Soaring over the mountains….high over the mountains was more fun that Daemon would have thought, once the terror had left him and Jaenelle stopped joking about dropping him. If Jaenelle could do this with the Twilight's Dawn, he could certainly learn to fly as well. One more thing on his list of things to do!

As the eight of them congregated on a steep ridge, Daemon could see that, while Azazeal was being his cordial self, he was still a bit testy and Cassie was not enamored with him today. Whatever had been said between the two of them after Azazeal's short speech about females always hurting males, was not good. Normally, Daemon wouldn't have made a point of interfering but he did know more that he wanted to about the female species and his talk with Jaenelle had him feeling very capable.

Daemon worked his way over to Azazeal, who had already been abandoned by the irritated Cassie. As the other talked amongst themselves, he approached him and asked, "Do those come in any other colors?" indicating his feathery wings.

Azazeal looked at him as if he were interrupting something very important even though he had only been staring out over the mountain range with his back towards everyone.

"They're not a fashion accessory," Azazeal said finally, "They're…they used to be how we reached heaven."

"And now?"

Azazeal stretched out a wing slightly and inspected it. The main body of the wing was white but the edges were a brilliant red and gold in tones that assured you would not mistake these wings for those of any natural creature.

"They are just illusions. Reminders of what used to be," Azazeal concluded solemnly and then turned back to look out over the view again.

"But I thought Cassie was your chance to be an angel again, to serve, to…"

"It can only go so far, Daemon, angels serve, but not simple women who will only hurt them in the end."

Daemon chuckled, "I don't think anyone would call Cassie a simple woman, but all I can tell you is that in my world a woman like her would be a Queen. Males would flock to her and squabble over the right to serve her. But then again, the desire to serve is so ingrained in us that it overpowers any thoughts of possible harm or distress. We surrender and we trust, Azazeal, it's what we were born for."

"We're not like you," Azazeal said stiffly.

Thinking he would try a different angle, Daemon said, "Lucifer doesn't seem to have a problem…"

"That's because he's deluded himself into believing she's some kind of goddess and they belong together and so on and so forth in infinity annoying cuteness."

"I don't think…"

"His capacity for deluding himself is legendary," Azazeal pronounced in such a way as to let Daemon know that the conversation was over.

Daemon regarded Azazeal for a moment before moving off back towards the group.

Azazeal was not proud of himself for shrinking back from trusting Cassie, but once it had happened his panic and shame and brought out his nasty streak. He wasn't worried about getting back on her good side, that had never been a problem, but it would require the use of his particular talent. She had always been leery of his gift of persuasion, which many times amounted to manipulation, but she had, over the years, come to appreciate its usefulness and see how it could be used for good. For Azazeal however this was still a sore spot. He'd never stopped worrying about her fully accepting that part of him, even now, even after all they time they'd spent together and all the times she'd asked him to use it. But, he knew too well, how quickly a woman could change her mind and how close he would always be to offending her sense of what was too much.

Of course, even he admitted to himself that he'd never really given her a chance, never laid everything out and asked her to accept it. Daemon and Lucivar had done that, he could tell, but in their society it was well understood that Warlord Princes were wild, powerful, and unpredictable and the right Queen for them would know that the only way to control them would be to accept that. Cassie had none of that innate knowledge and Azazeal was simply not Lucifer, who trusted that if he overstepped his bounds, Elizabeth would merely remind him of his place. Azazeal was not willing to risk Cassie's love for him or trust that she would understand all the intricacies of his angelic nature. She had accepted what she could and asking more would not only risk his heart but would be selfish.

As Azazeal was thinking these thoughts to himself, behind him another small drama unfolded. The other men and women were engaged in a pleasant conversation, when Elizabeth took a step back to change her position and she slipped on some loose rocks. Suddenly, she was plummeting through the air towards the bottom of the rocky cliff several hundred feet down. Normally, with all of those winged friends around, this wouldn't be much of a problem, but after turning to watch her fall, Lucifer hesitated….

