“I’ve been trying to tell him he has me mistaken with someone else but he won’t listen.”
“He never does. He’s stubborn like that.” There was a genuine warmth to her voice when she spoke of Azael. She sighed. “So you at least understand why I must do this?”
“Please, just let me go, I’ll disappear, I’ve done it before. I’m good at that sort of thing.”
“I wish you were but he would just seek you out.”
“Fine, I’ll tell him that I’m not who he thinks I am. I’ll make him understand. Just let me go.” With every word I spoke, Lux closed in on me, forcing me backwards.
“I can’t…”
Seizing my last opportunity, I darted to the side in an attempt to slip past her.
Lux grabbed my wrist and swung me in against her body as she twisted my arm behind me. I cried out as she forced my arm up my back and for one terrible moment I thought my shoulder would pop free of its socket. I bit down on my lip. The coppery taste of my own blood filling my mouth as pain bloomed in my back and arm. Her grip was vice-like as she marched me toward the back of the room. The damp air clung to my hair and clothes, the scent of stagnant water and earth filling my nose. The compacted dirt roof sloped down toward the dirt floor, the centre of which was dominated by a pile of rocks. It was there Lux dragged me. Once we were close enough I could see the stones formed the wall of what appeared to be some kind of well.
Panic constricted in my chest as I realised what her plan was.
“No!”
My shout came too late and she tipped me over the side, letting me topple into the darkness below.
6
The darkness closed around me as my back hit the black water. I plunged beneath the surface of the icy liquid—not that I could even call it that because it was far too thick.
My scream cut off as I sank and I turned my face upwards to watch the bubbles escape from my lips. They floated toward the surface and the circle of light that formed the top of the well.
Panic caused my body to freeze, my limbs refusing to cooperate as the icy water seeped into my bones. By the time my reflexes kicked back in the top of the well seemed a long way away and my lungs were on fire.
Kicking my legs, I propelled myself toward the surface and broke through the inky water with a splash that echoed around the walls of the well.
Shivers wracked my body and my teeth chattered in my head as I paddled toward the well walls. Metal spikes dotted the stone walls at intervals and I couldn’t help but think they weren’t keeping people out of the well but instead, keeping something inside.
Digging my fingers into the gaps between the stones, I tried to haul myself out of the water but I was so cold, my hands had started to go numb. I grabbed one of the metal spikes, and it wobbled in the stone, showering me in golden coloured sand it shifted precariously as I tried to use it to leverage myself out of the water.
Sucking in a deep breath, I tried again. The spike shifted, angling downwards and I was too tired to keep my grip in place. I slipped from the spike and dropped back beneath the surface of the water.
Water poured in my nose and down my throat, the taste burning my tongue before I clamped my lips shut. It took longer to fight my way to the surface this time, the numbness in my hands spread up my arms and in to my shoulders.
It didn’t seem possible that the water I was in could be cold enough that I was already suffering the effects of hyperthermia, yet there was no denying the fact that my body’s responses were far more sluggish than they should have been. Was it shock? Maybe I’d hit my head on the way down…
Deep down I knew what the answer was but it just didn’t make sense. But then, everything that had happened over the past few hours hadn’t made sense either. The creature in the shadows that had chased me down the alley, its strength unlike anything I’d ever met. It’d knocked me into the garbage like it was nothing and when it had changed shape, taking on the form of a black haired man…
Was I losing my mind?
“Help!” My voice was hoarse and broken as I tried again to climb the slick walls of the well.
I’m going to die down here.
The icy chill of the water weighed down my legs, making it harder for me to keep them moving and stay afloat.
My fingernails tore as my grip on the wall slipped and I sank into the water. Giving up on the wall, I relaxed into the water, allowing myself to just float on the surface. Lux was nowhere to be seen at the opening of the well but the golden flickering of the torches was still visible and it cast all kinds of shadows onto the walls surrounding me.
The cold welcomed me and my eyes grew heavy as I floated. Perhaps, if I just closed my eyes for a second to rest, then I would be able to climb out…
Something brushed against me in the water and I jolted. My eyes flew open and I stared up at the mouth of the well.
My body felt completely numb and despite the fear coursing in my veins, my heart beat sluggishly inside my ribcage.
Something trailed over my leg, or at least that was what it felt like. Focusing all of my concentration on the lower half of my body I tried moving my limbs. Slowly, my body responded, my feet kicking out uselessly in the water as something locked onto me.
The moment it closed over my ankle, my adrenaline spiked and I kicked out with every ounce of strength I had. My foot struck whatever had a hold on me and it released me with an ear splitting scream that curdled the blood in my veins. The force of my kick had pushed me closer to the edge of the well and I grabbed the nearest stone.
Fear drove me onwards and I pulled myself up. I grabbed the loose spike I’d tried to climb before. Wrapping my hands around it, I jerked it back and forth, struggling to rip it free of its moorings.
Something splashed on the other side of the well but I kept my gaze trained on the spike in my hands. If I glanced back now, it would break my concentration and I would not get a second chance.
