Dark Angel Academy (The Complete Series)

by G. Bailey

  “Who said you get a choice?” he asks and laughs like the cruel boy he truly is. Becoming an angel changed my best friend into a monster, and I ignored it because I couldn’t face it yet.

  And I’m a fool.

  “Fine, I will do what you want if you let Henry go,” I say, still eyeing Henry who looks worse by the minute. “He doesn’t deserve to die because of me. Just let him go.”

  “We aren’t negotiating, and I’m never going to let Henry go. He dies tonight, just after he sees you turned into a light angel.”

  Chapter 27

  “No!” I scream at Riley, the utter lunatic. “Even if I was a light angel, I will never love you. I will never be your mate.”

  “You will love me in time, when you forget about him and that gardener,” he sneers. “We can go back to our town and be together like we were. I always knew we would end up together; I made sure no guy in the school would date you. Other than Jordon, but he was a tool.” He shakes his head. “That doesn’t matter now, because we live in a world where we can be mated forever. We will be together forever because the light above wants that for us. Why else would we have died together at the same time? It was a sign.”

  “I don’t love you like that, and I never will. If you kill Henry and Thallon, I still won’t love you,” I softly tell him. “This isn’t the way to get what you want, and we both know it.”

  “But you do love me more than them. I’m the only one who knows all your secrets, understands your past, understands you!”

  “That is because you were my best friend!” I scream back, tears falling into my lips. Their salty burn is all I can focus on for a second.

  “It’s because I’m meant to be your mate, and you will see that soon enough.”

  “Let her go!” Henry roars, and I run to him, falling on my knees as close as I can get to him.

  Riley’s hand falls on my shoulder, and I roughly push him off me. “You have a minute to say goodbye.”

  Searching Henry’s angry eyes, I haven’t a clue what to say. “I don’t know how to get us out of this.”

  “Maybe this is the end for us,” he almost jokes, and it makes me smile, despite everything. “I always knew you would be trouble, darlin’.”

  I frown because the thought of Henry and me never seeing each other again seems impossible.

  “Never-ending sounds a lot better for us. We are both too stubborn to give up easily.”

  “Run, fight, do something. Don’t let him win,” Henry whispers to me, and in his eyes, I see the moment he decides to ask me one more thing, even when it means telling me another secret. “Call Erendriel and see if he can help.”

  “How do you know Ren?” I whisper in pure shock, and Henry’s eyes give it all away. He knows my secret, he always did.

  And he knows who Ren is and likely more secrets I wouldn’t even know to ask for.

  “Minute is up,” Riley states as he grabs my arm. “In fact, our time is up.”

  “No, no, no!” I scream as Riley effortlessly drags me towards the fire waterfalls until I can feel their heat on my skin. I struggle, tugging at his hand on my upper arm, hitting his chest and face, but he is like a stone.

  “We will see how you feel when you come out of this,” Riley whispers to me.

  “REN!” I scream as Riley pushes me forward, and I start to fall. I twist around just as Ren appears so close to me and reaches both his hands out to catch me, even when he can’t. As I fall into the fire and it burns my back, I grab Ren’s hand, and somehow we touch, and I drag him into light angel fire with me.

  Chapter 28

  Bright white light burns in front of my eyes as I sit in a pool of white fire. It flickers around me, almost like a dance, never hurting me like I suspected it would.

  Almost like I wish it would.

  “I didn’t choose the light.”

  My words seem to echo around the fire, and they don’t respond. The white fire seems endless, and I wonder if I’m going to die now.

  I don’t know if life as a light angel would be worth living at this point.

  My best friend is a monster who betrayed me in the worst way.

  Henry and Thallon might be seriously hurt, if not dead.

  My parents don’t remember who I am.

  Even I don’t know who I am anymore.

