by G. Bailey
“A tweety bird told me you love these sweet treats.
Please do not throw them away.
We must talk soon.
Your vampire ghost always,
Ren.”
Bastard. I mentally scream at myself as I rip the note into dozens of pieces and close the box, knowing I cannot eat those sweets. Nope. I’m not even going to look at them again. I shove the box in the bathroom cupboard under the sink and swear to myself I’m not going in there again.
Nope.
No way.
I head out of the bathroom, glancing at Thallon, who looks just as I left him not too long ago so I could clean up. Pale and sickly, but Henry promises he will make it, he just needs to rest. Whatever Henry gave him to drink and spread on his cut leg has seemed to lower his fever, but I’m not going far until he wakes up. Henry sits in a chair in the corner of the room, and his eyes follow me as I head out to the balcony for some fresh air, hoping he will come out with me.
The balcony air is a welcome chill from the warm bedroom and all the worry seeped into the walls. Thallon’s temperature has finally gone down to a normal level, but he still hasn’t woken up. The cold night air whips around my shoulders as I look over the academy, how normal and serene it looks, when it is anything but. Henry pushes the balcony door open and comes out, walking to my side and resting his arms on the balcony railing.
“My parents are high-level angels in the city above,” he starts to explain, and I tuck some of my wayward hair behind my ear as I listen to him. “They had everything, but they could not have children. For years, they tried, and eventually, a healer explained that it was not possible. My mother’s want for a child was so desperate that she begged the light above for a solution. He told her she could find a human child with an angel mark in the human adoption services and told her exactly where to find the child.”
“So that the child would become an angel?” I ask, not expecting an answer.
Henry clamps his hands together. “Yes. Hazel remembers our mother, a woman addicted to drugs who paid for it with her body.”
“Henry...” I whisper, and without realising I’m doing it, I cover his hand with mine. Henry hardly notices as he stares at the sky, lost in the past. “I was taken with Hazel from our mother not long after I was born, and then my parents found us. Well, they found Hazel first and then were told about me. They weren’t meant to adopt me; the light above didn’t send them for me. I was a mistake.”
“I’m sorry about your past, but I don’t get what this has to do with Ren and what is happening now,” I whisper.
“It all does. See, I was a sick baby. Really sick, darlin’,” Henry admits, running his hand through his hair. “My heart couldn’t beat fast enough for my body, and eventually my organs just failed. When I was one, my parents got desperate for a cure and contacted the vampires. It’s well-known their blood can heal humans.”
I didn’t know that, but okay. “The blood healed me, and for years, I survived on a small amount of vampire blood a month to live. Then I became an angel, just as predicted, but it wasn’t that simple. You’ve seen my ability to go into the shadows and move around?”
“Yes,” I answer, furrowing my brow.
“That’s a rare vamp power, darlin’. Like most my powers are,” he explains. “And the new problem lay in the fact I was getting sick again and the vamp blood wasn’t working. That’s when I first heard Ren’s voice in my head.”
I can only nod, feeling my hands shake a tad over Henry’s. If he notices, he doesn’t say anything. “Ren told me a master vampire’s blood would heal me over time, turn me into something unheard of. A mixture of angel and vamp, but like never seen before. Kaitlyn, I wanted to live, but I never betrayed you. I wouldn’t.”
“Does Ren’s blood help?” I question as Henry turns to me, linking our fingers. Memories of Henry’s lips on mine, his body pressed against me in his room, flash into my mind, and my cheeks redden as he comes closer like he can read my thoughts.
“Yes,” he answers, and slowly he reaches up, gliding his hand through my hair to the back of my neck. I arch my neck to look up at him as he leans down and kisses me. My hands instantly grip his shirt, tugging him closer as his lips devour mine with a possessive claim I’m helpless to deny.
I want to be mad at him...but I can’t. He only wanted to save his own life, and he hasn’t hurt me. Not really.
