Chapter 135: Chapter 135: An Angel Fallen to the Mortal World
Ronan Jenkins took off his own jacket, draped it over Sean Murphy’s shoulders, and pulled him into an embrace.
"Ronan... I’m fine," Sean said, trying to shrug the jacket off his shoulders, but Ronan stopped him, holding him even tighter.
Ronan leaned his full weight against Sean and looked up. Helpless, he found the darkness was too thick to see anything clearly, and he couldn’t locate the machine that was rapidly chilling the room.
The temperature continued to drop. The accelerating frost was freezing their legs stiff. Ronan was beginning to feel overwhelmed. The world started to spin, and his breathing grew ragged, but he still refused to let go of Sean. Wearing two jackets and shielded by Ronan, Sean wasn’t as cold or as weak.
"Ronan, you have to hold on! Let me go, put this on," Sean said, struggling out of his embrace. He tried to take off his own jacket to give to Ronan, but Ronan used every last bit of his strength to pull Sean back into his arms. Shivering violently, Ronan’s breath plumed in the frigid air. Tears welled in Sean’s eyes. ’At a time like this, survival should be the top priority. Why is he still protecting me like this?’
As a tear escaped his eye, it instantly froze into a tiny bead of ice, falling to the floor with a soft CLINK.
Kenneth Yates had searched the entire top floor without finding any sign of Summer Lancaster. When he returned to where he started, he noticed white vapor continuously pouring from beneath one of the room’s doors. Kenneth raised his gun and kicked the door open with a loud CRACK.
In the darkness stood two figures covered in a layer of white frost, so much so that even their hair had turned pale.
"Ronan!" Kenneth cried out in shock, rushing into the room and helping up the barely conscious Ronan.
"Boss, you have to... get Ronan out of here..." Sean’s throat felt raw, and he struggled to get the words out. Kenneth helped Sean to his feet and led them both out of the room.
"Ronan, how are you?!" The worry in Kenneth’s eyes was reflected in Ronan’s barely open ones. Ronan struggled to lift his head, glanced at Sean, and then managed a smile. "I’m fine!"
"Sean, what the hell happened?!" Kenneth’s urgent tone and furious expression gave him a demonic aura. ’If I’d known this would happen,’ he thought, ’I wouldn’t have aimed for Asher’s arm. I would have shot him straight through the heart—the source of life itself. Then they would have never ended up in such a dangerous situation.’
"We were about to leave when the room froze over!" Sean said, steadying himself against the wall as he struggled to stand. He looked at Ronan with a worried expression; what he had endured was nothing compared to Ronan.
A look of utter loathing filled Kenneth’s eyes. ’So this is what Asher meant by his "superficial" talk of an ordeal of fire and ice? I can’t believe he used such a simple method to take them down. I never expected this.’
"Sean, you take care of Ronan. Get him somewhere safe." With that, Kenneth propped Ronan against the wall and turned to leave.
"Boss, be careful!" Sean reached out and grabbed the corner of his jacket, his eyes filled with worry.
Kenneth paused but didn’t speak or turn around. Perhaps, at this moment, silence was the best and most reassuring answer he could give.
There was nothing else suspicious on the top floor. That only left the roof. ’Perhaps Asher made this floor so terrifying to stop us from reaching the roof,’ Kenneth thought. ’Because that’s where the person I’m looking for is.’
Kenneth took the fire escape up to the roof. Sure enough, a pure black bed sat in the middle of the rooftop. A woman in a long white dress lay quietly upon it. The white of her gown and the black of the bed created a stark contrast; she looked like an angel who had fallen to earth.
