Huge thanks to JoVersify for making this chapter a lot better than it was :D Thank you to all of you who commented in the last chapter too, so glad to see you're still reading! Going to try a posting schedule with story updates every Friday :) Happy weekend!

Frozen, III

With the Edenium blade safely hidden in a thigh sheath courtesy of Rosalie, Issa hunted down her Keeper using their bond.

There's only one place left after their glory runs out: Hell.

Hell no. Not if she had something to say about it. She followed his presence into the outskirts of Eden. The homes this far out seemed abandoned, wooden shutters banging in the wind. What was he doing this far from the centre? She tried to feel his emotions but came up blank.

A chill trickled down her spine. She was hallucinating more and more, which had to mean his glory was being stretched to its limits.

"Edvardiel?" she called out, even though she knew he probably couldn't hear her. "Edvardiel!"

She was running before she knew it, gripped by a choking panic that made it hard to breathe. She burst into an old, dusty hut. Where was he? She hurtled up two flights of rickety staircases to find him slumped over a child's bed, half his body sprawled on the floor. He didn't move even when the door banged against the wall.

Her insides turned to ice.

She grabbed his arm. "Edvardiel. Edvardiel!"

To her great relief, he stirred. He blinked, disoriented but undeniably alive.

She could kill him. "You idiot," she said. "What are you doing here?"

He squinted at her. "Issa?" His voice was thick with sleep.

She shook her head. His wings. She came here to try and fix his wings. If she could grow a tree, maybe she could grow wings. Maybe she hadn't been trying hard enough. "Let me see your back," she said, reaching for his shirt.

"What?"

"Take off your shirt, seraph." She started to unbutton it and he caught her hands, his face glowing.

"Why... " He gazed at her, his ears still gold. "Why do you want me to—"

"I want to see your back," she repeated.

He rubbed his eyes, perplexed, but he did as she said, his fingers clumsily working the buttons. "Are you still mad at me?"

She only yanked his shirt open in response. Buttons popped, clattering to the ground, and a heated glow crept up Edvardiel's neck, all the way up to his ears.

Issa turned him around, pulling the shirt off.

His wounds were still inflamed but the angry red had faded to a dark pink and the bone splinters seemed to have mended together.

"It looks better," she said, hardly daring to believe it.

"It hurts less," Edvardiel admitted. "It mostly itches."

Very gently, she ran a finger at the edges of the wound. Unlike the last time, he didn't wince. As she leaned in to take a closer look, feathers began to rain again. Damn it.

Those bastards, her dream angel hissed.

She ignored him, trying to blink the feathers away.

"I'm going to try again," she said.

Edvardiel glanced back reluctantly. "But—"

"Just hold still."

Though she sounded confident, she felt anything but. She was still hallucinating and she didn't want to hurt him. Her fingers hovered over the wound, trembling, and her dream angel spoke again.

The power is yours, child. Reach out and take it.

"Be quiet," she snapped.

Edvardiel shot her a look. "What am I supposed to do, stop breathing?"

"No. I wasn't talking— I was talking to myself." God, she had to stop talking to figments of her own imagination.

The imaginary feathers spiralled as though they'd been blown by a gust of wind. She took a deep breath and felt for the whispering power within her. It answered her summons, trickling from her skin and onto his.

Edvardiel hissed in pain.

"Hang in there." Issa centred herself, channelling everything she had into those missing wings. "Grow back, damn it," she growled under her breath.

"You're killing me," Edvardiel groaned. His entire body was aflame with glory as he gripped the edges of the bed, his knuckles white.

Her power erupted, swelling in a sudden torrent.

Edvardiel gasped, his entire body seizing, and he crumpled, dropping face-first to the ground.

Issa caught him, her fingers sliding against his sweat-slicked skin. Blood thundered in her ears and she felt dizzy. Did it work?

He opened his eyes, winded. "That was payback for earlier, wasn't it?"

