Page 27 of Rejected Darkness

So as not to cause any confusion, Warrick dropped me off in the student parking lot before he continued to the teacher's lot. My mind was a mess for the whole car ride back. Not being at the academy made it easy to pretend things with Warrick could work. Being back here just reminds me of how much space is between us. It would be frowned upon if the school found out my mate, or well, second mate was also my mentor. Not only would the faculty force Warrick to leave, but it would put a target on my back for having multiple mates. I don't want to lose Warrick. I can't lose him while I’m here. As far as anyone is concerned, he is to only be my mentor during my time at this school. I hate it, but it's the only thing that protects both of us, and that is what is most important to me.

"Arabella," a familiar voice calls out behind me as I follow the path the guard had shown me originally to reach the parking lot. I'm sure there have to be other paths because students wouldn't want to walk down the main winding driveway constantly, but for now, this is the only route I know.

Turning around to see who's behind me, I see Phoenix, and I begin to smile before I catch myself and look to see if his shadow is anywhere around us. "Hey, Phoenix," I call out, stopping towait for him when I see Rhys is nowhere to be found."What are you doing out here?"

"I was just exploring campus and stretching my legs for a bit," he answers when he reaches my side. "How about I escort you back to the dorms? It's starting to get darker, and I don't want anything to happen to you."

Looking up to the sky, I see he's right. I knew I had spent the afternoon out with Warrick, but I didn't realize how late it was already getting. In Aeris, I was used to the sun not setting until later at night, like around nine. Here at RISE Academy, the sun sets around six in the evening. I’m still getting used to it, and I'm not sure if I like these early evenings or not.

"I wouldn't mind someone walking with me," I smile and link my arm through his offered one. I know I should be cautious of him and question why a Fallen Angel is being nice to me. And I am being cautious, but there is just something about Phoenix that doesn’t make me afraid. If anything, I am comfortable with him, which I need to figure out at some point.

"So, what had you out and about today?" he asks, making small talk as we walk up the main driveway.

"I went to lunch with one of my best friends from back home who was in town. We had something he and I needed to talk about." I lie about his just being in town, but I don't want others to know how close Warrick and I truly are. Only Isis and Harper know the truth, and I trust them to keep it between us. With Phoenix, I'm not so sure he won’t say something, especially considering how close he and Rhys are.

"Oh," he states solemnly. I catch a hint of sadness in his eyes before he shakes his head and covers it up. "I hope it was a great lunch."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask, pulling out of his hold. "You sounded sad there, almost a touch of jealousy, maybe." I am probably pushing my insecurities off on him. Iknow I shouldn't be reacting like this, but I want to know why he sounded like that.

"I..." he clears his throat and tries again. "I'm just glad you had a good lunch is all. I didn't realize friends from back home could visit. I thought we were pretty blocked off from society while here."

I stare at him questioningly, trying to figure out if that's really the truth or not. I don't believe him. His eyes give away how he is feeling. I can see the hurt in them, but is it hurt that I was out with someone else or that I had a friend here visiting as I told him? I'm not sure if I can tell the difference. I don't think I ever once led him to believe that I liked him. I mean, we have barely had any interactions together, especially ones just between us without Rhys being involved. I’m tempted to push him on it some more but decide against it. I’ve already had an afternoon filled with answers I wasn’t expecting. I don’t have the brain capacity to figure out another male right now.

“Hmm,” I pause, “I’m not really sure if they can or not, but no one stopped me, so….” It’s the best answer I can give him. I’m really not sure if they can visit or not, Warrick wasn’t technically visiting since he is a mentor to the Angels right now and is already on campus, but I can’t exactly tell him that without disclosing how I know him and word possibly spreading around the school about it.

“You sound like Rhys,” Phoenix laughs.

My hair stands on the back of my neck at the mention of his name. The last thing I want is to have anything in common with my enemy. I’m almost positive that it’s like Beetlejuice, and if you say his name three times, it’s going to summon. I hated that movie growing up. Warrick always enjoyed watching it during the Fall, but it was one movie I would easily skip if given the option.

