Feathers That Protect - Aurora Kryan (books that read to you txt) 📗

do you really love me?”

His eyes did it again changing making me lose my thoughts. He stood up inches from me, wings limp behind him. Then he fully understood my expression and his face fell looking so wounded. I was beginning to really hate myself. I looked at his hazel eyes so sorrowful.

“I know you don’t have to tell me Cory it’s just that.” I clenched my fist I didn’t want to hurt him.

“Cory, I don’t think its right before all this I never felt this way and now I do it seems like it’s because you’re an angel. Like I can only love part of you not all of you. It seems wrong.”

“Jasmine that’s not true.”

“How do you know?”

He smiled wide lighting up his whole face. I yawned again,

stupid sleep,

we had such important things to talk about without it interrupting at the worst times. He brushed back a loose strand of my blond hair. I wanted him to tell me things still about him and the whole angel thing. But first.

“How do you know Cory? Are you sure I don’t just love the angel you and not my Cory part.”

“Yes I’m sure God wouldn’t have let me go on a pointless quest away from the army at the most crucial point of the war if he wasn’t sure. So you know I am and you just called me your Cory.”

“I-”

I had just called him my Cory? I turned really red covering my mouth for whatever reason.

I said that out loud! Wait I call him that in my head? I didn’t even notice that!

He laughed for the first time since this whole thing started and I couldn’t help but smile at him. I always loved that laughed even in middle school when we first met.

I must like him all of him.

My Cory, the human part well I guess he was never human. So my Cory is an angel, a gothic hottie angel, my gothic hottie angel. I gave in and grabbed his hand which took him by surprise.

“How long is this end of the world thing going to last because I want to try.”

He was torn between a smile and a frown which made his face look disfigured somehow. He sighed and laced his fingers through mine looking off at the TV while he did it.

“Five days. The first day the Holy army goes to earth and destroys it with their light and blocks out the sun to make it very cold and dark. The second day is a day of destruction a global earthquake will cause the continents to move inward with wave one, wave two is fire different angels will burn cities and towns.”He stopped.

I had gasped and started shaking he wrapped a silken wing around me pulling me just a little bit closer to him. He squeezed my hand and mouthed the word sorry. I shook my head no reason he should be sorry he wasn’t doing any of this and I had asked.

“Please I want to know maybe we can save some people.”

“I can’t that’s the thing. An angel who has succeeded from one of the Armageddon armies can only protect the ones he has asked to not others. You are the only one I’m here for and can be here for Jasmine.”

“Oh.” Was all I could manage to say.

Shivers went down my spine,

Armageddon armies that meant more than one, how many more?

Cory felt me shiver and pulled me to the bed sitting me next to him. He was so much warmer than a blanket and his wing was so soft silk wasn’t even close to how soft some of his feathers were. I let him wrap it around me this time and lightly ran my hand over the feathers.

“Continue.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah we have to survive it I want to know what we’re in for.” I said sighing.

“Day three the Holy army returns but only the first division” He paused for a moment, “Um my division and we unleash hell hounds on the humans, Jasmine?”

I had stopped stroking his feathers and was looking at him his face looked agonized. I put my hand on his face again. This time he closed his eye leaning into it smiling and laughing quietly for some reason

had I missed a joke?

He whispered something I didn’t understand. Something about ‘angels on earth that run away from wars find real angels in flesh without wings that face down wars.’ But I was sure I had misheard him.

“And day five the earth will flood killing what humans remain. But some will survive and for the ones that do life will be better.”

“Better nothing will be left nothing but water.”
“No the water will recede and there will be one land mass again as it first was and the world will start anew.”

I yawned again. I needed to sleep and sleep well I had a feeling it was going to be hard to do soon. I yawned again bigger this time. I shook my head to fight it off but kept my eyes closed. Bad idea. I rested my head on Cory’s shoulder more exhausted then I thought and pulled his wing again to wrap around me. He said ow making me jump and fly forward off the bed landing; you guessed it, on the ground. Of course it would have helped if I would have let Cory’s hand go so he didn’t fallow me through the air.

