She continued to chase them as he struggled. Shiprock grew closer, and though he could feel himself growing tired, he pushed himself to go faster. He couldn’t stop. He had to keep going.
Something rammed hard against his back, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to lose hold of Naomi. She fell a few feet before he was able to grab onto her arm, leaving her body dangling in the air.
A harsh laugh came from behind him. “You can barely fly.” Sal flew a few feet in front of him, his black wings spilling out his back, taunting Lash. “And you call yourself a seraph.”
He tried to maneuver himself away from Sal, but Sal wouldn’t let him pass.
“Pathetic.” Sal punched him in the chest. Lash buckled in pain but kept a tight grip on Naomi as he struggled to fly away from him.
Sal shot up higher into the sky and circled him like a hunter circling its prey. “Give it up, Lash. Let go of the girl, and I may just spare you.”
“Never.” He gritted his teeth as he struggled to pull Naomi up.
In one swoop, Sal caught hold of one of his wings and ripped it.
Searing white pain coursed through his body, and he screamed. His wing went limp, and he started to fall.
“Last chance, Lash,” Sal called as he spiraled down to the ground. “Save yourself and let her go.”
Lash grabbed Naomi’s other hand and tried to pull her up close to him as he continued to fall. If he could get under her, maybe he could cushion the impact with his body. Just as he was about to hit the ground, a blur of white flew through the air and took Naomi.
He fell with a loud thud. He turned over, groaning in pain. Then he looked up and saw Rachel. Gently, she placed Naomi on the ground. Bear came running up to her and whined as she licked Naomi’s face.
Rachel patted her on the head, comforting her. “She’ll be okay.”
“What are you doing?” Lash pulled himself up and pressed his hand to his rib cage. Some bones were broken. “Take her to the safe house.”
Rachel looked at him with sad eyes. “That’s not for me to do. I was told to—”
A searing pain slammed Lash’s back, and he soared ten feet through the air before crashing again to the ground. When he looked up, Sal was standing over him and was about to attack him again when a blur of white knocked Sal down.
“Take her, Lash.” Jeremy flapped his wings as he fought to keep Sal down. “Go to the top of Shiprock.”
Lash scrambled over to where Naomi lay with her head on Rachel’s lap. “Help her, please. Use your powers to help her. I don’t have enough to heal her.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t.” Rachel lifted Naomi and placed her in his arms. “Go quickly.”
Bear barked and then whined.
Lash looked at Bear and then back at Rachel. He couldn’t leave Bear any more than he could leave Naomi.
“I’ll make sure she gets home,” Rachel said. “I promise.”
With shaking hands, he unclasped the necklace from Naomi’s neck and wrapped it around Bear’s collar. He knew that when Welita saw it, she would know what it meant.
“Hurry, Lash. They’re coming!” Jeremy held Sal in a choke-hold. With a grunt, Sal freed himself and took to the skies, heading toward the dark clouds.
Lash looked to the direction Sal flew and saw the army of the fallen near. Behind him, he heard something that sounded like an army of jet engines. He turned and saw Raphael leading a swarm of angels as they flew toward the dark cloud.
“Go now!” Jeremy yelled as he took up into the skies to join Raphael.
He took Naomi into his arms and winced with each shallow breath she took. “We’re almost there, my love,” his voice quivered.
Bending his knees, he pushed off the ground into the air. Pain tore through him with every flap of his injured wing, but he willed himself to go faster as he fought through the burn. He could hear the battle behind him grow closer. He didn’t dare look back. His one focus was to get Naomi to Shiprock.
As he got closer to the mountain, a splatter of cold droplets fell onto his back. One after another they fell, until he could barely see through the sheets of rain that fell over them. His wings began to grow heavy, and he felt himself dipping down again. He gritted his teeth, pushing himself harder and further than he ever had before.
Though it felt like hours, in a few minutes he finally laid Naomi on a flat surface on the top of Shiprock. He looked around for a safe house, a cave, a hole. There was none. Whatever was meant to keep her safe was somehow gone or missing.