by Jayme Morse
Once we came up for air, Lux glanced over at me with wide eyes. “I don’t understand, Zay. What is going on?”
“Nothing’s going on,” I replied, even though I knew my answer was by no means convincing.
It would have been obvious to anyone that something had been going on.
But there was no way I could tell Lux exactly what was going on without telling her everything.
“Zay, you’re lying. Something happened! It had to do with that red bird thing I saw flying in the sky. What was it?” she asked me, an almost desperate tone in her voice.
I stared into her eyes for a few moments. “I’m sorry, Lux. I wish I could tell you. I wish I could tell you everything, but—”
Turning away from her, I climbed out onto the grassy bank.
“But what?” she pressed as she climbed out after me. Grabbing my shoulder, she just stared into my face. “What is it you aren’t telling me, Zay?”
“I can’t tell you that,” I insisted.
“Why? I don’t understand,” I replied, shaking my head.
“I’m sure it has a thing or two to do with me,” a familiar voice said from behind us.
I glanced over my shoulder and my stomach dropped.
Kieran was standing behind us, an angry look in his eyes.
Chapter 18
Lux
“What are you doing out here?” Kieran asked us.
“We were just swimming,” Zay replied quickly—perhaps a little too quickly.
I couldn’t help but notice that he looked somewhat nervous that we had been caught.
I felt sort of awkward myself. I was comfortable enough around Zay to wear nothing but my underwear, but I felt awkward as hell knowing that Kieran was getting a glimpse of me in that way.
Awkwardly, I wrapped one arm around my chest and grabbed my shoulder, letting my other hand shield my panties from view in my best attempt at covering up, but the Headmaster didn’t even seem to be paying attention to me.
Kieran’s reddish eyes were fixated on Zay in the form of a glare. “Hmm. I don’t recall you asking permission to go swimming.”
“I’m sorry, Headmaster Blake. It was my fault. I told Zay that I was just dying to go swimming. He only brought me here to shut me up,” I lied, hoping that I could divert some of his anger away from Zay and onto me.
I didn’t want all of his anger on me, but I didn’t mind splitting it with Zay.
But judging from the look on Kieran’s face, it hadn’t worked. “Nice try, Lux, but there’s no way you could have possibly known that there was a swimming hole here.” He glanced over at Zay. “I’ll deal with you when we all go back to the academy. I’m going to head over there now, and you will follow. Just as soon as you put some clothes on,” he said pointedly.
Without saying another word, he turned away from us. As his wings appeared, the breath caught in the back of my throat. I couldn’t help but think that his wings were so much bigger than any of the other wings I had seen since I’d arrived at the academy.
Kieran’s wings lifted him into the sky, and he began to fly in the direction of the cliffs.
Once he was out of earshot, I turned to my pile of clothing. I picked up my skirt first and stepped into it.
“I’m sorry,” Zay told me.
“What do you have to be sorry about?” I asked as I began to put on my white button-down shirt.
“I just feel bad. This really wasn’t exactly how I planned for our day to go,” he explained.
“Well, don’t feel bad. Even if we did get caught, I still had a great afternoon with you,” I told him. I paused for a moment. “But I don’t really understand what we did wrong. Are students not allowed to leave the academy grounds?”
“No, it’s not that. We can come and go as we please, but…” he trailed off, hesitantly.
“But…?”
“I wasn’t supposed to bring you here,” Zay explained. “It could be dangerous.”
“It is dangerous for me here, isn’t it? That’s why you freaked out and made us come back through the portal… because you sensed danger?” I questioned.
His lips formed a flat line, and he didn’t respond.
“Zay, if my life is in danger, don’t you think it’s important for me to know who I’m in danger from?” I asked.
“Lux, my hands are tied. I would tell you if I could, but I can’t. So, drop it.”
He shot me an almost pleading look.
As I put on my tie, I sighed. “Fine.”
Zay studied my face. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Lux, you are in danger. I won’t lie to you about that. And yes, there was danger on the other side of the portal. But Kieran has made it very clear that he wants to be the one who decides when you find out what the danger is. If I tell you… if I go against what he wants… I could be jeopardizing everything.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Well, my life, for starters,” he replied.
“Do you really think Kieran would kill you for telling me classified information?”
“It wouldn’t be just telling you classified information, Lux. Telling you would mean breaking his trust, and trust means everything to Kieran. And you don’t know him. You don’t know what he’s capable of,” Zay explained. “If I tell you, there could be unspeakable consequences for both me and my family.”
“But I thought your family co-founded the academy with the Blake’s,” I insisted. “Aren’t they… friends?”
“They used to be,” he replied quietly as he pulled his shoes on.
I slid into my own shoes. “Why aren’t they anymore?”
“It’s a long story.”
There was a dismissive tone in his voice—a tone that told me to just let it go.
“Are you ready to head back?” Zay asked.