"Don't be stupid." Issa was trying to focus amidst all the falling feathers. "Let me see."

Shakily, he righted himself and turned. But just like before, there was no difference. Disappointment crashed through her.

"I can't do it," she said.

Her dream angel was silent. The rain of feathers faded away together with her wishful thinking. To think she'd almost believed it was real.

Edvardiel wiped the sweat from his brow. "I doubt anyone can. One doesn't simply grow a key to Heaven." He picked up his fallen shirt. "Imagine what kind of trouble that would cause—the Fallen regrowing wings left and right. The seraphim would hunt you down."

Issa didn't answer. She didn't know why but her eyes started to fill with tears.

"Issa?" Edvardiel's guilt jolted through their bond. He made as though to reach for her but hesitated. More guilt seared through their bond. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "I wanted to keep you safe and I was a condescending dick about it."

It was the first time she'd heard him curse and it was at himself. He was going to be the death of her. No, of himself. "It's not you," she managed to say. She wanted to turn away but didn't know where to look. "It's..." She didn't know what it was. "It's not you," she only said again.

He pressed his lips together, and then gently drew her into his arms. "We'll leave first thing tomorrow," he said.

She gazed at him.

Eden's son loves you.

She was no good for him but he was too much of an empath to abandon her. What she should do was find a way to leave without him but she wasn't strong enough to do that. Not yet. She settled on the next best thing.

"I don't actually want to leave," she said. "I've thought about it. You say your glory's going to hold so I believe you. Besides, I like it here."

He tilted her chin up. "Issa. I'm not blind," he said. "I've lived through what you're feeling right now. I felt it every day when I was in Heaven."

She looked away. "I feel great. What's not to like? Eden is Heaven on earth."

"I was in Heaven itself and I felt it every time they looked at me. Every time they spoke to me. Hell, I felt it every time I looked at the stupid clouds."

She frowned, turning her gaze back to him. "Stop cursing, seraph. It doesn't suit you."

He smiled and brushed the dampness from her cheeks. "Eden is your home too," he said, "and I'm going to prove it to you." He glanced around the hut. "If only Eve were easier to find. It's like she vanished without a trace."

Issa stared at him. "Is that what you're doing here?"

He gestured at the empty, half-opened drawers. "Ezekiel told me she used to live here for a while. I thought we might find some clues."

Issa's heart squeezed. She'd been awful to him and he'd been exhausted from healing her. And still, he was out here in the middle of nowhere, searching for clues on her behalf.

"You're such an idiot," she said. Unbelievably, her eyes started leaking all over again. "The worst idiot I've ever met."

Edvardiel looked alarmed. "I'm sorry," he said automatically.

"I told you to stop saying that word." She rubbed fiercely at her eyes and tried to stop but her idiot angel was hugging her and making everything worse.

"We're leaving tomorrow, all right?"

"We are not!" she sobbed.

"Yes, we are."

"Over my dead body!" She gave him a shove but he held on like a fucking koala. She glared up at him, her vision all blurry and it was raining feathers again. His face was so, so close and his lips looked so damn soft.

She didn't think. She just grabbed him and crushed her lips against his. Surprise shot through their bond, quickly replaced by desire. One strong arm gripped her hip and he deepened the kiss. She gasped, her fingers tangling in his hair. He kissed down her neck and she arched, moaning, as he pushed her against the wall.

It was still raining feathers but she didn't care. Her body felt like it was on fire.

"Your skin," Edvardiel panted. "It's—"

"Glowing, I know," she gasped. "Shut up and kiss me."

The imaginary feathers turned a fiery gold and all of a sudden she stumbled backwards, Edvardiel falling onto her in a heap. Issa looked up in surprise to see a blackened, human-shaped hole in the wall.

"Your skin is on fire," Edvardiel said belatedly, pushing himself up to his elbows.

In her crazy head, she heard her dream angel laugh.