“Sorry to interrupt, but my roast beef sandwiches are going to get cold,” Myles’s amused voice drawls, and Henry breaks away first, spinning around in front of me to face Myles holding a wicker basket. Henry’s wings flicker out as black energy builds up around his hands. I climb under Henry’s wing, placing my hand on his chest as Myles keeps talking. “No need to attack this big bad wolf. I’m the one bringing the food this time, not Red Riding Hood.”
“Henry, this is Myles. He saved my life and came here to protect me,” I tell Henry, who briefly looks at me before glaring at Myles once more.
A low chuckle vibrates from Henry’s chest. “I’m sure the wolf did.”
“Henry,” I warn, pleading with him to cool it.
“Where am I?” I hear a deep voice grumble, and I forget the two plonkers on the balcony as I open the door and run to Thallon, who smiles when he sees me.
Thank god he is alive.
Chapter 36
Biting my nails, I look between Myles and Thallon as they awkwardly stare at me for answers I can’t give them right now. Thallon can’t put any weight on his leg for at least a week, and he still is so weak that he needs a lot of help. Which means leaving him in Myles’s care...and Myles and Thallon haven’t said more than two words to each other yet. Not that Thallon has talked much since he woke up, he mainly sleeps and drifts in and out. “Are you sure you two will be alright for the day?”
“You have class, get a move on. I will look after your friend,” Myles states, adding more emphasis on the word friend than needed. “I will only leave to find you food.”
“I’m going to be the size of a house if you keep cooking for me, Myles,” I warn him with a smile. His sandwiches and cake he made for me and the guys last night was to die for. Looking between them both one more time, I slip my shoes on and head outside into the corridor where Henry is waiting for me, resting against the door.
“Morning, darlin’. Have you tried flying with those wings yet?” Henry asks, pushing up off the wall. “I could teach you after class if you wanted.” His arm presses into mine as we walk down the corridor, and I grin at him.
“If you want to be my teacher, go ahead,” I suggest. “I will warn you, I suck at being a good student.”
He laughs and says something, but suddenly everything goes blurry and my heart pounds in my chest. Sucking in a deep breath, I stumble, and Henry catches me. I can’t focus on anything but my fast-beating heart and the deep ache in my throat until it vanishes, leaving me as confused as Henry looks worried. “When did you last feed, darlin’?”
“I-I haven’t,” I stammer, and Henry helps me straighten up. A few vampires at the end of the corridor stop to stare at me and Henry before walking past, their angels on chains following after them. “Feed? Like blood?”
“You aren’t just an angel anymore. You will die if you don’t drink blood,” Henry warns, gritting his teeth. “Problem is, you need fresh blood that isn’t a vampire. Like an angel or even a wolf.”
“I’m not using my friends as a snack!” I hiss, shaking my head and storming away from Henry before he can bring this topic up again. “There must be blood bags somewhere.”
“Yep, with Ren. You would need to ask him,” Henry says when he catches up with me.
Oh gods, that’s even worse. We head out into the main part of the academy, past the dining room and into the greenhouse, and I come to a halt as I see Riley. The world slows down as I see my old best friend with a glittering gold chain wrapped around his bruised throat. His once shiny blond hair is greasy, messy and pushed to the side, and his whit
e wings are missing several feathers in places, and he looks so thin, so pale and sickly. A part of my heart that he will always have hurts for him, despite everything he did. We grew up together, and he will always be a brother to me, even though we can never be friends again.
I follow the chain to a beautiful female vampire with jet black hair, dark skin and a slim body in black slacks and a thin white jumper. The vampire passes us with only one small glance of disgust at me, but my eyes stay fixed on Riley.
“I’m sorry.” His two words do nothing to fix the hole in my heart he caused. Before he can say another word, the vampire tugs hard on the chain, and he stumbles out into the corridor.
“Karma can be a cruel mistress,” Henry whispers to me as we keep on walking towards my first class, even as I feel stupidly upset over seeing Riley like that. Treated like an animal.