He landed on top of me despite having wings. His face was so close to mine I could feel his breath coming in fast short pants against my own. I thought he was going to kiss me but then the house shook and the mirror that was hanging on the wall fell breaking into pieces.

Chairs toppled over and the house groaned and creaked before splitting in two. I screamed as a rafter fell down from the ceiling heading for my face. I was still under Cory so he scooped me up and rolled to the left bracing his back against the bed just as the rafted slammed into the floor where we had been.

I started shaking scared that I had come that close to being killed. Cory sat me on the bed while he grabbed a back pack from across the room barely dogging another rafter. He threw me the pack telling me to put it on while he looked around for something else. Cory seemed calm enough and I figure why wouldn’t he be I mean he was in the Holey army and all.

He knew what was going to happen. It gave me confidence to get myself under control if Cory could stay calm so can I. My shaking slowly stopped till it was a little twitch in my arm by the till Cory came running back with a rifle.

“Let’s go my house isn’t strong enough for a quake and the fires will start soon to. I didn’t know it was this late I’m sorry I thought you could get some sleep.” He smiled apologetically at me.

Then he looked at my tired face and my twitching arm his face looked sad. I absent mindedly put one hand on his face and shook my head.

“It’s ok I don’t think anyone’s getting much sleep.”

The side of his lips twitched in a smile. The house shook again throwing us off balance well throwing me off. Turns out angel wings not only help you fly and with good looks they give you good balance too. The pack Cory gave me was heavy and it pulled me back making me fall sideways toward the broken chairs.

From the corner of my eye I saw one of the chair legs broken off to a sharp point headed right for my abdomen. I yelped and closed my eyes as I tipped passed the point of no return.

“Jasmine!”

And then I stopped falling and a warm firm pressure held my waist. I opened my eyes and Cory was there next to me looking worried. I gave him a half smile that said I was sorry. He returned it. The house shook again making his expression change from one of worry to one of determination.

He never let go of my waist as he maneuvered us both through the falling house and out into the cold night air. Once we were out of the house he loosened his grip on my waist. I felt really tired all of a sudden and my legs fell out from under me.

“Jasmine are you ok?”

“Yeah I’ll be ok don’t worry Cory.”

He sprawled out on the ground next to me looking up to the night sky for a minute. The ground rumbled again protesting as it moved and shifted. I watched as Cory’s chest rose and fell, he was upset. He closed his eyes and turned his face away from me.

Whispering to me, groaning in frustration he said, “I’m trying to save you and what almost happens? Impalement by my own chair not death by something Armageddon related. I’m a horrible angel.”

“Don’t be silly I’m alive aren’t I.”

He wanted to protest I suspected, it was how he was, why he was silly. But he was surprised by how close I was again. I had moved closer to him and then leaned over top of him so I could look him in the face. His hazel eyes blinked and changed from surprised to loving and adoring. The earth shook again making my arms shake, or was it from the look he gave me? I pushed away from him then feeling my face heat up.

“Your being silly Cory. You’re doing just fine I’m still alive that’s all that matters.”

“Your right.”

He sat up behind me as the earth rumbled again and began to crack I looked back at him. He was already off the ground looking around for something. He held his hand out to me once I got up and I took it. I thought he would lead me somewhere else but instead he pulled me to him and picked me up. Smiling wide he spread his black wings and took off to the air.

I made a weird sound mixed between a scream and a laugh as he took off. It was so exiting to fly and so scary at the same time I wasn’t ready for it. The first part of the flight I had my face buried in his chest afraid of how high he was afraid I might get sick. He finally told me to look but I shook my head no.

He laughed and said it was ok it’s safe. I meekly pulled my face from his chest and looked down on the world. He wasn’t as high as I thought he’d be but it was still high enough that the fields and houses reminded me of Google maps. I smiled and laughed as geese flew by us protesting at Cory when he deliberately flew closer to any of them.

“You’re beautiful.” He said in my ear.

“Cory it’s the end of the world how can you think of such things.”

I mumbled through his chest I’m sure I was beat red. The fact that my