  “You’re mine.” I look up to see Ren, not ghost Ren, but he is real as he walks through the flames to me. His clothes are the same, still torn in places and very outdated. His skin is no longer a ghostly pale, but flushed and tanned. Everything about Ren is more like this, and it makes me wonder if I’m really dead now. Maybe the white fire killed me, knowing this wasn’t the future I wanted. Tears form in the corners of my eyes as he picks me up off the fire floor and holds me to him. Ren walks, still holding me, through the fire even as it hits his skin, and he flinches. He still keeps walking as he grits his teeth, and I hold onto his neck. Without realising it, large white wings cover Ren and me.

  My wings.

  I stare up at them as they shield me and Ren from the fires, the soft feather wings not being damaged at all. I have wings now, and yes, they might not be what I wanted, but I can’t deny how truly lovely they are.

  Soon the bright white fire is gone, and cold air blasts against my back where my T-shirt must be ripped.

  “Who are you?” Riley demands as Ren gently places me on the ground outside the fire. He is real, it’s not just me that sees him anymore. Ren moves quicker than I can track, punching Riley so hard that he is instantly knocked out on the floor. In less than five minutes, Ren has all Riley’s friends on the floor, and I don’t even care if they are breathing.

  “It worked,” Henry’s voice says in the distance, like he doesn’t believe it any more than I do.

  Ren laughs. “You look like shit.”

  “I’m not dead yet,” he laughs back, like they are long lost friends or something. What world have I just walked back into?

  “How do you two know each other?” I ask, standing up despite how weak and dizzy I feel. “Wait, how are you alive, Ren?”

  Both of them pause and look at me, and yet I can’t read their expressions. Guilt? Longing? Wishing to speak more lies? “I will explain everything soon, my Kaitlyn.”

  I shake my head at Ren’s bullshit answer as he breaks the chains off Henry’s wrists like they are nothing more than paper. “Now, my subject, kill these angels and meet me above with the coven.”

  Henry bows his head, coughing on his blood. “Yes, my lord.”

  “Not Riley!” I shout, rushing over to them and stumbling on my wings. God, these things are a trip hazard. Ren catches me, pulling me to his chest and tutting under his breath. Shadows drift around our feet before engulfing us into darkness, much like what Henry did that one time. When we reappear, we are in a room I don’t know with ten glowing angel-shaped orbs. Ren lets me go, and I stumble back.

  “How?” I ask again as Ren walks to the first orb and snatches it. He crushes it in his hand before moving onto the next. A blasting alarm rings across the academy, and soon the sounds of screaming, breaking windows and shouts fill the once silent academy.

  “Erendriel Raloxisys, don’t you dare ignore me!” I scream at him, and he pauses on the fourth orb. I mentally thank old me for learning his crazy name now.

  Ren’s eyes are no longer the colour of a starless sky, now they have all the stars in them, and I feel like I’m in a different galaxy altogether. This has all been a game played by everyone I know, and I’ve been playing a different sport all this time. “All the answers will be given to you once the academy is secure.”

  “No! I want them now!” I scream and run to the door. I hear Ren cursing behind me just as I get to the handle and pull it open. The corridor of the academy is familiar and full of students as they run away. Master Gabriel runs past me, his eyes going above my head to no doubt see Ren.

  “It’s been a long time coming, Master Gabriel. I did promise revenge as I died,” Ren says fro
m right behind me, and I turn around, doing the only thing I can think of. I lean up and press my lips to Ren’s.

  He stays so still for a long time, like a statue.

  Like my ghost. Like he isn’t real, and I’m kissing nothing but air.

  But then he moves and kisses me back, pulling me into his arms and into the room. My back hits the wall just as he pulls away and tuts.

  “I know what you just did,” Ren whispers to me, brushing his lips against mine once more. “And I’m never letting you go now.”

  I run a finger down his cheek, shocked still that he is real. “Why me?”

  “The most powerful vampires in history all had one gift. It was given to them by the gods, and only their bloodline could use it. Can you guess what it was?” he asks me. I don’t think now is time for a history lesson. Only, as he stares at me, it suddenly snaps into place.