I hesitated for a moment. Even though I knew we had to go back, the truth was that I would never be ready. I wanted nothing more than to stay out here, away from the other students and the academy. I wanted to be free to wander, to explore.
But I knew that Kieran was waiting for us, and the last thing I wanted to do was make our already angry Headmaster even more pissed off.
So, I nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Okay, then.” Zay took a few steps in front of me and hunched over.
His black, feathery wings shot out from his back.
I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
As he lifted us both into the air, I stared down at the ground below us.
It was so strange to think about how far we had come since the first time we had met on the beach. I had been completely terrified of him then, and now?
Well, now I trusted him with my whole life.
***
Zay
When we got back to Demon Blood Academy, we headed straight for Kieran’s office.
I was dreading facing him.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I knew that whatever it was couldn’t have been good.
My biggest fear, of course, was that Kieran would tell me I could no longer be Lux’s Guardian. I would have hated for anyone else to be her Guardian—especially Justin. It wasn’t that I hated my brother, but I knew that my brother only would have wanted to be her Guardian due to the brag factor. He wouldn’t have cared about her wellbeing, at least not the way I did.
The best protector was a guy who was in love. And even though I hadn’t known Lux for very long, I already felt like I may have been in love.
My eyes shifted over to her. As her eyes locked on mine, she gave me a small smile. I felt something stir inside of me.
Her smile was everything.
Yeah, it was pretty safe to say that love was on the horizon, if I wasn’t already in love with her. And the truth was that I would have protected that girl with everything I had.
When I had seen one of them flying in the sky in the Sanctuary, my first instinct
had been to protect Lux, to get her to safety. If it came down to it, I knew that I would have died in order to protect her.
If Kieran took that privilege away from me, then he was just stupid.
As we approached the Headmaster’s office, I turned to Lux.
“Wait out here for me, okay? I’m pretty sure Kieran wants to see me and me alone.”
She looked hesitant. “It will be safe for me out here?”
I glanced around the hallway. There were plenty of other students around, wandering the halls. There were no windows in sight. I was fairly certain that if someone was going to attempt to hurt her, it wouldn’t have been there in that hallway.
“It will be okay, but if you get scared, just knock on the door, okay?”
Lux nodded. “I will.” She paused for a moment before adding quietly, “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” I muttered under my breath.
I was pretty sure that I was going to need all the luck I could get.
I knocked on the door, and a moment later it was opened. Kieran stood on the other side, a stone-cold expression on his face.
“Zay, come in.” Kieran held the door open wide enough for me to enter.
As I stepped inside the room, Kieran closed the door behind us.
“Please, have a seat.”
“I’m fine standing.”
Kieran studied my face for a moment. “Very well. I just need to ask you one thing. What in the world were you thinking?”
“Honestly?” I asked. “I was thinking that, for just one afternoon, it would be nice to get away from this place. To have some sort of freedom. To not have to worry about anyone or anything.”
“So, you thought it was a wise idea to take Lux to the Sanctuary?” Kieran asked, raising his dark eyebrows.
“I didn’t take her to the Sanctuary. We were swimming,” I lied.
“Bullshit.” Kieran’s eyes flashed with rage. “Do you really think that my sister and I don’t talk?”
“Kassidy told you about the portal?” I just stared back at him, wide-eyed.
Even though I hadn’t actually asked her to keep that secret from her brother, it had been heavily implied that she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. It just made me wonder one thing: what else had she told her brother?
“Kassidy tells me everything. I know all about the portal. And I know that you took Lux through it today. So, again, I must ask: what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that Lux might like to see the sun, for once,” I admitted honestly. “I was thinking that it would be nice to get away from here, just for a little while. But at the first sign of danger, we came back.”
“You should have never taken her somewhere where there would be a sign of danger. You should have never put her in harm’s way,” Kieran shot back at me.
“Believe me, I know that now. And I will be careful to use much better judgment in the future.” I swallowed hard. “The last thing I would ever want is for something to happen to her.” I paused. “I didn’t realize how dangerous it would be for her.”
“I’m not sure how you could be so naïve. Cielo sent Alice for her. Do you think they don’t know her true whereabouts? And besides that, they were somehow able to get past our guards to shoot an arrow infused with Angel blood at her in the cafeteria. What would make you think that they wouldn’t try to hurt her in their realm?” Kieran asked.
“I just didn’t think they would actually be waiting for her when we got there,” I explained, shaking my head. “I didn’t plan for us to stay long, but I didn’t think it would happen so suddenly.”
“You should have figured this much would happen. The stakes are high, Zay. You know that. We’re fortunate that it wasn’t much worse.”
“I know,” I admitted.
“And from what I overheard, it sounds as though she’s looking for answers. Have you told her anything that you aren’t supposed to share with her?” Kieran asked, gauging my face for a reaction.
“No, I haven’t told her anything. I know better than that.”