In all of their long years together, nothing of this sort had happened. Sure, she'd had a few cuts and bruises which he would either heal without much consideration or she would deal with herself, but she'd never been in any real danger. And this was different from the day that he had viewed Daemon and Lucivar as threats to her safety because then he had had his rage directed at them. There was no one to destroy or hate this time, nothing to heal, although there would be after she hit the bottom. She just needed him but she was too scared to even think to call to him.

In his head, there was an instant of disbelief that she could fall and then an instant of confusion that she didn't stop her own fall and then the horror took over. The horror that overtakes you in the slow moments before something terrible happens to someone that you love. The horror that humans understand from the first time it happens but that he had never felt.

And then Lucivar growled and made ready to go after her but before his coiled muscles launched him over the cliff, Lucifer was executing a controlled dive and swooped to pluck her out of the sky.

It had only been a split second that Lucifer had hesitated, but it had been long enough to send a bolt of panic through everyone. Now he was slowly winging his way back up with her.

Elizabeth was smiling with a mix of pride and relief and some amusement because Lucifer had the familiar look on his face that showed up when he'd just learned something new. She knew that there were some human things that Lucifer had to experience before he would understand. Now he knew what real worry felt like and that sometimes she would need him to keep her safe. He had always had it in him to fuss over her and act the protective angel but he did it to amuse himself. With this new revelation she was sure he would take a more serious stance on her human condition, because he'd just realized that just because he could fix something didn't mean he would want her to get hurt in the first place.

They landed nimbly on the ridge and he placed her protectively in front of him. Lucivar and he exchanged a meaningful male look, which the ladies could not interpret and Jaenelle suggested that they return to Elizabeth's house.

Azazeal who had been watching from his spot a little ways off had automatically made his way next to Cassie and had put a gentle hand at the small of her back. After Elizabeth was safe again, Cassie turned to him and said with a trusting smile as if the events of the morning had not happened, "You would never hesitate."

He could not help but smile back at her and say, "No, I would never hesitate, but…"

"No," she said, "We'll talk about it later." She turned a little to reach up and kiss him. "Right now you're my valiant protector and a my gorgeous lover and that's that."

He regarded her with feigned doubt, but then circled a wing about her to shield them while he took a more leisurely and sensuous kiss from her.

Later that afternoon, Azazeal found himself cornered by an irritated Lucifer.

"Listen carefully, cherub, 'cause I'm only going to say this once," Lucifer growled and Azazeal already knew what he was going to comment on, "She, like your precious Cassie, is a goddess (little 'g' if you please) and I don't use the term lightly. They reflect Him like the moon reflects the sun, in their individual way. That's what captivated us in the first place. Now, here's the important part, the more I open myself up to it the more I receive. And, no, it's not perfect. Sometimes life with her confuses me and sometimes things hurt, and our angelic nature is the cause, but it's all we have."

"Look at you, the bringer of light who used to rival the sun and the stars in brilliance, trying to bask in the light of a weak moon," Azazeal scoffed, immediately defensive.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

"Go right ahead!"

"They are not like us, Azazeal. They don't need His light and His love in the same way we do. It's both their blessing and their curse. But we're dependent, and you know I like to pretend that Elizabeth's the source, but I know where it comes from and I know what I need."

"I have enough!" Azazeal shouted.

"No, you don't, Azazeal," Lucifer said quietly, "You're willing to exist with less but you need more. And it's there, Azazeal, I know it is, that bliss, that rapture, that ecstasy. You remember it, don't you? Only the idea of it remains, not exactly the feel of it, but I know my weak moon can get bright enough to…"

"You'll never feel the divine presence again, Lucifer!"

"Maybe not, but I'm certainly not going to put up any barriers," Lucifer said and stormed off.

Obviously, Jaenelle still being able to fly only applies to my story, as Anne Bishop has not gotten into what Jaenelle can really do with the TD. I, for one, feel she should still be relevantly powerful since she still has Black power. Tangled Webs seems to suggest that she's less powerful now than Daemon, but I would like to think that she just needs more concentration when using the Black to exert her full Black potential…but that's just me.