heartbeat // zayn malik AU

chapter nineteen

"I bit the tongue behind my teeth,

It was never good enough for me."

- There For Tomorrow [A Little Faster]

It was cold.

Up on the roof, I mean. Like, it was freaking freezing; the air shot straight through my ripped leggings and nearly iced my legs into stiff blocks. Renee's sweater helped a little, but not enough to stop the shivers. 

The guards stood on the edge of the roof, with Zayn crumpled in front of them. From the way bruises darkened his handsome face, and his hair was ruffled and tousled, I could tell he'd put up a fight.

But all the fight seemed to have left him now. Even as that despicable blonde guard ran a knife along the edge of his wings, shaving off a single white feather, Zayn didn't move.

"Time to ditch the wings, scum," the guard hissed, raising the knife.

I rammed into him so hard that I nearly knocked him off the roof.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream as the knife sailed from his hand, plummeting off the edge of the building. Zayn looked up in disbelief. "Valarie?"

"Nice to see you recognize me," I grunted as another guard's hands closed around my neck, trying to choke/overpower me. "Now a little... help would be... nice," I spluttered.

Springing to his feet with renewed vigor, Zayn raced over to help me, prying the guard off of me. "Let go of her... you bloody arse," he hissed, flinging the guard to the floor.

I took a huge gulp of oxygen as the tight grip left my neck. "Let's get out of here, Zayn," I said.

"Best suggestion I've heard in a long time."

Before either of us could move, we heard a shout from behind us. "Stop right there!"

Shay Woodley.

God damn it. How had that lady found out so soon? I felt a pang of fear for Amary-Rose. Was she okay? Had Shay hurt her for helping me?

"If you fly, I'll shoot you," Shay threatened, pointing her Sectrum at us.

Shit. We were so fucked. What could we do now?

I was still wondering these things when Zayn grabbed me by my waist and threw us both off the side of the building.

A scream erupted from my throat as we fell into a headlong dive, far too quick and headlong for Shay to ever take aim and shoot us in.

But it was also too quick to stop.

"Zayn!" I screeched, arms wrapped around his neck, legs straddling his waist as we hurtled through gravity and space, the floor coming up way too fast. There was no way he could brake fast enough. We were going to fucking die.

At the very last minute, I heard a puff of air burst by my ears as his wings exploded out of his back, loose feathers fluttering into the air. We veered upwards in a sharp V-turn, avoiding certain death on the ground below by a matter of milliseconds.

And then we were rocketing away from angel headquarters, too far and fast for Shay to dream of shooting us.

Trembling, I drew a shuddering breath in. "What... were you thinking? We could've... died." I was almost hyperventilating, pure fear pounding its way through my veins with every frenzied beat of my heart.

"But we didn't. And there was no way I was getting recaptured by those bastards." His voice was strained, and I suddenly realized what it must be costing him to fly with his injured, torn-up wings.