“Well, at least you have sense enough to keep your mouth closed.” Kieran sighed. “I’m going to ask you not to leave Demon Blood Academy with Lux again without talking to me first. Do you understand?”
I nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good.” The Headmaster paused. “If you break this rule, then you will leave me with no choice. I’ll have to assign her to another Guardian.”
“I won’t do anything that could potentially put her in harm’s way again,” I said firmly.
And I meant it. After that scare today, I would do everything I could to protect Lux.
Chapter 19
Lux
I was able to make out bits and pieces of Zay and Kieran’s conversation through the closed door, but it felt like they were talking in riddles or in code or something.
Through it all, there were only three things that I was able to deduct from their conversation, only three things I knew to be true:
1). There was a lot that Zay was keeping from me,
2). Kieran had lied and he did know that Alice had tried to kill me, and
3). Someone from the Sanctuary really wanted to hurt me.
Once I heard their conversation come to an end, I quickly moved away from the closed door. The last thing I wanted was to get caught eavesdropping, even though I couldn’t help myself. I needed answers.
As the door opened, I expected both of them to step out into the hallway, but Kieran didn’t come out.
Zay’s soft, amber eyes fell on mine.
“You ready to go back to the dorms?”
“Yeah, I guess,” I replied with a shrug.
I didn’t really want to go back to my dorm room, but it didn’t seem like there was much of a choice. It was still early, but there had to be some way to entertain myself.
As we began to head in the direction of the dorms, we saw a guy walking in our direction. He was heading over to us.
“Zay, I need to talk to you,” the guy said, a worried look on his face.
“What is it, Neil?” Zay asked.
“Robin asked me to give you a message,” Neil said.
“Who’s Robin?”
“The message is, ‘When darkness and light meet for the first time, the fires will start’,” the guy said.
“What are you talking about?” Zay looked confused. “And who the hell is Robin?”
Neil opened his mouth to speak, but then something happened.
His whole body began to convulse, and he started to gasp for air. His eyes changed to a shade of black before rolling into the back of his head.
I turned away, unable to watch what was about to happen next.
Was this something that all Demons went through? Was it something that I would go through?
I glanced back over at him just as I heard the sound of his body hitting the ground.
Zay knelt down and began to shake him.
“Neil, wake up. Wake up.”
He grabbed his wrist and checked for a pulse. Then, with a look of sadness in his eyes, he glanced over at me.
He didn’t even need to say anything for me to know. My stomach tightened in a knot at the realization.
Neil was dead.
“W-what happened to him?” I asked, my voice merely a whisper.
Before Zay had a chance to answer me, Kieran appeared in the hallway behind him.
“Well, what do we have here?” Kieran asked.
Zay glanced over his shoulder at him. “H-he just started shaking and then…”
Kieran’s lips formed a flat line. Then he called out, “Guardians!”
Zay’s brother, Justin, appeared in the hallway then. “What is it?”
“We have a body that needs to be taken to the Pit,” Kieran said. “Make sure you quarantine this one for twenty-four hours first.”
Quarantine? The Pit?
I just stared at Kieran, completely bewildered. I didn’t know what either of those things meant, but
they didn’t sound good. Why would a dead student need to be quarantined and then taken to something so scary sounding? Why did a school even have something called the Pit? It sounded like it could have been a dungeon or something.
A thought crossed my mind then, a thought that I knew was going to haunt me for a long time.
What if I was next?
***
Lux
As Zay walked me back to my dorm room, he had gone really quiet.
Just about anyone who had witnessed what we just had would have been freaked out, but I got the feeling that it must have been more than that for him.
I glanced over at him. “Were you close to Neil?”
He shrugged. “He was in a few of my classes. I wouldn’t say we were close close, but I saw him every day, you know? It’s going to be weird with him gone.”
“Yeah, I understand,” I replied with a nod.
I knew the feeling all too well. The truth was that Neil’s death had caused some of my own memories to rise to the surface—memories that were buried deep inside of me. Memories that I didn’t want to think about.
I asked, “Is that what happens when an Angel dies, too? Or are Demons the only ones that die like that?”
Zay shook his head. “No. I’ve never seen it happen like that before. Usually, a Demon just drops dead. I’ve never seen someone shake like that,” he murmured.
My eyebrows rose in question. “What do you think happened to him then?”
“I’m not sure,” he replied, shaking his head.
“It was weird that he died right after delivering that message,” I said, my eyes darting over to meet his. “Do you think it was somehow… linked?”
“I’m not sure,” Zay replied with a sigh. “The craziest part about it all was that I don’t even know anyone named Robin.”
“Then maybe it wasn’t actually meant for you,” I suggested. “Maybe he had you confused with someone else. Or maybe he was just… delusional or something.”
“Maybe.”
But even as he said it, Zay didn’t look even the slightest bit convinced. It made me wonder why he thought the message had been for him when he didn’t even know a Robin, but I didn’t want to question him further.
As we reached my dorm room, I turned to him.