“Wait, what happens if we both don’t fight and just get to the middle?” I ask.
“There is only one course of rocks that get you to the middle, and they will not hold the weight of you both. You fight for the rocks, or you both die in the fall. If you both happen to work together and get to the middle, the first one to knock the other unconscious or dead wins,” she answers me, and I gulp. “As you spoke first, I believe you should fight first, Miss Lightson. Mr. Becker, you will be her opponent.”
“You can do this,” Vesnia firmly tells me, and I nod at her as I walk forward and wish it wasn’t Riley I had to go against. Especially when he is mad. I guess I’m not too worried, as I don’t think Riley would actually hurt me or try to kill me, no matter how mad he is. Professor Bates gets two spears, the ones we use in class, and hands them to me as we stop near the edge. The first rock is a step away, but the others are large steps. Riley has long legs, he is going to find this a lot easier than I am.
“Good luck,” I whisper to Riley and look up at him. He stares at the rocks like I’m not here and ignores me.
“Go!” Professor Bates shouts, and Riley moves first, stepping onto the rocks. He moves quick, and I step onto the rock after him. The rock wobbles under my feet, and the cold air threatens to push me off, but I make the big step onto the rock next to Riley’s. I see the one rock to the left and step onto it, my throat feeling clogged with fear as it shakes a little in the wind. Taking a deep breath, I decide to step onto the smaller rock right in front of me, and it’s pretty steady for a second before it tilts. I almost scream as I jump off it and onto the rock in front of me, landing face down. I crawl to my feet and look back to see Riley jumping from rock to rock to get to me. I look back, seeing four rocks in a diagonal line right up to the middle, and I know that’s the best way to go. But Professor Bates is right, they are too small for anyone to do anything but step on one at a time and jump. I lean back, bracing myself just as something hard slams into my face. I scream as I fly into the air, rolling but luckily sliding across a rock. I dig my fingers and feet into the rock to stop myself and look up, knowing Riley just hit me in the face with his spear. Blood pours out of my nose as Riley looks back at me and just smiles. He turns around and takes the four steps to the middle and places his hands in the air like a champion, just before I pass out.
Chapter 24
I wake up alone in a white sheet-covered bed, smelling nothing but cleaning products and feeling the pain of my nose, knowing I’m going to look like crap before seeing myself in the mirror opposite me on the wall. My nose is covered in purple bruises, and it was no doubt broken. Dammit, Riley. When did becoming an angel mean you get to be an asshat? I sit up, blinking from the bright light just as a healer in green robes like they all wear, comes into the room.
“You are free to go. The swelling and bruising will go down in a short time,” she tells me as she picks up a notebook from the end of my bed. I notice the notebook has my name on the outside of it.
“Is my friend Vesnia okay?” I question, needing to know if she got through the class okay. I couldn’t imagine a world without her in it at this point.
“The red-haired girl?” she asks as she scribbles on a notebook in her hand. “Vesnia was here, but she was ordered to return to class. You have the rest of the day off.”
“Thank you,” I say as she leaves the room. I make the bed before leaving the room and passing the empty rooms next door to mine before stopping when I hear a familiar voice.
“What’s wrong then?” Henry demands before coughing a few times. “The nose bleeds and vision loss were getting better until recently. Something has changed.”
“It seems you have become somewhat immune to this cure. We will have to search for another strand of the cure,” a nervous sounding healer man replies. So he is sick after all?
A few more coughs fill the room. “And until then?”
“Bed rest and no stress. We will find a way to stop this—”
“Before I die and my parents hunt you down, you mean?” he snaps, and I step into the empty room as I hear their footsteps. I knew Henry was ill, and the thought hurts my heart, because there is no way he can die. I wonder for a brief moment why a healer, an angel, would be scared of human parents?
“Why are you hiding in a room?” Master Gabriel’s voice makes me jump, and I knock a small plastic table over behind me.
“I wasn’t,” I mutter as I pick the table up and the papers that were on top of it. I put it all back together before smiling at Master Gabriel, which hurts my sore face. Master Gabriel searches my face, and a look of pity reaches his eyes for a second before he hides it.
“I was looking for you, Miss Lightson. I wondered if I could test your blood for something,” he asks, folding his hands behind his back.
Odd. Why would he want my blood anyway? Surely it’s like everyone else’s. “For what?”
“Say no!” Ren bursts into the room, floating in front of Master Gabriel so I can hardly see him. My heart beats fast as I run my eyes over Ren, searching for what, I don’t know. A ghost injury? A visual reason why he left me? I want to say a million things to Ren, like, “Hello. Nice to see you again. Where have you been? Why did you kill that vampire?” But I can’t without Master Gabriel thinking I’m utterly mad and talking to myself.
“Why? I ask instead and Ren moves to stand by the doors like he wants to run out of them or something, but his eyes never leave me.
“I was merely curious about your bloodline and ancestors. You remind me of someone, and I wish to know if it is simply a coincidence,” he answers me.
“And if I am related to this someone, will you kill me?” I ask, resting against the bed in the room.
“Of course he will kill you or have someone else do it. Light angels might not be able to lie, but they are masters at avoiding the truth. Do not ignore me, Kaitlyn,” Ren snaps, and I ignore the angry ghost just like he has ignored me for weeks.
“I will not kill you,” Master Gabriel answers. “I am on your side, Miss Lightson. That you can trust.”
I want to tell him I trust no one, and nothing, anymore. Since I’ve came to The Angel Academy, I feel like I’ve been dipped in a bucket of lies and death, and there is no one here to save me but myself.
I’m going to swim my own ass out of this bucket.
And figure out my own life.
“You can do the blood test. I don’t mind,” I answer more for myself. Maybe there is something in my blood that is an answer to why I can see ghosts, to why I’m not normal. I’m already in danger every day I’m at this academy, and it’s only a matter of time before they find out I see ghosts. The end of The Angel Academy means going to earth and following a human around. Which means lots of new places and lots of new ghosts. I’m bound to freak out, and then everyone finds out anyway.
“Brilliant, I will go and get what I need and return,” Master Gabriel states and leaves the room, brushing by Ren who glares at him.
“Nothing good will come from this,” Ren warns, floating right up to me.
“Where the hell have you been?” I whisper shout, and more than ever, I wish I could hit him. “You don’t get to disappear and then come back making demands about my life!”