“Do you remember me?” she asks, and it takes me a second before it clicks.
“Hazel?”
Chapter 57
“Yes, we met once at the academy. I knew my brother was in love with you then. I’m so happy he got the girl in the end. Henry got word to me, and I’m not letting my brother’s mate be killed in here,” she softly tells me before sliding the dagger out of the angel’s chest and into a clip at her side. “Now help me move his body into the closet there.” She nods at a door, and I grab the angel’s feet as she picks up his wings before we make quick work of dragging him into the closet and dumping him on the floor.
“Gabriel is making a distraction for you. He told me to say he didn’t mean anything he said, but he is being watched. He said, ‘Save your race and tell Erendriel I made a grave mistake and will take my guilt to my grave,’” she tells me, and I nod, wiping some more tears away as relief fills my chest. “We need to open a portal somewhere clear, and the gardens at the back of the—”
“No!” I harshly whisper, stopping her. “I’m not leaving without the vampires here, and there is a clearing right in the middle of where they are.”
“You want to go back to the prison full of armed angels with just us two?” she asks, like I’m insane. I might be.
“I can go alone. I won’t make you come with me,” I tell her and head to the door, but she grabs my wrist.
“No wonder my brother is in love with you. You’re as hotheaded and brave as he is,” she huffs, stepping to my side, and pauses as she thinks. “And I have nothing in this city I love anymore, and my brother is out there. I’m at your side throughout this crazy plan.”
“You should take me back as planned,” I say, wondering if she can carry me on her own. “How far is it from here?”
“About two minutes away, thankfully,” she says just as alarm bells start ringing in the distance. We both smile at each other. Gabriel. Stepping out of the closet, Hazel grabs my upper arm, and we head through the door into a large room, which is thankfully empty. Hazel guides me to one of the many archways, and we step out onto a balcony. “I got word to your friends, so they have their own portals to escape.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, in awe of this angel. Henry has a damn good sister. Heading down the balcony, we almost make it to the edge before a voice shouts out.
“Why aren’t there two guards with her?” Riley’s voice cuts through the air and sucks all the hope out of my lungs. Dammit. Riley lands in front of us, his white wings stretching out at his sides as he stares at me. He hardly looks at Hazel, which is a good thing. He might recognise her; I have no idea if they ever met.
“I was with an idiot who ran for his family when the alarm went off. Honestly, everyone is so frightened of the vampires, when just look at them,” Hazel coldly laughs as she shakes me. “They are weak.”
“I will come with you to make sure Kaitlyn is taken back safely,” Riley emotionlessly responds, stepping to my side and grabbing my upper arm. He doesn’t look at me once as they take off, and my eyes flicker to Hazel, who looks as worried as I do. The last thing we needed was Riley turning up. Hazel was right, it’s less than two minutes before we land in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by groups of vampires and the watchtowers high in the air. As our feet touch the ground, Riley looks down at me, but I don’t return his gaze. Hazel slips a dagger into my hand before she steps back, and suddenly we aren’t alone.
“Watch out!” Riley shouts, and I follow his gaze to see Thallon crash into the door of the nearest watchtower with a large sword in his hand. The second he kills the first angel, he throws a stone towards us. As he fights with impressive skills, the stone bounces onto the grass, and black energy spouts out of it, making a portal that stretches into the sky. A male scream fills my ears, and I look over to the other watchtower where Vesnia is fighting like a pro, knocking angel after angel out of her way with a spear before she throws her own stone down to us, activating another portal. I see the vampires running into the portal, and Masita pushing Aala through one of them before looking back to me.
“Everyone get into the portals! Leave no one behind!” I scream to her as Riley crashes into me. He takes me to the floor, and I slam the hilt of my dagger into his nose, making blood spray all over me as he howls in pain. I kick him hard in the chest before scrambling to my feet and looking down at him as he crawls to his feet, coughing on air. He slips his sword out of his holder and glares at me.
“You aren’t leaving me, Katy. I had a plan!” he roars before trying to hit me with the sword, but I jump out of the way, and we start to circle each other. An angel suddenly falls from the sky, a sword in his wing, and crashes into Riley, knocking him to the ground. Not wanting to wait a second longer, I run away towards Hazel, who is finishing off three angels who look beaten to a pulp on the floor. She is covered in blood, her arm looks broken as it hangs at her side, but she doesn’t seem to care. She throws a stone onto the floor, activating another portal, and she goes through it, leaving it open for me. I only need to step into it.
“Katy!” Riley roars behind me, and I spin around to see him throw the sword right towards me. I freeze, and in that moment, I know I’m going to die or at least hurt bad enough I won’t be able to escape. That is until a blur of a person pushes me aside, and the sword flies through them instead. I crawl off the ground to see Masita coughing on blood, a sword hanging out of her stomach. Her eyes meet mine for only a second, and I feel everything she can’t say.
Protect Aala.
I can’t even get to her before her eyes close and her head rolls to the side. An arm wraps around my waist, and I’m lifted off the ground as I burst into tears. The portal’s magic swims around me like crashing into a cold ocean before warm air replaces it, and I look up into Thallon’s eyes as he holds me to him. The portal snaps shut, but I hear the distant scream Riley lets out.
He just tried to kill me… How could he do that? Oh god, Masita saved my life and died because of it. How do I even tell Aala that? How can I ever repay Masita for what she did? We don’t even have her body; we can’t have a funeral or say a real goodbye.
“You’re safe now,” Thallon gently tells me, and I rest my head on his chest for a second as I watch the magic of the portal disappear into dust, and I know in my heart Ren isn’t on this side with me.
He is trapped, and I’m going back for him one way or another. I will never leave my mate with them.
Chapter 58
“Kaitlyn!” Henry’s voice sweeps over me as I turn around and see my dark angel running straight for me. He crashes into me, sweeping me up in a deep kiss that I return with everything I have as I hold onto him tightly. “Darlin’, you had me worried. Are you alright?”
“Define alright?” I question as I let him go, still holding his hands, and look around the large room we are in. The vampires are mostly cheering or holding each other tightly, all but one of them. Aala and I see each other from across the room, and her eyes search for someone she is not going to find in the crowd. Gods, how do I tell her?