We get to the first class, and Henry walks in before me. I follow him in to see a class of twenty, ten vampires with their angels sat next to their side. The older vampire at the front of the class, who I don’t recognise, points at a desk three down. I freeze when I see Vesnia right at the back next to her vampire, Bryne. Vesnia has a fresh bite mark on her neck, and Bryne’s arm rests across the back of her chair in a possessive manner as he meets my eyes with his pale blue ones. Surprisingly, he bows his head respectfully before looking at Vesnia, who smiles at me. Not a fake smile, but a nervous one either way.
“Sit down before I make you,” the teacher commands from behind me, her thick Russian accent hard to understand straight away. Henry tugs my elbow, snapping me out of my stare with Vesnia and leads me to the seats. I sit down as the teacher smooths down her grey pin jacket over her curvy red dress that matches her shiny red shoes and light red hair clipped up. “Welcome to vampire coven class, and I am Miss Flete. For our new student, a slight recap might be needed. All the lessons in this academy teach our young the basic knowledge of vampire history, vampire needs and powers. This class is specially designed for learning about vampire covens and how they are created. Will anyone tell Miss Lightson how a coven is first developed?”
A shaky hand near the front goes up and Miss Flete nods for whoever it is to answer. “A coven cannot exist without a master. Master vampires are known as the king or queen of a coven, and therefore covens begin with a master vampire.”
“Perfect answer,” Miss Flete agrees. “There were once thousands of master vampires and thousands of covens of all sizes. Since the war, there is now only one coven under Master Erendriel Raloxisys’s rule, and until he has children, there will be no other covens. This class will prepare you for a future where multiple covens will be possible, and don’t we all look forward to that day?”
Some of the vampires nod, some cheer, and one angel who I don’t know just laughs. “Not before the angels kill him.”
Her words might have been quiet, but they seem to echo around the room. In the blink of an eye, Miss Flete picks up the light angel by her neck and rips one of her wings off like paper, throwing it on the ground. Blood splatters around the classroom, and I scream as I stumble back, Henry’s arm wrapping around my waist and pushing me back down into my seat. He kisses my cheek as I turn away from all the blood. “Don’t react.” Henry’s warning stays with me as Miss Flete pauses, and the door opens. The angel keeps screaming as Ren steps in and crosses his arms.
“What did I tell you about killing angels in class?” Ren asks Miss Flete. She drops the angel like food onto the floor, and her cries make my heart hurt as I feel Ren looking at me, but my eyes stay on the angel woman who slowly passes out. Most likely to die soon. “Miss Lightson, come with me. Miss Flete, get the angel to a vampire healer and don’t do this shit again.”
Henry nods once at me, and I lift my head, trying not to flinch as I step over the angel wing in the middle of the desks and to Ren, who holds the door open for me. I’m somewhat thankful for the escape but not enough to tell Ren that.
“I would like to take you to the library to show you some books I found on vampire soul mates and the truth of the past,” he explains, standing way too close. My body aches with every second I’m around him, fighting the desire to be closer and the desire to hit him with something for hurting me.
“And why would I want to read that?” I question, crossing my arms. I kinda want to read it.
Ren sighs. “Tell me how to fix this, Kaitlyn. I’ve fucked up, but this is my second chance at life, and I want to live it with you. Give me a chance.”
“You bit me without permission, Ren! You made me a vampire!” I snap. “And then to make things worse, you lock up one of my closest friends when he was injured. Thallon could have died down there!”
“You never told me of your relationship with this Thallon,” Ren counters. “I am not a mind reader, Kitty Kat.”
I glare at him. “This isn’t my fault, Ren.”
After a tense silence between us, Ren holds his hands up. “Let me just take you to the library. You can take the books back to your room, skip the class for the day, and in return, you will eat dinner with me tonight. I will also give your Thallon back his day job as a gardener and offer him my full protection if you come to dinner without argument.”
“Dinner?” I almost laugh. “Are you insane? Do vamps even eat?”
“Yes, many things,” he teases. “Come on, one dinner. You came back here for a reason, right?”
I nod, knowing that telling him the real reason I came back here was to be a spy for the angels and try to kill him wouldn’t go down well. I don’t want Thallon to be stuck in my room forever and unprotected, and Ren damn well knows it.