The moment I felt its hand slide up the side of my calf, gripping my flesh tight, I tightened my grip on the spike. The creature, jerked me downward and I cried out as my hands tore along the rusty bar. Debris crashed into the water as the spike broke free of the wall.
My triumph was short-lived as I was jerked beneath the water’s surface. With the spike clutched in my grip I fought to hold my breath in the inky darkness. The creature released me and I floated in the darkness. Thrusting upwards, I kicked my feet against the water that sought to hold me down. The creature appeared out of nowhere. Its eyes gleamed red in the gloom of the water surrounding us.
As it swooped toward me, I raised my arm and drove the spike into its face. The combined force of my blow and the creature’s momentum caused the stake to embed into its face and despite being underwater it let out another ear shattering shriek. It struck out, the blow catching me across the chest. I slammed into the stone of the well and my vision swam as my head struck the rough-hewn rocks.
My arms were lead weights as I struggled to swim back to the surface and my legs refused to cooperate, causing me to sink further and further into the inky depths.
Something pale and shimmering appeared at the surface of the water above my head and instinctively I reached toward it. The silvery shape grew larger before it crashed through the water’s surface and plunged into the well after me.
Strong warm arms wrapped around my body, drawing me closer to an equally warm chest. A silvery wall, closed around us, shielding me from the creature that had attacked. I was more than a little dazed, my head ached from lack of oxygen and it took me a moment to realise that I was surrounding by a wall of silver coloured feathers. My would be saviour kicked once, propelling us up and out of the inky water.
My lungs burned and every inch of my body felt battered and bruised, yet there was still a part of me that registered the heavy beating of wings. And I felt the air rush past my face as my rescuer carried us up and out of the depths of the well.
Liquid flooded from my nose and mouth as I coughed
and hacked to clear my airways of the well water.
My vision cleared as the man that had saved me turned me onto my side.
Everything hurt but I took that as a positive sign. Pain meant I was alive and that was something I was more than happy to get on board with.
“You have wings,” I mumbled. My vision was blurred but I knew it was true. I’d heard them, felt them press against my body, holding me tight and secure to the man that had rescued me.
“You’re hallucinating,” he said and his voice caressed my skin like the touch of silk.
“I’m not, I know what I saw…” I trailed off as another fit of coughing wracked my body and my vision ran in streamers of light.
“You shouldn’t be down here,” he said, scooping me up in his arms as though I weighed nothing at all.
“You’re telling me,” I said, my head lolling back as the lights seemed to zip past us.
The ding of the elevator doors told me I was losing time and when the winged stranger lay me out on the same bed I’d woken up in, panic threatened to take over.
“Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Please, I—”
“Relax, love, sleep…” he said, pressing his hand against my face. His blue eyes were filled with the promise of laughter and despite my instincts that told me to stay conscious, I felt myself fall into his gaze.
7
Anger fizzed in my veins when I woke, on top of the same satin sheets as I had that morning. It felt like only a few moments had passed since the blue-eyed stranger had laid me on the bed but as I stared out at the cold sunlight that filled the sky, I knew it had been far longer.
Muted voices floated through to me and I turned to find Azael deep in a heated conversation with who I thought was the same blue-eyed man who had rescued me. The part of my brain that desperately wanted to cling to sanity told me he’d only saved me from drowning but the other part of me, knew he’d saved me from whatever monster had lurked in the depths of the well.
Swinging my legs out of the bed, I steadied myself as a wave of nausea and dizziness threatened to swamp me. There was an acrid salty taste in my mouth, probably from all the well water I’d swallowed.
“You’re awake,” Azael said, his words cutting off his conversation with the other man next to him.
The blue-eyed stranger turned his cerulean eyes on me and I felt heat course through my veins. His blonde hair was pushed back, leaving the angular planes of his face for me to feast on. I could imagine his image appearing on any one of the renaissance carvings of Greek gods.
Azael caught me with his grey gaze and my breath caught in the back of my throat. He was furious, rage causing his usually grey eyes, to take on a much stormier appearance as though they mirrored his emotions.
“What were you thinking?” He said, moving up beside the bed with the speed of a true predator.
Tightening my grip on the sheets, I dug my fingers into the mattress in an attempt to keep my fear in check. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he could scare me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, keeping my voice level.
“How did you get down there? I explicitly said you were not to leave this room until you remembered. It’s far too dangerous…”
I cut him off with a bitter laugh and jabbed my finger into the centre of his chest.
“You’re crazy bitch of a sister throws me down a well, and you have the cheek to stand there and lecture me? You’re the one keeping me here against my will,” I said, standing up as I continued to jab him in the chest.
Each time I touched him, he flinched as though by touching him I was actually hurting him. But that was impossible.
“Lux, took you down there?” He asked, glancing back at the blue-eyed stranger.
“Yeah, although after what she did, I’ve got a few more choice names I’d like to call her.”
“I thought I was keeping you safe,” he said, turning away, leaving me to stare at his retreating back.
“You thought by locking me up here, with that maniac running loose, that you were keeping me safe?”
Either everyone had lost their minds, or there was something pretty damn major that I was missing out on.
