“Are you ready?” Myles asks me, and I want to say no because that’s how I feel. I will never be ready to face Ren, but my friends need me, and I’m no coward. I won’t ever be. “You’re stronger than you think, Katy. Believe in yourself and know I have your back.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, turning my head back as I say it, and his eyes lock on mine. “Let’s go back to my home.”
Chapter 33
Ayda cuts through the clouds, climbing higher and higher until my ears pop and I struggle to suck in air with each one of my breaths. The tension of where we are going is almost as bad as the tension coating the air around us. I have no idea if Ren is even going to talk to me; he might lock me up and throw away the key. I believe we have a connection, and somewhere deep down, I sense he wants me near him, but who actually knows? All I know is that Vesnia and Thallon need me, and I want to see Henry again. I even want to make sure Riley is still alive. But hurting Ren? I might be so angry at him and hate him for the choice he took from me, but killing and taking anyone’s life is a big thing I’m not sure I am ready for.
Thankfully, we crash through the portal, and everything goes still as I look up at The Angel Academy above us. A shimmering shield flickers from the orb, surrounding the academy and stretching to the portal below us and the one above that leads to the angel city. The orb must keep the academy locked away from the rest of the angels, and for some reason, Ren has clearly just let me back into the academy when I doubt anyone else could come in. It looks so normal, the glistening towers shining from the light above, the floating rocks underneath where I was forced to become a light angel by Riley. My heart burns, cracking into splinters every time I think of what Riley did to me. My best friend since I was a child forced me to become a light angel so we could be in a relationship.
But I never once saw Riley like that. Never. Riley was the one person I thought I could trust the most in the world, and we had a connection because we died together.
It did cross my mind that when I chose to become a dark angel, which is what I wanted, Riley could be my partner and we could work together. Everything was so simple and not what it is right now: destroyed and filled with poison. And some poisons you can’t ever get out of your system.
“This place is incredible,” Myles shouts to me, and I just about hear him over the wind, but I look back for a second and grin. I remember how I felt when I first saw the academy and how remarkable it is. No Disney movie, no imagination on earth could come close to the beauty of this place. I steer Ayda towards the back of the stables where I hope Myles can hide for the time being and not be found. I can’t see the vampires showing much interest in the horses when they have angels as snacks instead. The thought makes me shiver, and I hope Myles doesn’t notice. We land behind the stables, and I quickly jump off, stumbling a little, but Myles catches my arm and stops me from falling over.
“Thanks,” I whisper, and I walk to Ayda. “And thank you. We will fly soon, that I promise.” Ayda neighs once in reply and turns around, flying off the side of the cliff. I cross my arms, my nerves making me jittery, then I open the stable door and head inside. As I suspected, it’s empty, and as I run a finger across one of the stable pens, dust covers it. They aren’t doing flying lessons anymore, it seems. Ayda looked in good condition, so either the horses are looking after themselves or someone else is, but not in the academy.
“No one has been here in a while,” Myles points out. “I will use this as my base, but you only need to call and my wolf will hear you.”
“If they find you...” I drift off, and Myles unfolds my crossed arms and takes my hands in his, his touch more soothing than it should be.
“Trust me, they will not sense or see me unless I want them to. It’s a gift of mine,” he tells me with a cheeky grin. If anything happens to him, I don’t know how I will forgive myself. “So go and make your grand entrance, set down your rules, and I will find the kitchens and make you some food.”
“You’re going to bring me food?” I question. This wolf is crazy, but for some reason, I don’t feel so nervous now.
“Yes, I’m going to make food for you every night while you handle what needs to be done here,” he says softly.
I smile back despite everything. “I’m looking forward to our food date later then.”
“Stop stalling and go,” Myles says, releasing my hands. I turn around, clamping my shaky hands into fists at my sides, and head out the door I came through. I shut it behind me and walk around the building, stepping over some overgrown bushes. Gods, if Thallon were here and okay, he would be gardening. This place looks terrible. I try not to stare at the ruined flowers and the rotten fruit from the trees, littering the ground. The angel academy gardens need a lot of work done, and I know it’s not important right now, but I can’t help but feel angry for Thallon. He spent years building up this garden, and I helped him in the last few months too. My footsteps seem louder than ever as I get close to the academy and the glass doors in front of me. I come to a halt, my feet digging into the stones as the glass doors swing open and Ren walks out.
My heart feels like it stops, and I resist the urge to whack my chest to restart it as I get a good look at the vampire king who was my friend. Someone I trusted. Someone who once saved me only to destroy me. Power radiates off him in waves, suffocating me before he has even gotten close. There is an arrogance to every move he makes, a dominance over the very floor underneath him that never was there when he was a ghost. Yes, he had a big ego, but nothing like this.
I wish Ren was alone, but as I finally turn my gaze away, I notice a woman at his side. I recognise her straight away as the vampire who tried to bite me in the attack on the academy not so long ago. Her blonde hair is cut shorter than before, but it does nothing to detract from her beauty. She has long legs covered with skintight black jeans, and a tank top that is nothing more than a tiny piece of silk hangs off her shoulders. I legit can see her nipples through the top. As Ren comes to a stop, she rests a hand on his arm, passive-aggressively telling me he belongs to her.
Ren doesn’t take his eyes off me though, but I refuse to meet his gaze as someone else steps through the door.
Henry. I almost take a step towards him as he walks to Ren and stops at his side. I knew he was on his side, but it still hurts to see this. I can’t help but notice how Henry no longer looks as sick as he did. His once pale skin has colour now, almost a golden glow to him, and even though his eyes speak a thousand words, I don’t look at him. Knowing I need to get this over with, I lock my eyes with Ren and ignore the flutter of my heart.
The zap of something inside me, which I don’t know or understand why it is there.
“Ren. I’ve heard you’ve been looking for me,” I start off. The wind whips around us all, the tension becoming almost too much to bear.
“You ran from me,” Ren finally speaks, and gods, his voice hurts me to hear. I used to love his voice, his stories and how kind he was. Was it all a pretence? “And now you’re home. Welcome back to the academy, Kaitlyn.”
“Want me to lock her up with the others?” the bitch face at his side asks. Ren reaches out with one hand, grabbing her neck and slowly peeling his eyes from me to her. “Miranda, pass the message along that if anyone touches my queen, they will be ripped apart by me. Do you understand?”