Phoenix realizes that I grow a little stiff at his side and don’t respond, which causes him to pull us to a stop. “I’m sorry for mentioning him, Arabella. It’s just that he’s my brother, and I spend a lot of time with him, so I didn’t think anything of it.”

“It’s fine,” I mumble, trying to shake off the weird feeling. “Let’s just get back to the dorms. I’ve had a long day and I definitely just want to get back and crawl into bed. I have a feeling classes on Monday are going to cause it to be a long day.”

“Alright,” he agrees thankfully not pushing the topic anymore. Phoenix is a good guy, at least from what I’ve seen despite him being a Fallen Angel. If I was back home I would never consider a friendship with him but as Isis said on our first day here, this is my chance to choose the life I want to live without my father breathing down my throat about it. So if I want to befriend a Fallen then that is exactly what I’m going to do.

“I’m sorry for being rude. It’s just hard to hear I’m anything like your brother, considering how much of a dislike he has for me when he doesn’t even know me. I know you’re not like him.” I’m not sure why I feel the need to defend myself but I don’t want to hurt Phoenix’s feelings just because I hate his brother. We can’t choose who our family is, I already know that from my dad.

“It’s all good, I completely understand. I shouldn’t have brought him into our conversation. I promise from now on to steer clear from any and all things Rhys.” Phoenix looks down and gives me a soft smile before prompting me ahead of him when the path narrows before we reach a break in the trees near our dorm. “Umm, Arabella,” Phoenix mumbles coming to a stop behind me.

With his hesitant sounds, I stop and turn to look at him trying to figure out what’s wrong now. I thought after my apology we were good and could move on.

“This may be a little too forward but I doubt I’ll have the guts to ask this again,” he begins, pausing and reaching up to rub the back of his neck. The movement causes his shirt to rise up just a little and I catch a glimpse of his toned stomach before his shirt lowers back down. “Would you maybe like to get breakfast tomorrow morning? Just umm, as friends, don’t worry,” he adds quickly.

Staring at him I try to figure out where this is coming from. Already, this is the longest conversation we have ever had, and now he wants to get breakfast? To say I’m confused is an understatement. Everyone says that girls are complicated but I’m starting to think that’s a damn lie. I so badly want to decline the invite, already feeling awkward about the whole thing and I’m not really sure how Warrick would react to it, however, it would be nice to have another friend on campus outside of the girls and this is my opportunity for that.

With my decision made, I smile at him. “Sure, that sounds good. I can meet you in the lobby around seven thirty, and we can head to the cafeteria together?” I don’t want him to get the wrong idea exactly. The cafeteria keeps us in a public environment, even though I’m sure people will stare at us.

“Sure, that sounds good. I’ll see you in the lobby at seven-thirty,” he answers and begins walking again.

I can hear the pure excitement in his voice, which makes me believe I made the right decision. So far, Phoenix has seemed like a nice guy who could make a really good friend. I’m definitely going to need to tell the girls all about this. I have a feeling they might not be too thrilled by me becoming friends with a Fallen, but I also know the two of them won’t judge me for one second. They will just give me their advice and then move on, which is all I can ask for.

“I’m sorry repeat that again?” Isis screeches from the couch opposite me. I’m almost positive that if she wasn’t curled up under a blanket she would have jumped up from the couch and been in my face demanding answers instead of just yelling from where she sat.

“Which part? The one where Warrick declared his feelings for me and admitted that we’re mates, or where Phoenix asked me to breakfast?” So, I’m being a tad bit of a smart-ass. I hadn’t planned on dropping both bombshells on them at the same but it sort of just happened. Rather, pull the bandaid off, then give them information a little bit at a time.

“How about we start with Warrick and then move on to Phoenix?” Harper attempts to play peacekeeper as she continues to glance between Isis and me like she’s afraid of what is going to happen next.

“Well, I met him for lunch, and we had a good conversation about how school is going and everything that happened during and after the mating ceremony.” I almost added the information he gave me about the journal coming from my great-grandmother but I remember I haven’t told them about that yet. I should probably get on that. “After lunch, we took a stroll through the gardens, and he found a secluded spot where we wouldn’t be overheard. He told me why he didn’t say anything about us being mates during the ceremony and then declared that he didn’t want to keep denying it and he would stand by my side no matter what.”

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