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A soft and delicate harmony of various string instruments fills the church as the double doors open, and the personification of the instrumental music in human form walks in slowly. One step at a time.

One light pat on the back from Dad before he backs off reaches me as Rafa stops. I offer an arm and a nod, walking alongside her to the altar.

Everything else that comes after is a blur. Or my mind lingers in the white noise filtering my view of the world. Nothing about this is inherently wrong, but this just isn't what I want either.

"Asael?" Rafa's soft voice snaps me out of my robotic trance. I look at her, and I feel so much worse for her than before. She's not the person I love. I don't want her to force herself to love me, nor do I want to force myself to love her.

I don't want to marry her.

But I've already decided to go along with all this. I'm already here. I can't back down anymore.

The priest in front of us clears his throat, catching my attention. He smiles at me and whispers, "The vows."

"Oh, right..." I take the mic from him slowly and meet Rafa's gaze again.

Then I glance at the crowd. Mom watches us with a smile, nodding lightly at me for encouragement, while Dad's rigid expression remains the same as it often is. Remi has a grin on her face, her eyes sparkling. Docker and my colleagues at work stay at the farther seats, with neutral faces.

Aside from them, the rest of my relatives, Dad's business associates, and other guests mix in a blur of curiosity, wonder, and judgment. I'm pretty sure judgment is the most present one from everyone. But before I can search every face, Rafa's hand touches mine.

I purse my lips and smile at her, the basic vows I memorized earlier forming in my head. But something else intrudes my mind.

Lucifer. I don't see him. Is he farther back? Did he alter his appearance again? Is he outside? Is he in danger? Where is he?

I breathe in. "I, Asael Uriah, take thee, Raphaela Gessel, to be my-"

My grip on the mic loosens at the impact of a mighty wind slamming to my sides. The speakers echo, hurting my ears. I ground my legs on the floor, careful not to lose balance at the sudden grumble of the earth. What in the world?

Alongside the blurring ringing of the sound systems on the speakers are screams from the crowd. An earthquake persists. Equipment, furniture, and tapestries flutter about the entire church. Gaping wind invades the place, slamming everything in varying directions.

"Guards!"

Dad?

"Asael!"

Rafa, whose veil flies somewhere and is carried by the air, reaches out to me. I jump and catch her wrists, pulling her to me as I barely land on the side of the altar, where the priest tightly holds onto.

"Asalie!" From the crowd runs my sister, effectively avoiding the flying objects coming her way.

I reach out one arm to grab onto her. She floats above and twists around the air. My eyes widen, and something rushes in my veins at her panic-stricken face. Only when I reach a part of her sleeves does my pounding heart calm a bit.

"I got you." I pull her with all my strength to me.

"Asalie!" Remi gets close and wraps her arms around me, tears evident in the corner of her eyes.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" I ask, lowering us to the ground and pulling her behind the podium where Rafa is.

"T-they're fine!" Remi cups my shoulders and looks straight into my eyes. "More importantly, you need to get out of here!"

Me? Not us?

I shake my head and peek, gripping tightly on the side of the podium. "What about Docker and Anderson? My colleagues? E-everyone-"

Remi pulls me back behind the podium. "They'll be fine! Dad called the guards, and they're escorting everyone they can to the backdoors."

"But-"

"Asael!" Remi hisses. "Everything will be fine!"

We stare at one another, our clothes and hair in a flapping mess across the space and our faces. Her eyes speak so much concern and panic, but that doesn't ease my worries.

"What's going on, Remi?" I ask.

She shakes her head and shrugs. "I-I don't know!"

I think I do.

Remi holds Rafa's arm and mine. "There's an exit right there by the side- Asalie?"

I yank my arm off her and narrow my eyes. "You two go on ahead."

"What?" she yells. "No!"

There are still a lot of people flying about, and some guards are trying to help out. I don't see my colleagues or my parents around anymore. They may have gotten away already. Hopefully.

Despite the hazy winds reverberating across the place, seemingly coming from outside the church's main doors, one of Dad's business partners manages to exit there. A bulb lights up in my head.

I face Remi and Rafa. "Mr. Xavier just went through the front doors."

"What?"

"I have to follow him."

"No!" Remi grabs onto my coat, her voice hoarse from all the shouting. "He'll be fine! Please!"

"No, Remi." I shake my head and smile at her. "I have to make sure he's alright. You understand, right?"

"Don't go!" Remi's voice cracks, tears threatening to leave the corner of her blue eyes. "Asael!"

"Asael..." Rafa gazes at me with almost as much worry and panic as Remi.

She holds onto Remi and soon, two of my colleagues find them and the priest. I nod at them as they rush out, relief coming to me as my sister is brought away from harm.

I shield my face with one arm and sprint across the church. I hold onto some of the flying objects to avoid some of the people. As hard as this wind hits and prevents me from fully opening my eyes, I ought to use it to my advantage to get closer to the front. I have to.