“I’d never have left you here if I knew she would…” he trailed off. He’d moved across to the wall and without uttering another word, he drew his arm back and struck the plaster with his fist.
His hand passed through the wall, the sound of plaster cracking as the wall itself creaked and vibrated with the force of his blow sent my heartbeat racing in my chest. Azael withdrew his hand from the fist-sized hole he’d punched in the wall, taking a large chunk of plaster and wood with him.
I expected his hand to be bloodied, his fingers broken. There was no way he could punch a solid wall and walk away unscathed. But he stood before me and shook his hand off, sending pieces of the plaster tumbling to his feet, his hand unhurt.
“I thought I was doing the right thing, Harper,” he said, his voice filled with remorse.
“Perhaps we should take this to the Brotherhood,” the blue-eyed stranger said, suddenly drawing Azael’s ire.
“And what will they do? We both know Lux will do as she pleases and we can’t stop her.”
“Well we have to do something.” The blue-eyed stranger said again and this time he sounded as frustrated as Azael looked.
“Look, if you just let me leave, I won’t mention any of this to anyone,” I said. They both turned to stare at me as though I’d completely lost my mind.
“What and let you go out there, vulnerable, with no idea of what might be coming after you?” Azael said.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” the blue-eyed stranger said. “We can’t keep her here against her will, especially if…” He trailed off and exchanged a meaningful glance with Azael.
They were deliberately leaving me out of the conversation, cutting it off to keep me in the dark but I couldn’t figure out why. Just what did they gain by keeping me ignorant of their true intentions? All sorts of ideas popped into my head, none of them good and I couldn’t help but think I’d spent too much time watching forensics on the Discovery channel with my roommate.
Her motto was always, ‘be prepared,’ but I knew there was no amount of preparation could have readied me for whatever in hell I’d stumbled onto.
“There is another way,” Belial said cutting me off before I could speak.
“A way for you to be prepared and—”
“You can’t be serious,” Azael said.
“Do you have a better idea? If we do nothing and she leaves here and is killed then—”
“What other way is there?”
“There is a place where you can go and train.” Belial stalked toward me and paused when he was within touching distance. “An academy where if you agree to go you will be safe.”
“And if I say no?”
“We could make you.” Despite the arrogance of his tone, I couldn’t fail to notice the curious glance the two me seemed to share.
“I don’t think you can,” I said softly.
Azael levelled his gaze at me.
“So what do you say to attending the academy?” Belial asked, his voice hopeful.
“I want to go home,” I said, pushing onto my feet.
“Is that an order?” The blue-eyed stranger asked, the question catching me off guard. Hadn’t Azael asked me exactly the same thing only a few hours previously?
“Yes.”
Both men stiffened, Azael’s expression became stony and I watched as he balled his hands into fists at his sides.
“I’ll get a car,” he said, the words forced out between his gritted teeth.
Despite their reaction, my heart leapt in my chest. It had worked. Whatever it was, it had worked. Why was it so important to them that everything I said be an order? Whatever sick and twisted game they were playing only left me feeling more confused than ever.
&nbs
p; “I’ll take her,” the stranger said. “You contact the Brotherhood.”
Azael looked as though he might argue but I folded my arms across my chest and he let out a long sigh.
“Fine, but if anything happens to her, Belial, I will take your head,” Azael said, the violence of his words took me by surprise and my stomach churned as fear slithered down my spine.
I’d heard threats in my time but this felt like more than just a threat, part of me knew that Azael was a man of his word and if he said he would take the other man’s head, I knew it wasn’t a metaphor for something else.
"I'll make sure you get home safe," the blue-eyed stranger said, holding his hand out toward me as though I was some kind of damsel in distress that needed his help.
"If you show me the way out of here, I can find my own way home," I said defiantly.
Despite the concern and apparent distress I'd seen on Azael's face, he turned toward me, anger blazing in his eyes.
"Are you really so blind that you don't see the danger you are in?"
"From where I'm standing the only real danger I'm in is being stuck here," I said. If he couldn't see that and understand what I was trying to tell him then he really was completely crazy. And no amount of concern he showed for me would change that.
He shook his head and stared at me with utter disbelief. "I wish I could get my hands on the one who was supposed to prepare you for all of this," he said suddenly, taking me by surprise.
Just what did he mean by that?
"Prepare me for what?" I asked, regretting the question immediately. I wasn't going to like the answer, just like I didn't like feeling as though I was trapped here.
I mean, sure it was always nice to find yourself the centre of attention where super hot guys were concerned. The way they looked at me—like I was an oasis and they were men dying of thirst in the middle of the desert—was enough to make anyone feel a little weak at the knees but it didn't make up for kidnapping me.
I’d been weak and vulnerable and Azael had taken advantage of the situation, bringing me back here and then threatening to keep me captive until I remembered some arbitrary thing that he demanded. The more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that it was beyond crazy. I needed to get away from them both before I ended up dead.
Fallen Angel: An Urban Fantasy Reverse Harem Bully Romance (Dark Hearts Academy Book 1) Page 4