“Brilliant. I will be outside your room at eight. One second,” he informs me before disappearing into shadows.
“Wait! I didn’t say yes!” I shout at nothing but the greenhouse. Turns out vamps are just as good at disappearing acts as angels are.
Go figure.
Ren reappears, the shadows whipping around him before disappearing into the floor, and in his hands are two small books. “Here you go.” I take the old leather books and fold them into my chest as I cross my arms. “I hope we can fix this. The book will explain what happened, and I swear I’m not a monster. Not anymore. Not since I met you, Kaitlyn.”
“A monster isn’t a monster to himself. Everyone who wrongs him is,” I say, stepping back. “And Ren? Nothing you are doing here is good. Ask any angel...you are a monster to them.” I turn around and walk away before I say anything else.
I can’t believe I once trusted this vamp.
Chapter 37
“How are you?” Thallon asks me as I sit on the bed at his side, taking his hand in mine. I’m so happy he is awake and talking, and Henry said his leg is healing really well. It hurts my heart to see him like this and know there isn’t much I can do about it. Like Thallon can read my thoughts, he shakes his head. “I made my choice not to be a dark or light angel, and if I was, I would be healed. Maybe I made the wrong choice. I can’t protect you like this.”
I tightly smile. “Thallon, you can’t make a decision like that for me. It has to be for you, and you don’t want to be either. Do you?”
“I used to say no...but then I never wanted an eternal life with anyone.” He pauses, searching my eyes. “Things have changed now.”
My heart could do a dance with how fast it beats. I lean closer to Thallon, gently stroking the side of his cheek with the tips of my fingers. Gods, Thallon is so handsome. His sun-kissed brown hair hasn’t lost the shine it always had, and locks frame his face, bringing out the glow to his unusual white and blue eyes. I lean closer and press my lips to his, the instant connection between us rocketing in my heart, and I almost gasp. His hands grip my waist, pulling me closer as we kiss like nothing has changed.
Like we are two normal young adults falling in love. And I’m kidding myself if I say it isn’t love. The door is knocked two times, and we break apart as I sense who is behind the door without opening it. Ren. Dammit, the dinner I promised.
“You must be Thallon.” Ren then introduces himself, his arms crossed tightly as he stares down at Thallon. “I’m Ren, but you know that.”
“Yeah. You’re the fucking moron who hurt Kaitlyn,” Thallon replies. “And then took over the academy.”
“I made a mistake,” he grits out and closes his eyes, gathering some composure. “But I have offered Kaitlyn your protection in the academy and for you to go back to your gardening. The academy is looking a mess, and you will be helping us.”
“I don’t do shit for you,” Thallon growls out.
Ren looks ready to fight him as I step in the middle, looking up at Ren. “Don’t we have dinner to go to?”
“Yes,” he replies, taking my hand, and I don’t fight him on it though I want to. I hate that his large hand fits mine so perfectly and feels so comforting. Why do I love the touch of a monster? What is wrong with me?
We walk to the door, but Ren pauses and looks back, meeting Thallon’s gaze. “Have you ever royally fucked up? Have you ever regretted something so much that you wanted to end your life? That’s how I felt the second after I lost control with Kaitlyn, and I will forever regret what I did. I don’t deserve to have her here, and I am under no illusion that Kaitlyn will ever forgive me, but she is my mate. We are bonded for life, and we need to be close together. I will be in her life...even if it’s just to protect her.”
“That isn’t up to you or me,” Thallon warns, his eyes drifting to me as I stare at Ren, struggling with what he just admitted to. I want so badly to see him as a heartless monster, because I know it’s the only way I will be able to kill him. If I, even for a second, let him close to me again...I won’t be able to trust him not to hurt me. Ren nods once, his eyes flickering over to me before tugging my hand and leading me out into the corridor. A tense silence meets us as Ren leads me to a set of stairs, and we head up to a door at the top. The cold night breeze greets us as we step out onto a small rooftop of one of the towers. I hope we aren’t flying to dinner. Crap on a cracker, I don’t want to crash into anything today.