“You’re not just an angel anymore, are you, lass?” Gabriel asks me, and I grit my teeth. Because I chose to save him by kissing Ren who then bit me, taking me as his queen, the answer is yes. I’m not sure it’s safe that I tell him this though. “In the last three months, the vampire master Erendriel Raloxisys has taken control of The Angel Academy, and five hundred angels have been taken as prisoner or are missing. Where have you been all this time, Kaitlyn? Why were you in the master’s arms, and why did you kiss him?”
I raise my eyebrows, wondering where exactly to start. “Since I was a child, I could see ghosts.”
My statement lingers in the room for a pause.
“Ghosts are real?” Madi asks, looking a little shocked. What kind of supernatural is she?
“As much as you are, yes,” I answer. “When I came to the academy, I saw Erendriel as a ghost in my room. Ren became my friend, and we had a connection. He told me about vampires and about how the angels killed him, the last master, so no more vampire covens could rise up.”
“Carry on, wee one,” Gabriel coldly commands, and for the first time, I fear him somewhat.
“Riley, my best friend, forced me into the white light to get my wings, and I grabbed Ren’s hand, pulling him in with me. Somehow the light made him alive once more, and he carried me out of the fire,” I say and pause. I want to tell him about Henry, but my heart won’t let me betray him. “I kissed him in order to distract him and save you, but then he bit me and turned me into what I am now. I woke up only a day ago and jumped down to earth where Myles saved me in the sea.”
Gabriel sighs. “It is as bad as I feared it would be. There is much you do not know, Kaitlyn.”
“Perhaps you should explain it to me,” I ask, crossing my arms. “Am I part vampire now?”
“Aye, and you must have been sleeping for the last few months during your transformation. You’re the child of the prophecy, the one I fought very hard to make sure never came true. It already has,” he warns, pulling his eyes from me like he can’t look at me anymore. The feeling is mutual. “Your fate is not one in the light, and there will be payment for that, lassie.”
His words scare me more than I let on as I keep my emotions under wraps. Myles’s hand gently brushes my arm, and I wonder if he can sense my reaction.
“I don’t care what some old ward said would happen. I care about my friends in the academy. Vesnia, Henry, Thallon and even Riley. They are all still up there, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they were trapped like many others,” Gabriel softly replies, dropping his old man snarky tone. “And we need a spy. I believe you must go back to the academy, Kaitlyn.”
“I’ve always liked you, Gabriel, and I risked my life so you could get away, even when I just found out you killed Ren simply because of some prophecy. Did you even give him a chance before you stabbed him?” I ask. “Do you kill any vampire now because of their blood and not who they are?”
Gabriel keeps his head high. “Do not judge me so easily, lass. I’ve made many mistakes but none worse than the decision to kill that young boy. I will pay for my sins, but I do not owe you an explanation, child.”
“Fine,” I reply, crossing my arms. “Don’t explain it to me, but I’m not helping you. I won’t be your spy.”
Madi leans forward then. “Kaitlyn…Ren is throwing angels into hell, forcing them to lose their wings and spend their lives down there. So far he has thrown twenty-four angels through a portal into hell, and my friend, the queen of hell, is struggling to keep peace in hell with these new angels. Four of them have had to be killed because they took too much power. The others are coping, but no more can be taken there,” she warns me. “As for my own people, the vampires are constantly attacking my island and have killed seven of my people. If something isn’t done soon, Ren will get a war, because neither I nor the queen of hell will allow our worlds to be so unsettled.”
“Can you imagine a world with demons rising and angels falling?” Gabriel asks me. The very thought is frightening enough to keep me silent.
“What does Ren want?” Myles asks.
“War, pain and vampires to rule,” Gabriel answers with a wave of his hand. “And for angels to suffer the most, I suspect.”
Rubbing my temple, I lean back a little bit and mull over my options. I knew running, or falling, away from the academy would only be a temporary fix to the mountain of trouble coming our way. Whether I like it or not, Ren and I have a connection, and there is a chance he might listen to me if I go back. There is a bigger chance he will find me on this ship and kill everyone on it just because I left him. I’ve been gone from the academy a day, and by tomorrow, I have a feeling he would find me. But I’m not sure he would leave the academy to come for me. He would need to make a plan, so I probably have some time.
But that’s not the biggest reason I should head back.
I don’t want the world to burn or the angels to suffer, and that’s why I need to do something. One bad action doesn’t make an entire race evil. The same logic applies to both angels and vampires.
Ren will never see the angels as good, as much as the angels will never see vampires as anything but monsters.
“Do you remember your classes about the city of light? Neamh? The home to the angels, where you would have gone when you finished the academy to accept your charge and then you would have been sent to earth?” Gabriel asks me, and I nod. “They have an army of thousands of well-trained angels, and Ren has a tiny army in comparison. As much as you don’t trust me, trust that I do not want to see a slaughter.”
“Why can’t the angels from the city of light just take back the academy?” I ask.
“The orb is powerful and easily controlled. While it shines high, Ren’s forcefield will only let in who he wants it to. Ren’s magic is”—Gabriel pauses and looks away—“dangerous and extremely powerful.”
“Surely I can’t be your only option for a spy,” I retort.
“You are,” Madi gently says. “I know it is a lot to ask, but your race needs you. Don’t you want to help the angels?”
I don’t answer her, resting back in my seat and looking away. I stare out a cabin window, watching the rain batter against the glass, the only real sound to be heard.
“There is one more thing you should be aware of,” Gabriel softly speaks, but a bite of anger sneaks into his voice, whether he knows it or not. “The angels have been reduced to blood slaves for the vampires in the academy, with vampires using the new students first. Your friends might not be alive when you get there.”
“If I get there,” I remind him and stand up, needing to move. I pace up and down for a moment, thinking over my options here. I could stay with Myles and forget my life at the academy, my friends and everyone I’ve grown to care about. It would be so easy to place them in a box in my mind and pray I never remember what is in that box.
But that’s not me. I don’t abandon anyone, and even if I fear Ren as much as I hate him, I know Vesnia and Thallon will need me. Maybe even Henry, but with the memory of how comfortable he was around Ren and how he followed his orders, maybe not so much. Gods, it hurts that he betrayed me with Ren.