran. “I can carry you the rest of the way.”

    I looked back at the guards, they were falling farther behind. I sighed with relief, “Thanks, I guess I’m a bit slower than I thought.”

    Rian chuckled, “You’re not slow. They’re just faster.”

    Rian ran until we could see the border between the kingdoms. He put me down and flopped onto the ground, breathing heavily. “Are you alright?”, I asked him.

    “Yeah, I just need to rest here for a minute.”

    I sat down next to him and looked across the boarder to Caelum. My heart was aching with the urge to just go across right now.