Page 28 of Rejected Darkness

“Please tell me you didn’t forgive him right away,” Isis groans. “That man broke your heart by not claiming you duringthe ceremony leaving you to be sent here. He needs to grovel and beg and earn you back.”

“Well…,” I hesitate. I wasn’t exactly in the right mind when we had the conversation too surprised that he was telling me everything I’ve always longed to hear.

“Great,” she tosses her hands up into the air. “Of course, you didn’t make him beg for forgiveness. Damnit, Arabella, this was your chance to get some revenge. And see that hot piece of angel on his knees begging you.”

Laughter flows out of me until the point I’m in tears as I watch her kick the blanket off and drop to her knees she clasps her hands in a begging manner as she looks at me. Never in my life did I think I’d have a friend like her. My laughter causes Harper to break into laughter as well. And soon all three of us are in tears clutching our stomachs. It takes a few minutes for each of us to calm down and wipe the tears from our eyes.

“Isis, I never thought I’d see you on your knees for anyone,” I start laughing again. “Maybe let’s not do that again.”

“That will never happen again,” she laughs as she retakes her seat on the couch. “For real, though, Bella, he needs to earn your trust and respect back. You can’t just take him back and not ask questions.”

She’s right. I know she is. “It’s not that easy,” I sigh, getting serious once more. “I’ve known him my whole damn life. I know he wasn’t lying when he said he was trying to protect me. I mean how many angels do you know that have more than one mate?” Both of them remain silent as they look at me. “That’s what I thought. Very few exist and the ones that do we almost never hear anything about. Can you imagine what my father would have done if it was revealed I had two during the ceremony?” I shudder at the thought. Either my father would have said a mistake happened or he would have tried to use that to his advantage to gain more power in our world, while also probablymaking life hell for Warrick and myself. No, thank you. Despite how it made me feel, I know he made the right choice protecting me.

“Fuck, I never even thought about how your father would have reacted,” Isis agrees, finally seeing just how screwed I was. “Fine, I’m glad Warrick protected you in that manner, but he still needs to earn his place at your side.” She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. I know she isn’t going to relent on this and if I don’t agree she is going to make his life hell during their mentoring sessions.

“I’ll make him earn it. It’s not like we can declare our mate bond right now as it is. He’s my mentor, and I’m stuck at this school. If anyone outside of this room were to find we are mates he could very well lose his position in the school and then who knows how long it would be before we saw each other once more. No, while here we are going to act like a student and teacher and leave it at that.” I hate the situation I really do but it’s for the best. I want to protect him in the same manner that he protected me. If this is what it takes, then this is what I’ll do.

“I feel like you aren’t telling us everything,” Harper pauses to stare at me. “I understand being worried about his place here but I have a feeling there’s more than just that. If he would lose his position here, which I doubt, he would just stay in town until you finished classes.”

I remain silent trying to figure out how to answer her. She isn’t wrong. Harper is too observant and I really don’t want to keep hiding things from them but I’m also not sure I’m ready to bring them into whatever chaos is going to happen just yet. It’s the same thing I told Warrick. I want to protect the people I care about not bring harm to them.

“Is she right?” Isis pushes, concern filling her voice.

“When you’re ready to talk we’re here for you. Just remember we will have your back no matter what,” Harper answers, taking a sip of tea from her mug.

“Thanks,” I mumble. Soon, I’ll tell them all about the journal soon. “So, ready to hear about Phoenix?” I change the subject, hoping it will distract Isis enough that she won’t push me for answers I’m not ready to give.

“Oh fuck yes. Please tell us how in the world you got a Fallen Angel to want to befriend you,” she demands.

The rest of the night is spent catching up on everything between us and even Harper joins in to tell us all about what has been happening with Stark which isn’t much but it’s still more than I expected which surprised me. She definitely keeps smiling every time she talks about him which is nice to see even if I’m not a big fan of him. Before we realize it, it is almost midnight, and we all stumble our way into our rooms to catch a few hours of sleep before classes in the morning.

Chapter 16

Arabella

"Good morning, Arabella," Phoenix greets me with a smile when I reach the bottom of the steps to enter the lobby of our dorm. I knew we had said that we would meet for breakfast, but he is so chipper that I want to go back to bed and try again later.

I was barely able to sleep, too busy tossing and turning, thinking about Warrick, the journal, and even at times worrying about this breakfast and if I was doing the right thing by trying to be friends. My mates and friends were the least of my worries when I first arrived here, and now it seems like they are at the top of my list. Even after talking with the girls last night, I am still a little unsure about everything, especially having breakfast with Phoenix. Both of them told me to be careful and keep my wits about me but also reminded me to give him a chance and make a new friend. With their support, I know whatever crazy chaos is coming they will have my back.

“Good morning, Phoenix,” I hesitantly respond, trying to mentally prepare myself for the day and this breakfast.

“Sorry, I know this is a tad bit out of character,” he mumbles. I’m almost positive that if his hands weren’t full then he would be rubbing the back of his neck in an uncomfortable manner. “Iwanted to do something nice for you this morning so you didn’t think I was joking with what I said to you yesterday, but I’m starting to wonder if that was the right thing to do.”

He’s embarrassed and it’s cute. I’ve never had a guy act like he is right now, not even a friend. His actions throw me off considering I am already confused about things but he’s also right. This gesture is something that shows he meant what he said about wanting to be friends. He’s backing his words up with actions and that means more to me than I thought. I’m still wary about the whole Angel Fallen friendship, but that can be figured out in time.

“No, it is nice of you. I was just surprised, is all.” I give him a soft smile, reaching my hand out to him. “Can I take any of this from you?” In one hand, he is holding a tray with two cups of coffee, In the other, he has a brown paper bag that I’m going to assume has food in it. Or at least I hope it does. I’m starving.

“Oh, thank god,” he sighs. “I was worried I was messing this all up. I’ve never done anything like this before. If you could carry the coffee that would be great.”

“What be friends with an Angel?” I joke, grabbing the tray from him. “Where to?” I ask since we don’t need to go to the cafeteria now to grab food since he already did.

“Well, I have this really beautiful spot I found when I was out exploring one day, but we don’t have time for that. However, I know a cool spot in the main gardens if you’d like to go there?” His cheeks blush as he looks at me and it causes a flutter in my chest that I’ve never experienced before. The feeling makes my breath hitch and my heart rate begins to race. Which in turn terrifies me.

“Lead the way.” It’s the most words I can get out right now. I have no idea how to process the things he is making me feel. Sure, I had hashed it out with the girls and figured I’d hear him out some more and see if his actions back up his words but Inever suspected he would do something like this. I thought he wanted to just be friends but I’m starting to wonder if that’s true or not. Friends don’t do things like this, right? I can only follow him down the main path to school and just watch him. Neither of us is filling the silence which makes it a little awkward but maybe that’s just me.

Fuck! What are you doing, Arabella?I mentally question. This is a horrible idea. Terrible. Like I should be running in the opposite direction. Divine, if my father found out about this, he would most likely kill me. Yup, would skip right past the beatings and just end my life so I wouldn’t be such a disappointment to him.

“You okay?” he asks, leading me through the winding path of the gardens. With hedges on either side of us, it’s private enough that no one would see us walking together, let alone talking. At this hour I doubt there’s even anyone in here.

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