“You should get some clothes on and hide,” I whisper, and he grins.
“Meet me at Thallon’s house,” Myles says before he rushes off into the bushes and all but disappears from sight. I go to the buckets, picking them up and gathering flowers as a vampire walks near me, a gold chain glittering from his hand, and I follow it to see Jessica in tow with her head bent down, but I know her.
I almost miss her taunts, her being a pain in my ass.
“Do you want some help? My angel can pick those up,” the guy asks, pausing to look down at me. I meet Jessica’s eyes as they meet mine, and she lowers herself to her knees, gathering some flowers. The way she does exactly what she is told without an argument makes me worried for her state of mind. The Jessica I knew would have told us both to fuck off and fought the vampire if he dared to make her do anything.
This girl is a shadow of someone I knew. Just like the academy is.
“Thanks,” I say to the vampire, but it’s all for Jessica, and I hope she knows it. “Jessica used to be a friend of mine,” I say, even though it burns to lie and my body resists it. Light angels can’t lie...but half vampires sure as hell can. This new realization of mine has to be useful somehow. “And I would love to hear she is well cared for. I know our king loves when I’m pleased, and that would make me so, so happy.”
The guy, who is good looking and about mid-thirties, looks between us. He doesn’t seem cruel, or I can’t sense that from him right at this moment. I know Ren won’t be happy with my kinda lie. I mean he does like to see me happy…so that’s not a lie. My heart hurts as the lie sits on my chest, digging its way in and making itself at home. White lies are sometimes needed to save someone else, and I won’t let the light above, my wings or being a light angel change my thoughts on that.
“I don’t believe angels deserve kindness, but for you, in respect for my master, I will strive to make her life better than it is,” he finally says, and I suck in a deep breath. I don’t know how Ren expects me, a half angel with angel friends, to ever be queen of the vampires when they do not like me, and that much is clear to everyone.
The vampires won’t want a half angel queen, let alone one as young and clueless as I am. Jesus, what the hell am I doing?
Once the flowers are all in the buckets, I stand up. “Thank you. Could you take these flowers to the back of the greenhouse for me? They are so, so heavy.”
“Of course,” the vampire agrees and hands me Jessica’s chain in exchange. I accept it, hating how it feels in my hand as he picks up the buckets and runs off with them. Holding the chain feels like I’m betraying my race, and I don’t think there is another way of looking at this.
“I’m so sorry this has happened to you,” I quickly tell her, wishing I could see the confident, bitchy girl who was once queen of the academy under the dirty clothes and messy hair. Her eyes meet mine, and I see the spark of who she was in there. Knowing we don’t have long to talk, I step closer to her, and I pray she can see I am on her side. Jessica has lost her family, died as a human and been reborn as an angel just like me. I keep pretending my life is the only messed up one, but it’s not.
Every single angel and vampire in this academy has a story that is heartbreaking. And it’s Ren’s and my job to make peace before the last story any of us tell is of a war that destroys us all.
“Don’t be sorry. Be the fucking queen of the academy and save us!” she harshly says and grabs my arm. Her nails dig into my wrist as she steps into my face. “You always wanted Henry and your place at his side. Now you have everything. You only need to decide to save your people. I loved Henry, and you took him. I loved the academy and being an angel, and somehow you took that from me. If you have any goodness left in your dark soul, you will save us all.”
“It’s not that simple,” I mutter, stepping closer, but she backs away, fearfully glancing behind me as she drops my arm.
“I know what you are now. Have the vampires really turned your heart so cold you would forsake your own race?” she asks just as her vampire gets back, and I don’t have an answer. Am I heartless to walk around the academy, just trying to survive and find my feet?
“All done. See you around,” the vamp says, taking the chain and tugging Jessica behind him. I rush to the doors and push them open as I step outside, thankful to be alone as the first tear falls down my cheek. My feet move as I silently cry, wishing I knew what to do, how to be...and most of all if there is a chance I can save everyone I love.
I hear footsteps on the stone path in front of me, and then I’m in someone’s arms, held tightly against their chest. Myles’s scent wraps around me like a soothing wave, and the silence breaks. It cracks into a trillion pieces as I let myself fall, and my wolf saves me, picking me up and carrying me back to his home. Time drifts by as Myles carries me into the living room of Thallon’s house and sits us on the sofa, holding me as I let go of all my guilt.
I stop pretending to be perfect and have everything under control.
Nothing is in my control right now, and I need to admit it.
“I don’t think I can side with just the angels anymore...the vampires...they aren’t…” I pause as Myles kisses my forehead.
“They aren’t evil, are they?” he replies. “I’ve watched them, this big bad race the world fears, and they are just like us. They love, they hate, they get jealous and they are fiercely protective of their mates. That describes every race I know, so how can the rumours be true? There is nothing heartless about vampires.”
“War makes heartless monsters of us all.”
My statement lingers in the air between us, and I wipe my eyes. “I’m sorry I broke down out there. I think I finally realised I can’t do what the light above wants of me, and I can’t be what Ren wants either. I need to be me.”
“Funny enough, I think that is exactly what the world needs,” he replies, and I smile at him despite everything. “Don’t be scared to be yourself.”
“I’m not anymore,” I exclaim and smile softly at him. “And I want to know you more.”
Sensing that I need light conversation, that I need him to make me laugh and smile and be a normal teenager for a little bit, he swiftly talks.
“Cool. Well, I’m twenty-two, my favourite colour is orange because it’s never anyone else’s favourite and I feel sorry for the poor bugger,” he starts off, and I can’t help but chuckle. As Myles tells me his life story, I know my heart falls in his open hands a little more.
Chapter 48
Rain spits down on my cheeks, smothering my hair as I run through the puddles back to the academy from Thallon’s house, leaving Myles and Thallon there arguing over the latest Marvel film. Boys.
“Kaitlyn, wait!” a voice gently whispers to me, but with enough magic that it jolts into my system, making me nearly slip on the stone payment. I turn around and stare into the trees nearby as, very slowly, a bright blue light flickers like a projector gone wrong before it blasts into a circle, and a face I have met before hovers in the light. Soft brown hair cups her face, and her brown eyes hold a supernatural light to them. The room behind her is full to the brim with people, mostly guys, and bright glass windows behind them. Wherever she is, it is far from here.