Lucifer is right there outside. I know it. This is his doing. It has to be.

And he's in danger.

I grab onto one of the double doors of the church, step out, and rest my back against it. Another powerful surge of sharp wind throws the heavy doors close, forcing me outside and hopefully preventing more of it from invading the inside.

The contradicting air directions slam me more against the hardwood. With an arm over my face, I force my eyes open. The consistent wind is making it hard, but as a golden-brown-haired man gets thrown to the bushes near me, my eyes widen.

Gray smoke hinders his appearance, and when it clears out, his cream suit is filled with dirt and ashes from crushed stone. Not only are his clothes deformed out of their bright color, but also the two giant props sticking behind him. Wings.

An angel.

From above, the winds grow sharper and closer. My entire body is pushed to the side of a pillar. I hold onto it and peek.

Blinding lights strike my eyes. My hold on the pillar tightens as more of the ground quakes and the winds become erratic. Soon, the light dies down, and the winds swirl softly, almost like the exhaust fumes of someone's breath.

A foreign voice speaks, "Lucifer-"

Swift shifts of the air twirl to a single area. Unfamiliar ashen and burnt flecks of sparks make up the build of supposed wings behind Lucifer's shattering human disguise. He holds onto an unconscious and injured familiar man—Mr. Xavier—as the winds swirl around them.

"Try me, and this human shall receive it," he snarls almost weakly. Breathy.

"You beast." The angel glares, backing off slowly.

Lucifer keeps his hold on Mr. Xavier as a circular wind surrounds him, and with one bend of his leg, he disappears.

The angel eyes the spot where Lucifer once was, and then his wings flap and carry him in the air.

I shake my head and race to the side where the parking area is. I don't know where Lucifer went, but he couldn't have gotten far.

He has to be here somewhere. Even if not, I'll find him.

Plenty of vehicles are parked, easily making this an excellent hiding spot. I press the car keys Mom gifted me for my and Rafa's ride after the wedding, and a silver car with white flowers on the hood farthest from the entryway blinks. As it does, something behind it scrapes the gravel.

My heart pounds as I make a beeline for it. And there he is, leaning against the car with a heavy breath, his hostage flopped on the ground next to him.

"Lucifer." I bend to his level, and a mixed bag of emotions flutter in my system.

On closer inspection, his skin is glaring red—burned. Some blistered, and plenty cut through his flesh and muscle tissues. Deep, charred patches of black and brown cover the leathery result of the burn, while the more recent ones are still softly hissing. Blood traces his limbs. From his head, his neck—God, he's burnt and bleeding from almost everywhere. His human disguise is completely shattered, and the clothes I lent him are tattered. How did this happen?

"Lucifer," I call urgently. His unresponsiveness is killing me. "Lucifer?"

His body is barely moving. I purse my lips and put my hand in front of his mouth. Okay, he's breathing. It's faint, but it's good enough. He's just unconscious.

I take my coat off and pull it as hard as I can to rip it off into pieces. Tough, but nothing I haven't done before.

Once done, I roll off each piece around the still bleeding areas and major burns on Lucifer's body. His neck area, upper arm, legs—God, his bare abdomen, too. I gulp and click my tongue. The ones by his stomach and chest are too large to cover. I don't have enough fabric, and his burns are swelling. There's too much damage.

I look over Mr. Xavier and check his pulse. Thankfully, he's only scraped and unconscious and nothing else.

Low echoes rumble beneath my feet. Fast and hurried ones, too. Fudge.

I open the car door. With a huff, I carefully place my arms behind Lucifer's shoulders and knees and carry him to the backseat. I cringe at his low grunts. Definitely from the touch on his injuries. Sliding Mr. Xavier's arm around me, I lift him and sit him on the passenger's seat before running to the driver's seat.

This should work. I can work this out. Just keep calm.

The engine roars to life, and once I reach the entryway, as I suspected, two of Dad's guards and panicked guests approach. I lower the passenger's side window, revealing Mr. Xavier to them.

"Mr. Xavier and Mr. Asael!" one of the guards shouts.

"I'll take him first," I say, my tone ringing urgent even as I eye them. "Is anyone else in need of immediate care?"

"How about you?" the other guard asks.

"I'm fine."

"You have blood!"

My mouth opens, and I look at my white undershirt stained with red. They may have been from when I tended to Lucifer and carried him close to me.

I shake my head. "It's nothing. Prioritize the wounded. Then follow suit immediately."

"But-"

"Zach, Thomas." I squint at the two guards. "Doctor's orders."

Before they can say more, I drive past them with two destinations in mind: the hospital to drop off Mr. Xavier and gather some materials and a farther one where I can hide Lucifer for a while.

On the road, I purse my lips as I steal a glance at the man in the passenger's seat.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Xavier," I mutter.

I brought Lucifer out here. Out where humans are. This is the only way I can take care of this. For everyone's safety.

For Lucifer's safety.

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