  “To see ghosts?”

  “Correct, my little angel hybrid,” he whispers to me. Tears fall down my cheek, and he kisses them away like they are his to claim. “A prophecy once spoke of a union between angels and vampires. I came here years ago to try and make the prophecy come true, but they murdered me, and there was nothing but darkness until you came here. Now I know the prophecy was talking about you, Kaitlyn Lightson.”

  “And what does it say?” I gasp.

  “That once you’re a vampire, albeit a half, you will be mine.” He roughly turns my head to the side and presses his body into mine so hard that I can’t move. “And then, my queen, we will rule every single world.” He slams his sharp teeth into my neck, and I scream.

  Epilogue

  I thought dying once was the worst kind of pain I’ve ever been in, but as I open my eyes, looking up at the unfamiliar bedroom ceiling, I know I was wrong. From my neck to every part of my body, I can feel nothing but a life crushing pain.

  The pain in my soul is the worst. It’s crushing me, hurting me, and I know I need to do something.

  I push the sheets on top of me back on the bed and slide my aching legs off the side. I crawl to the door but pause as I hear his voice outside.

  “Make sure no one goes in there. I will be back soon.”

  Ren.

  The master vampire and no longer my friendly ghost I thought I could trust. Betrayal claws deep into my heart as I turn around and look at the balcony outside this room. Walking outside, I push the glass door open and stand on the edge of the balcony, looking down at the skies below. Deep clouds, beautiful rain and endless night are all I can see. I’m in a tower, and nothing and no one is going to stop me now. I look over my shoulder at my beautiful wings.

  I may be an angel.

  But now…now I fall, and I won’t save myself. Climbing on the bannister of the balcony, not one bit of fear trickles into my soul as I jump and let the cold air of night swallow my scream.

  Welcome to Angel Academy. The only way to leave is to fall.

  I’m Kaitlyn Lightson, and I haven’t got a clue what I am anymore. With Angel Academy fallen into the hands of the vampire coven, hiding on earth seemed like a good plan.

  Until he finds me.

  What I am is the least of my problems. Instead, what is happening to my friends at The Angel Academy is more dire. Thallon, Vesnia, Henry, and even Riley need my help.

  The angels need a spy.

  So I’m going to make a deal with my devil, the man with more than a little bite to his harsh nature.

  Death and seduction are the angels’ tools in the game, but it turns out vampires play with worse things.

  Like love…

  18+

  Quote

  Lift your wings.

  And show them how much hell an angel can cause.

  -Wisteria Andrews

  Chapter 29

  Wind whips past my ears as I endlessly fall, the academy long lost in the distance above me, like a star I’ve misplaced in the sky. The cold air is a welcome rest from the aching of my body and the pain I feel so deeply in my heart and soul. I’ve changed. Everything about me is different, and I can sense it without having to look in a mirror. I’m not just an angel anymore. I’m not human, and I’m not vampire…I don’t think. I have no frigging clue what I am, but one thing is sure, I won’t get help at the academy. Falling is my only escape, my only way to get away from him and what he did to me. My thoughts are jumbled as I carry on falling, knowing I should use my wings to help catch me, but I don’t have the strength anymore. My whole life, I’ve fought and hidden my secret…hidden that I can see ghosts and I was never like the normal kids.

  The difference is…I had Riley at my side. My best friend. My saviour who fought off the bullies who called me names and told me I was weird. He was always at my side, always fighting in my corner, and now I’m alone, betrayed by everyone who I trusted more than my life. Trust is a fragile thing, and once broken, who knows how to fix it again. I would be better off falling to the earth, being lost and dead like I should have been before I was turned into an angel.

  I can’t trust anyone. Not even my family, because if I can see ghosts and only the bloodline of the most powerful vampires can see ghosts…it means more secrets have been kept from me. Has my whole life been a giant fat lie?

  The very fact is I’m not sure if staying alive is a fate worse than death at this point.

