I stood there, completely and utterly stunned. "Angel..." I whispered. I shook my head. "That's right, it is my fault." I murmured, nodding now. Accepting it. "She's right."
"Go get her, you moron!" Iggy shouted, obviously realizing that Angel had flown away.
It snapped me out of my surprise. I nodded and lunged into the air, quickly pursuing Angel.
It didn't take long to overtake her. Her wings were tiny compared to mine, and struggled to get anywhere fast.
"Angel, I..." I said, flying directly over her.
Her wings suddenly folded in, and I swooped down to grab her before she even fell a foot. I held her close, rocking her in my arms as I swerved backward and landed again in the patch of trees. Sobs rocked her entire body, and I pressed my face against her hair.
"They're going to take me, Max." She whispered. "They're gonna take me next."
I gaped at her. "Angel, they will not take you away from me." I said sternly. "I promise."
She sniffed and nodded into my shoulder. "Okay, Max, okay." Her voice had taken on a disbelieving tone.
Iggy approached me, with Fang trailing behind him. "We might as well get going." I murmured.
Iggy looked at me, his sightless eyes filled with anger. "Yeah, sure Max. Let's forget about Gazzy."
I quickly removed Angel's finger's from their hold on my shirt, and I set her on the ground. Then I bounded forward and grabbed Iggy around the wrist just as he took off. I yanked him roughly to the ground, where he stumbled and lost his footing, falling onto his but.
"Hey! You think I don't care that everyone's disappearing? You think I don't care that I'm losing my family?" I screamed at him. "This isn't even my flock anymore!" I opened my arms to show the four of us who were left, though, of course, he couldn't see. "I know that them taking Gazzy is a huge blow to you, but it's a blow to all of us, so suck it up and keep your mouth shut!"
I whirled around, refusing to look at the bewildered look on Iggy's face.
Angel was staring at me with wide, fearful eyes. I scooped her up. "Let's go." I said, taking off. Then I remembered something. "Angel, would you rather fly by yourself?" I asked her, looking down.
She looked at me, tears starting to come back to her eyes. "No thanks." She whispered.
I heard the beat of big wings as Fang took off, then a second set of beats as Iggy followed. I took comfort in the sounds that our wings made as they moved, like multiple hearts beating alongside each other.
But there were too many hearts missing for my liking.
"Ig, I'm sorry." I said after a long period of silence.
"S'okay Max. You had a right to yell at me." Iggy responded.
Silence descended on us again as the sun appeared fully over the distant hills. But this time it was more comfortable, and it didn't crackle with tension like usual.
And right then, the four of us were one, with one goal: Getting our family back.