Astrid stirred when the first sounds from the outside reached them-- their companions, having slept much longer than Astrid and Azrael, were up and ready for the next part of their journey soon after sunrise.

They would reach Oblivis tonight... Azrael shuddered at the thought of bringing Astrid there, but, yet again, he didn't have a choice.

Oblivis was for fallen angels what Hell was for demons-- a place of punishment. But there was no avoiding it if he was to take her to Michael. The archangel refused to set foot in Eurovea or anywhere else on Earth.

Feeling her hand on his cheek, Azrael realised that she was awake, finding her blue eyes watching him curiously when he looked at her.

The girl took his breath away; perceiving her thoughts entirely free of any sort of repulsion or remorse in his proximity was stunning. She let herself be guided by her heart, like the angels. How could the demon Arcturus believe that she was his brother's daughter...

"Are you thinking... about my uncle?" she asked, frowning, scattering his thoughts.

"And many other things," he admitted. "I should be more careful. The angel in you is awaking, soon you'll read my thoughts as well as I read yours."

"Hopefully." She smiled. "It's so unfair when you do it."

"You can block me," he said, bemused by the myriad of thoughts rushing through her mind.

"What am I thinking about now?" she challenged, and he could feel the faintest resistance as he dived into her mind again; she was beginning to learn.

"This," he pressed his lips to hers, following the thought he knew she didn't want him to see, unable to resist teasing her.

She gasped, and he knew that he surprised her. He steeled himself to pull away from her and never do it again, when her arms wrapped around him as if she couldn't prevent them and he, instead of pulling away deepened the kiss, getting lost in her closeness, feeling her getting lost in him.

"Ramiel, I can't find Azrael," Rigel's voice reached them from the insignificance reigning beyond the thin walls of the tent, making Astrid pull away from him, blushing, as their reality flooded her mind again. But not even now did she run from him. She simply hid her face in his chest, breathing him in, as he tightened his hold around her, his fingers playing with her hair.

"Your scent, Azrael, it's how I imagine the burning incense in the ancient churches smelled once," she muttered.

"It's the scent of my wings. I fell from Heaven, through this pit, into Oblivis. The fall took seven days. My wings burned, feather by feather, while I fell."

Astrid gasped and wrapped her arms around him again, wishing she could delete the memory of the pain that she could perceive in his thoughts.

Azrael. I know you are inside. We better move on so we find a suitable place to spend the night. You know Oblivis as well as I do, keeping our human friends safe will be a challenge, Ramiel's thoughts reached Azrael's mind, and as on cue, Astrid shuddered, getting a glimpse of them.

"Oblivis isn't a safe place but we will do anything to protect you," Azrael said encouragingly, kissed her on her forehead then removed her arms gently from around him, exiting the tent and leaving her alone while she dressed and packed.

"Did you sleep with the girl again? And does she finally know? And she is happy about it?" Ramiel attacked him with the whispered statements worded like questions, but Azrael was sure that his friend had already picked his answers from Astrid's thoughts.

He knew how irresistible her thoughts were, but he didn't like to share them with Ramiel or anyone else.

"The girl is learning fast, Ramiel, but until I teach her to shield her thoughts, would you please not read them?" Azrael demanded, keeping his voice as low as Ramiel's.

"She is learning?" Ramiel asked, looking surprised. "Half angels like her have some of our powers, but shielding their thoughts isn't one of them."

"Yes. Her angel side is incredibly strong, and now that she is removed from the demons and their influence, her powers are growing. I'd give anything to know who her real parents were and why she was brought up in Arcturus' castle as his niece, and if he suspects anything... Does Arcturus know that she is a changling, and is that why he doesn't want her to take the throne?" Azrael mused, making Ramiel fall silent as he considered his words.

"Our queenie is a mystery," he muttered finally. "So, do we fly them from here?"

"As long as they both agree."

"Rigel is excited about flying, I'm sure she'll like it too."

"What will she like?" Astrid asked, exiting the tent.

"Ramiel thinks that you will like flying the rest of the way. If we fly, we will reach Oblivis tonight."

Azrael could feel her breath quicken as she imagined jumping into the pit, the image connecting with the memory of what he had told her about his fall. She was scared, just like she used to be scared of the outdoors when her uncle sent her on this mission, unprepared, pushing her out of the walls of the castle that had been her entire world for so long.

I'll carry you, he sent his thought to her, there will be no danger.

She swallowed her unease before she nodded, and Azrael rushed to her, enveloping her in an embrace he knew she was yearning for, staggered by her trust in him, by the depth of her feelings.

You are losing your mind, Ramiel thought, disturbing his moment of pure bliss as he rocked her in his arms gently, inhaling her unique scent, committing every detail about her to memory. You'll lose her the moment we reach the White Tower. It will break your heart, watching from above, seeing her move on eventually with someone else...

Don't. Think. Azrael warned and felt Ramiel move away from them, leaving them alone.

"Are you ready?" he asked, pulling away from her, pushing a few strands of her golden hair, looking amber in the insufficient light reaching them from the bottom of the pit, behind her ears.

"Yes," she replied, her voice so low that it was barely audible.

"Rigel!" Azrael called, and the boy was at his heels immediately. "You and Astrid need to eat, go. Ramiel and I will take care of the tents and luggage.

"Come on, Astrid," Rigel said, and she forced herself to step away from Azrael, following Rigel to the place where the fire burned the previous night.

"Don't they eat?" Astrid asked Rigel as she nibbled on a biscuit half heartedly. She wasn't hungry at all.

"They don't eat or drink as often as we do." Rigel smiled, his eyes following Ramiel.

So she wasn't the only one who was smitten by an angel... But she was the only one who shouldn't be, not when she still hadn't come to terms with Orion's death. She couldn't believe that she would never see him again; it felt as if he went back home without her, and she would find him in the castle once she returned from this journey.

He should have done that, he should have listened to her when she told him to go back without her from Vega.

She took a deep breath and blinked away a couple of tears, her hand closing around Orion's ring which she had removed from her finger, and had tied it around her neck on a piece of string. Orion had never made her feel like Azrael, but she didn't want him to be dead...

"Are you all right, Astrid?" Rigel asked, and she pushed the ring deep under her clothes as she replied, "I wish I could have some of your father's coffee."

It was his turn to inhale deeply as he replied, "My parents are with the LandEnders now. Your uncle sent his men to arrest them when they lost us in Vega, where they followed us. Jophiel and some other angels helped my parents escape. But they killed one of the regent's men, there will be war..."

"War..." Astrid repeated, and even though that possibility crossed her mind before, it was as vague and incredible as Orion's death. Everything in this pit felt like a dream. Only her feelings for Azrael felt real, painfully so, when she recalled that he would be removed from her life soon.

Alarmed by the grief and despair he perceived in Astrid's thoughts, Azrael rushed towards them, looking reprovingly at Rigel.

"There will be time to think about these things later. Let's take this all one step at the time. Tonight we will reach Oblivis and we have to be careful there, to avoid danger. Once that we'll arrive at the White Tower and talk to Michael, we will think about what to do next."

Astrid nodded, smiling at him thankfully for making her stop torturing herself with things she could not solve, at least momentarily.

"Let's go then," she said, brushing a few crumbs off her fingers, wishing she had a cleaner dress to wear and a bath to wash tonight.

Her thoughts made Azrael chuckle. "None of that until we reach the White Tower."

"I'll learn to block you," she promised as he lifted her in his arms, making her breath hitch and her heart race.

"I'm sure you will," he said, turning around to make sure that Ramiel and Rigel were ready before he jumped into the pit.