  “You must not die, Kaitlyn Lightson. I chose you in the darkness and gave you a second life. You belong to me, your soul is in my debt, and you do not have the choice to freely give it away.”

  I gasp, looking around me but seeing nothing, only clouds, the night sky, and feathers flickering off my wings into the air around me before the wind whisks them away. I’m alone. I know I am. The voice felt like it was in my head, like a voice I’ve heard before, and I wonder if I’m losing my mind and conjuring new voices to speak to me in my final moments. I would laugh, but sadness has a choke hold on my heart, pounding into my chest and squeezing tight. I soon see that I’ve fallen through the portal to earth, spiralling endlessly and forever on my way down. The wind is a little colder here, but the night sky seems the same, as the stars never change, and they are my company for now.

  My light in the dark night that feels endless and as lost as I am.

  “You will pay back your debt to me as the fates descend. Fly, Kaitlyn.”

  Like someone reaches into my chest, I jolt, my once exhausted body feeling full of life and energy suddenly, and I snap out of the haze I was in.

  I want to live. The thought is so much more vivid than the voice speaking inside my head, and I know it wasn’t me who healed myself. Someone is with me.

  I blink back the tears in my eyes as I turn around, noticing that I’m above a dark sea with only one modern looking ship nearby, its lights flickering as the waves push the large ship around. Spreading my wings out, I let the breeze stop my fall and glide me over the sea as I suck in a breath of relief. I can land on the ship and figure out the rest of my plan; I just need to stop for a moment. I’m free…but Vesnia and Thallon are not. Despite what Ren, Riley and Henry did and lied about, I can’t leave my real friends to suffer. The Angel Academy is controlled by vampires now, and who knows what Ren will do to the angels, let alone to Thallon, who might be a skilled fighter, but he lacks his wings. Flying towards the ship, I sense the presence that has been with me since I fell.

  “Who are you?” I ask the sky, and I don’t expect an answer, but I get one anyway.

  “My name was lost to angels many years ago, but you would have heard mention of me. I am the light above, and your soul belongs to me. Survive this.”

  Just as his voice leaves my head, a wave higher than where I’m flying crashes into me, pushing me into the cold sea with its strength. I gasp, sucking in cold water as my body freezes while the water pushes me around in its depth, the swirling ocean’s power nearly impossible to resist. I can’t scream for help, I can’t fight the sea as black dots spot my vision, and I take in far too much water. I can’t see the surface as I struggle, fig
hting the current of the strong water as I search for anything.

  I’m going to die. The sea is going to drown me just as I decided to live. Can half vampires, half angels even die?

  Suddenly, warm arms wrap around my body and pull me up, straight to the surface of the water. The cold air brings much relief as it hits my lungs, and I cough out water as the stranger holds onto me, both of us being pulled fast through the water to the ship. The moonlight shines down on the man’s soaking wet blond hair, and his green eyes reflect the beams of light, catching my attention like a lighthouse in a storm. His mouth moves, but I can’t hear him as everything feels fuzzy, dark spots cloaking my vision until I can’t see his eyes anymore. I can’t focus at all on anything but his warmth seeping into my body, pushing the cold water to the back of my mind. I wrap my weak-feeling arms around his neck as everything goes blurry, and I vaguely realise we are being lifted out of the sea. Hazily I open my eyes to see bright light as it shines down on us just before I pass out.

  Chapter 30

  I snuggle into the warmth at my back as I wake up, wondering what exactly just happened and where the hell I am. Hidden under a thick white duvet, I peek out at the cabin room I am in as the room moves slightly, letting me know we are on a ship of some kind. The way the room moves softly reminds me of a trip my parents once took me on. We had to go on a ferry from the south of England to France before driving to Disneyland. My heart hurts as I remember how Riley came with us and how happy he was on the rides. How we made a pretend tent in the hotel room and fell asleep in it before we could get to bed. That holiday, like many others, is etched into my mind even as the rocking lull of the ship makes me sleepy once more.