Free Lucy, Fallen by Yolanda Olson Page B

responded.
    “I’ll go,” Hadrian said. He gave Arissa a loving, sweet kiss, before disappearing into the city ruins with Micah.
    “Then I’ll go gather the faction, Lord Deveraux. I’ll return with a strong group, I swear it,” she said.
    “I trust that Arissa,” he responded.
    Nodding she took a deep breath and dove into the sulphur springs that no longer held the blessings of our ritual and disappeared.
    “What do we do now?” Dev asked.
    “Wait.”

Seventeen
    A rissa returned through the springs with a strong group of devils. Male and female equally and they looked like they were ready for a war. While we waited for Micah and Hadrian to return, Deveraux explained to them that there were angels on the way that were not to be harmed and were our allies. He also told them the good news of our eternal union. While the news of the angels made them uneasy, the news of our union made them all seem a bit happier about the situation. Micah and Hadrian returned a few moments later with angels from my realm. I was so happy that I ran to them and they all surrounded me happily shouting happily that I was still alive. Their combined rejoicing was enough to finish fixing the holes in my wings. It was when I stepped back and they saw them though that they faltered. Micah said he had explained everything to them and that Hadrian backed up the story. The angels accepted that their Sovereign was now joined with a devil, but the color of my wings still shocked them.
    “We’ll have to carry them,” Zahara said looking at the devils.
    Isaiah walked over to Deveraux and looked at him before lifting him to see if they would be able to handle the weight. I was obviously the only one of us strong enough to carry Hadrian, so by testing Dev it would give them an idea. He used his wings to lift them both off the ground and glided around the island with him a few times then brought him back.
    “It’s doable. Everyone pair up with a devil,” he said.
    “Wait,” I said as they began to group together.
    Everyone looked at me expectantly.
    “If this gets to be too much to bear I want you to leave,” I said to the devils. “And if it gets to dangerous, I want you to leave as well,” I said to my angels.
    “Agreed,” came the mumbles.
    I knew the devils were too proud to leave, and the angels were too angry to have been chased out of the Above to retreat without reclaiming it.
    “You have to promise the same thing,” Dev said looking at me gravely.
    I nodded but I refused to look at him. He probably knew I was lying already but looking at him so that he could see my lie would break me down and I’d confess it to him. Dev narrowed his eyes at me and went over to Hadrian and pulled him aside. I tried to listen to what they were saying but they were speaking in the language of devils, and that was something I could never hope to understand. Hadrian nodded and Deveraux squeezed his shoulder in thanks.
    Then we paired up. The female angels carried the male devils, and the male angels took the female devils. Micah had Dev and he stayed close to me and Hadrian as we ascended reminiscent of what a hurricane would like. Only instead of trees, leaves, and rain, we were two forbidden sides working together to save the life of a little girl.
    After we broke through the stratosphere, I tightened my grip on Hadrian because the first heaven we passed through would be the heaven of judgment. I only hoped that the angels would be able to mask the devils well enough to get them through, if not then this entire strategy would go to hell.
    We set our devils down.
    “We have to climb on your backs to get through those gates,” Isaiah said. “Our wings will act as yours and we will be as giants walking through. That’s the only way.”
    The devils all looked at one another before taking their angels on their backs and gripping them tightly. I climbed on Hadrian’s back, secretly worried that my wings wouldn’t do anything to save him. I felt